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Premier Jason Kenney’s backers sincerely hope their Battle of Alberta ends the very night the monumental Flames-Oilers version begins.
There’s no certainty at all that the political fight ends Wednesday, even if Jason Kenney wins a majority
Premier Jason Kenney’s backers sincerely hope their Battle of Alberta ends the very night the monumental Flames-Oilers version begins.
Kenney will hold an event at Spruce Meadows for supporters, with media also attending, starting late afternoon Wednesday. The results from a vote on his leadership are expected by about 6 p.m.
“We’re anticipating a very exciting and intense evening with the eyes of the entire province glued to a bitterly contested battle, the result of which will reverberate across Alberta maybe for years to come,” says key Kenney campaigner Brock Harrison.
“Oh, and we’re also going to finally see the result of our leadership review.”
The count will come from Cynthia Moore, the UCP president, and chief returning officer Rick Orman.
Shortly after that, the Flames and the Oilers face off at the Saddledome for Game 1 of the second round of Stanley Cup playoff action.
Harrison says, “Although our results won’t be known until the early evening, we will absolutely make sure we’re all wrapped up in good time for people to settle in and watch the game.”
The unforgivable political sin for the next two weeks would be to interfere with the real Battle of Alberta.
In hockey, unlike politics, conflict is right out there on the ice. There’s a serious chance of sportsmanship breaking out, and we know it will be over by May 30 at the latest, with one team clearly the winner.
There’s no certainty at all that the political fight ends Wednesday, even if Kenney wins a majority and can technically stay on as party leader and premier.
Many of his opponents are in no mood to fall into line. New UCP member Brian Jean may not accept the result.
Other caucus members like Peter Guthrie, Angela Pitt and Leela Aheer are unlikely to reconcile with Kenney, even if he has a substantial majority.
The premier is being advised to purge the whole group from caucus, sending them to sit as Independents with already expelled members Todd Loewen and Drew Barnes.
Kenney may not follow that advice right away. Some effort at conciliation is possible.
But after all that’s been said and done in recent months — the anti-Kenney letters and comments from his own MLAs — it’s hard to imagine a sudden burst of goodwill popping up with the spring tulips.
And there’s a chance that the premier doesn’t get a majority and must resign; or that his majority is so small he would still be under extreme pressure to quit.
One curiosity is that the political result, unlike the hockey series, is already decided and has been since May 11.
That was the cutoff date for returned mail-in ballots to reach the auditor, Deloitte Canada in Edmonton. No ballots received later were allowed.
This return mail has been examined for voter verification but the actual ballots remain in their sealed envelopes. They will be opened and counted starting the morning of May 18 — this Wednesday.
Suspicion that envelopes were improperly handled may actually have been amplified by the party’s running livestream of voter ID verification. The sight of people repeatedly opening envelopes and discarding some paper seemed mysterious.
But even Kenney opponents who did some of the work (they were allowed by the party) say there’s no way the verification could have been gamed.
Once voter ID was established, the ballot envelopes were packed into clear plastic boxes, each sealed with a unique code.
When the votes are counted Wednesday, dozens of people will be present including scrutineers from hostile UCP riding associations.
That doesn’t answer questions about membership sales, some of which are now being investigated by Elections Alberta. In today’s political climate, there’s always doubt.
That’s one reason the hockey series is so welcome. At least we’ll be absolutely sure who won.
Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald
Twitter: @DonBraid
Hello,
Atlantic premiers are making the case for additional health care funding from the federal government ahead of a meeting next month of all premiers and territorial leaders where the issue will be key to the agenda.
“This increased funding would have a significant impact on the ability of provinces to provide quality health care services and respond to the strain on health care systems,” said the closing statement Wednesday for the meeting of the Council of Atlantic Premiers.
Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston, chair of the Atlantic premiers council, hosted the meeting in Pictou, N.S. Present for the meeting were Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey, Dennis King of Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs.
