Good morning,
Justin Trudeau is facing the prospect of having to shuffle his cabinet – again.
Days after the Prime Minister made moves to fill the spot left behind by the resignation of attorney-general-and-justice-minister-turned-veterans-affairs-minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, another high-profile minister is leaving cabinet.
Jane Philpott abruptly resigned as Treasury Board president Monday, citing “serious concerns” about alleged political pressure exerted on Ms. Wilson-Raybould by the Prime Minister and other high-ranking officials to abandon prosecution of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. “I have been considering the events that have shaken the federal government in recent weeks and after serious reflection, I have concluded that I must resign as a member of cabinet,” Ms. Philpott said in a letter to the Prime Minister.
Ms. Philpott’s departure from cabinet is a major blow to the Trudeau government -- not just because she is the second minister to resign in a matter of weeks, and not just because of the stand she has taken (it’s extremely rare for ministers to quit on principle). But because of who she is and what she has accomplished.
Ms. Philpott has been a star in cabinet. She is seen as one of the most competent ministers in Ottawa with a strong reputation for integrity. Known for her firm grip of a large number of files, she earned positive reviews for her work on contentious issues such as medically assisted suicide and the legalization of cannabis. And she won widespread support for her efforts to improve the lives of aboriginal Canadians. Now, she has publicly lost her confidence in the Prime Minister.
Monday evening in Toronto, Mr. Trudeau said Ms. Philpott’s decision was disappointing but a part of democracy.
“In a democracy like ours, in a space where we value our diversity so strongly, we are allowed to have disagreements and debate," he said. “We even encourage it.”
More disagreements are likely coming.
Here’s what columnists are saying so far:
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail): “If any other cabinet minister had quit Justin Trudeau’s cabinet after Jody Wilson-Raybould’s stand in the SNC-Lavalin affair, it would have been bad. When it is Jane Philpott, a paragon of principle who is no pie-eyed dreamer, it is Mr. Trudeau’s government falling apart from the inside. The second resignation will be worse than the first.”
Lori Turnbull (The Globe and Mail): “The grey area in which MPs could plead to be both loyal to the Prime Minister and sympathetic to Jody Wilson-Raybould is quickly disappearing. They have to choose a side. Ms. Philpott has made hers clear. If others follow her lead, the Prime Minister’s confidence problem worsens.”
John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail): “Yes, this is about the alleged interference by the Prime Minister and his advisers in the prosecution for corruption of the Quebec engineering company SNC-Lavalin. But even more, now, it’s about his character, his commitment, his ability to lead – in the eyes of some of those who were closest to him.”
Jen Gerson (Maclean’s): “The unanswered question now before us is how the rest of the caucus feels about the matter. If Philpott’s position is a minority one, the rest of Trudeau’s party may yet fall in line. Confidence, however, is a spinning top, and Philpott’s abandonment may be what was required to it set it wobbling.”
Paul Wells (Maclean’s): “Justin Trudeau’s government is now in a crisis that ranks with the coalition challenge to Stephen Harper in 2008 and Jean Chrétien’s dismissal of Paul Martin in 2002.”
Matt Gurney (National Post): “She’s quitting cabinet because she’s satisfied there’s evidence of wrongdoing on behalf of the government. That’s massively significant.”
This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Aron Yeomanson. 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.
TODAY’S HEADLINES
The Ontario government has fired an outspoken OPP commander who launched a lawsuit after being passed over for the police service’s top job in favour of a friend of Premier Doug Ford.
Facebook Inc. lobbied political leaders in Canada and abroad, seeking to trade investment for legislative favours and use Facebook training to build relationships with public officials, while often remaining in the background by lobbying through trade associations, outside consultants and informal meetings.
Google is banning political and partisan ads during the coming federal election, citing new transparency rules that the internet search giant says are overly onerous.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada will proceed with a U.S. extradition request for Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. executive Meng Wanzhou, even as Chinese authorities made new allegations against two Canadians who were detained in China in apparent retaliation days after Ms. Meng’s Vancouver arrest.
Saudi Arabia believes Canada will go ahead with a multibillion-dollar arms deal, despite remarks by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that Ottawa was looking for a way out of the agreement.
Democrats in the United States have launched a broad new investigation into possible obstruction of justice, corruption and abuse of power by President Donald Trump and his administration.
The U.S. Senate has enough votes to block President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency in a bid to build a wall on the Mexican border.
Former U.S. president Barack Obama told a Winnipeg audience that there is a danger in the United States and around the world with politics being driven by passions disconnected from facts.
South Korea has proposed semiofficial three-way talks with the United States and North Korea as it struggles to put nuclear diplomacy back on track.
Donald Savoie (The Globe and Mail) on the many roles of the clerk of the Privy Council: “Accountability in government, however, becomes murky when individuals wear more than one hat. The minister of justice wears two hats, while the clerk of the Privy Council wears three. If members of the House of Commons justice committee are truly concerned about the health of our political and administrative institutions, they should focus on this issue rather than trying to score or, conversely, deflect partisan political points.”
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on Donald Trump, Canada and the USMCA: “People are beginning to smell blood, which is perhaps why Mexico this week joined with Canada in saying that neither will ratify the USMCA unless Mr. Trump removes the punitive tariffs on steel and aluminum that he imposed on both countries during the NAFTA renegotiations.”
Paul Krugman (The New York Times) on Trump’s trade tactics: “Even if most of the tariffs go away, Trump’s trade belligerence has done lasting damage to America’s reputation, and hence to a global economy that depends on American leadership.”
Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com. Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop