The Conservatives cleared six candidates to run in the party’s leadership race Monday, but disqualified three others who all said they had met the fundraising and nomination requirements to make it to the final ballot.
Ontario MPs Scott Aitchison, Leslyn Lewis and Pierre Poilievre will be on the ballot as well as former Quebec premier Jean Charest, Brampton, Ont., Mayor Patrick Brown and Roman Baber, an independent member of the Ontario legislature.
The party posted the list in a tweet on Monday, saying the candidates had been verified by the leadership election organizing committee, which is responsible for running the race to replace former leader Erin O’Toole.
Leadership hopefuls Joel Etienne, Joseph Bourgault and Grant Abraham were all disqualified from entering the race. The party’s leadership committee did not provide an explanation for why the three were disqualified. All of them had said they had met the Friday deadline to raise $300,000 and collect the 500 nomination signatures required to appear on the final ballot for the September vote.
Also, on the Conservative leadership front, Jean Charest, who has been criticized for lacking roots in the Conservative Party, touted his credentials on Sunday at the first gathering of prospective party leaders. Story here.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
UNITED FRONT FROM PRIVACY WATCHDOGS ON FACIAL-RECOGNITION TECH – All of Canada’s provincial, territorial and federal privacy watchdogs are imploring Ottawa to limit how law enforcement can use facial-recognition technology, seeking to restrict its use to investigating or preventing “serious” crimes and minimize the sharing of data with businesses or other police agencies. Story here.
ARCHBISHOP APOLOGIZES DURING VISIT- The Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of one of world’s largest Christian denominations, told survivors of Prairie residential schools their stories of abuse at the institutions had “opened a window into hell,” as he listened and apologized to them during a historic visit to Saskatchewan. Story here.
OTTAWA PROTEST ENDS – Ottawa residents and police breathed a sigh of relief on Sunday after protesters who had prompted a large security response this weekend left the nation’s capital. Story here.
CANADA LAGS ON INTERCEPTING FORCED-LABOUR IMPORTS – Canada is lagging the United States in intercepting imports made with forced labour, as Ottawa struggles to implement a commitment to do so in the renegotiated NAFTA deal. Story here.
B.C. GOVERNMENT INTRODUCED MILESTONE RACISM LEGISLATION – The B.C. government has introduced first-of-its-kind legislation in an attempt to “dismantle systemic racism and discrimination” faced by Indigenous, Black and people of colour in the province. Story here from Global News.
ONTARIO LIBERALS PROMISE $1 TRANSIT FARES AS ELECTION CAMPAIGN LOOMS – The Ontario Liberals promised Monday to cut transit fares across the province to $1 per ride, if elected. Story here. Meanwhile, while Ontario’s election campaign is slated to officially launch this week, the three major political parties have already hit the ground running in the race to form the next government on June 2. Story here.
FALCON HEADED FOR B.C. LEGISLATURE – The new leader of the British Columbia Liberals has won a voice in the legislature after a landslide win in a traditionally safe seat for his party. Story here. The Vancouver Sun’s Vaughn Palmer writes here on the challenges ahead for the BC Liberal leader, and what they mean for B.C. politics.
Jean Charest, who has been criticized for lacking roots in the Conservative Party, touted his credentials on Sunday at the first gathering of prospective party leaders. Story here.
THIS AND THAT
TODAY IN THE COMMONS – Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, May. 2, accessible here.
NO TACIT SUPPORT FOR DOUG FORD: PM – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is not tacitly supporting Ontario Premier Doug Ford as the Ontario election campaign looms. Appearing with Mr. Ford in Windsor on Monday to announce new federal investment for automaker Stellantis NV’s plan to retool its Ontario plants to make electric and hybrid-fuel vehicles, Mr. Trudeau was asked about the notion given recent cheerful appearances with the Progressive Conservative premier. “This is about investing in Windsor. This is about the culmination of months, if not years, of putting Canada forward as the right partner for electric vehicle investments,” Mr. Trudeau said of Monday’s announcement. Mr. Ford said his Progressive Conservative government has been working with the federal Liberal government on the plan for quite some time, and that voters expect various levels of government to work together. The federal government is contributing up to $529-million to the Stellantis plan and the province $513-million. Ontario voters are expected to go to the polls on June. 2. There are further details on the Stellantis NV announcement here.
HALL TO RETIRE – Veteran CBC journalist Chris Hall, host of the weekly politics show The House, on CBC Radio, is retiring at the end of June. On Saturday’s show, Mr. Hall announced his plans to listeners, and quipped, “I know, that’s a long way off – or perhaps too far off for some of you.” He added, “To paraphrase Monty Python, `I am not gone yet.’”
