Hello,
With the summer recess of Parliament looming next week, the interim Conservative Party leader took the rare step on Wednesday of inviting the media into the room where caucus meets to deliver a speech that touched on familiar themes.
Candice Bergen was cheered by caucus members during her remarks, which came a week before the current sitting of Parliament ends.
When MPs return on Sept. 19, there will be a new leader of the Conservative Party, announced on Sept. 10 after a leadership race with six candidates. Ms. Bergen, the MP for Manitoba riding of Portage-Lisgar since 2008, was selected as interim leader after Erin O’Toole was ousted by his caucus in February.
The media usually wait outside the meeting room to ask questions of MPs as they arrive and leave. On Wednesday, they were invited in to record Ms. Bergen’s remarks then asked to leave once the regular meeting began.
Ms. Bergen highlighted points that she and her team have lately raised in Parliament and elsewhere, repeating, for example, her calls on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to ensure the resignation of the Public Safety Minister for misleading Parliament, MPs and Canadians.
Marco Mendicino has been under fire for saying that police forces wanted the government to enact the Emergencies Act in February though the RCMP and Ottawa police have said they did not make the request. Story here. “The Prime Minister needs to make sure he resigns,” Ms. Bergen said.
She said Conservatives are attuned to the frustrations Canadians are facing due to stresses around COVID-19 rules and the cost of living. “I want you to know Conservatives understand and we care and we want to provide solutions to the problems we are all facing together,” she said.
Beyond referencing the party’s statement that over 600,000 people have joined the Conservatives over the course of the leadership race, Ms. Bergen made no reference to the competition among six candidates to lead the party,
Ms. Bergen said she has welcomed the opportunity to be interim leader. “It’s truly been the honour of my life to lead you as we serve Canadians,” she said.
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 sign-up page. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.
TODAY'S HEADLINES
FREELAND ACCUSED OF EVASION IN COMMITTEE HEARING – Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland was repeatedly accused of providing evasive responses as she appeared before a special joint committee of MPs and senators reviewing the government’s first-ever use of the powers contained in the federal Emergencies Act. Story here.
ANTI-TERRORISM LAW COMPLICATING EFFORTS TO EVACUATE AFGHANS – Humanitarian and veterans’ groups trying to evacuate people who worked for Canada’s military and diplomatic mission in Afghanistan face major hurdles because Ottawa is strictly enforcing anti-terrorism law. Story here.
OTTAWA URGED TO CLARIFY CLIMATE POLICIES – Industry groups and Alberta want Ottawa to move quickly to clarify and implement policies intended to get Canada on track to meet its 2030 climate goals if the oil and gas sector is to have any chance to deliver steep emissions cuts under tight timelines. Story here.
MONEY LAUNDERING REPORT RELEASED – British Columbia’s long-awaited report on money laundering has just been released. Former B.C. Supreme Court justice Austin Cullen has made 101 recommendations to combat rampant money laundering in the province, from expanding the mandate of the civil forfeiture office to creating a new anti-money laundering czar “who will provide strategic oversight of the provincial response to money laundering.” Story here from The Vancouver Sun.
TORONTO POLICE APOLOGIZE TO BLACK COMMUNITY – Toronto’s interim police chief has apologized to the city’s Black residents as the force releases previously unseen race-based data on use of force and strip searches. James Ramer says the force needs to do better. Story here.
‘ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE’ TO ATTEND RUSSIAN PARTY: TRUDEAU – It was “absolutely unacceptable” that any Canadian representative attended a party at the Russian embassy in Ottawa last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says. Story here.
FUND TO SUPPORT INDIGENOUS WOMEN AND GIRLS UNTOUCHED – Nearly two years after the federal Liberals announced a $724.1-million fund to support Indigenous women and girls facing gender-based violence, the money sits largely untouched, according to government figures as of May 31. Story here.
