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The federal and Manitoba governments will each commit $20-million to search a Winnipeg-area landfill where police believe the bodies of at least two First Nations women were dumped by a serial killer, The Globe and Mail has learned.
In an exclusive interview, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said he had scheduled a private meeting in downtown Winnipeg to share information about the funding with the families of the victims this afternoon.
He was joined by Grand Chief Cathy Merrick of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine and representatives from Ottawa and the City of Winnipeg.
The new funding marks the first step toward locating the remains of Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran and the unidentified woman who has been given the spirit name Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe, which means Buffalo Woman. Winnipeg police allege all three were killed in 2022 by Jeremy Skibicki, who has also been charged with the first-degree murder of Rebecca Contois.
“I can’t commit to any of these families that this search is going to be successful, but I can 100 per cent guarantee that we’re going to try,” Kinew said.
Full story here by Winnipeg reporter Temur Durrani.
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TODAY'S HEADLINES
Canada’s banking regulator to cap mortgages to highly indebted borrowers: The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions has told lenders they will have to limit loans to borrowers with mortgages greater than 4.5 times their annual incomes.
Princess of Wales says she has cancer, is undergoing chemotherapy: Catherine said today she is undergoing preventative chemotherapy after tests following major abdominal surgery in January revealed the presence of cancer.
Federal government posts $25.7-billion deficit between April and January: The Finance Department said in its monthly fiscal monitor that the deficit between April and January compared with a $6.4-billion deficit during the same period a year earlier.
Liberal MP decries ‘political games’ over criticism of Conservatives on Ukraine: Rob Oliphant, the parliamentary secretary to Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, says framing the Tories as soft on Ukraine isn’t helping the country fend off Russia’s invasion.
NDP requests commissioner investigate second lobbying firm operating out of office owned by Poilievre’s top adviser: In a letter sent to Lobbying Commissioner Nancy Bélanger, NDP MP and ethics critic Charlie Angus said details in The Globe’s report about a federal lobby firm that operates out of Jenni Byrne’s provincial lobbying office were concerning. Story here.
Founder of ArriveCan contractor failed to disclose conflicts of interest, other ‘schemes,’ deputy minister of defence says: Bill Matthews, the Defence Department’s top public servant, told parliamentarians he had concerns about the explanations offered by David Yeo for not disclosing his outside work with Dalian when he was hired by the department on Sept. 19, 2023. “I would say it’s highly suspicious,” he said.
Canadian retail sales down in January as new car purchases fell: Statistics Canada said today that overall retail sales were down in three of nine subsectors it tracks, with sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers falling 2.4 per cent, the category’s first decline in five months.
B.C. Premier to meet with woman who took herself off transplant list due to costs: “I look forward to meeting with her to talk with her about suggestions she has about her particular health journey and things we can do to make her life easier,” David Eby told CTV News.
Yukon MLAs vote down motion to condemn federal carbon tax increase: Yukon Party MLA Wade Istchenko brought the motion forward to condemn the increase. CBC reports that the motion ultimately failed, with eight MLAs voting in favour and 10 voting against it.
TODAY’S POLITICAL QUOTES
“If the Bank of Canada lowered their interest rates, even down to 4 or below 4 per cent, you’d see homes pop up like mushrooms all over this province.” – Ontario Premier Doug Ford at a news conference in Hamilton today.
“He’s the Premier of Ontario. I’m the next prime minister of Canada, so I’ll work with all premiers on my common-sense plan.” – Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, asked on CP24 in Toronto today, about his relationship with Ford.
“There is a saying around home that we chuckle about, that everybody loves a good crier, and there is no one better at that than Wes Libbey.” – Conservative MP Eric Duncan on Libbey, who has served as a town crier in the Ontario city of Cornwall and was recently named Cornwall’s 2023 Citizen of the Year.
THIS AND THAT
Brian Mulroney’s state funeral: Saturday’s funeral ceremony for the former prime minister begins at 11 a.m. ET. It is being held in Montreal at Notre-Dame Basilica of Montréal. Eulogies will offered by Caroline Mulroney, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Wayne Gretzky, businessman Pierre Karl Péladeau, James Baker – the former U.S. secretary of state – and former Quebec premier Jean Charest. Please check The Globe and Mail for coverage.
