The Ontario Legislature at Queen’s Park is photographed on Sept. 5, 2017.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Good morning,
Recently we tried to assess the health of the press galleries in Canada's provincial legislatures. As promised, here's more in that series.
First, the territories. We spoke to journalists and communications staff at the legislatures in Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut and we were told there are usually four legislative reporters in each place. That's on par with many provinces.
Now on to coverage of municipalities – with some caveats. Unlike legislatures, most of Canada's city halls do not have formal press galleries. There is no list of people who have accreditation. For most cities, the only way to know is by keeping an eye on how many reporters show up to council meetings on a regular basis. So there is some guesswork involved. For that reason, we're not going to publish exact numbers of reporters who cover each city hall full-time, but we're going to show ranges. (With one exception.) Population numbers are sourced from Statistics Canada based on census areas, which don't always map exactly to a city's boundaries. And this is just a sampling of municipalities across the country – we did not count every single one.
And now on to the data...
Twenty-two reporters
Toronto, Ont. (population: 2.7 million). Note: Toronto is the only city we found with a formal press gallery.
About a dozen reporters
Hamilton, Ont. (population: 537,000).
Ottawa (population: 934,000).
Six to eight reporters
Edmonton (population: 932,000).
Halifax (population: 403,000).
Quebec City (population: 807,000).
Victoria (population: 371,000).
Four or five reporters
Calgary (population: 1.2 million).
Kelowna, B.C. (population: 152,000).
London, Ont. (population: 384,000).
Moncton (population: 109,000).
Vancouver (population: 631,000).
Winnipeg (population: 705,000).
Two, one or no reporters
Brampton, Ont. (population: 594,000).
Mississauga, Ont. (population: 721,000).
Moose Jaw, Sask. (population: 32,000).
Nanaimo, B.C. (population: 92,000).
Saskatoon (population: 315,000).
Surrey, B.C. (population: 518,000).
And for more on what happens when a community loses its newspaper, check out Marcus Gee's profile of Orillia, Ont., from the weekend.
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CANADIAN HEADLINES
Finance Minister Bill Morneau's council of outside economic advisers says the government should spend $15-billion retraining workers as part of adapting to technological disruption of the economy. "Canada must be prepared to navigate this change and volatility. It can no longer rely on the old formula for economic growth, which emphasized investments in machinery and equipment, and population growth," the report says.
Mr. Morneau insists that the Liberals have no plans for a Netflix tax as part of their cultural policy moving forward. Quebec has said that it will enact a levy on foreign online businesses if the federal government won't.
Provincial finance ministers, who are in Ottawa to meet with Mr. Morneau, say they want a higher share of the revenue that will come from legalizing marijuana.
Pierre Legault, a veteran government lawyer, has been nominated by the Prime Minister to be the watchdog for the Senate.
The House of Commons is working to get more simultaneous translation for Indigenous languages.
Voters in four provinces are casting ballots today in federal by-elections. The by-elections are in B.C.'s South Surrey-White Rock, the Newfoundland riding of Bonavista-Burin Trinity, Saskatchewan's Battlefords-Lloydminster, and east Toronto's Scarborough-Agincourt. The Surrey race has stood out as particularly competitive, with the Liberal and Conservative leaders both stopping by to campaign.
Alberta United Conservative Party Leader and former federal cabinet minister Jason Kenney is "cautiously optimistic" that he will win his provincial by-election on Thursday this week. He's not the only party leader running for the open seat in Calgary-Lougheed. Alberta Liberal Leader David Khan and Green Leader Romy Tittel are also vying to be the MLA for the riding.
B.C. Premier John Horgan will announce today whether his government will kill the Site C dam. The New Democrats came to power earlier this year on a promise to review the $8.8-billion project, and their power-sharing partners in the Green Party want the dam scrapped. But the government has been facing pressure to keep the massive construction project – and the associated jobs – while also worrying about the financial impact of killing the dam, which would mean writing off $4-billion that's already been spent.
The Site C dam's future could hinge in part on the positions of nearby First Nations; two oppose the project, while others have signed benefits agreement. The role those communities have in the government's decision has been shaped by a landmark Supreme Court of Canada ruling issued 20 years ago today. The Delgamuukw case confirmed Indigenous peoples have valid claims to ancestral lands and introduced the requirement for consent to resource development.
And Canadian energy firms are taking issue with the White House's decision to push coal energy and nuclear power.
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on the Liberal cabinet: "There are now a lot of scuff marks. Mr. Sajjan isn't hobbled running defence, but he's less valuable in selling the not-quite-as-advertized Liberal defence policy. Ms. Joly is no longer a glamorous representative in Quebec. Mr. Morneau will not be effective setting finance policy if his own Liberals doubt he can do the politics. And Mr. Trudeau is going to have to recruit again in 2018."
Heather Mallick (Toronto Star) on Kent Hehr, Minister for People with Disabilities: "The reasoning behind his appointment came from identity politics, which is fine so far as it goes. But it contains a flaw. The assumption that a disabled minister would understand all kind of disability is not true, just as women are not automatic sustainers of other women."
