Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly, who is facing heavy criticism from downtown residents over his handling of the continuing protests that are now entering a second work week, said next steps could include impounding the remaining large trucks that are parked on the streets near Parliament Hill.
Protesters remain dug in on Ottawa city streets, even though similar protests over the weekend in Toronto and Quebec City have been fully cleared.
Ottawa police took a more interventionist approach Sunday that included dismantling a protester camp in Confederation Park near the Rideau Canal. Then late Sunday evening, police entered a baseball stadium parking lot on Coventry Road, east of downtown, that is being used a logistics support base for the main protest near Parliament Hill.
“We’ve removed encampments in and around the red zone and the core of the area,” Mr. Sloly said Monday morning in an interview with local radio station CFRA. “We are targeting the highest-risk areas with the resources we have available and dismantling them. We’ve been doing that since Friday and we’ve had two major successes. Confederation Park is gone. That entire encampment, [including] the wood structure, all of the fuel… that is entirely gone through negotiation and hardcore planning. We’ve dismantled the fuel operation of Coventry. Gone. Seven arrests, people going to jail. We will continue to do that on a daily basis.”
Mr. Sloly agreed when asked if one of the challenges police face is obtaining tow trucks capable of removing the remaining large trucks, as well as finding tow truck operators who are willing to do the job.
“We saw in, and still see, in places like Alberta, in Coutts, where they tried to attempt heavy enforcement. It was tow trucks that became one of the major logistical barriers to that. But we’re still looking at other options in order to either impound the trucks in place, or to take them lawfully into custody and remove them from the area. Everything is on the table.”
At a news conference later in the day, Mr. Sloly said he will be sending a letter to Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson to underscore the need for more support from the provincial and federal governments.
“We’re asking for a major push of resources to come in in the next 72 hours,” he said.
Even as he spoke of shutting down fuel supplies, journalists on the scene Monday reported images of protesters walking cans of fuel unimpeded to the idling trucks on Parliament Hill.
At a news conference Monday afternoon, federal ministers proposed a “trilateral table” for the federal, provincial and municipal governments to address the trucker protest. “It is well past the time to bring this protest to an end,” Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said. The federal ministers said Ottawa is willing to provide all appropriate assistance that is required.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
OTTAWA RESIDENTS, PROTESTERS SCHEDULED TO CLASH IN COURT: An Ontario court is scheduled to hear arguments Monday in a proposed multimillion-dollar class-action lawsuit by Ottawa residents who want protesters encamped in their downtown to stop honking their horns. Story here.
POILIEVRE RUNNING – Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre, the official opposition finance critic, has launched his bid for the party’s leadership by declaring he’s running to be the next prime minister. Story here. Meanwhile Quebec Conservative Alain Rayes has quit his post as the party’s deputy leader because he says he wants to play a role in shaping who will next lead the party. Story here.
BC LIBERALS ELECT NEW LEADER – B.C. Premier John Horgan is going to be facing a new political foil. Former provincial finance minister Kevin Falcon has won the leadership of the B.C. Liberal party, the official opposition in the legislature. Mr. Falcon, who finished second in the 2011 leadership contest, losing to Christy Clark, who served as premier until the party lost power in 2017, left politics a decade ago to spend more time with his young family and work in the private sector. Story here.
NEW NAME FOR B.C. LIBERALS? – Speaking of the B.C. Liberals, the party’s new leader says he’d like to see the party change its name. Mr. Falcon said he’d like to find a name that people like and can live with, while also preventing a new group from taking the B.C. Liberal brand. Story here.
THIS AND THAT
The projected order of business at the House of Commons, Feb.7 is here.
THE DECIBEL – The Globe and Mail’s Science reporter Ivan Semeniuk explains how the new James Webb Space Telescope is able to see way beyond its predecessor’s range and further back in time. Mr. Semeniuk explains how this new telescope works, what scientists hope to learn from it and why Canada’s contributions are critical to the mission’s success. A link to the podcast can be found here. The Decibel is also available on all major podcast platforms.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in “private meetings” and has no public events scheduled Monday, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
LEADERS
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh held a news conference Monday, during which he called for an emergency debate on the occupation in Ottawa. He also accused the Prime Minister of a failure of leadership and the Conservatives of emboldening the protesters.
Conservative interim leader Candice Bergen released a statement Monday on Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, marking her 70th year as Queen. Ms. Bergen has not held a news conference since she was elected interim leader by members of the Conservative caucus last Wednesday. Earlier that day, the caucus voted 73 to 45 in favour of replacing Erin O’Toole as party leader.
OPINION
Former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney, who is considered a potential Liberal leadership candidate should the job become available, is weighing in on the Ottawa protest in an opinion piece for The Globe and Mail:“By now anyone sending money to the convoy should be in no doubt: You are funding sedition. Foreign funders of an insurrection interfered in our domestic affairs from the start. Canadian authorities should take every step within the law to identify and thoroughly punish them. The involvement of foreign governments and any officials connected to them should be identified, exposed, and addressed.”
This populist conservative force is powerful and militant. And it has found a political voice in Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre, who on Saturday announced his candidacy for the leadership of the Conservative Party.
Yaroslav Baran and Geoff Norquay (Canadian Politics and Public Policy) on why the Tories need a united and not a headwaiter: “The future success of the party will largely hinge on how capable it will be of finally transcending its traditional factionalism. Under Erin O’Toole’s watch, the residual tribes remained, and continued to yank and pull the leader this way and that, impeding compromise to the detriment of unity and national interest. A successful future leader – whoever she or he may be – will be one who serves not as headwaiter to the factions, but rather as co-ordinator and steward, channelling all their energies forward
Shachi Kurl (The Ottawa Citizen)on why Conservatives’ embrace of the truck protest in Ottawa isn’t helping them: “The CPC must decide if it wants to be a party that meets only the needs of a stringent base, or whether it wants to be the party in power. The Liberals figured it out after another humiliating smack in 2011. The party cast off its senators, and took a tough stance on abortion, leaving some loyal Catholic Liberals on the outs. It shed some supporters to pick up others. Like it or not, these were bold moves, motivated not by staying true to past elements the party base, but by a desire to govern. For the Conservatives, it is once again a time for hard choices. But not hard-line ones.”
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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.
Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.
A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”
Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.
“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.
In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”
“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”
Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.
Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.
Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.
“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.
“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.
“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.
“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”
“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.
Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.
She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.
Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.
Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.
The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.
Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.
“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.
“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”
The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.
In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.
“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”
In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.
“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”
Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.
Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.
“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”
In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.
In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.
“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”
Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.
“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”
The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.
“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.
“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
