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Opinion: The long return home: The politics and broken promises around repatriating Indigenous artifacts – The Globe and Mail

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At left, a Ktunaxa cradle board in the Royal BC Museum; at right, Ktunaxa mother Lizette Cronin holds baby Pete Clement in one such board, circa 1923. Cradle boards are used to protect and carry infants; they demonstrate the sacred space of children in the community.courtesy of Royal BC Museum

Troy Sebastian/nupqu ʔak·ǂam̓ is a writer from ʔaq̓am and is a PhD student in writing at the University of Victoria. He is the former curator of the Indigenous collection at the Royal BC Museum.

On a June day in 2010, the Ktunaxa Nation Council and representatives from the Royal BC Museum met in a room named after Chief David, the honoured Ktunaxa chief from Tobacco Plains, in a building that had once served as a chapel for a residential school. After six decades, the former school at the foot of the Rockies had closed down and eventually transformed into the St. Eugene Mission Resort: a hotel, golf course and casino owned by Ktunaxa Nation, and the only such enterprise to operate at any former residential school in the country.

Gathered in the Chief David Room on that summer day were provincial representatives, local politicians, Ktunaxa leaders and community members, including former students of the school. They were all there to witness a momentous occasion: the signing of a custodial agreement that affirmed the province’s recognition of the value of Ktunaxa culture, including the Ktunaxa cultural objects held in possession by the museum. The agreement also committed both parties to a formal relationship regarding the material’s management, use and protection. The pact, one of the first of its kind for any Canadian museum with any First Nation, was seen as a starting point for further steps together. That included the potential for repatriation – the process by which sacred and cultural materials as well as human remains held in the possession of cultural institutions and private collections are returned to Indigenous communities.

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Part of the signing ceremony involved the return of 10 Ktunaxa objects for display at the nation’s Interpretive Centre, which is located in the basement of the St. Eugene Mission. The Ktunaxa items on display included a beaded cradleboard, belts and pipes, none of which had been in the territory for at least 50 years. Over the course of a few days, Ktunaxa from every community came to view, take pictures of, and – under the care and direction of museum staff – hold the objects. Elders had not seen the items since childhood. For younger Ktunaxa, it was their first time seeing the fine beadwork and craft of the items at all.

I was there, and I remember a reverence being paid to the Ktunaxa cultural material that day. Beholding these sacred objects, which had been banned by the province, taken by the museum and effectively outlawed by the residential school, was a powerful moment for everyone involved. It was a proud day for Ktunaxa.

But a few days later, the objects were returned back to the museum in Victoria. Few Ktunaxa have seen them since.

George Adrian carries a flag at the first meeting of Ktunaxa Nation at the St. Eugene Mission, a former residential-school site, in 2003.Bev Hills

The event highlighted the complicated politics and process of repatriation, which Indigenous people in Canada have been pursuing for decades. In a passage cited by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report in 2015, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) emphasized the importance of “fair, transparent and effective mechanisms” for returning human remains and cultural artifacts; in recent years, governments in Ottawa and in B.C. have passed legislation to start aligning laws with UNDRIP. Now, after a year of discoveries of unmarked graves on the grounds of former residential schools across the country, governments, museums and religious orders are under mounting pressure to undertake real action for justice – including through repatriation.

In December, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation called for the repatriation of a sealskin kayak that the Vatican claims was a “gift to Pope Pius XI” from a Roman Catholic bishop, one of around 200 Indigenous artifacts that were exhibited in the 1920s and have since sat in the Vatican’s vaults. “It is not ‘the Pope’s kayak’ and rightly belongs in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, where its lessons and significance can benefit Inuvialuit culture and communities,” said the group, which represents the interests of Inuit in the western Arctic.

But for years, institutions have played trickster, requiring First Nations to establish museum-quality holding capacity as a non-negotiable condition for repatriation – or, as in the case of Vatican, an institution with an infamously unquantifiable fortune, institutions have simply ignored or rejected the calls. The capacity issues that have purportedly disqualified Indigenous communities from repatriating their items, however, stem from colonization: a lack of housing, unsafe water, and unreliable sources of energy, just to name a few. For a time, provincial treaty-negotiation mandates required First Nations to accept a division of their material, with a portion to be held by the museum; one party would draw up two lists dividing the artifacts, and the other party would get first pick of one of the two lists. Such a policy was hardly just, and very few First Nations agreed with it. The result: the repository of held cultural items from First Nations is immense, singular and contested.

