Senator Denise Batters is back in the Conservative national caucus a week after the ouster of former federal Conservative leader Erin O’Toole, who removed her from the caucus for questioning his leadership.
“I’m back,” Ms. Batters told journalists after a Conservative caucus meeting on Wednesday. “It happened just today in national caucus. So I’m so grateful to be back in national caucus. I’m just thrilled – back into my Conservative family.”
In November, Mr. O’Toole announced the removal of Ms. Batters, who is from Saskatchewan and was a close adviser to Andrew Scheer when he was leader, after she launched a petition to call for an early review of Mr. O’Toole’s leadership.
Although Ms. Batters had been removed from national caucus, Conservative MPs from Saskatchewan had voted to confirm her as a member of the provincial regional caucus. She also remained a member of the Conservative caucus in the Senate.
In announcing a petition calling for an early leadership review, Ms. Batters accused Mr. O’Toole of having “watered down and even entirely reversed our policy positions” without party or caucus input.
She also said Mr. O’Toole had “flip-flopped” party policies on such issues as the carbon tax, guns and conscience rights.
In response, Mr. O’Toole said, “I will not tolerate an individual discrediting and showing a clear lack of respect towards the efforts of the entire Conservative caucus … .”
There’s a story here on Ms. Batters making her political move against Mr. O’Toole last November, and a story here on Mr. O’Toole making his move against the senator.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
BREAKING – The Hill-Times newspaper is reporting that another Quebec MP is raising questions about the Liberal government’s handling of the pandemic. This time it’s Yves Robillard, the three-term MP for Marc-Aurèle-Fortin.
AMBASSADOR BRIDGE TARGETED BY PROTESTERS – The Ambassador Bridge is the latest target of protesters opposing pandemic restrictions, cutting off a key trade route between the United States and Canada and threatening supply chains for a significant part of the country. Story here.
QUEBEC LIBERAL BREAKS WITH PARTY ON PANDEMIC – Quebec Liberal MP Joël Lightbound has broken from party policy on the pandemic, saying that the Liberal government should not dismiss concerns about public-health measures or demonize skeptics. Story here.
ABOUT 100 KIDS AMONG OTTAWA PROTESTERS – Roughly 100 children are living in the trucks idling on the streets of downtown Ottawa during the cold, noisy and prolonged protest that has grabbed hold of the capital, police say. Story here. Meanwhile, CTV reports here on how the ongoing downtown trucker demonstration is affecting many residents, especially those who can no longer earn a wage because of businesses having to close.
ALBERTA AND SASKATCHEWAN ENDING COVID-19 MEASURES – Alberta and Saskatchewan have announced plans to end their vaccination passport systems and mask mandates, making them the first provinces to reveal when they would scrap those two coronavirus public-health measures that are spurring protests across the country. Story here.
BUT NOT SO FAST IN B.C. – Premier John Horgan says British Columbia won’t be pushed by “honking horns” to lift the province’s COVID-19 public-health restrictions. After the NDP government delivered a Throne Speech outlining its political agenda for the coming months, Mr. Horgan said he understands people want to put COVID-19 behind them. “But we want to make sure that we don’t do it in a reckless and cavalier manner just because people are honking horns, a small minority are honking horns.” Story here.
SMALLER ONTARIO BUDGETY DEFICIT THAN EXPECTED Ontario’s budget deficit is much smaller than it appeared in government projections just last fall, the province’s independent financial watchdog says in a report that also suggests unexplained revenue shortfalls in the books could be future tax cuts. Story here.
CODERRE GETS A NEW JOB – Three months after losing an election for mayor of Montreal, former federal cabinet minister Denis Coderre is headed back to the private sector. Mr. Coderre is joining water infrastructure management company Groupe Helios as a strategic adviser. Story here from The Montreal Gazette.
THIS AND THAT
The projected order of business at the House of Commons, Feb. 9 is here.
PROTEST STALLS CENTRE-BLOCK RENOS – The trucker convoy protest in Ottawa has stalled the multibillion-dollar renovation of Centre Block on Parliament Hill. (The Politics Briefing newsletter looked at this project in the edition available here.) The Public Services and Procurement Canada department says the construction site has been closed since the onset of the protests, affecting between 350 and 400 workers. “The site remains closed and PSPC is monitoring the situation in close collaboration with the Parliamentary Protective Service, the House of Commons, the Senate of Canada, and the Library of Parliament, and will adjust our activities as needed,” said a statement issued Wednesday by department spokesperson Gabriel Leboeuf.
THE GG AND HER HUSBAND HAVE CONTRACTED COVID-19 – Governor-General Mary Simon and her husband, Whit Fraser, have tested positive for COVID-19. “This morning, I tested positive for COVID-19 and I am currently experiencing mild symptoms. I will continue to self-isolate and will take some time to rest in the coming days,” she tweeted Wednesday afternoon. Earlier, she said her husband had also tested positive.
TRUDEAU ON LIGHTBOUND: Heading into the Liberal caucus meeting Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had spoken to Quebec MP Joël Lightbound, “yesterday morning,” capping many conversations with different members of caucus, including the MP for Louis-Hébert. On Tuesday, Mr. Lightbound told an Ottawa news conference that the Liberal government should not dismiss concerns about public-health measures or demonize skeptics. “We’re going to continue to talk,” said Mr. Trudeau.
