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Defence raises prospect of multiple leaks in bureaucrat’s shipbuilding trial

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OTTAWA — The prospect of more than one leak about secret cabinet deliberations in late 2015 around a $700-million shipbuilding deal was raised on Wednesday, as a longtime lobbyist testified he did not know the origins of certain information about the meeting.

Brian Mersereau told a court that federal public servant Matthew Matchett did not provide details about the ad hoc cabinet committee meeting on Nov. 19, 2015. The details were referenced the following day in a CBC article.

The chairman of lobbying firm Hill+Knowlton Strategies also testified that he did not know the origins of information about the meeting referenced in emails sent by senior officials from Quebec shipyard Chantier Davie around the same time.

“You have to remember Davie was dealing directly with senior bureaucrats running the program, hourly or daily or whatever you want to call it,” Mersereau said under questioning by defence lawyer Michael Johnston.

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“They were trying to hammer out the deal. So under normal circumstances, there would have been all kinds of conversations going on. And one would expect those conversations to go on.”

The testimony came on the third day of Matchett’s breach of trust trial, in which the employee at the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency is accused of having illegally leaked cabinet secrets about the deal.

Matchett has pleaded not guilty and his trial, which started on Monday, is expected to run four weeks.

The leak is alleged to have occurred in November 2015, when the newly elected Liberal government decided to hold off finalizing a contract with Davie to lease a temporary supply ship for the navy, the MV Asterix.

The Liberals later approved the deal, which has seen the government lease the Asterix from Davie since January 2018 while the Royal Canadian Navy waits for two permanent new support vessels to be built by Seaspan Shipyards in Vancouver.

Mersereau previously testified that he received an envelope containing a draft letter to cabinet and a PowerPoint presentation about the Asterix marked: “Confidence of the Queen’s Privy Council.”

Emails between Mersereau and Matchett filed in court as evidence also include one sent from Matchett’s email address to the lobbyist saying: “I’ve got everything, the motherlode.”

Yet while Mersereau testified he later met with CBC journalist James Cudmore to discuss a story about “another shipbuilding saga,” he said details in the resulting article about the Liberals’ closed-door talks did not come from him.

Those include the actual decision to delay the deal with Davie pending a review, and specific concerns raised with ministers during the meeting about the navy’s desperate need for a supply ship after its previous two were retired.

“Mr. Cudmore’s article seems to be citing sources that aren’t you or information that you had,” Johnston said.

“Well, there’s certainly information in there that he did not get from me,” Mersereau replied.

Mersereau also said he did not know the source of information about the meeting mentioned in emails sent by Davie officials, including one from senior vice-president John Schmidt revealing the cabinet committee’s decision to pause the deal.

“So is it fair to say that ultimately, the documents that you receive (from Matchett) contained very little relevant information that we didn’t already know?” Johnston asked.

“By and large, yes,” Mersereau said, adding his focus was on whether the contract negotiated and finalized by the Harper government in the weeks before the 2015 federal election was going to be challenged by the newly elected Liberals.

Johnston at one point asked whether Mersereau knew if Davie was receiving information from another person, whom the defence lawyer identified by name, but the lobbyist said the name didn’t mean anything to him.

Johnston noted that Matchett, whom he described as “an Indigenous guy from New Brunswick … (who) cared very deeply about the welfare and the benefit of Atlantic Canada,” was in Moncton when the cabinet committee meeting was actually held.

Matchett’s trial is scheduled to continue Thursday with the Crown expected to call its second witness.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 8, 2022.

 

Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press

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Alberta's population surges by record-setting 202,000 people: Here's where they all came from – CBC.ca

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Alberta smashed population-growth records in the past year, mainly due to people moving to the province from across Canada and around the world.

The province’s population surged to just over 4.8 million as of Jan. 1, according to new estimates released Wednesday by Statistics Canada.

