Good morning,
As Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation moves closer to Donald Trump, the President believes that he has the power to fire him, the White House says. There are also reports that the U.S. President is looking into firing Deputy Attorney-General Rod Rosenstein, who has overseen the special counsel probe after Attorney-General Jeff Sessions recused himself. Mr. Trump also was looking to fire Mr. Mueller in December, the second time he has been prepared to oust the special counsel. The previous instance took place in June, when the threat of resignation by White House counsel Don McGahn stopped any action.
Mr. Trump said this morning he will send missiles into Syria, and rebuffed Russia’s threats to shoot down any incoming ballistics.
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CANADIAN HEADLINES
China’s ambassador to Canada says the two country’s exploratory trade talks are going well and formal negotiations should start soon, with labour standards being one sticking point.
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley is suggesting the province could buy the Trans Mountain pipeline outright in an effort to save it from mounting political and environmental opposition. Kinder Morgan has said it won’t spend any new shareholder money on the project because of the B.C. government’s ongoing opposition. In response, Ms. Notley – with Ottawa’s backing – says the answer could be throwing billions of dollars of public money at the pipeline.
The debate comes amid growing concern about the fate of the pipeline and what it could mean for Alberta and the Canadian economies. The head of Scotiabank is warning the death of the pipeline would be bad for the country.
Conservative MPs say there are disappointed in Maxime Bernier's decision to release a book that has a chapter critical of leader Andrew Scheer. Mr. Scheer has, so far, not responded.
A new book from a former Liberal aide indicates Justin Trudeau had a very poor relationship with Stéphane Dion when the latter was foreign affairs minister. The book claims the two only had one private meeting together: The day Mr. Trudeau told Mr. Dion he was letting him go.
Former prime minister Stephen Harper is being criticized for congratulating Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban, who was re-elected on an anti-immigration platform.
Vice-Admiral Mark Norman had his first day in court.
And B.C.’s New Democrats, who came to power last year on a promise to get big money out of politics, had a windfall from corporate donors after forming government.
Gary Mason (The Globe and Mail) on B.C.’s role in Trans Mountain: “ B.C. is under enormous pressure now to drop its decision to seek an opinion on jurisdiction. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is getting massacred on this issue in the court of public opinion. He needs a win, badly. Ottawa is expected to announce some fairly serious sanctions this week, ones B.C. will face unless it plays ball. That means Mr. Horgan needs a face-saving “off-ramp” for its planned court gambit. This may be provided by the Federal Court of Appeal, which is hearing a combined group of lawsuits aimed at stopping the project.”
Mark Milke (The Globe and Mail) on a public stake in Trans Mountain: “n addition to why corporate welfare is always a bad deal for taxpayers and a risk even when offered through equity, which often turns into a loss, an Alberta government financial stake in Kinder Morgan would change none of the above dynamics.”
John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail) on anti-Semitism: “Anti-Semitism in the West is more brazen today than at any time since the 1950s. Is it on the rise in Canada as well? Signals are mixed. But the same tinder fuelling these dangerous fires in the United States and Europe exists here. Hatred toward Jewish people is the oldest libel. Yet people reinvent it every day.”
David Tanovich (The Globe and Mail ) on jury selection: “Denying an individual a fundamental democratic right on the basis of race or other prohibited ground creates a profound harm to them, the community and the administration of justice. It is certainly not going to engender trust in excluded communities and increase their willingness to participate in the criminal justice system.”
Kathryn Smithen (The Globe and Mail) on domestic violence law: “Parliament purports that it will make women suffering from domestic violence safer by creating higher thresholds for bail and increased sentences for repeat offenders as part of Bill C-75. Measures such as these – even new laws such as those proposed in Bill C-75 – do not inspire the trust of domestic-violence victims in the criminal justice system, when that system is not treating the prosecution of domestic-violence perpetrators as a foreseeable priority.”
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INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was in the hot seat yesterday as he faced questioning from U.S. lawmakers in Washington. Mr. Zuckerberg apologized in his opening remarks saying “we have made a lot of mistakes in running the company.” The social media giant he founded from his Harvard dorm room has been facing increased scrutiny after it was revealed that the U.K.-based political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica improperly used personal data from 87 million users. Officials in Washington and across the world are grappling with how to regulate Facebook and other digital giants as they continue to play a bigger role in democracies.
The FBI raid on Michael Cohen, Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, sought records of his payments to two women who say they had affairs with the president.
Yulia Skripal, the daughter of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, has been released from the hospital after she was poisoned with a nerve agent. Mr. Skripal remains hospitalized. The incident has resulted in a tense standoff between Great Britain and Russia.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held meetings with his North Korean counterpart, Ri Yong Ho, in Moscow. Mr. Lavrov said he will be visiting Pyongyang and the two countries talked about the tense situation surrounding North Korea’s nuclear development program.
Seven members of Myanmar’s military have been sentenced to 10 years in prison and hard labour over the killings of 10 Rohingya Muslims.
Bessma Momani (The Globe and Mail) on Syria: “Israel’s alleged attack on the Tiyas Military Airbase outside of Palmyra, Syria, early Monday follows two similar attacks on the base last February and March of last year. The base is Syria’s largest, and is known to host Iranian militia supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, an Iranian drone control and command centre and an anti-missile battery installation that has repeatedly targeted Israeli assets. While the attack on the Tiyas base comes at a perfect time for Israel, it will change nothing for the Syrian people.”
Lawrence Martin (The Globe and Mail) on NAFTA: “There is a sense of urgency because of the coming elections in Mexico, the November midterm elections in the United States, and the time-consuming legalistic and procedural requirements that are a feature of trade pacts. Something’s got to give and the betting line is that there will be an interim agreement that punts the problems down the line. If it happens, it will be like putting icing on a cake that isn’t even half-baked. It will be a non-deal announced as a new deal.”
Robert Rotberg (The Globe and Mail) on Lula: “ Brazil’s jailing of its beloved former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Saturday sent a strong signal to all of Latin America that the era of political impunity was over. Some presidents in Brazil and other South American countries have been impeached, but very few politicians have previously been sent to prison, and none as popular as Lula. ”
H.A. Hellyer (The Globe and Mail) on Saudi Arabia and religion: “ Saudi’s forays regionally, particularly in terms of the disastrous and humanitarian disaster of Yemen, do not encourage much enthusiasm. But in any case, the task of critiquing the kingdom and its approach to religion is necessary because it is indeed so significant, owing to the presence of the two main holy places of Mecca and Madina, and the hajj pilgrimage. If Saudi Arabia were not important, it could reasonably escape much attention – the fact that it is so important makes it not only useful, but indispensable to critically evaluate it.”
John Doyle (The Globe and Mail) on Zuckerberg, live: “So Mark Zuckerberg appeared on Tuesday in front of a U.S. Senate committee to answer questions. Not his thing, this sort of public theatre of inquiry. But he has a strategy: play the callow youth, the guy who was just inventing this Facebook thing in his dorm room not that long ago. Say, ‘I’ll have my team get back to you.’ Also, don’t sweat, and drink a lot of water. Did it matter, in the end? Not so much, because these politicians are mostly old and ignorant about technology, let alone how social media works. Some questions were nonsensical. No need for Zuckerberg to dredge up lessons from some long-ago lesson in faking humility and charm.”
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