THE DECIBEL – On Wednesday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, Globe videographer Timothy Moore spoke with reigning ice-dancing bronze medallists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier and one of their coaches, Carol Lane, to learn about how they construct their highly technical rhythm dance routine, what they think about when they are performing and why they decided to wear bright orange spandex on the world stage. The Decibel is here.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
Private meetings. The Prime Minister attended the national caucus meeting and was scheduled to attend Question Period.
LEADERS
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh attended the NDP national caucus meeting and was scheduled to attend Question Period.
Gary Mason (The Globe and Mail)on how truck-convoy supporters like Pierre Poilievre have weaponized ‘freedom’: “Whether Canadians more generally will feel comfortable with Mr. Poilievre’s adoption of language associated with Mr. Trump and the worst elements of the Republican party (Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Marjorie Taylor Greene et al) is highly doubtful. Poll after poll has shown little appetite in this country for Mr. Trump’s divisive, anti-media, autocratic style of leadership. It’s also unclear how well Mr. Poilievre’s tactics will go down with moderates within the CPC – Red Tories who don’t have the slightest interest in extending empathy to those associated with the type of disorder we’ve witnessed in the capital for more than 10 days now.”
Robyn Urback (The Globe and Mail)on how the Liberals should listen to their backbencher’s plea to unwind COVID-19 pandemic measures: “Mr. Lightbound, however, is unencumbered by the baggage toted around by Conservative MPs, and he also cannot be dismissed as fringe or reckless by his Liberal colleagues. Indeed, his is a voice in Ottawa that speaks for the Canadians who occupy the space between the extremes – those who believe that COVID-19 is real, that vaccines work, that the pandemic is still ongoing, but that it is time to follow the lead of Norway, Denmark, England, Ireland, France and both red and blue U.S. states and transition to an endemic view of COVID-19.”
Kelly Egan (The Ottawa Citizen) on the issue of billing trucker protesters for their impact on Ottawa: “In a six-hour meeting of Ottawa city council Monday, there was one potentially explosive motion that didn’t get a great deal of attention. The city wants to invoke a clause in the revised Ontario Police Services Act that would allow it to bill protesters for the extra cost of policing. The tally would be enormous: an estimated $800,000 a day (times 12 and counting), plus possibly the cost of hundreds of extra outside personnel (as many as 1,800) now being airlifted into the capital to bring the blockade to a resolution. The grand daily total is estimated in the range of $2.5 million and that doesn’t include about $1 million a day the city is incurring in related municipal costs.”
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not be taking advice from Pierre Poilievre after the Conservative leader challenged him to bring down government.
“I say directly to Pierre Poilievre: I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh on Wednesday, accusing Poilievre of wanting to take away dental-care coverage from Canadians, among other things.
“I’m not going to listen to your advice. You want to destroy people’s lives, I want to build up a brighter future.”
Earlier in the day, Poilievre challenged Singh to commit to voting non-confidence in the government, saying his party will force a vote in the House of Commons “at the earliest possibly opportunity.”
“I’m asking Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to commit unequivocally before Monday’s byelections: will they vote non-confidence to bring down the costly coalition and trigger a carbon tax election, or will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said.
“It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
While Singh rejected the idea he would ever listen to Poilievre, he did not say how the NDP would vote on a non-confidence motion.
“I’ve said on any vote, we’re going to look at the vote and we’ll make our decision. I’m not going to say our decision ahead of time,” he said.
Singh’s top adviser said on Tuesday the NDP leader is not particularly eager to trigger an election, even as the Conservatives challenge him to do just that.
Anne McGrath, Singh’s principal secretary, says there will be more volatility in Parliament and the odds of an early election have risen.
“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or chomping at the bit to have one, but it can happen,” she said in an interview.
New Democrat MPs are in a second day of meetings in Montreal as they nail down a plan for how to navigate the minority Parliament this fall.
The caucus retreat comes one week after Singh announced the party has left the supply-and-confidence agreement with the governing Liberals.
It’s also taking place in the very city where New Democrats are hoping to pick up a seat on Monday, when voters go to the polls in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. A second byelection is being held that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP is hoping to hold onto a seat the Conservatives are also vying for.
While New Democrats are seeking to distance themselves from the Liberals, they don’t appear ready to trigger a general election.
Singh signalled on Tuesday that he will have more to say Wednesday about the party’s strategy for the upcoming sitting.
He is hoping to convince Canadians that his party can defeat the federal Conservatives, who have been riding high in the polls over the last year.
Singh has attacked Poilievre as someone who would bring back Harper-style cuts to programs that Canadians rely on, including the national dental-care program that was part of the supply-and-confidence agreement.
The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre’s office whether the Conservative leader intends to keep the program in place, if he forms government after the next election.
With the return of Parliament just days away, the NDP is also keeping in mind how other parties will look to capitalize on the new makeup of the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois has already indicated that it’s written up a list of demands for the Liberals in exchange for support on votes.
The next federal election must take place by October 2025 at the latest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is defending her decision to turn off comments on her social media accounts — with an announcement on social media.
She posted screenshots to X this morning of vulgar names she’s been called on the platform, and says comments on her posts for months have been dominated by insults, to the point that she decided to block them.
Montreal’s Opposition leader and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association have criticized Plante for limiting freedom of expression by restricting comments on her X and Instagram accounts.
They say elected officials who use social media should be willing to hear from constituents on those platforms.
However, Plante says some people may believe there is a fundamental right to call someone offensive names and to normalize violence online, but she disagrees.
Her statement on X is closed to comments.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
