Federal Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole says his party is ready for the challenges of an election held during the continuing pandemic.
“Will we be ready? Absolutely. I’ve been an opposition leader in a minority parliament in a pandemic,” Mr. O’Toole told a news conference on Tuesday. “We’ve had to be ready at every step.”
His comments come amid the expectation that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will call an election later this summer or in the fall.
But Mr. O’Toole said the party was ready to go this past spring, preparing an approach informed by how U.S. President Joe Biden connected with voters during the American campaign last year.
The Tory Leader said he is prepared to use a mix of outreach using a party studio in Ottawa where Tuesday’s news conference was held as well as some form of traditional campaign tour that would take the Leader out across the country.
“We’re going to respect all provincial and municipal rules with respect to health restrictions,” he said, referring to the tour.
On Tuesday, Mr. O’Toole talked about part of his offer to Canadian voters, promising Canada Emergency Preparedness Plan to protect the country from COVID-19 and future pandemics.
Pieces of the plan include working with pharmaceutical companies to escalate domestic manufacturing of critical medicines and active ingredients, working with the United States to strengthen the North American supply chain, and calling an immediate public inquiry into the government’s pandemic response.
The Tory Leader said the federal Liberal government was late to act on the border and securing vaccines.
“I think Canadians are happy we’re finally emerging several months later than countries that were a little more prepared, but I think anyone running to lead this country has to show a commitment that we never make the mistakes that were made this last year by the Trudeau government,” he said.
Later Tuesday, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc was asked at a news conference about Mr. O’Toole’s criticism of the federal government’s pandemic management.
Mr. LeBlanc said the government recognized that Canada had found itself in a “difficult situation” due to the long-term decline of the biomedical manufacturing capacity to produce vaccines.
As a result, he said the government has been working with the industry to bolster production and that, on another note, the government is committed to a review of the handling of the pandemic.
“We will make sure that a national government never finds itself in this situation again,” said Mr. LeBlanc. “Mr. O’Toole is arriving, in fact, at the same conclusion our government arrived at months and months ago.”
TODAY’S HEADLINES
GUILBEAULT SEEKS SENATORS HELP – Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault is asking senators to focus on passing Bill C-10, broadcast legislation that has sparked controversy, a day before the Senate is set to break for the summer.
MCKENNA’S EXIT – Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna said Monday she will not run in the next election in order to spend more time with her family and on the fight against climate change.
CARNEY WARNING ON DIGITAL CURRENCIES – Commercial banks could face a period of disruption and heightened competition as digital currencies upend payment systems and undermine existing models for bank funding, Mark Carney- the former governor of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England – told a group of leading central bankers on Monday.
PAUL SAYS SHE’S CLEAR -The leader of the federal Green Party says she no longer has to follow through on an order of her party’s federal council that directed her to repudiate a former aide who criticized members of caucus.
CONCERNS ABOUT BLACK ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM – Some Black businesspeople say a new federal government program meant to bolster Black entrepreneurship is hard to access, offers unclear repayment terms and asks invasive questions about applicants’ sexuality. From CBC.
CANADA SHOULDN’T CRITICIZE CHINA: SENATOR – In a provocative speech in the upper house on Monday, Independent Senators Group Leader Sen. Yuen Pau Woo said Canada should avoid criticizing China for its human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims because our country has mistreated Indigenous peoples. From CBC.
NOVA SCOTIA MLA CONSIDERS HER OPTIONS – Former Nova Scotia PC MLA Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin hasn’t decided whether she’ll fight to keep her job as MLA now that she’s an Independent. But she says she is certain of one thing. She says she had nothing to do with the protest that shut down traffic on the Trans-Canada Highway most of last Wednesday. From CBC.
THE MOST EXPENSIVE B.C. ELECTION EVER – Vaughn Palmer of The Vancouver Sun writes about recent disclosures from British Columbia’s chief electoral officer about the 2020 provincial election, which turns out to have been the most expensive in B.C. history. It cost 30 per cent more than the last vote, in 2017. “Basically everything cost more – staffing, supplies, space, printing, advertising, mailing, and so on” Column here.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
The Prime Minister speaks with the Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas. He also participates in a fireside chat with Charles Milliard, president and chief executive officer of the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec. And he participates in a virtual conversation with Melissa Grelo, co-host of CTV’s The Social, as part of a virtual event celebrating Filipino Heritage Month in Canada.
LEADERS
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet continues his summer tour of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean.
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole makes an announcement in Ottawa.
OPINION
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on how Catherine McKenna and half of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s first. 2015 cabinet are now going or gone: “Mr. Trudeau’s government has, in one way or another, chewed up a lot of its shiny pennies. It’s not about the rate of turnover. Former PM Stephen Harper lost as many ministers, though not so many front-bench leaders. But a lot of Mr. Trudeau’s symbolic stars have been ground out of the game in the past six years. As has the symbolism of a cabinet team driving an agenda.”
André Picard (The Globe and Mail)on uncertainty over the end of the COVID-19 pandemic: “Closing quickly and reopening slowly is the best way to avoid new waves of infection. That lesson, which dates back to the early days of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, remains true. If Canada wants to avoid a fourth wave, we need to heed that warning. Don’t throw away your masks, but wear them in select settings. Have larger gatherings, but don’t overdo it. Head back to restaurants, but don’t recycle the plexiglass barriers quite yet. Travel again, but get tested, before and after.”
Don Braid (The Calgary Herald)on Alberta Premier Jason Kenney considering a cabinet shuffle and a summer of silence.: “The UCP government badly needs two things: a cabinet facelift for post-pandemic times and a summer stretch of deep public silence. UCP insiders judge — correctly, I think — that the public is sick of regular COVID-19 news conferences and proclamations. Kenney has been very public for more than a year. He’ll talk about any issue from many angles. He has probably uttered as many official words in two years as the voluble Ralph Klein emitted in 14. As a result, he’s overexposed. People connect his face and voice with bad news. The premier and the public need a break.”
Steve Paikin (TVO) on an appropriate new name for Ryerson University:“It was two and a half months ago that the university renamed its law school after Canada’s first Black MP and cabinet minister, Lincoln Alexander. Ryerson received a ton of positive publicity after that move. What if Ryerson took a page out of WLU’s playbook? Changing the iconic blue, yellow, and white RU-logo signs all over campus would no doubt cost millions of dollars. But what if the RU could stay, except that the “R” would stand for something else?”
Mark Sutcliffe (The Ottawa Citizen)on why he supports renaming Ottawa’s Sir John. A Macdonald Parkway:“There will be people who will decry this as an example of “cancel culture.” But nothing is being cancelled here. Macdonald is and always will be our first prime minister and his record speaks for itself, both for better and for worse. History is not changed by the naming or un-naming of a road, airport or building. Such honours are subjective to begin with; there are many other Canadians after whom the parkway could have been named. No one’s rights are trampled upon if they don’t have a road named after them or a statue erected in their honour.”
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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.
