Politics Briefing: Conservatives' election review says the party needs to recruit a wider diversity of candidates: source - The Globe and Mail | Canada News Media
An internal review of the Conservative Party’s 2021 election campaign says the party needs to recruit a wider diversity of candidates and increase its outreach with ethnic communitites if it hopes to improve on last year’s results and make gains in Canada’s largest cities, according to a Conservative source.
Former Conservative MP James Cumming has completed his assignment to conduct a post-mortem of the party’s 2021 election campaign, including a review of the performance of Erin O’Toole, the party leader. Mr. Cumming was scheduled to brief the national Conservative caucus on his findings Thursday during a closed-door meeting. Mr. O’Toole is scheduled to speak with reporters later Thursday.
The Globe and Mail has not viewed a copy of the full report. However, a Conservative source provided a summary of some of the key findings.
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
PM IN ISOLATION – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is isolating at home after learning that he was exposed to someone who had tested positive for COVID-19. Story here.
FREELAND HIGHER THAN TRUDEAU IN LEADERSHIP POLL – Deputy Prime Minster Chrystia Freeland scores higher than Justin Trudeau as the preferred choice as leader of the Liberal Party with a new poll showing Canadians are deeply divided about the Prime Minister’s performance. Story here
TRUCKERS CONVOY EN ROUTE – A convoy of truckers protesting against the federal vaccination mandate could arrive in the capital as early as Thursday, and other groups and counterprotesters will likely join their multiday demonstration, Ottawa police say. Story here. Meanwhile, Global News reports that NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh’s brother in law has asked for his $13,000 donation to the convoy to be returned. Story here.
FEDERAL MINISTER DENOUNCES “TERRORIST” LABEL – Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra says a tweet from an Ontario politician labelling him a “terrorist” is just another example of the “unacceptable” aggressions Canadian minorities deal with every day. Story here.
QUEBEC OPPOSITION READY TO FIGHT ANTI-VACCINATION TAX – The two biggest opposition parties in Quebec say they are ready to fight the proposal from Premier François Legault to impose a health tax on unvaccinated Quebecers as the National Assembly resumes sitting next week. and details of the plan are released. Story here from The Montreal Gazette.
GUIDANCE ON LONG-TERM CARE – An organization that develops health-care standards has released a draft of new long-term care guidance that the authors hope will fundamentally change the way Canadian care homes are accredited and inspected. Story here.
UKRAINE
U.S. AND NATO RULE OUT UKRAINE CONCESSION – The United States and NATO have each sent written replies to Russia over its security demands, saying they would make no concessions when it comes to Ukraine’s possible future in the Western alliance. Story here.
CANADA STEPS UP UKRAINE MEASURES – Canada is extending its soldier-training mission in Ukraine for three years and supplying non-lethal defensive equipment and intelligence sharing to the country’s armed forces amid fears of a Russian invasion. Story here.
THIS AND THAT
The House of Commons has adjourned until Jan. 31 at 11 a.m. ET.
CENTRE BLOCK RENOVATION Q&A – The iconic Centre Block of Parliament Hill – the key complex of the Parliamentary precinct – is a shell of itself these days. It has been emptied out for up to $5-billion in renovations expected to last until at least 2030 to modernize the complex constructed in its current form after a 1916 fire. It also includes a new welcome centre through which visitors will enter Centre Block. Centre Block business involving MPs has, since 2019, been shifted to the West Block, another building on Parliament Hill. That includes a newly built chamber where MPs gather for Question Period, debates and votes. Meanwhile Senate business has been shifted to the former Government Conference Centre, once a train station, near Parliament Hill. The Politics Briefing newsletter spoke to Rob Wright, assistant deputy minister for the Public Services and Procurement federal department in charge of the project, and Jennifer Garrett, director general, Centre Block Program, about the project:
Q-What do you hope to accomplish with the project by the end of this year?
A-(Rob Wright) “We’ll be really moving the excavation work towards completion. About 45,000 truckloads of bedrock will have to be removed as part of that excavation. We’ve got about 26,000 truckloads that have been removed. When you look at carefully taking apart the Centre Block, we have to take away all the asbestos-containing material, and really get at the structure. At this point, we’ve taken out about 16 million pounds of asbestos-containing material from the building. The Centre Block has in excess of 20,000 heritage assets throughout the building. You look at the marble flooring for example, which would be a heritage asset. There’s 35,000 marble tiles throughout the building. So there’s this tremendous rich covering of heritage material throughout the building that has to be carefully taken off so that it can be conserved. And then we can restore and strengthen the structure. And then we have to put all the modern systems, whether you’re talking about mechanical, electrical, plumbing and all of that stuff that was at the complete end of its lifecycle. And all the digital kind of network throughout the building as well.
Q-Why is it taking a decade to complete this project?
A- (Mr. Wright) We have to carefully take this building completely apart. And then we have to take all of the asbestos-contained material out of it. And it’s a tremendous amount of effort to accomplish that. And then we have to bring [the building] to modern code. For example, the Centre Block had sprinkler coverage for approximately 20 per cent of the building. It also only met about 30 per cent of the modern seismic code. So it has to be brought up to modern seismic code. Eventually we’ll be separating the Centre Block from the bedrock and putting it on approximately 600 base isolators, which are essentially these massive shock absorbers.”
