Good morning,
It’s decided. Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott will go it alone in fall’s federal election.
The pair of former Liberal cabinet ministers, expelled from caucus by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in early April over their criticisms of his handling of the SNC-Lavalin affair, announced in separate news conferences Monday that they’ll run as independents in October.
Both touted the virtues of being free of party strictures.
“I will not have to try and convince myself that just because the way it has always been done means it must continue to be done that way," Ms. Wilson-Raybould said.
Ms. Philpott echoed that sentiment. “There are no longer corporate lobbyists that are influencing the direction that I would go. The only people that are the boss of me right now are you,” she said at a produce market in her riding.
Both women said they had seriously considered joining Elizabeth May’s Greens, who on Monday doubled their presence in the House of Commons with newly elected MP Paul Manly joining Ms. May.
Ms. May said she didn’t fully understand why Ms. Wilson-Raybould and Ms. Philpott chose not to run for her party, but she respected that they both want to continue working with the Greens.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
In the face of growing public opposition and sagging poll numbers, Ontario Premier Doug Ford cancelled retroactive cuts to municipalities for this year, setting the stage for a battle over next year’s funding.
Premier Doug Ford is tearing up a deal with the big-brewery-owned Beer Store retail chain to avoid having the province pay hundreds of millions in penalties as he seeks to fulfill a campaign promise to allow beer and wine sales in corner stores.
Alberta’s United Conservative government is cutting the minimum wage for students under 18, an attack on a key policy championed by the previous NDP government, which is seeing its legacy quickly undone under Premier Jason Kenney.
The federal government has moved forward in Parliament with the ratification of the new North American free-trade agreement as the legislative clock ticks towards a summer adjournment and fall election.
Ottawa is asking social media and other digital platforms to help combat the spread of misinformation in the run-up to the fall federal election with a series of new expectations that stop short of any stringent regulation. A three-day grand committee on big data, privacy and democracy continues today.
CPPIB, Canada’s largest public pension manager, has begun a new scrutiny of its investments, including its ownership stake in Chinese companies, as human-rights groups and U.S. lawmakers point to the role of China’s surveillance-equipment makers in enabling the monitoring and control of the country’s religious minorities.
Malaysia will send back some 3,000 metric tonnes of non-recyclable plastic waste to countries such as the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia in a move to avoid becoming a dumping ground for rich nations, Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin said.
The European election results in Britain have left the country as divided as ever over Brexit and piled more pressure on the Conservative government as it tries to find a way forward under a new prime minister.
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said it would be “political suicide” for Britain to pursue a no-deal Brexit, becoming the most senior figure vying to succeed Prime Minister Theresa May to rule it out and drawing a battle line with rival contenders.
U.S. President Donald Trump expects that Japan’s military will reinforce U.S. forces throughout Asia and elsewhere, he said, as the key U.S. ally upgrades the ability of its forces to operate further from its shores.
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott: “Canadians might want more independence in their politicians, but there hasn’t been a groundswell for more independents. Don’t bet on that being the political wave of the decade. But in this election year, it should make Mr. Trudeau nervous.”
Gary Mason (The Globe and Mail) on Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott: “The Conservatives must be thrilled about Monday’s developments. Ms. Philpott’s riding of Markham-Stouffville is a swing riding, where the Conservatives tend to do well. Now their odds of winning it have increased dramatically. Ms. Wilson-Raybould’s chances in Vancouver-Granville are likely better but she will still need lots of help. The Liberals will run a strong candidate against her.”
Paul Wells (Maclean’s) on Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott: “Most of the things Wilson-Raybould and Philpott are proud of accomplishing in politics are things they did within the Liberal system of team play, massive help from the civil service, squadrons of communications assistants, and, yes, party discipline. It is to their honour that they walked away from all that because they didn’t like one of Justin Trudeau’s calls. But they walked away from it. Their lives since then will be seen by most of their colleagues as advertisements for sticking with machines, not for fighting the machinery.”
Aaron Wherry (CBC News) on Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott: “Few Independents, if any, have ever enjoyed the public profile and goodwill that Wilson-Raybould and Philpott have gained over the last few months. And they’ll be objects of media fascination throughout the campaign — much to the chagrin, one imagines, of Liberals who would rather not have anyone still talking about the two former ministers and everything they have come to represent.”
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on Doug Ford’s fiscal policy: “The bottom line is that the Ford government did inherit a budget problem, and one that has to be addressed. But it has exaggerated the scale of the issues – the debt and deficit. It’s been a case of fiscal Munchausen syndrome by proxy.”
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