The 13 provincial and territorial premiers in the Council of the Federation are to meet in Victoria on July 11 and 12. Premiers have said Ottawa should increase its contribution to the Canada Health Transfer by about $28-billion more this year.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said earlier this year that discussion on the issue should wait until the pandemic is over. He has said the federal government has spent the past two years engaging directly with provinces and territories on funding for health in addition to the Canada Health Transfer, which is worth $43.1-billion this year. Story here.
As B.C. Premier John Horgan, chair of the Council of the Federation, announced Tuesday that he would be stepping down as premier, he said that he remained committed to the health care funding issue and would work on it through to his expected departure from his post later this year.
“Premiers across the country will be assembling in Victoria, where the number one issue on the table is a commitment from the federal government to sit down with the provinces and resolve the crisis in public health care,” Mr. Horgan told a news conference in the B.C. capital.
“I fully intend to carry on that battle to make the federal government stand up for the commitments they made to all of us and convene a meeting so we can fix the most important social program, in fact, the most important program in Canada.”
Mr. Horgan, a New Democrat, said premiers and territorial leaders have been united across Canada on the issue despite partisan differences. “We have been a uniform group.”
This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Ian Bailey. It is available exclusively to our digital subscribers. If you’re reading this on the web, subscribers can sign up for the Politics newsletter and more than 20 others on our newsletter signup page. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.
TODAY’S HEADLINES
TIM HORTONS LATEST COMPANY TO SUSPEND HOCKEY CANADA SUPPORT – Tim Hortons is suspending its support of the IIHF World Junior Championship and plans to re-evaluate its sponsorship of Hockey Canada, as the organization faces growing backlash from corporate partners over its payment to settle allegations that eight Canadian Hockey League players assaulted a young woman in 2018 following a Hockey Canada gala. Story here.
$150M SETTLEMENT WITH PERDUE PHARMA CANADA – A proposed $150-million settlement with Purdue Pharma Canada covering all provinces and territories has been reached for the recovery of health care costs related to the sale and marketing of opioid-based pain medication. Story here.
RCMP COMMISSIONER BOWED TO POLITICAL PRESSURE: SENIOR CIVILIAN MOUNTIE – A senior civilian Mountie sent a strongly worded letter to RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki last year, accusing her of bowing to political pressure and displaying “unprofessional and extremely belittling” behaviour to officers investigating the worst mass shooting in Canadian history. Story here.
FIRST NATIONS CHIEFS GATHERING LOOMS – First Nations Chiefs from across Canada are set to gather in Vancouver next week, but along with discussions on issues ranging from climate change to housing and child welfare, they will also face an unfolding leadership crisis within their national advocacy organization. Story here.
CANADA OPENING FOUR NEW EMBASSIES – Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says Canada will open four new embassies in Estonia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Armenia, and will reinforce its presence in Latvia amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Story here.
B.C. PREMIER QUITTING – John Horgan will step down as B.C. Premier this fall, saying two bouts of cancer and 36 years in government have left him without the intensity needed to commit to another term. Story here. Global News looks here at possible successors to Mr. Horgan, including former NDP MP Nathan Cullen.
‘I STABBED HIM IN THE FRONT’: JEAN ON TOPPLING KENNEY – Brian Jean is blunt about his efforts to see Jason Kenney ousted as leader of Alberta’s United Conservative Party, leading to the ongoing race to lead the party. “People that say I stabbed Kenney in the back, well, I never. I stabbed him in the front. He knew I was coming. I was very honest with him,” Mr. Jean, a candidate in the UCP leadership race, told The Edmonton Journal. Story here.
JUDGE IN CONVOY CASES THREATENED – One of the judges who presided over the court hearings of Freedom Convoy organizers is speaking out after receiving threats considered serious enough to require police intervention. Story here from CBC.
PMO POWER CENTRALIZATION NECESSARY: FORMER ADVISERS – The frequently criticized centralization of power within the Prime Minister’s Office is a necessary part of governing – regardless of who is in power – argued two former prime ministerial advisers, at an event in Calgary Tuesday. Story here from The National Post.
