Ottawa, on Tuesday, was awaiting the fall economic statement from Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland that is expected to provide an overview of the Liberal government’s spending plans.
Details of the statement are to be released at 4 p.m. EST as Ms. Freeland delivers her speech. At mid-afternoon, Ms. Freeland said, in a tweet, she would be presenting the update virtually after two members of her staff received positive COVID-19 results to rapid antigen tests.
“They are self-isolating at home. I have not had direct contact with them. The rest of my staff in Ottawa have had negative antigen tests today. I have had two negative molecular tests today. However, out of an abundance of caution I will be presenting the economic and fiscal update virtually,” Ms. Freeland wrote.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, earlier on Tuesday, was coy on the contents of the statement as he entered a federal cabinet meeting.
“Very much looking forward to the fiscal update today, where we’re going to be sharing not just where we are as an economy in our recovery but also how we’re going to continue to help people into the future,” Mr. Trudeau told journalists.
But one major item was previewed on Monday. As Parliamentary Reporter Kristy Kirkup and Deputy Ottawa Bureau Chief Bill Curry report here, the federal government will earmark $40-billion to compensate First Nations children and families for the failures of Canada’s child welfare system and to pay for long-term reform.
The goal is to settle the matter out of court before the end of the year.
As Ms. Kirkup and Mr. Curry report, the federal government, in April, estimated last year’s federal deficit would hit $354.2-billion, while the deficit for the current fiscal year was projected to be $154.7-billion.
As Finance Minister in a minority Parliament, Ms. Freeland is facing calls from the Opposition Conservatives to curb planned spending, while the NDP and the Bloc Québécois press her to reverse recent moves to end direct COVID-19 supports for individuals.
Official Opposition Leader Erin O’Toole has scheduled a news conference to speak to the contents of the statement once Ms. Freeland has spoken to the House.
Please check The Globe and Mail for news, analysis and commentary on the statement.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
ANAND ISSUES APOLOGY – Defence Minister Anita Anand apologized on Monday to people who have experienced sexual misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces, but noted the apology is one step along the path of dealing with the issue. Story here.
FEDS URGE BANK OF CANADA FOCUS ON FULL EMPLOYMENT – The federal government has directed the Bank of Canada to put more emphasis on full employment as it aims to keep inflation low and stable. It is the most significant change to the central bank’s mandate in three decades, and reflects evolving ideas about the nature of the economy and monetary policy. Story here.
FEW PROBES INTO RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL ATROCITIES – Today, despite growing demands across the country for a school-by-school investigation of residential school atrocities, B.C. remains the only province that has come anywhere close to answering the call. The RCMP is giving no indication that it will direct any future residential school probes from Ottawa, saying discretion lies with the provinces and individual communities. “Any support undertaken by the RCMP would be Indigenous-led, community-based, survivor-centric and culturally sensitive,” force spokeswoman Robin Percival said in a statement. Story here.
LEGAUT ON BILL 21 – “I don’t see how the federal government can intervene in so touchy a subject for our nation,” Quebec Premier François Legault reacting to the controversy on Bill 21. From CBC. Video clip here.
TRUDEAU PITCH ON ELECTRIC-VEHICLE INCENTIVES – Canada would be willing to “align” its own electric vehicle incentives with those south of the border if the United States were to ensure Canadian-built cars and trucks would be eligible for U.S. President Joe Biden’s proposed tax-credit scheme, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says.
TRUDEAU LOOKS BACK AT THE YEAR – As Omicron case numbers continue to rise, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau affirmed, during a year-end interview with CTV News’ Evan Solomon, that his government will be able to deliver vaccine booster shots and support Canadians through rising inflation. The interview aired on CTV’s Question Period this Sunday at 11 a.m. EST. Story here.
COVID-19 SURGE LOOMING: TAM – The country’s top doctor says Canada is about to experience a major surge in COVID-19 cases and that health officials need to step up the use of rapid antigen tests, booster shots and other public-health tools in order to prevent closings, lockdowns and overwhelmed hospitals. Story here.
