Canada’s premiers and territorial leaders are in Victoria for a summer meeting where health care and affordability are expected to be among the issues discussed.
Leaders gathering Monday are looking to the federal Liberal government to increase the money it provides the provinces to pay for health care.
“We have a strong group of premiers from all different political stripes, and there’s one message: We need more support from the federal government,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Sunday, speaking to the health care issue.
The premiers are hoping to press the government for increased Canada Health Transfer funding.
But meeting chair John Horgan, the premier of British Columbia, told CBC Radio’s The House, in an interview available here, that there has been little response from Ottawa to provincial and territorial concerns. “As the kids say, we have been ghosted by the federal government,” he said.
The meeting runs until Tuesday afternoon, concluding with a news conference.
Deputy Ottawa Bureau Chief Bill Curry and I looked here at the health transfer issue last week.
There’s also a story here on how the affordability issue is set to crop up in talks
The premier of Canada’s most populous province talks in a story here about raising immigration and skilled labour-shortage issues.
And there will be at least one doctor in the house as the leaders meet, a premier who, according to a CBC story here, has, by professional necessity, kept his medical skills honed.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
U.S. DEFENDS CANADA’S TURBINE DECISION – The U.S. government defended Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to release Russian-owned gas turbines that had been stranded in a Montreal repair facility because of sanctions against Moscow. Story here.
INDUSTRY MINISTER MEETING WITH ROGERS AND OTHER CEOS – The chief executives of Canada’s major telecoms are scheduled to take part in a group conference call with the federal Industry Minister on Monday afternoon to discuss potential new measures aimed at enhancing network reliability after a widespread outage shut down Rogers Communications Inc.’s wireless and internet services on Friday. Story here. François-Philippe Champagne has scheduled a 4:30 p.m. ET news conference for his talks with the corporate leaders.
CALL FOR PM TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST ANTI-ABORTION GROUPS – Abortion rights advocacy groups are calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to defend reproductive rights in Canada by denying anti-abortion groups funding and revoking their charity status. Story here.
OTTAWA TOO EXPENSIVE FOR INTELLIGENCE JUNIOR STAFF – The military command responsible for collecting and assessing intelligence is trying to avoid posting junior staff to Ottawa because it has become too expensive to live in the capital region. Story here from the Ottawa Citizen.
TRUDEAU AT THE CALGARY STAMPEDE – Inch by inch. Step by step. It could be the lyrics to a country and western song featured at the Calgary Stampede, but in reality it was the progress Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was making Sunday as he attended a pancake breakfast in Calgary. Story here.
NEW AS IT HAPPENS HOST – CBC Journalist Nil Köksal is the new host of CBC Radio’s As It Happens, with her first show set for Sept. 5. Story here from CBC.
MORNEAU MEMOIRS TO BE TOUGH ON PM: GHOSTWRITER – The award-winning novelist who helped former finance minister Bill Morneau craft his memoir says the results are going to be tough on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Story here.
HURREN FACING NCC SUIT FOR RIDEAU HALL DAMAGE – The National Capital Commission is suing Corey Hurren for thousands of dollars to cover the cost of repairing the gate he damaged when he stormed the grounds of Rideau Hall in the summer of 2020. Story here from CBC.
SNAP ELECTION – The Hill Times looks here into speculation among MPs about the possibility of a snap election after the Sept. 10 conclusion of the the Conservative leadership contest, which Pierre Poilievre is expected to win.
CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RACE
CAMPAIGN TRAIL – Scott Aitchison is in the British Columbia riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands. Roman Baber is in Edmonton, holding a meet and greet event. Jean Charest is campaigning online and in Quebec. Leslyn Lewis is in British Columbia, with stops Monday in Duncan and Nanaimo. Pierre Poilievre is in Calgary.
POILIEVRE IN STAMPEDE SPOTLIGHT – Stampede political season in Calgary this year is a homecoming for Pierre Poilievre, making his front-runner status even more conspicuous at the latest gathering of Conservative leadership candidates. Story here.
POILIEVRE RETURNS TO OLD POLITICAL HAUNTS – Pierre Poilievre returned to his old university club, where 22 years ago he feuded with disqualified leadership rival Patrick Brown. CBC looks here at Mr. Poilievre’s past in the University of Calgary’s conservative club.
