Politics Briefing: The Bloc Quebecois faces an uncertain future

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Good morning,

It may be hard to imagine for some, but there was a time in Canada's political history when the official opposition in the House of Commons was led by a party that wanted independence from the rest of the country. That party, the  separatist Bloc Québécois, has been reduced to just three MPs , after dissatisfaction with the leadership of Martine Ouellet boiled over into a full-blown revolt. Ms. Ouellet, a former provincial minister, has continued to sit in the provincial legislature (now as an independent) since winning the leadership race. The Bloc, and its provincial cousins the Parti Québécois, had been major political forces for decades.  As recently as the 2008 election the Bloc had won 49 seats in the House. Now, both are undergoing crises as separatist fervor has decreased. It's been more than 20 years since Quebeckers had a referendum on unity and the PQ face the prospect of electoral wipeout with the emergence of alternatives at a provincial level.

This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Chris Hannay in Ottawa, Mayaz Alam in Toronto and James Keller in Vancouver. If you're reading this on the web or someone forwarded this email newsletter to you, you can sign up for Politics Briefing and all Globe newsletters here. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.

TODAY'S HEADLINES

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is standing by his national-security adviser Daniel Jean despite India calling its alleged involvement in the Jaspal Atwal affair "baseless and unacceptable."

This week's federal budget could empower Indigenous people to assume responsibility for protecting vast regions of Canadian wilderness. The budget promised "historic" investments in nature conservation, including more than a billion dollars to meet the country's international biodiversity targets. Environmentalists say the Inuit, the Métis and the First Nations are eager to accept the official role of stewards of the land.

The budget pledges to recruit and retain language teachers, including French-immersion instructors who are  in short supply in many parts of the country. The government isn't saying just what those efforts will include, but French-immersion advocates say the need is high.

Postmedia CEO Paul Godfrey says the federal government is ignoring the news industry and endangering reporters' jobs, dismissing a budget measure designed to help local journalism. Mr. Godfrey is among people in the industry who say they're disappointed in the government's approach.

B.C. is asking the public to weigh in on how to protect the costs from an oil spill, as the province continues its vocal opposition to the Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline project. The consultations are part of of a suite of regulations proposed earlier this year that rankled Alberta and prompted that province to ban B.C. wine. The B.C. government has since dropped the most contentious part of that plan, a moratorium on expanded oil exports.

Italy is moving towards the xenophobic right in an election campaign that has been focused on immigration, The Globe's Eric Reguly reports from Rome. Voters will head to the polls on March 4.

In a bipartisan meeting in the aftermath of the shooting in Parkland, Fla., U.S. President Donald Trump went against the prevailing currents in the GOP, scolding his fellow Republicans for being "petrified" of the National Rifle Association, the powerful gun lobby. The NRA endorsed Mr. Trump during the 2016 U.S. election campaign. The Globe's U.S. Correspondent Joanna Slater reports that Mr. Trump's comments left lawmakers flummoxed, when at one point he suggested: "Take the guns first, go through the due process second."

Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi says Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi should be personally held responsible for the "genocide" of the Rohingya people that has occurred under her time in power. Ms. Suu Kyi is also a Nobel laureate but has come under heavy criticism for her lack of action on the crisis in Rakhine state.

A law in Poland that criminalizes some Holocaust speech and that faced criticism from the U.S., Israel and others has gone into effect.

And Russian President Vladimir Putin is boasting of new nuclear weapons that can't be intercepted, which he says makes NATO's missile defence system unworthy. "I want to tell all those who have fueled the arms race over the last 15 years, sought to win unilateral advantages over Russia, introduced unlawful sanctions aimed to contain our country's development: all what you wanted to impede with your policies have already happened," Mr. Putin said. "You have failed to contain Russia."

Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on Trudeau in India: "It's a good bet Mr. Trudeau isn't going to rush back to India, even if he's invited. The next charm offensive might not come for years. The diplomatic pros are outweighed by the political cons – and the latter could be deadly." (for subscribers)

Marina Adshade (The Globe and Mail) on parental leave and the budget: "Is the problem here really fathers? Or is the problem that Canadian workplaces are not flexible enough to accommodate workers who have children – regardless of the worker's gender. Because until that happens, the employment problems created by the need for women to arrange their lives around children won't really be solved. You are just spreading the problem experienced by one parent over two."

John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail) on the Ontario PC debate: "This contest is going to boil down to which operation is able to persuade its supporters to cast an online ballot before voting ends March 8. Even with the occasional dust-up, Wednesday's debate probably changed little, even if it was occasionally fun to watch."

Konrad Yakabuski (The Globe and Mail) on Syria: "After seven years, the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives and the displacement of millions of refugees, the world seems to have grown bored with trying to end Syria's civil war. United Nations resolutions come and go without ever being implemented. Foreign governments, including Canada's, denounce the violence according to whose side they're on. And the carnage goes on." (for subscribers)

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