Politics Briefing: Convoy protest represented an unprecedented national security crisis, former Ottawa Police chief testifies - The Globe and Mail | Canada News Media
The convoy protest that took over main arteries of downtown Ottawa this winter represented an unprecedented national security crisis and a major shift in the way that demonstrations are organized, funded, executed and responded to in Canada, former Ottawa Police chief Peter Sloly said Thursday.
Mr. Sloly appeared before the House of Commons procedure and house affairs committee as part of its study on expanding federal jurisdiction for security of the parliamentary precinct to include sections of Wellington Street and Sparks Street in downtown Ottawa. During his appearance, Mr. Sloly said there were factors that underpinned the national security crisis including social media, disinformation campaigns, societal polarization, ideological extremism and reduced public trust in democratic institutions.
ALSO: Residents of Canada’s most populous province are voting today in the provincial election. Check here for live Globe and Mail updates on the Ontario election. There are details here on how to vote. And the latest edition of Vote of Confidence, The Globe’s Ontario election newsletter is here.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
IT’S THE QUEEN’S PLATINUM JUBILEE – Europe correspondent Paul Waldie writes here about what to expect during the four-day June celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, celebrating the monarch’s 70 years on the throne.
MORNEAU DENOUNCES LIBERAL POLICIES – Former finance minister Bill Morneau has delivered a pointed critique of the federal Liberals’ economic policies, along with a series of recommendations for kickstarting growth, in his first public speech since leaving political life two years ago. Story here.
DISABILITY BENEFIT BILL REINTRODUCED – The federal government, on Thursday, reintroduced legislation to create a monthly benefit payment for working-age Canadians with disabilities. Story here from CBC.
MENDICINO CALLS FOR DEPUTY INDIGENOUS CORRECTIONS COMMISSIONER – The creation of a deputy commissioner of Indigenous corrections is long overdue, says Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, who has ordered Correctional Service Canada to establish the position amid systemic racism and high incarceration rates of Indigenous people in federal prisons. Story here.
LOEWEN ENTERS LEADERSHIP RACE – The first United Conservative backbencher to publicly call for Premier Jason Kenney to quit says he is running to replace him. Story here.
HERITAGE COMMITTEE CONCLUDING HEARINGS ON STREAMING LEGISLATION – Members of Parliament on the Canadian heritage committee are wrapping up hearings this week on the government’s online streaming legislation, a bill that is generating a deeply polarized reaction from policy experts. Story here.
CAQ A NATIONALIST PARTY IN CANADA: LEGAULT – Premier François declared Thursday that his Coalition Avenir Québec government stands for Quebec within Canada, and is a nationalist party within Canada. He added, “There is no appetite (for a referendum).” Story here from The Montreal Gazette.
GOVERNMENT BACKS SENATE BILL ON IDENTIFYING FORCED LABOUR ON SUPPLY CHAINS – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals have thrown their support behind a Senate bill requiring government and businesses to annually report on steps they have taken to identify forced labour in their supply chains. Story here.
CONVICTION IN CONFINEMENT CASE WHERE LIBERAL MP VICTIM – An Ottawa man has been convicted of unlawfully confining Liberal MP Anita Vandenbeld (Ottawa West-Nepean), in a 2020 incident. Story here fromThe Ottawa Citizen.
CONSERVATIVE PARTY LEADERSHIP
CAMPAIGN TRAIL – Scott Aitchison is in Manitoba. Jean Charest is in Montreal. Leslyn Lewis is campaigning on Prince Edward Island, with an event in Summerside. Pierre Poilievre is in Ottawa. (He announced Thursday he is tabling a private members bill to stop the federal government from requiring COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of employment for public servants, and to allow Canadians to travel regardless of their vaccination status.) There’s no information on the campaign whereabouts of Roman Baber and Patrick Brown.
THIS AND THAT
TODAY IN THE COMMONS – Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, June. 2, accessible here.
FREELAND IN WASHINGTON – In Washingtion, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was scheduled to meet with U.S. Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen as well as Brian Deese, director of the U.S. National Economic Council – a key forum used by the U.S. president to consider economic policy. Ms. Freeland is also attending the 68th Bilderberg Meeting.
UKRAINIAN WITNESSES BEFORE SENATE COMMITTEE – A member of the Ukrainian parliament and two representatives of the Embassy of the Ukraine to Canada testified Thursday before the Senate foreign affairs and international trade standing committee. Details here.
BQ MP TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 – Bloc Québécois MP René Villemure, who represents the riding of Trois-Rivières, has tested positive for COVID-19, and is isolating at home.
GG HEADED FOR LONDON – Governor-General Mary Simon and her husband Whit Fraser are travelling to London on Thursday to participate in celebrations of Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, and staying through June. 6. According to a statement, the visit will provide the Governor-General an opportunity to meet with governors-general from across the Commonwealth.
ANNUAL MUNICIPALITIES CONFERENCE UNDERWAY – The Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ annual conference is underway in Regina, with mayors, councillors and municipal representatives gathering onsite or online through June. 5. Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc delivers a keynote address on Friday, followed by Conservative infrastructure critic Andrew Scheer. Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh speaks on Saturday.
IN DEFENCE OF CABINET MINISTERS AND PUBLIC SERVANTS – Acclaimed academic and author Donald Savoie is standing up for cabinet ministers, public servants and government, in general, in his new book.