ANSWER: MATTEA ROACH. QUESTION: WHO WAS ONCE A PARLIAMENTARY GUIDE? – The Library of Parliament is paying tribute to one of their own. Mattea Roach , a 23-year-old from Nova Scotia who is the most successful Canadian to compete on TV’s Jeopardy. Story here. “Congratulations to @mattearoach for your continued success on @Jeopardy! Mattea was one of our Parliamentary Guides in 2016,” said a tweet posted Monday by the library. Guides are university students who lead toursof Parliament. Details here.
THE DECIBEL
Monday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast has an interview with Santiago Lyon, who appears in The Globe’snew documentary, Shooting War, which features nine photographers known for their work in conflict zones. Mr. Lyon worked with the Associated Press for 25 years covering conflicts around the world. He talks about the physical and mental toll capturing wartime images can take and the work he is doing now as the head of education at the Content Authenticity Initiative to counter misinformation. The Decibel is here.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
The Prime Minister held private meetings in the Ottawa region, and attended Eid prayers with members of the Muslim community. He made an announcement in Windsor with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, and, in the Ottawa region, attend the National Culture Summit welcome reception and deliver remarks.
LEADERS
No schedules released for party leaders.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on why no politician will ever say `Sorry, Grandma, we’re cutting your benefits,’ but maybe they should: ”The Harper government’s plan to gradually up the OAS age to 67 was to have started next year. The Liberals scrapped that, and last year raised OAS benefits by 10 per cent for those 75 and older, starting this summer. In a world of finite taxpayer dollars, that should raise questions. Given that people are living and working longer, is 65 still the right age for OAS? Should the income level at which the clawback starts be lower? And should a senior couple with a combined income of $150,000 get full OAS payments? Their cheques are, after all, being paid by taxpayers – nearly all of whom are younger, and have lower incomes.”
Akwasi Owusu-Bempah and Alex Luscombe (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how we can’t reach racial equality without drug law reform: As politicians, policy makers and members of the public look for ways to reduce racial inequality in our society, our drug laws should be front and centre. Racial disparities in drug possession arrests are troubling because of what we know about patterns of drug use. Available evidence from Canada and other countries such as the U.S. and U.K. shows that rates of drug use are relatively similar across racial groups. Racial differences in drug arrests stem largely from racially biased policing practices. Black and Indigenous people are more likely to be stopped by the police, which means they are also more likely to be caught in possession of drugs. In fact, stereotypes connecting race with drug use drive the police to initiate more contact with Black and Indigenous people in the first place.”
Mark Kristmanson (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how Ottawa’s Holocaust memorial is a place for solemn reflection, not photo shoots:”Last month, a disturbing misuse of Ottawa’s National Holocaust Monument came to light. A photographer posted images on Instagram of a sexy fashion shoot taken at the site, attesting not just to the monument’s arresting visual presence but also its relative obscurity as a hallowed place. Deeming the photographs “totally inappropriate,” MP Greg Fergus said he was “stunned by the lack of common sense … of all those involved.” It’s not the first thoughtless use of this seminal commemoration as a backdrop: Selfie-taking visitors have also become targets of online criticism in recent years. If people knew more about the monument’s genesis, might they understand its gravitas?”
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NEW YORK (AP) — In a new video posted early Election Day, Beyoncé channels Pamela Anderson in the television program “Baywatch” – red one-piece swimsuit and all – and asks viewers to vote.
In the two-and-a-half-minute clip, set to most of “Bodyguard,” a four-minute cut from her 2024 country album “Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé cosplays as Anderson’s character before concluding with a simple message, written in white text: “Happy Beylloween,” followed by “Vote.”
At a rally for Donald Trump in Pittsburgh on Monday night, the former president spoke dismissively about Beyoncé’s appearance at a Kamala Harris rally in Houston in October, drawing boos for the megastar from his supporters.
“Beyoncé would come in. Everyone’s expecting a couple of songs. There were no songs. There was no happiness,” Trump said.
She did not perform — unlike in 2016, when she performed at a presidential campaign rally for Hillary Clinton in Cleveland – but she endorsed Harris and gave a moving speech, initially joined onstage by her Destiny’s Child bandmate Kelly Rowland.
“I’m not here as a celebrity, I’m not here as a politician. I’m here as a mother,” Beyoncé said.
“A mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in, a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies, a world where we’re not divided,” she said at the rally in Houston, her hometown.
“Imagine our daughters growing up seeing what’s possible with no ceilings, no limitations,” she continued. “We must vote, and we need you.”
Harris used the song in July during her first official public appearance as a presidential candidate at her campaign headquarters in Delaware. That same month, Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, publicly endorsed Harris for president.
Beyoncé gave permission to Harris to use the song, a campaign official who was granted anonymity to discuss private campaign operations confirmed to The Associated Press.
