An independent inquiry has been established to review the invocation of the Emergencies Act and will be led by jurist Paul Rouleau, the Prime Minister’s Office said Monday.
The PMO also said that Justice Rouleau brings 20 years of experience on the bench to the role.
He is to submit a final report to the federal government with his findings and recommendations, which must be tabled in the House of Commons and Senate by Feb. 20, 2023.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
RCMP CONSIDERED CHARGING PRIME MINISTER TRUDEAU OVER VACATION – The RCMP consideredcharging Justin Trudeau with fraud over a family vacation at the Aga Khan’s private island in the Bahamas, but decided against doing so because it was unclear if the Prime Minister had the authority to approve the all-expenses-paid gift for himself. Story here.
Reporter’s Comment, Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife – “Unbeknownst to Canadians, the RCMP were seriously engaged an investigation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his families’ acceptance of an all-expense holiday at the luxurious Bahamian retreat of the Aga Khan in Christmas, 2016.
After the Ethics Commissioner released a report in 2017 finding Mr. Trudeau violated ethics rules, the Mounties did an 84-page analysis of the Trudeau family vacation and decided against a criminal investigation.
However, they reopened the matter after they received a 26-page letter in 2019 from then-Conservative ethics critic Peter Kent, who called on the RCMP to launch a criminal probe.
We now know from Access to Information documents obtained by the Conservatives that the RCMP considered whether to lay charges against Mr. Trudeau for fraud.
Had that been publicly known it would have put the Prime Minister on the defensive during the 2019 election in which he lost his majority. At the time Mr. Trudeau was already facing heavy opposition criticism on the election trail over the SNC-Lavalin scandal.”
BANK GOVERNOR SAYS BANK WILL CONSIDER RATE INCREASE – Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem said that the central bank will consider a 50-basis-point increase to its policy rate in June as it looks to push borrowing costs higher to tackle inflation. Story here.
MILITARY FALLING SHORT IN DEALING WITH WHITE SUPREMACIST, EXTREMIST INFILTRATION: REPORT – A scathing new report on racism in the Canadian Armed Forces says the military is not doing enough to detect and prevent white supremacists and other violent extremists from infiltrating its ranks. Story here.
UNEXPLAINED MILITARY SPENDING RAISES QUESTIONS – Parliament’s fiscal watchdog is raising concerns about nearly $15-billion of unexplained military spending buried in the 2022 federal budget – money in excess of what’s spelled out in the Department of National Defence’s spending plan released earlier this year. Story here.
`FREE-FOR-ALL’ POSSIBLE: ORGANIZER OF OTTAWA MOTORCYCLE CONVOY – One of the organizers of a planned motorcycle convoy is warning of a “free-for-all” on Friday if Ottawa police don’t allow hundreds of protesters to bring their bikes onto the streets around Parliament Hill. Story here.
FREEZE ON INCOME TAX FOR SOME AMONG MEASURES IN ONTARIO NDP ELECTION PLATFORM – The Ontario New Democrats’ election platform includes promises of accelerated universal pharmacare and dental care, a freeze on income tax for some residents and hiring tens of thousands of health-care and education workers. Story here.
MLAS ACCUSE N.S. PREMIER OF INTIMIDATION – Two MLAs are accusing Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston of abusive behaviour meant to intimidate opposition members, particularly women. Story here from CBC.
NDP PREMIER JOHN HORGAN’S LIBERAL RIVAL COULD BE HEADED FOR LEGISLATURE SEAT – A by-election that could put new British Columbia Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon back in the province’s legislature is a race about the past and future, say both the candidates and political experts. Voters in the upscale Vancouver-Quilchena riding, previously held by two former BC Liberal leaders, will choose a new member on April 30. Story here.
CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RACE
TORY LEADERSHIP CAMPAIGNING – Among Tory leadership candidates Monday, Scott Aitchison was in Ottawa, attending to parliamentary business. Patrick Brown was, according to his Twitter account, at a municipal event in Brampton, Ont., where he is mayor, Jean Charest will be in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island this week and is, along the way, expected to release policy announcements on climate change and energy. Leslyn Lewis had no scheduled events on Monday, but was in Halifax on Sunday and, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday will be campaigning in Fredericton, Saint John and other New Brunswick communities. Pierre Poilievre also has no scheduled events Monday, but is scheduled to hold a news conference in Gatineau on Tuesday as well as an evening rally.
JENNI BYRNE – The Hill Times reports here on Jenni Byrne, the veteran Conservative political operative, who is a key adviser to Mr. Poilievre. “[Ms. Byrne] —who in 2011 became “the first woman to win a majority government as campaign manager for Stephen Harper at age 34″ as she highlights on the website of her consulting firm, Jenni Byrne + Associates—has had an undeniable impact on the shape and direction of the Conservative Party of Canada.”
THIS AND THAT
TODAY IN THE COMMONS – Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, April. 25, accessible here.
CONCERNS ABOUT APPEARANCES BY PRIME MINISTER, ONTARIO PREMIER AND ONTARIO HEALTH OFFICER – A pair of law professors, one from the University of Ottawa and the other from the University of Western Ontario (UWO), have raised concerns about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Kieran Moore breaking quarantine law by not wearing masks in public settings after travels abroad. Amir Attaran at Ottawa and Jacob Shelley at UWO have written to relevant police departments about their concerns. At issue, for the pair, are appearances by Mr. Trudeau, in March, attending the GLOBE forum at the Vancouver Convention Centre after returning from a trip to Belgium, Mr. Ford visiting an Ottawa hospital in March after a trip to Washington and Dr. Moore giving a news conference at Queen’s Park in Toronto in early April, after returning from a vacation in the Dominican Republic.