THIS AND THAT
The House of Commons is not sitting again until Sept. 19. The Senate is to resume sitting on Sept. 20.
NEW TERM FOR CHIEF SCIENCE ADVISOR – Dr. Mona Nemer has been reappointed as Canada’s Chief Science Advisor for a term of two years, the Prime Minister’s office announced Monday. As science advisor, Dr. Nemer provides advice to the Prime Minister and other members of cabinet to inform relevant public policy decisions. Details here.
PETITPAS TAYLOR IN NEW BRUNSWICK – Official Languages Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor, on behalf of Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, was scheduled Monday to make an announcement in Moncton on support for electric vehicle charging infrastructure in New Brunswick.
SIDHU IN GUATEMALA AND HONDURAS – Maninder Sidhu, parliamentary secretary to the Foreign Affairs Minister, is in Guatemala and Honduras from July 11 to 16. Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said in a statement that Mr. Sidhu will engage with human rights defenders, civil society representatives, business leaders and government officials, including the foreign ministers of Guatemala and Honduras, to discuss regional priorities.
THE DECIBEL
On Monday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, Globe health reporter Wency Leung talks about COVID-19, two and a half years into the pandemic, and why experts are calling for a return to indoor masking, and what we can expect from a new round of vaccines. The Decibel is here.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
In Montréal, Quebec, the Prime Minister participated in a roundtable discussion with Sun Youth and victims and survivors of violent crime, then was scheduled to visit a community leisure centre.
LEADERS
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in Toronto, meets with representatives of the Ontario Nurses’ Association.
No schedule for other party leaders.
PUBLIC OPINION
A new survey suggests there is a strong relationship between a person’s political perspective and their views on free speech in Canada. Respondents who lean right were more likely to believe there should be no limits on speech, including the right to express hateful and offensive opinions. Story here.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on how, from airlines to hospitals, not much is working in Canada this summer: “A lot of fundamental stuff isn’t working in Canada this summer. If the pandemic was the flap of a butterfly wing turned into a tornado, its consequences have exposed a fragility in the workings of this country that is far more worrisome than a delayed flight or a lost suitcase.”
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail)on how it’s time for both provincial and federal leaders to take responsibility for health care: “Quebec Premier François Legault was smart to fire up language and cultural issues in an election year, because he sure doesn’t want voters talking about his province’s stretched health care system. Ontario Premier Doug Ford was also keen to keep talk about health care to a minimum in the campaign that won him re-election in June. But this week, premiers gathering for a Council of the Federation meeting will point out – quite rightly – that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talked a lot about health care in last year’s election campaign, but he hasn’t done much about it since. Canada’s federal and provincial politicians are spending a lot of effort on deflecting responsibility for health care, rather than taking it on. Let’s hope we won’t get fooled again.”
Vass Bednar (contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how the Rogers outage is an opportunity to change how we think about our digital infrastructure: “Enormous advances in mobile tech have made Canada’s telecoms enormously powerful, and that power has consolidated in just five major players. That number threatens to get smaller, too, with the proposed Rogers-Shaw merger currently under review by Canada’s Competition Bureau. If the deal goes through, the company that caused so many Canadians to lose connection with each other would serve roughly 40 per cent of all households in English Canada. For me, though, the outage of Rogers cellular and wireless services was not primarily about the need for competition reform in Canada. Instead, it reinforced the idea that our telecommunication networks are vital public infrastructure that is controlled by private corporations. We’ve lost sight of that balance, despite the ways we rely on those networks.”
Bob Rae (contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how, in these trying times, I look for the works of George Orwell for inspiration: “I began reading the works of George Orwell in my early teens, starting with the allegorical novella Animal Farm and the dystopian science fiction of 1984. I was hooked, and bought every red Penguin paperback edition of Orwell I could find. I have been reading his works, and reading about him, ever since. Working at the United Nations has me thinking of Orwell and his observations more frequently these days, (I took note of what would have been his 119th birthday in late June). The UN at its best can be an institution that serves the greater good, but it has also, especially in recent months, been a place where words are twisted and lies abound. As certain state actors attempt to rewrite history and facts are turned on their heads, I often look to Orwell for guidance and wisdom.”
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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.
