Minister of Finance Joe Ceci and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley talk after delivering the budget in Edmonton Alta, on Thursday March 22, 2018.JASON FRANSON
Good morning,
Alberta’s NDP government has tabled its fourth provincial budget — and for the fourth time, the New Democrats are projecting a significant deficit. The government insists that it has set the province on a path to balance its books, with a fiscal plan that predicts the deficit, $8.8-billion for the coming year, will shrink until it pops into surplus by 2023.
However, that plan hinges on pipelines that haven’t yet been built, including the Trans Mountain expansion into B.C., which is facing fierce legal and political opposition. The government assumes Trans Mountain, Keystone and Enbridge’s Line 3 will all be in place by 2021 — and that royalties will jump by more than a third.
The New Democrats are also looking ahead at a provincial election next year, when the United Conservative Party led by Jason Kenney is expected to use the government’s reliance on deficits and debt to shape its attacks.
Gary Mason writes that the budget’s reliance on deficits and debt opens up a line of attack for Mr. Kenney’s United Conservative Party, but one that carries risks of its own: “He will certainly come out swinging against this budget, calling the level of debt an outrage and an embarrassment. What he won’t talk about is the fact that there’s no way of rectifying the problem unless the government introduces cuts to programs and services on a scale never seen before, or brings in a sales tax.”
For more on the budget, read our explainer.
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CANADIAN HEADLINES
Members of Parliament are still debating in the House of Commons this morning after pulling an all-nighter. Conservatives triggered the overnight session of votes in retaliation for the Liberals not allowing the Prime Minister’s national security adviser to testify about the government’s views on India. Many MPs survived the night with a combination of videos and candy.
The federal government will allow black-market strains of marijuana to enter the licensed industry once the drug is legalized later this year, in a bid to diversify the market. The bill passed what threatened to be a narrow vote in the Senate yesterday.
The government will also announce today a target to eliminate tuberculosis, a disease that is still prevalent in Canada’s North.
The former chair of Manitoba Hydro is lashing out against Premier Brian Pallister, saying the Premier’s account of why the Crown-owned utility’s board resigned is incorrect and “deeply offensive.” Nine board members resigned earlier this week.
The leader of the B.C. Greens, whose party is supporting the governing New Democrats in the minority legislature, says he is backing away from threats to topple the government over the issue of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Andrew Weaver previously threatened to vote the government down in a confidence vote if it pursued LNG. But now that the province has announced tax incentives to court the industry, Mr. Weaver says he’s prepared to hear how the government intends to balance the industry and the environment.
And B.C.’s privacy watchdog says some landlords are asking prospective tenants for way too much personal information, such as banking and tax records, whether they plan to have kids, or even for their children’s report cards.
Samantha Bradshaw (The Globe and Mail) on data protection: “If we want to protect the integrity of our democratic processes, Canada needs to develop legal mechanisms that address issues to do with data privacy and political campaigning. And applying basic data-protection laws to political parties is an easy starting point for policymakers concerned with safeguarding democracy in the digital age.”
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on social media targeting: “It’s not really the protection of Canadians’ Facebook likes that is the critical issue for our democratic system. It’s transparency. The real danger is political operatives targeting messages at narrow tranches of the Canadian electorate that the rest of us never get to see.”
Don Martin (CTV) on political correctness: “The message seems to be finally getting through: Justin Trudeau has become so identified with kumbaya peoplekind priorities that he’s lost the appearance of leading a serious government.”
Vicky Mochama (Metro) on racial discrimination: “Eliminating racial discrimination is not just about apologies. It is a task that requires an end to the transgressions. Not just from governments but from people too.”
Globe and Mail Editorial Board on guns: “The notion that the nation’s target shooters and hunters are so hard done by that they need a special representative in Ottawa is truly astonishing. Do they really deserve to be treated with the consideration reserved for war veterans, Armed Forces members and the victims of crime, all of whom have federal ombudsmen in their corners?”
