Politics This Morning: Trudeau goes south

Good Wednesday morning, It’s shaping up to be a warm but rainy day in Ottawa. Well, warm by the standards of February in Canada. Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU will enjoy the even milder climes of the Caribbean today. He’s in Nassau, Bahamas, for a two-day working visit. The forecast for Nassau today is 26 degrees, with a breeze. Let’s just take a moment to imagine that we are one of the lucky PMO or Global Affairs staff assigned to the Canadian delegation. The sound of waves nearby, the smell of the ocean… OK, we’re not, so time to snap out of it. Trudeau is attending a meeting of the heads of Caribbean governments—a.k.a. CARICOM—as a special guest. Once upon a time, Canada and CARICOM were working on a free trade agreement, but those talks were mothballed years ago. The topic of this week’s meeting, according to the PMO, is the crisis in Haiti. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. It was rocked by a devastating earthquake in 2010, and another in 2021. Haitian president JOVENEL MOÏSE was assassinated in 2016. A cholera epidemic has now taken hold on the island, and criminal gangs have seized control over large sections of its territory and infrastructure. Canada is the second-largest donor of aid to Haiti after the United States, and Haiti receives more Canadian aid than any other country in the Americas, according to Global Affairs—just under $100-million in 2020-21. Earlier this year, Canada’s government also pledged to send armoured vehicles to Haiti’s police to help them get the upper hand in their clashes with the gangs vying for control of the country. That gives us an idea of why Trudeau has been invited down for this meeting. The PM has already talked strategy with U.S. President JOE BIDEN’s special adviser for the Americas, CHRIS DODD, during a meeting earlier this week, and Biden's "special envoy," JOHN KERRY, yesterday. Kerry and Dodd are also expected to attend today’s meeting in Nassau, according to the PMO. What’s the cabinet up to? Immigration Minister SEAN FRASER has a date with the Commons’ Government Operations and Estimates Committee today at 4:30 p.m. The committee is studying the government’s consulting contracts with McKinsey and Company. In January, Radio-Canada reported that the company had received more than $24-million worth of contracts to provide advice to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada since 2015, and quoted two anonymous sources within the department who said they believed the consultancy had undue influence over the government’s immigration policy. Fraser has pushed Canada’s annual immigration targets to the highest levels ever, syncing with demands from business lobbyists. He has denied that McKinsey and Company had any influence over his decision to do so. Immigration Minister Sean Fraser will testify via videoconference today as part of a House committee's study of government consulting contracts. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade You can watch the committee meeting here. According to the committee notice, Fraser will be appearing virtually. His office told PTM he’s in his home province of Nova Scotia today attending to a previously-arranged speaking commitment. Justice Minister DAVID LAMETTI and Gender Equality Minister MARCI IEN will hold a presser at 4 p.m. in the Sir John A. Macdonald Building in downtown Ottawa to “make an announcement regarding Canada’s Black Justice Strategy.” The Liberals promised to develop such a strategy to “address anti-Black racism and discrimination in the criminal justice system” in their 2021 election campaign platform. This evening, Transport Minister OMAR ALGHABRA will testify before the Senate Transport Committee as part of its study of the impacts of climate change on transportation infrastructure. He is scheduled to appear at 6:45 p.m. Official Languages Minister GINETTE PETITPAS TAYLOR and Treasury Board President MONA FORTIER will hold a presser at the University of Ottawa at 9 a.m. to announce an “important investment for Ottawa’s Franco-Ontarian community.” Finally, Deputy Prime Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND will to Toronto this evening, where she is scheduled to give a speech at the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression annual gala. In Parliament MPs will gather for their weekly caucus meetings on the Hill this morning. In the House, MPs are operating under a special arrangement today. The House leaders have agreed to sit until midnight, if need be, to talk about the government’s bill to delay the extension of medical assistance in dying for another year. It’s a bit difficult to grasp why the late sitting hours were deemed necessary. All parties support the bill—so much that they’ve agreed to fast-track it through all stages in the House today, and pass it without the possibility of amendment when the House adjourns tonight. An appointed member of each caucus has already spoken at length in the House about the bill and how much they agree with this delay for expanding MAID, with the perfunctory partisan jabs sprinkled in. Whatever