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Hockey great Wayne Gretzky, former Quebec premier Jean Charest and James Baker – U.S. secretary of state under president George H.W. Bush – will be among the speakers delivering eulogies at next week’s state funeral service for former prime minister Brian Mulroney.
Caroline Mulroney, his daughter and current Ontario Treasury Board president, will also deliver a eulogy to her father at next Saturday’s service at the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montréal.
The details, announced today by the federal Heritage department, also include Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivering an address at the service.
However, federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre will not be speaking at the funeral, Ariane Joazard-Bélizaire, senior communications adviser and press secretary to Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge, said in a statement, responding to a question on the matter.
Mulroney, who was prime minister from 1984 to 1993, led the Progressive Conservative Party. Poilievre leads the federal Conservative Party, created in 2003 from a merger of the Progressive Conservatives and the Canadian Alliance Party.
Poilievre’s office did not respond to a request for comment on his participation in the funeral service.
Mulroney died on Feb. 29, aged 84.
He will lie in state in Ottawa on Tuesday and Wednesday, with Trudeau and the Governor-General, among other dignitaries, expressing their sympathies to the family. There will be an opportunity for the public to pay their respects then, as well as at a lying-in-repose ceremony to take place in Montreal on Thursday and Friday at Saint Patrick’s Basilica.
The former prime minister’s granddaughter, Elizabeth Theodora Lapham, will be among the artists performing musical interludes at the funeral ceremony.
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TODAY'S HEADLINES
Trudeau rules out Quebec’s request for full control over immigration: “No, we will not be providing more powers over immigration to Quebec,” Mr. Trudeau told a news conference today, after a meeting in Montreal with Quebec Premier François Legault.
Privacy Commissioner launches new ArriveCan investigation, pushing number of probes to more than a dozen: Philippe Dufresne, in a letter obtained by The Globe and Mail, says he has assigned a senior adviser in his compliance directorate to “investigate this matter.”
Canadians shouldn’t worry about using TikTok despite security review, Champagne says: Asked whether Canadians using TikTok, including parents whose kids are obsessed with the app, should be worried, the federal Industry Minister said no. “And I think Canadians and parents should be happy to see that we were ahead of the curve,” he said about launching the review six months ago.
Human Rights Tribunal member who would hear cases if online harms bill passes once filed hate-speech complaint: Immigration lawyer Naseem Mithoowani lodged a complaint, while a law student, about an article in Maclean’s, making the case with other law students that the article was offensive to Muslims.
Canada pulls Haiti embassy staff as gang violence intensifies: Canadian officials chartered a chopper to ferry diplomats from the compound in the Haitian capital to the Dominican Republic on Thursday.
Poilievre calls N.L. Liberal MPs ‘the silent 6′: The federal Conservative Leader, at a rally in the Newfoundland and Labrador city of Corner Brook, took swings at federal carbon pricing and accused the province’s six Liberal MPs of standing up for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rather than voters.
Ottawa member of Ontario legislature seeking to run for federal NDP: Joel Harden, the Ottawa Centre member of the provincial legislature, is taking steps to become the federal NDP candidate in the same area as his riding in the next election, according to the Kitchissippi Times.
Funeral for members of Sri Lankan family slain in Ottawa suburb to be held this weekend: The Buddhist Congress of Canada says a multifaith service will be held at a convention centre Sunday and the funeral will be open to the public.
FBI arrest Bank of Canada employee in Washington, D.C., on child-pornography charge: Matthew Norman Ballek, originally from Outlook, Sask., was arrested on Feb. 7 in Northwest, District of Columbia by U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and Washington Metropolitan police.
TODAY’S POLITICAL QUOTES
“I think Mr. Furey is continuing to bow to political pressure.” - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, at a news conference in Montreal today, on Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey raising concerns about a pending increase in federal carbon pricing.
“I won’t stop asking for all the powers in immigration.” - Quebec Premier François Legault, responding to Trudeau ruling out a Quebec request for full power over immigration during a meeting between the two leaders in Montreal.
“We might as well leave cookies and milk at the front door for them with a note: `Dear Mr. Criminal. The keys are in the mailbox. Don’t kick my door in.’ No We don’t believe in that.” - Ontario Premier Doug Ford, at a news conference in Barrie today, responding to a police officer’s suggestion that it’s best to leave the keys to vehicles near front doors to deter break-ins motivated by car theft.
