Quebec Premier François Legault says he has asked the province’s police force to help any candidates in the provincial election who feel unsafe given a wave of threats and harassment.
The leader of the Coalition Avenir Québec made the comment Thursday during an ongoing national debate on the safety of politicians and the harassment of journalists, particularly those from racialized communities.
Earlier this week, a Liberal incumbent in a Montreal provincial riding disclosed a man called her local police station last week and told them to go to her street, saying they would find her dead body there. A man has been arrested and released in the case. Story here from CBC.
Referring to threats against politicians, Mr. Legault said, according to the Montreal Gazette, that there are more threats, some on social media and others “real threats” and that the trend is not acceptable.
“I have asked the Sûreté du Québec to make themselves available for all candidates who feel threatened. It think it’s important for the SQ to actively supervise,” Mr. Legault said in the city of Trois-Rivières.
He added that everyone has a responsibility to avoid stirring up anger. “I am thinking of candidates and leaders and even the population in general. This is not the kind of society we want, to see such threats. It seems to be this is not the Quebec we love.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday the harassment of journalists and other public figures is a systemic issue that the country’s police officers need to take seriously.
At a news conference in Winnipeg, Mr. Trudeau said Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino would be conveying that view to the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police in a meeting also scheduled for Thursday.
He called a pattern of threats against journalists, especially racialized journalists, “absolutely unacceptable’ and said he agreed with the view of an open letter from the Canadian Association of Journalists that individual complaints against journalists should not be seen in a vacuum.
“When the Minister of Public Safety sits down with the association of national chiefs of police, this afternoon, he will be bringing forward an expectation that police forces across this country take seriously, very seriously, not just individual issues but as a systemic issue, this pattern of intimidation attacks on people who serve their country lie journalists,” said Mr. Trudeau.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
NEW COVID-19 VACCINE APPROVED – Health Canada has approved a new COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna that targets both the original strain of the novel coronavirus and the Omicron variant. Story here.
QUEBEC ELECTION – François Legault, leader of the Coalition Avenir Québec, is standing by his party’s language law reform despite criticism from business leaders who say the legislation will make it harder to recruit talent and will cause enormous damage to the economy. Story here.
ATLANTIC PREMIERS SEEK MORE TIME ON CARBON PRICING – A day before the deadline for provinces to submit their plans to the federal government for how they will price carbon until 2030, Atlantic premiers are asking for more time. Story here from CBC.
SUGAR-SWEETENED DRINKS TAX LAUNCHED – Beginning today, consumers in Newfoundland and Labrador will be paying 20 cents more per litre for sugar-sweetened drinks as part of a new tax. Story here.
DELAY IN ORTIS TRIAL – The trial of RCMP employee Cameron Jay Ortis, accused of breaching Canada’s secrecy law, has been delayed a year after a new defence lawyer took on his case. Story here.
RODRIGUEZ BREAKS SILENCE – Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez has broken his silence over his department’s funding of an agency whose senior consultant posted a series of tweets about “Jewish white supremacists,” more than a week after the government cut off the money. Story here.
TRUDEAU DEFENDS CSIS – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is defending the Canadian Security Intelligence Service after details contained in a new book revived controversy over its overseas operations and how it used informants to gain insight into the Islamic State. Story here.
IRONIC BIKE THEFT – A Winnipeg mayoral candidate had his bicycle stolen this week less than 90 minutes after announcing a cycling-infrastructure plan that included plans to reduce bike theft. Story here from CBC.
CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RACE
CAMPAIGN TRAIL – Scott Aitchison is campaigning virtually. Jean Charest is in Montreal. Leslyn Lewis is in Scarborough, Richmond Hill and Brampton. Pierre Poilievre is in Ottawa. There’s no word on the campaign itinerary of Roman Baber.
PLAIN LANGUAGE PLAN – Pierre Poilievre, as prime minister, would force the federal government to stop using overly complex bureaucratic wording by passing a law that will require the use of “plain language.” Story here from The National Post.
`CONSERVATIVE’ DROPPED FROM ORGANIZATION TITLE – Rick Peterson, a former candidate for the leadership of the federal Conservatives, explains here why the Centre Ice Conservatives group is dropping `Conservatives’ from the title of their organization.
PROFILE OF ROMAN BABER – The 42-year-old candidate for the leadership of the Conservative party is a folk hero to people who oppose COVID-19 lockdowns, but dismisses the idea that he ever engaged in misinformation. Story here.
THIS AND THAT
COMMONS NOT SITTING – The House of Commons is not sitting again until Sept. 19. The Senate is to resume sitting on Sept. 20.
NEW SUPREME COURT JUSTICE SWORN IN – Michelle O’Bonsawin was officially sworn in as a Supreme Court of Canada justice on Thursday in what a statement from the court described as a small private ceremony. She is the first Indigenous judge to sit on the Supreme Court of Canada. Marsha McLeod reported here on Justice O’Bonsawin’s appearance last month at a hearing in Ottawa where parliamentarians from both the Senate and House of Commons questioned her.
FREELAND IN TORONTO – Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland is holding private meetings in Toronto.
BENNETT IN SUDBURY – Mental Health Minister Carolyn Bennett, in Sudbury, announced funding to prevent and address family violence in the City of Greater Sudbury, and held a media availability.
DUCLOS IN GASPE- Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos held a virtual news conference, from Gaspé, on the importance of COVID-19 vaccination heading into the fall.
FRASER IN NEW WATERFORD – Immigration Minister Sean Fraser, in New Waterford, Nova Scotia, visited an Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada application processing centre and took media questions.
GUILBEAULT IN WEST VANCOUVER – Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, in West Vancouver, announced more than $926,000 in federal funding for the Átl’ka7tsem / Howe Sound Biosphere Region to protect nature.
THE DECIBEL
Thursday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast deals with issues around the health impacts of alcoholic drinks. A new report from the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse and Addiction says if you have three or more alcoholic drinks in a week, you’re putting your health at risk. Dr. Catherine Paradis – co-chair of this new report – talks on the Decibel about lessons on how alcohol impacts health, the new guidelines the CCSA hopes Canadians will follow and why they want mandatory portion labels on alcoholic drinks. The Decibel is here.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
In Winnipeg, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with students at Université de Saint-Boniface, took media questions, met with Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson, and was scheduled to meet with parents and children at a children’s centre.
LEADERS
No schedules released for party leaders.
OPINION
David Parkinson (The Globe and Mail)on the harassment of Chrystia Freeland and the perils of the public-facing politician: “Back in June, I chatted with Ms. Freeland about her freewheeling tendencies. Yes, she confirmed, she bikes alone – staff meet her at her next meeting or event, but no one comes along for the ride. No, she confirmed, her team isn’t super happy about it. But the time alone is important to her, both personally and professionally. It clears the head, provides some alone time, gives her a sense of normalcy and control of her life. (Who wouldn’t want that, right?) She acknowledged there are dangers. A couple of times, she has been “doored” – knocked off her bike by a careless driver opening a car door into her path. She has simply called her staff on her cellphone from the curb, to explain why she was about to be late for the next meeting.”
Robyn Urback (The Globe and Mail)on how the Doug Ford government is betting Ontarians won’t care about relocating seniors without their consent: “Just imagine the howls that would emanate from the opposition benches if an OntarioLiberal government rammed through legislation, bypassing committee hearings and public consultation, to expedite the transfer of patients from hospitals to long-term care homes. The Progressive Conservatives would be apoplectic: “This arrogant Liberal government thinks it knows best when it comes to our vulnerable seniors,” they’d huff, citing their own party’s fidelity to the conventional democratic process. “Instead of listening to families, to health care professionals and to advocates for the elderly, they are taking a ‘government knows best’ approach to people’s lives. This is totally wrong!” Alas, we all know that indignation is contingent on which team is bypassing conventional democratic processes and which is standing impotently on the sidelines. That’s why members of the PC caucus are apparently A-okay with rushing through legislation without the input of stakeholders and experts.”
Konrad Yakabuski (The Globe and Mail)on Quebec’s parties breaking the bank to woo voters in a fight (so far) for second place: “The Quebec election campaign is only a few days old, but the five main parties – yes, five – vying for seats in the National Assembly are breaking the bank with promises of tax cuts and free money that threaten the province’s hard-won fiscal health. The Quebec Liberal Party got the ball rolling even before Sunday’s official launch of the campaign by vowing to reduce the tax rate on income below $92,000 by 1.5 percentage points. The Conservative Party of Quebec outdid the Liberals by promising a two-percentage-point cut, a move it said would mean savings of more than $2,700 a year for a family earning $80,000.”
Amit Arya and Samir Sinha (Contributed to the Globe and Mail) on how forcing seniors into long-term care is not the solution to the hospital crisis: “If the Ontario government was serious about addressing the health care crisis, they would start by addressing the biggest problem, which is not directly related to a lack of beds, but rather, a lack of available staff to care for the people in those beds. Instead, they are pitting sectors against each other and proposing to strip the fundamental right of being able to consent around key health care decisions. This puts physicians like us in a situation where even allowing our patients to become designated as ALC in hospital could potentially cause them unnecessary harm and suffering. Finally, blaming vulnerable patients who don’t want to be waiting in hospitals as long as they can get into the LTC homes of their choice is more than deeply disturbing – it is ageist and ableist.”
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OTTAWA – The federal agency that investigates election infractions found insufficient evidence to support suggestions Beijing wielded undue influence against the Conservatives in the Vancouver area during the 2021 general election.
The Commissioner of Canada Elections’ recently completed review of the lingering issue was tabled Tuesday at a federal inquiry into foreign interference.
The review focused on the unsuccessful campaign of Conservative candidate Kenny Chiu in the riding of Steveston-Richmond East and the party’s larger efforts in the Vancouver area.
It says the evidence uncovered did not trigger the threshold to initiate a formal investigation under the Canada Elections Act.
Investigators therefore recommended that the review be concluded.
A summary of the review results was shared with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the RCMP. The review says both agencies indicated the election commissioner’s findings were consistent with their own understanding of the situation.
During the exercise, the commissioner’s investigators met with Chinese Canadian residents of Chiu’s riding and surrounding ones.
They were told of an extensive network of Chinese Canadian associations, businesses and media organizations that offers the diaspora a lifestyle that mirrors that of China in many ways.
“Further, this diaspora has continuing and extensive commercial, social and familial relations with China,” the review says.
Some interviewees reported that this “has created aspects of a parallel society involving many Chinese Canadians in the Lower Mainland area, which includes concerted support, direction and control by individuals from or involved with China’s Vancouver consulate and the United Front Work Department (UFWD) in China.”
Investigators were also made aware of members of three Chinese Canadian associations, as well as others, who were alleged to have used their positions to influence the choice of Chinese Canadian voters during the 2021 election in a direction favourable to the interests of Beijing, the review says.
These efforts were sparked by elements of the Conservative party’s election platform and by actions and statements by Chiu “that were leveraged to bolster claims that both the platform and Chiu were anti-China and were encouraging anti-Chinese discrimination and racism.”
These messages were amplified through repetition in social media, chat groups and posts, as well as in Chinese in online, print and radio media throughout the Vancouver area.
Upon examination, the messages “were found to not be in contravention” of the Canada Elections Act, says the review, citing the Supreme Court of Canada’s position that the concept of uninhibited speech permeates all truly democratic societies and institutions.
The review says the effectiveness of the anti-Conservative, anti-Chiu campaigns was enhanced by circumstances “unique to the Chinese diaspora and the assertive nature of Chinese government interests.”
It notes the election was prefaced by statements from China’s ambassador to Canada and the Vancouver consul general as well as articles published or broadcast in Beijing-controlled Chinese Canadian media entities.
“According to Chinese Canadian interview subjects, this invoked a widespread fear amongst electors, described as a fear of retributive measures from Chinese authorities should a (Conservative) government be elected.”
This included the possibility that Chinese authorities could interfere with travel to and from China, as well as measures being taken against family members or business interests in China, the review says.
“Several Chinese Canadian interview subjects were of the view that Chinese authorities could exercise such retributive measures, and that this fear was most acute with Chinese Canadian electors from mainland China. One said ‘everybody understands’ the need to only say nice things about China.”
However, no interview subject was willing to name electors who were directly affected by the anti-Tory campaign, nor community leaders who claimed to speak on a voter’s behalf.
Several weeks of public inquiry hearings will focus on the capacity of federal agencies to detect, deter and counter foreign meddling.
In other testimony Tuesday, Conservative MP Garnett Genuis told the inquiry that parliamentarians who were targeted by Chinese hackers could have taken immediate protective steps if they had been informed sooner.
It emerged earlier this year that in 2021 some MPs and senators faced cyberattacks from the hackers because of their involvement with the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, which pushes for accountability from Beijing.
In 2022, U.S. authorities apparently informed the Canadian government of the attacks, and it in turn advised parliamentary IT officials — but not individual MPs.
Genuis, a Canadian co-chair of the inter-parliamentary alliance, told the inquiry Tuesday that it remains mysterious to him why he wasn’t informed about the attacks sooner.
Liberal MP John McKay, also a Canadian co-chair of the alliance, said there should be a clear protocol for advising parliamentarians of cyberthreats.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
WINNIPEG – The federal New Democrats have kept a longtime stronghold in the Elmwood-Transcona riding in Winnipeg.
The NDP’s Leila Dance won a close battle over Conservative candidate Colin Reynolds, and says the community has spoken in favour of priorities such as health care and the cost of living.
Elmwood-Transcona has elected a New Democrat in every election except one since the riding was formed in 1988.
The seat became open after three-term member of Parliament Daniel Blaikie resigned in March to take a job with the Manitoba government.
A political analyst the NDP is likely relieved to have kept the seat in what has been one of their strongest urban areas.
Christopher Adams, an adjunct professor of political studies at the University of Manitoba, says NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh worked hard to keep the seat in a tight race.
“He made a number of visits to Winnipeg, so if they had lost this riding it would have been disastrous for the NDP,” Adams said.
The strong Conservative showing should put wind in that party’s sails, Adams added, as their percentage of the popular vote in Elmwood-Transcona jumped sharply from the 2021 election.
“Even though the Conservatives lost this (byelection), they should walk away from it feeling pretty good.”
Dance told reporters Monday night she wants to focus on issues such as the cost of living while working in Ottawa.
“We used to be able to buy a cart of groceries for a hundred dollars and now it’s two small bags. That is something that will affect everyone in this riding,” Dance said.
Liberal candidate Ian MacIntyre placed a distant third,
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau say the Liberals have “all sorts of reflections” to make after losing a second stronghold in a byelection in Montreal Monday night.
His comments come as the Liberal cabinet gathers for its first regularly scheduled meeting of the fall sitting of Parliament, which began Monday.
Trudeau’s Liberals were hopeful they could retain the Montreal riding of LaSalle—Émard—Verdun, but those hopes were dashed after the Bloc Québécois won it in an extremely tight three-way race with the NDP.
Louis-Philippe Sauvé, an administrator at the Institute for Research in Contemporary Economics, beat Liberal candidate Laura Palestini by less than 250 votes. The NDP finished about 600 votes back of the winner.
It is the second time in three months that Trudeau’s party lost a stronghold in a byelection. In June, the Conservatives defeated the Liberals narrowly in Toronto-St. Paul’s.
The Liberals won every seat in Toronto and almost every seat on the Island of Montreal in the last election, and losing a seat in both places has laid bare just how low the party has fallen in the polls.
“Obviously, it would have been nicer to be able to win and hold (the Montreal riding), but there’s more work to do and we’re going to stay focused on doing it,” Trudeau told reporters ahead of this morning’s cabinet meeting.
When asked what went wrong for his party, Trudeau responded “I think there’s all sorts of reflections to take on that.”
In French, he would not say if this result puts his leadership in question, instead saying his team has lots of work to do.
Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet will hold a press conference this morning, but has already said the results are significant for his party.
“The victory is historic and all of Quebec will speak with a stronger voice in Ottawa,” Blanchet wrote on X, shortly after the winner was declared.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and his party had hoped to ride to a win in Montreal on the popularity of their candidate, city councillor Craig Sauvé, and use it to further their goal of replacing the Liberals as the chief alternative to the Conservatives.
The NDP did hold on to a seat in Winnipeg in a tight race with the Conservatives, but the results in Elmwood-Transcona Monday were far tighter than in the last several elections. NDP candidate Leila Dance defeated Conservative Colin Reynolds by about 1,200 votes.
Singh called it a “big victory.”
“Our movement is growing — and we’re going to keep working for Canadians and building that movement to stop Conservative cuts before they start,” he said on social media.
“Big corporations have had their governments. It’s the people’s time.”
New Democrats recently pulled out of their political pact with the government in a bid to distance themselves from the Liberals, making the prospects of a snap election far more likely.
Trudeau attempted to calm his caucus at their fall retreat in Nanaimo, B.C, last week, and brought former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney on as an economic adviser in a bid to shore up some credibility with voters.
The latest byelection loss will put more pressure on him as leader, with many polls suggesting voter anger is more directed at Trudeau himself than at Liberal policies.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
