Good morning,
Tomorrow is the day to break out the champagne: it’s Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding. The ceremony starts at noon London time (the wee hours for those of us in Canada) and will last about an hour. It’s expected to be watched by millions of people around the globe. If you want to know more and catch up on the gossip, we have you covered here.
If you’re wondering what the Canadian political connection is, there is at least one: Some of former prime minister Brian Mulroney’s grandchildren have roles in the wedding.
And a programming note: there will be no Politics Briefing newsletter on Monday. Enjoy the long weekend (if you’re in a province that lets you)!
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
Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau says his government's promise to provide financial security to Kinder Morgan for its Trans Mountain pipeline project won’t cost Canadian taxpayers. In fact, Mr. Morneau says the government may even turn a profit. Mr. Morneau announced earlier this week that the government will cover any losses Kinder Morgan suffers as a result of political opposition in B.C. He says even if Kinder Morgan walks away, there would likely be other investors willing to take the project over — including, potentially, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
B.C.’s attorney general says the province will file a lawsuit next week challenging legislation that would allow Alberta to cut off oil supplies in retaliation for the pipeline fight.
The Finance Minister also says Canada won’t respond to U.S. corporate tax cuts until the fall, at the earliest.
The government will be hiring more summer students as border guards to help handle the influx of asylum seekers coming across the border.
Construction is starting soon on the government’s new support ships.
Newfoundland and Labrador is close to announcing an abortion-pill funding plan, Health Minister John Haggie said. Mifegymiso, the abortion pill, is a federally approved medical drug that is at least partly covered by every other province.
And Vancouver is the first major Canadian city to ban drinking straws, in a bid to cut down on plastic waste.
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on the federal government’s Trans Mountain gamble: “The stakes, by Mr. Trudeau’s own public reckoning, are very high. It’s not just his pledge to get a pipeline to tidewater built that will be in tatters if the Trans Mountain expansion (TMX) does not go ahead. It’s his oil-patch strategy and a big chunk of investor confidence in Canada’s business climate.”
Gary Mason (The Globe and Mail) on the return of Stephen Harper:”It will be interesting to see whether Mr. Harper follows up on his first tentative steps back into spotlight with even bolder forays into the public realm. The Liberals might like it, but so would many Conservatives.”
Jeanette VanderMarel (The Globe and Mail) on the green rush: “One of the primary challenges is the inevitable urge to appease all the different industry players’ interests in the initial sweep of legislation. If we want to assume that global leadership role, there is no room for continued grey areas in Canada’s cannabis sector.”
Steven Globerman and Jason Clemens (The Globe and Mail) on demographics and entrepreneurship: “Entrepreneurship is widely acknowledged as the basis for innovation, technological advancement and economic progress – and subsequently, a driving force for improved living standards. Yet there’s little discussion, let alone action, among governments in Canada to stem the adverse effects of demographic change on entrepreneurship, specifically the aging of our population.”
Supriya Dwivedi (Global News) on carbon taxes: “Ontario is the country’s most populous province, and with populism increasingly creeping its way into our politics, it’s only a matter of time before more politicians in this country adopt the Ford approach to climate change, which is to do absolutely nothing. Climate change is real. Carbon taxes work. Neither of those sentences ultimately matters, though, if a majority of Ontarians disagree.”
Robyn Urback (CBC News) on Ontario’s election: “No candidate has been courageous enough to speak to the province’s economic reality, instead doubling down on an unsustainable financial course for the sake of an easy-to-sell platform.”
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INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will look into the shooting of a Canadian-Palestinian doctor, after taking a phone call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The World Health Organization is raising the alarm over the spread of the Ebola virus into a major city in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A vaccine that was developed in a Winnipeg microbiology laboratory will be deployed in the region, the first time this experimental treatment is being used for a new outbreak.
Ri Son Gwon, the chairman of the North Korea's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the country, is calling the South Korean government “ignorant and incompetent.” He also denounced the joint South Korea-U.S. combat drills and threatened to suspend meetings with South Korea if North Korean demands aren’t met. U.S. President Donald Trump is calling on North Korea to denuclearize or risk being overthrown. Mr. Trump is set to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12 and is insisting that the summit is on track, despite the war of words.
China is offering the U.S. a trade deficit reduction package worth US$200-billion in an attempt to resolve the ongoing disputes between the world’s two biggest economies. The package, which involves the proposed purchases of U.S. goods, came during trade talks in Washington.
Venezuela says that Canada is blocking expats from voting in its presidential election on Sunday. President Nicolas Maduro, who has taken steps to consolidate power in recent years, is seeking a second term. Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said Canada’s decision to disallow voting inside the Venezuelan Embassy and its consulates is hostile. Canada is rejecting the election as illegitimate.
And Gina Haspel has been confirmed as the new director of the CIA and will become the first woman to hold the role. Democrats overwhelmingly voted against her appointment, due to concerns over her role in the spy agency’s use of torture, but the vote did not completely fall along party lines.
J. Michael Cole (The Globe and Mail) on Air Canada and China: “When we yield to Beijing’s preposterous demands, the way Air Canada did on how it refers to Taiwan, we display our weakness and our willingness to compromise what we believe in. A revisionist regime that seeks to undermine and alter the international system can only see such weakness as an invitation to demand more – and in doing so, we sow the seeds of our own misfortune.”
Shimon Koffler Fogel (The Globe and Mail) on Gaza and Hamas: “Countries such as Canada should make it absolutely clear not only that Hamas will never achieve its fantasy of destroying Israel but also that a better life for Gazans tomorrow depends on Hamas investing in its people rather than in violence today.”
Denise Balkissoon (The Globe and Mail) on race in Britain: “There are two big stories right now about black migrants in Britain, but only one is fun to pay attention to. That would be that Meghan Markle, an American with a black mother and white father, is marrying Prince Harry. A beautiful, biracial commoner starring in a royal wedding is a fairy tale about race and Britishness the Crown can get behind. It’s a much better image than half a million black and brown citizens facing possible deportation. But that, too, is currently happening: In fact, the Windrush scandal, as it’s known, became public around the same time as the Royal engagement, last November. That’s when The Guardian began publishing stories about people losing their health benefits, being put into immigration detention or being deported even though they had been citizens since birth.”