That’s an increase of 202,324 residents compared with a year earlier, which marks — by far — the largest annual increase on record.

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Alberta also broke a national record in 2023 for interprovincial migration, with a net gain of 55,107 people.

“This was the largest gain in interprovincial migration nationally since comparable data became available in 1972,” Statistics Canada said in a release.


Most of the interprovincial migrants came from Ontario and British Columbia.

Statistics Canada estimates that 38,236 Ontarians moved to Alberta last year, versus 14,860 Albertans who moved to Ontario, for a net gain of 23,376 people.

Similarly, an estimated 37,650 British Columbians moved to Alberta, compared to 22,400 Albertans who moved to B.C., for a net gain of 15,250.


All told, interprovincial migration accounted for 27 per cent of Alberta’s population growth over the past year.

That put it just ahead of permanent immigration, which accounted for 26 per cent, and well ahead of natural population increase (more births than deaths), which accounted for eight per cent.

The largest component, however, was temporary international migration.

Non-permanent residents from other countries accounted for 39 per cent of the province’s population growth in the past year, reflecting a national trend.


Canada’s population reached 40,769,890 on Jan. 1, according to Statistics Canada estimates, which is up 3.2 per cent from a year ago.

“Most of Canada’s 3.2-per-cent population growth rate stemmed from temporary immigration in 2023,” Statistics Canada noted.

“Without temporary immigration, that is, relying solely on permanent immigration and natural increase (births minus deaths), Canada’s population growth would have been almost three times less (1.2 per cent).”

Alberta’s population, meanwhile, grew by 4.4 per cent year-over-year.

Alberta now represents 11.8 per cent of the country’s population, its largest proportion on record. 

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Why Canada's record population growth is helping – and hurting – the economy – CTV News

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Canada has recorded the fastest population growth in 66 years, increasing by 1.3 million people, or 3.2 per cent, in 2023, according to a new report from Statistics Canada.

The country has not seen such growth since 1957, when the spike was attributed to the baby boom and an influx of immigrants fleeing Hungary.

The vast majority of Canada’s growth last year was due to immigration, with temporary residents — which includes foreign workers and international students — making up the largest proportion of newcomers.

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“We need people coming to Canada to help with our economy,” says Matti Siemiatycki, a professor of planning at the University of Toronto. “There are many jobs and professions where there are vacancies, and that is having an impact, whether in the healthcare sector or trades and construction sector.”

Siemiatycki adds immigrants also bring “ingenuity… resources… and culture” to Canada.

Newcomers are relied on to help keep pace with Canada’s aging population and declining fertility rates, but the influx also presents a challenge for a country struggling to build the homes and infrastructure needed for immigrants.

“It’s an incredibly large shock for the economic system to absorb because of just the sheer number of people coming into the country in a short period of time,” says Robert Kavcic. a senior economist and director with BMO Capital Markets.

“The reality is population can grow extremely fast, but the supply side of the economy like housing and service infrastructure, think health care and schools, can only catch up at a really gradual pace,” Kavcic says. “So there is a mismatch right now.”

The impact of that mismatch can most acutely be seen in the cost of rent, services and housing.

In December, Kavcic wrote in a note that Canada needs to build 170,000 new housing units every three months to keep up with population growth, noting the industry is struggling to complete 220,000 units in a full year.

To address this, Ottawa has announced plans to cap the number of new temporary residents while also reducing the number of international student visas, a move economists say could offer some relief when it comes to housing and the cost of living.

“The arithmetic on the caps actual works relatively well because it would take us back down to 1 per cent population growth which we have been used to over the last decade and which is more or less absorbable by the economy,” Kavcic says. “The question is whether or not we see policy makers follow through and hit those numbers.”

Economists believe these changes could help ease inflationary pressures and may make a Bank of Canada rate cut more likely, but could also lead to slower GDP growth.

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Canada’s population hits 41M months after breaking 40M threshold – Global News

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Nine months after reaching a population of 40 million, Canada has cracked a new threshold.

