Hello,
The newsletter is taking Thanksgiving off. The next edition will be out on Tuesday, Oct. 11.
Health Canada approved a second “bivalent” COVID-19 booster on Friday. The booster is an updated version of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to specifically target the common Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants. It is for people 12 years old and older.
The federal agency authorized its first bivalent booster in September – that one was an updated version of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine – but that product was targeted toward the BA.1 variant, which is the initial strain of the Omicron variant.
“These updated bivalent vaccines target two strains of the COVID-19 virus: the original strain and the Omicron strain,” said Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos in a press conference on Friday afternoon.
Mr. Duclos said Canada currently has about 10 million doses of Moderna’s bivalent vaccine, and will receive about 2.8 million doses of Pfizer’s new formulation around next week, with a total of about 11 million Pfizer doses arriving before the end of fall.
“Nationally, the COVID-19 disease indicators, including weekly case counts, have increased in recent weeks, which may be an early sign of fall resurgence,” said Theresa Tam, Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, at the press conference. “As more people go beyond the six-month time lapse since their last vaccine dose or infection, population immunity is falling.”
Dr. Tam said that as of early September, just half of Canadians have received a booster dose. Health officials urged Canadians to get a booster if it has been six months or more since their last booster – or COVID-19 infection.
In his remarks Friday, Mr. Duclos also acknowledged shortages of pediatric and children’s acetaminophen and ibuprofen products. “All options to solve this shortage are on the table,” he said. (His admission is one that Ontario’s Ministry of Health has been hesitant to make, with a provincial spokesperson telling QP Briefing there’s no “active shortage.”)
This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Ian Bailey, with an assist today from Marsha McLeod. 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
SMITH TO BE ALBERTA’S NEW PREMIER - Danielle Smith won the leadership of Alberta’s United Conservative Party Thursday and will become the province’s next premier after a campaign that was driven by COVID-19 grievances, disdain for the federal government and opposition to Jason Kenney. Story here. There’s another story here on what Ms. Smith’s win means for the oil and gas industry. And CBC News has a report here on the reinvention(s) of Ms. Smith.
TECH LEADERS CRITICIZE ARRIVECAN PRICETAG - Canadian tech leaders who have built apps for large corporate clients have described Ottawa’s $54-million price tag for ArriveCan as outrageous, explaining that in their experience, most apps are built for less than $1-million. Story here.
BARTON MUM ON CHARGES AGAINST COMPANY - Canada’s former ambassador to China is declining to comment on South Africa’s decision to file criminal charges against McKinsey & Co. for alleged wrongdoing in a corruption scandal during his tenure as global director of the giant consulting company. Story here.
POILIEVRE SAYS HE ACTED ON YOUTUBE CONCERNS - Federal Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre says he has acted on concerns that his official YouTube videos used tags intended to make them appear in online searches for information on misogynistic men’s groups. Story here.
TURMOIL OVER SPEAKER IN NOVA SCOTIA - Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston has decided to replace the Speaker of the provincial legislature – a caucus colleague Mr. Houston supported for the post. But the Speaker has decided he won’t go, which means the Speaker may face a rare non-confidence vote. Story here from CBC News.
B.C. PREMIER SIGNS CLIMATE PACT WITH U.S. GOVERNORS - British Columbia Premier John Horgan has signed a new climate pact with the governors of Washington, Oregon and California that includes investments in cross-border climate infrastructure such as electric vehicle charging stations. Story here.
CRTC FACES CALL TO SEVER TIES WITH CONSULTANT - An anti-racism group that works with Laith Marouf – a consultant who wrote a series of derogatory tweets about “Jewish white supremacists,” Black and Indigenous public figures and francophones – could still be paid thousands of dollars to take part in proceedings held by the Canadian Radio-television Communications Commission, despite a call from the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs for the CRTC to “terminate” their working relationship with Mr. Marouf and the group. Story here.
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS PERMITTED TO WORK MORE HOURS - Canada will temporarily allow international students to work more than 20 hours a week, in a bid to address ongoing labour shortages. Story here.
THIS AND THAT
TODAY IN THE COMMONS – Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, Oct. 7, accessible here.
