Hello,
“Dude! You’ve got to see it! It is so good.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was talking about the acclaimed Star Wars series Andor in his year-end interview with his long-time friend Terry DiMonte, posted here on Tuesday. (Globe and Mail Deputy Arts Editor Barry Hertz offers his take on Andor here.)
“It’s everything that Star Wars could be. It’s thoughtful, gritty. It’s not filled with cameos by a digital Skywalker,” Mr. Trudeau, who once dressed up as Han Solo while taking his children out for Halloween, said during the interview in Vancouver. “It’s for grownups.”
The unusually laid-back interview is an annual tradition for the Prime Minister, and revealed a different side of Mr. Trudeau apart from the policy issues he talked about in other year-end interviews.
Mr. DiMonte, a former Montreal DJ, has known Mr. Trudeau since the federal Liberal leader was a teenager as CBC reported here.
Mr. Trudeau also said he had been watching Season 3 of the shot-in-Toronto series The Boys, which features a group of covert operatives trying to take down rogue superheroes . Mr. DiMonte said he had not seen it. “Dude! You’re not watching good shows. What are you watching?” Mr. Trudeau asked. Mr. Trudeau said he gave up on Stranger Things after its third season.
Mr. Trudeau said he has read and enjoyed Stephen King’s latest novel A Fairy Tale (”He’s 75 now and one of my favorite authors.”). He also said his reading list includes the mystery novels of Canadian writer Ian Hamilton, featuring Chinese-Canadian forensic accountant Ava Lee as well as Michelle Good’s “gut-wrenching” novel Five Little Indians.
Among other topics, Mr. Trudeau also talked about learning, in September, that Queen Elizabeth had died.
He said he was at a cabinet retreat in Vancouver, and there was a knock at the door as he and his team were preparing for the closing press conference.
Someone came in and said they had heard through a contact at Buckingham Palace that the Queen had passed away.
“Everything stopped. And I just sort of sat there,” he said. Mr. Trudeau said his official photographer Adam Scotti said, “You should clear the room now.” Mr. Trudeau paused on the point, but agreed. “People headed out. I just said, `Nobody says a word about this, and I just had to take a few minutes. It hit me hard.”
He added that it was personal for everyone. “She was the Queen that we knew. She was part of a steadiness in our lives and you didn’t have to have the personal relationship I had with her to feel, `This is a moment’.”
The Prime Minister is also doing other year-end interviews. He told CBC here. that simply giving in to the provinces’ demands on health-care funding won’t guarantee improvements to Canada’s strained health system.
And Mr. Trudeau told CTV here that, amidst the latest confirmed ethics breach within his cabinet, “it sucks” when such cases of improper conduct arise, but the fact the public knows about them is a sign the system is working.
In an interview that aired on various broadcasters including Newstalk 1010 in Toronto and NewsTalk 610 out of St. Catharines, Ont., federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he has work ahead, presenting his vision for the country as he works to connect with voters.
“I want to bring, restore the Canadian dream that anyone who works hard can fulfill their dreams, can have a great home, a great life, a great family” said Mr. Poilievre, elected Conservative leader in September.
“I think I have to share with people the vision - here’s where we’re going to go together. We have to bring it home.”
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 signup page. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.
TODAY'S HEADLINES
LEGAULT OPTIMISTIC - Quebec Premier François Legault says he is “more optimistic” about reaching a health-care funding deal with Ottawa after his meeting Tuesday with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Story here.
FORTIN STILL HAS A JOB: DEFENCE DEPARTMENT - The Department of National Defence says Major-General Dany Fortin, the senior military commander who once led Canada’s vaccine rollout, still has a job after being acquitted of sexual assault. Story here from CBC.
FIRST BLACK JUSTICE APPOINTED TO A CANADIAN APPELLATE COURT - Michael Tulloch, the first Black justice to sit on any appellate court in Canada, has been appointed as the new Chief Justice of Ontario. Story here.
EXECUTIVE IN LAFLAMME OUSTER REPLACED - CTV News head Michael Melling, who became embroiled in the fallout of the departure of top anchor Lisa LaFlamme, is now being replaced in his role. Story here.
DEFENCE DEPARTMENT APPROVED TO SPEND $7-BILLION ON FIGHTER JETS - The Department of National Defence recently received quiet approval to spend $7-billion on 16 F-35 fighter jets and related gear. Story here.
CANADA TO SEIZE MILLIONS FROM RUSSIAN BILLIONAIRE - The Canadian government says it intends to seize US$26-million belonging to a company owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, and then donate the proceeds to Ukraine to help Kyiv rebuild from Moscow’s military assault. Story here.
ALBERTA SUED OVER SOVEREIGNTY ACT - A First Nation has filed a lawsuit against the Alberta government claiming Premier Danielle Smith’s Sovereignty Act violates the constitutionally recognized treaty rights of its members as it asks a court to strike it down. Story here.
QUEBEC POLICE PROBED FAKE COVID PASSPORTS - A new report from Quebec’s anticorruption unit says its officers were kept busy this year chasing down hundreds of reports related to the production and use of fake COVID-19 vaccine passports. Story here.
OTTAWA POLICE PREPARING FOR NEW FREEDOM CONVOY - Ottawa’s chief of police says the force is making preparations to handle a potential return of the “Freedom Convoy” next February. Story here.
THIS AND THAT
HOUSE ON A BREAK – The House of Commons is on a break until Jan. 30.
