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Pierre Poilievre today sidestepped the question of whether his Opposition House Leader went too far in posting a “wanted” poster of a senator that led to angry calls to her office, racist abuse and a threatening phone call.
The federal Conservative Leader was asked at a news conference about Andrew Scheer’s tactic, which came during a debate over proposed carbon-pricing legislation, but did not directly address that point in his answer.
Poilievre said if someone has made a threat, they should be held accountable. “I receive threats all the time as do members of my caucus. It’s terrible when it happens,” he told journalists.
However, the Official Opposition Leader stood by the policy issue central to the situation.
The Senate has been debating a bill that the Conservatives support, which would remove the federal carbon tax from propane and natural gas used on farms for grain drying, barn heating, and other purposes.
“Our call is for people to let these senators know that there should be no more carbon tax on our farmers because we already can’t afford the price of food. We encourage people to make those calls in a respectful, intelligent way,” he said.
Earlier this month, Senator Bernadette Clement called for an adjournment of debate in the Senate on the bill.
In a posting on X last week, Scheer suggested Clement was working to help Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The post displayed photos of Clement and Quebec Senator Chantal Peticlerc, who helped propose the adjournment motion. Ms. Clement says the post was designed, with ripped edges, to look like a “wanted poster.”
Clement says Scheer’s post prompted a stream of nasty calls to her office, racist abuse online and a threatening phone call from an unknown man who said he was coming to her house. The call is being investigated by parliamentary security.
Clement, who is Black and sits as an independent senator, told The Globe and Mail that after Scheer’s post on X, which was reposted by some Conservative senators, she became the target of vitriol online, including racist and misogynistic comments that she reported to X.
She said local police in the eastern Ontario city of Cornwall, where she was formerly the mayor, were “excellent” when she reported the man’s threat to come to her home.
There’s a full story here by Marie Woolf.
On another note, Ukraine’s embassy in Canada says the upgraded free-trade agreement between Ottawa and Kyiv does not contain a carbon tax, contrary to what Poilievre has alleged. Story here.
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TODAY'S HEADLINES
Former RCMP intelligence official Cameron Ortis found guilty - A jury found Ortis guilty of six charges, including four counts of violating the secrets law, as well as breach of trust and fraudulent use of a computer. He was placed in handcuffs by police shortly after the verdict was delivered and faces a sentencing hearing in January. Meanwhile, there are details the jury did not hear.
Quebec ready to increase offer to striking public-sector workers: Legault - Premier François Legault made the comments today in Quebec City as unions representing 570,000 teachers, nurses, orderlies and other public-sector workers are on strike across the province. Also, despite public dissent, the Quebec Premier insists the CAQ caucus is “more united then ever.”
Canada’s first Indigenous Governor-General speaks out about online abuse toward women - “When I was installed as Governor-General, I became a target. So there was a lot of negative comments that were made towards me as an individual, as a woman, as an Indigenous person,” Mary Simon told CTV National News.
India restarts suspended tourism and business e-visas for Canadians - The move is taking place two months after India suspended such services in the wake of a row over Ottawa’s accusation of possible Indian government involvement in the murder of a Canadian Sikh separatist leader. Story here.
No sign of terrorism in Rainbow Bridge blast that killed two, injured border officer, N.Y. Governor says - “More information could arise but, based on the preliminary investigation, no sign of terrorist involvement in the horrific explosion that occurred here in western New York,” Kathy Hochul said during a Wednesday press conference in Buffalo after the vehicle blast raised concerns in Washington and Ottawa.
Buffy Sainte-Marie pushes against doubts over Indigenous ancestry - The iconic singer, songwriter and activist says the recent CBC report was full of mistakes and omissions. In her first public statement since it was published, Sainte-Marie calls the story an attack on her character, life and legacy.
Yukon government posts a $105-million surplus - Finance Minister Sandy Silver, the former premier, tabled the territory’s public accounts in the legislative assembly, reporting a multimillion-dollar surplus far above budget forecasts for the time period.
