The convoy protest that took over main arteries of downtown Ottawa this winter represented an unprecedented national security crisis and a major shift in the way that demonstrations are organized, funded, executed and responded to in Canada, former Ottawa Police chief Peter Sloly said Thursday.
Mr. Sloly appeared before the House of Commons procedure and house affairs committee as part of its study on expanding federal jurisdiction for security of the parliamentary precinct to include sections of Wellington Street and Sparks Street in downtown Ottawa. During his appearance, Mr. Sloly said there were factors that underpinned the national security crisis including social media, disinformation campaigns, societal polarization, ideological extremism and reduced public trust in democratic institutions.
ALSO: Residents of Canada’s most populous province are voting today in the provincial election. Check here for live Globe and Mail updates on the Ontario election. There are details here on how to vote. And the latest edition of Vote of Confidence, The Globe’s Ontario election newsletter is here.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
IT’S THE QUEEN’S PLATINUM JUBILEE – Europe correspondent Paul Waldie writes here about what to expect during the four-day June celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, celebrating the monarch’s 70 years on the throne.
MORNEAU DENOUNCES LIBERAL POLICIES – Former finance minister Bill Morneau has delivered a pointed critique of the federal Liberals’ economic policies, along with a series of recommendations for kickstarting growth, in his first public speech since leaving political life two years ago. Story here.
DISABILITY BENEFIT BILL REINTRODUCED – The federal government, on Thursday, reintroduced legislation to create a monthly benefit payment for working-age Canadians with disabilities. Story here from CBC.
MENDICINO CALLS FOR DEPUTY INDIGENOUS CORRECTIONS COMMISSIONER – The creation of a deputy commissioner of Indigenous corrections is long overdue, says Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, who has ordered Correctional Service Canada to establish the position amid systemic racism and high incarceration rates of Indigenous people in federal prisons. Story here.
LOEWEN ENTERS LEADERSHIP RACE – The first United Conservative backbencher to publicly call for Premier Jason Kenney to quit says he is running to replace him. Story here.
HERITAGE COMMITTEE CONCLUDING HEARINGS ON STREAMING LEGISLATION – Members of Parliament on the Canadian heritage committee are wrapping up hearings this week on the government’s online streaming legislation, a bill that is generating a deeply polarized reaction from policy experts. Story here.
CAQ A NATIONALIST PARTY IN CANADA: LEGAULT – Premier François declared Thursday that his Coalition Avenir Québec government stands for Quebec within Canada, and is a nationalist party within Canada. He added, “There is no appetite (for a referendum).” Story here from The Montreal Gazette.
GOVERNMENT BACKS SENATE BILL ON IDENTIFYING FORCED LABOUR ON SUPPLY CHAINS – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have thrown their support behind a Senate bill requiring government and businesses to annually report on steps they have taken to identify forced labour in their supply chains. Story here.
CONVICTION IN CONFINEMENT CASE WHERE LIBERAL MP VICTIM – An Ottawa man has been convicted of unlawfully confining Liberal MP Anita Vandenbeld (Ottawa West-Nepean), in a 2020 incident. Story here fromThe Ottawa Citizen.
CONSERVATIVE PARTY LEADERSHIP
CAMPAIGN TRAIL – Scott Aitchison is in Manitoba. Jean Charest is in Montreal. Leslyn Lewis is campaigning on Prince Edward Island, with an event in Summerside. Pierre Poilievre is in Ottawa. (He announced Thursday he is tabling a private members bill to stop the federal government from requiring COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of employment for public servants, and to allow Canadians to travel regardless of their vaccination status.) There’s no information on the campaign whereabouts of Roman Baber and Patrick Brown.
THIS AND THAT
TODAY IN THE COMMONS – Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, June. 2, accessible here.
FREELAND IN WASHINGTON – In Washingtion, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was scheduled to meet with U.S. Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen as well as Brian Deese, director of the U.S. National Economic Council – a key forum used by the U.S. president to consider economic policy. Ms. Freeland is also attending the 68th Bilderberg Meeting.