LEGISLATION TABLED TO GIVE OTTAWA POWER OVER TELECOM PROVIDERS – The federal government has tabled legislation that seeks to give Ottawa broad powers over telecommunications service providers, including barring equipment – such as that made by Chinese flagship Huawei – as well as the power to keep any measures they take secret. Story here.
DETAILS REVEALED ON CATERING BILL DURING GG FLIGHT – Governor-General Mary Simon and her guests racked up a nearly $100,000 catering bill during their flights to and from the Middle East from March 16 to 24. Story here from CTV.
CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RACE
CAMPAIGN TRAIL – Scott Aitchison is in Ontario. Roman Baber holds an event in Sudbury. Patrick Brown is in Brampton and Kleinburg. Jean Charest is in Toronto. Leslyn Lewis is in her Haldimand-Norfolk riding. Pierre Poilievre is in Ottawa.
CURRENT TORIES NOT MY PARTY: MULRONEY -Former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney says he no longer recognizes himself in the current Conservative Party of Canada. Story here from Le Journal de Montreal.
BROWN CALLS FOR INQUIRY – Leadership candidate Patrick Brown said, in a statement Wednesday, that he would call a judicial inquiry into Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s pandemic mismanagement within 90 days of taking office as prime minister.
POILIEVRE COMMITS TO FREE-SPEECH ACT – Pierre Poilievre said Wednesday that, as prime minister, he would introduce a “Free Speech Act” that would repeal Bill C-11, known as the Online Streaming Act, eliminate the proposed “digital safety commissioner” position created under the act and leave it to law enforcement to enforce the criminal code online.
THIS AND THAT
TODAY IN THE COMMONS – Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, June. 15, accessible here.
PREMIERS TO MEET IN VICTORIA, JULY 11-12 – Canada’s premiers have confirmed they will be hosting their summer meeting on July. 11 and 12 in Victoria. As chair of the Council of the Federation, British Columbia Premier John Horgan will host. The Canada Health Transfer is the focus of discussion.
DELAY IN ENGLISH AND FRENCH ALERTS PROMPTS COMPLAINT – A senator from Quebec has filed a complaint with the official languages commissioner, alleging the official languages act was violated because several minutes passed on June 11 between the an emergency alert being issued on the Parliament Hill precinct in English and the French version being transmitted. The alert was issued to parliamentarians and all employees of the precinct by the Parliamentary Protective Service due to an ongoing police operation. “How can one explain that eight minutes passed between sending the message in English and sending the message in French?” Senator Claude Carignan said in a letter to the commissioner. “You will agree that, in case of an emergency, every minute counts, especially when lives are at stake. These few minutes can seem like an eternity.”
HONORARY DEGREE FOR CHRETIEN – Former Prime Minister Jean Chretien is to receive an honorary doctorate from Carleton University on June 21 for what a university statement describes as distinguished leadership in Canadian government. The honour comes as part of the first in-person convocation at the university since the start if the pandemic and is one of seven honorary degrees being issued. Mr. Chretien, prime minister from 1993 to 2003 and, as the university notes, Canada’s oldest-living prime minister, will not be attending the event in person. He will deliver remarks by video.
WILSON-RAYBOULD’S NEW BOOK – Jody Wilson-Raybould, who broke with the federal Liberal government over the SNC-Lavalin affair, has a new book out later this year. True Reconciliation: How To Be A Force For Change is to be published on Nov. 8. The former justice minister is the author of ‘Indian’ in the Cabinet: Speaking Truth to Power, published in September, 2021.
WHISKY IN THE PRECINCT – Exceptional Canadian whiskies will be on the table at a senator’s reception in Ottawa on Wednesday. Rob Black, a senator from Ontario, is holding a reception in the parliamentary precinct with the Grain Farmers of Ontario, Quebec Grain Farmers, Atlantic Grains Council and Spirits Canada that was to provide an opportunity to meet grain and oilseed farmers. A notice on the gathering also cited the opportunity to same some “exceptional” Canadian whiskies made from Canada’s finest grains.