These responses to repatriation efforts hold a familiar cadence: repatriation if necessary, but not necessarily repatriation. And they show a cycle of behaviour that keeps Indigenous communities apart from their collections.

A beaded Ktunaxa belt in the Royal BC Museum’s possession. Ktunaxa territory has a unique mix of plants and animals that gives a distinctiveness to these works.Courtesy of Royal BC Museum

Museums, from Vatican City to Victoria, helped create and profit from the “Vanishing Indian” ideology of early 20th-century anthropology – a genocidal theory that presumed that Indigenous peoples were going to die off, and so their cultural material was more important than the peoples themselves.

For decades, the curatorial posture of many museums was a combination of that theory and “salvage anthropology,” a policy and practice aimed at taking cultural material of Indigenous peoples prior to extinction, and then displaying them in a framework that presupposed the superiority of western civilization. This remains, too often, embedded in the attitudes of many institutions.

Governments and churches also played a significant role in this process, in concert with museums: The province would take the land, the church would take the children, and the museum would take the cultural material.

Indeed, the vast majority of cultural material held by these institutions was collected while Indigenous peoples’ rights to practise their culture was effectively outlawed (including through the Potlatch Ban), and while residential schools, aimed at taking “the Indian out of the child,” were mandatory.

To say that the items collected by these museums was done without duress is to warp the very bounds of plausibility: it is simply not true.

So what is the path forward?

A beaded Ktunaxa bag, one of several examples of beadwork collected by the museum while the residential-school system was active.Courtesy of Royal BC Museum

Over the past 30 years, there have been positive, if slow-moving, changes. In 1990, the United States passed the Native American Graves and Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), a seminal policy standard which has resulted in the return of Indigenous human remains, sacred objects and cultural items across the Americas. Despite years of struggle, lobbying, painstaking research at institutions from Chicago to Stockholm, and countless and challenging community and cultural engagements within Indigenous communities – often done at a considerable cost – the first steps of repatriation began. Most started by returning human remains, the holding of which are now rightly seen as an unseemly and damning practice.

Here in Canada, however, the process has been slower going. In 2016, on National Aboriginal Day, then-B.C. premier Christy Clark announced that her government was committed to repatriation: “It is long past time that these items of such spiritual significance to First Nations in B.C. find their way home to those communities,” she declared. Later that year, her Liberal government announced $2-million in funding to the newly renamed Indigenous Collection and Repatriation (ICAR) department at the Royal BC Museum. The next year, a province-wide repatriation conference was held to hear from First Nations, a consultation that produced the Indigenous Repatriation Handbook, as prepared by the Royal BC Museum and the Haida Gwaii Museum at Kay Linagaay. Under that framework, First Nations across the province prepared to undertake repatriation efforts.

But when John Horgan’s NDP took power in the province in 2017, they quickly found the road forward beset by the attitudes of yesterday. And in 2020, after years of challenging and frustrating work attempting to get the Royal BC Museum ready for repatriation processes, the director of ICAR resigned, citing a toxic work environment that was rife with racism.

Soon after, an independent investigation looked into workplace culture at the Royal BC Museum; last summer, the museum received the report and acknowledged “the colonial history of the Museum and the systemic racism inherent in that history,” and further, that “there have been acts of racism and discrimination at the Museum. Indigenous team members and members of other equity-seeking groups were subjected to microaggression and acts of discriminatory behaviour.”

The museum publicly apologized and committed the institution to align with the province’s commitment to UNDRIP and to replace and modernize the museum’s galleries. Then late last year, the museum announced its plan to close its popular third-floor permanent gallery in an effort to decolonize the institution.

However needed the changes to the museum’s galleries are, the question remains: when will the museum really begin its repatriation efforts? Six years after Ms. Clark’s commitment, very little has happened. Objects are still being held by the province, and First Nations are growing increasingly frustrated by the repeated appeals for patience.

This is the great difficulty in writing about repatriation, especially when the cultural material in question is from one’s nation, community, family and parents: The tonal space lies between the funerary reverence of the recently departed and the impotent furor of sailors in a becalm sea. The loss is palpable, the need for a change of course is dire, and the calls for patience are a bitter echo that always seems to ring out. There doesn’t seem to be an appetite for seeking or crafting understanding. Determined exhaustion is the mentality of the moment. Indigenous peoples are tired of waiting for aloof cultural dinosaurs to return that which is rightfully ours.