Unprecedented tensions lead to ‘staggering’ hate-crime increase: Toronto police chief - Myron Demkiw says the 17 Islamophobic or anti-Palestinian hate crimes reported from Oct. 7 to Nov. 20 represent a 1,600-per-cent spike year over year. Story here.
THIS AND THAT
Liberals raise questions about Poilievre terrorist claim - The federal Liberals are raising questions about the timing of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre stating in the House of Commons, on Wednesday, that terrorism was to blame for an exploding vehicle at the Rainbow Bridge between the Canadian and U.S. sides of Niagara Falls.
During Question Period Wednesday shortly after news of an incident on the bridge had emerged, Mr. Poilievre told the House that “we have just heard media reports of a terrorist attack.”
At a news conference in Toronto today, Poilievre said CTV reported that the government of Canada presumed the incident was a case of terrorism. However, Poilievre made his comments in the Commons before the CTV report was posted. (The Official Opposition Leader speaks to the matter on CPAC here, beginning at the 16-minute mark.) Prior to Question Period, there were ultimately erroneous reports in U.S. media describing the incident as a terrorist explosion.
Government House Leader Karina Gould told journalists in Ottawa that the Leader of the Official Opposition jumped to the conclusion that a terrorist attack was under way, failing to demonstrate calm and leadership. Gould also took note of Poilievre’s response to this issue at the news conference. “He doubled down and continued to share information that was untrue,” she said. “If you look at the timeline of what occurred yesterday and what he said today, he’s being dishonest.”
Findlay leading public-policy school at U of Calgary - Former federal Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay is the new director of the public-policy school at the University of Calgary. According to an announcement today, Findlay will begin a five-year term on Jan 8, 2024. Most recently, Findlay was chief sustainability officer and chief climate officer for Suncor Energy, She ran for the leadership of the federal Liberals in the race that Stéphane Dion won in 2006. From 2008 to 2011, she was the Liberal MP for Willowdale.
Today in the Commons – Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, Nov. 23, accessible here.
Deputy Prime Minister’s Day - Private meetings in Toronto, then Chrystia Freeland toured a rental housing development and discussed federal housing policy.
Ministers on the Road - In Hamilton, Filomena Tassi, minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, talked about housing policy in the fall economic statement at the King William St. Project housing complex.
Commons Committee Highlights - Vicky Eatrides, chairperson and chief executive officer of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, was scheduled to brief the Canadian heritage committee. Auditor-General Karen Hogan appeared before the public accounts committee. Ukraine Parliament member Oleksiy Goncharenko appeared by videoconference before the international trade committee on Bill C-57 to implement the 2023 free-trade agreement between Canada and Ukraine. Defence Minister Bill Blair, Chief of Defence Staff General Wayne Eyre, and Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan were scheduled to appear before the national defence committee on rising domestic operational deployments and challenges for the Canadian Armed Forces.
Senate Committee Highlights - Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault spoke to the energy, environment and natural resources committee on Bill S-14, the National Parks Act, the National Marine Conservation Areas Act, the Rouge National Urban Park Act and the National Parks Fishing Regulations. Housing Minister Sean Fraser appeared before the banking, commerce and economy committee.
PRIME MINISTER'S DAY
Justin Trudeau is in St. John’s for a summit with leaders of the European Union, running to Friday. Trudeau is to play host to European Union President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Today, Trudeau met with local trades students, and, in the evening, was scheduled to deliver remarks at the opening reception for the Canada-EU summit.
LEADERS
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre held a news conference in Toronto.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May participated in House of Commons matters, held a news conference, and travelled by train to Kitchener to campaign with Green Party candidate Aislinn Clancy in the provincial byelection in Kitchener Centre.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in Toronto, delivered a speech at the Ontario Federation of Labour convention.
No schedule released for Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet.
