Hello, welcome to Politics Insider. Let’s look at what happened this week.
Set against the backdrop of a rising tide of Alberta separatism, Monday’s closely watched by-election in the riding of Battle River-Crowfoot will help decide the political fate of Conservative candidate Pierre Poilievre.
As Emma Graney reports from the Alberta city of Camrose, a win would be Poilievre’s ticket back to Parliament.
There, he can finally debate Prime Minister Mark Carney, rather than sitting on the sidelines where he was relegated to after his bruising April loss to the Liberals in the Ottawa-area riding of Carleton.
A by-election win doesn’t guarantee safety for Poilievre, however. He is set to face a leadership review in January, after his party failed to win the spring general election despite a strong lead in the polls throughout 2024.
But if history is anything to go by, his first steps back to Parliament Hill seem to be on solid ground.
Battle River-Crowfoot, with a population of around 110,000 people, is one of Canada’s safest Conservative ridings; its former MP, Damien Kurek, won with almost 83 per cent of the vote, then gave up his seat to trigger the by-election.
Meanwhile, the union representing Air Canada flight attendants has rejected the airline’s proposal for binding arbitration.
Dayne Patterson reports that the decision leaves bargaining suspended as time winds down toward an impending strike deadline early Saturday.
The airline and the Air Canada Component of CUPE have been in contract negotiations for months over an agreement for more than 10,000 Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flight attendants.
Both sides have blamed the other for stalled negotiations and misinformation about offers on the table. The main sticking points have been wages and time for hours worked.
Numerous campaign signs outside the community of Ryley, Alta. There are more than 200 candidates running in the Battle River-Crowfoot by-election, where Poilievre is hoping to win a seat.Kyler Zeleny/The Globe and Mail
What else is going on
Federal budget watchdog has `no idea’ who successor will be despite term ending next month: Yves Giroux, who took on the job in 2018, will mark his final day on Sept. 2, and says he’s reached out to the Privy Council Office multiple times for information over the past few months.
Trump, Putin meet in Alaska as `high-stakes’ summit on Russia-Ukraine ceasefire begins: The pair launched their meeting with a warm handshake today, greeting each other like old friends before heading into hours of discussions that could reshape the war in Ukraine and relations between Moscow and Washington.
Ontario government orders public servants back to office five days a week: .“The return to a five days per week in-workplace standard represents the current workforce landscape in the province,” Treasury Board President Caroline Mulroney said in a statement
Ottawa has duty to ensure welfare of Canadians in ICE custody, advocates say: The calls come after revelations that Canadian children as young as two years old have been held for weeks in immigration detention this year.
Mark Mulroney to join CIBC as global vice-chair: The son of former prime minister Brian Mulroney and his wife, Mila, is leaving his current job as a vice-chair at Bank of Nova Scotia to take on the new assignment on Nov. 17.
On our radar
Prime Minister’s Week: Mark Carney was in the National Capital Region and surrounding area this week for what his office described as a reduced schedule to reflect a brief period of local vacation. On Monday, his office reported that Carney spoke with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Russia’s invasion. Also, Carney spoke with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. And he participated in a virtual meeting of the Coalition of the Willing on support for Ukraine, co chaired by Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Zelensky and U.S. Vice-President JD Vance were also in the meeting.
Carney constituency office: Carney was elected MP for the Ottawa-area riding of Nepean in the April federal election. But as The Ottawa Citizen has reported, he has not yet set up a constituency office. Emily Williams, media-relations director for the PMO, said in a statement that the process is under way to confirm an office that meets all security requirements and is conveniently located and accessible for constituents. In the meantime, constituents are being directed, either virtually or in person, to the constituency office of David McGuinty, the defence minister, and long-time MP for the neighbouring riding of Ottawa South.
Political Break: The House of Commons is not sitting for the summer. It will resume on Sept. 15. The Senate will sit again on Sept. 23.
MPs in the Summer: As part of this weekly summer edition of the newsletter, we are checking in with MPs on what they are up to while the Commons is on break. This week, the focus is on New Democrat Gord Johns, the member for the Vancouver Island riding of Courtenay-Alberni. From the city of Port Alberni, Johns has been witness to the Mount Underwood wildfire. However, he says there is little for an MP to do but use social media to share emergency-management information from local and provincial officials.
“I was born and raised on Vancouver Island and I have never seen anything like it ever. We’ve had fires, but not at this scale. Two years ago, we had Cameron Lake, which shut our highway down multiple times over the summer. It was extremely frustrating for local residents and deeply alarming. People are triggered from that. But this is much more scary. This is much closer to people’s homes.
“I’m looking out my kitchen window. The fire is nine kilometres away from my house right now. It looks like an atomic bomb went off.
There’s always a chance it could head towards our community. It’s 32 degrees Celsius right now. It’s dry. This is a large fire and it’s moving quickly. We’re grateful the wind is moving the fire away from our community, but the wind could change in a heartbeat.
“The smoke is now coming into our community. It was blowing the other way, but now it’s coming in rapidly as we’re talking now. It smells really bad. It’s heavy smoke. Half an hour ago, that wasn’t the case.
“Everybody has got a Go Bag. I’ve got a flashlight. I’ve got my clothes. I’ve got water, food, blankets. My car is like a Go Bag normally. I’m a rural MP. My daughter laughed. She said, `You’ve got a Go Bag. It’s your car.’ ”
This interview has been edited and condensed.
New diplomats: Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand has announced three new diplomatic appointments. Details here.
Question period
Which prominent provincial politician co-founded Air Transat?
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for the answer.
Perspectives
Ford and Carney’s chummy relationship is good for Canada at large
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday for a “heart-to-heart” talk, as the Premier calls it, about U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
— John Ibbitson is a media fellow at the Fraser Institute and a senior fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.
As the democratic world lines up behind Jimmy Lai, Canadian leadership is badly needed
As the sham trial of pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai resumes in Hong Kong, it’s not just his life and the future of Hong Kong that hang in the balance – Canada’s sovereignty and the security of Canadians are also on trial. It is a test of our country’s fortitude in withstanding the growing assault on our freedom and fundamental rights.
— Irwin Cotler is a Canadian former minister of justice and attorney-general, and Canadian counsel to Jimmy Lai. Brandon Silver is an international human rights lawyer and director of policy and projects at the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights.
Why I added my name to the long ballot in Pierre Poilievre’s by-election
If I were one of the 53,684 people in Battle River-Crowfoot who voted for Mr. Kurek, I would be angry right now. I would be wondering why someone who had received my vote in three elections would suddenly abandon his position as a member of Parliament for a job as a lobbyist. And I’d be wondering how a candidate who had just been defeated in his own riding in Ontario was supposed to understand my needs, and fill the role of a rural Alberta MP.
— Barry Rueger is an author and is running as a candidate in the Battle River-Crowfoot by-election in Alberta.
Go deeper
- The Decibel: Dr. Mira Sucharov, a political science professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, is on The Globe and Mail podcast to talk about why more Western countries are recognizing Palestinian statehood.
- Follow along for our stories on Canada-U.S. relations as news develops
- Take a look at the history of immigration reporting and great political scandals from A Nation’s Paper, a book about The Globe and Mail’s role in Canadian history
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The answer to today’s question: Ahead of entering provincial politics, Quebec Premier François Legault co-founded Air Transat in 1986, Until 1997, Legault was the company’s chief executive officer. He was first elected to the Quebec National Assembly in 1998. Legault has been premier since 2018, leading his Coalition Avenir Québec party.