Minister of Public Safety Dominic LeBlanc responds to a question from the opposition during Question Period in Ottawa.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Hello,
The RCMP are working with the Toronto Police Service to investigate shots fired at a Jewish girls’ school over the weekend, says the federal Public Safety Minister.
“The RCMP have a great deal of confidence in the Toronto Police Service, but the RCMP obviously have responsibility from a national security context and they are very much engaged with the Toronto Police Service,” Dominic LeBlanc said at the House of Commons.
“I hope, very much, that the community in Toronto understands that we’re bringing every law enforcement tool to bear to hold those responsible for this hateful and violent crime to account.”
Toronto police said two suspects fired shots shortly before 5 a.m. Saturday at Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary School. No one was injured, they said, but there is damage to the building.
LeBlanc said the government is extremely concerned about the rise in such hateful acts, noting that the Toronto shooting is one in a series of “worrisome incidents” in cities across the country.
However, he said he was reassured by a briefing he received today from RCMP Deputy Commissioner Mark Flynn on the work the force is doing with Toronto police and other forces dealing with these kinds of incidents.
Ontario cabinet ministers and Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow attended a rally today to condemn the shooting.
This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Ian Bailey. 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
Airline prices, concentration key concerns driving Competition Bureau scrutiny: The bureau says a newly announced market study, which will draw on feedback from the public and interested parties, will pave the way for recommendations to government that would improve competition and make it easier for consumers to make informed choices.
Canada pledges visas for 5,000 Gaza residents related to Canadians: The new figure, disclosed today, is an increase from the 1,000 temporary resident visas allotted under a special program for Gaza announced in December. CTV reports.
Ontario Privacy Commissioner probing deleted Greenbelt e-mails: NDP Leader Marit Stiles had asked Information and Privacy Commissioner Patricia Kosseim to investigate the Premier and government staffers’ reported use of personal phones and e-mails on the controversial file.
No sign Canada has a plan to reach NATO defence spending target, U.S. NATO ambassador says: In an interview with CTV, Julianne Smith said Canada has every intention of reaching the defence spending target of 2 per cent of GDP, but the question across the alliance is when Ottawa will present an actual plan to reach it.
Newfoundland and Labrador’s longest-serving legislature member announces exit: CBC reports that Tom Osborne, a 28-year member of the provincial legislature who served in both Progressive Conservative and Liberal governments, is leaving politics.
For Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and Dhanushka Wickramasinghe, a hug filled with compassion and gratitude: The man who lost his entire family in a violent tragedy in March and the Ottawa mayor who wanted to help him put his life back together met in a prolonged embrace at an Ottawa marathon this past weekend. The Ottawa Citizen reports.
TODAY’S POLITICAL QUOTES
“Even in times of war, there are rules. And the images coming out of Rafah are horrific, heartbreaking” - Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, during Question Period, on an Israeli strike on a Rafah tent camp. Joly noted that an immediate ceasefire is required.
“This is not about reducing the number of jobs. This is about ensuring that we increase efficiency and, in particular, the efficiencies with which Canadians generally interact with the federal government.” - Treasury Board President Anita Anand, to journalists after her remarks to an artificial intelligence roundtable in Gatineau, Que., today.
THIS AND THAT
Today in the Commons: Projected Order of Business in the House of Commons, May 27, accessible here.
Deputy Prime Minister’s Day: Private meetings in Ottawa. Chrystia Freeland also attended Question Period. Later, Freeland participated in a roundtable discussion of economic reconciliation that was closed to the media.
Ministers on the Road: In Kelowna, B.C., Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault made an announcement at Canada’s Building Trades Unions’ annual workforce development conference. Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge and Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez spoke in Quebec City to the first meeting of the UNESCO Group of Experts on the diversity of cultural expression in the digital environment.
Commons Committee Highlights: Defence Minister Bill Blair and Caroline Xavier, the chief of the Communications Security Establishment, attended a meeting of the national defence committee. The presidents of Concordia University, McGill University, the University of British Columbia and the University of Toronto were among witnesses at a justice committee hearing on antisemitism and additional measures that could be taken to address fears expressed by Canada’s Jewish community.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller attended a hearing of the citizenship committee on temporary measures being initiated in response to ongoing conflicts in Sudan and Gaza. Michael Callan, Canada’s ambassador to Algeria, was among the witnesses appearing before the foreign affairs committee on Canada’s approach to Africa. Official Languages Commissioner Raymond Théberge was scheduled to appear before the official languages committee on his annual report. Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne is scheduled to appear at 3:30 p.m. ET before the public safety committee on Bill S-210.
