Hello,
The federal Comptroller-General has acknowledged he recently advised chief financial officers overseeing a review of contracts to McKinsey & Co. to “be careful what you write down,” drawing a stern rebuke Friday from the Information Commissioner of Canada.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asked Procurement Minister Helena Jaczek and Treasury Board President Mona Fortier in early January to review federal spending with McKinsey in response to concerns raised by opposition MPs. The review is scheduled to be complete by June 30.
Federal officials have said the total value of federal contracts awarded to McKinsey since 2015 is at least $116.8-million.
Opposition MPs have questioned the spending in light of various controversies the company is facing internationally – including being charged in South Africa in an alleged corruption scandal – and the fact that the former head of the company, Dominic Barton, also led an influential federal advisory council during the initial years of the Trudeau government.
Deputy Ottawa bureau chief Bill Curry reports here.
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TODAY'S HEADLINES
EMPLOYMENT GROWTH EXCEEDED PREDICTIONS – Employment growth in Canada blew past economists’ predictions in January, as forecasters had expected higher interest rates to weigh on the labour market. Story here.
JOHN HORGAN LEAVING B.C. LEGISLATURE – Former B.C. premier John Horgan, who remained a member of the B.C. legislature after leaving his leadership post last year, says he will fully exit provincial politics in March. Story here.
NG SAYS SHE’S SINCERE IN MAKING AMENDS – International Trade Minister Mary Ng says she hopes Canadians will see the “sincerity” in her efforts to make amends after breaking the country’s ethics rules. Story here.
AFGHAN FAMILY REACHES SAFETY – An Afghan family has settled in Canada after advocacy group Operation Abraham helped get them to safety. Wahid Ibrahimi, who worked as a security guard at the Canadian embassy in Kabul, fled with his family to Pakistan when the Taliban took over. Story here.
AUTOMAKERS SEEK ALIGNMENT FROM FREELAND – Canada’s automakers are urging Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland to use her upcoming federal budget to better align electric vehicle incentives with recently announced policies in the United States. Story here.
APPOINTEE RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT FEDERAL CONTRACT ON UNMARKED GRAVES – A special appointee for unmarked graves says a federal decision to contract an international organization to engage with Indigenous communities on the issue lacks transparency and risks causing harm. Story here.
`NEW BRUNSWICK IS BACK’: HIGGS – New Brunswick’s premier touted his government’s achievements this week, claiming it has spurred progress in health care, education, energy development and the economy. Story here.
TRUDEAU ATTENDS LAVAL VIGIL – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended a candlelight vigil, in Laval, Quebec on Thursday night for two children killed when a bus crashed into a daycare centre. Six children, all under five years old, were injured. Story here from The Montreal Gazette.
ONTARIO AND FEDS INVEST IN BATTERY PROJECT – Ontario and the federal government are investing in a project they say will be the country’s largest battery storage project in Six Nations of the Grand River. Story here.
ECONOMISTS SAY HEALTH PLAN WON’T THROW FEDERAL FINANCES OFF TRACK – The multibillion-dollar health proposal announced this week by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is much smaller than expected and won’t throw federal finances off track, say economists who have reviewed the plan. Story here.
SENATOR DEFENDS TRAVEL DOCUMENTS FOR AFGHANS – Senator Marilou McPhedran’s office issued 640 Canadian travel documents to Afghans trying to escape the Taliban in 2021, which she says was done with the approval of a senior government official, even though Ottawa later called those papers inauthentic and asked police to investigate. Story here.
SMITH EXPLAINS LIMP HANDSHAKE – Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, weighing in on a limp hand clasp with the Prime Minister that went viral, says she never expected she would have to shake hands with him at a media photo opportunity. Story here.
THIS AND THAT
TODAY IN THE COMMONS – Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, Feb. 10, accessible here.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER’S DAY – Chrystia Freeland, with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, made an announcement in Caledonia, Ont., on a battery storage facility.
GOVERNOR-GENERAL ON THE ROAD – Governor-General Mary Simon departed Helsinki, ending a five-day visit to Finland.
MINISTERS ON THE ROAD – Defense Minister Anita Anand visits the Pentagon for a meeting with U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on issues including the war in Ukraine and modernizing NORAD. Tourism Minister Randy Boissonnault, in Calgary, made an infrastructure announcement. Justice Minister David Lametti, in Montreal, made a $10-million funding announcement at the Place Turcot Containerboard Mill to support efforts to produce 100-per-cent Recycled Kraft saturating board products. Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, as well as Transport Minister Omar Alghabra and Seniors Minister Kamal Khera, made an announcement, in Mississauga, on preventing gun crime and gang violence in Peel Region, and took media questions.
NO EASY PATH FOR LIBERAL GUN CONTROL PLANS – Yukon’s Liberal Premier Ranj Pillai says the federal Liberals will face challenges trying again on gun control after a previous effort that targeted guns used by hunters, was eventually withdrawn amidst controversy. Story here. “Many folks are happy to see the government step back on it,” Mr. Pillai said in an interview this week during a visit to Ottawa for the meeting with provincial and territorial premiers and the Prime Minister on health care. Mr. Pillai said that if the Liberal government is going to try again on the issue, it should try for respectful consultations with stakeholders, but, even then, it’s still going to be tough for the government. “When you try to take on certain policy positions and there’s mistakes made, the public is extremely unforgiving,” he said.