DAYS SINCE CONSERVATIVE LEADER PIERRE POILIEVRE TOOK MEDIA QUESTIONS IN OTTAWA: 24
THE DECIBEL
Friday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast deals with housing challenges facing young adults between the ages of 25-29. Personal finance reporter Erica Alini crunched the numbers to get a snapshot of just how expensive it is for young adults trying to find a place to live right now. That episode is here.
PRIME MINISTER'S DAY
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in Ottawa, held private meetings and visited a local food bank to mark Thanksgiving.
In a late addition to his schedule, Mr. Trudeau also gave a press conference with Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland on Friday afternoon, where he announced new measures on Iran, including banning more than 10,000 members of the Iranian regime from ever coming to Canada. He also said the government intends to “massively expand” targeted sanctions on Iran – to hold those most responsible for the nation’s “egregious behaviour” to account.
LEADERS
Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, but is feeling good and has mild symptoms. He said he will follow public-health guidelines. His tweet on the subject is here.
NEWSLETTER BOOKS - In his new book, Shezan Muhammedi explores the fate of thousands of Asian Ugandans who resettled in Canada in 1972 after military leader Idi Amin expelled Asian Ugandans from the country.
About 7,550 of 50,000 expelled Ugandans came to Canada. Mr. Muhammedi interviewed dozens as part of his research for Gifts from Amin: Ugandan Asian Refugees in Canada (University of Manitoba Press). The story is close to home for Mr. Muhammedi, a senior policy analyst for the federal Immigration department who is also an adjunct research professor in Carleton University’s history department. He explains why as part of the following e-mail Q&A with the Politics Briefing newsletter.
Why was it important to you to research and write this book?
What started as a personal connection to the movement grew into a significant doctoral dissertation and the publication of a manuscript with the University of Manitoba Press. After embarking on the research journey, it became exceedingly clear that this was a pivotal moment in Canadian immigration history and something that was not captured in the larger historical narrative. This was Canada’s first major resettlement of a non-European refugee community in the postwar period outside of 228 Tibetans that arrived in 1971. The resettlement also took place prior to the creation of formal refugee policy in 1976. After the formal deracialization of Canadian immigration policy in 1962 and the introduction of the points system in 1967, the Ugandan Asian resettlement set a precedent for future resettlement initiatives in Canada. The most significant reason for writing the book was to emphasize our shared human connections between newcomers and citizens.
What can we learn from the settlement of Ugandans in Canada that is relevant to helping displaced people now?
There are three pieces we can take away from the resettlement of Ugandan Asian refugees in Canada. First, the Canadian government made a concerted effort to collaborate at the provincial and municipal level as well as engaging the with NGO and volunteer communities in local cities. Second, where possible the Canadian government allowed immigration officials on the ground in Kampala to exercise a level of discretion to make decisions on applications. Third, there was a concerted effort to engage the Canadian public in the resettlement. Advertisements were placed in newspapers that encouraged the public to come into a local reception centre for “tea and a chat” with newcomers to build relationships and learn more about the community. Many the oral history participants noted how lifelong relationships were built during these moments that truly made a significant difference in their resettlement journeys. By fostering collaboration across various sectors, remaining flexible in immigration policy, and facilitating cultural exchange between newcomers and Canadians we can make a major difference in the formative years of settlement for all migrant communities in Canada.
What is your own family history relevant to this history?
My mother, her two younger brothers and my grandmother all came to Canada as part of this movement. They flew into Montreal on a charter flight on October 29th, 1972 and travelled to Ottawa two days later. Our family has been based in Ottawa ever since. She did not talk about her experience often when we were growing up but once I started this research, we became much closer as she shared ups and downs of her time in both Uganda and Canada. My father was originally born in Myanmar before he moved to Karachi, Pakistan when he was around 8 years old. My parents met while my mom was visiting relatives in Toronto in the early 1970s and have been happily married ever since.
OPINION - ALBERTA’S NEW PREMIER
Andrew Coyne (The Globe and Mail) on how Constitutional government, and with it the unity of the country, is under attack – on two fronts: “Still, Mr. Legault is the soul of legality compared with what we may expect from Danielle Smith as leader of the United Conservative Party and premier of Alberta. Where Mr. Legault at least pretended to rewrite the Constitution, Ms. Smith would openly repudiate it; where Mr. Legault’s government took the trouble to preserve its bills from the Charter’s reach by means of the notwithstanding clause – itself a part of the Charter – Ms. Smith’s would excuse itself altogether from federal authority, on the strength of nothing more than its own legislative say-so. We have yet to see the precise wording of that bill, the preposterous Alberta Sovereignty Act, but as advertised it would pretend to empower the province to ignore any federal law it chose – after a “free vote” of the legislature, speaking of fig-leafs – and to defy any federal court ruling that went against it.”