Senate Committee Highlights: Former federal cabinet minister Allan Rock was among the witnesses scheduled to appear before a 4:30 p.m. ET hearing of the national security committee to discuss the implementation of certain provisions of the federal budget.
PRIME MINISTER'S DAY
In Ottawa, Justin Trudeau met with members of the Prime Minister’s Youth Council, accompanied by Marci Ien, the Minister for Women, Gender Equality and Youth.
LEADERS
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet completed a two-day visit to the Quebec city of Saguenay today with commitments that included a news conference with Bloc MPs Mario Simard and Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May participated virtually in the House of Commons sitting from the Nova Scotia village of Chester.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh spoke to the media in Ottawa, then attended Question Period. In the evening, he attended the 2024 Breaking Down the Barricades: Women in Defence reception. He also attended the 2024 Terry Fox Humanitarian Award Recognition event.
No schedule released for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
THE DECIBEL
Today’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast features Oliver Moore, The Globe’s urban affairs reporter, on why good public toilets are so hard to find, how the pandemic created a two-tier system of access and what Canadian cities are doing to address the scarcity. The Decibel is here.
NEWSLETTER BOOKS
The Prince: The Turbulent Reign of Justin Trudeau, by Stephen Maher (Simon & Schuster)
Twenty-four hours after publisher Simon & Schuster approached Stephen Maher to write a book about Justin Trudeau, the veteran Canadian political journalist had a title and theme.
Now, his assessment of the Prime Minister, built on a foundation of 15 years covering politics as a member of the parliamentary press gallery, is out, and Maher has already written on some of his conclusions.
In a Q&A with the politics-briefing newsletter, Maher, who interviewed Trudeau for this research, talks about the project and the Prime Minister’s possible political future.
What does your book provide to readers that other books on Prime Minister Trudeau have not?
Most of the books about him were written when the government was fairly young. I respect the authors of those books, and read them carefully as I was researching my book. They helped people study the government at that time. I was able, though, to interview a good number of people who were in the government when those earlier books were written and were not then able to discuss their experiences freely, which I hope has allowed me to go deeper, and also, obviously, I was able to write about things that happened subsequently.
What did your interview with Mr. Trudeau add to the book?
It allowed me to get his perspective on a number of things that I was able to sprinkle throughout the book. I was not able to delve deeply into the most contentious questions from his time in office because the interview was only an hour long, and I didn’t believe it would be helpful to put him on the defensive. But I learned some interesting things and was reminded of his personal dynamism, his work ethic. He took the interview seriously, did his homework, was well prepared.
Did Mr. Trudeau say anything in your interview with him for this book that changed your thinking about him based on the research and writing you had done leading to the interview?
He teared up when we spoke about the 2015 endorsement he received from La Presse, which was important electorally but was also a moment of personal validation for him. That gave me a sense of the depth of his feelings about how Quebeckers see him, his emotional life, which is something that he doesn’t often reveal.
What was the toughest challenge in writing this book and how did you overcome it?
The hardest thing was convincing people to talk to me. Many former staffers have a wholesome desire to see an accurate record of the government they were part of, but they are concerned about their relationships, their professional lives. It was necessary to conduct the research in a way that gave them comfort, largely by being forthcoming about my methods and respectful of everyone’s reputation. Our democracy depends on having good people work in demanding jobs, and they should be treated fairly in the public square. I keep that top of mind as I report and write.
Edited for length and clarity.
OPINION
Do not merge with U.S. tariffs on Chinese EVs
“The United States, the world’s foremost economy and a military superpower, is terrified of Seagulls. Not the ubiquitous seabird but, rather, the compact electric vehicle produced by Chinese carmaker BYD that has a driving range of more than 400 kilometres and a price tag of around US$10,000 in China, less than half that of the cheapest EV available in the U.S.” - The Globe and Mail Editorial Board
It’s a strange time to be a Speaker of a legislature – especially in Saskatchewan
“Spare a thought for the Speakers of Canada’s legislative bodies. In the country’s capital, the Speaker is being lambasted for being too close to his party. In Regina, the Speaker is estranged from his – saying he has long been worried about guns and violence in the House, and his own personal safety.” - Kelly Cryderman.
Visiting Ottawa, it was sad to see what has become of my hometown
“Visits to major world capitals in the past months, including Washington, London, Rome, Warsaw and Brussels, showed that they’ve bounced back from COVID in a way that Ottawa hasn’t. Let us look at this crisis as an opportunity to reimagine what Canadian downtowns should be, especially Ottawa. At the end of the day, if Canada wants to retain its image as a Group of Seven middle power, it needs to fix its front porch first.” - Michael Bociurkiw
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