DECEASED MANITOBA MLA REMEMBERED – Members of the Manitoba legislature held a small ceremony this week to remember an NDP MLA who was killed in a car crash last week. Story here from CBC.
B.C. MAYOR FACING CRIMINAL CHARGE – The twists continue in Surrey, British Columbia’s second most populous city, as the mayor has been charged with public mischief after he complained his foot was run over during a confrontation with a critic of his council’s plans to replace the Surrey RCMP with a municipal force. Story here.
HAASSMENT OF PUBLIC FIGURES ACROSS CANADA – The Charlottetown Police Service is considering criminal harassment charges against protestors who gathered outside the house of Prince Edward Island’s Chief Health Officer in what the police chief said was “not an isolated incident.” Story here from CBC. Meanwhile, on Vancouver Island, a member of the B.C. legislature called it “completely unacceptable” that members of the public, opposed to public-health orders, protested outside her home. Story here, from CHEK News.
THIS AND THAT
TODAY IN THE COMMONS – Projected order of business at the House of Commons, Dec. 14, accessible here.
CABINET COMMENTS – The federal cabinet met Tuesday, and ministers had some things to say to the media on arrival and departure, including:
Immigration Minister Sean Fraser – He said 5,400 Afghan refugees are now in Canada, with more arriving. “I expect there’ll be a few hundred more potentially by the end of the day. I expect with the flights that are arriving in the next couple of weeks, we’ll likely be in excess of 6,000, but in that ballpark, one way or the other.”
Government House Leader Mark Holland – On contingency planning for Parliament in case COVID-19 cases increase, Mr. Holland said the issue was to be discussed at a Tuesday afternoon meeting of House leaders. “We are in a rapidly evolving health situation as a result of Omicron so we will have a conversation today at House leaders about what appropriate measures need to be taken to keep everybody safe on the parliamentary precinct.”
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino – The minister said arrival testing is ramping up at every airport, “so we can learn as much as possible about returning travellers to Canada, including returning Canadians who have a right of return.” However, he added the most significant pandemic risk for Canadians will be within our borders.
NWT PREMIER VISITING OTTAWA – Northwest Territories Premier Caroline Cochrane will be in Ottawa this week to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and federal cabinet ministers to discuss territorial priorities that include infrastructure, roads, broadband, cleaner sources of energy, and affordable housing. She will also meet with the Governor-General. Details here.
THE DECIBEL – Ethiopian freelance journalist Lucy Kassa speaks to The Globe and Mail’s podcast about the civil war in that country, pitting the federal government against the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front. You can access the podcast here.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
Private meetings. The Prime Minister chaired a cabinet meeting. He was scheduled to meet with Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok, and attend the economic and fiscal update speech delivered by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland in the House of Commons. An interview with the Prime Minister aired on RED FM Toronto, and also on RED FM Calgary and on RED FM Vancouver.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
The Deputy Prime Minister delivers the economic and fiscal update speech.
LEADERS
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, on Parliament Hill, held a news conference on Bill 21.
Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole was scheduled to hold a media availability after the fall economic statement in the House of Commons.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh , on Parliament Hill, held a news conference and later attended Question Period.
PUBLIC OPINION
Data Dive with Nik Nanos, chief data scientist at Nanos Research: Canadians recognize racism is a problem, both online and off, so support an array of measures to improve racial equality – and they don’t see inaction as an acceptable option. Details here.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Boardon why 25 million Canadians need a COVID-19 booster, and they need it now: ”But here’s the thing: Vaccines are rocket science; getting them into arms isn’t. The hardest part of this job is already done. We’ve got the doses. Which leaves the relatively easier part: restarting hundreds of recently shuttered mass vaccination clinics; allowing people who aren’t physicians or pharmacists to give shots, as the British are doing; and sending millions of doses to pharmacies and family doctors. It’s not impossible. It’s not even that hard, as Canada showed last spring and summer.”
