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As the NATO secretary-general was in Canada’s north on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told a news conference that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine means that Canada has to collaborate ever more closely and in new ways with NATO partners.

“I am really pleased that the secretary-general is here because it’s an opportunity for us to work even more closely together,” Ms. Freeland said in Edmonton.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Jens Stoltenberg were in Nunavut on Thursday on an itinerary that includes a first-hand look at assets for protecting the north.

Also along for the trip to the hamlet of Cambridge Bay were Defence Minister Anita Anand, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, and Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal.

There was no news conference or media availability scheduled on Thursday featuring Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Stoltenberg. The Prime Minister’s Office posted a news release here recently about the visit.

But earlier this week, Mr. Stoltenberg wrote about his trip in The Globe and Mail, saying it is intended to underline the region’s strategic importance for Euro-Atlantic security.

“The shortest path to North America for Russian missiles or bombers would be over the North Pole. This makes NORAD’s role vital for North America and for NATO. So I look forward to visiting the North Warning System – an early-warning radar site – in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut,” he wrote here.

He also wrote here that much of the Arctic territory and waters have been an area of low tensions, but that this is changing as a result of the rapidly warming climate and rising global competition.

“Increasing parts of the Arctic will be ice-free in summer. This is unlocking opportunities for shipping routes, natural resources and economic development. But it also raises the risk of tensions. Authoritarian regimes are clearly willing to use military intimidation or aggression to achieve their aims. At the same time, they are stepping up their activities and interest in the Arctic.”

During his first visit to Canada since 2019, the secretary-general is also visiting Edmonton and – on Friday; the final day of the visit – the 4 Wing Cold Lake fighter base for talks on Canada’s contributions to NATO and its partnership in NORAD.

In June, Ms. Anand announced that Canada will spend a total of $40-billion over 20 years for NORAD modernization. Story here.

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 sign-up page. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.

TODAY'S HEADLINES

PROSPECTIVE SUPREME COURT JUSTICE APPEARS AT COMMONS COMMITTEE – Michelle O’Bonsawin, who is set to become the first Indigenous judge to sit on the Supreme Court of Canada, told the story of her childhood ambitions during a two-hour hearing in Ottawa this week, where she blended the personal – as a Franco-Ontarian, mother, and Abenaki member of the Odanak First Nation – with the professional. Story here.

ROGERS RELEASES INFORMATION ON NETWORK OUTAGE – Rogers Communications Inc. has provided more information to regulators about its network outage, but has asked that most of its explanation be withheld from the public. Story here.

NO REFORMS AT RCMP, LUCKI SAYS – RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki told a public inquiry into the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting that there have been no reforms to the national police force in the more than 28 months since the deadly gun rampage, despite a series of problems exposed by the Mounties’ response to the violence. Story here.

PROVINCES GRAPPLE WITH HEALTH CARE – Ontario Long-Term Care Minister Paul Calandra says hospitals should be encouraged to use their existing powers to charge elderly patients up to $1,800 a day for refusing to leave for an available long-term care bed. Story here. Meanwhile, family doctors in British Columbia will be eligible for an average $25,000 each to help tide them over until a new compensation model is established this fall, Health Minister Adrian Dix says. Story here.

LEGAL CHALLENGE LAUNCHED OVER ARRIVECAN – A constitutional rights group has launched a legal challenge of a federal requirement that travellers to Canada use the ArriveCan app. Story here.

GUILBEAULT RESPONDS TO SASKATCHEWAN CONCERNS – Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault is shooting back at the Saskatchewan government over what he says is misinformation regarding an incident that saw federal employees take water samples from a dugout on private land. Story here from The Saskatoon StarPhoenix.

FREELAND ON FERTILIZER EMISSION ISSUES – Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister, during a visit to Saskatchewan this week, responded to criticism around a federal proposal to reduce fertilizer-related greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent, and the effect such a policy would have on the agriculture industry. Story here from CBC.

DEFENCE MINISTER’S VISIT A LOST OPPORTUNITY: INDIGENOUS GROUPS – Indigenous groups in Labrador say a visit Wednesday by the federal Defence Minister was a missed opportunity to discuss the enhancement of search and rescue services in the region. Story here from CBC.

IT’S A WRAP ON BLACKBERRY FILM INSPIRED BY BOOK BY GLOBE JOURNALISTS – Production has wrapped on the feature film BlackBerry, a new film chronicling the rise and fall of Research In Motion, the Waterloo, Ont.-based company whose BlackBerry device forever changed the way that the world communicates. The movie is adapted from an award-winning 2015 book by Globe and Mail journalists Sean Silcoff, of the Ottawa bureau, and Jacquie McNish (the latter of whom later moved to the Wall Street Journal). Story here.

CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RACE

CAMPAIGN TRAIL – Scott Aitchison is in Ontario. Jean Charest is in Toronto. Leslyn Lewis is in Brantford and Hamilton for ballot drop-off events. Pierre Poilievre is in Ottawa. There’s no word on the campaign whereabouts of Roman Baber.

AITCHISON CONDEMNS `DOG-WHISTLE’ LEWIS MESSAGE – Conservative party leadership candidate Scott Aitchison is condemning Leslyn Lewis’s message to members last week about the Nuremberg Code and medical experimentation as nothing but a “dog whistle” to COVID-19 vaccine critics. Story here from CTV.

THIS AND THAT

The House of Commons is not sitting again until Sept. 19. The Senate is to resume sitting on Sept. 20.

FREELAND IN EDMONTON – Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, in Edmonton, held private meetings, toured a hydrogen production facility and was scheduled to meet with Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi.

MENDICINO IN MIRAMICHI – Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, in Miramichi, N.B., made an announcement on dealing with gun and gang violence.

DUCLOS IN WINNIPEG – Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, in Winnipeg, made a funding announcement on supporting long-term care in Manitoba.

THE DECIBEL

On Thursday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, the Globe’s future of work reporter Vanmala Subramaniam talks about Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program, which allows employers to hire even more low-wage workers from abroad Ms. Subramaniam talks about why the program is expanding. Also on the show is former migrant worker-turned-advocate Gabriel Allahdua discussing what it was like to work this type of job and why he’s advocating for migrant workers to have a pathway toward permanent residency. The Decibel is here.

PRIME MINISTER'S DAY

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau holds events in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut with Jens Stoltenberg, Secretar- General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They tour the Cambridge Bay North Warning System site, participate in a Qulliq lighting ceremony, attend a luncheon, tour the Canadian High Arctic Research Station, participate in a family photo, and tour the Canadian High Arctic Research Station. They were also scheduled to meet with local community members. Also present for the events, Defence Minister Anita Anand, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, and Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal.

LEADERS

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet continues a summer tour of the Gaspé Peninsula through Friday.

No schedules available for other party leaders.

OPINION

Kelly Cryderman (The Globe and Mail) on how German Chancellor Scholz’s visit failed to address the elephant in the room: “German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-day visit to Canada played out more like a run-of-the-mill trade mission instead of addressing the elephant in the room: the energy crisis unfolding across the Atlantic that could shake Europe’s alliance against Russian aggression. The European manufacturing powerhouse desperately needs all the natural gas it can get, and Canada is one of the world’s largest producers. But you wouldn’t know from the itinerary for the German Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck, who is in charge of the country’s energy file. There were no formal meetings with Canadian natural gas firms. There was no travel to Alberta, where the country’s energy production is headquartered. And in the end, there was no concrete agreement with Canada on liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects – which allow for natural gas volumes to be exported vast distances across the ocean.”

Lawrence Martin (The Globe and Mail) on whether Pierre Poilievre is really a freedom fighter: “Mr. Poilievre’s campaign for the federal Conservative leadership has been successful, and he’s now in a strong position to win the September vote. But to what extent are the many people buying into his freedom pitch aware of his track record on that very subject? It’s pertinent to look at his record while serving in the Stephen Harper government. Mr. Harper, as many have attested, was one of the most strong-armed gatekeepers the Prime Minister’s Office has ever seen. Mr. Poilievre relished his role as one of his foremost attack dobermans.”

Casey Babb (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how the public service does not understand anti-Semitism: “At the political level, it should be acknowledged that Ottawa has taken meaningful and concrete steps to address or at least shed light on anti-Semitism. For instance, in November, 2020, former Liberal justice minister Irwin Cotler was named Canada’s special envoy on preserving Holocaust remembrance and combatting anti-Semitism. Further, in July, 2021, the federal government convened a National Summit on anti-Semitism led by Mr. Cotler and Bardish Chagger, former minister of diversity and inclusion and youth. For many in the Jewish community, these moves marked an important turning point – anti-Semitism was getting the attention it deserved, and people were taking notice. But aside from these examples, and the fact that Statistics Canada has found that the Jewish community is the most targeted religious group in the country when it comes to hate crimes, there seems to be little effort in the federal public service to address anti-Semitism.”

Carol Off and Melissa Fung (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how Lisa LaFlamme’s dismissal shows sexism is alive and well in broadcast news: “This whole unhappy fiasco has upended how we think of the profession we chose. We thought we were making progress and paving the way for generations of young women coming after us, just as we followed in others’ footsteps. But now, we fear for the young journalists Ms. LaFlamme inspired to enter the business. The challenges they faced in this business were already considerable. Will they wonder if there’s a future for them in journalism? And what will be lost if they leave?”

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