BREAKING – Anthony Rota has been re-elected as the Speaker in Parliament, resuming his work in the key role as MPs return to work in the House of Commons for the first time since June.
The Nipissing-Timiskaming MP has been the House Speaker since 2019, and was re-elected by MPs over six other candidates for the post, including former Green Party leader Elizabeth May.
“Now that we have a Speaker, it’s time to get back to work,” Mr. Rota told members.
Liberal Member of Parliament Anthony Rota is dragged to the Speakers chair by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative Party of Canada Leader Erin O’Toole after being re-elected Monday as Speaker of the House of Commons.BLAIR GABLE/Reuters
Also on Monday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said his party is engaged in “ongoing” discussions with the Liberals about fast-tracking legislation that both parties support, but warned that his party will strongly oppose the government’s plans to scale back COVID-19 benefits.
Mr. Singh made the comments to reporters on Monday as Members of Parliament returned to the House of Commons for the first time since June.
The first order of business was the election of the Speaker.The government will outline its policy priorities through a Throne Speech on Tuesday. The House is scheduled to sit for four weeks before recessing until Jan. 31.
The Sept. 20 federal election produced a Parliament with similar numbers in terms of party standings as what was in place prior to the campaign. The minority Liberal government will need the support of at least one other major party to win votes on spending and legislation in the House of Commons. In the previous Parliament, the NDP frequently voted with the Liberals to approve government measures.
“We’re open to looking at ways to speed up the passage of bills that we agree with,” said Mr. Singh, who described the discussions with the Liberals as “ongoing,” while also adding that no deal has been reached.
More here on today’s return of MPs. Deputy Ottawa Bureau Chief Bill Curry looks at the path ahead as Members of Parliament return to the floor of the House of Commons.
This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Ian Bailey. It is available exclusively to our digital subscribers. If you’re reading this on the web, subscribers can sign up for the Politics newsletter and more than 20 others on our newsletter signup page. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.
TODAY’S HEADLINES
VUONG TAKES SEAT IN PARLIAMENT – Kevin Vuong, a Toronto MP dumped by the Liberals for not disclosing a withdrawn sexual assault charge, says he believes people want to see him in Parliament and blamed political operatives and social media critics for wanting to see him fail. Mr. Vuong entered the House of Commons today to take his seat as an Independent MP. Story here.
HYPERSONIC MISSILE LEAD HELD BY CHINA AND RUSSIA – China and Russia have surpassed the United States in the development of cutting-edge hypersonic missiles – regarded by some as first-strike weapons – and Beijing is on track to one day overtake the Americans in space technology, a senior U.S. general told the Halifax International Security Forum this past weekend. Story here.
SENATOR DIES AFTER TREATMENT FOR COVID-19 – Josée Forest-Niesing, a lawyer and Ontario senator, has died shortly after being hospitalized with COVID-19. She was 56. Story here.
CANADA’S FIRST TWO-SPIRIT MP – As he gets ready for Parliament’s return on Monday, Edmonton–Griesbach’s MP Blake Desjarlais spoke with The Globe about his upbringing, his role in the struggle for Métis rights and what he brings to the table in Ottawa. Story here.
KENNEY FACES UCP MEMBERS AT PARTY MEETING – There was not much in the way of loud, visible dissent during the annual general meeting of Alberta’s governing party – a relative win for its leader, Jason Kenney, and his supporters. But the United Conservative Party gathering this weekend wasn’t a definitive turnaround for Mr. Kenney, who entered Alberta politics five years ago as an unmitigated conservative star, and who is now the least popular premier in the country. Story here.
B.C. GOVERNMENT WARNED OF FLOOD RISK – Despite claims by British Columbia Premier John Horgan that there was no way to foresee the current flooding and mudslides in the province, the B.C. government had a shelf full of contemporary reports from experts, warning that such disasters were going to hit with greater frequency and bigger impact. B.C. Politics Reporter Justine Hunter reports here. Meanwhile, Andrea Woo reports here that a major breach in Abbotsford’s Sumas dike was successfully repaired this weekend, stopping the flow of water from the Sumas River into the prairie lake bottom and alleviating some concerns about further destruction.
TORY COUNCIL TO DISCUSS BATTERS PETITION – The Hill Timesreports that, according to party president Rob Batherson, the Conservative Party’s national council will discuss Senator Denise Batters’ petition calling for an early review of Erin O’Toole’s leadership at a Dec. 10-12 meeting, if not before.