Gary Mason (The Globe and Mail)on Jason Kenney vs. Brian Jean: “This past weekend, Mr. Jean easily secured the United Conservative Party nomination for the riding of Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche, comfortably defeating Mr. Kenney’s favoured candidate, Joshua Gogo. A byelection must be called by mid-February. This would mean that, presuming Mr. Jean wins (as he’s expected to), he could have a seat in the legislature before the end of March. That’s before Mr. Kenney faces a leadership review in April. Mr. Jean is on the record as saying that Mr. Kenney needs to resign. And he insists that all his energy will be devoted to this cause once he’s a legitimate member of the UCP caucus. Mr. Kenney could refuse to allow Mr. Jean to stand as a candidate in the byelection by not signing his papers. But almost no one believes that will happen. It would be viewed extremely poorly inside the UCP.”
Éric Blais (The Ottawa Citizen) on how federal Conservatives must focus on what they stand for, not who the leader is: “The party should pick a lane by either moving the brand to where the market opportunity is or attempting to move the market to where the brand is. As private-sector organizations often do, it should seek objective, fact-based strategic advice on which lane is most likely to get it elected to form the government.”
Kathryn May (Policy Options)on how COVID-19 could bring about a downtown Ottawa revival as remote work for the federal civil service frees up downtown real estate:“No other city will feel the impact of the federal real estate shift like the National Capital Region where the government is the largest employer and landlord. The government employs about 260,000 people in 102 departments occupying 75 million square feet of leased and Crown-owned space across the country. Half of that is in the National Capital Region, where headquarters for most departments are located and where 140,000 employees went to work pre-pandemic in offices occupying 38 million square feet. Real estate and market experts say the government will need less space and that what remains will be reshuffled from old Crown-owned or leased buildings downtown toward a network of suburban satellite offices or hubs.”
Vaughn Palmer (The Vancouver Sun) on how many B.C. NDP members are upset at government’s ‘impossible balancing act’ on the Coastal GasLink pipeline: ”Not content with accusing the NDP government of complicity, hypocrisy, obfuscation and promoting genocidal policies in dealing with Indigenous people, she also blasted it for pursuing “Christy Clark’s LNG pipeline.” Coastal GasLink will feed the LNG Canada terminal now under construction at Kitimat. Both are supported by the NDP government. “The LNG debate is what should be on the floor today, is way overdue and is at the heart of this issue,” said Zarbatany. “Members have tried to bring forward LNG debate for over two years, but we’ve been blocked every time. “Now we’re losing some of our best activists over this issue, alienating an entire generation of young people who are relying on us to address the climate emergency.”
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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democrats who control both chambers of the Virginia legislature are hoping to make good on promises made on the campaign trail, including becoming the first Southern state to expand constitutional protections for abortion access.
The House Privileges and Elections Committee advanced three proposed constitutional amendments Wednesday, including a measure to protect reproductive rights. Its members also discussed measures to repeal a now-defunct state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and ways to revise Virginia’s process to restore voting rights for people who served time for felony crimes.
“This meeting was an important next step considering the moment in history we find ourselves in,” Democratic Del. Cia Price, the committee chair, said during a news conference. “We have urgent threats to our freedoms that could impact constituents in all of the districts we serve.”
The at-times raucous meeting will pave the way for the House and Senate to take up the resolutions early next year after lawmakers tabled the measures last January. Democrats previously said the move was standard practice, given that amendments are typically introduced in odd-numbered years. But Republican Minority Leader Todd Gilbert said Wednesday the committee should not have delved into the amendments before next year’s legislative session. He said the resolutions, particularly the abortion amendment, need further vetting.
“No one who is still serving remembers it being done in this way ever,” Gilbert said after the meeting. “Certainly not for something this important. This is as big and weighty an issue as it gets.”
The Democrats’ legislative lineup comes after Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin, to the dismay of voting-rights advocates, rolled back a process to restore people’s civil rights after they completed sentences for felonies. Virginia is the only state that permanently bans anyone convicted of a felony from voting unless a governor restores their rights.
“This amendment creates a process that is bounded by transparent rules and criteria that will apply to everybody — it’s not left to the discretion of a single individual,” Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, the patron of the voting rights resolution, which passed along party lines, said at the news conference.
Though Democrats have sparred with the governor over their legislative agenda, constitutional amendments put forth by lawmakers do not require his signature, allowing the Democrat-led House and Senate to bypass Youngkin’s blessing.
