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.
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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VUONG TAKES SEAT IN PARLIAMENT – Kevin Vuong, a Toronto MP dumped by the Liberals for not disclosing a withdrawn sexual assault charge, says he believes people want to see him in Parliament and blamed political operatives and social media critics for wanting to see him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.”
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OTTAWA – Several federal political parties are expressing reservations about the prospect of fresh regulations to prevent foreign meddlers from tainting their candidate nomination processes.
Elections Canada has suggested possible changes to safeguard nominations, including barring non-citizens from helping choose candidates, requiring parties to publish contest rules and explicitly outlawing behaviour such as voting more than once.
However, representatives of the Bloc Québécois, Green Party and NDP have told a federal commission of inquiry into foreign interference that such changes may be unwelcome, difficult to implement or counterproductive.
The Canada Elections Act currently provides for limited regulation of federal nomination races and contestants.
For instance, only contestants who accept $1,000 in contributions or incur $1,000 in expenses have to file a financial return. In addition, the act does not include specific obligations concerning candidacy, voting, counting or results reporting other than the identity of the successful nominee.
A report released in June by the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians expressed concern about how easily foreign actors can take advantage of loopholes and vulnerabilities to support preferred candidates.
Lucy Watson, national director of the NDP, told the inquiry Thursday she had concerns about the way in which new legislation would interact with the internal decision-making of the party.
“We are very proud of the fact that our members play such a significant role in shaping the internal policies and procedures and infrastructure of the party, and I would not want to see that lost,” she said.
“There are guidelines, there are best practices that we would welcome, but if we were to talk about legal requirements and legislation, that’s something I would have to take away and put further thought into, and have discussions with folks who are integral to the party’s governance.”
In an August interview with the commission of inquiry, Bloc Québécois executive director Mathieu Desquilbet said the party would be opposed to any external body monitoring nomination and leadership contest rules.
A summary tabled Thursday says Desquilbet expressed doubts about the appropriateness of requiring nomination candidates to file a full financial report with Elections Canada, saying the agency’s existing regulatory framework and the Bloc’s internal rules on the matter are sufficient.
Green Party representatives Jon Irwin and Robin Marty told the inquiry in an August interview it would not be realistic for an external body, like Elections Canada, to administer nomination or leadership contests as the resources required would exceed the federal agency’s capacity.
A summary of the interview says Irwin and Marty “also did not believe that rules violations could effectively be investigated by an external body like the Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections.”
“The types of complaints that get raised during nomination contests can be highly personal, politically driven, and could overwhelm an external body.”
Marty, national campaign director for the party, told the inquiry Thursday that more reporting requirements would also place an administrative burden on volunteers and riding workers.
In addition, he said that disclosing the vote tally of a nomination contest could actually help foreign meddlers by flagging the precise number of ballots needed for a candidate to be chosen.
Irwin, interim executive director of the Greens, said the ideal tactic for a foreign country would be working to get someone in a “position of power” within a Canadian political party.
He said “the bad guys are always a step ahead” when it comes to meddling in the Canadian political process.
In May, David Vigneault, director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service at the time, said it was very clear from the design of popular social media app TikTok that data gleaned from its users is available to the Chinese government.
A December 2022 CSIS memo tabled at the inquiry Thursday said TikTok “has the potential to be exploited” by Beijing to “bolster its influence and power overseas, including in Canada.”
Asked about the app, Marty told the inquiry the Greens would benefit from more “direction and guidance,” given the party’s lack of resources to address such things.
Representatives of the Liberal and Conservative parties are slated to appear at the inquiry Friday, while chief electoral officer Stéphane Perrault is to testify at a later date.
After her party representatives appeared Thursday, Green Leader Elizabeth May told reporters it was important for all party leaders to work together to come up with acceptable rules.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
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.