This is particularly disappointing, given that all Canadians can surely understand the power of bringing history and culture back to its rightful place. On April 17, 1982, in front of a gathered crowd in Ottawa, Queen Elizabeth II signed a royal proclamation, marking then-prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s crowning achievement: the patriation of the country’s constitution. With the Queen’s signature, Canada’s constitution “came home,” transferring the British North America Act from the authority of the British Parliament to Canada’s federal and provincial legislatures, and changing the country forever by giving Canada the right to independently amend its own constitution.

However one feels about Mr. Trudeau, the Canada Act 1982 and its Charter of Rights and Freedoms have materially changed the country both in law and in culture. To have a constitution that was made in Canada, by and for Canadians, was a decades-long dream. Much of the cultural framework of the country and the stories it tells of itself are bound to that patriation; it gave renewed life to Canada, and whatever the path forward, one must imagine the 1982 patriation continuing in its seminal and central role for decades to come.

So too is the promise and necessity of repatriation for countless Indigenous communities across the country seeking the return of their national and cultural birthrights. Some may choose to leave objects on display in public museums; others will choose to hold them within their own communities, while some items will be returned to the earth, akin to the human remains they were or should have been buried with. But whatever the choice, it will be an Indigenous choice. That is, after all, what is at the heart of repatriation: the question of whether Indigenous peoples in Canada have the right to protect and own their culture. As Mr. Trudeau once said: “We wish nothing more, but we will accept nothing less.”

The reconciliation question: More from The Globe and Mail

The Decibel

For the first-ever National Day for Truth and Reconciliation last September, The Decibel took a look at the Canadian Reconciliation Barometer, a new tool made by Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers. Subscribe for more episodes.

On museums

Digital 3-D models of Indigenous artifacts in British museums will share their stories with descendants

Antique kayak in Vatican Museums must be returned immediately, Inuvialuit group says

Indigenous groups get help to repatriate artifacts

Opinion

Tanya Talaga: The work of truth and reconciliation has hardly begun

Danielle Taschereau Mamers: Reintroducing bison to Indigenous land is a small act of reconciliation

Lisa Beaucage: Indigenous people need allies as we keep fighting for a seat at the table

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‘Hillary was right’: Lifelong GOP voter on why he is leaving party – CNN

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‘Hillary was right’: Lifelong GOP voter on why he is leaving party

Texas Trey, a lifelong Republican voter, speaks with CNN’s Laura Coates about why he plans to leave the party before the 2024 election.


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Alberta Politics: UCP ahead of NDP by 15-points. Naheed Nenshi is the most well-known and well-liked NDP.

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From March 14 to 21, 2024, Abacus Data conducted a survey of 1,000 Alberta adults exploring several topics as part of our regular national omnibus surveys.

This is the first time we have fielded one of our public surveys in Alberta since Rachel Notley announced she was stepping down as NDP leader, triggering a leadership election. This survey was also completed prior to the announcement on Tuesday morning by NDP MLA Rakhi Pancholi that she is dropping out of the NDP leadership race and endorsing Naheed Nenshi.

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In this report, we share results of the core political opinion questions, a bit of a deep-dive on impressions of the provincial government led by Danielle Smith, and a look at how Albertans feel about the NDP leadership candidates and how they perform in hypothetical match-ups with Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party.

The UCP holds a 15-point lead over the Alberta NDP

If a provincial election were held today, 55% of committed Alberta adults would vote UCP while 40% would vote Alberta NDP. 2% would vote for the Alberta Party while 2% would vote for another party. Since our last survey in October 2023, the UCP is down 1 while the NDP is unchanged.

Since the 2023 provincial election, the NDP is down 4 while the UCP is up 2.

Regionally, the UCP is ahead by 8 in Calgary (52% to 44%) and 38 in other communities outside Calgary and Edmonton-proper. In Edmonton, the Alberta NDP is ahead by 11 (53% to 42%).

The UCP lead by 22 among men, 7 among women and holds a commanding 39-point lead among Albertans aged 60+. Among those under 45 the two parties are basically tied.

