Hello,
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is defending a Christmas vacation he and his family took at the Jamaican estate belonging to a wealthy donor to the foundation that carries his father’s name.
Mr. Trudeau was under fire from opposition leaders Tuesday after Radio-Canada, the French-language arm of the CBC, reported that he vacationed at Prospect, a “luxurious estate” with seaside villas owned by the family of Alexander and Andrew Green.
The story is here.
The Greens made a large donation to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation in 2021 to establish a scholarship in memory of their mother.
The Jamaica trip cost taxpayers roughly $160,000 because of travel-related security and personnel costs.
“The Prime Minister has a right, like anybody else, to go on vacation with his family. And I understand the fact that moving this specific guy comes with a lot of expenses and he doesn’t have a choice,” Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet told a morning news conference on Parliament Hill.
But the BQ leader added the question is whether Mr. Trudeau has to spend his vacation time with a friend providing opulent surroundings at a time when so many Quebeckers and Canadians are facing questions about their capacity to cover their living costs and income supports.
“There’s a lack of consideration and respect for the average citizen.”
Heading into Question Period, Mr. Trudeau noted, in remarks to journalists, that he cleared his trip with the federal ethics commissioner.
He also said his family has been friends with the Green family for 50 years.
The ethics commissioner last December was Mario Dion. Mr. Dion stepped down as ethics commissioner in February.
On Tuesday, Mr. Dion tweeted in regard to the matter, “Gifts from a friend are acceptable from a legal ethical point of view. Public opinion sometimes uses a different test and that is healthy.”
Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, in Question Period, suggested the fiscal policies of Mr. Trudeau and his government are to blame for many Canadians having had to reduce or eliminate their vacation plans, and asked if the Prime Minister paid for his own lodgings.
Mr. Trudeau did not directly answer, but said Mr. Poilievre should support the federal budget, which includes such affordability measures as the grocery rebate.
This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Ian Bailey. It is available exclusively to our digital subscribers. If you’re reading this on the web, subscribers can sign up for the Politics newsletter and more than 20 others on our newsletter signup page. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.
TODAY'S HEADLINES
POSSIBLE PUBLIC-SERVANT STRIKE LOOMS - More than 150,000 federal public servants plan to go on strike Wednesday at 12:01 a.m. if they do not reach a deal with the federal government by 9 p.m. ET Tuesday. Story here.
POSITIVE BUT WEAK GROWTH EXPECTED FOR THE NEXT YEAR: MACKLEM - Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said on Tuesday that the current forecast is for positive but weak growth for the rest of the year, and therefore not a recession, and that by most people’s measures it would be a “soft landing.” Story here.
FBI FINDS CANADIAN LINK IN COVERT CHINESE POLICE-STATION PROBE - One of two men arrested for allegedly operating a secret police station for China in Manhattan had photographic evidence on his phone of the opening of a similar covert station in Canada, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation says. Story here.
ALBERTA EYES LEGISLATION ON INVOLUNTARY TREATMENT FOR SOME DRUG USERS - The Alberta government is considering introducing a law that would broaden the circumstances under which people with severe drug addictions could be placed into treatment without their consent. Story here.
INFLATION RATE COOLING - Canada’s inflation rate is rapidly cooling as expected this spring, with consumers benefiting from a pullback in energy costs and weaker price hikes for durable goods and even groceries. Story here.
LOBLAW PRESIDENT WESTON LEAVING ROLE - Galen Weston will step back from day-to-day operations at Loblaw Companies Ltd. by early next year, the company announced on Tuesday, saying it has hired European retail executive Per Bank to take over as president and chief executive officer. Story here.
ONTARIO SCIENCE CENTRE BEING MOVED - The Ontario Science Centre will be moving to a revamped Ontario Place in Toronto. Story here.
TECHNICAL GLITCH DELAYS TAX CREDITS TO SOME LOWER-INCOME CANADIANS - The federal government was more than a week delayed in issuing payments of the goods and services tax/harmonized sales tax credit and another key benefit for some lower-income Canadians, according to a tweet by Canada Revenue Agency. Story here.
MONTREAL-AREA MAYOR REVEALED AS SEXUAL-ASSAULT VICTIM - The mayor of a Montreal suburb has revealed herself as the sexual assault victim of ex-Parti Québécois legislator Harold LeBel. Story here.
SASKATCHEWAN PREMIER MOE RULED OUT FIVE-MINUTE MEETING WITH PM - Premier Scott Moe says he did not meet with Justin Trudeau last week because he was only offered five minutes with the Prime Minister during a Saskatchewan stop. Story here.
DISASTER-RELIEF PROGRAM SHOULD BE WARY OF SUPPORT FOR REPAIRING, REBUILDING STRUCTURES IN HIGH-RISK AREAS: REPORT - Canada’s disaster relief program should restrict payments toward repairing or rebuilding structures on floodplains and other high-risk areas, concluded a report by a federal advisory panel. Story here.