happens all day and into the night, it won’t be much of a “debate” in the true sense of the word. More likely, it will be an airing of grievances about medical assistance in dying (and palliative care) in general—a Festivus in February, except nobody gets to eat dinner. Our thoughts turn to the parliamentary and House of Commons staff who will be sacrificing their personal and family time to enable the late-night posturing of their bosses. In committee Former senator and general ROMEO DALLAIRE will appear virtually before the Senate Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs at noon to discuss emerging treatments for military and police veterans suffering from occupational stress injuries. Dallaire has been public about his long battle with post-traumatic stress disorder, stemming from his time leading a peacekeeping force during the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. Retired senator and general Romeo Dallaire will give virtual testimony to a Senate committee studying PTSD today. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade Auditor General KAREN HOGAN will appear before the Senate National Finance Committee at 6:45 p.m. In theory, Hogan has been called in to discuss the federal estimates. In reality, the Senators on the committee want to talk to her about her latest audits on the government’s COVID-19 vaccine and financial benefit programs. In the news Quebec MPs aren’t happy with the proposed redrawing of the province’s electoral boundaries. LAURA RYCKEWAERT has that story. CHRIS GULY dove into the JOHN TORY affair, and found out that a former MP is thinking about running to replace the embattled mayor if he goes through with his resignation. The Green Party has called for a negotiated solution to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the advocacy group for Ukrainian Canadians isn’t pleased. STUART BENSON reports. Canadian MPs got reassurance from counterparts in the U.S. that Buy America programs wouldn’t cut out Canadian businesses. NEIL MOSS has the scoop. Moss also checked in with the head of the parliamentary Canada-Turkey friendship group. Turkey is grappling with a humanitarian disaster following an earthquake that killed thousands. You can read that story here. Members of the Parliamentary Black Caucus are pushing the government to commit long-term funding for initiatives to help the Black community and stamp out inequality. Benson has that story. What else is happening today? Conservative Party Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE is in Calgary today. He'll hold a press conference at 9:30 a.m. local time. A collection of lobbyists and executives in the cannabis industry are holding a press conference on the Hill this morning to “discuss the impact recent layoffs and facility closures are having on producers of all sizes across Canada,” according to a notice issued to the press gallery yesterday. Pot grower Canopy Growth recently announced that it was laying off 800 employees and closing its headquarters in Smiths Falls, Ont., after losing a quarter of a billion dollars in its most recent quarter. “...the industry cannot be sustained without urgent action,” warned the press release from the lobby group yesterday. We’ll find out what “urgent action” it has in mind at 11:15 a.m. today. PTM is pretty confident that Canadians will figure out how to get their pot one way or another, even if the country’s pot industry isn’t profitable. For one thing, they did for many, many decades prior to the legalization of pot in 2018. For another, the current law allows Canadian households to grow their own. Still, Canadians love questionable industrial subsidies almost as much as we love liberal cannabis laws. We’ll have to stay tuned to see if the government bites. In case you missed it Ethic commish rules against Fergus, then retires Ethics Commissioner MARIO DION dropped two bombshells on Ottawa yesterday. The first, a report in which he found that Liberal MP GREG FERGUS had violated the Conflict of Interest Act by writing in to the CRTC in support of Montreal-based Natyf Inc.’s application for a broadcasting license. That was a no-no, Dion decided, because Fergus is a parliamentary secretary, and thus has more influence over government entities than a regular MP. The second, his retirement. Dion announced that he would be retiring from his post, and from the public service altogether, effective on Feb. 21. “Regrettably, I cannot continue to discharge the responsibilities of the position because of persistent health issues,” he wrote. Dion has had an eventful five years as ethics commissioner. He has issued numerous reports, and found several members of the cabinet to have broken Canada’s ethics law, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, former finance minister BILL MORNEAU, Minister DOMINIC LEBLANC, and most recently, Trade Minister MARY NG. Send your news tips to pmazereeuw@hilltimes.com

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Politics This Morning

Politics This Morning: Trudeau goes south

Plus, Romeo Dallaire returns to the Senate.

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