Hello,
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Tuesday that Ottawa is nearing the “final stages” of negotiations and planning needed to launch a public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada.
Mr. LeBlanc spoke with reporters in Charlottetown as federal cabinet ministers began the second day of their three-day retreat on PEI. Ministers are gathering to chart an agenda for the fall sitting of Parliament, with the meetings expected to focus heavily on cost of living issues, including housing affordability.
The government began talks about a foreign-interference public inquiry with the opposition parties in June, with the goal of unanimously agreeing to terms of reference as well as the person who would lead it.
Mr. LeBlanc acknowledged that the process has taken longer than expected, but he signalled an announcement is due shortly. Report by Marieke Walsh and Steven Chase here.
This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Marie Woolf. 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
Minister suggests cap on international student visas – The federal government should reassess its policy on international students and consider a cap on a program that has seen “explosive growth,” putting pressure on rental markets and driving up costs, Housing and Infrastructure Minister Sean Fraser says. Story here.
PM accuses Facebook of putting profits ahead of people’s safety – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused Facebook of putting corporate profits ahead of people’s safety by blocking Canadians’ access to news as wildfires rage. He said access to local news is “unbelievably essential” to keep people informed about such things as evacuation orders. Story here.
Mark Carney appointed to chair Bloomberg board – Bloomberg LP has named Mark Carney to chair a revamped board of directors, according to an internal memo obtained by The Globe and Mail. Mr. Carney – the former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England who is currently board chair and head of transition investing at Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. – will serve as the non-executive head of a renewed board. Story here.
PM speaks on his separation – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thanked Canadians for their support in the wake of his separation from Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, in his first press conference since announcing they are ending their 18-year marriage earlier this month. Story here.
THIS AND THAT
PEI Premier Dennis King sought to distance himself from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on Monday. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of his meetings with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Progressive Conservative Premier said he won’t campaign federally while holding office provincially and he isn’t aligned with either the Liberals or Conservatives.
“I think we would find comfort with both to a certain degree. I think there are extreme levels in both parties, which I think might be a little foreign to the day-to-day politics on Prince Edward Island to be quite honest,” Mr. King said, not elaborating on what he considered an extreme element in either party.
“Let me say that most political parties in Prince Edward Island would hug the centre,” he said. “It wouldn’t be good politics for any political party to advance to one extreme to the other.”
Mr. King is not the only premier to take an arm’s length approach to his federal cousins. Mr. Poilievre already has a somewhat frosty relationship with Ontario Premier Doug Ford.
The PEI Premier has come out against the federal government’s new clean-fuel regulation, which added another cost to fuel prices in addition to the federal carbon tax, but he told reporters that doesn’t mean he’s aligned with Mr. Poilievre, who is holding “axe the tax” rallies across Canada as he campaigns against the federal carbon tax. Marieke Walsh
THE DECIBEL
As wildfires rage across the country, more than 50,000 people have been forced out of their homes in Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories and West Kelowna in British Columbia within the past week. And each one of those people have had to make life-changing decisions: Should you leave your home? What do you take with you? What might you never see again?
Today, we hear those stories from Canadians on the move from fire-afflicted communities, told to The Globe’s reporters, including Alanna Smith, Mark Rendell and Mike Hager. Listen here.
PRIME MINISTER'S DAY
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Charlottetown for a cabinet retreat.
LEADERS
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has no public events today.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has no public events today.
OPINION
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on how the buck stops nowhere as Doug Ford dispenses with ministerial responsibility: “Opposition parties call so often for cabinet ministers to resign that Canadians can be forgiven for thinking there isn’t always a compelling reason. But this time, in Premier Doug Ford’s Ontario, it couldn’t be clearer. After what we learned this week, Housing Minister Steve Clark must be fired if anything like ministerial responsibility is to survive in Mr. Ford’s government.”
Tony Keller (The Globe and Mail) on the increase of foreign students studying in Canada: “For many international students, what they are buying is mostly not education. And what many – or most – schools are selling is not education. A big part of what is being bought and sold are public goods: the right to legally work and to get on a track to citizenship.”
André Picard (The Globe and Mail) on how a poll shows Canadians want better access to health care – now: “Canadians are losing hope in their beloved medicare system. They see access to care, from emergency rooms to primary care to surgery, deteriorating, and have little confidence that the problems will be fixed in the years to come.”
Jessica Davis (contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how citizens who left the country to join the Islamic State should be charged with terrorist offences: “Canadians are owed an explanation about how terrorism charges are laid in Canada, why there is a lack of consistent policy and how not charging acts of violence as terrorism is in the public interest. Because there are compelling reasons why every act of terrorism should be prosecuted as such, regardless of who perpetrates it.”
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.