In an exclusive interview with La Presse, published over the weekend, Justin Trudeau once again displayed the type of “all-in” moxie that has helped him win election after election.
Trudeau deliberately took aim at François Legault and his repeated use of the “notwithstanding clause.” That clause has prevented the courts from striking down discriminatory laws that remove Charter rights from Quebec minorities.
It’s been a long time coming and Trudeau has been justifiably criticized for not standing up to Legault. But when he says he’s going to ask the Supreme Court for a ruling, he knows exactly what type of over-the-top reaction he’s going to get from the Quebec premier.
It didn’t take long. In a series of incendiary tweets Saturday, Legault said that Trudeau’s musings were a “frontal assault” on Quebec democracy and the collective rights of Quebecers. No less!
ALL POLITICS IS LOCAL
Back in November, when Ontario Premier Doug Ford had said he’d use the notwithstanding clause to shield a law that removed labour rights, Trudeau went after him hard.
As the saying goes: all politics is local. Trudeau has a very good nose for the sentiments of his key electorate in the GTA. Defending the Charter was pure Trudeau, and classic Liberal branding.
Ford was forced to back down. A clever populist, he knows how to “read the room.” He did score a direct hit with one very strong shot at Trudeau: Trudeau, in Ford’s view, was ”selective” in his defence of the Charter.
Everyone understood that Ford was, quite correctly, calling Trudeau out for his Janus-faced opposition to the notwithstanding clause. He’d attacked Ford, repeatedly, but largely given a pass to Legault.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre spent the week in Quebec and actually spoke with a few reporters. His numbers are very low in La Belle Province but he’s obviously getting some good communications advice.
Polievre put in an engaging and successful performance on the year-ender of popular French political satire show “Infoman.” Last week, he immediately tweeted approval when Quebec’s post-secondary education minister lambasted cancel culture on campus. He’s learning fast.
In attacking Legault, Trudeau is making the type of bold move that defines him. Back in the 2015 campaign, when the party that I then led, the NDP, came out with a proposal to “decriminalize” marijuana Trudeau went all-in. In an impromptu speech in a park, (it was clearly his idea, not that of his handlers) Trudeau announced that he would fully legalize pot and regulate its sale. That’s one promise he did keep and by making it, he stole a lot of progressive thunder from us.
Poilievre doesn’t have the hole cards, those kept secret when playing poker, that Trudeau has when dealing with Quebec. Trudeau knows the secret handshake, the right tone and what’s real and what’s emotion. Despite his French name, Poilievre is a proud western Canadian who needs to be guided in this Terra Incognita east of the Ottawa River.
Were it not for a brazenly discriminatory question aimed at the Bloc leader during (of all things!) the English-language debate, during the last election, Trudeau would’ve probably had his majority. After that event, Quebecers closed ranks, the Bloc got a big boost in the polls and the rest is history.
Trudeau knows the game. He’s very good at it but he’s not the type of politician who’s easily told what to do. When his gut feeling is one way, he’s going to follow it.
The English-speaking community of Quebec numbers about one million. It has seen constitutionally guaranteed language rights unilaterally removed by Legault’s Bill 96 with no attempt by Trudeau to stop the clearly illegal move.
‘MUSIC TO THE EARS OF ANGLOPHONES’
That community, some of the most steadfast Liberal supporters, is also very nervous about Trudeau’s proposed reform of the Official Languages Act, Bill C-13. If enacted, that Bill could actually endanger the rights of anglophones to control and manage their school boards. It is ill-considered and has been meeting fierce resistance from both the community and from a half-dozen Liberal backbenchers, including influential former minister Marc Garneau.
Trudeau’s announcement of an impending referral to the Supreme Court will be music to the ears of anglophones but they should wait to see the fine print. Justice Minister David Lametti has not lifted his little finger to defend the Canadian constitution. In fact, when Legault claimed to have unilaterally amended the foundational constitution, the “B.N.A. Act”, to remove the equality of English and French before the courts in Quebec, Lametti said it was all right!
Legault’s fireworks over the weekend were as predictable as they were exaggerated. Trudeau once used the words “perfect foil” to describe the senator he bested in a boxing match. Legault is about to become his “perfect foil” as we ramp up to the next election.
Trudeau will enjoy very large support for his challenge in and around Montreal. Far from hurting him, his impending battle with the Quebec Premier will boost his seat count. The average Quebecer cares a lot more about Trudeau’s promise to improve funding for a crumbling health-care system than they do about constitutional quarrels.
Trudeau used the word “innovative” to describe Ford’s plan to increase the use of private clinics to deliver what would still be completely free, provincial health care.
‘FERRARI PRICES FOR A RUSTING OLD STATION WAGON’
Our system is broken and the public understands that when what you’re doing doesn’t work, then you have to try something else. As one observer put it, we’re paying Ferrari prices for a rusting old station wagon. We can’t avoid this debate and by putting himself on the same page as the premiers, Trudeau is himself showing realism and flexibility.
Far more importantly, he’s listening to Canadians who are fed up with excuses about our failed health-care system. Quebecers are on the same page and when the two separatist parties criticized Legault for making a deal with Trudeau, they were totally ignored.
Trudeau seems to sense the sea change and can’t resist the temptation to take on Poilievre. He’s now in his eighth year in power with a “best before” date in full view. He knows that he’s pushing his luck asking for another mandate because Canadians have a healthy aversion to keeping their eggs in one basket for too long.
The Liberals have top-notch players such as Chrystia Freeland, Mark Carney and Anita Anand waiting in the wings. No one will be pushing Trudeau towards the exit, they owe him too much. But the longer he waits, the trickier it will become for him, especially if his polling numbers continue to flag.
Taking on Legault is a risky, clever and bold move that will be impossible for Poilievre to follow. Trudeau is betting a lot on this one.
Tom Mulcair was the leader of the federal New Democratic Party of Canada between 2012 and 2017
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.
The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.
Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.
West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.
Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.
“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”
Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.
West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.
“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”
DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.
The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.
One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.
“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”
Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.
“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”
Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.
Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.
In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.
“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”
Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.
Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.
Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.
“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”
VICTORIA – British Columbia’s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.
The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.
It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.
The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.
Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.
The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
