Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has named his former public safety minister, Ralph Goodale, to help assist the government in its efforts to hold Iran accountable for the death of Canadians killed in the downing of the Ukrainian International Airlines’ Flight 752 in late January. Despite the shift in resources and attention to the pandemic, the government sought to signal that it’s hasn’t entirely put off the procurement of the elusive black boxes way down on its to-do list.
In other appointments, former national security adviser Greta Bossenmaier has been named by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg to be part of a group of experts that will be advising the organization on its efforts to strengthen the political alliance. The move comes in the wake of comments made by French President Emmanuel Macron who candidly mused that the alliance is suffering from a brain death.
The anticipated start date for the new NAFTA coming into effect on June 1 is expected to be pushed back, with Canada saying it’s not ready to implement the agreement, even as it raced through its ratification process. The Hill Times previously reported that a member of the NAFTA Council, Hassan Yussuff of the Canadian Labour Congress, said it was unlikely to take effect amid the global pandemic.
Finance Minister Bill Morneau was expected to flesh out the details, including the estimated cost, behind the feds’ 75 per cent wage subsidy for businesses yesterday, but pushed its release back by a day. According to The Canadian Press, TD and RBC put the ballpark figure at between $25-billion and $28-billion.
Mr. Trudeau, meanwhile, announced the feds are planning to spend $2-billion to scale up production of medical supplies with help from three companies that have signed on to carry out those contracts. There are five other letters of intent, including with Irving Ltd. and Precision Biomonitoring.
Asked if those contractors will be producing those goods solely for Canada, not to be put on the global market, as other countries compete in the procurement of these critical supplies, Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains said the government’s No. 1 priority is meeting domestic demand, but should Canada be in a position “down the road” to share its resources, it will do so.
As other countries work to track and trace the spread of the virus, and to keep tabs on those infected, Canadian authorities are exploring how such technology might be adopted. Several authorities, including Ottawa, are in discussions about launching apps that would use location data to track exposure to COVID-19, researchers behind two projects say, according to The Wire Report. While Mr. Trudeau said last week that Canada isn’t looking to use location data to track the virus, he also didn’t rule out its future use.
After Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said his government would spend $1.1-billion to help fund the construction of Keystone XL pipeline, which had been shelved twice by the Obama administration, TC Energy Corp. said it will move forward with the project. Construction is expected to start soon, with pre-construction activities already underway, according to CBC. The company is footing a portion of the $8-billion bill, with $2.7-billion of its own money.
Even if the Conservatives had decided to forge ahead with their leadership convention in June in Toronto, the party would have been forced to reschedule, or at least, change venues, since the city decided to cancel all mass permitted events through to June 30.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
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.