Mark Lautens (The Globe and Mail) on the budget: “Science Budget 2018 represents a major step toward remedying the problems created by underfunding fundamental research over the course of two decades. There are further shortfalls that still need attention from the federal government in the years ahead. But scientists and scholars must clearly do their part – more and better research and much more engagement with the public. Finally, the federal funding agencies need to start rewarding excellence with increased funding of our best, at all career stages. Opportunity is knocking and the granting councils and scientific community each need to do their part.”
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INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES
The spectre of a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies is increasing, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced US$60-billion in tariffs against China. The move, which could also include restrictions on some Chinese investments in the U.S., is retaliation for China’s alleged theft of U.S. technology. Mr. Trump, who has railed against China’s trade practices throughout his campaign and presidency, is aiming to make a dent in the U.S.’s massive trade deficit. China has responded by saying that it will retaliate by implementing US$3-billion in tariffs on 128 goods, including pork and aluminum. And China has another weapon: its huge class of consumers.
What is Russian President Vladimir Putin worth? It depends on who you ask. If he had a chance to tell you, Mr. Putin would say that he is of modest wealth, owning an average-sized apartment in St. Petersburg and three old cars. Critics say Mr. Putin’s standing at the top of one of the world’s most corrupt oligarchies make him a multi-billionaire. He is said to own dozens of private planes, helicopters and yachts, in addition to a Black Sea palace and other luxury properties. Additionally, Russia’s opposition says he owns shares of Russia’s biggest companies.
H.R. McMaster is out as the U.S. national security adviser and is being replaced by defence hawk John Bolton, a Bush-era official who has previously advocated for pre-emptively attacking North Korea and bombing Iran.
Boeing will not appeal its case against Bombardier at the U.S. Trade Court. The two companies have been engaged in a back-and-forth regarding Bombardier’s C Series jets.
European Union leaders are backing Britain in blaming Russia over the poisoning of a former spy and have called back their Moscow envoy.
The separatists in Catalonia, who hold a majority in the province’s parliament, have failed to elect a regional president.
Doug Saunders (The Globe and Mail) on social media and politics: “The Cambridge Analyticas of the world are merely a side effect of a far more serious and immediate threat to democratic stability posed by companies that have unlimited, unquestioned access to even more personal information on hundreds of millions of people – that is, the social-media giants themselves, especially Facebook and Google’s YouTube.”
Margaret Wente (The Globe and Mail) on Facebook: “Like many internet companies, Facebook marketed itself as a benevolent enterprise that was good for everyone. It promised to build community and bring the world closer together. That vision of techno-utopia is undoubtedly making people more cynical about what it’s really up to. Facebook’s woes are playing into fears that we are being manipulated by dark forces that are unaccountable and unidentified. We feel as if we’re losing control – not just of our privacy but of information flows, of the internet, and maybe of our lives. It’s hard to see how Mr. Zuckerberg is going to restore confidence that Facebook really does have our best interests in mind.”
Barrie McKenna (The Globe and Mail) on Trump’s tariffs: “If the U.S. tariffs destabilize the Chinese economy, Canada could feel pain from less demand and lower prices for its commodity exports to China, including wood pulp, oil seeds and coal. A more direct blow would come from Canada’s integration into North American supply chains in industries such as autos and steel. Higher tariffs will raise costs for all companies in the region, making them less competitive against rivals located elsewhere.” (for subscribers)
Catherine Rampell (Washington Post) on Trump and China: “Let’s talk first about the smart way to confront China. That would involve banding together with allies. And, in fact, lots of our allies have been asking for our help keeping China in line. Yet we have, repeatedly, rebuffed such entreaties. Or worse: accepted and then reneged. That includes the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-country trade pact that we signed in 2016. The pact specifically excluded China to make sure it didn’t “write the rules of the road for trade in the 21st century,” as then-President Barack Obama put it.”
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