NORTH AMERICAN LEADERS SUMMIT IN JANUARY - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be attending the North American Leaders’ Summit in Mexico City on Jan. 10. The Prime Minister’s Office announced the plan Wednesday in a statement, saying Mr. Trudeau will join Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and U.S. President Joe Biden for a summit where the priorities are diversity and inclusion, climate change and the environment, competitiveness, migration and development, health, and security. The previous gathering was in November, 2021, in Washington, D.C.
MINISTERS ON THE ROAD - Defence Minister Anita Anand (with Chief of the Defence Staff General Wayne Eyre), on Tuesday, concluded a trip to Scotland, Kuwait, and Jordan to thank Canadian Armed Forces members deployed abroad. Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu, in Thunder Bay, announced support for women entrepreneurs and women-led businesses throughout Northern Ontario. Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc, in Miramichi, N.B., announced a federal investment of $388,800 toward an active transportation project. Sport Minister Pascale St-Onge, in Granby, Que., discussed the Canada Digital Adoption Program and took media questions. Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan, in St. John’s, announced an investment of $5.2-million over the next three years for Newfoundland and Labrador to deliver two new critical mineral initiatives focused on geoscience and exploration activities.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in Montréal, attended private meetings, met with Quebec Premier François Legault, visited a local food bank to meet with volunteers, and visited local businesses. Year-end interviews conducted by Terry DiMonte, Paul Larocque on TVA Nouvelles, and ICI RDI’s En direct with Patrice Roy were also released.
LEADERS
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in Burnaby, B.C., held a news conference on health care.
No schedules released for other party leaders.
THE DECIBEL
On Thursday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, reporter Dustin Cook talks about the fatal shooting of five residents of a high-rise condo building in Vaughan, ON. Court documents reveal that the shooter had a years-long history of legal disputes with the condo board. Police said three of the people killed were members of the board. Mr. Cook talks about what’s known so far about what happened and the gunman’s history with the condo board. The Decibel is here.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on how the fight against antisemitism requires solidarity with Jewish Canadians, not just sympathy: “In recent weeks, two events on Parliament Hill (one organized by a Liberal MP, the other by an NDP MP) included attendees with a history of demonstrably antisemitic comments. There were apologies and disavowals, to be sure. But Jewish Canadians, and everyone else, can ask: Why the seeming blind spot? That is a pressing question with antisemitic acts on the rise. Incidents across Canada have surged since 2017, particularly during the pandemic, according to statistics from B’nai Brith. The group documented 2,799 such incidents in 2021, including 75 acts of violence. That represents almost an 80-per-cent jump in total incidents since 2017; violent incidents were nearly four times higher.”
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on how federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh doesn’t need to force a spring election because he can afford to wait a little: “It seems like everyone is giving NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh advice these days, but it turns out he’s doing fine. Or at least, as well as can be expected. The folks egging him on to break the New Democrats’ parliamentary alliance with the Liberals and trigger a spring election might think that’s best – but it’s not best for the NDP. Certainly, figuring out how and when to break the deal with the Liberals is going to be a tricky and crucial decision for the NDP. But the odds of success are likely to get better with more time.”
Robyn Urback (The Globe and Mail) on Canada’s (sort of) ban on (select) plastics that are (often) single use: “Those in the know will still be able to get their hands on the good stuff – which is to say, bendable plastic straws – even after the Canadian government bans certain single-use plastics Tuesday. But you can only get them if you know what to do. Like other harmful products, such as cigarettes and marijuana, plastic straws sold in packages of 20 or more will not be allowed to be visible on retail store shelves. Of course! It would surely be inappropriate to display them in places where children shop with their parents, or where sea turtles could be triggered by the thought of those straws getting stuck up their noses. Instead, packages of the quasi-illicit products will have to be kept in the back, only available to those who know to ask store clerks whether they are available.”
Alex Neve and Leilani Farha (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how Canadians deserve to know if the CRA is targeting Muslim-led charities: “And now, The Globe and Mail has found that elaborate government documents, sent anonymously to the Muslim Association of Canada alleging that the RCMP and CRA were attempting to entrap the organization by using supposed informants to construct a case about terrorist funding, were forged. This is confounding and troubling. And how do these revelations relate to the broader concerns? We had hoped that discriminatory CRA practices in relation to the charitable sector had ended. That does not seem to be the case. There must be a comprehensive review of the CRA to ensure required checks and balances to prevent systemic discrimination in charitable audits are in place, especially since the CRA lacks independent oversight. The Muslim community has called for a suspension of the RAD and for its activities to be reviewed by the National Security Intelligence Review Agency; we unreservedly support that call.”
Randall Denley (The Ottawa Citizen) on the not-simple answer of where Ottawa’s public servants should work: “From an Ottawa perspective, the return of federal workers to offices is a good thing, although only moderately so. The half-time approach will still only leave the downtown with something like half the federal presence it once had. The challenge of figuring out a new future for our downtown is just as important now as it was before Fortier’s announcement last week. The core of the country’s capital shouldn’t be a ghost town and its current state should not be acceptable to any federal or local politician. Fortier, the MP for Ottawa-Vanier, seems to have figured that out, if belatedly. That said, federal workers shouldn’t be expected to take transit downtown and eat lunch in a local restaurant just so transit and restaurants are supported. That’s why operational necessity should be the core idea behind hybrid work, not perceived fairness and equity.”
Tom Mulcair (The Montreal Gazette) on dark days for Quebec anglos: “As another long year in politics draws to a close, the English-speaking community of Quebec finds itself as hard-pressed as at any time in recent history. Usually, when push comes to shove, there is a federal government capable of articulating the importance of respect for the rights of official-language minorities and willing to act accordingly. When that has failed in the past, strong, credible voices in the English community could call the government to account. There is an unfortunate lack of such voices today.”
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