Politics This Morning: Marking a sombre anniversary

Good Friday morning, Today is the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian-Canadian Congress has organized a series of candlelight vigils across the country this evening to mark the occasion. Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU and Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE are expected to attend the vigil in Toronto, according to UCC Ottawa spokesperson CASSIAN SOLTYKEVYCH. Soltykevych has been helping to organize the vigil in Ottawa, which will take place on Parliament Hill beginning at 6 p.m. He was still trying to pin down yesterday which MPs from the Ottawa area would be attending. The UCC extended invitations to Liberal, Conservative, and NDP Members of Parliament, said Soltykevych. Executives from at least one national party, and politicians from the provincial and municipal level are also expected at the one-hour event. Participants will sing the Canadian and Ukrainian national anthems, hear from politicians, and take part in a moment of silence, he said. A prayer for Ukraine will be led by Ottawa clergy. Soltykevych invited members of the public to attend the ceremony. He urged them to bring candles or flashlights, and to dress warmly. Duclos under fire Health Minister JEAN-YVES DUCLOS will make a funding announcement in Québec City today. Odds are any attending press will have questions about other things, however. For starters, there’s the news that Duclos’ government has now signed deals for health-care funding with five provinces—including Ontario, which is exploring outsourcing more of its health care to private clinics. If that was good news, an allegation that Duclos and his government have “undermined” the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board certainly wasn’t. The PMPRB is a body assigned to keep a lid on brand name drug prices in Canada. Yesterday, PMPRB board member and health professor MATTHEW HERDER published a letter of resignation from the Board on Twitter, and it was highly critical of Duclos and co., alleging that he took the pharmaceutical industry's side in its battle over prices with the PMPRB, and lacked the "political courage" to support meaningful policy reform. Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos has new health deals to boast about, and some much tougher questions to answer regarding the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade What’s the cabinet up to? Finance Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND continues her work in India today, where she is attending meetings of the G7 and G20 finance ministers and central bankers. Bank of Canada Governor TIFF MACKLEM is joining her in Bengaluru. Labour Minister SEAMUS O’REGAN will announce government funding for a federal workforce training subsidy program in St. John’s, N.L., today. Sport Minister PASCALE ST-ONGE is announcing money for ski stations in Quebec. Industry Minister FRANÇOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE will give a speech on “resiliency in challenging times” in Toronto’s swanky Royal York Hotel at a lunch event organized by the Canadian Club of Toronto. Then it’s off to nearby Markham, where he and Trade Minister MARY NG will attend a roundtable discussion on semiconductor production. Agriculture Minister MARIE-CLAUDE BIBEAU will announce funding for projects to encourage the adoption of low-emissions technologies by Quebec farms at a stop in Napierville. Natural Resources Minister JONATHAN WILKINSON will announce funding for electric vehicle charging stations in Vancouver. Mental Health and Addictions Minister CAROLYN BENNETT and Gender Equality Minister MARCI IEN will announce funding for mental health programs for Black communities. In the news Seniors Minister KAMAL KHERA has some new faces in new places on her team. Read all about it in LAURA RYCKEWAERT’s Hill Climbers column. And, KEVIN PHILIPUPILLAI has the $10.3-billion breakdown on the last departmental spending requests for the current fiscal year, which PBO YVES GIROUX called a clear "indication that the government is not shy about spending,” given March 31 is just over a month away. Seniors Minister Kamal Khera has a new special adviser. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia In case you missed it TikTok under scrunity Yesterday, the privacy commissioners for Canada, Quebec, B.C., and Alberta announced that they were launching a joint investigation into social media platform TikTok. The investigation will look at whether the Chinese platform is following Canadian privacy law, whether it is obtaining consent for collecting and disclosing Canadians’ personal information, and whether the company is being transparent about its collection of personal information. More big cheques to consultants The Parliamentary Budget Office issued its report on the latest batch of supplementary estimates yesterday. Among other things, it revealed that the government’s ask for an extra $10-billion in cash includes hundreds of millions more for external consultants. Cash for nuclear The government announced an extra $30-million over four years for small-scale nuclear power project development yesterday. In its announcement, it described the so-called “small modular reactors”—a yet-unproven technology—as “less complex, easier to operate and more affordable” than large-scale nuclear technology. Send your news tips to pmazereeuw@hilltimes.com The Hill Times

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Politics This Morning

Politics This Morning: Marking a sombre anniversary

Plus, cabinet ministers fan out.

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