Hello,
So will Peter MacKay walk away with the leadership of the Conservative Party without any serious opposition?
That’s what some are wondering now that veteran Ottawa-area MP Pierre Poilievre has said he is not running for the leadership. Mr. Poilievre’s campaign team included key figures in the party such as former cabinet minister John Baird and Senator Leo Housakos. Many Conservatives considered Mr. Poilievre to be the front-runner in the race, given those supporting him, and perhaps the closest in the race to fitting into the leadership mould cast by Stephen Harper.
Mr. Poilievre, though, said he decided he didn’t want to put his young family through what could be an intense leadership race followed by an election in a year or two. “Without being all in, I cannot be in at all,” he said in a statement.
His was the third high-profile announcement this week of someone saying they would not seek the leadership. He followed former interim leader Rona Ambrose and former Quebec premier Jean Charest.
So who’s left? Ontario MP Marilyn Gladu was the first credible candidate to announce she was in the race. Erin O’Toole, a former cabinet minister in Mr. Harper’s majority government, is also organizing, but has not yet formally declared.
As well, at least three self-described social conservatives are in the race, including rookie MP Derek Sloan. The most vocal of those three so far has been former Conservative aide Richard Décarie, who was roundly denounced by major figures in the party for comments about the rights of LGBTQ people.
While all this is going on, outgoing leader Andrew Scheer vowed to continue to hold the Liberal minority government to account. His office recently hired former Harper chief of staff Ian Brodie to help keep the ship steady until a permanent leader is elected in June.
This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Chris Hannay. It is available exclusively to our digital subscribers. If you’re reading this on the web, subscribers can sign up for the Politics newsletter and more than 20 others on our newsletter signup page. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.
TODAY’S HEADLINES
Chinese authorities are restricting travel in the country more and more in an attempt to control the spread of the coronavirus that is believed to have first popped up in Wuhan province. Eight hundred and eighty-six people are believed to be infected now, and 26 have died. Canadian health officials say they are still monitoring the situation, but have not yet found any cases in Canada.
A ruling at Ontario’s highest court has imperilled dozens of serious criminal convictions. The problem stems from judges being unsure how to apply new federal rules for jury selection. The case may still find its way to the Supreme Court.
And as Meghan and Harry plot a post-Royal-Family private life, their attempts to trademark the term “Sussex Royal," so they can use it on a variety of products, is being challenged.
Lisa Kerr (The Globe and Mail) on the rising rate of Indigenous people in prison: “The Supreme Court of Canada explained how Section 718.2(e) should work in 1999, when it set out what is known as the ‘Gladue’ framework. Judges were to give the provision a large and liberal interpretation consistent with its intent: reducing overrepresentation of Indigenous people in prison. Judges were to consider the role that systemic and historic discrimination may have played in bringing a defendant before the court, and to make use of culturally appropriate procedures and sanctions. The court decried what it called a ‘crisis’ of Indigenous overrepresentation, at a time when Indigenous people made up 12 per cent of the prison population. They now represent more than 30 per cent.”
John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail) on homophobia from a Conservative leadership contender: “On Thursday morning, the National Capital Commission’s board of directors unanimously approved the site for a new monument to LGBTQ Canadians who suffered past persecution, especially those who were purged from the public service, military and RCMP. Homophobic remarks from Conservative leadership aspirant Richard Décarie the evening before demonstrated why such a remembrance is needed.”
Justin Ling (National Post) on kicking Décarie out of the race: “He’s entitled to his views, and so long as garbage radio wants to invite him on, he can share them with his ideological kinfolk. But he doesn’t have a god-given right to appear on CTV, or any major news platform. He doesn’t have to be allowed to enter the Conservative leadership debates. He doesn’t even have to be allowed to run — the Conservative party rules clearly state that the organizing committee can reject a candidate if there is good cause. Décarie does not reflect the Conservative party. I’m not even sure he reflects the People’s Party.”
Allison Hanes (Montreal Gazette) on addressing domestic violence against women: “There are many invisible barriers to quitting an abusive relationship, from social stigma to financial strain. Housing is less available and less affordable. Divorce is expensive, legal advice difficult to access and resolutions slow to emerge. And after the landmark 'Eric and Lola’ decision, the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed that non-married couples who part ways are not entitled to alimony. Many women may not have the means to escape, let alone a place to go.”
Razia Sultana (The Globe and Mail) on geting justice for Myanmar’s Rohingya women and girls: “There can be a perception that rape – committed on the ground by individuals – is somehow different from killing, because there is some expectation of a calculated chain of command. That is inaccurate. In Myanmar, rape was as much a tool of genocide as machine-guns and mortar shells. The use of rape as a weapon of war was not incidental: it was the cornerstone of a deliberate strategy of forced exile, to eradicate the Rohingya population from Rakhine State.”
Jody Wilson-Raybould (The Globe and Mail) on Indigenous consultation and building pipelines: “The legal reality is that band councils are a creature of the colonial Indian Act and have limited delegated authority tied to reserves. They do not have inherent authority, nor are they self-governing or an expression of self-determination. Band councils have limited delegated authority tied to what the Indian Act calls reserves. They cannot simply represent the proper rights holder – the broader group that shares a common language, culture and tradition – and typically there is more than one band within a given territory of an Indigenous people. As part of nation and government rebuilding, Indigenous peoples may self-determine to adopt aspects of the band council system or have them represent the peoples with respect to title and rights – but that is up to them. This is not a choice for government or industry.”
Andrew Coyne (The Globe and Mail) on what to do about the CBC: “Some, mostly on the left, would like it to get out of advertising; others, mostly on the right, would like to take away its public funding. But surely the time is right to get rid of both, in favour of an HBO/Netflix-style subscription fee. That debate is already under way in Britain, whose Conservative government is thought to favour moving the BBC, funded until now by a tax on all television owners, onto pay. It is high time it caught on here.”
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