Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland outlined Ottawa’s plan for dealing with inflation Thursday, pledging to focus on fiscal restraint, boosting productivity and delivering on recently promised programs that will help Canadians afford higher prices.
The package of measures add up to $8.9-billion, she said, but all of that spending was previously announced and accounted for in previous budgets.
Those measures include a range of enhanced benefits to individuals through programs such as the Canada Workers Benefit, a 10-per-cent increase to Old Age Security for seniors over 75, and increased funding for child care and rent support. The minister also noted that many federal income support programs such as the Canada Child Benefit, the goods and services tax credit, Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement for low-income seniors are designed to automatically increase in line with inflation.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
SUPREME COURT SECURITY NEEDS TO BE TAKEN MORE SERIOUSLY: CHIEF JUSTICE – Canada’s chief justice says the safety of the Supreme Court of Canada building needs to be taken more seriously following this winter’s convoy protest in downtown Ottawa. Story here from CBC.
RECORD COMPLAINTS ON HANDLING OF ACCESS REQUESTS – The federal information watchdog fielded a record number of complaints last year about the way government bodies handled requests for documents despite years of promises from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to reform the system. Story here.
NO COMPENSATION FOR CIVIL SERVANTS ON UNPAID LEAVE – Civil servants who were placed on unpaid leave for refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19 will not be compensated for eight months of lost pay now that the vaccine mandates are being suspended, the federal government said in the face of union demands. Story here.
ONLINE STREAMING BILL MUST MOVE QUICKLY: RODRIGUEZ – Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez says it is “important” that the Liberal government’s online-streaming bill moves through Parliament quickly, shrugging off the Conservatives’ accusations that the legislation is being rushed through committee in an “undemocratic” way. Story here.
JEAN RUNNING FOR UCP LEADERSHIP; NOTLEY ACKNOWLEDGES VOLUNTEER ISSUES – Brian Jean, the co-founder of Alberta’s governing United Conservative Party, has officially launched his campaign to become the next leader, saying it’s imperative the party get back on track by listening to people and fighting for a better deal in Confederation. Story here. Meanwhile, Alberta Opposition NDP Leader Rachel Notley, a week after acknowledging her party is investigating allegations of mistreatment of volunteers, said Wednesday there are problems. Story here.
RCMP UPDATING CORE VALUES – The RCMP is updating its statement of “core values” for the first time in a quarter century by adding references to “reconciliation,” “diversity,” “honour” and “empathy.” Story here from CBC.
CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RACE
CAMPAIGN TRAIL – Scott Aitchison is in Ontario. Patrick Brown in Hamilton and London, Ont., where, according to a tweet, he spoke to the city’s Macdonald-Cartier Club. Jean Charest is in Montreal. Leslyn Lewis is in her Haldimand-Norfolk riding. Pierre Poilievre is in Ottawa. There is no word on Roman Baber’s campaign whereabouts.
BROWN CAMPAIGN CO-CHAIR DEPARTS POST – Patrick Brown’s campaign to lead the Conservatives will survive the departure of his campaign co-chair, a campaign spokesperson says.
Alberta MP Michelle Rempel Garner is leaving the Brown campaign to focus on the possibility of seeking the leadership of the governing United Conservative Party in Alberta.
But Chisholm Pothier, the communications director for the Brown campaign, says nothing has changed “organizationally” with Ms. Rempel Garner’s exit. “We have an organization of over 1000 individuals across the country, in every province and territory and most ridings in this country. We have an senior campaign team with a huge amount of experience,” Mr. Pothier said in a statement.
In a Wednesday night tweet, Ms. Rempel Garner said she is giving a leadership bid “serious consideration” after being encouraged to seek the job, which is being vacated by Alberta Premier Jason Kenney after he won 51.4 per cent support in a recent membership confidence vote. She said she will decide based on further conversations about the possibility. “As such, I will no longer be participating in the federal Conservative leadership race so that I can focus on how to best serve my province.”
Meanwhile, the federal Conservative Party is investigating allegations that Patrick Brown’s leadership campaign has been reimbursing the membership fees paid by individuals who agreed to join the party. Story here.
THIS AND THAT
TODAY IN THE COMMONS – Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, June. 16, accessible here.
