Good morning,
The Liberal government is set to announce new measures to “modernize” Canada’s elections this afternoon, but it may be getting too late to make changes before next year’s election. The government’s first bill on electoral changes, C-33, has sat in Parliament without even a single word of debate for a year and a half. That piece of legislation was designed to roll back some of the controversial changes the previous Conservative government had made.
According to internal documents obtained by The Globe, Elections Canada is worried that any further shift to electronic devices will open up new security threats. As one example, the iPads to be used for voter registration are to only be used in the “Five Eyes” countries that Canada partners with for security.
This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Chris Hannay in Ottawa, Mayaz Alam i n Toronto and James Keller in Vancouver. If you’re reading this on the web or someone forwarded this email newsletter to you, you can sign up for Politics Briefing and all Globe newsletters here. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.
CANADIAN HEADLINES
Opposition MPs suggest the Liberals plan to “demonize” the right and “steal” from the left in next year’s election.
As Canada is concerned about the flow of opioids into the country from China, apparently China is also worried about the flow of marijuana to their country from Canada.
Canada is keeping up its sanctions against North Korea even as the troubled nation is inching towards a peace deal with the United States.
Bloc Quebecois Leader Martine Ouellet has prevented an early confidence vote on her leadership, with party members instead voting in June.
A Globe and Mail investigation reveals how private deals between developers, select realtors and speculators used to flip presale condos are driving up prices in Vancouver’s overheated housing market. The provincial government recently announced legislation requiring developers to report such deals, but critics say the rules don’t go far enough.
B.C.’s NDP government has argued Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion must be stopped because it would cause an undue risk to the coast. In response, the federal government has outlined a multibillion-dollar ocean protection plan to bolster spill response. But the province’s environment minister says the issue of ocean protection isn’t related to the pipeline.
Analysts say B.C.’s decision to ask the province’s Court of Appeal whether it has jurisdiction over oil shipments is expected to end up at the Supreme Court of Canada.
An Alberta First Nation says it’s pressing ahead with a lawsuit against the provincial and federal governments that argues there has been so much development on its land that the community’s right to traditional activities is effectively meaningless.
And in case you missed it on the weekend, here’s our deeper dive into exactly what happened at the National Gallery of Canada when they sought to sell a Chagall to buy a David.
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on Andrew Scheer and Quebec: “It’s now an unmissable ritual: Like extraterrestrials trying to make first contact with the people of the Earth, English-speaking federal political leaders venture onto Quebec’s Tout le monde en parle, hoping to make themselves known to Quebeckers. Now it’s Andrew Scheer’s turn. And not a moment too soon.”
Lorrie Goldstein (Toronto Sun) on Andrew Scheer and the climate: “Conservative and Liberal governments have been setting and failing to meet greenhouse gas emission targets going back to the Tory era of Brian Mulroney, the Liberal governments of Jean Chretien and Paul Martin, the Conservative government of Stephen Harper and now, the Trudeau government.”
Elizabeth Renzetti (The Globe and Mail) on Toronto, a week later: “We’re supposed to cheer that this tragedy has shown our city in its best light – the people who came to the aid of victims, the police officers who handled the situation so competently. Those are, indeed, wonderful things to celebrate. But it can’t come at the cost of accepting that this attack may well have been terrorism, morally if not legally: Terrorism directed at, and lethal to, people who are women.” (for subscribers)
Tiffany Gooch (Toronto Star) on violence against women: “Definitions aside, I reject the notion that there is nothing we can do. I believe we have the power to collectively shape the world around us, and we can start by supporting those on the front lines who are combating this toxic culture.”
Myra Tawfik (The Globe and Mail) on intellectual property: “Increasingly, the Canadian economy is dependent on Canadians generating new ideas and knowledge, and retaining their value in this country. Intellectual property rights secure our creative and innovative efforts so that we can extract commercial value from them.”
Mark Kingwell (The Globe and Mail) on the idea of Canada: “Canada: nation or notion? Provinces: evil or just standing up for themselves? How many best-selling Québécois authors can you name? How far north have you ventured? We have been on this cultural merry-go-round so many times before that this semi-hysterical discourse about Canadian identity might in fact be what constitutes Canadian identity.”
Erna Paris (The Globe and Mail) on Canada’s multiculturalism: “As populism and intolerance increase elsewhere, it is this deliberate looseness when it comes to identity, this unique approach to pluralism, that will help to protect us – if we remain vigilant. And that, in my view, is why multiculturalism matters.”
Doug Saunders (The Globe and Mail) on China : “Life is being transformed fast by the potent combination of universal access to high technology, government use of data-mining techniques and the world’s largest authoritarian bureaucracy, with 50 million public officials. That bureaucracy, far more than President Xi Jinping’s dictates, is what determines China’s future – and the way it behaves in real life is very different from the way it portrays itself.”
Vicki Huddleston (The Globe and Mail) on Cuba: “By reinstating a punitive policy toward Cuba, the Trump administration is ignoring the strategic interests of the United States. Accustomed to always having a patron – Spain, the United States, the Soviet Union and Venezuela, the last of which can no longer afford to sustain the relationship – Cuba is moving ever closer to Russia and China, giving them a beachhead just 150 kilometres from Florida.”
Barrie McKenna (The Globe and Mail) on never-ending NAFTA: “Who knows if Mr. Trump is purposely ragging the puck on NAFTA. But Republicans have repeatedly warned the White House that greater protectionism could negate all the competitive gains from the tax cuts, and perhaps he’s listening. ” (for subscribers)
Laura Dawson (The Globe and Mail) on the possibility of a quick deal: “The deal-in-principle option is only worth considering if each country believes that its most important issues are resolved, but the top priorities for each country are quite different: The United States wants reforms in Canadian dairy markets and Mexican labour; Canada wants a dispute-settlement mechanism; Mexico wants to ensure uninterrupted market access for fruits and vegetables, and so on. Moreover, the costs and benefits of the deal are dispersed by sector and by region. Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland cannot return home with a great deal for dairy but nothing for autos and timber.”
James Trottier (The Globe and Mail) on looking forward from the Korea summit: “The U.S. President’s agreement to meet has already enhanced Mr. Kim’s legitimacy and status. Such a meeting has been a longstanding North Korean goal. So Mr. Kim could be expected to make an effort to ensure Mr. Trump’s continued willingness to meet.”
Sima Sharifi (The Globe and Mail) on Atwood and Iran: “At this point, we concluded that the translation [in Iran] of The Handmaid’s Tale had two simultaneous goals. The regime hoped to rebrand itself as pro-feminist in the eyes of the international community by publishing the book, while reinforcing their anti-feminist stand to its citizens by eliminating all pro-feminist content in the translation.”
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