ALBERTA POSTS SURPLUS – Alberta posted a multi-billion-dollar surplus in the last fiscal year after a record windfall of energy revenue erased a forecasted deficit that motivated the government to cut spending. Story here.
CANADA LACKS AMBASSADOR TO CHINA – Canada has been without an ambassador to China since the end of 2021, when Dominic Barton moved out of the Beijing offices. The government says, while a representative will be named in “due course,” Canada continues to engage with China at the “highest levels” in the meantime. Story here from CTV.
SWEET TAX COMING IN NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR – Newfoundland and Labrador’s pending tax on soft drinks and other sugary beverages is leaving a bad taste with some in the province. The tax, which takes effect in September, will be a first in Canada. Story here from Global News.
TOUGH GREEN LEADERSHIP RULES DRAW COMPLAINTS- The contest to find the next Green Party leader is off to a rocky start, with leadership hopefuls and a former party insider complaining about the restrictive rules governing the race. Story here from CBC.
CYBERSPY AGENCY SOUGHT TO PROTECT ELECTION – Canada’s cyberspy agency launched a defensive operation to protect last year’s federal election – including the party leaders’ debate – from disruption by foreign agencies. Story here from CTV.
INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE NEEDS TO BE DECLARED EPIDEMIC: INQUEST JURY – The Ontario government should formally declare intimate partner violence an epidemic, says an inquest jury after three weeks of testimony into a rural triple femicide nearly seven years ago. Story here.
CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RACE
CAMPAIGN TRAIL – Scott Aitchison is in Ontario. Patrick Brown is in Brampton. Jean Charest is in Alberta. Leslyn Lewis is in her riding of Halimand-Norfolk. Pierre Poilievre is in Ottawa. There was no word on the campaign whereabouts of Roman Baber.
BROWN CALLS FOR CONSERVATIVE CLARITY ON ABORTION – Patrick Brown says the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on abortion means the Conservative Party in Canada needs to emphasize it is ruling out changes to policies on terminating pregnancies. Story here.
BROWN AND MACKAY BREAKFAST – Patrick Brown is scheduled to attend a breakfast event in Stellarton, Nova Scotia on Sunday with former Conservative cabinet minister Peter MacKay, also a contender for the party leadership in 2020. However, an endorsement is unlikely. In a statement this week, Mr. MacKay said he is doing what he can to support all candidates, but not picking a favorite.
THIS AND THAT
The House of Commons is not sitting again until Sept. 19. The Senate is to resume sitting on Sept. 20
FREELAND IN SHERBROOKE – Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland is in Sherbrooke, visiting footwear manufacturer LP Royer and workers. She was also scheduled to meet with workers and hold a news conference. She will also meet with the Sherbrooke Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
MENDICINO IN SCARBOROUGH – Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino is in Scarborough to make an announcement with Toronto Mayor John Tory on federal support for organizations on the front lines of the fight against gun and gang violence in Toronto.
MILLER IN N.W.T AND HAJDU IN THUNDER BAY – In Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller announces a project under the Cultural Spaces in Indigenous Communities Program. Meanwhile, in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu announces support to enhance tourism and expand Northwestern Ontario’s creative economy.
ALGHABRA IN MISSISSAGUA – Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, and NAV CANADA vice president Mark Cooper, in Mississauga, will make an important funding announcement regarding investments in air traffic control infrastructure in Canada.
SUTCLIFFE RUNS FOR OTTAWA MAYOR – Writer, broadcaster and podcaster Mark Sutcliffe, the founder of the Ottawa Business Journal, and the former executive editor of The Ottawa Citizen newspaper, has entered the mayoral race in Ottawa. Jim Watson, who has been mayor since 2010 after serving a previous three-year term, is not seeking re-election. There are now a total eight candidates in the Oct. 24 election. I will work hard, every single day, to make Ottawa safe, reliable, and affordable for everyone,” he said in a tweet Wednesday.
THE DECIBEL
Wednesday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast features Rosemary Westwood, who has been following the battle over abortion rights in the Southern U.S. for the past six years. She’s the host of Banned, a podcast about the Mississippi case that led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. She’s on the show to explain how the U.S. got to this point, the people behind the fight on both sides of the issue and what their plans are now that Roe v. Wade is gone. The Decibel is here.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
In Madrid for a NATO summit, the Prime Minister held private meetings, and participated in the official arrivals at the summit, met with the Secretary General of NATO,Jens Stoltenberg and Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, and attended the official summit welcome ceremony by Secretary-General Stoltenberg. The Prime Minister also participated in the Opening Session of the North Atlantic Council Meeting, and met with Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö. After that, the Prime Minister participated in the North Atlantic Council Plenary Session, and attended the Transatlantic Working Dinner, chaired by the Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez.
LEADERS
No schedules provided for party leaders.
OPINION
Gary Mason (The Globe and Mail) on how John Horgan’s power as B.C.’s NDP Premier was his ability to connect with ordinary people: “There will be other opportunities to discuss Mr. Horgan’s legacy. But without question, he will go down as one of the top two or three most popular premiers in B.C. history. He had the Irish gift of gab, combined with a common touch that made him highly relatable – a guy with whom you wouldn’t mind having a pint. That’s not something you teach; you’re born with those skills. It’s funny when you consider he almost talked himself out of going for the job.”
Rosemary Westwood (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how the U.S. has demolished abortion rights: “On the day the decision came down, former vice-president Mike Pence – the man whose evangelical bona fides helped affirm the religious right’s support of Mr. Trump – tweeted that Republicans “must not rest and must not relent until the sanctity of life is restored to the center of American law in every state in the land.” It took half a century for the anti-abortion movement to take down Roe, and its work may not be finished. The question now is whether the abortion-rights movement can mount an expansive, well-funded, enduring movement of even greater force to restore women’s rights – and how fast.”
Jake Enright (The National Post) on the truth behind skyrocketing Conservative party membership sales: “Finally, and for me most significantly, each of the three Conservative leadership front-runners are communicating to a unique audience, using a specific medium they themselves dominate. For example, Patrick Brown is primarily communicating to ethnic communities, using cultural media and outreach. Jean Charest is communicating to disillusioned progressive conservatives, using traditional media to reach his audience, especially in Quebec. Lastly, Pierre Poilievre is communicating to the “Left Behinds,” an audience that feels they are falling further and further behind financially, who also do not trust the government and are becoming suspicious of institutions. Poilievre is using his mastery of social media to reach this once illusive political audience. Leslyn Lewis is also communicating to a specific audience, the pro-life community.”
Marjory LeBreton (Policy Magazine) on the Conservative Party’s Make-or-break Moment: “Now, I fervently believe that the Conservative Party has reached an existential choice. The current leadership race is the third in six years, and the message that sends to Canadians in general cannot go unheard by Conservatives in particular: We have to get it right this time. I fear that if we don’t, the great accommodation reached by Stephen Harper and Peter MacKay in the fall of 2003 could fracture, possibly beyond repair. Clearly, this trend cannot continue if we are serious about earning the support of Canadians in future elections.”
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At times like these, when an issue has pushed American political life to a white heat, some sage often steps forth to restate a truism: All politics is local. Not anymore. Not when Sen.
Elizabeth Warren,
Democrat from Massachusetts, demands that in response to a “national health emergency,” President Biden set up abortion clinics on federal lands (an idea that Rep.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
unfortunately called “the babiest of baby steps”).
For the progressives running the Democratic Party, all politics is national. Whether abortion on demand, gun bans, eliminating fossil fuels, whatever, the view of the Democrats is that the locals (rhymes with yokels) are just along for the ride. Get over it. And if progressives don’t get what they want, they head to the streets.
After the demonstrations and end-of-days statements from elected officials following the Supreme Court’s Dobbs case, one almost forgets that the decision came with a reasoned opinion by Justice
Samuel Alito,
with concurrences by Justices
Brett Kavanaugh
and
Clarence Thomas.
