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Despite video showing them metres apart in Toronto, Doug Ford’s spokesperson says the Ontario Premier and federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre did not meet over the weekend.
“I don’t believe they met at the event,” Ivana Yelich, Mr. Ford’s deputy chief of staff for media, stakeholder relations and forward planning, said in an e-mail on Tuesday.
The event in question was the Toronto Caribbean festival where a video posted on X, the former Twitter, shows the two men, among Canada’s most prominent conservatives, at the festival on Saturday. The video, from Global news journalist Ahmar Khan, is here.
Asked about the video, Ms. Yelich wrote in an e-mail on Tuesday, “There is no interaction in that video.”
She did not elaborate on whether the pair had a subsequent meeting or indeed whether they have ever had an official meeting.
Mr. Poilievre’s office did not respond, on Tuesday, to a Globe and Mail query about the encounter.
The situation comes amid questions about a possible rift between federal Conservatives and their provincial counterparts, the Progressive Conservatives in Ontario. Ontario, with its 120 seats, is seen as a key battleground for the next federal election, and Conservative political fortunes hinge on making gains there.
After the PCs were defeated in the Ottawa-area Kanata-Carleton by-election last month, an unnamed senior Conservative said the federal party ruled out sending volunteers to help the PCs because the provincial party wouldn’t help their federal counterparts in a June by-election in the Ontario riding of Oxford. The federal Conservatives eventually won the riding. Posting here.
Mr. Ford has been in sync with the federal Liberals on various issues, including support for electric vehicles technology. In July, the federal and Ontario governments reached a deal with Stellantis NV and LG Energy Solution for up to $15-billion in subsidies for their electric-vehicle battery factory in Windsor. The agreement ended a months-long saga in which the companies halted construction on the project while they pushed for greater financial backing. Story here.
Mr. Ford has also praised Chrystia Freeland, the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister.
Last year, Mr. Ford said neither he nor members of his PC caucus would get involved in the national Conservative leadership race that ended up electing Mr. Poilievre in a landslide. And, in 2021, the Ontario Premier’s office told his cabinet ministers not to campaign for Erin O’Toole, then the federal Conservative leader, and to refrain from posting about interactions with federal candidates on social media. Story here.
In May, eight months after he became leader, Mr. Poilievre met with Quebec Premier François Legault.
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TODAY'S HEADLINES
Canada’s largest pension funds confront the dilemma of investing in China – Canada’s largest pension funds face a dilemma in China: The fast-growing superpower that is too large to ignore is becoming an uncomfortably risky place to make big investments. Story here.
Gadhafi billions in Canadian accounts, former diplomat says – Billions of dollars belonging to former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi are sitting in Canadian bank accounts almost 12 years after his death, says a former diplomat. Story here.
Critics hope for answers in Auditor-General’s report on Ontario Greenbelt – Ontario Auditor-General Bonnie Lysyk is poised to release the results of her investigation into the province’s decision to open 3,000 hectares of its protected Greenbelt area to development, a report eagerly awaited by critics who have said the change is nothing more than a windfall for big landowners linked to Premier Doug Ford. Story here.
Anand embraces new economic role – Anita Anand says her new appointment as Treasury Board President allows her to be a “core member” of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s economic team. In an interview with the Halifax Chronicle Herald, she also took exception to federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s claim that shuffling her out of National Defence is “more disrespect for women,” and a continuation of Mr. Trudeau’s history of firing strong women from cabinet. Story here.
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank too intertwined with Beijing, former communications head says – Bob Pickard, a Canadian who recently quit the top communications job at the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, says his time there confirmed for him that the multilateral institution is a tool of the Chinese government, something he had previously thought was an unfair stereotype. Story here.
Why more Quebec family doctors are leaving the public health system – Because of a series of decades-old government decisions, Quebec has quietly developed a parallel, privately paid health care sector that defies the conventional wisdom about Canada’s embrace of universal medicine and keeps growing. Story here.
Provinces may have to agree to Ottawa’s 2035 clean-power target to access funding – The federal government is considering restricting billions of dollars in tax credits and grants for electricity projects to provinces that commit to the 2035 target for an emissions-free electricity grid. Story here.
Canada has little to show for its promises to combat forced labour in China, critics say – Canada has little to show for its promises to combat forced labour in China, critics say. Story here.
Ontario proposing ‘heat stress’ regulations to protect workers from health risks of rising temperatures – The Ontario government is proposing to add regulations to the province’s Occupational Health and Safety Act to limit “heat stress” and heat-related illnesses as climate change pushes global temperatures higher. Story here. Meanwhile, B.C.’s low-income renters thought they’d get free air-conditioning units, but some face hurdles. Story here.
