Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked Canada for its support of the embattled country as it is invaded by Russia, and asked for continued help.
“Canada has always been steadfast in their support. You have been a reliable partner to Ukraine and Ukrainians and I am sure this will continue,” Mr. Zelensky told the House of Commons in a 12-minute virtual speech on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, please check here for live Globe and Mail updates on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Also, the House of Commons website has provided an overview here that covers addresses to Parliament by distinguished visitors.
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
CONCERNS ABOUT MILITARY SEXUAL ASSAULT INVESTIGATION APPROACH – Police chiefs and provincial officials are challenging Defence Minister Anita Anand’s plans to have civilian law enforcement take over military sexual assault investigations, in some cases raising questions about who will fund the work. Story here.
CRITICISM OF FEDERAL PROGRAM TO UPGRADE SMALL BUSINESS TECH – Ottawa’s new $4-billion program to upgrade the technology of small businesses amounts to a subsidy for foreign-owned tech giants, industry leaders say. Story here.
BERNIER MUST PAY $132,000 IN DEFAMATION CASE – The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has ordered Maxime Bernier to pay $132,000 in legal costs after his defamation lawsuit against political columnist and consultant Warren Kinsella was dismissed. Story here.
NUNAVUT GOVERNMENT WON’T RELEASE TUBERCULOSIS STATS – The Government of Nunavut is declining to release detailed statistics about tuberculosis, including the number of cases identified annually in each of Nunavut’s communities, despite the territory’s information and privacy commissioner calling for more transparency in response to an appeal by The Globe and Mail. Story here.
CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RACE
ONTARIO PREMIER/TORIES TO STAY ON THE SIDELINES IN FEDERAL CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RACE – Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he will not be taking a stand for any candidate in the continuing federal Conservative leadership race, and that he expects members of his Progressive Conservative caucus to also remain on the sidelines. “I have my hands full moving forward,” Mr. Ford told a news conference on Tuesday. Referring to provincial Conservative members of the Ontario legislature, he said, “I believe they will have their hands full so, no, they won’t be supporting anyone.”
CHAREST HAS COVID-19 – Conservative leadership candidate Jean Charest has tested positive for COVID-19 so will be campaigning from home for the next few days until he tests negative. Story here.
CAUCUS ENDORSEMENT FOR LEWIS – Leadership contender Leslyn Lewis has picked up a caucus endorsement. New Brunswick MP Richard Bragdon says he is backing Ms. Lewis. The member for Tobique-Mactaquac told the Fredericton Daily Gleaner Ms. Lewis is in the best position to grab voters “that have been harder for us to reach historically.” He added, “This lady shares the hard-working, loyal, faithful and common-sense values of our rural areas while, at the same time, also understands firsthand, the needs of the GTA and other urban areas in Canada.” As the Daily Gleaner noted, Mr. Bragdon was the first federal MP to endorse Ms. Lewis in the last leadership race where she finished third.
THIS AND THAT
TODAY IN THE COMMONS -Despite the assembly of MPs for the speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the House of Commons is not sitting again until March 21.
ANAND HEADED TO BRUSSELS – Defence Minister Anita Anand is travelling to Brussels to participate in an meeting of North Atlantic Treaty Organization defence ministers on Wednesday.
NEW IPOLITICS EDITOR – Jessica Smith Cross is the new editor of ipolitics – a digital newspaper that covers stories in Canadian politics – as well as QP Briefing, which covers Ontario politics.
THE DECIBEL – On Tuesday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, the Globe’s Kathryn Blaze Baum talks about the story of Kasia Smith, a Polish-Canadian living in Konstancin, just south of Warsaw, with her husband and three kids. They have welcomed three Ukrainian families to stay with them for as long as they want. Ms. Blaze Baum interviewed Kasia along with the families and she’s on the show to tell their story.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
Private meetings. The Prime Minister delivers remarks in the House of Commons. An address to Parliament from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, will follow.
LEADERS
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet held a news conference in the foyer of the House of Commons after the speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Conservative Party Leader Candice Bergen speaks in the House of Commons to respond to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s, address to Parliament.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh held a news conference to respond to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s, address to Parliament.
PUBLIC OPINION
OTTAWA PROTEST IMPACT – Pollster Nik Nanos takes a Data Dive, and finds that while the Ottawa protests are over, their political fallout is not. Story here.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on how the world can find what it used to get from Russia – in Canada: “Can you name this country? It is a major exporter of oil and natural gas, wheat and fertilizer. Big in gold, iron, aluminum, lumber. Coal, too. If you picked Russia, you are correct. If you picked Canada, you are also correct. In the first weeks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, global fossil fuel markets were the top story, as already-high prices shot higher. Europe is particularly vulnerable, being dependent on Russia for almost half its gas imports. Canada isn’t in an immediate position to help – our country has exactly zero natural gas export terminals – though in the years ahead Canadian fossil fuels could replace some of those from Russia.”
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail)on federal Conservatives tearing each other down to get to the top: “There are some people who say that Conservative politicians are liars who will say anything to get elected, govern unethically, or flirt with racial discrimination to win votes. But those are just the people running for the leadership of the Conservative Party. The things Tory leadership candidates are saying about each other are downright scathing. To Canadians outside the Conservative tent, that’s bound to send an ugly message about the folks squabbling inside.”
Rob Shaw (The Orca)on how B.C. Premier John Horgan’s sarcastic remarks about a planned protest at the legislature by anti-vaxx, anti-science, anti-authority truckers demonstrates his political value to the B.C. NDP: “It would not have been possible to recreate this moment with a staged answer by Horgan, looking directly into the phone of a staffer or reading from a script prepared by a pollster. It had to come from both the sleeve and the heart. That authenticity is a major key to Horgan’s success – the magic sauce if you will. Very few politicians have it. BC New Democrats are once again thanking their lucky stars a reluctant John Horgan decided to run for party leader in 2014. The party has ridden his Premier Dad brand like a surfboard over an orange wave the last two elections. He’s regularly polled as one of the most popular premiers in the country for an astounding five consecutive years. Without him, and little populist moments like the one he created on the trucker convoy, none of the BC NDP success would have been possible.”
Natasha Tremblay (The Ottawa Citizen) on the question of whether the influencer approaches of Pierre Poilievre or Jean Charest will prevail in the Conservative leadership race: “The Poilievre campaign is using all its social media might to stop Charest. Graphics calling the Mulroney-era cabinet minister a Liberal are circulating in the most right-wing depths of Canadian Twitter, betting on the base’s inability to comprehend the subtleties of Quebec politics. Initial polls placing Poilievre as the race’s clear front-runner suggest that this strategy is effective. Yet it is widely known that social media echo chambers can mislead web users into believing that their ideas have more traction than they do in the real world. Extreme voices dominate social media, but not everyone is listening. The Poilievre campaign would be wise to bear this in mind.”
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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.