Days before, Justice Thomas provided a 56-page explanation for affirming the Second Amendment.
But who cares about the details of judicial opinions anymore?
Hillary Clinton’s reductio ad absurdum on Justice Thomas this week: “He’s been a person of grievance for as long as I have known him—resentment, grievance, anger.”
After a draft of Justice Alito’s opinion was leaked, sidewalk protesters besieged his and his colleagues’ homes. A high fence rings the Supreme Court building and won’t come down anytime soon. The fence and the site where rioters breached the Capitol building are D.C.’s newest tourist attractions.
We’ll focus on two statements in Justice Alito’s decision that take the discussion past abortion, if that’s possible.
The opinion quotes from Justice
Antonin Scalia’s
dissent in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992). Scalia wrote that Roe v. Wade “destroyed the compromises of the past, rendered compromise impossible for the future, and required the entire issue to be resolved uniformly, at the national level” (my emphasis).
Justice Alito described what Roe did to the country’s social cohesion. It “sparked a national controversy that has embittered our political culture for a half century.” That is, Roe caused America’s long culture wars.
“Culture wars” was a term conservatives coined to describe the post-Roe conflict between traditional beliefs and progressive heterodoxy. The previously nonpolitical Christian right emerged. The left has never worried much about the half century of cultural embitterment described by Justice Alito. It has dismissed the battles over the culture as a political invention or an obsession of right-wing extremists (known more recently as the “deplorables”).
A stark irony sits in the middle of this week’s uproar: Obergefell v. Hodges. That is the court’s 5-4 decision in 2015 recognizing the legal validity of gay marriage. Many Americans disagreed with it. But it was accepted. No fence went up around the court. Scalia’s concerns about the death of compromise looked premature. And it won’t be overturned.
But about a month after Obergefell, the transgender rights issue erupted, focusing—incredible in retrospect—on bathroom access. Despite Obergefell’s welcome modus vivendi, the culture war reignited, extending more recently even to primary education. Which is why Justice Alito could cite a bitter politics at 50 years, and still going.
For progressive Democrats, every waking moment is Armageddon.
Aimee Allison,
founder of She the People, says “the future of the Democratic Party is at stake.” And maybe it is.
Public protests are part of politics in any free country, a First Amendment right repeatedly affirmed by the out-of-favor Supreme Court. But the average American voter must be wondering whether the Democratic Party’s politics is about anything other than these street protests.
The Washington Post reported this week that congressional progressives are upset that Mr. Biden said people should express opposition to the court’s abortion decision by voting in November, which Reps. Ocasio-Cortez and Cori Bush say is inadequate. According to the Post, some Democratic lawmakers and activists “criticize the notion that it is on voters to turn out in November when they say Democrats are unwilling to push boundaries and upend the system in defense of hard-won civil liberties.”
Many Democrats in office today were community organizers. Going into the street to “upend the system” with an apparently unlimited rights agenda is what professional activists do for a living. This now-constant style of bullhorn politics—with its shaken fists and denunciations of normal deliberation and process—is defining the public’s impression of who the Democrats are.
By aligning so closely with street protests and apocalyptic claims about abortion, climate and gender, the Democrats have created a significant perception problem for the party heading into the midterm elections and perhaps for years. With these allies, the party always seem to be living at the edge of civil disturbance. Now they have repudiated the U.S. Supreme Court—in toto.
Come November, I expect most voters will elect not to live in a state of constant political rage and moral chaos.
Write henninger@wsj.com.
Note to readers: Politics Briefing will pause tomorrow for Canada Day and resume Monday.
Hello,
Montreal will host NATO’s new climate centre as radical climate change evolves into a serious security risk for the military alliance, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Thursday.
Canada will also host the new North American headquarters of NATO’s tech centre but Mr. Trudeau declined, at a news conference in Madrid on Thursday to say why the government has not contributed to the novel €1-billon ($1.35-billion) fund associated with the alliance’s innovation project.
