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Jody Wilson-Raybould is calling on the Liberal government to remove roadblocks to a long-standing RCMP inquiry into possible obstruction of justice, noting she is not surprised that Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau disputed that he urged her to lie about a pressure campaign to subvert the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin.
In an interview with The Globe and Mail on Sunday, Wilson-Raybould expressed disappointment that the Mounties haven’t been able to complete their probe into the affair because the government has denied access to cabinet documents and key witnesses.
“It’s important for the RCMP to do their job,” she said. “The Ethics Commissioner was also unable to interview a number of witnesses so I don’t know if [the RCMP] are still undertaking a review … but I think it is important to have the ability to do a fulsome investigation.”
The RCMP said it could not provide an update on its investigation when contacted by The Globe on Sunday.
Excerpt of ‘Indian’ in the Cabinet: Speaking Truth to Power: ‘In that moment, I knew he wanted me to lie.’ Jody Wilson-Raybould recalls a tension-filled meeting with Justin Trudeau
From the archives: Jody Wilson-Raybould won’t seek re-election, decries toxic partisanship in Parliament
Jody Wilson-Raybould prepares to testify on the SNC-Lavalin affair before a House of Commons justice committee on Parliament Hill in Ottawa February 27, 2019.Blair Gable/Blair Gable Photography
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NDP last of three main parties to share platform costing as campaign enters final week
With the Sept. 20 vote looming, all three major parties have now released fully costed platforms, and former parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page says only the Liberal plan got good marks for overall fiscal credibility.
In a report released Sunday by the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy (IFSD), which Page heads, all three platforms were rated in three areas: realistic fiscal assumptions, fiscal management and transparency. Each category is scored as either good, pass or fail, with additional analysis provided.
The IFSD gave the NDP and Conservative platforms a passing grade. The NDP received a high rating for realistic fiscal assumptions and a pass for fiscal responsibility, but it scored a failing grade on transparency. Though Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole’s platform passed muster, it got a score of “fail” under the category of responsible fiscal management. The Liberal fiscal document received a higher score of “good.”
Read more campaign coverage:
- Ousted Conservative candidate Lisa Robinson denies writing racist posts, says party is ‘throwing me under the bus’
- ICYMI: NDP’s Jagmeet Singh releases costing for multibillion-dollar platform as advance voting gets under way
- Lobster dispute, frustration with Ottawa could turn the tide on the Liberals in Nova Scotia
- How to vote by mail in Canada’s federal election
At Fairy Creek, a war in the woods as police seek more power to clear blockades
The battle over old-growth logging in British Columbia shows no signs of losing steam, as protesters keep returning to Fairy Creek, in one of the largest acts of civil disobedience in the country.
In four months, RCMP have made nearly 1,000 arrests on the blockades in a remote section of rain forest on southern Vancouver Island. The RCMP said they arrested 27 more protesters on Friday and Saturday; all were later released. The protests are being held in defiance of a forestry company’s logging plans, the province’s efforts to broker a solution and court orders.
This week, the RCMP will be petitioning the B.C. Supreme Court for greater enforcement powers of an injunction prohibiting blockades in the area. Police say they are losing against what they see as a well-funded protest movement using increasingly risky tactics.
Listen: The Decibel on the politics of Fairy Creek
Afghan women can get university education, but classes must be segregated, Taliban say
Women in Afghanistan can continue to receive a university education, including at post-graduate levels, but have to comply with Islamic dress code and classrooms will be segregated by gender, the Taliban government’s new Higher Education Minister, Abdul Baqi Haqqani, said Sunday.
One of the central questions facing the Taliban, as they seek to persuade the world that they’ve moderated some of their views, has been whether women will be able to participate fully in civic life, including getting a higher education.
The minister said hijabs will be mandatory but did not specify if this meant compulsory headscarves or face coverings. He also said the subjects being taught would be subject to review.
Read more coverage on Afghanistan:
- Escape from Afghanistan: How Canadian journalists saved colleagues in the nick of time, with help from Ukraine
- Decibel: The story behind how two Afghan families escaped to Ukraine
- UN seeks $600-million to avert Afghanistan humanitarian crisis
- Afghan refugees trapped in no man’s land between Poland and Belarus
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Tax Court tried to halt Jewish judge from presiding over cases involving Muslims: The Tax Court of Canada tried to ensure no Muslims appeared before a Jewish judge who was under investigation amid allegations of bias related to the Israel-Palestine conflict, a court record shows. That policy, which was in place in late 2020 and the first five months of 2021, was not made public, however.
