The Conservatives cleared six candidates to run in the party’s leadership race Monday, but disqualified three others who all said they had met the fundraising and nomination requirements to make it to the final ballot.
Ontario MPs Scott Aitchison, Leslyn Lewis and Pierre Poilievre will be on the ballot as well as former Quebec premier Jean Charest, Brampton, Ont., Mayor Patrick Brown and Roman Baber, an independent member of the Ontario legislature.
The party posted the list in a tweet on Monday, saying the candidates had been verified by the leadership election organizing committee, which is responsible for running the race to replace former leader Erin O’Toole.
Leadership hopefuls Joel Etienne, Joseph Bourgault and Grant Abraham were all disqualified from entering the race. The party’s leadership committee did not provide an explanation for why the three were disqualified. All of them had said they had met the Friday deadline to raise $300,000 and collect the 500 nomination signatures required to appear on the final ballot for the September vote.
Also, on the Conservative leadership front, Jean Charest, who has been criticized for lacking roots in the Conservative Party, touted his credentials on Sunday at the first gathering of prospective party leaders. Story here.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
UNITED FRONT FROM PRIVACY WATCHDOGS ON FACIAL-RECOGNITION TECH – All of Canada’s provincial, territorial and federal privacy watchdogs are imploring Ottawa to limit how law enforcement can use facial-recognition technology, seeking to restrict its use to investigating or preventing “serious” crimes and minimize the sharing of data with businesses or other police agencies. Story here.
ARCHBISHOP APOLOGIZES DURING VISIT- The Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of one of world’s largest Christian denominations, told survivors of Prairie residential schools their stories of abuse at the institutions had “opened a window into hell,” as he listened and apologized to them during a historic visit to Saskatchewan. Story here.
OTTAWA PROTEST ENDS – Ottawa residents and police breathed a sigh of relief on Sunday after protesters who had prompted a large security response this weekend left the nation’s capital. Story here.
CANADA LAGS ON INTERCEPTING FORCED-LABOUR IMPORTS – Canada is lagging the United States in intercepting imports made with forced labour, as Ottawa struggles to implement a commitment to do so in the renegotiated NAFTA deal. Story here.
B.C. GOVERNMENT INTRODUCED MILESTONE RACISM LEGISLATION – The B.C. government has introduced first-of-its-kind legislation in an attempt to “dismantle systemic racism and discrimination” faced by Indigenous, Black and people of colour in the province. Story here from Global News.
ONTARIO LIBERALS PROMISE $1 TRANSIT FARES AS ELECTION CAMPAIGN LOOMS – The Ontario Liberals promised Monday to cut transit fares across the province to $1 per ride, if elected. Story here. Meanwhile, while Ontario’s election campaign is slated to officially launch this week, the three major political parties have already hit the ground running in the race to form the next government on June 2. Story here.
FALCON HEADED FOR B.C. LEGISLATURE – The new leader of the British Columbia Liberals has won a voice in the legislature after a landslide win in a traditionally safe seat for his party. Story here. The Vancouver Sun’s Vaughn Palmer writes here on the challenges ahead for the BC Liberal leader, and what they mean for B.C. politics.
Jean Charest, who has been criticized for lacking roots in the Conservative Party, touted his credentials on Sunday at the first gathering of prospective party leaders. Story here.
THIS AND THAT
TODAY IN THE COMMONS – Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, May. 2, accessible here.
NO TACIT SUPPORT FOR DOUG FORD: PM – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is not tacitly supporting Ontario Premier Doug Ford as the Ontario election campaign looms. Appearing with Mr. Ford in Windsor on Monday to announce new federal investment for automaker Stellantis NV’s plan to retool its Ontario plants to make electric and hybrid-fuel vehicles, Mr. Trudeau was asked about the notion given recent cheerful appearances with the Progressive Conservative premier. “This is about investing in Windsor. This is about the culmination of months, if not years, of putting Canada forward as the right partner for electric vehicle investments,” Mr. Trudeau said of Monday’s announcement. Mr. Ford said his Progressive Conservative government has been working with the federal Liberal government on the plan for quite some time, and that voters expect various levels of government to work together. The federal government is contributing up to $529-million to the Stellantis plan and the province $513-million. Ontario voters are expected to go to the polls on June. 2. There are further details on the Stellantis NV announcement here.
