Former Reform Party leader Preston Manning says he’s concerned by the personal and divisive tone of the Conservative Party’s leadership race after witnessing Thursday evening’s first debate.
On Friday, Mr. Manning played down the combativeness of the event – story here – telling journalists that “80 per cent of it was on issues,” and saying the candidates were trying out their positions and figuring out how to conduct themselves.
But he added, “My caution has been I worry about the internal competition getting too personal. I’d like to see them stick to the principles and policies.”
“My worry is frankly with your media folk, if somebody gets up there, says some extreme thing, criticizing others – that’ll be the headline even if somebody else comes up with the answer to sliced bread.”
Mr. Manning was speaking at the at the 14th annual conference of the Canada Strong and Free Network, formerly the Manning Centre, which was named after Mr. Manning.
Five of six candidates for the Conservative leadership attended the debate, which comes ahead of a pair of party-organized, official debates this month. The first is next Wednesday. The second is in Montreal on May 25.
Among those present for the conference was Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, a former federal Conservative cabinet minister. Asked for his take, he said: “It was a fiery debate.”
Mr. Kenney, who endorsed Erin O’Toole in the last Conservative leadership race in 2020, said he was not going to endorse any candidate at this point.
Interim federal Conservative Leader Candice Bergen welcomed a combative race. “This is not a battle for the faint of heart. That, too, is a good thing,” she said in a video address to the conference.
“Leadership races mean criticism, which can be tough and sometimes unforgiving,” she said. “But the fact of the matter is, as most of us in this room know, our leadership race is, by almost every metric, a very positive event.”
She said the race has engaged thousands of Canadians who were not previously engaged.
Although Ms. Bergen said she agreed with Mr. Manning’s position on personal attacks, she added that “politics is a clash of values hidden beneath the veneer of public policy.”
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
TEEN CHARGED WITH TERRORISM – The RCMP has charged a 19-year-old man with terrorism, alleging he was participating in the activities of a neo-Nazi terrorist group. It is the first time, experts say, that Canada’s criminal anti-terrorism laws passed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks have been directly applied to such an organization. Story here.
CSIS ISSUED WARNING OF ELECTION VIOLENCE – Canada’s main intelligence agency says domestic extremism has risen during the pandemic and it had warned federal agencies that the 2021 federal election could be a target for violence. Story here.
OTTAWA CRITICIZED FOR RESPONSE TO `DISPROPORTIONATE’ INCARCERTATION OF INDIGENOUS WOMEN – The head of Canada’s most prominent advocacy group for Indigenous women chastised the federal government on Thursday for its response to a Globe and Mail story detailing the overrepresentation of Indigenous women in federal prisons. Story here.
TESTIMONY ON FORCED STERILIZATION INDIGENOUS WOMEN – The Senate’s human-rights committee has heard this week from several Indigenous women who say they were coerced into receiving sterilization procedures after giving birth at hospitals, a problem advocates say is well known enough that it has made others reluctant to seek medical care. Story here.
CANADA AND U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVES FORGING CLOSE TIES – Trade Minister Mary Ng and U.S. counterpart Katherine Tai say they are forging closer trade ties between their two countries, in spite of lingering irritants. Story here.
NOVA SCOTIA SCRAPS TAX HIKE ON NON-RESIDENT PROPERTIES – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston has reversed course on a plan to hike taxes on properties owned by non-residents, saying he was concerned about the damage it would cause to the province’s reputation as a place to visit, live and invest. Story here.
NO CONSEQUENCES OVER ALLEGED TRUDEAU REMARK: SPEAKER – After reviewing an accusation by the Conservative Party that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dropped an “F-bomb” in the House of Commons on Wednesday, the House speaker said no consequences will ensue. Story here from CTV.
GG’S FRENCH NEEDS WORK: LEGAULT – Governor-General Mary Simon, the first Indigenous person named as the Queen’s representative in Canada, still has some work to do on her French, Quebec Premier François Legault says. Story here. On another note, the Governor-General will, next week, be making a visit to a number of remote northern Quebec communities, including her own hometown. Story here.
THIS AND THAT
TODAY IN THE COMMONS – Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, May 5 accessible here.
BERGEN HAS COVID-19 – Interim Conservative Leader Candice Bergen says she tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week. “I am feeling good and I will be out of isolation very soon,” she said in a video clip, accessible here, posted on Twitter.
CHAMPAGNE HEADED FOR GERMANY AND BELGIUM – Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne will be travelling to Germany and Belgium from Sunday, attending the G7 Digital Ministers meeting in Düsseldorf, Germany.
THE DECIBEL
On Friday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, The Globe’s senior foreign correspondent Mark MacKinnon talks about how he has been banned from entering Russia. He joins a long list of Canadians who can no longer enter the country, including the Prime Minister, almost every member of Parliament and some Canadian mayors. Many of the Canadians who are part of this Russian list are proud of it, or laughing it off. Mr. MacKinnon is not. The Decibel is here.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
In the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area, the Prime Minister held private meetings and was scheduled to meet with families who have resettled from Afghanistan.
LEADERS
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchetis on the Magdalen Islands on Friday for a visit that runs to May. 9.
Andrew Coyne (The Globe and Mail)on Pierre Poilievre’s baseless campaign to ‘restore’ the Bank of Canada’s independence is in fact an assault on it: “As a populist, Mr. Poilievre is unusual in that he is attacking the central bank for being too soft on inflation, rather than too hard. But give him time. The politician who is willing to play games with central bank independence is less interested in any particular outcome than he is in being seen to be responsible for it. He’s for hard money now, but he could as easily be for soft money if it suited his purposes. Which is a good argument for keeping him as far away from temptation as possible.”
Kelly Gordon (Contributed to The Globe and Mail)on how overturning Roe v. Wade is just the latest act in a long-running American tragedy: “As distressing and harmful as the overturning of Roe will be, it’s important to keep in mind that Roe never magically secured access to abortion for many Americans, especially marginalized women. As reproductive justice advocate Monica Simpson reminds us, “Roe never fully protected Black women – or poor women or so many others in this country. That’s because Roe ensured the right to abortion without ensuring that people could actually get an abortion.” Much will be made of the lessons to glean from the death of Roe v. Wade, but perhaps one of the most important is that an abstract constitutional right to abortion does little to promote reproductive freedom.”
Andrew MacDougall (The Ottawa Citizen)on why Canada’s Conservative contenders should learn the Stéphane-Dion lesson: “The would-be Tory leaders are now participating in a series of official debates that will be watched closely by their membership, yes, but also by their political opposition. And while it matters greatly what the candidates say about themselves, what they say about their opponents might matter more in the long run. This is the lesson Dion learned the hard way with his bid for the Liberal leadership. Although the former academic-turned-ardent-federalist-turned-author-of-the-Clarity Act-turned-environment minister had a record of achievement in government longer than a Leonard Cohen poem, he was undone by criticism from a political novice, Michael Ignatieff, in one of the leadership debates.”
Graham Thompson (CBC) on what Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s outspoken UCP caucus mutineers will do should he win the leadership vote: “May 18 is supposed to be the day when the fighting over Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s leadership stops. That’s the day we will know whether Kenney has survived the United Conservative Party’s leadership vote. On paper the outcome is simple and binary: either he wins and stays on; or he loses and moves out. However, the only thing simple is what happens should he lose. In that event, he has said he’ll step aside and open the way for a leadership race to replace him. But what happens if he wins?”
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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.