News publishers, broadcasters call for investigation into Meta’s news blocking – A group of Canadian news publishers and broadcasters are calling on Canada’s Competition Bureau to investigate and prohibit Meta from blocking news content on its digital platforms. Story here.
Ottawa LRT partly back in service – For the first time since July 17, service on Ottawa’s LRT system resumed Tuesday. However, only part of the system is working. Story here from CBC.
As ambassadors seek answers from Poilievre, Tory caucus offers foreign policy hints – Ambassadors around Ottawa are looking for clues to decipher the Conservative Party’s foreign policy, as leader Pierre Poilievre offers few hints of how he’d approach the world stage as prime minister. Story here from CTV.
Canada’s visa officers abroad to get anti-racism training amid allegations of discrimination – Staff working in Canada’s visa posts abroad are to be given anti-racism training amid concerns that some local employees hired by the federal government are discriminating against Black people and members of other minorities and religious groups applying to come to this country. Story here.
THIS AND THAT
Summer break – Both the House of Commons and the Senate are on breaks. The House sits again on Sept. 18. The Senate sits again on Sept. 19.
Ministers on the road – Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault and Sport Minister Carla Qualtrough, in Delta, B.C., announced a new pilot program under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, in Vancouver, with B.C. Jobs Minister Brenda Bailey, made an announcement on Canada’s electricity system.
Diplomatic appointments – Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly has announced a series of new appointments. Jessica Blitt is the new ambassador to Croatia. Gavin Buchan is the new ambassador to Romania. Kathy Bunka is going to Iraq as the new ambassador. Also Sandra Choufani is going to Mongolia as Canada’s ambassador. And Chery Cruz is new ambassador to the Slovak Republic. Meanwhile, Caroline Charette becomes consul-general in São Paulo. There are biographical notes here.
PRIME MINISTER'S DAY
Personal day. The PMO has said Justin Trudeau is on vacation.
LEADERS
No schedules released for party leaders.
THE DECIBEL
On Tuesday’s edition of the Globe and Mail podcast, astrophysicist Dr. Heidi White with the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets at the University of Montreal talks about using the James Webb Space Telescope to research exoplanets – planets outside of our solar system – particularly ones that might be able to host life. The Decibel is here.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on how the provinces have to embrace clean power, but Alberta instead leads a resistance: “In the business of electricity, Canada is 10 different countries. The provinces export more power to the United States than to each other. But instead of a new spirit of collaboration and innovation, the provinces are saying no to the goal of clean power by 2035. Ontario is adding more fossil fuel power. Saskatchewan flat-out rejects Ottawa’s goals. In Manitoba, which is already almost 100 per cent clean with its bounty of hydro, the province last week somehow concluded that to clean up the rest of its grid by 2035 is “not feasible.” The absence of ambition is staggering. The worst, however, may be Alberta.”
Lloyd Axworthy and Allan Rock (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on a Canada-led NATO of the North would solve two of our problems at once: “The top priority for new Defence Minister Bill Blair will be to signal Canada’s enduring commitment to NATO. He can do so by building on the excellent work of his predecessor Anita Anand and the strong relationships she developed. He will also have to respond to the need for an overall upgrading of defence capability with a made-in-Canada approach, so that we do not simply allow our policy – and our defence spending – to be determined by American generals or members of Congress. One way to do that is for Mr. Blair to return to a theme that was sounded by Ms. Anand early in her tenure at Defence, but has since slipped from sight: the need to reinforce Canada’s sovereign interests by investing in Arctic security as a part of our NATO commitment.”
Vicky Mochama (The Globe and Mail) on putting in an offer on 24 Sussex: “Nonetheless, I’m putting in an offer on 24 Sussex, the 34-room mansion in Ottawa that is officially the Prime Minister’s residence. I don’t have cash to offer, per se. But a few friends have let me in on a little detail of their house purchases: they sometimes write a letter to the house’s sellers to persuade them, which is very sweet. (Not so for friends who purchased condos; they were instead shaken upside-down until their coins stopped jangling to the ground.) So here I am, appealing to the National Capital Commission, the body that oversees the country’s assets in the Ottawa area, to engage me in a rare civic business opportunity – a public-private partnership, if you will.”
Matt Gurney (TVO) on how the Ontario Progressive Conservatives deserve to lose in every Ottawa riding as long as Doug Ford is premier: “My colleague John Michael McGrath recently wrote about the two byelection defeats the Tories just experienced and noted why one of them is, maybe, a rare example of a byelection worth paying attention to. Losing the Ottawa-area seat of Kanata–Carleton, which the government fought hard to keep, could hold some lessons for the Progressive Conservatives. I will concede that I have no idea why voters in Kanata–Carleton refused to return a PC member to a riding the party has long held. I will simply thank them for doing so. Because the government deserves to be blown out of every Ottawa riding for as long as Doug Ford remains premier.”
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