NANTEL TO RUN FOR PQ – The Parti Québécois says former NDP MP Pierre Nantel will run in a by-election in the Marie-Victorin riding in Longueuil, south of Montreal. Mr. Nantel previously held the seat of Longueuil – Saint-Hubert between 2011 and 2019 before being removed from the party. Story here.
THIS AND THAT
GARNEAU STICKING AROUND – Former astronaut Marc Garneau has been in cabinet since the current Liberal government was elected in 2015, first as transport minister and then foreign affairs minister. He was dropped from the cabinet named after the Liberals won a minority government in September. But the member for the Montreal riding of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce–Westmount said Sunday he is sticking around amid speculation he was up for a diplomatic appointment. “The 44th Canadian Parliament begins tomorrow. Just to be clear because many have inquired, I will not be retiring from political life. I will continue to serve the people of NDG–Westmount,” he said in a Tweet.
WANTED: COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR DEFENCE MINISTER – Canada’s new Defence Minister will be getting a new director of communications. Todd Lane announced Friday that he was stepping down as director of communications for Defence Minister Anita Anand. According to Daniel Minden, Ms. Anand’s press secretary, Mr. Lane joined the office as a press secretary in March, 2019, and in January, 2020, became director of communications. “After several years at National Defence, Todd has decided to move to a new portfolio in the federal government,” he said in a statement. Mr. Minden added that no new communications director has been named yet.
NOVA SCOTIA PREMIER VISITS OTTAWA – Tim Houston made his first visit to Ottawa as Premier of Nova Scotia today, meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. But Mr. Houston noted it was another personal milestone as well – during his opening remarks at his meeting with Mr. Trudeau, the Premier said the visit was also his first time in Ottawa ever. Among the issues Mr. Houston said he was keen to discuss were health care, housing and immigration.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
The Prime Minister met with Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston on Parliament Hill, and later attended the election of the Speaker of the House of Commons.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER
The Deputy Prime Minister attended the election of the Speaker of the House of Commons.
LEADERS
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh holds a news conference to discuss the return of Parliament.
No schedules released for other leaders, though they were in Parliament as it opened.
OPINION
John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail)on how Erin O’Toole is safe, for now, as Conservative Leader, mostly because there’s little alternative: “Not only is there no obvious person available to replace Mr. O’Toole, there is no obvious idea, either, no stream of political thought that Mr. O’Toole rejects but that could take the party to victory. Economic conservatives are angry with Mr. O’Toole because he abandoned the traditional conservative commitment to cutting taxes and spending, while balancing the budget. Social conservatives are angry with Mr. O’Toole for backtracking on his commitment to loosen gun controls and for supporting, however reluctantly, vaccine mandates for MPs. But while deficits have reached frightening levels, austerity in these final months of the pandemic would do more harm than good. And to champion the rights of gun owners and vaccine refuseniks is to champion lost and unpopular causes.”
Robyn Urback (The Globe and Mail)on the illness in the United States that Kyle Rittenhouse’s acquittal exposes: “The reality is that in certain states, armed civilians can show up in any town, incite violence and then use the danger they have created to justify shooting people in the street. That’s why Mr. Rittenhouse’s acquittal was not only likely, but also legally just – even if, to casual observers, it might seem profoundly, morally unfair.”
Coleman Molnar (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on questioning whether to keep living in B.C. amid catastrophic weather events: “The optimism, that feeling of natural bounty that used to rise from the land here, has been tainted with the heaviness of potential danger. Now, when I gaze at the flowing rivers or lift my face to the falling rain, I’m filled not only with the sense of beauty and abundance, but with a fearful respect for this place’s destructive potential. As we continue our holding pattern at a friend’s condo in Vancouver and await the reopening of routes and the repopulation of Merritt, we once again count our blessings. Among B.C. homeowners and residents, we are lucky. Still, all this disaster so close to home makes me wonder: Might we be luckier somewhere else?”
Mireille Lalancette and Vincent Raynauld (Policy Options)on how Martin Francoeur’s successful bid for the riding of Trois-Rivières speaks to the importance of personalization in political life: “The process of putting an emphasis on the candidate during a campaign is known as personalization. This is not a new phenomenon. Individuals have always played an outsized role in politics. However, personalization has gained importance in political life in recent decades as political news coverage by media organizations and journalists has evolved, coupled with the central role played by identity-centric media platforms in the political process. At the same time, politicians have adapted their personal image-making and political messaging approach to the structure and format of dominant media channels.”
Send along your political questions and we will look at getting answers to run in this newsletter. It’s not possible to answer each one personally. Questions and answers will be edited for length and clarity.
Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com. Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop.
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.
