Hello,
Forty-one Canadian diplomats have left India after its government said it was going to remove their diplomatic immunity, the latest development in a dispute over the killing of a Canadian in British Columbia.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly announced the departures on Thursday afternoon at a news conference in Ottawa with Immigration Minister Marc Miller.
Joly said India’s measure, effective Friday, did not affect 21 other Canadian diplomats.
Joly said India’s actions would have put the diplomats at risk. “Given the implications of India’s actions on the safety of our diplomats, we have facilitated their safe departure from India,” she said. “This means our diplomats and their families have now left.”
The Foreign Affairs Minister called India’s action “unreasonable and escalatory,” adding that Canada would not reciprocate and take the same measure against India.
She added Canada would continue to engage with India.
Tensions between India and Canada have escalated since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last month said Canada had intelligence that “agents of the Indian government” were responsible for the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent advocate of a separate homeland for Sikhs in the Indian state of Punjab. Nijjar was gunned down in Surrey, B.C., in June.
Please check The Globe and Mail for updates on this developing situation.
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TODAY'S HEADLINES
Plans to fix federal systems delivering payments like OAS, CPP and EI are overbudget, behind schedule, Auditor-General warns – The aging computer systems that deliver billions of dollars in direct benefits – such as Old Age Security and Employment Insurance – are at risk of failure, and federal plans to update them are behind schedule and overbudget, says Auditor-General Karen Hogan.
New high-frequency rail CEO says project could include direct link between Toronto and Montreal – Martin Imbleau, head of the team that is aiming to build 1,000 kilometres of dedicated Via Rail passenger service between Quebec City and Toronto, is well aware of the problems with large rail projects. But he says his office has a pre-emptive plan to ensure cost and timeline projections prove reliable.
Human Rights Commission asks province to reconsider pronoun bill – The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission has asked the province to reconsider its proposed pronoun legislation, saying it infringes upon the rights of students. Meanwhile, a Saskatchewan school division says the Education Minister never asked about a school guideline that he cited as the “impetus” for the province’s proposed pronoun legislation.
Barber said he felt convoy was ‘out of control’ in early days: police witness – Convoy organizer Chris Barber said early in last year’s protest that he felt things were getting “out of control” and unsafe, an officer who served as an intermediary between organizers and police testified in court on Thursday.
New House Speaker Greg Fergus appeals for decorum ahead of Question Period – Greg Fergus delayed the start of Question Period on Wednesday to deliver a speech on the importance of proper behaviour.
McGill postpones French program as Quebec hikes tuition for out-of-province students – McGill University has postponed a $50-million investment in French-language programs as a result of the provincial government’s plan to nearly double tuition for out-of-province students.
RCMP tells owners to turn in guns after banned fully automatic model sold in Canada – The RCMP has told owners to turn in fully automatic military surplus firearms after hundreds were misidentified and allowed into Canada for commercial sale.
Liberal MPs call for ceasefire in Israel-Hamas war – As Liberal government MPs called for the ceasefire, Sameer Zuberi, parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Diversity, decried what he called “butchery” taking place in the Gaza Strip.
Wab Kinew sworn in as Manitoba premier along with new NDP cabinet – Wab Kinew, wearing a feathered headdress that once belonged to his father, was sworn in as Canada’s first First Nations provincial premier and introduced a cabinet laden with more historical firsts on Wednesday in a colourful celebration of Indigenous culture, songs and languages.
Accused in London, Ont., truck attack says he knew what happened was terrorism – The man accused of killing four members of a Muslim family in London, Ont., has told a jury he knew his actions were considered a terrorist attack.
THIS AND THAT
Today in the Commons – Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, accessible here.
Deputy Prime Minister’s day – Chrystia Freeland is in Washington, D.C., for private meetings as well as co-chairing a meeting of the Canada-U. S. Energy Transformation Task Force alongside Amos Hochstein, the U.S. senior adviser to the President for energy and investment. Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson was also on hand. Freeland also met with Lael Brainard, the U.S director of the national economic council.
In Ottawa – Five ministers were scheduled to respond to reports from the Auditor-General: Treasury Minister Anita Anand, Citizens’ Services Minister Terry Beech, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Health Minister Mark Holland and Immigration Minister Marc Miller.