Q-Has the deadline for the project shifted? We’re obviously going through the pandemic.
A-(Mr. Wright) We’ve baselined the schedule at 2030, 2031 for the substantial completion of the construction, There has been no shift on that.
Q-Have there been any surprises or setbacks to the project?
A-(Mr. Wright) – The only thing I could really point to is the foundation on the east side of the Centre Block, underneath the Senate portion of the building was essentially a rubble foundation, which was in a lot worse condition than was anticipated. So we had to change the approach and put a new concrete foundation on the exterior, and the interior. We have the appropriate contingency elements in the budget to absorb that.
Q-Is there any thought on what to do with the West Block once the project is completed?
A-(Mr. Wright) The West Block was designed with two uses in mind, both its interim use which it is undergoing now and its permanent use. It will permanently be offices for parliamentarians. The only part of it that will evolve is where the chamber is. We have no final decisions taken on that, but it was designed with potential uses in mind. So you could add more committee rooms in there if that is required by Parliament. It could be a large gathering space. It works perfectly for that. It has these multiple uses.
Q-What’s the most interesting item that has been discovered in the renovation?
A-(Jennifer Garrett): We’re estimating we’re going to have about 200,000 artifacts at the end of the day, approximately. To date, we’ve catalogued around 150,000. They range from military buttons and old ceramics to nails and other components from the previous construction activities in Centre Block. The most interesting artifact for me was the unearthing of what is known as a knife or a mòkomàn, and is considered to be pre-contact, made of chert. We’re looking at transferring custody of that back to the Algonquin First Nation.
Q-Do you think Canadians are fully aware of this project?
A-(Mr. Wright) -We did some public policy research recently. Canadians that are aware are very interested. They care a lot about it. But the further you get away from Ottawa, the awareness does reduce. The awareness is not even across the country, and maybe not as high as I would like.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
THE DECIBEL – On Thursday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, Economics Reporter Mark Rendell talks about what the Bank of Canada’s recent decision to keep its key interest rate at a record low of 0.25 per cent means. Mr. Rendell also gets into just how our central bank works and its role in making our economy run smoothly. The Decibel is here.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
Private meetings. The Prime Minister spoke with Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, and Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš, Prime Minister of Latvia. The Prime Minister delivered opening remarks at the virtual National caucus winter retreat, and was to deliver remarks during a virtual International Holocaust Remembrance Day event.
LEADERS
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole attends a caucus retreat in Ottawa, and is to hold a media availability.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh joins virtually with the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on how Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole has to unhitch his party from the `Freedom Convoy’ or get run over: “So why are some Conservative MPs loudly supporting a small group of denialists in big rigs? Why are they buying into an anarchic, anti-social distortion of “freedom” that’s imported from the U.S.? Conservatives are supposed to be the people who believe in law and order, common sense and protecting your community. Mr. O’Toole needs to stand up for the silent majority of Canadians – the overwhelming majority, including among his own voters – who understand that the past two years have been a real public-health crisis, not a hoax. He would be doing himself, his country and his party a favour.”
John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail)on how the split within the Conservative Party reflects division within the country: “One wing of the Conservative Party is rooted in Prairie values and culture. That culture traditionally places a premium on individual freedom and responsibility, which is why conservative Prairie governments have been slower to lock down and quicker to open up throughout this pandemic. Ontario’s political culture, in contrast, tends to be more communitarian and pragmatic. Throughout the pandemic, the focus in that province has been on protecting the health care sector, which is why Premier Doug Ford, despite being conservative, has been quicker to shut down and slower to reopen than his Prairie counterparts. Any federal Conservative leader must respect and accommodate the populist, don’t-tread-on-me base of the party anchored in the Prairies, while winning over the suburban Ontario voters that elect governments.”
Lawrence Martin (The Globe and Mail)on war drums not beating in Moscow:“On the phone from Moscow was Mikhail Gorbachev’s long-time right-hand man, Pavel Palazhchenko. At the Gorbachev Foundation, he’s been trying to assess if a Ukraine invasion is likely or whether the West is overreacting. He leans to the latter. He’s found certain things strange. In Vladimir Putin’s state-controlled media there’s been no drumbeat for war. If the Kremlin leader is about to invade, isn’t it likely that his propaganda machine would be making a big case for it? “You would think so,” said Mr. Palazhchenko, who first worked with Mr. Gorbachev in 1985.”
Konrad Yakabuski (The Globe and Mail)on how Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s dithering on Ukraine should fool no one: “An enlightened foreign policy might have recognized long ago the benefits of reducing European dependence on Russian energy by promoting Canadian liquid natural gas exports to the continent, to prevent Mr. Putin from holding Europe hostage as he does now. But the Liberals refused to look beyond their own domestic political interests to Canada’s national interests. What we are left with is a passive-aggressive mess that fools no one and only ensures yet more eye-rolling when Canada’s name comes up in international forums. None of our allies is looking to Canada for “help” on the Ukraine crisis; they know perfectly well they will not get it.”
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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.