When it comes to how Albertans feel about the performance of the Danielle Smith government, 32% approve while 38% disapprove. In Calgary, the Smith government’s net approval is -13, in Edmonton it is -20, and in the rest of the province it is +11.

Impressions of the two main party leaders are fairly similar. 38% of Albertans have a positive impression of Premier Smith while 40% have a negative impression for a net score of -1. NDP Leader Rachel Notley has a net score of -12, with 31% viewing her positively and 43% negatively.

How do Albertans feel about the provincial government?

Respondents were asked to choose phrases or words that describe the Smith government. We asked the same question to our national sample about the Trudeau government and to a large sample in Ontario about the provincial government led by Danielle Smith. We will share results of those results in the coming days.

In Alberta, views of the Smith government are mixed but generally more positive than how people feel about the Ford government in Ontario or the Trudeau government federally.

More than half of Albertans feel the Smith government is “clear on what it wants Alberta to be” rather than “unclear on what it wants Alberta to be”. Half thinks the government is “focused” while 33% think it is “distracted”. More feel it is “effective” than “ineffective” and about equal numbers feels the government is “focused on the right priorities” rather than “focused on the wrong priorities”.

34% describe the government as “unifying” while 42% think it is “divisive” and 43% describes it as “proactive”, more than feel it is “reactive”.

Overall, for a government that has taken on some controversial issues, these results suggest it is seen positively and in the right frame with a sizeable portion of the population.

But we also asked respondents whether they feel the provincial government is sufficiently focused on or addressing several key issues. Areas where most Albertans want to see the government more focused include “managing the cost of living” (60%) and “improving the healthcare system” (58). Another 52% think it could be more focused on “keeping your taxes as low as possible”.

In contrast, the provincial government is more likely to be seen as sufficiently focused on “standing up for Alberta” (49%) and “growing the Alberta economy” (37%).

One area where there’s more neutral views is on climate change. 38% of Albertans feel the provincial government could be more focused on it, 28% think it is moderately or highly focused on it, while 34% are either neutral or unsure about it.

These results suggest that so far, the Smith government has done a pretty good job managing expectations and signalling to its coalition that it’s sufficiently handling the top issues people report are important to them.

The Alberta NDP Leadership Race

In this survey, we also asked several questions regarding the Alberta NDP leadership election.

We started by assessing the impressions people have of the six candidates running to be Alberta NDP leader. A few things stand out:

1 Naheed Nenshi is by far the most well known of the candidates. 74% of Albertans had an impression of Mr. Nenshi, significantly higher than Sarah Hoffman (49%), Kathleen Ganley (60%), Rakhi Pancholi (39%), Hil McGowan (39%), or Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse (37%).

2. Naheed Nenshi is also the only candidate who has a clear net positive impression. 31% of Albertans have a positive view of him compared with 23% who have a negative view for a net score of +8. Kathleen Ganley is the only other candidate with a net positive, but just barely at +1.

3. Nenshi’s net scores are +14 in Calgary, +9 in Edmonton, and -1 in the rest of the province. Sarah Hoffman’s net scores are +2 in Edmonton, -6 in Calgary, and -3 in the rest of the province. Note, only 42% of Albertans outside the two largest cities have an impression of Ms. Hoffman.

And so apart from Mr. Nenshi, none of the other leadership candidates are household names (they rarely are in leadership races) and Mr. Nenshi has a substantial advantage when it comes to name recognition and favourability.

Now, we also tested five of the candidate in hypothetical matchups with Danielle Smith and the UCP.

From that exercise we learned a few things:

None of the leadership candidates perform as well as Rachel Notley as part of our main ballot question although Naheed Nenshi performs better than anyone else. This is likely more about his name recognition than any ability to attract Albertans who wouldn’t otherwise vote NDP – except in Calgary.

When we look at the regional dynamics, a few things stand out. In Edmonton, no one performs as well as Rachel Notley currently does. The main ballot question has the NDP ahead by 11. In all of the hypotheticals, that gap drops considerable.

In Calgary, Nenshi performs best, turning an 8 point UCP lead into a statistical tie. None of the other candidates perform better than Rachel Notley currently in Calgary.

Outside of Edmonton and Calgary, Nenshi performance as well as Notley but with all other possible NDP leaders the UCP lead grows.

