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The state of the energy sector is quickly emerging as a key issue as we enter the era of a Liberal minority government.
Premier Jason Kenney says Albertans “feel betrayed” by anti-oil patch rhetoric. Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe warned that there is a “fire burning here in the Prairie provinces.” And Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said he raised concerns about the “troubling” regional divides in a call with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
On the other side of the divide, Elizabeth May says the Greens won’t support the Liberals unless the Trans Mountain expansion project is dropped. The NDP’s Jagmeet Singh is maintaining his TMX opposition, but hasn’t said whether the issue is a deal-breaker. And Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet is warning against pipelines in Quebec, but “will let Western Canada do their own thing.”
It’s against this fraught backdrop that Trudeau will have to govern, even as his Liberals failed to pick up a single seat in Alberta and Saskatchewan. That has prompted some, including Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, to urge the Prime Minister to find a way to include voices from Alberta in his office and cabinet.
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How the minority government situation could play out
With 157 seats, the Liberals hold a strong minority that gives Trudeau breathing room. Experts say he could find an informal ally in the NDP to survive confidence votes, rather than seeking a formal coalition or confidence-and-supply agreement.
Stephen Harper led the Conservatives in a minority government from 2006 to 2011. In that period, Harper’s government survived confidence votes on case-by-case arrangements.
Views from our columnists and contributors
Elizabeth Renzetti: “At a time when concerted international action is required on many issues, climate change paramount among them, our election felt like a food fight at a toddler’s birthday party. So much screaming; so many insults. We’re all ready for a nap – just when the real work of cleaning up has to begin.”
Lori Turnbull: “At a glance, with five different parties (and one independent, in Jody Wilson-Raybould) set to occupy the 43rd federal parliament, the country seems polarized. But a deeper look suggests another narrative: it’s just a divided party system.”
Campbell Clark says the Bloc’s Blanchet was the only winner: “Jagmeet Singh bopped into the NDP’s election-night party like he had just surfed an orange wave. Andrew Scheer said the Conservatives took a big step forward. Elizabeth May counted her Green Party as one of two winners. Justin Trudeau beamed while he spoke of a clear mandate. Why are all these losers smiling?”
Turkey and Russia have struck a deal to remove Kurdish fighters from northern Syria
The pact between Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan will see Russian and Turkish forces deploy to remove Kurdish fighters and their weapons 30 kilometres from the Turkish border.
Russian and Turkish forces will then start to patrol a 10-kilometre strip of land in a “safe zone” Turkey has long sought.
Around 300,000 people have been displaced and 120 civilians killed since Turkey began its military offensive that was prompted by a U.S. withdrawal of troops from the region.
Raptors president Masai Ujiri won’t face charges over a dispute with an Oakland officer
California prosecutors opted not to pursue criminal charges over a physical altercation after the Raptors’ NBA finals victory in June. The two sides will now settle their dispute through mediation.
The incident occurred after the team’s Game 6, series-clinching victory over the Golden State Warriors. Ujiri was trying to go on the court for a trophy ceremony; the sheriff’s office claimed he wasn’t wearing the proper credentials.
The decision emerged on the same evening that the Raptors raised their historic championship banner to the roof of Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. A ring ceremony took place before the start of the home opener, with the Raptors beating the New Orleans Pelicans in overtime.
Raptors players Norman Powell, Serge Ibaka, Marc Gasol and Pascal Siakam stand with their rings behind the Larry O'Brien NBA Championship Trophy. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press)Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
The view from experts after RCMP employee Cameron Ortis was granted bail
The decision to grant bail to Ortis, the official charged with breaching Canada’s official-secrets law, is being met with skepticism from security experts.
Wesley Wark, who teaches at the University of Ottawa, called the bail decision “mind-boggling.” He said the potential for flight risk and an accused’s proficiency with computers are key factors that need to be considered, and that Ortis appears to have a high technological capacity.
The conditions of Ortis’s bail state that he can’t use equipment capable of connecting to the internet and must reside at his parents’ home in Abbotsford, B.C.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
British police discover 39 bodies in truck container: British police made a gruesome discovery at an industrial site east of London, where they found the bodies of 39 people inside a truck container believed to have come from Bulgaria. Police said the driver of the truck, a 25-year-old man from Northern Ireland, had been arrested on suspicion of murder.
China may replace Carrie Lam as Hong Kong leader: Beijing is drafting a plan to replace the beleaguered chief executive with an “interim” leader, according to a report in the Financial Times. China is said to want the unrest in Hong Kong to dissipate before making the move. Lam’s term is scheduled to end in 2022.
B.C. tribunal rejects discrimination claim: Service providers are not required to wax genitalia they aren’t trained for and have not consented to wax, the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal ruled. The decision came in response to a claim filed by a transgender woman with male genitalia who was refused waxing services.
Brexit delay expected: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson lost a key vote in Parliament, all but guaranteeing an extension to the planned Oct. 31 exit date. Johnson wanted MPs to pass legislation on his agreement with the European Union in just three days, but they said more time was needed to scrutinize the bill.
MORNING MARKETS
Shares hit by tech problems and Brexit snags: World stock markets fell on Wednesday, as hopes faded that a Brexit deal would be wrapped by next week and a profit warning from Texas Instruments pulled down tech shares. Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 0.3 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.8 per cent and the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.4 per cent. In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.4 per cent by about 5 a.m. ET, with Germany’s DAX up marginally and the Paris CAC 40 down 0.4 per cent. New York futures were down. The Canadian dollar was sitting just below 76.5 US cents.
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
(Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail)Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
How the Liberal election win will change your family finances
Rob Carrick offers up six ways your finances could change should the Trudeau government follow through on its pledges. That includes an increase to the basic personal amount (what you can earn without paying taxes) which could result in tax savings of $600 for the average family. University and college graduates, meanwhile, won’t have to start repaying their student loans until they make at least $35,000 in income.
MOMENT IN TIME
iPod introduced
(Susan Ragan/Reuters)SUSAN RAGAN/Reuters
Oct. 23, 2001: Apple Computer Inc. did not invent the portable digital musical player. But before Steve Jobs’s company unleashed the iPod on Oct. 23, 2001, its brass had nothing but contempt for the music gadgets that came before. “The products stank,” Apple’s Greg Joswiak would later tell Newsweek magazine. So, a team led by Apple hardware division head Jon Rubinstein and engineer Tony Fadell – both credited as being the father of iPod – set out to build the sleekest gadget possible to interact with the iTunes music-library and media-player software. They came up with a soon-to-be iconic device that held 1,000 songs, weighed 184 grams and cost $399. It’s utility instantly apparent, the iPod become part of everyday life so quickly it was hard to fathom how the world had existed without it. But if the iPod was the toaster of its time, its impact was far more phenomenal. The device ushered in an era of more elegant digital electronics, solidified Apple’s mainstream appeal to consumers and, with iTunes, instigated the resurgence of the single over the album format. “With iPod,” Mr. Jobs said at the product launch, “listening to music will never be the same again.” – Brad Wheeler
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