UKRAINIAN WITNESSES BEFORE SENATE COMMITTEE – A member of the Ukrainian parliament and two representatives of the Embassy of the Ukraine to Canada testified Thursday before the Senate foreign affairs and international trade standing committee. Details here.
BQ MP TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 – Bloc Québécois MP René Villemure, who represents the riding of Trois-Rivières, has tested positive for COVID-19, and is isolating at home.
GG HEADED FOR LONDON – Governor-General Mary Simon and her husband Whit Fraser are travelling to London on Thursday to participate in celebrations of Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, and staying through June. 6. According to a statement, the visit will provide the Governor-General an opportunity to meet with governors-general from across the Commonwealth.
ANNUAL MUNICIPALITIES CONFERENCE UNDERWAY – The Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ annual conference is underway in Regina, with mayors, councillors and municipal representatives gathering onsite or online through June. 5. Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc delivers a keynote address on Friday, followed by Conservative infrastructure critic Andrew Scheer. Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh speaks on Saturday.
IN DEFENCE OF CABINET MINISTERS AND PUBLIC SERVANTS – Acclaimed academic and author Donald Savoie is standing up for cabinet ministers, public servants and government, in general, in his new book.
Government: Have Presidents and Prime Ministers Misdiagnosed the Patient (McGill-Queen’s University Press) studies the United States, Great Britain, France and Canada to make the case that cabinet government has been diminished, and public servants marginalized by political leaders. It has, says Mr. Savoie, led to declining trust in government.
Mr. Savoie, who holds the Canada Research Chair in public administration and governance at the Université de Moncton, talked, in a recent interview, about his conclusions. Some key points:
ON PIERRE POILIEVRE’S CALL TO FIRE THE GOVERNOR OF THE BANK OF CANADA: “The Bank of Canada is a proper institution. It has norms. It has values. You don’t play fast and loose with these institutions. I don’t think it’s wise to belittle it. I don’t think it’s wise to throw rocks at it. I think if you have some concerns with the Bank of Canada, you raise it in a very serious fashion.”
THE MARGINALIZATION OF CABINET MINISTERS? : “I think it’s not just the Prime Minister’s fault. I think it’s the way we structure government these days, the way we expect quick decisions. We expect prime ministers to be in control of their government. Cabinet government is a long process. And if you want to get quick answers, you don’t have time to go through the government process. The Prime Minister and his advisers will deal with these issues.”
IN DEFENCE OF PUBLIC SERVANTS: ”The whole point of my book is to not debase the public service. You can raise fundamental questions about its size, its ability to be non-partisan, all kinds of fundamental questions can be raised. And we need to raise these issues. Debasing the public service, bureaucratic bashing has gone on long enough. It has hurt the public service. When you hurt the public service, you hurt government. When you hurt government, you hurt Canada. It’s time to ask some fundamental questions about how we improve the public service, not by bureaucratic bashing.”
FIXING THE SITUATON: ”There’s only one person who can have a wrench of the wheel to turn it around. It’s the prime minister. We need a prime minister to say government needs to be fixed. There’s nobody else who can turn it around.”
WOULD HE ADVISE SOMEONE TO APPLY TO BECOME A PUBLIC SERVANT: “I’ve been asked that very question by students, and I strongly encourage them to join the public service. If you want to do something bigger than you, larger than you, the federal public service is the answer. That having been said, I warn students the federal public service now is only for the brave. It’s going to be tough. You’re only going to hear bureaucracy bashing. You’re going to hear family members taking shots: ‘Oh, you’re a bureaucrat, fat cat.’ Ignore that. Go and try to fix the public service because it’s fundamental to Canada, and if you love Canada go make a contribution.”
NEXT BOOK: “I’m working on a manuscript that’s very, very, very provocative; probably the most provocative book I have ever written. It’s looking at how Canadians view themselves as victims and what does it mean for Canada …nWe’ll need to see if a publisher is brave enough to publish it because it’s quite provocative.”
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
ANAND IN QUEBEC – Defence Minister Anita Anand is visiting 2nd Canadian Division Support Base Valcartier in Quebec, meeting with members of the Armed Forces who have returned home after deploying on Operation REASSURANCE – Canada’s support to NATO’s assurance and deterrence measures in Central and Eastern Europe. Later in the day, she will be joined by Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and visiting foreign affairs minister from Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia.
