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Unions representing tens of thousands of federal workers are promising legal actions, a tide of grievances from workers and other measures to engineer a summer of discontent to counter a new rule that says workers must be in the office for a minimum of three days a week.
Chris Aylward, national president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, offered the warning as public-sector union leaders gathered for a news conference in Ottawa today.
“The Trudeau Liberal government better prepare itself for a summer of discontent,” Aylward said, adding the fight has begun against the new hybrid-work policy, which was announced last week.
He said workers will be taking to the streets and their workplaces in “concerted, co-ordinated actions across the country.”
Full story here.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
Former journalist Joyce Napier named Canada’s ambassador to the Vatican: Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly announced Napier’s appointment today and says Napier will work to advance reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in the new role.
Pierre Poilievre called lobbyists ‘utterly useless,’ but they’re still attending his fundraisers: Although the federal Conservative Leader presents himself as a champion of “the working-class people,” a CBC News analysis shows fundraisers featuring Poilievre have attracted dozens of registered federal lobbyists who paid up to $1,725 each to attend them.
City of Ottawa cancels public ceremony for Israeli flag-raising, citing security concerns: The city said it has intelligence that suggests the event would pose “a substantial risk to public safety.” It did not offer details about the concern.
Indian High Commissioner says he is concerned by perceived national security threats coming from Canada: High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma was speaking in Montreal at a gathering of business leaders on the same day as three Indian nationals appeared in court on charges of killing a Sikh separatist leader in B.C.
Ottawa pushes Crown corporations to make riskier financial deals: The new direction, mentioned in last month’s federal budget, is being worked out between the Department of Finance and three Crown corporations: the Business Development Bank of Canada, Export Development Canada and Farm Credit Canada. Story here.
Ottawa not sufficiently addressing flood of access requests for immigration records, watchdog says: In particular, the federal information watchdog says Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has made “insufficient progress” in improving immigrants’ access to information about their applications, and that failure is now affecting operations at the Canada Border Services Agency.
CBC boss says no need for 800 job cuts, rules out merger with Radio-Canada: Catherine Tait told the Commons heritage committee the estimated shortfall of $125-million has now been reduced to about $20-million for the fiscal year so there is now no need for “significant jobs cuts relating to balancing our books.” Story here.
Number of companies listed as Indigenous jumps sharply as Ottawa adopts procurement target: Amid the rapid increase, some community leaders say the program has overly broad criteria and is vulnerable to abuse.
Saskatchewan NDP questions provincial contract with Stephen Harper’s consulting firm: The Regina Leader-Post reports that the Saskatchewan government has been paying former prime minister Stephen Harper’s consulting company about $240,000 a year over the past four years for largely undisclosed services.
John Vaillant wins Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing for Fire Weather: The award for the book on the 2016 Fort McMurray, Alta., forest fire was announced at the Politics and the Pen fundraising event in Ottawa. Story here.
Liberal government not immune from auto thefts with 48 vehicles stolen in recent years: Ministers are not immune, either. The official vehicle of the minister of justice was stolen three times in as many years between 2021 and 2023.
TODAY’S POLITICAL QUOTES
“Everything I do, there’s cameras and there’s journalists and there’s people. So it is public.” – Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne on being in the spotlight, as he answered media questions on arrival for this week’s Liberal caucus meeting on Parliament Hill.
”The Senators, the Leafs should get together and maybe they’d have one professional hockey team that could win the Stanley Cup. It’s still the same message as last time.” – MP Martin Shields, speaking to journalists monitoring the federal Conservative caucus meeting today on Parliament Hill.
“Attempting to book a seat for a week is now like trying to get tickets to a Taylor Swift concert, staying up late on a Sunday night to ensure you can secure the best seat.” – Sean O’Reilly, vice-president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, at a Parliament Hill news conference today on the challenges federal public servants face getting into their offices.
THIS AND THAT
Carney before Senate committee: Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, also an ex-governor of the Bank of England and seen as a possible future leader of the federal Liberal Party, is appearing before the Senate banking committee this afternoon. The subject is Bill S-243, which would force Canada’s financial sector to consider climate risks.
New Telefilm Canada chairperson: Sylvain Lafrance, who chairs the board of directors of TV5 Numérique, has been named to the post leading the federal Crown corporation that works to develop and promote the Canadian audiovisual industry. His five-year term begins Thursday,
Taking time to answer: Conservative heritage critic Rachael Thomas takes time to answer a question about whether Radio-Canada has to stay open.