Instead, the General Assembly must pass proposed amendments twice in at least two years, with a legislative election sandwiched between each statehouse session. After that, the public can vote by referendum on the issues. The cumbersome process will likely hinge upon the success of all three amendments on Democrats’ ability to preserve their edge in the House and Senate, where they hold razor-thin majorities.
It’s not the first time lawmakers have attempted to champion the three amendments. Republicans in a House subcommittee killed a constitutional amendment to restore voting rights in 2022, a year after the measure passed in a Democrat-led House. The same subcommittee also struck down legislation supporting a constitutional amendment to repeal an amendment from 2006 banning marriage equality.
On Wednesday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers voted 16-5 in favor of legislation protecting same-sex marriage, with four Republicans supporting the resolution.
“To say the least, voters enacted this (amendment) in 2006, and we have had 100,000 voters a year become of voting age since then,” said Del. Mark Sickles, who sponsored the amendment as one of the first openly gay men serving in the General Assembly. “Many people have changed their opinions of this as the years have passed.”
A constitutional amendment protecting abortion previously passed the Senate in 2023 but died in a Republican-led House. On Wednesday, the amendment passed on party lines.
If successful, the resolution proposed by House Majority Leader Charniele Herring would be part of a growing trend of reproductive rights-related ballot questions given to voters. Since 2022, 18 questions have gone before voters across the U.S., and they have sided with abortion rights advocates 14 times.
The voters have approved constitutional amendments ensuring the right to abortion until fetal viability in nine states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Ohio and Vermont. Voters also passed a right-to-abortion measure in Nevada in 2024, but it must be passed again in 2026 to be added to the state constitution.
As lawmakers debated the measure, roughly 18 members spoke. Mercedes Perkins, at 38 weeks pregnant, described the importance of women making decisions about their own bodies. Rhea Simon, another Virginia resident, anecdotally described how reproductive health care shaped her life.
Then all at once, more than 50 people lined up to speak against the abortion amendment.
“Let’s do the compassionate thing and care for mothers and all unborn children,” resident Sheila Furey said.
The audience gave a collective “Amen,” followed by a round of applause.
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Associated Press writer Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, contributed to this report.
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Olivia Diaz is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative.
NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump says he will nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, putting him in charge of a massive agency that oversees everything from drug, vaccine and food safety to medical research and the social safety net programs Medicare and Medicaid.
“For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social site announcing the appointment. Kennedy, he said, would “Make America Great and Healthy Again!”
Kennedy, a former Democrat who ran as an independent in this year’s presidential race, abandoned his bid after striking a deal to give Trump his endorsement with a promise to have a role in health policy in the administration.
He and Trump have since become good friends, with Kennedy frequently receiving loud applause at Trump’s rallies.
The expected appointment was first reported by Politico Thursday.
A longtime vaccine skeptic, Kennedy is an attorney who has built a loyal following over several decades of people who admire his lawsuits against major pesticide and pharmaceutical companies. He has pushed for tighter regulations around the ingredients in foods.
With the Trump campaign, he worked to shore up support among young mothers in particular, with his message of making food healthier in the U.S., promising to model regulations imposed in Europe. In a nod to Trump’s original campaign slogan, he named the effort “Make America Healthy Again.”
It remains unclear how that will square with Trump’s history of deregulation of big industries, including food. Trump pushed for fewer inspections of the meat industry, for example.
Kennedy’s stance on vaccines has also made him a controversial figure among Democrats and some Republicans, raising question about his ability to get confirmed, even in a GOP-controlled Senate. Kennedy has espoused misinformation around the safety of vaccines, including pushing a totally discredited theory that childhood vaccines cause autism.
He also has said he would recommend removing fluoride from drinking water. The addition of the material has been cited as leading to improved dental health.
HHS has more than 80,000 employees across the country. It houses the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Medicare and Medicaid programs and the National Institutes of Health.
Kennedy’s anti-vaccine nonprofit group, Children’s Health Defense, currently has a lawsuit pending against a number of news organizations, among them The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking action to identify misinformation, including about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines. Kennedy took leave from the group when he announced his run for president but is listed as one of its attorneys in the lawsuit.