PM TRAVELS – Between June. 23 and June 30, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will participate in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, the G7 Summit at Schloss Elmau, Germany, and the NATO Summit in Madrid, Spain. He will also participate in an official bilateral visit hosted by Pedro Sanchez, the Prime Minister of Spain. The commonwealth meeting runs from June 23 to the 25th. The G7 Summit runs from the 26th to the 28th. The NATO summit runs from the 28th to the 30th. After the NATO summit, the Prime Minister will participate in the official visit hosted by Prime Minister Sanchez on June 30.
JACZEK ON BLUESFEST – Helena Jaczek, minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for southern Ontario, announced Thursday over $10-million to support Ottawa Bluesfest − a 10-day, multi-staged music festival that is one of the city’s top attractions – and three Ottawa-based tourism operators.
CHANGE OF ARMY COMMAND – In Ottawa, there’s a change-of-command ceremony for the Canadian Army as Lieutenant-General Jocelyn (Joe) Paul assumes command of the Canadian Army from Major-General Michel-Henri St-Louis, in a ceremony presided over by the Chief of the Defence Staff, General Wayne Eyre.
THE DECIBEL
On Thursday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, columnist Tim Kiladze talks about declines in cryptocurrencies and why, even with a sector that has constant ups and downs, this crash matters and what retail investors with money caught up in crypto should do. The Decibel is here.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
The Prime Minister holds private meetings and speaks with Rwanda president, Paul Kagame, and the commissioner of official languages, Raymond Théberge.
LEADERS
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet has meetings in the riding of Laurentides-LaBelle
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, accompanied by NDP MP Lori Idlout (Nunavut), was scheduled to meet with staff and elders from Nunavut at the Larga Baffin facility in Ottawa, and to speak about the need for long-term care services in Nunavut. The NDP leader was also scheduled to participate in Question Period.
No other party leader schedules released.
PUBLIC OPINION
A study on public perception of the news industry found that more people are avoiding the news and that Canada is among the countries with higher levels of trust in media. Story here.
OPINION
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail)on how it’s not just Marco Mendocino playing bob and weave with the Emergencies Act: “If you’re a cabinet minister, you get used to playing the partisan game of bob and weave at parliamentary committees. Maybe Liberal ministers are having a hard time understanding that the committee reviewing the use of the Emergencies Act isn’t the same thing. So somebody – specifically somebody named Justin Trudeau – should be telling them in loud clear terms: This is different.”
Konrad Yakabuski (The Globe and Mail)on Ottawa’s oil and gas emissions targets hinging on hopes and miracles: “When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault released Ottawa’s targets for greenhouse-gas emissions for the oil and gas sector in March, they insisted there would not need to be a trade-off between “clean air and good jobs, a healthy environment and a strong economy.” They called their blueprint “an ambitious and achievable sector-by-sector approach” for reducing Canada’s overall emissions to 40 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. Despite the upbeat presentation, not many observers bought the government’s line that Canada’s oilpatch could cut its emissions by 81 megatonnes, or 42 per cent, within eight years – at least not without slashing production and incurring all the negative consequences that would entail for the Canadian economy.”
Akwasi Owusu-Bempah (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how it’s not enough for Toronto police to release data on racism. They have to act on it: “It is time for the Toronto Police Service to stop apologizing about racist policing and start doing something meaningful to address it. The force’s current approaches are clearly not cutting it. Data released Wednesday paint a damning picture of the nature of race and policing in the city, showing that Black people are overrepresented in both use-of-force incidents and strip searches. As the force itself acknowledges, these differences cannot be explained away by the behaviour of the individuals involved, which means responsibility lies with the police. Chief James Ramer points to systemic racism. I’d suggest systemic racism and years of inaction – itself a reflection of systemic racism.”
Hugh Segal (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on the absolute rejection of sedition should be a non-negotiable part of democratic politics: “Whatever the future policy priorities of the federal Conservative party, the core Canadian constitutional values of “peace, order and good government” are non-negotiable parts of our constitutional framework. That framework has no tolerance for the seditious and illegal overthrow of duly elected governments, nor for any candidate who signals so much as an ambivalence toward that threat to our democratic system. Canadian voters should not have any time for any politician who will not denounce sedition and those who proposed it.”
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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.