Finally, another way to look at the potential impact of each NDP leadership candidate to shake up vote intentions to see how much of NDP support they retain and how much support they attract from other parties.

Naheed Nenshi does the best at attracting new supporters and retaining more of the current NDP support base. Sarah Hoffman retains more of the NDP base than other candidates, except for Nenshi, but attracts slightly less UCP and other party supporters than Nenshi. All the other candidates hold 2 in 3 current NDP supporters or less and attract few UCP candidates.

But the big takeaway is how little UCP support is attracted to any of the candidates at the moment demonstrating the level of polarization in Alberta at the moment.

It is also worth noting that given Nenshi name recognition advantage, this comparison isn’t a perfect measure of potential opportunity or risk for the other candidates but it does clearly show how challenging it will be for any of these candidates, if elected leader, to grow the NDP support base. Nenshi likely has the best chance and right now is the lower risk at losing existing NDP support.

Find out more about the The Three Threads and how the Abacus Data team looks
at polling for public affairs and advocacy.

The Upshot

According to Abacus Data CEO David Coletto: “In reflecting on the findings of our recent survey, it’s clear that Premier Danielle Smith’s position in Alberta politics remains robust ten months into her mandate.

Retaining the support garnered in the last election, her government appears not only to have maintained its winning coalition but also enjoys a reasonably favourable approval rating amidst challenging economic conditions. This standing is especially notable when compared to incumbents in other provinces.

The Smith government is perceived as having a distinct mission and vision, demonstrating effectiveness in its undertakings, and maintaining focus on what many Albertans deem the right priorities, despite criticisms around certain initiatives like the Alberta Pension Plan and on-going disputes with Ottawa – which Albertans recognize as an area the government has focused a lot on.

The Alberta NDP leadership race introduces an intriguing dynamic, particularly with Naheed Nenshi’s advantage on name recognition and favourability among the candidates. His recent endorsement by former leadership candidate and NDP MLA Rakhi Pancholi, coupled with claims of a significant increase in party membership, underscores his potential to translate personal brand into political capital. This development is crucial in leadership contests, where the ability to mobilize new members can decisively tilt the scales. Nenshi’s profile offers the Alberta NDP a formidable asset in its leadership transition, highlighting the strategic importance of both visibility and organizational support in such contests.

However, the broader challenge for the Alberta NDP, and indeed for any leader emerging from its ongoing leadership race, lies in positioning the party as a credible and appealing alternative to the United Conservative Party under Danielle Smith. Despite a leadership race that has garnered national attention, the ultimate electoral test will be in persuading UCP supporters to change their preferences. More akin to convincing cola drinkers to stop drinking cola than switching from Pepsi to Coke.

Premier Smith’s brand, characterized by having a clear vision and a focus on priority issues for Albertans, sets a high bar. The evolving political landscape in Alberta, shaped by both individual leadership qualities and collective party dynamics, continues to be a compelling study in contrasts and possibilities.”

Methodology

The survey was conducted with 1,000 Alberta adults from March 16 to 21, 2024. A random sample of panelists were invited to complete the survey from a set of partner panels based on the Lucid exchange platform. These partners are typically double opt-in survey panels, blended to manage out potential skews in the data from a single source.

The margin of error for a comparable probability-based random sample of the same size is +/- 3.1%, 19 times out of 20.

The data were weighted according to census data to ensure that the sample matched Canada’s population according to age, gender, educational attainment, and region. Totals may not add up to 100 due to rounding.

This survey was paid for by Abacus Data Inc.

Abacus Data follows the CRIC Public Opinion Research Standards and Disclosure Requirements that can be found here:  https://canadianresearchinsightscouncil.ca/standards/

ABOUT ABACUS DATA

We are Canada’s most sought-after, influential, and impactful polling and market research firm. We are hired by many of North America’s most respected and influential brands and organizations.

We use the latest technology, sound science, and deep experience to generate top-flight research-based advice to our clients. We offer global research capacity with a strong focus on customer service, attention to detail, and exceptional value.

And we are growing throughout all parts of Canada and the United States and have capacity for new clients who want high quality research insights with enlightened hospitality.

Our record speaks for itself: we were one of the most accurate pollsters conducting research during the 2021 Canadian election following up on our outstanding record in the 2019, 2015, and 2011 federal elections.