Tegan Hill (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how Danielle Smith should save Alberta’s budget surplus and resurrect the rainy-day fund: “During the United Conservative Party’s leadership race, Danielle Smith’s campaign focused largely on an Alberta sovereignty act. But now that she’s been elected leader, Ms. Smith has the opportunity to make a host of fiscal policy changes, including reforms that could help Alberta prevent future budget deficits.”
Alan L. Ross (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how Danielle Smith’s sovereignty act could flex new federalism muscle: “It has been a warm autumn in Alberta, but the province’s next political season will turn decidedly crisper. Incoming premier Danielle Smith’s leadership victory could usher in changes to the constitutional fabric of the country with remarkable scope and speed. The introduction of an Alberta sovereignty act, which Ms. Smith has promised to do quickly, would profoundly affect how the province – indeed the country – navigates the Constitution, jurisdiction and the rule of law.”
OPINION
The Globe and Mail’s Editorial Board on Hockey Canada’s message to Canada: If we go down, we’re taking hockey with us: “Once you’ve lost the support of the public and the dollars of sponsors, and MPs of all stripes are calling for your head, what’s left? Even Richard Nixon knew when it was time to go. Not Hockey Canada, though. Its interim board chair, Andrea Skinner, defended her organization and its CEO, Scott Smith, during Parliamentary hearings in Ottawa this week. Ms. Skinner said the sport of hockey was being used as a “scapegoat” for broader societal ills, and pointed out that two Canadian politicians were recently accused of sexual assault. She also said, in answer to an MP’s request that she grade Mr. Smith’s work at Hockey Canada, that he deserved an A.”
Gary Mason (The Globe and Mail) on how once-mighty Hockey Canada is now in full implosion mode: “Most organizations with any sense of moral duty would have reacted to the demands of the public by now. The CEO would have been sacked, along with his top officials, and likely the entire board as well. Clearly, Ms. Skinner, who represents the Hockey Canada board, is not admitting any failings in the way the organization is dealing with the mess at its feet. On the contrary, she is giving the CEO an “A” for such an exceptional job. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s comments on Thursday seemed to reflect the country’s general impression of Hockey Canada’s performance this week: “There needs to be wholesale change,” he told reporters. “If we have to create an organization, get rid of Hockey Canada and create an organization called Canada Hockey instead, people will look at doing that.” But I doubt it’s going to come to that. Change is almost certainly coming.”
Robyn Urback (The Globe and Mail) on how Hockey Canada is bleeding sponsors and it only has itself to blame: “If Hockey Canada really wanted to show it was an organization reformed, it would have ensured its representatives could at least feign an appreciation for the seriousness of the organization’s misdeeds in front of federal members of Parliament. But interim board chair Andrea Skinner, who testified before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage on Tuesday, couldn’t have demonstrated she took the allegations less seriously if she showed up wearing a clown nose.”
J. Michael Cole (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how engaging Taiwan is in Canada’s national interest: “Given that the status quo in the Taiwan Strait is at the centre of Canada’s Taiwan policy, it is therefore reasonable that Ottawa would refuse to give in to pressure from Beijing at a time when China’s actions threaten to undermine that very status quo. At a minimum, Canada and other countries cannot countenance unilateral moves by China that erode the very essence of our strategic posture on the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan – its democracy, economy, and advanced technology – must not be overtaken by an authoritarian regime whose growing ambitions also threaten our way of life and the values that we cherish.”
Thomas Juneau (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on whether the Mahsa Amini protests in Iran could spark a regime change: “But the current protests are unprecedented in their breadth and depth – to such an extent that going back to the status quo seems unlikely. A more probable scenario, and perhaps the most likely outcome in the short term, would see the regime survive – but only through the use of ever more brute force. This would have other effects. An already fractious regime would become increasingly prone to internal strife. The economy, already weakened by decades of corruption, mismanagement and sanctions, would struggle even more. Future popular explosions would inevitably grow in frequency and intensity, since the wall of fear that kept many off the streets is steadily collapsing.”
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