Western premiers decided at their meeting in Regina on Friday to press Ottawa for more sustainable health care funding, with British Columbia’s John Horgan expressing hope that momentum from the gathering will help make that happen.
The issue will be on the table this July when the 13 provincial and territorial premiers in the Council of the Federation meet in Victoria. Premiers have said Ottawa should increase its contribution to the Canada Health Transfer at a level that would amount to about $28-billion more this year.
“We’ll see what the council comes up with in July,” Mr. Horgan said in an interview Friday. “But the message coming out of Regina is really clear, and is consistent with where we’ve been for a long, long time: Ottawa, you need to get to a table. We need to sit down and work these things out.”
Friday’s annual meeting was convened for representatives from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said earlier this year that discussion on the issue should wait until the pandemic is over.
Mr. Horgan, the chair of the Council of the Federation, said at the conclusion of the Friday meeting that he is “optimistic,” noting he has met with federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Domenic LeBlanc and Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos.
“We’re making progress, but it’s just not fast enough to meet the emerging crises we’re finding in virtually every element of our delivery and in every part of the country,” said Mr. Horgan.
“We need to address these issues and now we’re being clear we need to address them now, not next year, not the year after that.”
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said additional federal health care funding would ensure that existing services are sustainable into the future.
“I think, in fairness, the federal government agrees on the priorities. What we need to do now and sit down and agree on what the funding level is to ensure these are sustainable into the future,” he told a news conference earlier Friday.
Parliamentary Reporter Kristy Kirkup looked here into the issue of the premiers intensifying their campaign for an increase to the Canada Health Transfer.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
NO LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE FOR MASS MURDERERS: SUPREME COURT – The Supreme Court of Canada has unanimously struck down the punishment of life without parole for mass murderers, retroactive to the time it was enacted in 2011 – giving a large number of sentenced killers hope of release some day. Story here..
DION TO BE NEW AMBASSADOR TO FRANCE – Former federal foreign affairs minister Stéphane Dion is to be Canada’s new ambassador to France, according to a report here in La Presse. Mr. Dion, also a former federal Liberal leader, has been Canada’s ambassador to Germany since 2017. The ambassador’s post in France has been vacant for about a year.
NEW FIREARMS LEGISLATION TO BE INTRODUCED MONDAY: LAMETTI – Justice Minister David Lametti is telling CTV that his cabinet colleague Marco Mendicino, the public safety minister, will table new firearms legislation on Monday. The plan is to see the new bill unveiled shortly after MPs return to the Commons on May 30 to kick off their last four-week stretch of sitting before adjourning for the summer. Story here from CTV.
TUMULTUOUS SPRING SETTING ENDS IN ALBERTA – Alberta’s legislature has wrapped up a tumultuous spring sitting highlighted by a balanced budget and overshadowed by Premier Jason Kenney announcing his long goodbye. Story here.
TORONTO AIRPORT CEO ASKS FOR FEDERAL ACTION ON MOVING PEOPLE – Deborah Flint, the CEO of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, is calling on the government to streamline the movement of people through the terminals by such measures as dropping some of the checks for COVID-19, and using biometrics to identify and expedite check-ins for trusted travellers. Story here.
TARGETED GOODS RELEASED – The only shipment of goods impounded by Canadian authorities since Ottawa banned imports made with forced labour in 2020 was later released after the importer successfully challenged the seizure. Story here.
LUXURY TAX TO HAVE $600-MILLION IMPACT: PBO – Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux says the federal government’s planned luxury tax will reduce sales of autos, boats and planes by more than $600-million a year. Story here.
ONTARIO ELECTION – Kelly Cryderman reports here on Ontario’s Doug Ford, a polarizing politician who has positioned himself as a steady leader and a friend of the working class. Meanwhile, in the ONTARIO ELECTION TODAY: Party leaders on the campaign trail are focusing on the Greater Toronto Area, and Hamilton region. And, in a bit of Ontario election history: TVO’s Jamie Bradburn here looks at how a “petulant and nasty” half-hour shouting match debate between Progressive Conservative leader Bill Davis and Ontario Liberal leader Robert Nixon changed the 1975 election. “
CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RACE
CAMPAIGN TRAIL – Scott Aitchison is in Toronto. Roman Baber is campaigning in the Vancouver region over the weekend, with a Saturday meet and greet in Vancouver and a second event in Coquitlam. Jean Charest is campaigning in Montreal. Leslyn Lewis, on Friday, is in Woodstock, Ontario. On Saturday, Ms. Lewis is going on to campaign in St. Catherines. And Mr. Poilievre is campaigning Friday in Woodstock, New Brunswick and then holding an event in Edmunston at the Grey Rock Casino at the Maliseet First Nation. There’s no word on the whereabouts of Patrick Brown.