THE DECIBEL
On Thursday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, consultant geologist Drew Craig, a member of the International Working Group on subterranean warfare, based in England, discusses the system of tunnels underneath the Gaza territory where Hamas is believed to be holding hostages taken during their October attack on Israel. The Decibel is here.
PUBLIC OPINION
How Canadians feel about the Israel-Hamas war - Nik Nanos, the official pollster for The Globe and Mail and CTV News, takes a Data Dive on the issue here.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on how social media’s dark side took years to emerge, but AI will be worse, unless we act now: “The early promise of social media was as a force for good, a way to build communities. You could share pictures of your kids, wish a cousin happy birthday or reconnect with a high-school buddy. It was just that, for a while. Then, over the years, a dark side came into focus. The development of social media over the past two decades has taught us a lot about the promises and dangers of modern technology. As artificial intelligence develops at a breakneck pace, it’s incumbent on policy-makers to learn the right lessons so we can head off problems.
Kelly Cryderman (The Globe and Mail) on how the Liberals are sticking with low-hanging fruit on housing affordability: “The federal Liberals took another stab at helping on housing in the fall economic statement this week, with an end to income tax deductions for Airbnbs and other short-term rentals in some jurisdictions, and billions in low-cost loans to build rentals. These are common sense and low-hanging-fruit measures. But they are still far too little to address the massive gap that’s opened in Canada between the well-housed, and the increasingly desperate – with or without a mortgage. It’s not only about the importance of new supply, as we might gather by listening to our politicians. We’re never going to build all we need to achieve any kind of balanced market.”
John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail) on how Pierre Poilievre playing to his base on the Canada-Ukraine free-trade agreement is a compromise on democracy: “Tuesday’s fiscal update confirmed that Justin Trudeau’s Liberals are a dead government walking, constructing imaginary programs and fictitious projections, doubtless aware that the Canadian electorate has made up its mind to kick the bums out. Also on Tuesday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre reminded us of the tremendous risk we might be taking by trusting him with power, when his party voted against a free-trade agreement with Ukraine. Let’s start with the Liberals. This government has begun to eerily resemble Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservatives in the early 1990s.”
Peter Jones, Alan Jones, and Laurie Storsater (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on when a spy is not a spy: “So what is to be done? One option is to do nothing. The GSRP has been around for decades now and has had very few (public) mishaps. No program can be entirely without some risk. If it is decided that something has to be done, however, it would be a shame if the GSRP were ended: It does return important information, the quality of the reports is high, and Canada’s Foreign Service does far too little serious political and security reporting. But whether it needs to be under the purview of the intelligence branch within GAC is a worthwhile question. It probably does need to be ring-fenced and protected, lest its budget be whittled away again.”
Guy Saint-Jacques (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how, more than anything, Michael Spavor was the victim of a coercive Beijing: “Even if the recent allegations by Michael Spavor are true – that he was unwittingly used by Michael Kovrig in intelligence-collection activities, which he said led to the two being detained by China – it would not be the main reason why he was arrested. I have much sympathy for his painful ordeal in a Chinese jail, and I wish him the best for the rest of his life. But ultimately and unfortunately, he had unique access to Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, the only country with which China has a formal alliance – access that Chinese officials could only dream of. Beijing was likely just waiting for the right moment to arrest him and have an opportunity to question him, and hostage diplomacy offered just such an opportunity.”
Wesley Wark (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how the Canadian judicial system passed an extraordinary test with the Cameron Ortis trial: “There was much at stake in the trial, the first since the passage of the Security of Information Act in 2001, and the first in decades to be decided by a jury. Could a complex case be handled by the Canadian criminal justice system in an expeditious way? Would evidence be withheld from the jury because of secrecy concerns to an extent that could jeopardize a fair trial? Could a lay jury with little knowledge of the secret world of intelligence and national security make sense of the reams of evidence before them? The outcome of the trial suggests that the Canadian judicial system passed this extraordinary test.”
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