ANAND HEADED FOR GERMANY – Defence Minister Anita Anand will be in Germany on Tuesday, attending meetings of the Ukraine Defense Consultative Group hosted by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. The gathering is intended for partners and allies to discuss Ukraine’s current and future defence needs. After Germany, the minister and a delegation that includes Canadian Chief of Defence Staff General Wayne Eyre, will travel to Washington for further meetings, including talks at the Pentagon with Mr. Austin on topics including the modernization of NORAD and efforts by Canada and the United States to support Ukraine.
THE DECIBEL
On Monday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, The Globe’s science reporter Ivan Semeniuk talks about Canadian businessman and philanthropist Mark Pathy who spent US$50-million for a ticket to spend 10 days on the International Space Station. Mr. Semeniuk got the chance to interview Mr. Pathy while he was floating around the ISS and discusses what he is doing with his time in space, why he decided to pay the large price tag to go and what this could mean for the future of space tourism. The Decibel is here.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
Private meetings, and the Prime Minister is scheduled to meet with members of the Parliamentary Internship Programme.
LEADERS
No schedules released for party leaders.
OPINION
John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail)on how Ottawa should help Wilfrid Laurier University’s initiative for students in war zone: “Students and faculty from Wilfrid Laurier University arrive in Ottawa Monday with an urgent plea: help them get students who have been put at risk out of conflict zones and on their campus. Laurier is on to a good idea. If everyone acted smartly, displaced students from Ukraine and elsewhere could be on campus this fall or winter. The odds against such swift action from the federal government are high. But that’s no reason not to try.”
Jeffrey Jones (The Globe and Mail)on whether Mark Carney can keep his green finance push on track as the climate fight is getting harder: “Mark Carney’s green financial revolution was never going to be easy. Now it’s getting harder. Last year, the former central banker announced that he had secured commitments from 450 global banks, insurers and asset managers to align their lending and investing to the goals of the Paris agreement on limiting climate change. The expanded membership was one of the marquee announcements at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. Since then, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and surging inflation have returned the spotlight to oil and natural gas, and shortages thereof, just as it seemed the transition to clean energy was about to hit its stride.”
Lloyd Axworthy (Contributed to The Globe and Mail)on how two wise men from Lviv gave us the legal foundation to prosecute Putin for war crimes: “As Russian atrocities in Ukraine compound, the debate over how to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin and his accomplices accountable for their crimes is mounting amongst international-law experts and government policy makers. Missing from that discourse is a recognition of a striking irony: Our modern concept of international criminal law derives largely from the work of two lawyers from Lviv, Ukraine. Hersch Lauterpacht and Raphael Lemkin are the originators of the concepts of crimes against humanity and genocide, which have influenced the creation of tribunals and courts in which prosecution for these international crimes can take place.”
Isabel Macdonald (Policy Options) on whether Canada’s Online News Act is repeating Australia’s mistakes: “The government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently tabled the Online News Act, a proposed news media bargaining code law similar to one that Australian authorities have used to force Google and Meta (Facebook), to sign multimillion-dollar deals with many of Australia’s largest news publishers and broadcasters. Yet major concerns have been raised about the lack of transparency surrounding these deals. Moreover, some experts have warned that instituting an Australian-style bargaining code in Canada could compromise the independence of the press and increase Canadian news outlets’ dependence on the world’s most powerful tech companies. For these reasons, the government should consider an alternative policy option: redistributing revenues from digital platforms through an independent fund – an approach which many stakeholders say would be a more effective and accessible way of supporting journalism.”
Steve Paikin (TVO) on why Doug Ford fans must be feeling pretty good about the election: “When Ford won the 2018 election, I asked a former veteran PC cabinet minister what the new premier needed to do to be successful, given his lack of experience. The answer was: show a capacity to learn and grow. Whether you love the premier or hate him, whether you think he’s led Ontario through the pandemic well or been a complete bust, it’s undeniable that he has learned and grown in the job. He’s never been the smartest guy in the room, which bothers progressive voters, who want their leaders to be just that. But he does connect with average people in a way that drives progressives batty. Once the election campaign begins in earnest next month, it’ll be up to the opposition parties to show why a change of government is imperative for Ontario to succeed as it emerges from the pandemic.”
Mark Sutcliffe (The Ottawa Citizen)on the necessity of envisioning a new downtown for Canada’s national capital: Much of Ottawa’s downtown is a bit too boxy and practical, with narrow walkways, buildings abutting the streets, and very few gathering places and pleasant surprises. If fewer cars and buses will be travelling through downtown, let’s expand sidewalks and create room for patios and street life throughout the core. Let’s also think about creating more destinations in the downtown. The refurbished National Arts Centre is a terrific new anchor at the east end of the core. And a new public library and — if we’re lucky — a future hockey arena will combine with the Canadian War Museum to drive people to LeBreton Flats on the west side. But what will bring people right into the heart of downtown? Is it a new museum or attraction, perhaps the long-awaited portrait gallery? A hub for creative thinkers, artists, and entrepreneurs? A music venue? Some green space surrounded by restaurants?”
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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.