THIS AND THAT
MP recovering: Rachel Bendayan, a Liberal MP from Montreal, says in an X posting that she has been recovering from a serious concussion since January. She says she had slowed down – ”a difficult experience for me” – but is looking forward to returning to full public-facing duties.
Commons, Senate: The House of Commons is on a break until Monday. The Senate sits again on March 19.
Deputy Prime Minister’s day: In Calgary, Chrystia Freeland held private meetings with representatives of the energy sector as well as the clean-electricity industry.
Ministers on the Road: National Revenue Minister Marie‑Claude Bibeau, in the Quebec city of Trois-Rivières, visited Technifab GC – a manufacturer in the metal-products sector – to highlight financial assistance to the business from the federal government. Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault, with provincial Jobs Minister Matt Jones in Edmonton, announced that the province has reached an average fee of $15-a-day for licensed child care as of January 1, 2024. Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne concluded a three-day visit to the Italian cities of Verona and Trento to meet this week with his G7 counterparts on industry, technology and digital issues. Rural Economic Development Minister Gudie Hutchings, in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, made an infrastructure announcement with provincial Transportation Minister John Abbott and provincial Immigration Minister Gerry Byrne.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
In Montréal, Justin Trudeau met with Quebec Premier François Legault, held a media scrum and was scheduled this evening to meet with Micheál Martin, the Tánaiste of Ireland, equivalent to its Deputy Prime Minister. In the evening, Trudeau was scheduled to attend a fundraising event for the federal Liberal Party in downtown Toronto.
LEADERS
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, in Quebec City, met with the executive director of the Centre multiethnique de Québec, and attended the nomination meeting for a Bloc candidate in the riding of Québec.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre held a press conference in Saint John, N.B., and according to a social-media posting from Premier Blaine Higgs, was scheduled to attend a leaders’ dinner for the provincial Progressive Conservative Leader.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, in Halifax,, visited the Marine & Environmental Law Institute at Dalhousie University, and delivered a lecture at the Schulich School of Law on recent developments in Canadian environmental law.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in Toronto, held a news conference on rental issues.
THE DECIBEL
On today’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, demographics reporter Ann Hui explains her experience with burnout, the reasons why millennial women are feeling such burnout more and how it can be made better. The Decibel is here.
BOOKS
Murder in Renfrew County by Dean Beeby. The former Atlantic bureau chief for The Canadian Press who also worked for CBC’s parliamentary bureau has a new book out about the 2015 murder of three women in Ontario’s Renfrew county and the investigation that followed. The killings were the subject of an inquest that made a number of recommendations, largely aimed at the Ontario government. “The perpetrator was able to kill three women because the justice system put his interests above their safety,” Beeby said in a statement today.
PUBLIC OPINION
Competition among Saskatchewan parties: Half of Saskatchewan residents say it is time for a change of government in the province, according to new research from the Angus Reid Institute. A provincial election is scheduled for later this year..
Housing concerns: Sixty-eight per cent of Canadians surveyed expect worsening housing affordability and accessibility in 2024, according to new research from Abacus Data.
OPINION
Ottawa shouldn’t dither on the dangers of TikTok
“The bottom line is that it is not for nothing that so many governments have banned TikTok from their employees’ devices. That would not have been done if there weren’t serious concerns about the risks involved. The question for Canada and other countries is whether that restriction needs to be imposed on the general public. It’s not a question of freedom of speech: There are plenty of other places to create, post and watch hilarious videos.” - The Globe and Mail Editorial Board.
Canada’s Online Harms Act is revealing itself to be staggeringly reckless
“You have to understand: the Online Harms Act was supposed to be the “good” bill, the one part of the Trudeau government’s three-pronged effort to regulate the internet that was addressed to a real problem.” -Andrew Coyne.
Quebec’s must-watch talk show is tailor-made for Justin Trudeau’s talents
“On Sunday, Mr. Trudeau was back on TLMEP to mark the show’s 500th episode. It was his first appearance since he and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau announced their separation in August. Mr. Lepage asked him how his family was doing. “Politics is tough. I learned that as a child. But politics is important, and I have a beautiful friendship with Sophie. We lasted 20 years, which is better than my father,” Mr. Trudeau volunteered. “It’s tough, but it’s important to be true to one’s values and one’s vision. And that’s why I’m going to stay in politics even if it’s difficult.” -Konrad Yakabuski.
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Ian Bailey