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — In a Cypriot National Guard camp, Ukrainians are being trained on how to identify, locate and dispose of landmines and other unexploded munitions that litter huge swaths of their country, killing and maiming hundreds of people, including children.
Analysts say Ukraine is among the countries that are the most affected by landmines and discarded explosives, as a result of Russia’s ongoing war.
According to U.N. figures, some 399 people have been killed and 915 wounded from landmines and other munitions since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, equal to the number of casualties reported from 2014-2021. More than 1 in 10 of those casualties have been children.
The economic impact is costing billions to the Ukrainian economy. Landmines and other munitions are preventing the sowing of 5 million hectares, or 10%, of the country’s agricultural land.
Cyprus stepped up to offer its facilities as part of the European Union’s Military Assistance Mission to Ukraine. So far, almost 100 Ukrainian armed forces personnel have taken part in three training cycles over the last two years, said Cyprus Foreign Ministry spokesperson Theodoros Gotsis.
“We are committed to continuing this support for as long as it takes,” Gotsis told the Associated Press, adding that the Cyprus government has covered the 250,000 euro ($262,600) training cost.
Cyprus opted to offer such training owing to its own landmine issues dating back five decades when the island nation was ethnically divided when Turkey invaded following a coup that sought union with Greece. The United Nations has removed some 27,000 landmines from a buffer zone that cuts across the island, but minefields remain on either side. The Cypriot government says it has disposed of all anti-personnel mines in line with its obligations under an international treaty that bans the use of such munitions.
In Cyprus, Ukrainians undergo rigorous theoretical and practical training over a five-week Basic Demining and Clearance course that includes instruction on distinguishing and safely handling landmines and other explosive munitions, such as rockets, 155 mm artillery shells, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar shells.
Theoretical training uses inert munitions identical to the actual explosives.
Most of the course is comprised of hands-on training focusing on the on-site destruction of unexploded munitions using explosives, the chief training officer told the Associated Press. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he’s not authorized to disclose his identity for security reasons.
“They’re trained on ordnance disposal using real explosives,” the officer said. “That will be the trainees’ primary task when they return.”
Cypriot officials said the Ukrainian trainees did not want to be either interviewed or photographed.
Defusing discarded munitions or landmines in areas where explosive charges can’t be used — for instance, near a hospital — is not part of this course because that’s the task of highly trained teams of disposal experts whose training can last as long as eight months, the officer said.
Trainees, divided into groups of eight, are taught how to operate metal detectors and other tools for detecting munitions like prodders — long, thin rods which are used to gently probe beneath the ground’s surface in search of landmines and other explosive ordnance.
Another tool is a feeler, a rod that’s used to detect booby-trapped munitions. There are many ways to booby-trap such munitions, unlike landmines which require direct pressure to detonate.
“Booby-trapped munitions are a widespread phenomenon in Ukraine,” the chief training officer explained.
Training, primarily conducted by experts from other European Union countries, takes place both in forested and urban areas at different army camps and follows strict safety protocols.
The short, intense training period keeps the Ukrainians focused.
“You see the interest they show during instruction: they ask questions, they want to know what mistakes they’ve made and the correct way of doing it,” the officer said.
Humanitarian data and analysis group ACAPS said in a Jan. 2024 report that 174,000 sq. kilometers (67,182 sq. miles) or nearly 29% of Ukraine’s territory needs to be surveyed for landmines and other explosive ordnance.
More than 10 million people are said to live in areas where demining action is needed.
Since 2022, Russian forces have used at least 13 types of anti-personnel mines, which target people. Russia never signed the 1997 Ottawa Convention banning the use of anti-personnel mines, but the use of such mines is nonetheless considered a violation of its obligations under international law.
Russia also uses 13 types of anti-tank mines.
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines said in its 2023 Landmine Monitor report that Ukrainian government forces may have also used antipersonnel landmines in contravention of the Mine Ban Treaty in and around the city of Izium during 2022, when the city was under Russian control.
