Good morning,
Business is set to resume in the House of Commons today after a tragedy ended debate early yesterday. Gordon Brown, a 57-year-old Conservative MP from eastern Ontario who was well liked on Parliament Hill, died in his office suddenly on Wednesday morning. He was the third member of Parliament to die of a heart attack in Ottawa in the last four years. Jim Hillyer, then 41, died in his Hill office two years ago, and Jim Flaherty, then 64, died two years before that. Senator Tobias Enverga passed away of an apparent heart attack while on a parliamentary trip to Colombia last fall.
MPs were shaken, many wiping away tears, when they rose for a brief tribute to Mr. Brown, just hours after he had died. Below is part of the tribute paid to him by Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer. You can read the rest here.
“Gord brought his tremendous passion to everything he did. Most recently, he did tremendous work, fighting for those who suffered from thalidomide in their life. He approached that file with sincerity, knowing there was a real human cost to the people afflicted with that. He was moved by their suffering, and he was moved to do something about it. It was inspiring for every member of our team to see him really throw himself into that project.
“We know not the time or the place. We trust in God’s limitless mercy and ever-lasting love. We trust that his memory will be a blessing to all of us here. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, rest in peace.”
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
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s latest appeal to First Nations leaders has been met with growing frustration over the federal government’s approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. Mr. Trudeau appeared at the Assembly of First Nations annual meeting, asking for patience as his government seeks to improve its relationship with Indigenous communities. But that message rang hollow to chiefs who are staunchly opposed to the pipeline project.
The CEO of Suncor Energy Inc. says there won’t be major new investment in Alberta’s oil sands without progress on pipelines.
Ottawa’s official residences continue to see trouble with renovations. The Ottawa Citizen has revealed that Governor-General Julie Payette and her son have never actually moved into Rideau Hall, her office’s official home, because of $1.7-million in upgrades the building is undergoing. Ms. Payette was sworn in in October. And CBC reports that many of the Trudeaus’ meals are prepared at 24 Sussex, the official prime ministerial residence that the family does not live in because of the millions of dollars worth of work that has yet to be started. Instead, a courier brings some of their meals across the street to Rideau Cottage, a guest house on the grounds of Rideau Hall where the Trudeau family currently lives.
Experts say the B.C. government’s housing policies, including expanded taxes on foreign investors and empty homes, are among the factors that drove Vancouver-area home sales down to a 17-year low last month. New stats from the region’s real estate board show the market for detached homes in particular has cooled, while condo prices continue to increase.
Chiefs at the Assembly of First Nations say the United Nations should investigate systemic racism in Canada’s justice system.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has a press conference today, where he may reveal what will happen to MP Erin Weir, who is the subject of harassment complaints.
And Senator David Adams Richards, who recently left the Independent Senators Group, gave a speech in the Red Chamber about how awful American hockey announcers are.
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on Trudeau’s progress: “’We can do this quickly, or we can do this right,’ Mr. Trudeau said. ‘I know that those two are mutually exclusive.’ It was a direct way to reset expectations. Mr. Trudeau’s government has been doing a lot of that lately. The promises and ambitions are still big. The warnings about the time it will take are fairly pointed.”
Monia Mazigh (The Globe and Mail) on Hassan Diab: “Prof. Diab spent more than three years in the infamous Fleury-Mérogis Prison. He was kept in solitary confinement. He missed his children’s milestones and lost precious moments with his family. He lost his academic career. If it were not for the ‘legal mission’ of some high-ranking government lawyers, working so hard to criminalize him, he would have been in Ottawa, attending the birth of his son and walking his daughter to her first day at school. Today, the only thing we can do to help him and his family mourn this loss is to call for a full public inquiry into the shameful actions of Canadian government officials.”
Marcus Gee (The Globe and Mail) on Wynne and Ford: “When Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said recently that Doug Ford was like Donald Trump, critics called it a desperate ploy to discredit her rival before next month’s Ontario election. Maybe it is. It also happens to be true.” (for subscribers)
Frank Clayton (The Globe and Mail) on housing in Ontario: “In the longer term, the Ontario government should launch a New Zealand-type inquiry to examine ways that the land-use planning system in the Toronto region is affecting housing costs and look at ways to reform the system to counter price pressures by making the system more flexible and receptive to market demands.”
David Parkinson (The Globe and Mail) on the Bank of Canada, taking cues from the Federal reserve: “For the first time in years, the central banks of the United States and Canada are playing from a remarkably similar playbook. So perhaps the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to hold steady on its key interest rate – while making it quite clear that its next increase is so close you can almost touch it – foreshadows what could be a near carbon-copy message from the Bank of Canada in its rate decision later this month.” (for subscribers)
Chantal Hébert (Toronto Star) on the Bloc Québécois: “Far from falling by the wayside since the BQ was relegated to the sidelines, top-of-mind Quebec issues have been high on the radar of both the opposition parties. Quebec has been taking the lead in trying to ensure that foreign internet giants operate under the same obligation to collect sales taxes as their domestic competitors. Under the province’s impetus, the NDP made that policy part of its program at its last convention.”