Mr. Pillai, the territory’s premier since he succeeded Sandy Silver in January, speaks to the issue as a hunter of moose, caribou, bison and Dall sheep. He owns firearms, has a restricted permit, and says his firearms are safely locked away. He said the firearms he currently uses would not have been affected by federal Liberal plans, but there are firearms he has looked at purchasing that would have been limited.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in Ottawa, attended private meetings and spoke with nursing students and participated in a question-and-answer session.
LEADERS
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in Quebec City, met with Mayor Bruno Marchand, attended the Carnival du Québec, and hosted a social event for NDP activists from the Québec City area.
THE DECIBEL
Friday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast features parliamentary reporter Janice Dickson on the ongoing issue for the federal government over what to do about men and women who are suspected of joining the Islamic State terrorist organization – and what to do with their children. The federal government has offered to bring some Canadian children being held in detention camps in Syria to Canada – but their mothers can’t come with them. The Decibel is here.
PUBLIC OPINION
Abacus Data says new research finds the federal Liberals with a 17-percentage-point lead over the Conservatives in the City of Toronto. Details here.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on how Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to stop stalling on Roxham Road: “It felt like Canada was being had this week when news came that city officials in New York were buying bus tickets for asylum seekers who wanted to head north to the Canadian border and make a refugee claim at Roxham Road. Roxham Road is a stretch of well-trod pavement running across the border between Quebec and New York State on which, last year alone, the RCMP intercepted almost 40,000 people seeking refugee status in this country. Roxham Road has become a busy conduit into Canada because it is not an official border crossing. As such, it is not covered by the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA), under which migrants seeking refugee status at an official land port of entry must do so in the first country they arrive in.”
Andrew Coyne (The Globe and Mail) on the continuing health care charade: a non-deal with recycled money and conditions the federal government won’t enforce: “So we have a deal. Hallelujah! No wonder the newspapers cleared their front pages. There we read that the Prime Minister and the premiers have reached an agreement to save health care, in which the federal government will send the provinces another $46-billion or is it $196-billion or maybe $21-billion, in return for which the provinces have promised to do a number of things they maybe wouldn’t have done anyway. Only it’s not a deal, really. Nobody’s agreed to do anything.”
Konrad Yakabuski (The Globe and Mail) on why the head of the CBC is picking a fight with federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre: “CBC/Radio-Canada president Catherine Tait is a magnet for controversy. Since she took the helm of the public broadcaster in 2018, she has waded into political debates that most of her predecessors would have religiously avoided in the name of protecting the CBC’s independence. Ms. Tait may feel she needs to be an advocate for public broadcasting at a time when the CBC’s raison d’être is being questioned as never before in its 86-year existence. But she more often than not comes across as thin-skinned and self-serving in her defence of a taxpayer-funded institution that has an obligation to serve all Canadians, not just the ones it chooses to.”
Vicky Mochama (Special to The Globe and Mail) on the cruel and unusual torture of doing your taxes: “When it comes to taxes, I am a nonfiler. I have not filed my taxes for [redacted] years. Life is less composed of tax seasons and more of an ambient tax weather. My personal administration difficulties, while charming anecdotally (especially the joke about Australia, you’ll see), hardly seem to be a national concern. Except that they are. The CD Howe Institute estimated that there were 1.29 million Canadians, or 4.2 per cent of potential tax filers, who were nonfilers in 2019. Matching census data with tax filings, a 2020 Canadian Public Policy paper estimated the national nonfiling rate to be 14.8 per cent. Rather than being a lone shirker, I am one of a tribe of more than a million Canadians who are not filing their tax returns.”
Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how Ottawa’s LRT didn’t go wrong. It started wrong: “Mention Ottawa’s new multibillion-dollar Light Rail Transit (LRT) line to residents of the city and you will hear things that cannot be printed in this newspaper. How such a promising project turned into a profanity-generating fiasco is worth examining in detail because it is far from unique. Similar stories can be found across Canada and around the world. And there will be more to come unless we get serious about the planning and delivery of big projects. When Ottawa’s LRT was approved, it sounded wonderful.
Jack Knox (The Victoria Times-Colonist) on why it now costs $21.50 for a cheeseburger and fries: “Want to know why your cheeseburger and fries cost $21.50? Dave Craggs just broke it down in a poster on the front door of Ferris’ Grill and Garden Patio: Wages and health benefits: $9.14. Ingredients: $7.10. Rent: $1.44. Supplies: 50 cents. Utilities: 48 cents. Accounting and legal: 45 cents. Credit card fees: 38 cents. Repairs and maintenance: 36 cents. Insurance: 21 cents. Laundry: 19 cents. Total cost: $20.25. Profit: $1.25. OK, Craggs says, maybe that $7.10 ingredients figure is a little high for a cheeseburger. But it is representative of how much the cost of food, as a proportion of the price, typically adds to a dish at his Yates Street restaurant.”
Jacques Poitras (CBC) on the political future of New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs: “The question hung in the air along with the echo of the Clash’s crunchy, iconic punk guitar riff: should he stay or should he go? Premier Blaine Higgs avoided the big political question on everyone’s minds in his state of the province speech Thursday night. He suggested last fall he’d use the event to reveal whether he’ll stick around to run in the next provincial election in 2024. Then in December he said he’d take more time to make up his mind. “I know many of you have a question that you may have expected me to answer tonight, but I have a question for you,” the decidedly non-punk premier told the crowd of more than 800 people as he wrapped up the 40-minute speech. Cue the music, the 1982 classic Should I Stay or Should I Go? It was inappropriately silly to some, cringey to others – never mind incongruous, given the Clash’s radical left-wing politics.”
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