HALL TO RETIRE – Veteran CBC journalist Chris Hall, host of the weekly politics show The House, on CBC Radio, is retiring at the end of June. On Saturday’s show, Mr. Hall announced his plans to listeners, and quipped, “I know, that’s a long way off – or perhaps too far off for some of you.” He added, “To paraphrase Monty Python, `I am not gone yet.’”
ANSWER: MATTEA ROACH. QUESTION: WHO WAS ONCE A PARLIAMENTARY GUIDE? – The Library of Parliament is paying tribute to one of their own. Mattea Roach , a 23-year-old from Nova Scotia who is the most successful Canadian to compete on TV’s Jeopardy. Story here. “Congratulations to @mattearoach for your continued success on @Jeopardy! Mattea was one of our Parliamentary Guides in 2016,” said a tweet posted Monday by the library. Guides are university students who lead toursof Parliament. Details here.
THE DECIBEL
Monday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast has an interview with Santiago Lyon, who appears in The Globe’snew documentary, Shooting War, which features nine photographers known for their work in conflict zones. Mr. Lyon worked with the Associated Press for 25 years covering conflicts around the world. He talks about the physical and mental toll capturing wartime images can take and the work he is doing now as the head of education at the Content Authenticity Initiative to counter misinformation. The Decibel is here.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
The Prime Minister held private meetings in the Ottawa region, and attended Eid prayers with members of the Muslim community. He made an announcement in Windsor with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, and, in the Ottawa region, attend the National Culture Summit welcome reception and deliver remarks.
LEADERS
No schedules released for party leaders.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on why no politician will ever say `Sorry, Grandma, we’re cutting your benefits,’ but maybe they should: ”The Harper government’s plan to gradually up the OAS age to 67 was to have started next year. The Liberals scrapped that, and last year raised OAS benefits by 10 per cent for those 75 and older, starting this summer. In a world of finite taxpayer dollars, that should raise questions. Given that people are living and working longer, is 65 still the right age for OAS? Should the income level at which the clawback starts be lower? And should a senior couple with a combined income of $150,000 get full OAS payments? Their cheques are, after all, being paid by taxpayers – nearly all of whom are younger, and have lower incomes.”
Akwasi Owusu-Bempah and Alex Luscombe (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how we can’t reach racial equality without drug law reform: As politicians, policy makers and members of the public look for ways to reduce racial inequality in our society, our drug laws should be front and centre. Racial disparities in drug possession arrests are troubling because of what we know about patterns of drug use. Available evidence from Canada and other countries such as the U.S. and U.K. shows that rates of drug use are relatively similar across racial groups. Racial differences in drug arrests stem largely from racially biased policing practices. Black and Indigenous people are more likely to be stopped by the police, which means they are also more likely to be caught in possession of drugs. In fact, stereotypes connecting race with drug use drive the police to initiate more contact with Black and Indigenous people in the first place.”
Mark Kristmanson (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how Ottawa’s Holocaust memorial is a place for solemn reflection, not photo shoots:”Last month, a disturbing misuse of Ottawa’s National Holocaust Monument came to light. A photographer posted images on Instagram of a sexy fashion shoot taken at the site, attesting not just to the monument’s arresting visual presence but also its relative obscurity as a hallowed place. Deeming the photographs “totally inappropriate,” MP Greg Fergus said he was “stunned by the lack of common sense … of all those involved.” It’s not the first thoughtless use of this seminal commemoration as a backdrop: Selfie-taking visitors have also become targets of online criticism in recent years. If people knew more about the monument’s genesis, might they understand its gravitas?”
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OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
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.
