The Canada flag flies atop the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 5.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
A majority of Canadians would like the Liberal government to call a public inquiry into Chinese state meddling in this country’s democracy and respond more forcefully to alleged election interference by Beijing, according to a poll.
A Nanos Research survey, commissioned by The Globe and Mail and CTV News, also found 72 per cent of Canadians polled say they would support a foreign-agent registry that requires people to disclose their work on behalf of a foreign state. Another 19 per cent said they would somewhat support such a registry.
The poll found significant backing for punishing those conducting foreign interference in Canada: 86 per cent say criminal charges and jail time is the most appropriate punishment for anyone found guilty of foreign interference.
As it stands, Canada does not have specific Criminal Code offences for foreign interference, although Ottawa has promised to table legislation later this year to set up a foreign-agent registry for people who are acting on behalf of a foreign power, disbursing its payoffs or lobbying on its behalf.
Pollster Nik Nanos says his polling indicates the government has significant leeway to enact measures to combat foreign interference.
“The survey suggests there’s a lot of latitude for pretty, pretty, pretty serious measures,” he said.
Asked to gauge the threat to Canadian democracy from foreign interference, nearly six in 10 polled say it is a major threat (56 per cent), while one-third view it as a minor threat (33 per cent). Only 4 per cent say it is not a threat.
Nanos conducted a telephone and online random survey of 1,096 Canadians between May 31 to June 3. The margin of error was three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
The poll asked whether those surveyed believe Canada should have a formal public inquiry, headed by a judge with full subpoena powers, into foreign interference, or continue with public hearings led by former governor-general David Johnston.
Nanos found 59 per cent of respondents supported a formal public inquiry as the appropriate approach to tackling foreign interference in Canada. Another 25 per cent said they support or somewhat support public hearings planned by Mr. Johnston, which will hear from Canadians targeted by China, as well as national-security experts, this summer. In this role, Mr. Johnston does not have subpoena powers or the right to cross-examine witnesses under oath.
However, the survey found that Canadians are more likely to say Mr. Johnston is credible on foreign interference than either Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre or NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. The poll found 38 per cent of those surveyed said they felt Mr. Johnston was credible on the issue, while 30 per cent did not think he was.
Forty-six per cent said Mr. Trudeau was not credible on foreign interference in elections, while 26 per cent said he was. With Mr. Poilievre, 48 per cent of Canadians did not feel he was credible, while 26 per cent said he was. Canadians surveyed were split on Mr. Singh, with 32 per cent saying he was credible and 31 per cent saying he wasn’t.
A slight majority of those surveyed (54 per cent) said it was not acceptable or somewhat not acceptable for Canadian civil servants to ”publicly leak or give out sensitive security information on foreign interference to news organizations,” while 40 per cent said it was acceptable or somewhat acceptable.
Mr. Trudeau has come under increasing pressure from the opposition to remove former Mr. Johnston as the government’s special rapporteur on foreign interference and set up a public inquiry instead.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
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