THE DECIBEL
Wednesday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast looks at the dikes that are the front line in defending British Columbia from flooding. There are over 100 in B.C. that are “orphaned” – and when the next flood comes, the people behind them could be in trouble. The Globe’s Justine Hunter toured one of these “orphan dikes” with flood-management engineer Tamsin Lyle. They discussed where these dikes came from, what needs to happen to fix them and what we risk if we do nothing. The Decibel is here.
PRIME MINISTER'S DAY
In Ottawa, the Prime Minister held private meetings, virtually attended the national caucus meeting, and was scheduled to virtually attend Question Period.
LEADERS
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet was scheduled to attend Question Period, and afterward table a motion, by unanimous consent, to salute the career of TVA anchor Pierre Bruneau, who is to retire Thursday after 46 years with the broadcaster. Story here.
Conservative Party Leader Candice Bergen addressed the national Conservative caucus, with the media invited to observe.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was scheduled to attend the NDP caucus meeting, then hold a news conference on financial supports for Canadians and participate in Question Period.
PUBLIC OPINION
POLLING ON THE CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RACE – New polling suggests Liberal and New Democrat voters think Jean Charest or Patrick Brown would make the best leader of the federal Conservative party. Story here from CTV.
OPINION
Andrew Coyne (The Globe and Mail) on partying with the Russians: the message is, this will all blow over some day: “Somebody thought it was a good idea to send Ms. Heinbecker to that party, precisely for the message it would send. They did not, what is more, come to that understanding unaided. This is a government that is all too easily persuaded that we live in a world without friends or enemies, allies or adversaries, but only conflicts to be mediated, debates to be convened, with Canada in its accustomed role as “helpful fixer.” The world, it is true, is a complicated place. But that does not require us to abdicate all judgment. We should be careful to see all shades of grey – including black and white.”
Robyn Urback (The Globe and Mail) on what Global Affairs was thinking sending an official to a Russian embassy party: “The question this fiasco raises is what on Earth were the minister and those in her department thinking? But the answer should be self-evident to those who have studied this government for the past seven years: They weren’t thinking, which is usually the goal for those who thrive and survive in cabinet – until someone drives into a sinkhole.”
Jason Markusoff (CBC) on how some will lose Alberta’s pricey UCP leadership race before the voting starts: “We’re playing for all the marbles here,” Price said in an interview. They only want “robust” and serious candidates to run. The party sets its fee to recover the leadership election’s cost, and based it, Price said, on five to eight candidates making the ballot. Given that at least 10 candidates have either launched, registered with Elections Alberta or been heavily rumoured – why hello, MP Michelle Rempel Garner – the party assumes its rules will push at least a handful of those out of the running.”
Thomas Mulcair (CTV) on recent Liberal decisions pointing to a whole-of-government incompetence: “Canadians, including many Liberals, have been witnessing and lamenting months of abject failure in the most basic administrative and decision-making processes in government. It’s a whole-of-government approach to incompetence. Everybody, all at once, has been doing everything possible to show how weak the federal government and its innumerable ministries and agencies have become in terms of simple public management. This isn’t an accident in one place or an exception, it’s generalized. Red lights are blinking across the Privy Council Office dashboard, but no one is in charge.”
Andrew Rudyk (Policy Options) on how Canada can learn from Estonia and Finland about attacking the problem of disinformation by emphasizing media literacy in elementary and high schools: “In 2007, Estonia was paralyzed as it experienced two days of riots due to a Russian disinformation campaign centred around the moving of a Soviet Union military statue. But instead of submitting to the major geopolitical power of Russia, Estonia acted. In 2010, it began teaching media literacy from kindergarten to high school. The genius behind this shift is that it’s integrated throughout the curriculum. In Estonia, media literacy is now treated with the same importance as science and math, with students in the 10th grade having to complete a 35-hour media and influence course. Additionally, its curriculum stresses digital competencies to assess media’s relevance and reliability, as well as how to be aware of the dangers of our new digital environment.”
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