Good morning,
The National Gallery of Canada, the country’s most prominent public institution for art, created a real mystery last week when it disclosed it was selling a Marc Chagall painting for millions of dollars to buy...something else.
But while the mystery swirls about what that something else is, art dealers, historians and members of the public are expressing outrage that the Gallery would part with a Chagall in the first place.
Miriam Shiell, a veteran fine-art dealer in Toronto, said she was disappointed to hear the Gallery was selling off the Chagall painting, both because of the quality of the art and because of what the artist himself represents.
“In this particular moment in time, it couldn’t have been more inappropriate to have chosen Chagall,” Ms. Shiell said.
“If ever you needed a symbol for immigration, Chagall is it right now.”
There’s even a petition on Change.org urging the government to intervene.
Will they? No.
The government says it will not get involved in the decisions the gallery makes about its collections. It would be, they say, like the government telling CBC what shows to cancel and which ones to move to Friday at 9 p.m.
“The National Art Gallery is an autonomous Crown Corporation responsible for its daily operations,” a spokesperson for the department of Canadian Heritage said.
This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Chris Hannay in Ottawa, Mayaz Alam in 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
The federal government is promising to rescue Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline, after the company said it needs assurances by the end of May that the project will not be bogged down by legal and regulatory delays. Finance Minister Bill Morneau has suggested Ottawa’s approach could include financial support to ensure construction begins this summer, though he didn’t offer any specifics about ongoing negotiations between the federal government, Alberta and Kinder Morgan.
Conservatives are criticizing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for taking a personal day in the midst of the debate, as he prepares for a major international tour. Of course, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is also not in town. He is currently on a Disney cruise with his family as part of a Make-a-Wish trip for his six-year-old nephew.
Airbnb has agreed to help the City of Vancouver enforce restrictions on short-term rentals, which local politicians and advocates have claimed are exacerbating the region’s housing crisis. People who want to list on Airbnb will only be required to register with the city and can only rent out spaces in their primary residence.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is seriously considering a run for a risky seat in Montreal.
And a Liberal MP is asking for an investigation of Kevin O’Leary‘s fundraiser.
The Globe and Mail editorial board on Alberta’s plan to punish B.C.: “But retaliatory threats do nothing to solve the problem. The reality is that Kinder Morgan controls the outcome. It will continue with the project if, and only if, it is convinced that the expensive, lengthy and onerous federal approval process it successfully went through will win out.”
Parisa Mahboubi (The Globe and Mail) on Ontario’s child-care plan: “Free licensed child care. It sounds like a parents’ dream. But look a little closer at the Government of Ontario’s recently announced plan to deliver free licensed child care for preschoolers, and flaws emerge. Beyond the arguably late starting age of 2½ years, this initiative could have unwelcome consequences due to its limited accessibility and its potential to create excess demand for licensed preschool care.”
Konrad Yakabuski (The Globe and Mail) on Kinder Morgan and the national interest:: “The crisis that has pitted British Columbia’s New Democratic government against its Alberta NDP counterpart is unfolding in the two provinces furthest from Quebec. But make no mistake: Quebec has as much at stake in this dispute as Kinder Morgan, Alberta’s oil industry, the environmental movement and the federal government. Sovereigntists would love to see Ottawa play hard ball on Trans Mountain. Indeed, if Ottawa, the courts or a bout of intellectual honesty force the B.C. government to stand down in its opposition to the pipeline’s construction, the consequences for the federation will be just as far-reaching as if the federal government refuses to invoke its prerogatives despite B.C.‘s direct challenge to its authority. The Prime Minister needs to think long and hard on this one.” (for subscribers)
David Parkinson (The Globe and Mail) on Trudeau’s economic vision: “Without securing Trans Mountain, any pro-competitiveness initiatives will pale in comparison to one massive, credibility-crushing failure. The Liberals will head into an election year not as the government charting the path for Canada’s economic future, but as the one that isn’t open for business when it matters most. ” (for subscribers)
Tim McMillan (The Globe and Mail) on the bigger problem: “Investors are not only leaving the oil and natural-gas sector. Investors are leaving Canada. Industry leaders and experts in the sector, including within government, are witnessing the real-time outflow of capital spending to other regions and sounding the same alarm. ”
Chantal Hébert (Toronto Star) on Ottawa’s limited options: “It is not that the federal government does not have legal and constitutional tools in its box to try to ensure the project goes through but that it has none that is guaranteed to achieve peace anytime soon on the pipeline front. Indeed, using those tools could make matters worse.”
Jennifer Ditchburn (Policy Options) on Indigenous rights: “Somehow First Nations and their constitutional issues with the pipeline gets no inches, no airtime. The Crown has an obligation to consult with the First Nations whose constitutionally protected land and other rights could be impacted by the pipeline. This fact now routinely fades in and out of our public discussions of Kinder Morgan like an inconsequential character in a daytime soap. But the government’s duty to consult isn’t some secondary story arc.”
Andrew Coyne (National Post) on Bernier, Scheer and supply management: “Bernier was accused, variously, of naivete, hypocrisy, vanity, divisiveness and sour grapes. He knew the rules going in. He signed up his share of new members. This is the way it’s always been. Etc. All of which may be true, but none of which makes anything Bernier said untrue. Rather than shooting the messenger, I’d have thought people who truly had the party’s interests in mind would be taking his criticisms to heart.”
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INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg found himself in the crosshairs of Congress once again yesterday and conceded that the regulation of the digital economy is “inevitable.” Mr. Zuckerberg and his company are under intense scrutiny after it was revealed that Cambridge Analytica, a British political consulting company with ties to U.S. President Donald Trump’s election campaign, misused the personal data of 87 million Facebook users. In the aftermath of the U.S. election, Mr. Zuckerberg dismissed the notion that the social media platform could have been used to influence the outcome of the election and called it “crazy.” If you need to get caught up on the most important takeaways from his hearings in Washington, The Globe’s California correspondent Tamsin McMahon has broken down the five key moments from the two-day event on Capitol Hill.
Mr. Trump is warning Syria and its backer Russia that missiles “will be coming” in response to the suspected chemical attack against rebel-held areas. He criticized Russia’s relationship with the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which has been embroiled in a conflict against its own citizens for several years. The World Health Organization said that around 500 people have been treated for “signs and symptoms consistent with exposure to toxic chemicals” after the attack.
House Speaker Paul Ryan won’t be running for re-election. The Republican from Wisconsin will be stepping down after this year’s midterm elections, adding to the growing list of GOP retirements. The data journalists at FiveThirtyEight say his district is competitive, and his retirement helps put the House in play for Democrats.
A bipartisan group of senators is crafting a bill to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller from being fired.
Saudi Arabia says it intercepted three missiles that were fired at Riyadh, Jizan and Najran. The missiles were fired by Houthi rebels, the Iran-backed faction in Yemen.
David Shribman (The Globe and Mail) on Trump’s crises: “Now Mr. Trump has challenges on two continents and within two branches of the American government. He finds himself at once on the offensive (against Syria and the Assad regime’s protector, Russia) and on the defensive (on the Robert Mueller investigation and on Capitol Hill).”
Taylor Owen (The Globe and Mail) on regulating digital giants: “Over the past 20 years, the internet has shown flashes of its empowering potential. But the recent Facebook revelations also demonstrate what can happen if we fail to hold it accountable. Mr. Zuckerberg’s testimony is only the beginning of a long-overdue conversation about whether we will govern platforms or be governed by them.”
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