THIS AND THAT
TODAY IN THE COMMONS – The House is adjourned until Monday, May. 30.
APPOINTMENTS TO NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced a series of appointments and changes at the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency. Matthew Cassar and Foluke Laosebikan have been named members for five-year terms. Meanwhile, Craig Forcesebecomes Vice-Chair for the remainder of his current term ending in 2024, and John Davies has been reappointed executive director. Details here.
TEACHING ASSIGNMENT FOR FORMER PRIVY COUNCIL CLERK – Ian Shugart, the former clerk of the Privy Council and secretary to cabinet, is to take on a new role as an educator, teaching in the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy’s Master of Global Affairs & Master of Public Policy programs. He begins his assignment, in a part-time capacity, in September 2022. Details here.
THE DECIBEL
Friday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast features Dr. Kisha Supernant , one of the people at the forefront of the effort to look for unmarked graves at former residential schools. She’s a Métis archaeologist and chair of Unmarked Graves Working Group with the Canadian Archaeological Association. She explains how she does this work, what happens after potential graves are found, and what needs to happen next. The Decibel is here.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
The Prime Minister has a “Personal” day in Nova Scotia according to the itinerary provided by his office.
LEADERS
No schedules released for party leaders.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Boardon how Ottawa wants to search your phone at the border, but its proposed rules are unreasonably suspicious:“Reasonable general concern” is the Trudeau government’s proposed threshold for allowing a border guard to access the contents of your cellphone, laptop or other digital device, any time you enter the country. It’s in a bill, S-7, that the government has weirdly introduced in the Senate rather than the Commons, provoking the first of many questions about this legislation. The proposal has also raised eyebrows for the fact that the legal standard it applies appears to have been created out of thin air. Unlike “reasonable suspicion” or “reasonable grounds to believe,” which are well established legal standards that police must meet in order to arrest someone or conduct a search, “reasonable general concern” is making its international debut. And it’s already not earning rave reviews.”
Andrew Coyne (The Globe and Mail)on the notion of getting rid of gatekeepers, for real: “The thing is,Pierre Poilievre has a point about the “gatekeepers.” Only it’s about much more than just a few blinkered municipal bureaucrats standing in the way of needed housing development. If he were serious, and not just test-driving applause lines, he’d broaden the discussion out to the other gatekeepers at work in other areas of the economy. As with housing, their function is to protect the interests of those already in the market at the expense of those who would like to enter it. Or, as the economists Assar Lindbeck and Dennis Snower have put it, of insiders over outsiders.”
Gary Mason (The Globe and Mail)on the inexcusable gong show at our passport offices: “As COVID-19 vaccines began to do their work last year, more Canadians began to venture out and allow themselves to imagine vacations to exotic locales – or even just to the United States. Surely, the federal government was aware of this. It must have known that the demand for travel after two years of being cooped up at home would be unprecedented. Airlines began preparing for this eventuality months ago, when it was evident COVID-related travel restrictions were being lifted around the world. You would assume the federal government would have brainstormed as well: What should we be prepared for, when the travel surge occurs?”
Konrad Yakabuski (The Globe and Mail)on how Quebec could play kingmaker in a Conservative leadership race: “Now, as Conservatives prepare yet again to choose a new leader, Quebec could play kingmaker anew, with surprising results. While former premier Jean Charest’s political network in the province should make him the hands-down favourite among Quebec Tories, Pierre Poilievre is catching the same populist wave that has turned the formerly fledgling Parti conservateur du Québec (which is independent from its federal Conservative Party namesake) into a player on the provincial scene.”
Tony Farrell, Tillmann J. Benfey, Mark Fast, Kurt Gamperl, Ian Gardner, Jim Powell, Crawford Revie, Spencer Russell, and Ahmed Siah (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on a defence of Canada’s peer-reviewed science advisory process on salmon farming: “As scientists who have contributed to many peer-reviewed analyses on salmon conservation and farming for the DFO, we’re compelled to respond to prevent propagation of any misinformation. Canadians can trust the scientific facts and advice presented by CSAS, the science evaluation body of the DFO. Home-grown, ocean-farmed salmon is a valuable food resource for Canadians. It is an affordable, highly nutritious protein with year-round access. Such salmon – which is currently front and centre as the federal government is deciding whether to renew British Columbia salmon-farming licences – is affordable, in part, because it taps into renewable and free tidal power (driven by lunar cycles) for renewing oxygen and seawater.”