John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail) on whether senators will hold up the marijuana legalization bill: "The costs of missing that deadline would be severe. Provincial governments are negotiating contracts with suppliers, who are ramping up production. Governments and private companies are signing leases for storefronts. Police forces are acquiring new equipment, and training officers to identify pot-impaired drivers."
Globe and Mail Editorial Board on Trudeau and China: "Canada has never had to deal with a problem quite like China. Managing its rise, and our relationship with this superpower that is both aggressively capitalistic and unapologetically anti-democratic, will be one of Canada's biggest challenges in the years to come. Does Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government understand this? Does it get that China is not just an economic opportunity, but also a threat to the world order this country helped build, and under which we have long prospered."
Barrie McKenna (The Globe and Mail) on protectionism (inside Canada): "The Comeau case offers a rare opportunity to force Ottawa and the provinces to do what they have repeatedly failed to do on their own – even as Canada decries rising protectionism in the United States and elsewhere. Canada faces enormous trade challenges in the world. But too often, we can't get beyond petty fights on the home front." (for subscribers)
Steve Ambler and Jeremy Kronick (The Globe and Mail) on the Bank of Canada: "As was widely expected, the Bank of Canada announced on Wednesday that it was not changing its target overnight rate. Despite the announcement reinforcing expectations, the emphasis on caution was enough to knock more than a half a cent off the value of the Canadian dollar before the end of Wednesday morning. With uncertainty on the horizon for 2018, the year promises to be a challenging one for our central bankers – one that will require market guidance."
Andrew Coyne (National Post) on CBC's funding model: "Though proposed as an antidote to advertising, public funding suffers from much the same basic problem: in either case, the broadcaster is accountable not to its viewers, but to someone else — advertisers or the government, whoever is paying the bills. The larger goal, then, should be for subscription fees to replace, not just advertising, but also the CBC's public subsidy. The beneficiaries from this would not only be taxpayers, but CBC viewers: subsidy is not only no longer necessary, but an impediment to quality — the kind that, we can now see, comes from a direct relationship with a passionate, paying audience."
INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES
After the U.S. unilaterally decided to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital anti-Trump protests have sprung up across the Arab world, although violence has been limited. The Globe's Eric Reguly reports from the West Bank that the Palestinians are searching for allies in the aftermath of the decision. "Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries do not make us a priority for them," said Mahmoud al-Aloul, vice-chairman of Fatah, Palestine's ruling political party. "That's a problem for us, absolutely."
The New York Times has a deep dive into how Donald Trump's daily life has changed nearly a year into the presidency.
The race between Roy Moore and Doug Jones to be the next senator from Alabama is wrapped in struggles over the state's troubled history and its uncertain future, David Shribman writes. The outcome of the race could send a message about the national preoccupation with sexual predators and alter generations-old voting patterns in the most conservative region of the U.S. Alabama's senior senator, also a Republican, says he is not voting for Roy Moore.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered troops out of Syria, saying they succeeded in suppressing the Islamic State.
The United Kingdom and the European Union made significant progress on a Brexit deal, but tough talks are still ahead. Last Friday, the European Commission said that enough progress had been made on financial obligations, the Irish border and EU citizens' rights that negotiations could begin on the future of the trading relationship. European negotiators say they want to build a trade deal based on the one signed with Canada, known as the Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement, while the U.K.'s Brexit minister says he wants a deal that's "Canada plus plus plus."
South Korea has imposed new sanctions against North Korea in a response to its latest missile launch. Groups, including banks and companies, were added to sanctions lists and several individuals were also targeted in the largely symbolic move.
And in case you missed it the European Union and Japan have concluded negotiations on a free-trade agreement that would establish the world's largest open economic area.
Former Obama speechwriter Sarada Peri in The Globe on the bully pulpit: "Teddy Roosevelt was talking about more than influencing policy or even politics. He was illuminating a president's power to shape the nation's ethical framework – his power, in effect, to moralize. 'I suppose my critics will call that preaching,' he said, 'but I have got such a bully pulpit.' Mr. Trump offers no stable political affiliation, no hopeful vision for America, no compelling, or even coherent, agenda."
Konrad Yakabuski (The Globe and Mail) on Roy Moore:"For a few fleeting weeks it seemed even the GOP had a conscience. But the party ultimately could not resist the temptation of passing tax cuts for the rich and its leaders decided they could not sacrifice a reliable Republican seat in the Senate. Especially since they'll need it if Mr. Trump is to replace one of the remaining liberal judges on the Supreme Court and create a conservative majority that would reinstate abortion bans and uphold the Second Amendment right to bear arms and arms and arms. What's a little (more) hypocrisy when the stakes are this high?"
Elizabeth Renzetti (The Globe and Mail) on saying sorry in the public sphere: "Allegations of sexual misconduct against high-profile men have piled up in the past couple of months, followed in some cases by public apologies. These apologies, alas, often resembled Christmas crackers purchased at the dollar store: cheap, hollow and containing nothing of value at their core."