Ng leading trade mission to Malaysia and Vietnam: Global Affairs has announced the Team Canada mission led by International Trade Minister Mary Ng, which will run between March 24 and 29 and will see the minister joined by more than 135 Canadian businesses and organizations.
Robertson gets Travers fellowship: Dylan Robertson, the international affairs reporter with the Ottawa bureau of The Canadian Press, has been awarded this year’s $25,000 R. James Travers Foreign Corresponding Fellowship. Details here.
Today in the Commons: This afternoon the Commons was adjourned for a two-week break, with MPs returning April. 8. The Senate is also on a two-week break, with April 9 set as a fixed sitting day.
Deputy Prime Minister’s day: No public events scheduled.
Ministers on the road: Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, in the Montreal-area suburb of Repentigny, announced support for the conservation and improvement of the St. Lawrence ecosystem.
Commons and Senate Committee highlights: No committee meetings set today for either the Commons or the Senate.
PRIME MINISTER'S DAY
No public events scheduled for Justin Trudeau.
LEADERS
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre attended a party fundraising event in Mississauga.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May attended House of Commons proceedings and travelled by train to Montreal for Saturday’s state funeral of Brian Mulroney.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in Montreal, hosted a townhall focusing on pharmacare, visited a seniors residence to discuss dental care and, in the evening, was scheduled to join the local Muslim community for a Ramadan Iftar, or break of fast.
No schedule released for Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet.
THE DECIBEL
On today’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, Alberta and energy reporter Kelly Cryderman explains why Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe decided that the province would stop collecting a carbon levy on home heating bills, then wouldn’t pay part of its carbon bill to the Canada Revenue Agency. The Decibel is here.
OPINION - Brian Mulroney
Free trade wasn’t just Mulroney’s key achievement – it is one of the most dramatic public opinion turnarounds in Canada’s history
“Since Brian Mulroney’s death last month, pundits and the public alike have reflected on his political acumen and accomplishments. The negotiation of the free-trade deal with the United States tops everyone’s list of his achievements as prime minister. But the free-trade story is not just about a policy that put a dramatic end to the protectionism that had underpinned Canada’s economic strategy for more than 100 years. It is the story of one of the most remarkable turnarounds of public opinion in the country’s history – one with two important lessons for political leaders today.” - Michael Adams and Andrew Parkin
Fond memories of Mulroney’s ‘blarney’ and empathy
“In the spring of 2016, I was heading for what was promising to be a challenging leadership review in Edmonton. I remember being hunkered down in a room with my closest advisers preparing my keynote for the event. Word came in from a colleague that Mulroney was trying to reach me. I gladly accepted his call and what transpired next blew me away.” -Tom Mulcair, The Montreal Gazette
OPINION
Canada’s dangerous slide into antisemitism
“Antisemitism has imbedded itself in Canada. As if to drive home the point, on Wednesday the country’s largest French-language newspaper, La Presse, ran an editorial cartoon depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Nosferatu – an antisemitic movie character from 1922 based on Dracula that the Nazis went on to use as a propaganda tool against Jews. But that wasn’t even the worst thing to happen this week. On Monday, an NDP member of Parliament, Brian Masse, acknowledged the rise in antisemitism in Canada but said, “We’re not going to be able to fix anything right now until there’s a ceasefire [in Gaza].” While Mr. Masse and both the editor and the publisher of La Presse apologized, the incidents were all too telling.” - The Globe and Mail Editorial Board
Even as fiscal pressures mount, we must still spend to spur growth
“Having once stood at the helm of Canada’s finances, I empathize with my former counterparts. The challenges that finance ministers face today are more formidable than in recent history. These global upheavals are not only exerting immense pressure on fiscal budgets but will act as impediments to economic growth as well. I acknowledge how difficult it is for a finance minister to get the balance right, between reining in expenditures and spending to spur growth. But it can be done.” - Bill Morneau
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Ian Bailey