Shachi Kurl (The Ottawa Citizen)on how the Ontario election 2022 will be remembered as the Battle of the Bleah: “If Doug Ford’s ludicrous insistence that the building of highways somehow combats climate change has you worn down; if the Ontario Liberals’ bizarre fixation on chicken (the rotisserie kind, the seizure-inducing six-foot dancing, trolling kind) has you fed up; if you too, were tempted, every time you heard Andrea Horwath utter the words “fix what’s broken” to take a drink — take heart, dear readers. This campaign is almost over.”
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The New Democrats have declared a federal byelection victory in their Winnipeg stronghold riding of Elmwood—Transcona.
The NDP candidate Leila Dance told supporters in a tearful speech that even though the final results weren’t in, she expected she would see them in Ottawa.
With several polls still to be counted, Conservative candidate Colin Reynolds conceded defeat and told his volunteers that they should be proud of what the Conservatives accomplished in the campaign.
Political watchers had a keen eye on the results to see if the Tories could sway traditionally NDP voters on issues related to labour and affordability.
Meanwhile in the byelection race in the Montreal riding of LaSalle—Émard—Verdun the NDP, Liberals and Bloc Québécois remained locked in an extremely tight three-way race as the results trickled in slowly.
The Liberal stronghold riding had a record 91 names on the ballot, and the results aren’t expected until the early hours of the morning.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
VANCOUVER – An incumbent BC United legislative member has reversed her decision not to seek re-election and has announced she’ll run as an Independent in the riding of West Vancouver-Capilano in the upcoming British Columbia election.
Karin Kirkpatrick has been a vocal critic of BC United Leader Kevin Falcon’s decision last month to suspend the party’s campaign and throw support behind the B.C. Conservatives under John Rustad.
Kirkpatrick announced her retirement this year, but said Monday that her decision to re-enter the race comes as a direct result of Falcon’s actions, which would force middle-of-the-road voters to “swing to the left” to the NDP or to move further right to the Conservatives.
“I did hear from a lot of constituents and a lot of people who were emailing me from across B.C. … that they didn’t have anybody to vote for,” she said. “And so, I looked even at myself, and I looked at my riding, and I said, ‘Well, I no longer have anybody to vote for in my own riding.’ It was clearly an issue of this missing middle for the more moderate voter.”
She said voters who reached out “don’t want to vote for an NDP government but felt deeply uncomfortable” supporting the provincial Conservatives, citing Rustad’s tolerance of what she calls “extreme views and conspiracy theorists.”
Kirkpatrick joins four other incumbent Opposition MLAs running as Independents, including Peace River South’s Mike Bernier, Peace River North’s Dan Davies, Prince George-Cariboo’s Coralee Oakes and Tom Shypitka in Kootenay-Rockies.
“To be honest, we talk just about every day,” Kirkpatrick said about her fellow BC United incumbents now running as Independents. “We’re all feeling the same way. We all need to kind of hold each other up and make sure we’re doing the right thing.”
She added that a number of first-time candidates formerly on the BC United ticket are contacting the group of incumbents running for election, and the group is working together “as good moderates who respect each other and lift each other up.”
But Kirkpatrick said it’s also too early to talk about the future of BC United or the possibility of forming a new party.
“The first thing we need to do is to get these Independent MLAs elected into the legislature,” she said, noting a strong group could play a power-broker role if a minority government is elected. “Once we’re there then we’re all going to come together and we’re going to figure out, is there something left in BC United, BC Liberals that we can resurrect, or do we need to start a new party that’s in the centre?”
She said there’s a big gap left in the political spectrum in the province.
“So, we just have to do it in a mindful way, to make sure it’s representing the broadest base of people in B.C.”
Among the supporters at Kirkpatrick’s announcement Monday was former longtime MLA Ralph Sultan, who held West Vancouver-Capilano for almost two decades before retiring in 2020.
The Metro Vancouver riding has been a stronghold for the BC Liberals — the former BC United — since its formation in 1991, with more than half of the votes going to the centre-right party in every contest.
However, Kirkpatrick’s winning margin of 53.6 per cent to the NDP’s 30.1 per cent and the Green’s 15.4 per cent in the 2020 election shows a rising trend for left-leaning voters in the district.
Mike McDonald, chief strategy officer with Kirk and Co. Consulting, and a former campaign director for the BC Liberals and chief of staff under former Premier Christy Clark, said Independent candidates historically face an uphill battle and the biggest impact may be splitting votes in areas where the NDP could emerge victorious.
“It really comes down to, if the NDP are in a position to get 33 per cent of the vote, they might have a chance of winning,” McDonald said of the impact of an Independent vote-split with the Conservatives in certain ridings.
He said B.C. history shows it’s very hard for an Independent to win an election and has been done only a handful of times.
“So, the odds do not favour Independents winning the seats unless there is a very unique combination of circumstances, and more likely that they play a role as a spoiler, frankly.”
