Politics This Morning: Look who’s banning assault weapons now

Good Thursday morning, A visiting head of government and a mid-adjournment committee meeting promise to liven up what otherwise might have been a dull day in political Ottawa. First thing’s first. Japanese Prime Minister FUMIO KISHIDA is dropping in on Ottawa today for a formal visit, his first since taking office in 2021. Kishida was in London yesterday, where he signed a defence agreement with PM RISHI SUNAK. Tomorrow, he’ll be in Washington, meeting with President JOE BIDEN. Today though, he’s meeting with Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU, whose PMO listed relatively vague planned topics of discussion for the meeting in a press release Jan. 5. Notably: Japan is taking the G7 presidency this year, and will host a summit in May. The two will discuss Japan’s priorities for the G7, says Trudeau's office. “Shared values,” such as “our vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific,” made the list, as did trade and investment, and security. China was not explicitly mentioned in the release. The “free and open” and “security” bits are your clue that it will probably come up during the meeting. Japan’s ambassador to Canada, KANJI YAMANOUCHI, talked through some of the priorities Japan hopes to advance through the G7 in a recent interview with The Hill Times’ NEIL MOSS, including Chinese aggression in the Pacific, and nuclear disarmament. Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly released the government's new Indo-Pacific strategy back in November. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade PTM got on the phone with one of Canada’s own experts on Japan, Professor PHILLIP LIPSCY, who holds the University of Toronto’s chair in Japanese politics and global affairs, and leads its Centre for the Study of Global Japan. He said he’d be surprised to see Trudeau and Kishida signing the kind of ambitious defence pact that Japan now has with the United Kingdom and Australia, which he said are “somewhat further down the line in terms of security co-operation.” Canada’s new Indo-Pacific Strategy, and particularly its explicit identification of China as a “disruptive” international power, will be “music to the ears” of Japanese officials, he said. Defence and security won’t likely be the only item up for discussion, particularly given Canada’s relatively modest military power, he said. Japan has long been seeking reliable sources of natural resources, including as-yet hypothetical Canadian exports of liquefied natural gas. As the home to some of the world’s largest automakers, Japan and Canada may find a mutual interest in looping one another into an international supply chain for electric vehicles. Canada has deposits of the sort of metals needed to make electric vehicle batteries, and Japan does not. Trade battles and political squabbles of the past have made some in Japan “anxious,” said Lipscy, about relying on China for important industrial imports like the so-called “critical minerals” needed for battery production. Lipscy identified what in his view is another top priority for bilateral co-operation, and one that should be simpler to execute: more government support for academics, businesspeople, and others to move between the two countries, and learn how things are done on the other side of the Pacific. “I think there is still a relative lack of expertise about Japan in Canada, and vice versa,” he said. Trudeau and Kishida will meet at 11:30 a.m. Foreign Minister MÉLANIE JOLY, Trade Minister MARY NG, and Industry Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE will also participate in the meeting. The two leaders will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. Transport Committee to grill Alghabra, airlines The House Transport Committee will hold two meetings today as part of its study of the stranding of Canadians on rail cars and abroad (by airlines) during stormy weather over the Christmas holiday. MPs on the committee will meet at 10:30 a.m. to question executives from Air Canada, WestJet, and Sunwing. The latter airline made headlines and drew a public rebuke from Transport Minister OMAR ALGHABRA when it left some of its passengers stranded overseas during and after the storm. Transport Minister Omar Alghabra will take questions from the House Transport Committee this afternoon. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade From noon to 1:30, the committee will hear from representatives of the airport authorities for Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. You’ll be able to watch the meeting online here. At 2:30 p.m., the committee will return to grill Alghabra himself, followed by federal public servants from the Canadian Transportation Agency and Department of Transport from 3:30 to 4:30. You can see it for yourself here. Illinois bans ‘assault weapons’ The U.S. state of Illinois passed legislation yesterday that would implement a ban on “assault” guns, following the lead of several other U.S. states. As you may have heard, Canada’s Liberal government has been trying to implement a ban of its own on “assault-style” guns, and running into technical and political hurdles along the way. PTM decided to take a quick look at how the two governments went about drawing up their bans for a class of weapons that, technically speaking, doesn’t quite exist in any discrete way. Here’s what we found: First, the Illinois bill reflects more or less the same approach to the ban now being pursued by the Trudeau government. It includes a list of existing gun models that will be banned, as well as general criteria banning long guns that fit certain criteria. Those criteria were modelled on a federal assault weapons ban that was effectively reversed back in 2004. There are some major differences between the two approaches, however. The list of specific models that Canada’s government wants to ban is much, much longer, to begin with. The Illinois bill defined “assault” weapons based partly on external characteristics. If a semi-automatic rifle has a folding stock, or a pistol-style grip, it will banned. Grenade launcher attachments, silencers, and flash suppressors are a no-no. The rifles also can’t be shorter than 30 inches. Semi-automatic shotguns can’t be designed to accept detachable magazines. The Trudeau government’s Bill C-21, on the other hand, would nix any semi-automatic rifle with an especially wide barrel (20mm or larger), and those that are unusually powerful (produce more than 10,000 joules of force.) More contentiously, it also would ban any semi-automatic rifle that is “designed to accept a detachable cartridge magazine with a capacity greater than five cartridges,” which some opponents say would rule out a large proportion of the American-made semi-automatics available in Canada. We’ll put a pin in that one for now. Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, centre, and Rural Economic Development Minister Gudie Hutchings, left, spoke to the press before the holidays about the backlash to the government's proposed changes to its gun control bill, C-21. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade It’s also worth noting that the Illinois legislation proposed the terms of ban on the day it was introduced. The Liberal government is attempting to complete its legislative assault weapons ban through an amendment to a broader gun control bill, which it has tried to stick into the bill at committee stage. Public Safety Minister MARCO MENDICINO backtracked a smidgen on this effort after a widespread backlash among gun enthusiasts and their allies in Parliament, and has signalled that he is open to “more discussion” about the bill. We’ll return to this topic another day. In the news Looking for more insight into former finance minister BILL MORNEAU’s recent criticism of his former boss? Look no further than IAN CAMPBELL’s latest story. Some think the federal government’s approach to admitting international students needs a “rethink.” KEVIN PHILIPUPILLAI has that story. Canada and Mexico won a trade challenge against the United States over its automaking policies, a victory that was apparently withheld from public view until the end of the North American Leaders’ Summit. The CBC’s ALEX PANETTA wrote all about it, here. Send your news tips to pmazereeuw@hilltimes.com. The Hill Times