Hello,
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet will be meeting this weekend in Montreal, with an agenda that includes Canada-U.S. relations and supporting the middle class.
The gathering begins Sunday and runs through to Tuesday. It comes ahead of the House of Commons sitting again Jan. 29 for the first time this year.
In announcing the meeting earlier this week, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said discussions will include efforts to bring down the cost of living, building more homes, creating jobs that pay well and improving health care.
“Cabinet will also discuss Canada’s relationship with the United States ahead of this fall’s presidential election,” said the statement.
It came as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised concerns about the presidential election in the United States later this year, saying it will be a choice between progress and democracy or anger and conspiracy.
The cabinet will hear Monday from top economists and housing experts including Frances Donald, the chief economist at Manulife Financial, and Tim Richter, the president and CEO of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness.
On Tuesday, the focus will shift slightly to global affairs, the Israel-Hamas conflict and the U.S. election.
With a report from The Canadian Press.
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TODAY'S HEADLINES
$7.1-billion in CERB and CRB overpayments still being collected, Globe analysis – As of the end of September, Canadians had paid back $4.1-billion worth of both benefits – the Canada Emergency Response Benefit and the Canada Recovery Benefit. Another $7.1-billion in assessed overpayments are still under collection. Story here.
IT staffing firm invited federal officials to virtual whisky tasting, off-site meetings, records show –Invitations to the mid-pandemic virtual whisky tasting event were extended to four Canada Border Services Agency officials, including Cameron MacDonald and Antonio Utano, who were suspended without pay this month in connection with a CBSA investigation. Story here.
Canada accused of being out of step over moves to stop kids viewing online porn – Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne says the Canadian government is going against the tide of other countries and jurisdictions that are legislating to protect children from exposure to online pornography. Story here.
Doug Ford’s policy reversal habit is his best or worst virtue, depending on who you ask – The Ontario Premier presents this willingness to ask for second chances as a virtue, saying he knows how to listen and admit his mistakes. Critics say it reveals a Sunday-duffer government that swings without pausing to consider which club to use, or where the fairway is. Story here.
Allow CSIS to share intelligence on security threats, business council asks Ottawa – The Business Council of Canada is also urging the federal government to borrow a U.S. idea and create a new body that would ensure the intelligence is securely and broadly shared across the Canadian economy.
Edmonton police say criminal network in India behind extortions targeting South Asian homebuilders – The cases are similar to a string of extortions aimed at people of Indian descent across B.C.’s Lower Mainland as well as Ontario’s Peel Region. Edmonton police, however, said they have not established a connection between the cases they are investigating and those elsewhere in Canada.
The beginning of the end for Quebec Premier François Legault and the mighty CAQ? – Legault’s five-year-long honeymoon may now be over, with public opinion research suggesting the separatist Parti Québécois would win a strong minority government in an election held tomorrow. The Hub reports here.
At 95, Ontario political legend Bob Nixon still has stories to tell – TVO’s Steve Paikin reports here on how, more than 60 years after his political career began, the former Ontario Liberal leader continues to share insights about the state of the country.
Poilievre vs. Montreal and Quebec City mayors – In an exchange over federal funding of housing, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante accused Poilievre of misunderstanding municipal financing in Quebec.
THIS AND THAT
Commons and Senate on a break – The House of Commons is on a break until Jan. 29. The Senate sits again on Feb. 6.
Deputy Prime Minister’s day – Chrystia Freeland, in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, held a last round of meetings with business leaders and other participants before departing to return to Toronto.
Ministers on the Road – International Trade Minister Mary Ng, in Winnipeg, met with local Ukrainian leaders and participated in a fireside chat with the Manitoba business community co-hosted by the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Manitoba, and the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
Justin Trudeau, in Iqaluit, Nunavut, met with Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok, and then went dog sledding with his son, Hadrien, and a group that included Akeeagok.
LEADERS
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May was scheduled to hold a community meeting in the Vancouver Island community of Sidney.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in Burnaby, B.C., met virtually with representatives of the United Steelworkers Local 665.
No schedules released for other leaders.
THE DECIBEL
On today’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, the Globe’s Zosia Bielski explains the rising trend of grandchildless boomers. She looks into what this new normal means for family dynamics and the pressures that come along with it. The Decibel is here.
TRIBUTE
Peter O’Malley – The press secretary and communications director for Ed Broadbent in his days as federal NDP leader passed away on Jan. 12, a day after the announcement that Broadbent had died. Obituary here.
PUBLIC OPINION
Language and national identity - Canadians are more likely than their U.S. counterparts to see language, customs and traditions as central to their national identity, a new survey by the Pew Research Center suggests.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on one Trudeau vacation, three explanations, many doubts: “Earlier this month we wrote that the bigger issue with Justin Trudeau’s controversial Christmas vacation in Jamaica was not the fact that the Prime Minister was able to lodge his family in a luxury resort for nine nights for free, but that the Conflict of Interest Act allows him and other public office holders to accept undisclosed gifts of unlimited value from friends and family members. We stand by that. The Conflict of Interest Act and the Conflict of Interest Code for MPs need to be amended to require every Parliamentarian to disclose gifts from friends and immediate family worth more than a nominal value. Ten days later, though, questions raised by the Prime Minister’s shifting explanations about how the trip was paid for have put the focus on him instead of the rules.”
Tony Keller (The Globe and Mail) on how the Liberals can fix the immigration system they broke: “Canada’s unique, decades-old, pro-immigration consensus has been broken. Who broke it? The Trudeau government. Who adulterated a policy that had made for national, non-partisan agreement? The Trudeau government. Who took a system that most Canadians thought was working, and turned it into one that clearly is not? The Trudeau government. Who introduced the germ of a dark future of radicalized and left-versus-right polarized immigration politics, such as modern Canada has never had? The Trudeau government. Who can fix it? The Trudeau government.”
Marsha Lederman (The Globe and Mail) on why are we making it so hard for Canadians to bring relatives here from Gaza: “While many of us this week were shovelling snow or deciding if we could afford to splurge on a head of lettuce, some of our Canadian neighbours were fighting for their families’ lives. They have been engaged in a desperate undertaking, jumping through life-or-death hoops as they try to get loved ones out of Gaza – a war zone where thousands have been killed, many more have been injured or displaced, food and water are scarce, medical services are largely unavailable, and conditions are dangerous and deplorable.”
Gary Mason (The Globe and Mail) on how Rachel Notley profoundly reshaped Alberta politics: “This week, Ms. Notley announced she is stepping down as NDP Leader. She does so as the most transformational political figure Alberta has seen in the past 25 years. As things stand today, she is one of the most important politicians in the province’s history. Since her announcement, most of the retrospectives on her career, and more precisely her time as premier, have focused on obvious achievements such as raising the minimum wage to $15 and helping get the Calgary Cancer Centre across the finish line. Her greatest accomplishment, undoubtedly, is getting the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion built – something her Progressive Conservative predecessors couldn’t.”
Konrad Yakabuski (The Globe and Mail) on whether Justin Trudeau’s latest vacation scandal is a sign that he has already checked out: “If you didn’t know better, you might conclude that Mr. Trudeau’s seeming indifference to public perceptions of him is a sign that he has already, mentally at least, checked out of Rideau Cottage. If he was really intent on seeking a fourth term, he would be extra careful to avoid giving Canadians any more reasons to want to see him go. Either that or he’s just taking them for suitcases.”
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