Government: Have Presidents and Prime Ministers Misdiagnosed the Patient (McGill-Queen’s University Press) studies the United States, Great Britain, France and Canada to make the case that cabinet government has been diminished, and public servants marginalized by political leaders. It has, says Mr. Savoie, led to declining trust in government.
Mr. Savoie, who holds the Canada Research Chair in public administration and governance at the Université de Moncton, talked, in a recent interview, about his conclusions. Some key points:
ON PIERRE POILIEVRE’S CALL TO FIRE THE GOVERNOR OF THE BANK OF CANADA: “The Bank of Canada is a proper institution. It has norms. It has values. You don’t play fast and loose with these institutions. I don’t think it’s wise to belittle it. I don’t think it’s wise to throw rocks at it. I think if you have some concerns with the Bank of Canada, you raise it in a very serious fashion.”
THE MARGINALIZATION OF CABINET MINISTERS? : “I think it’s not just the Prime Minister’s fault. I think it’s the way we structure government these days, the way we expect quick decisions. We expect prime ministers to be in control of their government. Cabinet government is a long process. And if you want to get quick answers, you don’t have time to go through the government process. The Prime Minister and his advisers will deal with these issues.”
IN DEFENCE OF PUBLIC SERVANTS: ”The whole point of my book is to not debase the public service. You can raise fundamental questions about its size, its ability to be non-partisan, all kinds of fundamental questions can be raised. And we need to raise these issues. Debasing the public service, bureaucratic bashing has gone on long enough. It has hurt the public service. When you hurt the public service, you hurt government. When you hurt government, you hurt Canada. It’s time to ask some fundamental questions about how we improve the public service, not by bureaucratic bashing.”
FIXING THE SITUATON: ”There’s only one person who can have a wrench of the wheel to turn it around. It’s the prime minister. We need a prime minister to say government needs to be fixed. There’s nobody else who can turn it around.”
WOULD HE ADVISE SOMEONE TO APPLY TO BECOME A PUBLIC SERVANT: “I’ve been asked that very question by students, and I strongly encourage them to join the public service. If you want to do something bigger than you, larger than you, the federal public service is the answer. That having been said, I warn students the federal public service now is only for the brave. It’s going to be tough. You’re only going to hear bureaucracy bashing. You’re going to hear family members taking shots: ‘Oh, you’re a bureaucrat, fat cat.’ Ignore that. Go and try to fix the public service because it’s fundamental to Canada, and if you love Canada go make a contribution.”
NEXT BOOK: “I’m working on a manuscript that’s very, very, very provocative; probably the most provocative book I have ever written. It’s looking at how Canadians view themselves as victims and what does it mean for Canada …nWe’ll need to see if a publisher is brave enough to publish it because it’s quite provocative.”
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
ANAND IN QUEBEC – Defence Minister Anita Anand is visiting 2nd Canadian Division Support Base Valcartier in Quebec, meeting with members of the Armed Forces who have returned home after deploying on Operation REASSURANCE – Canada’s support to NATO’s assurance and deterrence measures in Central and Eastern Europe. Later in the day, she will be joined by Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and visiting foreign affairs minister from Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia.
THE DECIBEL
On Thursday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, The Globe’s Robyn Doolittle , who has reported on sexual violence and gender discrimination since 2015, and Nicole Bedera, a sociologist who researches sexual violence and how it relates to our society and culture, talk about the outcome of actor Johnny Depp’s defamation case against his ex-wife, Amber Heard. The Decibel is here.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
In Siksika, Alberta, the Prime Minister held private meetings and participated in a signing ceremony with Siksika Nation Nioksskaistamik Chief Ouray Crowfoot,
LEADERS
No schedules released for party leaders.
OPINION
Tanya Talaga (The Globe and Mail)on how now is the time for truth telling, not denial, about surviving residential schools: “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this statement, after an awful revelation of Canada’s colonial treatment of Indigenous people: “It all happened in the past. Canada shouldn’t be held accountable for what happened then.” I’ve heard it uttered at dinner tables or in casual conversation, by people you’d think would be more empathetic, knowledgeable or would simply know better. That person had “no idea” that 150,000 First Nations, Metis and Inuit children were removed from their families and put in schools aimed at turning them into white-washed, “good” Canadian citizens with no trace of who they are.”
Robyn Urback (The Globe and Mail)on Canada’s intractable gun-crime issue: Our geographic neighbour: “The unfortunate reality of Canada’s gun crime problem, one that has gone largely unacknowledged (at least by government), is that we will forever be vulnerable by virtue of our geography. Guns are being smuggled in from the U.S. by cars, trucks, even drones – and that’s something that tweaking the Firearms Act is never going to address. Canada could ban all guns tomorrow, making it so that not a single person in this country could legally possess a firearm, and yet we’d still be more vulnerable than, say, the U.K., because the Brits don’t share a border with a country with more guns than people, and you can’t fly a drone from Michigan to Lancashire.”
Don Braid (The Calgary Herald) on the UCP erupting again over Premier Jason Kenney’s claims about anti-vaxxers: “Many UCP politicians and activists are furious at Premier Jason Kenney for blaming his forced exit on anti-vaccine militants. “Why is this guy still allowed in front of a microphone, saying things like this?” says one prominent UCP MLA, who asks not to be named. “It’s frustrating and divisive and not reflective of where Alberta is going as a whole. It’s time to move on.” The party critics say Kenney is refusing to admit his own failings, which they consider a far larger factor in the party rebellion than anti-vaccine sentiment.”
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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.