“We continue to be in discussions,” Mr. Trudeau said at the close of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Madrid, referring to the talks to set up the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) in Canada and its investment structure.
He would not say where DIANA would be located. Reports have suggested Ontario’s Kitchener-Waterloo area, one of Canada’s top research and development centres, could be high on the list.
Mr. Trudeau also said Canada will send more troops to Latvia as part of NATO’s ambitious effort to shore up its vulnerable eastern flank on, or close to, the Russian border. But he did not say how many more Canadian troops would be stationed beyond the nearly 700 already stationed there. “There will be more,” he said.
Canada has pledged to help Latvia raise the size of the NATO forces in that country to brigade level, roughly 3,000 troops, though the troops would come from many alliance member states.
Mr. Trudeau, who was headed back to Ottawa on Thursday after an international trip that has also included stops in Rwanda and Germany, said Canada is in the final stages of talks to supply Ukraine with up to 39 armoured combat support vehicles to help it fight off Russia.
They had been destined for the Canadian Army but will be diverted to Ukraine. He said all the equipment diverted to Ukraine would be replaced “as quickly as possible” so that the Canadian military would not go short.
European Bureau Chief Eric Reguly reports here.
Reporter’s Comment, Mr. Reguly: “The leaders of the NATO countries at the alliance’s summit in Madrid sounded like they had all rehearsed their message together about supporting Ukraine so it won’t lose the war. “As long as it takes” or minor variations of that line were repeated endlessly. No one said whether that would be months or years, how this war might end, or whether their voting publics would tolerate a long war that has already helped to raise food and energy costs to crippling levels for the unrich. If the war is still grinding away during the next summit, in 2023, the NATO leaders may need to retool their message. No one but military contractors wants endless wars.”
This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Ian Bailey. It is available exclusively to our digital subscribers. If you’re reading this on the web, subscribers can sign up for the Politics newsletter and more than 20 others on our newsletter signup page. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.
TODAY’S HEADLINES
RAPE SHIELD LAW CONSTITUTIONAL: SUPREME COURT – The Supreme Court of Canada, in a ruling Thursday, has upheld a federal law that expands the privacy rights of complainants in sexual-assault trials, saying that Parliament was justified in trying to protect their dignity and encourage them to report crime. Story here.
ARSENAULT TO BE IN THE SPOTLIGHT ON CBC’S NATIONAL – CBC News is shaking up the anchor roles at The National as it plans to launch a free 24-hour live streaming channel this fall, with the broadcast to be centred around veteran journalist Adrienne Arsenault, who has shared the anchor role in recent years. Story here.
LEGAL CHALLENGE FILED OVER GOVERNOR-GENERAL’s LACK OF FRENCH – A group of Quebeckers has filed a legal challenge of the appointment of Mary Simon as Governor-General on the grounds that her inability to speak French violates constitutional requirements for official bilingualism. Story here.
AIR CANADA CANCELLING ABOUT 150 FLIGHTS DAILY – Air Canada, citing “unprecedented strains” on the airline industry from resurgent travel, says it is cancelling 154 flights per day in July and August, or 15 per cent of its schedule. Story here.
BLAIR DENIES CONNECTING GUN CONTROL TO N.S. MASS SHOOTING IN TALKS WITH COMMISSIONER – Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair says he never linked government gun-control measures to the investigation into the mass killings in Nova Scotia during frequent conversations with RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki. Story here.
LABELLING PROGRAM ANNOUNCED FOR SOME FOODS – Ground meats will not require a warning label under Health Canada’s new nutrition labelling policy, the government announced Thursday. In a press conference, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos announced that its long-awaited policy – which will require labels on foods that are high in sugar, salt or saturated fat – will come into effect in January, 2026. And following weeks of mounting concerns from the meat industry, Ottawa’s plan announced Thursday marks a reversal on its initial position that would have required such labels on ground meats. Story here.
