Hello,
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Bell Media job cuts that will affect hundreds of journalists are a “garbage decision” by a corporation that should know better.
At a health care-related news conference with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Mr. Trudeau denounced what he said was an erosion of quality local journalism at a time when people need it more than ever, particularly given the prevalence of misinformation and disinformation.
“It’s eroding our very democracy,” Mr. Trudeau said. “I’m furious. This is a garbage decision.”
This week, Bell Media’s parent company, BCE Inc., announced it was cutting 9 per cent of its work force in a move that will affect 4,800 positions overall.
Although less than 10 per cent of the total job cuts are at Bell Media specifically, the decision will lead to the end of multiple TV newscasts, programming cuts and the sale of 45 of its 103 regional radio stations. The radio stations being sold are in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.
BCE did not immediately respond to the Prime Minister’s comments.
Full story here.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
Federal government signs $3.1-billion health care deal with Ontario: The province will spend the money on increasing access to family doctors, reducing backlogs and adding more health care workers, Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced today as they formalized a decade-long health accord.
Supreme Court upholds Indigenous right to self-government, child-welfare laws: Quebec had referred the question of the constitutionality of the law to the courts and argued Ottawa exceeded its jurisdiction. Story here.
CAQ offers to pay back grieving couple for donation: The governing Coalition Avenir Québec is offering to reimburse a grieving couple who paid $200 to meet with Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault to talk about their fight against drunk driving. CTV story here.
Canadian economy added 37,000 jobs in January; unemployment rate fell to 5.7%: The unemployment rate also fell in January because a smaller proportion of people were participating in the labour market.
Poilievre proposes mandatory prison terms for extortion-related crimes: The Official Opposition Leader says extortion-related crime has skyrocketed with police in multiple provinces dealing with organized crime threats against businesses.
Joly urges more funding to hire Canadian diplomats amid Liberal cuts on spending: Canada needs more diplomats if it wants to have an influence in the Indo-Pacific and other key regions of the world, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said.
Two-term legislature member from Edmonton joins Alberta NDP leadership race: Rakhi Pancholi said her campaign will focus on growth, opportunity and optimism. She’s the second NDP legislature member to announce a bid for the top job. Meanwhile, Edmonton MLA David Shepherd is sitting out the race he intended to enter because of health issues, according to an X posting.
Québec solidaire tries to sell sovereignty to a new generation: The left-wing provincial party, which has 12 seats in the 125-seat provincial legislature, contends the road to Quebec independence will be built by convincing young people who experienced neither the 1980 nor 1995 referendums to support sovereignty. Story by Montreal Gazette.
Not even the federal justice minister’s government car is safe from theft: Arif Virani’s government-owned Toyota Highlander XLE was stolen last November but later recovered, making it the third time a federal justice minister’s car has been stolen in the past three years. Story by CBC.
Progressive and LGBTQ+ groups excluded from Vancouver Chinatown’s Lunar New Year parade: Chinatown Together, organized by community activist Melody Ma, and LGBTQ+ group Lunar New Year For All say their applications to march in the Spring Festival Parade on Sunday were rejected by the committee that runs the event.
TODAY’S POLITICAL QUOTES
“I’m furious. This is a garbage decision” – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, during a news conference today, on cuts to the jobs of journalists at Bell Media.
“I don’t care if you’re from the blue party, red party, purple party, pink party. We’re going to do stuff together.” – Ontario Premier Doug Ford touting his interest in working with willing political partners during a news conference with Trudeau today.
THIS AND THAT
New Parliamentary Press Gallery executive: Mia Rabson, a journalist with the Ottawa bureau of The Canadian Press, is the new president of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery. Boris Proulx of the Quebec newspaper Le Devoir is the vice-president. The leadership roles, among other executive posts, were announced today. The gallery is a grouping of journalists as a non-profit corporation who cover Parliament Hill. It also facilitates the accreditation of those journalists.
