The crackdown by the Chinese government on Hong Kong has taken another turn. The Beijing-installed chief executive, Carrie Lam, booted four pro-democracy members from the legislative council. In turn, the remaining opposition members have resigned from the council in solidarity with their colleagues.
“Today is the end of ‘one country, two systems’,” said Wu Chi-wai, chairman of the Democratic Party, in reference to the promise when Hong Kong came under Chinese control that it would retain some measure of democracy.
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Meanwhile in Canada, Chinese-Canadian groups say the government should set up a national hotline and a foreign-agent registry to combat the issue of harassment byChinese government agents.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
Today is Remembrance Day, the day we honour the women and men who have fought for their countries. The Globe and Mail asked six veterans what they will be reflecting on this year.
The Canadian government is joining the European Union in condemning a Russian-backed conference that seeks to convince refugees to return to Syria before it’s safe to do so.
Leslie Church, the policy director to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, has agreed to an ethics screen concerning her husband, Sheamus Murphy, who regularly lobbies senior officials on behalf of a wide range of corporate clients.
Speakers’ Spotlight, an agency that represents some members of the Trudeau family, says it does not have some of the documents the ethics committee requested as part of its WE Charity probe. The company says it routinely purges documents older than seven years, and the disposal of these documents was completed before the WE issue came to light.
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NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and anti-racism advocates say the federal government and police forces need to do more to address the rising threat of white-supremacist organizations.
The B.C. Civil Liberties Association is suing the RCMP for not responding to a civilian watchdog report from 2017, which has had the effect of barring the report from public release.
As COVID-19 cases continue to rise, another public-health epidemic that is getting overshadowed is the rising number of opioid deaths.
The federal government is working out the complex task of how to distribute tens of millions of COVID-19 vaccines once one is approved.
Most Senate committees aren’t meeting because the Independent Senators Group and the Conservatives can’t agree on whether some meetings could be held virtually.
And the Republican Party is getting increasingly consumed with U.S. President Donald Trump’s conspiracy theories contesting the results of last week’s election. The latest significant lawsuit by the Trump campaign alleges Pennsylvania’s system for mail-in ballots is against the U.S. Constitution.
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Donald Maracle and Arthur Cockfield (The Globe and Mail) on the contributions of Indigenous soldiers: “While exact numbers are unknown, hundreds or possibly thousands of First Nations, Métis and Inuit people fought with the British Crown and local militias in the pre-Confederation era, when the fate of the future country was on a knife’s edge. With respect to 20th-century conflicts, Veteran Affairs Canada estimates that 12,000 Indigenous peoples fought in the Canadian Armed Forces, mainly in the First and Second World War.”
Avvy Go and Gary Yee (The Globe and Mail) on racism in Canada: “The pandemic has exposed how deep-seated anti-Chinese racism is in Canada. Across the country, social media has been flooded with heart-wrenching reports of verbal and physical attacks on Chinese-Canadians and other Asian-Canadians.”
John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail) on why world leaders are rushing to congratulate Biden: “For the West, a Biden presidency represents the best hope for restoring relations shaken to their core by President Trump’s singularly transactional America First strategy.”
Frida Ghitis (CNN) on Trump’s refusal to concede in the U.S. election: “By now, we know exactly who Trump is. He lied from the day he came to office, and he’s doing it again on his way out in hopes that he will personally benefit. That is hardly a surprise. What is still surprising is that so many Republicans who were once honourable public servants have chosen to join his attack on American democracy.”
Jack Shafer (Politico) on the seeming breakup of Trump and Fox News: “It’s true that Fox propped Trump up when other networks were treating him as a novelty, reliably televising his stemwinder speeches and letting his proxies spin away his blatant untruths and off-the-cuff insults. And it’s true that Fox was proud to have the president as Viewer Number One, taking his calls and often seemingly broadcasting directly to his bedroom TV. That all makes it easy to forget that Trump was never Murdoch and Fox’s first choice for president in 2016, or even their second.”
Andrew Coyne (The Globe and Mail) on what Trump could do next: “The campaign did not end on Nov. 3; it has simply entered a new phase. The point is not to win over the courts or even most of the public. It’s strictly about the base. Once you have persuaded tens of millions of Americans that the bedrock institutions of their democracy are corrupt, that everyone is lying to them and nothing is a fact, there’s not much you can’t do.”
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Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will not be taking advice from Pierre Poilievre after the Conservative leader challenged him to bring down government.
“I say directly to Pierre Poilievre: I’m not going to listen to you,” said Singh on Wednesday, accusing Poilievre of wanting to take away dental-care coverage from Canadians, among other things.
“I’m not going to listen to your advice. You want to destroy people’s lives, I want to build up a brighter future.”
Earlier in the day, Poilievre challenged Singh to commit to voting non-confidence in the government, saying his party will force a vote in the House of Commons “at the earliest possibly opportunity.”
“I’m asking Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to commit unequivocally before Monday’s byelections: will they vote non-confidence to bring down the costly coalition and trigger a carbon tax election, or will Jagmeet Singh sell out Canadians again?” Poilievre said.
“It’s put up or shut up time for the NDP.”
While Singh rejected the idea he would ever listen to Poilievre, he did not say how the NDP would vote on a non-confidence motion.
“I’ve said on any vote, we’re going to look at the vote and we’ll make our decision. I’m not going to say our decision ahead of time,” he said.
Singh’s top adviser said on Tuesday the NDP leader is not particularly eager to trigger an election, even as the Conservatives challenge him to do just that.
Anne McGrath, Singh’s principal secretary, says there will be more volatility in Parliament and the odds of an early election have risen.
“I don’t think he is anxious to launch one, or chomping at the bit to have one, but it can happen,” she said in an interview.
New Democrat MPs are in a second day of meetings in Montreal as they nail down a plan for how to navigate the minority Parliament this fall.
The caucus retreat comes one week after Singh announced the party has left the supply-and-confidence agreement with the governing Liberals.
It’s also taking place in the very city where New Democrats are hoping to pick up a seat on Monday, when voters go to the polls in Montreal’s LaSalle—Émard—Verdun. A second byelection is being held that day in the Winnipeg riding of Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP is hoping to hold onto a seat the Conservatives are also vying for.
While New Democrats are seeking to distance themselves from the Liberals, they don’t appear ready to trigger a general election.
Singh signalled on Tuesday that he will have more to say Wednesday about the party’s strategy for the upcoming sitting.
He is hoping to convince Canadians that his party can defeat the federal Conservatives, who have been riding high in the polls over the last year.
Singh has attacked Poilievre as someone who would bring back Harper-style cuts to programs that Canadians rely on, including the national dental-care program that was part of the supply-and-confidence agreement.
The Canadian Press has asked Poilievre’s office whether the Conservative leader intends to keep the program in place, if he forms government after the next election.
With the return of Parliament just days away, the NDP is also keeping in mind how other parties will look to capitalize on the new makeup of the House of Commons.
The Bloc Québécois has already indicated that it’s written up a list of demands for the Liberals in exchange for support on votes.
The next federal election must take place by October 2025 at the latest.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is defending her decision to turn off comments on her social media accounts — with an announcement on social media.
She posted screenshots to X this morning of vulgar names she’s been called on the platform, and says comments on her posts for months have been dominated by insults, to the point that she decided to block them.
Montreal’s Opposition leader and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association have criticized Plante for limiting freedom of expression by restricting comments on her X and Instagram accounts.
They say elected officials who use social media should be willing to hear from constituents on those platforms.
However, Plante says some people may believe there is a fundamental right to call someone offensive names and to normalize violence online, but she disagrees.
Her statement on X is closed to comments.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