THE DECIBEL
On Thursday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, The Globe’s Robyn Doolittle , who has reported on sexual violence and gender discrimination since 2015, and Nicole Bedera, a sociologist who researches sexual violence and how it relates to our society and culture, talk about the outcome of actor Johnny Depp’s defamation case against his ex-wife, Amber Heard. The Decibel is here.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
In Siksika, Alberta, the Prime Minister held private meetings and participated in a signing ceremony with Siksika Nation Nioksskaistamik Chief Ouray Crowfoot,
LEADERS
No schedules released for party leaders.
OPINION
Tanya Talaga (The Globe and Mail)on how now is the time for truth telling, not denial, about surviving residential schools: “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this statement, after an awful revelation of Canada’s colonial treatment of Indigenous people: “It all happened in the past. Canada shouldn’t be held accountable for what happened then.” I’ve heard it uttered at dinner tables or in casual conversation, by people you’d think would be more empathetic, knowledgeable or would simply know better. That person had “no idea” that 150,000 First Nations, Metis and Inuit children were removed from their families and put in schools aimed at turning them into white-washed, “good” Canadian citizens with no trace of who they are.”
Robyn Urback (The Globe and Mail)on Canada’s intractable gun-crime issue: Our geographic neighbour: “The unfortunate reality of Canada’s gun crime problem, one that has gone largely unacknowledged (at least by government), is that we will forever be vulnerable by virtue of our geography. Guns are being smuggled in from the U.S. by cars, trucks, even drones – and that’s something that tweaking the Firearms Act is never going to address. Canada could ban all guns tomorrow, making it so that not a single person in this country could legally possess a firearm, and yet we’d still be more vulnerable than, say, the U.K., because the Brits don’t share a border with a country with more guns than people, and you can’t fly a drone from Michigan to Lancashire.”
Don Braid (The Calgary Herald) on the UCP erupting again over Premier Jason Kenney’s claims about anti-vaxxers: “Many UCP politicians and activists are furious at Premier Jason Kenney for blaming his forced exit on anti-vaccine militants. “Why is this guy still allowed in front of a microphone, saying things like this?” says one prominent UCP MLA, who asks not to be named. “It’s frustrating and divisive and not reflective of where Alberta is going as a whole. It’s time to move on.” The party critics say Kenney is refusing to admit his own failings, which they consider a far larger factor in the party rebellion than anti-vaccine sentiment.”
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British Columbians could find out who wins the provincial election on Oct. 19 in about the same time it took to start counting ballots in previous votes.
Andrew Watson, a spokesman for Elections BC, says new electronic vote tabulators mean officials hope to have half of the preliminary results for election night reported within about 30 minutes, and to be substantially complete within an hour of polls closing.
Watson says in previous general elections — where votes have been counted manually — they didn’t start the tallies until about 45 minutes after polls closed.
This will B.C.’s first general election using electronic tabulators after the system was tested in byelections in 2022 and 2023, and Watson says the changes will make the process both faster and more accessible.
Voters still mark their candidate on a paper ballot that will then be fed into the electronic counter, while networked laptops will be used to look up peoples’ names and cross them off the voters list.
One voting location in each riding will also offer various accessible voting methods for the first time, where residents will be able to listen to an audio recording of the candidates and make their selection using either large paddles or by blowing into or sucking on a straw.
The province’s three main party leaders are campaigning across B.C. today with NDP Leader David Eby in Chilliwack promising to double apprenticeships for skilled trades, Conservative Leader John Rustad in Prince George talking power generation, and Greens Leader Sonia Furstenau holding an announcement Thursday about mental health.
It comes as a health-care advocacy group wants to know where British Columbia politicians stand on six key issues ahead of an election it says will decide the future of public health in the province.
The BC Health Coalition wants improved care for seniors, universal access to essential medicine, better access to primary care, reduced surgery wait times, and sustainable working conditions for health-care workers.