Vancouver’s powerful this year: B.C. Premier David Eby tops the 2024 Power 50 List generated and published here by Vancouver Magazine.
Today in the Commons: Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, Feb. 9, accessible here.
Deputy Prime Minister’s say: Chrystia Freeland is in Toronto but has no public events scheduled.
Ministers on the Road: National Revenue Minister Marie‑Claude Bibeau, in the Montreal suburb of Boisbriand, toured the operations of Damotech. Tourism Minister Soraya Martinez Ferrada, in Québec City, announced funding at BOSK Bioproducts and later toured the facilities of the Québec Winter Carnival and met Bonhomme. International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen, in Toronto, with Small Business Minister Rechie Vakdez announced funding for a Philippines-Canada partnership on Nature-based Solutions for climate adaptation, gender-responsive health care and disaster risk and resilience in the Philippines. International Trade Minister Mary Ng is in Brussels for the fourth Joint Committee ministerial-level meeting for the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement. Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan, in St. John’s, announced a $4.3-million joint investment with the province to create space for young people to gain employable and transferable skills. Sport Minister Carla Qualtrough, in Vancouver, with Mitzi Dean, the B.C. Minister of State for Child Care, made an announcement on additional child-care spaces moving into the $10-a-Day ChildCareBC program.
PRIME MINISTER'S DAY
Justin Trudeau did an interview on Citytv’s Breakfast Television. Later, in King City, north of Toronto, with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, the Prime Minister met with nursing students and then signed a health care agreement.
LEADERS
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre held a news conference in Surrey, British Columbia.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May participated in the Commons sitting, and later departed Ottawa for her B.C. riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in Montreal, met with Mayor Valérie Plante to discuss housing and then held a news conference.
THE DECIBEL
On today’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, Mark Rendell, who covers the Bank of Canada, explains what challenges remain to squeeze that last little bit of inflation out of the economy. The Decibel is here.
TRIBUTE
Daryl Kramp: The former Conservative MP and Progressive Conservative member of the Ontario legislature has died, aged 77. Details here, from Kingston This Week. “Daryl was a champion for the people he served,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in an X posting.
PUBLIC OPINION
Data Dive with Nik Nanos: The national mood is dour – good news for the Conservatives: A new tracking study by Nanos that rates the satisfaction people have with the country and our institutions points to a clear negative trajectory of opinion, with very few bright spots. Details here.
OPINION
An ethical opioids policy needs data.
“There is urgency to respond to the escalating toxic drug crisis that is now killing an average of seven British Columbians each day, but public-health officials have not made the case for expanding the program. Indeed, there should be an evaluation – based on the speedy assembly of data – as to whether all dispensed opioids should be consumed under observation by health care workers.” – Globe and Mail Editorial Board.
Jagmeet Singh draws the NDP’s line in the sand, but it’s invisible.
“If the NDP is really willing to die on this hill, it should be explaining to Canadians, loudly and in advance, what the hill is. And trying to convince people it is important. That is also what you do in politics if you want to take credit for the eventual outcome.” – Campbell Clark.
Jagmeet Singh is super serious this time.
“Pity Jagmeet Singh’s communications staff, constantly tasked with finding new language for the same empty threat the NDP Leader has been making for years. Mr. Singh has to sound serious but not be serious; he needs to project resoluteness even though he’s the political equivalent of an accordion, bending in every direction and emitting sounds that appeal only to a very niche subset of people.” – Robyn Urback.
The R-word is back as the Parti Québécois surges in the polls.
“The R-word had been largely banished from the political lexicon in Quebec in recent years. Mr. Legault, who left the PQ to found the CAQ, owed his electoral success in 2018 to his vow to end the PQ-Quebec Liberal Party duopoly that had split Quebeckers along federalist-sovereigntist lines for decades. His promise never to hold a referendum was music to the ears of even nationalist Quebeckers.” – Konrad Yakabuski.
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Ian Bailey