California Governor Gavin Newsom faces uncertain future ahead of recall vote: Gavin Newsom, by most measures, had every reason to think he was safe from being recalled – he holds office in one of the most heavily Democratic states in the U.S. and his personal popularity has remained above 55 per cent. But he has spent the summer fending off a Republican-led recall challenge, set for Tuesday, that threatens to remove him from office and elevate Larry Elder, a conservative talk-radio host, in his stead.
Oil is no longer undisputed king – and that’s fuelling a revamp in some schools: Not too long ago, a degree in oil and gas engineering was seen as a ticket to gainful employment. But with oil’s status as the undisputed energy king waning, a growing number of energy engineering students want broader learning opportunities, and that’s prompting schools to diversify their pedagogy away from fossil fuels to stay relevant.
Boris Johnson to scrap U.K. vaccine passports for winter COVID-19 plan: In a bid to soothe critics from within his caucus, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected on Tuesday to outline his plans to manage the pandemic this winter, announcing a decision to scrap the introduction of vaccine passports and steps to end some emergency powers. The government is expected to instead put a focus on its vaccine program and testing to protect the public against rising infections, Health Minister Sajid Javid said.
Oprah’s Harry and Meghan Markle TV interview loses out at Emmys: Oprah Winfrey’s two-hour bombshell sit-down with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in March lost out at the Emmy Awards to a series about Italian food and culture. In the interview, they accused Britain’s royal family of raising concerns about how dark the skin of the couple’s first child would be. The interview garnered more than 49 million viewers worldwide in the first three days, according to CBS television.
MORNING MARKETS
Global stocks seek momentum: World stocks started the week on the backfoot on Monday, slipping to 2-1/2 week lows on further signs of accelerating inflation as well as tax and regulatory pressures on the world’s biggest companies. Just before 6 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.55 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.71 per cent and 0.45 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei ended up 0.22 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.5 per cent. New York futures were higher. The Canadian dollar was trading at 78.95 US cents.
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Coal’s unwelcome revival is bad news for the UN’s crucial climate summit in Glasgow
“Energy predictions are often laughably wrong, and so it was with coal. Today, coal is distressingly undead and mining companies can’t supply enough of it.” - Eric Reguly
The Canadian government seems to have missed the entire point of the MMIWG inquiry
“A decolonized approach is the only approach that can be taken around a national strategy on how to bring basic human rights to Indigenous women. Nothing about us, without us.” - Tanya Talaga
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
David ParkinsDavid Parkins/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
Hair honesty emerged during the pandemic as people embraced their greys
Octogenarian Jane Fonda turned heads when she debuted her grey hair at the Oscars in 2020. Lately, Fonda has been joined by other actors, including Andie MacDowell, Helen Mirren and Jodie Foster, in going au naturel on the red carpet during the pandemic.
Outside of Hollywood, many are also showing an appreciation for their greys. “I’ve always wanted to do it,” says Donna Libbey, an account manager who lives in Erin, Ont. She’s long been having her hair professionally coloured, and for the past decade, was doing it to cover her roots. “I would go every six to seven weeks to get that done,” she says. “It’s a vicious cycle.”
MOMENT IN TIME: The making of a film fest
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch arrives to the gala for The Imitation Game at the Toronto International Film Festival, Sept. 9, 2014.MARK BLINCH/Reuters
For more than 100 years, photographers and photo librarians have preserved an extraordinary collection of 20th-century news photography for The Globe and Mail. Every Monday, The Globe features one of these images. This month, we’re looking at moviegoing.
When it was launched in 1976, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was known as the Toronto Festival of Festivals. So-called, because the idea was to import films from other festivals. The impetus was to boost the status of the Canadian filmmaking industry.
Founded by Henk Van der Kolk, Bill Marshall and Dusty Cohl, the humble festival launched on Oct. 18, 1976, with 80 feature-length films screened over seven days at venues including the Ontario Place Cinesphere, where moviegoers went bananas over a preview clip of the new King Kong remake.
The 46th edition of TIFF, which wraps up this week, is an internationally recognized event of all-star schmoozing, world-class films, elite parties and red-carpet razzle dazzle. One might call it the film festival of all film festivals. Brad Wheeler
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