It also wants pledges to protect funding for public health care, asking candidates to phase out contracts to profit-driven corporate providers that it says are draining funds from public services.
Ayendri Riddell, the coalition’s director of policy and campaigns, said in a statement that British Columbians need to know if parties will commit to solutions “beyond the political slogans” in campaigning for the Oct. 19 election.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.
In Canadian parliamentary democracy, a vote of no confidence (also known as a confidence motion) is a crucial mechanism that can force a sitting government to resign or call an election. It is typically initiated when the opposition, or even members of the ruling party, believe that the government has lost the support of the majority in the House of Commons.
What Is a Vote of No Confidence?
A vote of no confidence is essentially a test of whether the government, led by the prime minister, still commands the support of the majority of Members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons. If the government loses such a vote, it is either required to resign or request the dissolution of Parliament, leading to a general election.
This process upholds one of the fundamental principles of Canadian democracy: the government must maintain the confidence of the elected House of Commons to govern. This rule ensures accountability and provides a check on the government’s power.
How Many Votes Are Needed for a No Confidence Motion?
In the Canadian House of Commons, there are 338 seats. To pass a vote of no confidence, a simple majority of MPs must vote in favor of the motion. This means that at least 170 MPs must vote in support of the motion to cause the government to lose confidence.
If the government holds a minority of seats, it is more vulnerable to such a vote. In this case, the opposition parties could band together to reach the 170 votes required for the no-confidence motion to succeed. In a majority government, the ruling party has more than half the seats, making it more difficult for a vote of no confidence to pass, unless there is significant dissent within the ruling party itself.
Types of Confidence Votes
Explicit Confidence Motions: These are motions specifically introduced to test whether the government still holds the confidence of the House. For example, the opposition might move a motion stating, “That this House has no confidence in the government.”
Implicit Confidence Motions: Some votes are automatically considered confidence motions, even if they are not explicitly labeled as such. The most common example is the approval of the federal budget. If a government loses a vote on its budget, it is seen as losing the confidence of the House.
Key Legislation: Occasionally, the government may declare certain pieces of legislation as confidence matters. This could be done to ensure the support of the ruling party and its allies, as a loss on such a bill would mean the collapse of the government.
What Happens If the Government Loses a Confidence Vote?
If a government loses a confidence vote in the House of Commons, two outcomes are possible:
Resignation and New Government Formation: The prime minister may resign, and the governor general can invite another leader, typically the leader of the opposition, to try to form a new government that can command the confidence of the House.
Dissolution of Parliament and General Election: The prime minister can request that the governor general dissolve Parliament, triggering a general election. This gives voters the opportunity to elect a new Parliament and government.
Historical Context of Confidence Votes in Canada
Canada has seen several instances of votes of no confidence, particularly during minority government situations. For example, in 2011, the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper lost a vote of confidence over contempt of Parliament, which led to the dissolution of Parliament and the federal election.
Historically, most no-confidence votes are associated with budgetary issues or key pieces of legislation. They can be rare, especially in majority governments, as the ruling party usually has enough support to avoid defeat in the House of Commons.
To pass a vote of no confidence in Canada, at least 170 MPs out of 338 must vote in favor of the motion. This vote can lead to the government’s resignation or a general election, making it a powerful tool in ensuring that the government remains accountable to the elected representatives of the people. In the context of Canadian democracy, the vote of no confidence is a key safeguard of parliamentary oversight and political responsibility.
OTTAWA – A senior federal official says the government is mulling new ways to inform the public about possible foreign interference developments during an election campaign.
Under the current system, a panel of five top bureaucrats would issue a public warning if they believed an incident — or an accumulation of incidents — threatened Canada’s ability to have a free and fair election.
There was no such announcement concerning the 2019 or 2021 general elections.
Allen Sutherland, an assistant secretary to the federal cabinet, told a commission of inquiry today that officials are looking at how citizens might be told about developments that don’t quite reach the current threshold.
He said that would help inform people of things they ought to know more about, even if the incidents don’t rise to the level of threatening the overall integrity of an election.
Allegations of foreign interference in the last two general elections prompted calls for the public inquiry that is now underway.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.
