Former federal finance minister Bill Morneau says that when it came to COVID-19 pandemic aid policy, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the top advisers in his office favoured “scoring political points” over policy rationales, leading to him feeling like a “rubber stamp” ahead of his “inevitable” resignation.
“My job of providing counsel and direction where fiscal matters were concerned had deteriorated into serving as something between a figurehead and a rubber stamp,” he writes in his new book, out on Jan. 17.
In a one-on-one interview with CTV News’ Chief Political Correspondent Vassy Kapelos on her debut episode of CTV’s Question Period, Morneau opened up about the behind-the-scene tensions in the lead-up to his high-profile departure, and spoke to some of the most revealing portions in the book, titled ‘Where To from Here: A Path to Canadian Prosperity.’
“It became unsustainable,” Morneau said in reference to what was behind his decision in August 2020 to resign both as finance minister and Toronto Centre MP. This move came six months into the federal government’s COVID-19 aid rollout and amid the WE Charity controversy.
At the time, despite assertions from the prime minister that Morneau had his confidence, there were leaks from sources suggesting a growing rift with Trudeau, in part over how the federal government was handling COVID-19 economic stimulus programs. Programs Morneau now thinks the Liberals “probably” overspent on.
“The differences of opinion, they led us to have conclusions around whether we could work together that were mutual. So, whether it was about leaks, or whether it was about that difference in vision, I think it was pretty inevitable that five years for me was a great run, but it was time to move on,” Morneau said in the interview.
As the book reveals, Morneau felt that Trudeau’s government and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) became preoccupied with how things were perceived at the expense of good policy, and how this led to one of the worst moments of his political life.
He writes that while he’s impressed with how many positive policy decisions were taken “on the fly” in the early pandemic days, as the federal government faced pressure to react to the 24/7 news cycle and to be seen to be responding to the needs of key voter demographics such as seniors, “policy rationales were tossed aside in favour of scoring political points.”
“We lost the agenda. During the period when the largest government expenditures as a portion of GDP were made in the shortest time since the advent of World War II, calculations and recommendations from the Ministry of Finance were basically disregarded in favour of winning a popularity contest,” he writes.
Asked about this, Morneau told Kapelos that, to be fair to both sides, what Trudeau and his team were trying to do was appropriately ensure that Canadians had the confidence that they could weather the health and economic challenges of COVID-19, while finance officials were thinking about how to get the economy through the pandemic.
“I think one of the important threads in my book… is that the challenge of our modern-day government in the 24/7 news cycle is something that people have an incentive to react to… And when you do that, your ability to focus on the long-term, your ability to focus on growth in the economy, your ability to focus on the energy transition, your ability to focus on not just a one-year solution for health care, but an enduring solution for a generation is challenged,” he said.
Morneau said that’s a view he shared while he was around the cabinet table, and is a challenge that every government is facing.
“What I want to say is that good policy can be good politics… It is an enduring challenge, and it requires strong leadership.”
WAS TENSION WITH TRUDEAU THE ‘ENTIRE TIME’
The former finance minister starts his book off with a chapter called “Conversation in an Empty Room,” in which he details the conversation he had at Rideau Cottage with the prime minister in the summer of 2020 when he told Trudeau that he’d be leaving.
He writes it was one of the “very few” times the two had discussed something in private without any other advisers or sources of counsel in the room which “simply didn’t happen” in Trudeau’s world.
“Virtually any topic you wanted to discuss with the prime minister—official or informal, strategy or gossip—had to be shared in the presence of members of his staff,” he writes.
Morneau writes that he was “walking away from a job I had loved,” but that the “differences” between the two became too much to surpass. He suggests in the book that had the pair had a more “robust relationship” to fall back on, perhaps things could have been different.
In the interview, Morneau said that there was a “healthy tension”— as he thinks there should be between the finance minister and prime minister— “during the entire time” they were in office together. But, once they entered the “pressure cooker” of the pandemic, those tensions frayed further.
Morneau said in the early days of the government’s COVID-19 response, the two were “very aligned” in agreeing on the need to support Canadians who were out of work. But, as the COVID-19 waves continued, he and the Department of Finance were interested in trying to plot out how the multibillion-dollar aid programs could be tapered off.
“So, that was quite a difference of opinion, and really led to a situation where the sustainability of our relationship was, was not there.”
‘ONE OF THE WORST MOMENTS OF MY POLITICAL LIFE’
One of the examples of differences of opinion Morneau cites in his book is how the Liberals handled the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS).
He writes that the night before the program was unveiled, he had presented a package of research done by his department and himself, and felt that there was an agreement with Trudeau about how to proceed.
But then, the next morning he watched the prime minister unveil “with great pride” that “the amount of money made available to individual businesses via CEWS… a figure significantly higher than we had agreed was the highest we should go the previous evening!”
Morneau called it “one of the worst moments of my political life.”
“In a moment where I saw us taking decisions that were more significant than I thought we needed, it was frankly, extremely frustrating,” Morneau said in the interview. “I think in that moment, you know, it started to sow the seeds of a challenge. That we just weren’t going to be able to recover.”
The wage subsidy program ended up being the most expensive of the suite of COVID-19 financial assistance programs, with a recent Auditor General report putting the price tag at $100.7 billion.
Ultimately, as he writes in the book, Morneau felt that his job “had deteriorated into serving as something between a figurehead and a rubber stamp.”
“That’s not why I wanted the position of finance minister, and it’s not why it was created in the first place,” he writes.
REGRETS OVER HANDLING OF WE CHARITY?
In the interview, Morneau was also asked about whether he had regrets about how he handled another major political controversy that was at play in the lead up to his departure: the WE Charity matter.
After paying back more than $41,000 in travel expenses for two trips his family took with the charity, and apologizing for not recusing himself from cabinet conversations about having WE administer an eventually-axed $912-million student grant program, in 2021 federal Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion found that Morneau had placed himself in a conflict of interest “on several occasions,” in connection to the contract.
As he did at the time, Morneau said that the government’s motivations were to find a way amid the chaos of COVID-19, to support students, but he is sorry that he didn’t walk out of the room when the program came up.
“For sure, I should have recused myself… I was clear then, I am clear in the book… I wish I had done differently then,” he said. “There were a lot of things going on, but we can always do better. And I think it’s important to remember that in government, that responsibility is you know, an enduring responsibility.”
IS HIS TIME IN POLITICS OVER?
Asked whether now, after looking back, he’d consider returning to politics, Morneau was noncommittal, but appeared to indicate that at this stage, he’s focused on finding ways to have impact from the private sector.
“Let me just say, I really enjoyed my time in office. It’s exciting to be at the centre of what’s going on in the country. But more importantly, it’s really meaningful to be able to have a big impact on the country. So I very much enjoyed the time doing that. I think that right now the things that I can do, I think I can add more value outside of that life,” he said.
Kapelos followed up, asking whether that means never, or just not now.
“Politics is all about timing. And I think the timing for me now is to be back in the private sector, to find a way to make an impact there,” Morneau said in response.
CTV’s Question Period reached out to Trudeau’s office for comment on Morneau’s accusations and as of publication has not received a response.
With files from CTV News’ Chief Political Correspondent Vassy Kapelos
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.
