Hello, welcome to Politics Insider. Let’s look at what happened today.
Alberta and its energy industry moved closer to their goal of building a major new oil pipeline to the Pacific Coast after the province and Ottawa signed a long-awaited deal on carbon pricing and emissions reductions.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Premier Danielle Smith signed the agreement in Calgary today, finalizing a key part of a memorandum of understanding they forged last year.
Emma Graney, Marieke Walsh and Stephanie Levitz report that the pact ties Ottawa’s support for a potential one-million-barrel-a-day pipeline to Alberta’s commitment to increase the carbon price it imposes on oil producers and reduce greenhouse gas emissions through carbon capture and storage, also called CCS.
There are still a number of steps required before each gets what it wants – including agreement by oil sands producers to invest capital on the CCS project known as Pathways, as well as attracting a private-sector developer and deciding on a route for a multibillion-dollar export pipeline.
But with the announcement, Carney is showing his intent on bolstering the Canadian economy by developing its natural resources in the face of geopolitical uncertainty and trade friction, while the Alberta Premier seeks to expand her province’s oil sector as she faces a separatist backlash at home.
The two governments have agreed to an effective carbon price of $130 per tonne by 2040 by instituting annual benchmarks for the headline carbon price, including $115 by 2030 and $130 by 2035.
In other news today, David Ebner is reporting that the Supreme Court of Canada, in an unusual move, has created a new legal basis for people to seek damages for intimate partner violence in relationships marred by coercive control.
The majority decision could make it easier for people who suffer wide-ranging abuse in an intimate partner relationship to win cash compensation in the civil courts. But in a sharp dissent, a minority of the top court judges warned the ruling upends the established legal landscape and will stoke confusion in the lower courts.
“Intimate partner violence is a pernicious social ill deserving of the full attention of the law,” wrote Justice Nicholas Kasirer on behalf of the majority, including Chief Justice Richard Wagner, in favour of forging new legal territory.
Justice Kasirer said such violence isn’t confined to physical or psychological injury but includes a range of tactics that encompass the concept of coercive control. This includes “isolation, manipulation, humiliation, surveillance, economic abuse, sexual coercion, and intimidation.”
The ruling is a victory for advocates who have long argued that coercive control needs to be better recognized by the justice system.
The Politics Insider newsletter will be taking a break for Victoria Day on Monday, and returning on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith signed an agreement on industrial carbon pricing on Friday in Calgary.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
What else is going on
Tories question CBC funding of satirical Indigenous show: Several current and former Conservative politicians have questioned why CBC is funding the Northland Tales spoof program that used false pretenses to lure high-profile people accused of playing down the damage caused by residential schools into sitting for interviews.
Sarah Paquet exiting as director of Canada’s anti-money laundering watchdog: Paquet is leaving her post at the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada after completing her five-year term.
Defence Minister declines to say whether Canada would send more ships through Taiwan Strait: David McGuinty cited operational security as a reason for not answering the question raised weeks after China’s ambassador warned doing so would damage a new strategic partnership Prime Minister Mark Carney has struck with Beijing.
Ontario’s opposition calls on Ford, PC Party to cover costs tied to jet purchase: The government has released documents and receipts from its purchase of the used 2016 Bombardier Challenger 650, which show Ontario has to pay nearly $200,000 in extra costs related to the purchase.
Alberta lawmakers wrap up spring sitting overshadowed by separatist movement: The sitting saw legislation that will affect everything from books on public library shelves to who can access medical assistance in dying, but all spring, the issue of secession is what often drove the war of words in question period.
Prominent British Muslim says he was questioned for 11 hours at Toronto airport: Anas Altikriti, former president of the Muslim Association of Britain, said, in a Facebook post that he decided to return to London following the questioning by immigration officials rather than face the prospect of being “forcibly removed.”
On our radar
Commons on a break: The Commons is on a break until May 25. The Senate is also on a break, until May 26.
Prime Minister’s day: In Calgary, Mark Carney signed an energy agreement with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. Carney also met with unionized skilled trades workers, and held a news conference.
Party Leaders: Green Party Leader Elizabeth May attended a forum on B.C.’s Salt Spring Island and then spent the rest of the day meeting with constituents on the island. In Regina, NDP Leader Avi Lewis met with volunteers for a Day of Action canvassing event, and attending a screening of the 2004 documentary The Take, written by Lewis’s spouse Naomi Klein and directed by Lewis. Lewis’s Saskatchewan tour continues on Saturday with stops in Saskatoon and concludes with a Sunday visit to Prince Albert. No schedules were released for other party leaders.
Ministers on the road:
In Doha, the capital of Qatar, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand met with Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, minister of state at the ministry of foreign affairs.
In London, Ontario Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon announced funding to support London and Chatham region businesses.
On Lennox Island off Prince Edward Island, Canadian Identity Minister Marc Miller announced $65,287 funding to allow the Mi’kmaq community to host festivities to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Peace and Friendship Treaty. In Charlottetown, Miller announced $750,000 in funding to support programming at the Confederation Centre of the Arts.
GG’s final Order of Canada ceremony: In her final Order of Canada ceremony, Governor-General Mary Simon invested six officers and eight members into the Order. Appointees listed here.
New Freeland book: Former deputy prime minister and finance minister Chrystia Freeland tells Politico that she is working on a new book. The working title: Unreliable Boyfriend: An Insiders Account to dealing with an Unhinged Superpower. “Something like that,” said Freeland, now an economic adviser to the Ukrainian government and chief executive officer of the Rhodes Trust.
Quote of the Day
I support sovereignty within a united Canada. That means something. That means Alberta should stay a part of Canada and continue to pursue and support and enshrine our Constitution in invested rights and also make sure the federal government respects them. That’s what today is about. It’s not just saying, `This is the way the federal government works so we just have to accept it.’ It’s saying,`You know what. The country can work better, and it works better when we respect our equal areas of jurisdiction and we find areas of overlap.
— Alberta Premier Danielle Smith
The Premier spoke in Calgary today after signing an energy agreement with Prime Minister Carney.
Question period
Today in 1885, Métis leader Louis Riel surrendered after the North-West Rebellion in what is currently Saskatchewan and Alberta over Canada’s encroachment on Métis lands. Who did he surrender to?
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for the answer.
Perspectives
Canada is one of history’s most successful countries. Here’s a look at who’s trying to destroy it, and how
As of October, we may be staring at the end of the Canadian experiment, with the abrupt detachment of one part of the country, possibly followed by another, forcing the remaining fragments to consider how to carry on, separately or together, independently or as applicants for admission to the United States.
— Andrew Coyne, columnist
It’s a different Vancouver readying to host the world again
If Expo 86 was Vancouver’s debutante ball and the Olympics a sporting festival hosted by an ascendant city with a burgeoning global reputation as an urban-planning trailblazer, the World Cup arrives at an unsettled time for the West Coast gem.
— Gary Mason, national affairs columnist
PQ leader’s unfounded fears of being spied on by Ottawa are thankfully rooted in a bygone era
The absence of hard evidence does not in itself invalidate the PQ Leader’s concerns. But his suspicions are likely misplaced. The illicit threat that separatist movements in Quebec and Alberta should be most concerned about is foreign interference.
— Konrad Yakabuski, columnist
Go deeper
- Follow along for our stories on Canada-U.S. relations as news develops
- Get the latest insight and analysis from our political opinion writers
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.
The answer to today’s question: General Frederick Middleton, who commanded the Canadian Militia that responded to the rebellion. Riel was subsequently tried for treason and hanged in Regina on Nov. 16, 1885. Following his assignment in Canada, Middleton was, in 1896, appointed keeper of the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London.