Ministers on the road – Defence Minister Bill Blair, at Garrison Petawawa in Ontario, was scheduled to make an announcement on new equipment for members of the Canadian Army. Small Business Minister Rechie Valdez, in Toronto, participated in a Shopify town hall. The minister was also scheduled to attend a West Coast Business Forum in Vancouver, and announce funding to support Indigenous entrepreneurs.
New diplomat – Isabelle Valois, Canada’s former ambassador to Uruguay, is Canada’s new ambassador to Morocco. Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly announced the appointment.
Committees – Commons committee hearings included a briefing on the Israel-Hamas conflict for the national defence committee, featuring think tank witnesses that include Natan Sachs, senior fellow and director of the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux appeared before the committee on government operations and estimates.
Meanwhile, in the Senate, Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne appeared before the banking, commerce and economy committee on Bill C-42, an act to amend the Canada Business Corporations Act.
Long time since the last Ford news conference – CBC reporter Mike Crawley, who covers Ontario, notes on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that today marks four weeks since Ontario Premier Doug Ford last held a news conference.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in Ottawa, continued to participate in the CARICOM summit of Caribbean leaders, meeting with Guyanese President Mohamed Irfaan Ali and subsequently met with Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness. Trudeau chaired the CARICOM Trade and Investment Relations Roundtable, bringing together leaders and Canadian investors, then participated in a closing Canada-CARICOM Summit news conference. Later, in Toronto, Trudeau was scheduled to meet with Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley and subsequently join her to participate in a town hall discussion with students.
LEADERS
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, in her Vancouver-Island riding, participated virtually in the Commons.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in Ottawa, participated in Question Period, and met with the nationwide leadership team of the Canadian Mental Health Association.
No schedules provided for other party leaders.
THE DECIBEL
On Thursday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, Nathan VanderKlippe, international correspondent for The Globe, talks about the influence of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group based in Lebanon, seen as a serious threat to the Israel-Hamas war. The Decibel is here.
PUBLIC OPINION
B.C. Politics – With just over a year to go before the next B.C. election, the Angus Reid Institute reports here that the B.C. NDP has a notable lead in voter support and that there’s a fight for second place between B.C. United (the former B.C. Liberals) and the provincial Conservative party.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on how provinces have climate powers and duties: “Climate change is a global problem. Canada has a national goal to slash emissions. But it depends a lot on provincial actions – which too often these days is inaction.”
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on how the Liberals win points on housing policy, but it might not change the politics: “So now the Liberals have regained their footing in the fight over who can address the housing crisis but it is still a government eight years into power hoping to win a political argument over who has the best solutions for years in the future. Mr. Fraser is starting to win debates in the Commons on housing policy, but it might be too late to make Canadians feel things will change.”
André Picard (The Globe and Mail) on how nurses are fleeing the health system to work for private staffing agencies: “The nursing shortage we have is a shortage of nurses willing to work in the current conditions. The only way to recruit and retain these essential health workers is to improve the workplace, and the conditions of care. We will never buy our way out of this fundamental structural problem with exorbitant rates paid to agencies that serve as little more than costly fingers in the dyke of a troubled system.”
Konrad Yakabuski (The Globe and Mail) on how Quebec Premier François Legault’s shakedown of McGill and Concordia will not save cash-starved francophone universities: “You practically need a PhD to figure out the politics of university financing in Quebec. Successive provincial governments have been torn between the economic dividends yielded by wealthy anglophone institutions and remedying the historic disadvantages faced by much poorer francophone ones. They never seem to get the balance right.”
Pam Hrick and Roxana Parsa (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how survivors of sexual violence should have greater access to restorative justice: “Most sexual violence is not reported to the police. When it is, survivors are often met with skepticism or outright disbelief of their experiences. In some cases, they are blamed or treated as perpetrators themselves. Many survivors of sexual violence – especially Black, Indigenous, and racialized women and gender-diverse people – experience retraumatization when their cases enter the criminal legal system. Survivors need more avenues to justice; members of historically marginalized communities have been saying this for years.”
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