As of Wednesday morning, it’s estimated 41 million people now call the country home, according to Statistics Canada’s live population tracker.

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The speed at which Canada’s population is growing was also reflected in new data released Wednesday by the federal agency: between Jan. 1 2023 and Jan. 1 2024, Canada added 1,271,872 inhabitants, a 3.2 per cent growth rate — the highest since 1957.

Most of Canada’s 3.2 per cent population growth rate stemmed from temporary immigration. Without it, Canada’s population growth would have been 1.2 per cent, Statistics Canada said.


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Business News: Job growth fails to keep pace with population


From Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2023, Canada’s population increased by 241,494 people (0.6 per cent), the highest rate of growth in a fourth quarter since 1956.

Usha George, a professor at the Toronto Metropolitan Centre for Immigration and Settlement at Toronto Metropolitan University, told Global News in June a booming population can benefit the economy.

“It is not the bodies we are bringing in; these are bodies that fill in the empty spaces in the labour market,” she said.

“They bring a very-high level of skills.”


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Canadian millennials surpass baby boomers as dominant generation: StatCan


However, Ottawa has recently sought to ease the flow of temporary immigration in a bid to ease cost-of-living woes.


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Immigration Minister Marc Miller said on March 21 Ottawa would set targets for temporary residents allowed into Canada to ensure “sustainable” growth in the number of temporary residents entering the nation.

The next day, BMO economist Robert Kavcic in a note to clients the new limits will have a positive impact on Canada’s rental market and overall housing crisis.

“We’ve been firm in our argument that Canada has had an excess demand problem in housing, and this is maybe the clearest example,” Kavcic said.

“Non-permanent resident inflows, on net, have swelled to about 800K in the latest year, with few checks and balances in place, putting tremendous stress on housing supply and infrastructure.”

Alberta gains, Ontario loses: A look at Canadian migration in 2023

If Alberta is truly calling, then it appears more Canadians are choosing to answer.

Putting the pun on the provincial government’s attraction campaign aside, Canada’s wild rose country saw the largest net gain in interprovincial migration in 2023, Statistics Canada said in Wednesday’s report.


Click to play video: 'Is Alberta ready for population growth?'

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Is Alberta ready for population growth?


The agency said 55,107 Canadians moved to Alberta last year, which was the largest gain in interprovincial migration nationally since comparable data become available in 1972.

“Alberta has been recording gains in population from interprovincial migration since 2022, a reverse of the trend seen from 2016 to 2021, when more people left the province than arrived from other parts of Canada,” Statistics Canada said.

“Approximately 333,000 Canadians moved from one province or territory to another in 2023, the second-highest number recorded since the 1990s and the third straight year that interprovincial migration topped 300,000.”

Meanwhile, British Columbia had 8,624 more residents move out than in in 2023, meaning net interprovincial migration was negative for the first time since 2012, Statistics Canada said.

In general, the largest migration flows for British Columbia and Alberta are with each other, and most of the net loss from British Columbia in 2023 was to Alberta, it added.


Click to play video: '‘Enormous pressure’ expected in Ontario home care due to high growth of senior population'

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‘Enormous pressure’ expected in Ontario home care due to high growth of senior population


It also seems that good things may no longer be growing in Ontario; Canada’s most populous province lost 36,197 people to other regions in 2023, the biggest regional loss in 2023, Statistics Canada said.

That followed a loss of 38,816 people in 2022; the only other times a province has lost more than 35,000 people due to migration to other parts of Canada occurred in Quebec in 1977 and 1978.

Alberta aside, net interprovincial migration was also up in Nova Scotia (+6,169 people), New Brunswick (+4,790) and Prince Edward Island (+818), although all three Maritime provinces gained fewer interprovincial migrants in 2023 than in the two previous years, Statistics Canada said.

— with files from Uday Rana and Sean Previl

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