 

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Politics Briefing: Renters to receive help in next month’s budget

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Hello,

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a handful of measures aimed at helping renters today that will be part of next month’s 2024 budget, including a $15-million tenant protection fund and a Canadian renters’ bill of rights.

Trudeau and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland made the announcement in Vancouver.

The dollar amounts involved are relatively small, but government officials say this will be the first of several announcements over the coming weeks that will unveil specific elements of the April 16 budget.

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The communications plan was described to The Globe and Mail by two senior government officials. The Globe is not identifying the officials as they were not authorized to comment on the record about the plan.

The government’s hope is that by dropping budget details in advance, the Liberals will be able to garner more attention for the measures they are rolling out, rather than have it all released in a crush of stories on budget day.

Full story by Deputy Ottawa bureau chief Bill Curry and senior political reporter Marieke Walsh.

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 sign-up page. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.

TODAY’S HEADLINES

Justice Marie-Josée Hogue resumes foreign interference inquiry: Hogue opened public hearings today as part of the inquiry on foreign interference, saying she wants to release as much information as possible about meddling in the 2019 and 2021 elections but warning some details must be kept secret to protect national security. Robert Fife and Steven Chase report.

Economists defend Liberals’ carbon price as political rhetoric heats up: Dozens of Canadian economists who have issued an ardent defence of Canada’s price on pollution say the national carbon price is the cheapest way to cut the most emissions, and also dispute the notion that the carbon price is driving up inflation and the cost of living.

NDP motion on Gaza threatened to split Liberal caucus: The federal Liberals expected upward of 80 of their backbench MPs to vote with the NDP last week on a motion that included a call to recognize a Palestinian state, according to sources with knowledge of the deliberations, prompting a scramble to convince New Democrats to accept amendments and avoid exposing deep divisions in the governing party.

Drowning in debt, Canadian Olympic athletes ask for raise in monthly ‘carding’ money in federal budget: With the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris on the horizon, Canada’s athletes are asking for a $6.3-million raise to the Athletes Assistance Program, which is informally known as “carding” money, in the federal government’s April 16 budget.

‘He understands Canadians’: Inside what ‘axe the tax’ means to Poilievre’s supporters: Heading into spring, federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has spent much of his time outside of Parliament campaigning across the country – and on social media – to keep up momentum as he rides high in public opinion polls. That includes a rally in Ottawa last weekend.

Canada pushes for trade in Vietnam as West lowers risks from China: Trade Minister Mary Ng, leading the largest-ever Canadian delegation to Vietnam, opened the second Canada-Vietnam Joint Economic Committee after meetings with senior Vietnamese leaders in Hanoi.

Ontario budget 2024: Billions for health care, rising deficits, car insurance changes and other highlights: Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy outlined a “deterioration” of Ontario’s fiscal situation and a higher deficit projection next year because of slower economic growth, inflation and higher interest rates as he tabled the province’s 2024-25 budget this week.

TODAY’S POLITICAL QUOTES

“I don’t agree that Canada is a climate laggard, and I certainly don’t agree that Saskatchewan is a climate laggard. I think Saskatchewan and Canada are leaders when it comes to developing industries that are reducing emissions with innovation.” – Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe appearing virtually today before the government operations committee about his opposition to federal carbon pricing.

“Any province that wants to put forward a similarly robust way to fight climate change, but do it in a way that works for them, is more than welcome to.” – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, during a news conference in Vancouver, responding to a question about whether he is open to talking to the premiers about their concerns with his government’s carbon-pricing policies.

“Your concerns are real. You are not making it up.” – Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland at the news conference, in Vancouver, with Trudeau on challenges facing young Canadians.

THIS AND THAT

Mark Carney meets China’s president: The former governor of both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, seen as a possible successor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, met today in China with Xi Jinping as the Chinese president held talks with North American business leaders. Britain’s The Telegraph reports here.

Hannah Thibedeau exit: After more than 20 years covering Parliament Hill, Hannah Thibedeau is departing the CBC. The afternoon host on the CBC News Network is having a goodbye party in Ottawa this week, an internal notice said. In 2009, says her biography on the CBC website, Thibedeau joined CBC as a local reporter and producer for Politics with Don Newman. In 2012, she joined the national bureau.