Today in the Commons: Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, today, accessible here.
Deputy Prime Minister’s day: In Ontario’s Brant County, Chrystia Freeland toured a local fire station, accompanied by King’s Privy Council President Harjit Sajjan, to highlight budget supports for firefighters and first responders.
Commons committee highlights: Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne was set to appear before the industry and technology committee on the development and deployment of ELYSIS Technology at Rio Tinto and Alcoa facilities. General Wayne Eyre, Chief of the Defence Staff of the Canadian Armed Forces, was scheduled to appear before the national defence committee on the issue of transparency within the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces. Veterans Affairs Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor was to appear before the veterans affairs committee on main estimates, referring to the process by which Parliament approves government spending. Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal was set to appear before the Indigenous and Northern affairs committee on Nutrition North Canada.
PRIME MINISTER'S DAY
In Ottawa, Justin Trudeau attended the weekly Liberal caucus meeting and later Question Period. In the evening, Trudeau was scheduled to deliver remarks at an Asian Heritage Month reception.
LEADERS
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet held a media scrum at the House of Commons ahead of Question Period. He also attended Question Period.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May attended the House of Commons. She met with Salvation Army leaders on their operations as well as the senior management team of the First Nations’ Emergency Services Society of British Columbia on the coming fire season. Also, she met with the Green caucus team.
NDP Jagmeet Singh, in Ottawa, attended the NDP caucus meeting, held a news conference with NDP MP Lori Idlout (Nunavut) on food prices, and participated in Question Period.
No schedule released for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
THE DECIBEL
On today’s podcast, The Globe and Mail’s environment reporter Wendy Stueck explains what a proposed UN treaty to reduce plastic pollution could change, and how countries are thinking about how to balance our reliance on plastic with its effects on our environment. The Decibel is here.
OPINION
Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives, common sense and the courts
“Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre raised a lot of eyebrows, not to mention the hopes of his base, when he said last week that he would invoke the Constitution’s notwithstanding clause if that’s what it took to ensure that the only way a convicted mass murderer ever left prison was “in a box.” Mr. Poilievre’s common-sense tough-guy persona is old hat in conservative politics. What’s new and worrisome is his threat to gut the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the name of right-wing virtue-signalling.” – The Globe and Mail Editorial Board
Poilievre to business: Stop sucking up to Liberals and start sucking up to me
“Ever since the Liberals unveiled their surprise increase in the capital-gains tax in last month’s budget, the question on everyone’s lips has been: What will Pierre Poilievre say about it? Well, maybe not on everyone’s lips. But certainly on some people’s. Conservatives, for instance. After all, conservatives are supposed to be against taxes and tax hikes, of all kinds. And leaders of the Opposition are supposed to oppose.” – Andrew Coyne
Of course the keffiyeh is political. But it still shouldn’t be banned from Ontario’s legislature
“Unless I misread their biographies, I don’t believe NDP MPPs Kristyn Wong-Tam and Joel Harden trace their lineage to the Levant. Was Mr. Harden’s activism born from his experience as a young Palestinian trying to survive in Gaza? Or was it from his position as a student activist railing against capitalism within the comfy confines of Canadian universities? I suppose I will leave it to Mr. Harden, as well as Ms. Wong-Tam, to clarify.” – Robyn Urback
A score-settling book by Brian Mulroney is being kept under wraps
“In the acknowledgments pages of the book, however, Mr. Mulroney made a little-noticed reference to Airbus. He referred to how he was “confronted with the horror of false allegations” by the Liberal government. “I will deal with this extraordinary abuse of a citizen’s rights and the attempt to destroy a former prime minister of Canada,” he wrote “in another book at another time.” Though very few know it, Mr. Mulroney, who died in February, did write that book. It’s not yet published. It might never be published. It’s described to me as a lengthy score-settling blockbuster that attempts to clear his name on Airbus while eviscerating the Chrétien government for its treatment of him.” – Lawrence Martin
We are in a new space race – this time, with China
“Chang’e, the Chinese moon goddess, has lent her name to China’s lunar exploration program. Under this divine nomenclature, a new space race is under way: Artemis, the Greek moon goddess, is the namesake of the U.S.-led lunar program, of which Canada is a part. Tidal forces long ago synchronized the moon’s rotation and orbital periods, creating a side that always faces Earth (the near side), and one that always faces away. Last week, China launched a spacecraft, Chang’e 6, to that elusive far side.” – Michael Byers and Aaron Boley.
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