Outside of sports and a “Cold front coming down from Canada,” American news media only report on Canadian events that they believe are, or will be, influential to the US. Therefore, when Justin Trudeau’s announcement, having finally read the room, that Canada will be reducing the number of permanent residents admitted by more than 20 percent and temporary residents like skilled workers and college students will be cut by more than half made news south of the border, I knew the American media felt Trudeau’s about-face on immigration was newsworthy because many Americans would relate to Trudeau realizing Canada was accepting more immigrants than it could manage and are hoping their next POTUS will follow Trudeau’s playbook.
Canada, with lots of space and lacking convenient geographical ways for illegal immigrants to enter the country, though still many do, has a global reputation for being incredibly accepting of immigrants. On the surface, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver appear to be multicultural havens. However, as the saying goes, “Too much of a good thing is never good,” resulting in a sharp rise in anti-immigrant sentiment, which you can almost taste in the air. A growing number of Canadians, regardless of their political affiliation, are blaming recent immigrants for causing the housing affordability crises, inflation, rise in crime and unemployment/stagnant wages.
Throughout history, populations have engulfed themselves in a tribal frenzy, a psychological state where people identify strongly with their own group, often leading to a ‘us versus them’ mentality. This has led to quick shifts from complacency to panic and finger-pointing at groups outside their tribe, a phenomenon that is not unique to any particular culture or time period.
My take on why the American news media found Trudeau’s blatantly obvious attempt to save his political career, balancing appeasement between the pitchfork crowd, who want a halt to immigration until Canada gets its house in order, and immigrant voters, who traditionally vote Liberal, newsworthy; the American news media, as do I, believe immigration fatigue is why Kamala Harris is going to lose on November 5th.
Because they frequently get the outcome wrong, I don’t take polls seriously. According to polls in 2014, Tim Hudak’s Progressive Conservatives and Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals were in a dead heat in Ontario, yet Wynne won with more than twice as many seats. In the 2018 Quebec election, most polls had the Coalition Avenir Québec with a 1-to-5-point lead over the governing Liberals. The result: The Coalition Avenir Québec enjoyed a landslide victory, winning 74 of 125 seats. Then there’s how the 2016 US election polls showing Donald Trump didn’t have a chance of winning against Hillary Clinton were ridiculously way off, highlighting the importance of the election day poll and, applicable in this election as it was in 2016, not to discount ‘shy Trump supporters;’ voters who support Trump but are hesitant to express their views publicly due to social or political pressure.
My distrust in polls aside, polls indicate Harris is leading by a few points. One would think that Trump’s many over-the-top shenanigans, which would be entertaining were he not the POTUS or again seeking the Oval Office, would have him far down in the polls. Trump is toe-to-toe with Harris in the polls because his approach to the economy—middle-class Americans are nostalgic for the relatively strong economic performance during Trump’s first three years in office—and immigration, which Americans are hyper-focused on right now, appeals to many Americans. In his quest to win votes, Trump is doing what anyone seeking political office needs to do: telling the people what they want to hear, strategically using populism—populism that serves your best interests is good populism—to evoke emotional responses. Harris isn’t doing herself any favours, nor moving voters, by going the “But, but… the orange man is bad!” route, while Trump cultivates support from “weird” marginal voting groups.
To Harris’s credit, things could have fallen apart when Biden abruptly stepped aside. Instead, Harris quickly clinched the nomination and had a strong first few weeks, erasing the deficit Biden had given her. The Democratic convention was a success, as was her acceptance speech. Her performance at the September 10th debate with Donald Trump was first-rate.
Harris’ Achilles heel is she’s now making promises she could have made and implemented while VP, making immigration and the economy Harris’ liabilities, especially since she’s been sitting next to Biden, watching the US turn into the circus it has become. These liabilities, basically her only liabilities, negate her stance on abortion, democracy, healthcare, a long-winning issue for Democrats, and Trump’s character. All Harris has offered voters is “feel-good vibes” over substance. In contrast, Trump offers the tangible political tornado (read: steamroll the problems Americans are facing) many Americans seek. With Trump, there’s no doubt that change, admittedly in a messy fashion, will happen. If enough Americans believe the changes he’ll implement will benefit them and their country…
The case against Harris on immigration, at a time when there’s a huge global backlash to immigration, even as the American news media are pointing out, in famously immigrant-friendly Canada, is relatively straightforward: During the first three years of the Biden-Harris administration, illegal Southern border crossings increased significantly.
The words illegal immigration, to put it mildly, irks most Americans. On the legal immigration front, according to Forbes, most billion-dollar startups were founded by immigrants. Google, Microsoft, and Oracle, to name three, have immigrants as CEOs. Immigrants, with tech skills and an entrepreneurial thirst, have kept America leading the world. I like to think that Americans and Canadians understand the best immigration policy is to strategically let enough of these immigrants in who’ll increase GDP and tax base and not rely on social programs. In other words, Americans and Canadians, and arguably citizens of European countries, expect their governments to be more strategic about immigration.