CODERRE DEALNG WITH STROKE - Denis Coderre, the former Montreal mayor and federal Liberal cabinet minister, is recovering in hospital after suffering a mild stroke. Story here from CTV.
THIS AND THAT
TODAY IN THE COMMONS – Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, April. 18, accessible here.
MINISTERS ON THE ROAD - International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan, also minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada, in Vancouver, announced funding for a Langara College education project. Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, in North Vancouver, with B.C. Forests Minster Bruce Ralston announced a plan to plant more than 37 million trees in the province under the federal 2 Billion Trees program.
PREMIERS MEET WITH POLICE CHIEFS - The council of premiers and territorial leaders says they will meet virtually with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police over the chiefs’ concerns about crime. The meeting is, according to an announcement from the Council of the Federation, set for April 21. The meeting follows premiers and territorial leaders expressing concerns about the bail system.
PRIME MINISTER'S DAY
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in Ottawa, met with the Canadian Dental Association, attended a Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) commemoration service in Ottawa and delivered remarks, attended Question Period, and chaired a cabinet meeting.
LEADERS
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet held a media availability at the House of Commons.
Green Party of Canada Leader Elizabeth May attended the National Holocaust Remembrance Day Commemoration, Yom HaShoah, at the National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in Ottawa, held a news conference on Parliament Hill, attended Question Period, and met with representatives of the Canadian Dental Association.
No schedules available for other party leaders.
THE DECIBEL
On Tuesday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife talks about a controversial donation the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation received back in 2016. The Globe and Mail learned back in February that the donation – initially said to be from two Chinese billionaires – was allegedly tied to the Chinese government. Now, there’s even more to the story. Mr. Fife and senior parliamentary reporter Steven Chase have been breaking this news. The Decibel is here.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on fiscal gravity catching up to the Liberals: “As devotees of Looney Tunes are well aware, there always comes a moment when Wile E. Coyote, suspended in mid-air above a yawning canyon, finally looks down and realizes his predicament. Gravity does its thing, and a long and nasty fall ensues. In the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, the Liberals positively gushed about the wonders of low interest rates that allowed the government to spend without a care for the resulting debt burden. But fiscal gravity is catching up to this government, in the form of ludicrously high wage demands from public service unions and a threatened general strike that could commence as soon as midnight on Tuesday.”
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on how Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s enemies list is conveniently unilingual: “But there is another aspect of Mr. Poilievre’s political tactics in this episode: He uses culture war as a weapon when it is politically convenient and stays on the sidelines when it is not. Mr. Poilievre didn’t campaign for the (government-funded) Radio-Canada to get the same label because that would not translate well to Quebec. Mr. Poilievre and his Conservatives are running behind in the province and they are not as courageous when they draw up enemy lists there.”
Marsha Lederman (The Globe and Mail) on her insights, as a former CBC employee, into the Conservative assertion the corporation’s reporting is controlled by the government: “Mr. Poilievre is campaigning to defund the CBC, pushing an online petition to that effect, and has gloated on Twitter about the issue. “Now people know that it is Trudeau propaganda, not news,” Mr. Poilievre tweeted after the CBC’s “government-funded” label appeared. There is a vast difference between government-funded and government-controlled. One would think that Mr. Poilievre understands that. Instead he is playing lowest-common-denominator politics by getting his base riled up over a gigantic red herring. The government funds the CBC, yes, but it has no control or involvement in editorial content. To suggest otherwise is to fuel what is becoming a dangerous mistrust of journalism.”
André Picard (The Globe and Mail) on how tackling the toxic drug crisis requires a multifront response, not simplistic solutions: “The response to the drug crisis has become increasingly polarized. There are those who think enforcement, and enforcement alone, is the answer. There are those advocating for a laws-be-damned approach to harm reduction. Illness should not be criminalized. But using drugs – even being addicted – does not give you a free pass to do whatever you want, either. The prevention component of the four pillars is almost non-existent right now. In our beleaguered mental health non-system, treatment simply isn’t there for people who need it. So, what are we left with? A lot of flailing about with no overall strategy.”
Veena Dwivedi (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on the futile fight against franglais: “Any anglophone Montrealer will tell you that one of the hardest things to do upon leaving our beloved hometown is first, to learn that there are no kisses on any one’s cheek when saying hello, and second, learning to not switch into French as you speak. I had to stop myself from saying “merci” to the bus driver while living in the U.S. as a graduate student; and it was a couple of years into teaching my classes here at Brock that one of my teaching assistants from South Korea very politely asked me what “comme ҫa” meant. My colleagues here never talk about the “subventions” that they are applying for, whereas my McGill colleagues would regularly talk about grant applications in that way.”
Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com. Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop.