The Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador is taking issue with a looming increase in federal carbon pricing planned by the Liberal government.
In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sent today, Andrew Furey called for restraint.
At issue is a scheduled April 1 increase in the price of carbon pollution by $15 a tonne as part of a plan to keep increasing the price until 2030.
Furey, a Liberal, said the measure is “causing understandable worry” as people consider how they will manage the “mounting financial strain.”
“We ask for the collaboration of the federal government to address the ramifications of the current challenges families face and not compound them,” Furey wrote.
“I respectfully request that you consider pausing the implementation of the April 1st carbon tax increase – at least until inflation subsides, interest rates lower and related economic pressures on the cost of living sufficiently cool.”
Furey has long been critical of federal carbon pricing, expressing concerns about a disproportionate effect on rural Canadians.
The federal Conservatives led by Pierre Poilievre have also been sharply critical of carbon pricing in general and the looming increase in particular.
More than 2,000 people reportedly attending a Sunday rally in the Toronto-area community of Etobicoke convened to protest the pricing hike.
In a posting on social-media platform X today, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, a Progressive Conservative, wrote that he couldn’t agree more with Furey and that the federal government needs to end the carbon tax. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, leader of her province’s United Conservative Party, also offered her support on X, saying her province stands with Newfoundland.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
Former prosecutors make up most of Ontario government’s judicial picks, raising concerns over balance: According to a Globe and Mail analysis of the 107 judges named since the Progressive Conservatives came to power in 2018, 76 were either Crown attorneys or had conducted prosecutions while in private practice, a proportion that works out to 71 per cent.
The small-town opioid crisis hidden in the big-city shadow: Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., and communities of similar size often face higher overdose rates than big cities, but they don’t get the same amount of national attention or resources. Local advocates say that has to change.
Trudeau says global coalition close to finding path to restoring stability in Haiti: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had spoken to the Prime Minister of Haiti and pledged help for the beleaguered Caribbean nation – where armed gangs are threatening to topple the government.
SaltWire newspaper chain files for creditor protection: Documents filed in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia say the the largest newspaper business in Atlantic Canada, whose operations include the 150-year-old Chronicle Herald in Halifax, is more than $94-million in debt.
Margaret Atwood calls online harms bill ‘Orwellian,’ notes potential for abuse: The noted Canadian authorsaid she has been the frequent target of “hate speech, online vilification, lies, threats and doxxing,” and is “no fan of this kind of online behaviour,” but that she is “also no fan of unsupervised authority acting under vague laws, without any oversight.”
Accused killers in B.C. go unprosecuted for murder as judges allege that police unit is flouting search laws: Court records indicate that in these and other cases involving B.C.’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, defence lawyers have successfully challenged police-gathered evidence by alleging breaches of their client’s rights because of police searches and seizures.
Quebec to present ‘restrained’ budget today amid economic stagnation: Quebec Premier François Legault has signalled that today’s budget will have a larger deficit than last year’s forecast.
THIS AND THAT
Commons, Senate Break: The House of Commons is on a break until next Monday. The Senate sits again on March 19.
Deputy Prime Minister’s day: Chrystia Freeland is in Vancouver with no public events scheduled.
Ministers on the road: Health Minister Mark Holland, in Whitehorse with Yukon Health Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee, announced agreements to invest nearly $86-million to improve health care. Justice Minister Arif Virani, in Toronto, announced $2.1-million in funding to support three Indigenous-led projects to address the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the justice system.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
Justin Trudeau met with Natan Obed, the president of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the national organization representing the interests of Inuit in Canada
LEADERS
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre attends a fundraising event at the Sláinte whiskey bar in St. John’s.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May is travelling from Victoria to Ottawa.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in Coquitlam, B.C., held a news conference, played host to a community forum on dental care and spoke at the Coquitlam Nowruz Fire Festival, marking the Persian New Year.
No schedule provided for Bloc Québecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet.
THE DECIBEL
On today’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, health reporter Kelly Grant, explains the history of hormone replacement therapy use, the culture shift around our views on menopause and where this all leaves people dealing with its symptoms. The Decibel is here.
BOOKS
Poilievre biography coming: Andrew Lawton, of the small-c conservative digital platform True North, has written a biography of federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre that will be published on May 28 by Sutherland House Books. Ken Whyte, Sutherland founder and president, said Lawton has been working on Pierre Poilievre: A Political Life since the Ottawa-area MP won his party’s leadership in 2022, and that Poilievre did not co-operate with the project. “It’s not in any sense an authorized biography, although a number of the people closest to him – politically and personally – did speak,” Whyte said in a statement. Lawton said, in his own statement, that he relied on sources in the public record going back to Poilievre’s adolescence, conducted dozens of interviews with current and former friends, colleagues (including in caucus), and aides. He noted he incorporated interviews he has done with Poilievre on his show into the book. Whyte said the goal of the book was “to write a fair and revealing biography of a man who is already reshaping Canadian politics and who is likely to be our next PM, and to demonstrate how he is very much a product of our last three decades of political history.”
Fullerton on Ontario pandemic response: Former Ontario cabinet minister Merrilee Fullerton says she has a book coming that covers Ontario’s pandemic response. Fullerton says chapters of A Physician in the Political Arena: Ethics, Duty and the Pandemic will be released on her substack page, one chapter at a time, starting March 16. “In part, this book is an account of the Ontario government’s response to the pandemic and the impact COVID-19 had on the province’s long-term care sector – as told from my perspective, both as a physician and the minister of long-term care,” Fullerton writes on substack. She was an Ottawa-area member of the legislature from 2018 until she resigned suddenly in 2023.
TRIBUTE
Roger Gibbins: The University of Calgary political scientist and president of the Canada West Foundation has died, with Premier Danielle Smith calling him “a leading figure in the development of Western Canada’s political identity over the last 40 years.”
OPINION
The battle for American democracy starts now
“With the Super Tuesday primaries in the rear-view mirror and a rematch between Donald Trump and Joe Biden set in motion, the U.S. presidential race now shifts into the normal rhythms of any election campaign. There will be barnstorming, promises, gaffes, polls, lies, half-truths and invented controversies, all of them devouring the front pages until the vote on Nov. 5. But this is anything but a normal election: it is, as Mr. Biden is trying to convince voters, a battle for the soul of the world’s oldest democracy. A victory for Mr. Biden would be victory for liberal democratic values around the globe.” – The Globe and Mail Editorial Board.
Stop undervaluing the contributions that international students make to Canada
“Economic immigrants – people with advanced education and professional experience who can easily slot into high-need sectors of their new country’s work force – are celebrated as essential contributors to Canada’s prosperity, and rightly so. Why, then, are international students increasingly derided as second-rate immigrants of limited utility to Canada – people who are not actually here to learn, but rather to game the immigration system by posing as pupils, placing undue pressure on housing in the process?” – Daniel Bernhard
The GTA and Quebec still stand in the way of the Pierre Poilievre juggernaut
“Poilievre doesn’t have anything near the ability of Mulroney to talk with Quebeckers. His French, while competent, remains stilted. He’s learned the words but not the music.” – Tom Mulcair, CTV
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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.
Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.
A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”
Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.
“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.
In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”
“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”
Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.
Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.
Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.
“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.
“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.
“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.
“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”
“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.
Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.
She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.
Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.
Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.
The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.
Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.
“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.
“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”
The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.
In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.
“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”
In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.
“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”
Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.
Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.
“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”
In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.
In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.
“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”
Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.
“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”
The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.
“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.
“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