SNOWBIRDS CANADA DAY FLY-OVER IN OTTAWA CANCELLED – The traditional Canada Day fly-past over Ottawa by the Canadian Forces Snowbirds has been cancelled, following a problem with the aircraft’s emergency ejection parachute that grounded the fleet. Story here from CTV.
ONTARIO NDP INTERIM LEADER PROMISES EFFECTIVE OPPOSITION TO FORD, PCS – The new interim leader of Ontario’s New Democrats said Wednesday that he hopes his political experience and commitment to the party will help them act as an effective Opposition to Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives during the NDP’s hunt for a permanent leader. Story here.
CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RACE
CAMPAIGN TRAIL – There are no events for Thursday listed on Roman Baber’s web site, but he is holding a Canada Day BBQ in North York. Patrick Brown was in Oakville, Mississauga and Brampton. Jean Charest was in Edmonton on Thursday, and then headed back to Quebec. Leslyn Lewis is in her Haldimand-Norfolk riding. Pierre Poilievre is in Ottawa. There’s no word on Scott Aitchison’s campaign whereabouts.
POILIEVRE ON THE MARCH – Pierre Poilievre joined Canadian solider James Topp as he neared the end of a walk across Canada on Thursday, set to end at the National War Memorial in downtown Ottawa. Mr. Topp, an Alberta resident, has said he is on the march, partly to get all vaccine mandates repealed. Video and story here from CTV.
BROWN PRESSED ON WHICH RACE HE WILL FINISH – A city hall opponent is asking Brampton, Ont., Mayor Patrick Brown to confirm what his rivals for the federal Conservative leadership also want to know: which race will he actually finish? Story here from The National Post.
THIS AND THAT
The House of Commons is not sitting again until Sept. 19. The Senate is to resume sitting on Sept. 20.
FREELAND IN NEWMARKET – Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland visited Exco Engineering, a Canadian automotive parts manufacturer on Thursday, met with workers and held a news conference.
FREELAND ON SECURITY DETAILS – “I’m the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Canada. I almost never have any security. When [U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen] was here, she’s the U.S. secretary of the treasury, she needs to be taken care of, she travels in a convoy. And I rode my bike to the [Royal Ontario Museum, in Toronto] to meet that convoy and then they asked me to join the convoy for ease of the day. The Secretary said to me, `You rode your bike here, I hear. How does your security detail feel about riding bikes to be with you?’ And I said, `They don’t because I don’t have a security detail. I just rode here by myself and locked up my bike and rode into the ROM. I think that is a great thing about our country.” – Chrystia Freeland at Thursday news conference in Newmarket, Ont.
DOUBLE DOSE OF DUCLOS – In Ottawa, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos and officials provided an update on COVID-19. The health minister also made a nutrition-related announcement.
VANDAL IN CALGARY – Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal, also responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada and the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, announced federal support in Calgary for events and tourism experiences.
GOULD IN BURLINGTON – Families Minister Karina Gould, acting on behalf of Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, in Burlington, Ont., announced support for electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Ontario.
THE DECIBEL
On Thursday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, The Globe’s education reporter Caroline Alphonso and Decibel producer Sherrill Sutherland talk about Westview Centennial Secondary School in the northwest of Toronto after spending a day there to find out how students they feel about graduating. On Thursday, about 180 students are crossing the stage to get their diplomas. While this is a common rite of passage for teens across the country, these students had anything but a normal high school experience. The pandemic meant online learning, no sports, taking care of younger siblings and little in-person interaction with friends. Westview is also located in Toronto’s Jane and Finch neighbourhood – one of the hardest hit by COVID-19. The Decibel is here.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
In Madrid for the NATO summit, the Prime Minister held a breakfast meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, then met with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol. The Prime Minister then participated in the North Atlantic Council Plenary Session, followed by a media availability. The Prime Minister was then scheduled to meet with Pedro Sánchez, the prime minister of Spain, participate in a working luncheon hosted by Mr. Sánchez, and deliver a joint statement with Mr. Sánchez, and then depart for Ottawa.