The days of the words on a bronze plaque mounted inside the Statue of Liberty pedestal’s lower level, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” are no longer tolerated. Americans only want immigrants who’ll benefit America.
Does Trump demagogue the immigration issue with xenophobic and racist tropes, many of which are outright lies, such as claiming Haitian immigrants in Ohio are abducting and eating pets? Absolutely. However, such unhinged talk signals to Americans who are worried about the steady influx of illegal immigrants into their country that Trump can handle immigration so that it’s beneficial to the country as opposed to being an issue of economic stress.
In many ways, if polls are to be believed, Harris is paying the price for Biden and her lax policies early in their term. Yes, stimulus spending quickly rebuilt the job market, but at the cost of higher inflation. Loosen border policies at a time when anti-immigrant sentiment was increasing was a gross miscalculation, much like Trudeau’s immigration quota increase, and Biden indulging himself in running for re-election should never have happened.
If Trump wins, Democrats will proclaim that everyone is sexist, racist and misogynous, not to mention a likely White Supremacist, and for good measure, they’ll beat the “voter suppression” button. If Harris wins, Trump supporters will repeat voter fraud—since July, Elon Musk has tweeted on Twitter at least 22 times about voters being “imported” from abroad—being widespread.
Regardless of who wins tomorrow, Americans need to cool down; and give the divisive rhetoric a long overdue break. The right to an opinion belongs to everyone. Someone whose opinion differs from yours is not by default sexist, racist, a fascist or anything else; they simply disagree with you. Americans adopting the respectful mindset to agree to disagree would be the best thing they could do for the United States of America.
PHOENIX (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent proponent of debunked public health claims whom Donald Trump has promised to put in charge of health initiatives, said Saturday that Trump would push to remove fluoride from drinking water on his first day in office if elected president.
Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water has long been considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.
Kennedy made the declaration Saturday on the social media platform X alongside a variety of claims about the heath effects of fluoride.
“On January 20, the Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water,” Kennedy wrote. Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, “want to Make America Healthy Again,” he added, repeating a phrase Trump often uses and links to Kennedy.
Trump told NBC News on Sunday that he had not spoken to Kennedy about fluoride yet, “but it sounds OK to me. You know it’s possible.”
The former president declined to say whether he would seek a Cabinet role for Kennedy, a job that would require Senate confirmation, but added, “He’s going to have a big role in the administration.”
Asked whether banning certain vaccines would be on the table, Trump said he would talk to Kennedy and others about that. Trump described Kennedy as “a very talented guy and has strong views.”
The sudden and unexpected weekend social media post evoked the chaotic policymaking that defined Trump’s White House tenure, when he would issue policy declarations on Twitter at virtually all hours. It also underscored the concerns many experts have about Kennedy, who has long promoted debunked theories about vaccine safety, having influence over U.S. public health.
In 1950, federal officials endorsed water fluoridation to prevent tooth decay, and continued to promote it even after fluoride toothpaste brands hit the market several years later. Though fluoride can come from a number of sources, drinking water is the main source for Americans, researchers say.
Officials lowered their recommendation for drinking water fluoride levels in 2015 to address a tooth condition called fluorosis, that can cause splotches on teeth and was becoming more common in U.S. kids.
In August, a federal agency determined “with moderate confidence” that there is a link between higher levels of fluoride exposure and lower IQ in kids. The National Toxicology Program based its conclusion on studies involving fluoride levels at about twice the recommended limit for drinking water.
A federal judge later cited that study in ordering the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to further regulate fluoride in drinking water. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen cautioned that it’s not certain that the amount of fluoride typically added to water is causing lower IQ in kids, but he concluded that mounting research points to an unreasonable risk that it could be. He ordered the EPA to take steps to lower that risk, but didn’t say what those measures should be.
In his X post Saturday, Kennedy tagged Michael Connett, the lead attorney representing the plaintiff in that lawsuit, the environmental advocacy group Food & Water Watch.
Kennedy’s anti-vaccine organization has a lawsuit pending against news organizations including The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking action to identify misinformation, including about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines. Kennedy is on leave from the group but is listed as one of its attorneys in the lawsuit.
What role Kennedy might hold if Trump wins on Tuesday remains unclear. Kennedy recently told NewsNation that Trump asked him to “reorganize” agencies including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and some agencies under the Department of Agriculture.
But for now, the former independent presidential candidate has become one of Trump’s top surrogates. Trump frequently mentions having the support of Kennedy, a scion of a Democratic dynasty and the son of former Attorney General Robert Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy.
Kennedy traveled with Trump Friday and spoke at his rallies in Michigan and Wisconsin.
Trump said Saturday that he told Kennedy: “You can work on food, you can work on anything you want” except oil policy.
“He wants health, he wants women’s health, he wants men’s health, he wants kids, he wants everything,” Trump added.
