Hello, welcome to Politics Insider. Let’s look at what happened today.
A former Ontario chief justice leading a panel created to study the Canadian sport system found it is riddled with abuse and in urgent need of a fundamental overhaul.
“Maltreatment in sport is widespread and is ongoing in all jurisdictions and all levels of sport,” Lise Maisonneuve, the commissioner of the Future of Sport in Canada Commission, said today.
“This includes psychological abuse, neglect, sexual harm, physical harm, racism, discrimination, bullying and hazing. These harms occur at the national, provincial, territorial and grassroots levels in community clubs and in high performance sports.”
Simon Houpt reports that Maisonneuve, a former chief justice of the Ontario Court of Justice, spoke at a press conference in Ottawa to discuss the 790-page final report issued after almost two years of study. The report recommends new approaches to funding and governance.
The sport sector is characterized by a “culture of silence” that punishes whistleblowers, and “chronic underfunding” that imposes unreasonable expectations on organizations that are not equipped to confront a constellation of challenges.
“Too often, winning, reputation and funding are prioritized over safety and dignity,” she said.
In other news, the Quebec government defended its secularism law today at the Supreme Court of Canada, arguing its use of the Charter of Rights and Freedom’s notwithstanding clause means there is no role for judges to opine on what the province called a political debate.
David Ebner reports that at issue is Quebec’s Bill 21, which became law in 2019. The law prohibits public-sector workers including teachers from wearing religious symbols such as a hijab or cross on the job. The law was twice upheld in the lower courts.
Challengers to Bill 21 on Monday called on the Supreme Court to strike down the law and impose new restrictions on governments’ use of the notwithstanding clause. The clause overrides numerous other rights in the Charter and shields laws from legal challenges.
Today Quebec government lawyer Isabelle Brunet said the notwithstanding clause was a crucial political compromise in the early 1980s during the patriation of Canada’s Constitution and the top court should not tamper with it.
“It is not up to the court to answer a political question that does not concern the courts,” Brunet told the seven judges of the Supreme Court who are hearing the landmark case.
The four-day hearing this week is among the longest in the court’s history and it is the most detailed examination of the notwithstanding clause since the Charter became part of the Constitution in 1982.
Also today, Prime Minister Mark Carney issued a call for politicians to be humble in their service and think broadly about their legacy as he offered his perspective on faith and public life.
Stephanie Levitz reports that Carney as well as Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre were among the MPs who today attended the National Prayer Breakfast, an annual Christian event held in downtown Ottawa.
Carney, who is Catholic, opened his remarks with a verse from the Gospel of Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, which he said highlights God’s generosity – something he said politicians must keep in mind.
“We parliamentarians are only in this room because we have received abundantly, certainly a determination that does not recognize obstacles, probably an intelligence that is restless and, one hopes, discernment to see what truly matters,” he said.
Justice Lise Maisonneuve, who leads the Future of Sport in Canada Commission, participates in a news conference with Minister of Sport and Physical Activity Carla Qualtrough, at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa in May, 2024.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
What else is going on
Federal Justice Minister rejects premiers’ appeal for input on judicial appointments: “That’s not something that we’re considering at this point in time,” Sean Fraser told journalists on Parliament Hill when asked about the proposal as he arrived for a cabinet meeting.
Future of once-heralded corporate watchdog remains under review, Ottawa says: For 10 months, the federal government has left vacant the role of a federal ombudsman whose job is to probe overseas human-rights abuses by Canadian corporations. Also, Ottawa says the once-heralded watchdog agency remains under review.
Ontario hospitals face dire financial straits, association says ahead of provincial budget: More than 100 hospital corporations are forecasting year-end deficits, despite accountability agreements with the provincial agency, which require hospitals to balance their books.
Manitoba government expands tax exemption on food, as it tables its third budget in the red: Finance Minister Adrien Sala said that, as of July 1, the province plans to remove the provincial sales tax from food and beverages sold in grocery stores. Basic groceries such as milk, produce, meat and bread are already exempt.
Dollarama forecasts slower sales growth as Iran war risks squeezing margins: Company chief executive officer Neil Rossy says the war in the Middle East has set off ripple effects in rising production and transportation costs, which will affect retailers and consumers over the next few months to a year.
On our radar
Prime Minister’s Day: Mark Carney attended and delivered remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast and later chaired the weekly cabinet meeting.
Party Leaders: No schedules released for party leaders.
Ministers on the Road: In Houston, Energy Minister Tim Hodgson is at the CERAWeek energy conference where he was scheduled to participate in a panel on funding infrastructure and do a podcast interview.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand is scheduled to travel to Paris and to Vaux-de-Cernay outside the French capital on Wednesday through Friday for a G7 foreign ministers meeting.
International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu will be in the Cameroon capital of Yaoundé from Thursday to Sunday for the 14th World Trade Organization ministerial conference.
Hansen among Liberals: Philanthropist Rick Hansen, known as the Man in Motion for his 1980s global wheelchair tour, will be a keynote speaker at the federal Liberal national convention in Montreal, running from April 9 to April 11, according to a party social-media posting.
Quote of the Day
“We will be rebuilding. Yes, it’s going to be a hard road, I’m not going to sort of pretend that it’s going to be a cakewalk. It is not going to be a cakewalk.” - NDP MP Jenny Kwan, during a scrum on Parliament Hill today, speaks to the challenges facing her party as it chooses a new leader this weekend.
Question period
Canada’s first newspaper was published this week in 1752. What was it? Bonus point: How many pages was it?
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for the answer.
Perspectives
Memo to Doug Ford: There’s more to Ontario than Toronto
Doug Ford has increasingly grandiose ideas for Toronto, an urgent certainty that he knows best what the city needs that contrasts with his half-hearted attention to pressing problems facing the province as a whole.
— The Globe and Mail Editorial Board
Restoring sanity to MAID laws in Canada will protect them
The risk for everyone is that MAID becomes so out of control, so unchecked, that someone comes along and scraps the entire thing, notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s decision in 2015. That’s why restoring some sanity to MAID laws in Canada is so important now.
— Robyn Urback, Columnist
The British meningitis outbreak is a reminder of the everyday importance of public health
The outbreak, if nothing else, serves as a timely reminder that public health matters, locally as well as globally, and we can’t afford to skimp, even in non-pandemic times.
— André Picard, Health 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
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The answer to today’s question: The Halifax Gazette. It was a single sheet, with material on both sides, produced by printer John Bushell, with his daughter, Elizabeth, out of Bushell’s printing shop. There’s an overview here, from the Nova Scotia Archives, on the project.