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This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Ian Bailey. Menaka Raman-Wilms is filling in today. It is available exclusively to our digital subscribers. If you’re reading this on the web, subscribers can sign up for the Politics newsletter and more than 20 others on our newsletter signup page. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.
Major-General Dany Fortin, the former head of Canada’s vaccine task force, has been charged with one count of sexual assault at a police station in Gatineau, Que., a development that brings the issue of sexual misconduct in the military into the election campaign.
Wearing his uniform and medals, Maj.-Gen. Fortin was accompanied by his wife, Madeleine Collin, and a member of his legal team Wednesday morning as he arrived at the police station to hear the charge against him.
Speaking to reporters outside afterward, he said his lawyers had tried to get information about the situation from prosecutors but were unsuccessful, adding that the arrest warrant, issued Monday, was a “total surprise.”
He said he would “vigorously” defend himself against the charge and also ask the federal court to consider “the lack of due process” he has been accorded “throughout this ordeal.”
Speaking in Vancouver, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau was asked about the case and his government’s handling of sexual misconduct incidents. He said that his government has brought forward a “number of different measures” aimed at improving the culture of the military and ensuring there are better resources in place when people do come forward. He added, “we know there is more to do.”
The Canadian Armed Forces has faced a crisis of military sexual misconduct in recent years, and a number of major commanders have stepped aside. Earlier this year, former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour was appointed to study the creation of an independent reporting system for military sexual assault.
O’TOOLE REACTION TO PROVINCIAL TORY WIN IN NOVA SCOTIA
Dispatch from Ian Bailey, on the road with the Conservative campaign
Erin O’Toole says he is pleased with, and drawing lessons from, the unexpected Progressive Conservative win in the Nova Scotia election. “As a federal Conservative leader, I love the results on the ground in Nova Scotia,” Mr. O’Toole told a news conference Wednesday in Quebec City.
The Tory leader, who noted he got his start in politics as a volunteer with the Nova Scotia PCs and met his wife, Rebecca, in the province, said the toppling of the Liberal government shows incumbents can’t have elections at their own convenience for their own self interest. He added that “campaigns matter,” as do detailed plans to present to voters, and cited his own Recovery Plan.
Mr. O’Toole noted that the provincial and federal Tories are different parties, but have a shared pool of volunteers.
In Nova Scotia, Tim Houston led the Progressive Conservatives to a majority win, campaigning on a pledge to fix the province’s troubled health-care system. Their win ended eight years of Liberal government. Mr. Houston’s party became the first to unseat a Canadian government in an election held since the start of the continuing pandemic.
Iain Rankin, who won the provincial Liberal leadership race in February and as a result became Premier, said on election night that he would continue to lead the party.
TODAY’S HEADLINES
UNION CRITICIZES LEADERS’ PROMISES TO DISCIPLINE UNVACCINATED GOVERNMENT WORKERS - As vaccination status continues to be a issue in the campaign, the country’s largest federal public sector union is speaking out against promises from party leaders that government employees could be disciplined for not getting vaccinated.
SURPRISING ELECTION WIN FOR NOVA SCOTIA PCs - Premier-designate Tim Houston beat the incumbent Liberals by running on a left-leaning platform, which promised hundreds of millions of dollars for more family doctors, increasing the number of nursing homes beds and boosting the mental-health system.
LESS POLITICS ON FACEBOOK THIS ELECTION - The Canadian head of the social media giant says the company will take down posts that spread misinformation about the Canadian election or the pandemic. From CBC Montreal.
O’TOOLE CRITICIZES TRUDEAU, SINGH AS INFLATION JUMPS - Statistics Canada reported that headline inflation hit 3.7 per cent last month, which is the highest year-over-year increase in a over a decade. Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole is putting the blame for the pace of growth on his political opponents.
LEADERS
Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-François Blanchet is campaigning in Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Que., south of Montreal and by the U.S. border, and is addressing the temporary foreign worker program.
Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole is in Quebec City today where he’s scheduled to make a couple of announcements and will then attend an event with supporters in the early evening.
Green Party Leader Annamie Paul is campaigning in the riding of Toronto-Centre again, and will make an announcement in the afternoon on social safety nets.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is in Burnaby, B.C., where he made an announcement on affordable housing this morning. He’s then scheduled to hold a couple of online events with candidates and also visit local business owners.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau was in Vancouver on Wednesday morning to announce funding that would support more fire fighters. This afternoon he’s travelling to the suburb of Surrey to visit a local bistro.
OPINION
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on how at least we know this federal election campaign isn’t about deficits: “You know this isn’t an election campaign about public finances when the only major party really talking about how we’re going to pay for all this is the NDP.”
Gary Mason (The Globe and Mail) on why Erin O’Toole isn’t just fighting an election, but also members of his own party: “Welcome to Erin O’Toole’s world – or rather, his nightmare. While his central challenger in this election, Justin Trudeau, can be many things to many people, the Conservative Leader does not have that option. He is bound, in many ways, to a segment of the population resistant to change and who are suspicious of government intrusions of any sort into their lives, regardless of the reason.”
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on why Joe Biden, who is hung up on Keystone XL, is desperately calling OPEC’s oil hotline: “Mr. Biden’s failed plea for more oil – OPEC and its allies have not been stirred into action – distills the tension between the hope for a fossil fuel-free future and present political realities. Oil may no longer be an essential fuel tomorrow, but today it remains at the centre of the world economy.”
Jessica Davis (contributor to The Globe and Mail) on what the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan will mean for global terrorism: “Canada and its allies have limited options in responding to the threat now posed by terrorist groups in the region. With the U.S. and NATO withdrawing from Afghanistan, counterterrorism will have to be done from a distance, which presents different challenges.”
Tasha Kheiriddin (for the Montreal Gazette) on how the Bloc Quebecois could deny Justin Trudeau his majority: “Trudeau knows that if the Bloc makes gains in Quebec, he can kiss his dreams of majority government goodbye. Expect a lot of attention paid to la belle province in the coming 34 days.”
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