Jennifer Llewellyn (Policy Options) on restorative justice: “The collaborative and inclusive nature of restorative justice is key to securing the knowledge, understanding, commitment and skills needed to address the root causes of the issues that are plaguing the current criminal justice system.”
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INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES
Cambridge Analytica and its parent company SCL Group are shutting down, the next step in the fallout over the Facebook data misuse scandal. The Britain-based political consulting company allegedly illegally used data harvested from 87 million Facebook users, including more than 600,000 Canadians. Cambridge Analytica was hired by U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign. SCL has said it has filed for bankruptcy after losing clients and facing mounting legal fees. Corporate registration documents filed in London indicate that several SCL and Cambridge Analytica executives, including CEO Alexander Nix, have started a new venture called Emerdata Ltd, backed by the the Mercer family, right-wing U.S. billionaires who backed Breitbart and its former CEO Steve Bannon as well as Mr. Trump. The Mercers also backed Cambridge Analytica.
Ever since the relationship between North Korea and South Korea began to thaw in recent months, there have been developments beyond the denuclearization file. Kim Jong-un, who was previously best-known for his erratic behaviour and ordering execution of his uncle and suspected assassination of his half-brother, is now thought to be trustworthy by nearly 80 per cent of South Koreans. Real estate prices near the North Korean border in South Korea as well as China have seen a spike as the prospect of stronger economic ties grows, The Globe’s Nathan VanderKlippe reports.
A senior Hezbollah MP in Lebanon says he does not believe that war between Israel and Iran is imminent, or even likely. Nawar Sahili, who may become a cabinet minister after Sunday’s election in Lebanon, spoke to The Globe’s Eric Reguly and said that even though he doesn’t expect war, Hezbollah is “prepared” in case a conflict does arise.
The U.S. decision to put tariffs on aluminum and steel is putting as many as 7,500 jobs in South Africa at risk. The duties are a heavy blow for the country, which is already struggling with unemployment, slow growth and poverty, The Globe’s Geoffrey York reports.
Ty Cobb, the White House lawyer responsible for handling the Russia probe, will be replaced by veteran attorney Emmet Flood, who was former president Bill Clinton’s lawyer during his impeachment hearing. Mr. Flood also served as a special counsel during the George W. Bush administration.
China’s top economic aide, Vice Premier Liu He, will be meeting with a high-level U.S. trade delegation in Beijing. The two countries, which are also the world’s two biggest economies, have been embroiled in an escalating trade spat.
Nikol Pashinyan, the opposition lawmaker who has been leading protests against the government in Armenia, has called for a pause in the strikes to engage in talks with the ruling party.
A Russian family currently jailed in Guatemala says they are the victims of political persecution and are appealing to the Canadian government for help.
A prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, the notorious prison in Cuba, has been sent back to his native Saudi Arabia to serve the rest of his 13-year sentence.
And an American man by the name of Glenn Jacobs has won the Republican primary to become the next mayor of Knox County, Tenn.,, by a slim 17-vote margin. You may not recognize him by that name, however, as he’s better known as the WWE wrestler Kane.
Globe and Mail Editorial Board on World Press Freedom Day: “Journalists deal in facts, and because facts are often uncomfortable, those who unearth them and disseminate them are attacked. That imbalance is not new. What is new is the mainstream assault on journalists and press freedom. Possession of the facts in too many parts of the world has turned deadly.”
Rachel Pulfer (The Globe and Mail) on journalism in South Sudan: “While this is still South Sudan, where events can change dramatically in a very short period of time, the country also inched up a spot on the Press Freedom Index this year. This situation represents a significant shift for a place that is better known for its poor human-rights record and abuse of journalists than its commitment to a free media.”
Cesar Jaramillo (OpenCanada) on peace in Korea: “ The ultimate endgame seems to be a denuclearized Korean peninsula in the framework of a peace agreement between North and South. However, overlapping, multifaceted political and security interests could derail this ambitious enterprise. Optimism alone won’t overcome them.”
Frank Ching (The Globe and Mail) on censorship in Hong Kong: “Hong Kong is a global financial centre and the free flow of information is vital. Any law curbing free speech will be seen as the thin end of the wedge. Hong Kong likes to be known as Asia’s world city but if national security is used to shut people up, it may end up being known as Asia’s censored city.”
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