Canada’s former top soldier Jonathan Vance pleaded guilty Wednesday to obstruction of justice connected to a sexual misconduct investigation, and was granted a conditional discharge by the court.
Mr. Vance, the military’s former chief of the defence staff, entered the guilty plea in a virtual appearance. His defence lawyer, Rodney Sellar, and crown attorney, Mark Holmes, made the joint recommendation for the conditional discharge.
In a joint statement of fact, Mr. Vance acknowledged that he last year called Kellie Brennan, a Major in the Forces, to try to convince her not to report the full extent of their relationship to the military police. The statement of fact says that Ms. Brennan resisted and told him she would disclose they had sex while he was chief of the defence staff and she was a subordinate.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
PLANS DELAYED FOR ARCTIC MILITARY FACILITY – Repeatedly delayed plans to establish a military refuelling facility in Canada’s High Arctic have once again fallen behind schedule. Story here.
CONCERNS RAISED ABOUT SUPPORT FOR UKRAINIANS WHO HAVE FLED TO CANADA – Ukrainian-Canadians hosting family members and friends who have fled Russia’s invasion say they are worried about trying to support loved ones with little material support from the federal government, and that Ukrainians without contacts in Canada would have difficulty settling here. Story here.
INDIGENOUS DELEGATES FROM CANADA AMBIVALENT ABOUT VATICAN DISPLAY – As they walked through a private display prepared for them in the Vatican Museums, dozens of Indigenous delegates from Canada saw beautiful pieces of history from their home territories. But the group’s members, in Rome this week for a historic series of talks with Pope Francis about the legacy of Canada’s church-run residential school system, experienced mixed emotions. Story here.
FEDERAL BUDGET SCHEDULED FOR APRIL 7 -Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will deliver the 2022 budget on April 7. Story here.
TRUDEAU VISITNG WILLIAMS LAKE FIRST NATION – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Canada’s Minister of Indigenous-Crown Relations are scheduled to visit the Williams Lake First Nation Wednesday to discuss the nation’s recent findings at the site of a former residential school and to listen to survivors. Story here from CBC.
ONTARIO GOES TO SUPREME COURT TO STOP RELEASE OF MANDATE LETTERS – The Ontario government has asked Canada’s top court to weigh in on the province’s nearly four years-long fight to keep Premier Doug Ford’s mandate letters to his cabinet ministers secret. Story here from CBC.
TORY MP SAYS TRUDEAU A DICTATOR – Lethbridge Conservative MP Rachael Thomas has called out Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as a dictator in remarks in the House of Commons. Story here from CTV.
CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RACE
VIERSEN BACKS LEWIS – Leadership contender Leslyn Lewis has been endorsed by another MP. Alberta MP Arnold Viersen (Peace River-Westlock) said, in a tweet, that Ms. Lewis “exhibits the exceptional qualities that Canada needs in a Prime Minister.”
OLIVER SUPPORTS POILIEVRE – Former Conservative finance minister Joe Oliver is backing Pierre Poilievre for the leadership declaring in a social media post that Mr. Poilievre has the communication and leadership skills that can defeat the Liberals.
THIS AND THAT
TODAY IN THE COMMONS – Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, March 30, accessible here.
P.E.I. PREMIER TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 – Prince Edward Island Premier Dennis King says, in a tweet, he has tested positive for COVID-19, and, as a result will isolate.
GOVERNOR-GENERAL VISITS ONTARIO – Governor-General Mary Simon and her husband, Whit Fraser, are taking what’s billed by her office as a two-day visit to Ontario this Thursday and Friday. Stops in Toronto include meetings with Ontario Lieutenan- Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Premier Doug Ford, Toronto Mayor Doug Ford, Indigenous leaders, a visit to the Kapapamahchakwew – Wandering Spirit School, and meetings with members of the Ukrainian community.
CARNEY BACKS CLIMATE-CHANGE PLAN – Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England widely seen as a competitor to succeed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, is giving a thumbs up to the Liberal government’s climate-change plan, announced this week in a social media posting here.
NO-NEW-SHOES BUDGET – MP Ed Fast, the Conservative finance critic, is against Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland buying new shoes or resoling her shoes for the looming April. 7 budget – a tradition among finance ministers. “What I would say is given the fact that many Canadians can’t afford new shoes any more, I think it would be wise of the Minister to avoid buying new shoes this time around,” Mr. Fast told journalists on Tuesday.
DEPUTY SPEAKER DENOUNCES HARSH TALK IN HOUSE – Deputy Commons Speaker Chris d’Entremont urged MPs, on Tuesday, to stay within bounds on language. In remarks to MPs, he cited “the recent use of certain language that may be deemed inflammatory.” Mr. d’Entremont said members must be mindful of avoiding statements that attack or demean the character of other members. “We are all here as elected representatives and each of us is entitled to respect. Personal inflammatory language has no place in our debates,” he said. The deputy speaker did not cite any specific examples.
THE DECIBEL
On Wednesday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, Globe reporter Dave McGinn , who has been reporting on the federal child-care deal that all provinces and territories have now signed, talks about why early childhood educators have been leaving the industry in droves, and what needs to happen to make this plan work. The Decibel is here.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
In Williams Lake, British Columbia, the Prime Minister held private meetings then, along with Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller met with Willie Sellars, the chief of the Williams Lake First Nation, council members, elders, residential school survivors, and other members of the community.
LEADERS
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh attended the NDP’s national caucus meeting, and participated in Question Period. With NDP Edmonton Strathcona MP Heather McPherson, Mr. Singh was later scheduled to meet with a delegation from the Social Democratic Party of Germany
No schedules released for other party leaders.