LEADERS
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet visited the Quebec riding of Rimouski¬–Neigette–Témiscouata–Les Basques, accompanied by MP Maxime Blanchette-Joncas.
No schedules provided for other party leaders.
PUBLIC OPINION
ONTARIANS SKEPTICAL ABOUT THEIR GOVERNMENT – Ontarians have re-elected a Progressive Conservative government led by Doug Ford , but are skeptical about the government’s ability to deal with the issues, such as inflation and health care, of importance to them, according to new research by the Angus Reid Institute. Details here.
CANADIANS DIVIDED ON CANADA DAY – Nearly half of respondents in a poll by Counsel Public Affairs say the nation should spend Canada Day both celebrating and reflecting while 41 per cent say the holiday is a day for celebrating with reflections on shortcomings left for another day. Details here.
OPINION
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on how it is time for RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki to tell the whole story: “There’s something crucial missing: an explanation from RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki. It can’t wait much longer. The allegation that the Liberal government pressured the RCMP to release information about the investigation into the Nova Scotia shootings of April 18 to 19, 2020, in order to advance their gun-control agenda is now boiling down to two increasingly irreconcilable versions of events – with Commissioner Lucki in between. We need the commissioner to come forward, quickly.”
Andrew Coyne (The Globe and Mail) on the Prime Minister credibly accused of interfering in a criminal matter for political purposes? : “And while nothing in either Supt. Campbell or Ms. Scanlan’s record gives us reason to doubt their version of events, everything in this Prime Minister’s does. To take only the most obvious example – obvious, because the accusation of political interference in a criminal matter is so lethally apt – the Prime Minister flatly denied that he had pressured the former attorney-general, Jody Wilson-Raybould, to interfere in the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin (“the allegations in The Globe story are false”). Only later, after it became impossible to deny, did he retreat into those strenuous Clintonian attempts to parse how much pressure was too much pressure: as if there really was any ambiguity to the impressive all-government effort to bend Ms. Wilson-Raybould into compliance, or as if the standard we should expect of a prime minister is that he should tiptoe up to the line of interfering in a criminal prosecution, as long as he can plausibly claim he didn’t cross it.”
Robyn Urback (The Globe and Mail)on how the institution of police survives if police aren’t seen to put civilian lives before their own: “Policing as an institution functions off of a certain pact with the public. Officers are expected to take risks we wouldn’t ask of the average civilian and, in exchange, they are afforded extraordinary powers (in Canada, to carry handguns for example), protections (against assault as specifically outlined in the Criminal Code) and honour and esteem. In emergency situations, police are expected to run toward the danger while the rest of us run away, which is why the profession is generally held in high regard. But if police are seen running away with the crowd too many times – or hesitating outside a classroom where kids are being slaughtered, or withholding information to protect police during a killer’s rampage – how does law enforcement’s pact with the public survive?”
Peter Misek (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how Ottawa must act fast to avoid another economic catastrophe: “It will take leadership and another act of heroism for Canada’s politicians to be honest with citizens about the facts. Governments cannot continue to fight past pandemic-induced battles while ignoring the economic future. Taxing the rich, as the Trudeau government has pledged to do, is a Faustian bargain because at a 53-per-cent top marginal rate, Canada is already uncompetitive and could face capital and talent flight. The best chance for avoiding economic catastrophe requires swift action in three ways.”
John Michael McGrath (TVO) on how this fall’s municipal elections in Ontario will get interesting everywhere but in one notable city: The biggest exception to the general level of interesting races can be found in the biggest Ontario city of all: in Toronto, Mayor John Tory as yet faces no prominent challenger for a third term. If we’re going to see any compelling contests for Toronto city hall in October, they’ll like involve council seats where progressive stalwarts have either already left or announced they won’t run again; people like Kristyn Wong-Tam and Joe Cressy have moved elsewhere, and North York councillor John Filion has announced he won’t run again.
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