New chief military judge: Captain Catherine Julie Deschênes is taking up the role from Lieutenant-Colonel Louis-Vincent d’Auteuil, interim judge since March, 2020. The chief military judge, like other military judges, also presides over courts martial but has additional responsibilities for the administration of their office. Defence Minister Bill Blair announced the appointment today.

Gould in Boston: Karina Gould, who has been on maternity leave from her role as government house leader, was at the Harvard Kennedy School this week, speaking about public-sector programs to support families and their impact on key social and economic outcomes. Gould’s press secretary, Philippe-Alexandre Langlois, confirmed the personal trip. Bernadette Jordan, Canada’s consul general to Boston and the New England states, posted on the event.

Commons, Senate: The House of Commons is on a break until April 8. The Senate sits again on April 9.

Deputy Prime Minister’s day: Chrystia Freeland, in Vancouver, joined Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the housing and renters announcement.

Ministers on the road: Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne, in St. John’s, participated in a fireside chat hosted by Energy NL with Premier Andrew Furey and Energy NL chief executive officer Charlene Johnson. Housing Minister Sean Fraser, Marci Ien, Minister for Women, Gender Equality and Youth, and Justice Minister Arif Virani made an affordable-housing announcement in Toronto. Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault and Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez, in Montreal, made a housing and affordability announcement.

In Québec City, Immigration Minister Marc Miller and Public Services Minister Jean-Yves Duclos were scheduled to make a housing announcement. International Trade Minister Mary Ng is in Ho Chi Minh City, leading a trade mission in Vietnam this week. Families Minister Jenna Sudds, in Edmonton, made a housing announcement. Filomena Tassi, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for southern Ontario, was scheduled to make a housing announcement in Waterloo. Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal and Treasury Board President Anita Anand, in Winnipeg, made a housing and affordability announcement. Small Business Minister Rechie Valdez, in Toronto, attended an event hosted by PARO Women’s Enterprise Canada to celebrate female entrepreneurs from across Canada.

Commons committee highlights: Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe appeared by video conference before the government operations committee on main estimates related to government spending.

PRIME MINISTER’S DAY

In Vancouver, Justin Trudeau made a housing announcement, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Harjit Sajjan, the president of the King’s Privy Council for Canada.

LEADERS

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was scheduled to hold a rally in Edmonton.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, in B.C., held a caucus meeting and later spoke at a youth nuclear disarmament gathering in Victoria hosted by Mines Action Canada.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was scheduled, in Ottawa, to join the Public Service Alliance of Canada picket line in support of striking Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services workers. However, his schedule for the day was cancelled.

No schedule released for Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet.

THE DECIBEL

Today’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast features international correspondent Nathan VanderKlippe on how the local high school in the Colorado mountain town of Aspen – often called a snowy “playground for the rich” – is dealing with real estate pressures affecting teachers. Student-built tiny homes for the teachers is one solution. The Decibel is here.

TRIBUTE

Trevor Harrison: The family of the late Liberal political volunteer and staffer have created a scholarship in his name linked to brain tumours, an affliction which led to his 2022 death. The $2,000 award through the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada aims to provide financial support to politically engaged students, affected by a brain tumour, who want to make positive contributions to public policy or politics through civic engagement. Scholarship details are here. Former Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff eulogized Harrison.

PUBLIC OPINION

Alberta NDP leadership race: Former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi is the most well known of the candidates seeking to lead the Alberta NDP, and the only candidate with a clear, net-positive impression, according to newly released research from Abacus Data.

OPINION

The Liberals’ dithering on defence is indefensible

“Years of neglect cannot be overcome overnight. But the defence policy update needs to lay out a clear and credible path to Canada meeting its obligations to NATO (not to mention, to the members of the armed forces). A failure to do so will relegate Canada to the periphery of NATO discussions, as well as making it clear to the United States that it needs to assume responsibility for the defence of the Arctic. So, what will the Trudeau Liberals pick: a hard road to rebuilding relevance, or continued decline? The moment of decision is approaching – swiftly.” – The Globe and Mail Editorial Board

The Liberals broke the immigration system at high speed. They’re repairing it by baby steps

“They filled the pool with a firehose. Now they’re bailing with thimbles. After years of the Trudeau government flooring the growth accelerator on temporary immigration, Immigration Minister Marc Miller last week announced a tap of the brakes. The overdue move is welcome – though so far it’s more pledge than plan, with many details about execution (not this government’s strong suit) still to come.”

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