TRIBUTE
Former Canadian senator Joyce Fairbairn, the first woman to serve as leader of the government in the Senate, has died, aged 82. Story here from CBC.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Boardon the Harper-Trudeau F-35 dogfight: From fiasco to debacle, and back to fiasco: “Justin Trudeau, seizing on the stench that had attached itself to the F-35, promised in the 2015 election that, if elected, his government would never, ever purchase the jinxed fighter and would instead launch an “open and transparent competition” for a cheaper model better suited to Canada’s needs. The Liberals won that election and the next two after that. And then, this week, the whole schmozzle went full circle, and the Trudeau government concluded the F-35 is the one for Canada. It would be great if this political farce ended here. But there is already a troubling sign that the Liberals may have made the same mistake as the Harper Conservatives, which was to understate the estimated cost of buying fighter jets in order to make an easier sale to voters.”
Gary Mason (The Globe and Mail) on how Canada will respond to Russian designs on the Arctic: “It’s time that Canada became serious about the North, including properly defending it. Our poor, tattered military is largely absent from the region. More than a decade after former prime minister Stephen Harper first unveiled plans to establish a more robust presence in the region by building a modern naval base, little has happened. That needs to change.Equipment-wise, our Arctic presence consists of four non-combat CC-138 Twin Otter utility planes and some patrol vessels, according to Robert Smol, a retired Canadian military-intelligence officer who served for more than 20 years. It’s not exactly the posture of a country taking northern sovereignty and security matters seriously. No, Canada has taken the region for granted for far too long.”
Adam Radwanski (The Globe and Mail)on how Ottawa demands more of every economic sector – and itself – with its new ambitious climate plan: “The federal government has produced by far its most comprehensive roadmap to date for making good on Canada’s international commitments to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. In so doing, it has also laid bare the unprecedented degree of urgency and nimbleness that will be required – of the government itself, and of all the country’s major economic sectors – to have any real chance of reducing national emissions 40 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030, as promised.”
Linda Cardinal and Rémi Léger (Policy Options)on strengthening French language laws in Canada: Three major legislative initiatives: “For the first time in more than 30 years, three major language policies are front-and-centre in Canadian politics: The Official Languages Act at the federal level, the Charter of the French Language (commonly referred to as Bill 101) in Québec and the French Language Services Act in Ontario. The Ontario government passed changes to its law in December 2021, while the new legislative initiatives in Québec and Ottawa are expected to be enacted in 2022. There are plans to revise a fourth law, New Brunswick’s Official Languages Act, in 2022. Not since the 1970s and 1980s has there been such concerted action on language policy in Canada.”
Thomas Mulcair (The Montreal Gazette)on cracks starting to show in Quebec Premier François Legault’s armour: “That reflex of Legault’s — to complain bitterly whenever he feels the feds haven’t respected his areas of jurisdiction — has come back to haunt him in recent days. In key files involving public transit, an area that is first and foremost municipal jurisdiction, it’s Legault who has been called out for stepping on the toes of the province’s two largest municipalities, Montreal and Quebec City.”
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FREDERICTON – A look at David Coon, leader of the Green Party of New Brunswick:
Born: Oct. 28, 1956.
Early years: Born in Toronto and raised in Montreal, he spent about three decades as an environmental advocate.
Education: A trained biologist, he graduated with a bachelor of science from McGill University in Montreal in 1978.
Family: He and his wife Janice Harvey have two daughters, Caroline and Laura.
Before politics: Worked as an environmental educator, organizer, activist and manager for 33 years, mainly with the Conservation Council of New Brunswick.
Politics: Joined the Green Party of Canada in May 2006 and was elected leader of the New Brunswick Green Party in September 2012. Won a seat in the legislature in 2014 — a first for the province’s Greens.
Quote: “It was despicable. He’s clearly decided to take the low road in this campaign, to adopt some Trump-lite fearmongering.” — David Coon on Sept. 12, 2024, reacting to Blaine Higgs’s claim that the federal government had decided to send 4,600 asylum seekers to New Brunswick.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
FREDERICTON – A look at Blaine Higgs, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick.
Born: March 1, 1954.
Early years: The son of a customs officer, he grew up in Forest City, N.B., near the Canada-U.S. border.
Education: Graduated from the University of New Brunswick with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1977.
Family: Married his high-school sweetheart, Marcia, and settled in Saint John, N.B., where they had four daughters: Lindsey, Laura, Sarah and Rachel.
Before politics: Hired by Irving Oil a week after he graduated from university and was eventually promoted to director of distribution. Worked for 33 years at the company.
Politics: Elected to the legislature in 2010 and later served as finance minister under former Progressive Conservative Premier David Alward. Elected Tory leader in 2016 and has been premier since 2018.
Quote: “I’ve always felt parents should play the main role in raising children. No one is denying gender diversity is real. But we need to figure out how to manage it.” — Blaine Higgs in a year-end interview in 2023, explaining changes to school policies about gender identity.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
OTTAWA – The pressing issues of climate change and food security join more familiar ones like violent extremism and espionage on a new list of Canada’s intelligence priorities.
The federal government says publishing the list of priorities for the first time is an important step toward greater transparency.
The government revises the priorities every two years, based on recommendations from the national security adviser and the intelligence community.
Once the priorities are reviewed and approved by the federal cabinet, key ministers issue directives to federal agencies that produce intelligence.
Among the priorities are the security of global health, food, water and biodiversity, as well as the issues of climate change and global sustainability.
The new list also includes foreign interference and malign influence, cyberthreats, infrastructure security, Arctic sovereignty, border integrity and transnational organized crime.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