The B.C. Conservatives list West Vancouver School District Trustee Lynne Block as its candidate in West Vancouver-Capilano, while the BC NDP is represented by health care professional Sara Eftekhar.
Kirkpatrick said she is confident that her re-entry to the race will not result in a vote split that allows the NDP to win the seat because the party has always had a poor showing in the riding.
“So, even if there is competition between myself and the Conservative candidate, it is highly unlikely that anything would swing over to the NDP here. And I believe that I have the ability to actually attract those NDP voters to me, as well as the Conservatives and Liberals who are feeling just lost right now.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads to Egypt on Tuesday for his 10th trip to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began nearly a year ago, this one aimed partly at refining a proposal to present to Israel and Hamas for a cease-fire deal and release of hostages.
Unlike in recent mediating missions, America’s top diplomat this time is traveling without optimistic projections from the Biden administration of an expected breakthrough in the troubled negotiations.
Also unlike the earlier missions, Blinken has no public plans to go to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on this trip. The Israeli leader’s fiery public statements — like his declaration that Israel would accept only “total victory” when Blinken was in the region in June — and some other unbudgeable demands have complicated earlier diplomacy.
Blinken is going to Egypt for talks Wednesday with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and others, in a trip billed as focused both on American-Egyptian relations and Gaza consultations with Egypt.
The tamped-down public approach follows months in which President Joe Biden and his officials publicly talked up an agreement to end the war in Gaza as being just within reach, hoping to build pressure on Netanyahu’s far-right government and Hamas to seal a deal.
The Biden administration now says it is working with fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar to come up with a revised final proposal to try to at least get Israel and Hamas into a six-week cease-fire that would free some of the hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Americans believe public attention on details of the talks now would only hurt that effort.
American, Qatari and Egyptian officials still are consulting “about what that proposal will contain, and …. we’re trying to see that it’s a proposal that can get the parties to an ultimate agreement,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Monday.
The State Department pointed to Egypt’s important role in Gaza peace efforts in announcing last week that the Biden administration planned to give the country its full $1.3 billion in military aid, overriding congressional requirements that the U.S. hold back some of the funding if Egypt fails to show adequate progress on human rights. Blinken told Congress that Egypt has made progress on human rights, including in freeing political prisoners.
Blinken’s trip comes amid the risk of a full-on new front in the Middle East, with Israel threatening increasing military action against the Hezbollah militant organization in Lebanon. Biden envoy Amos Hochstein was in Israel on Monday to try to calm tensions after a stop in Lebanon.
Hezbollah has one of the strongest militaries in the Middle East, and like Hamas and smaller groups in Syria and Iraq it is allied with Iran.
Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged strikes across Israel’s northern border with Lebanon since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas started the war in Gaza. Hezbollah says it will ease those strikes — which have uprooted tens of thousands of civilians on both sides of the border — only when there’s a cease-fire in Gaza.
Hochstein told Netanyahu and other Israeli officials that intensifying the conflict with Hezbollah would not help get Israelis back in their homes, according to a U.S. official. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private talks, said Hochstein stressed to Netanyahu that he risked sparking a broad and protracted regional conflict if he moved forward with a full-scale war in Lebanon.
Hochstein also underscored to Israeli officials that the Biden administration remained committed to finding a diplomatic solution to the tensions on Israel’s northern border in conjunction with a Gaza deal or on its own, the official said.
Netanyahu told Hochstein that it would “not be possible to return our residents without a fundamental change in the security situation in the north.” The prime minister said Israel “appreciates and respects” U.S. support but “will do what is necessary to maintain its security and return the residents of the north to their homes safely.”
Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, meanwhile, warned in his meeting with Hochstein that “the only way left to ensure the return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes will be via military action,” his office said.
In Gaza, the U.S. says Israel and Hamas have agreed to a deal in principle and that the biggest obstacles now include a disagreement on details of the hostage and prisoner swap and control over a buffer zone on the border between Gaza and Egypt. Netanyahu has demanded in recent weeks that the Israeli military be allowed to keep a presence in the Philadelphi corridor. Egypt and Hamas have rejected that demand.
The Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7 killed about 1,200 people. Militants also abducted 250 people and are still holding around 100 hostages. About a third of the remaining hostages are believed to be dead.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, said Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its count. The war has caused widespread destruction, displaced a majority of Gaza’s people and created a humanitarian crisis.
Netanyahu says he is working to bring home the hostages. His critics accuse him of slow-rolling a deal because it could bring down his hardline coalition government, which includes members opposed to a truce with the Palestinians.
Asked earlier this month if Netanyahu was doing enough for a cease-fire deal, Biden said, simply, “no.” But he added that he still believed a deal was close.
___
Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani contributed to this report.
