Hello, welcome to Politics Insider. Let’s look at what happened today.
Today is Remembrance Day. Across Canada, veterans and dignitaries marked the occasion in varied ceremonies.
In Ottawa, Prime Minister Mark Carney arrived at the site of the national ceremony joined by his wife, Diana Fox Carney. Hundreds of attendees wearing poppies stood at attention, some holding photos of their loved ones who died in war.
An Indigenous veteran carried the Canadian Armed Forces’ eagle staff, which is comparable to the Canadian flag, and meant to honour Indigenous members of the forces.
The forces’ chaplain general, Colonel Lisa Pacarynuk, delivered the invocation at the national ceremony.
She said today is a moment for Canadians to remember that life and peace are fragile, and that progress comes from past sacrifices.
She extended her thanks to Nancy Payne, this year’s national Silver Cross mother, saying she and others like her bear the scars of their children’s military service and that their loss is our loss.
Governor-General Mary Simon did not attend the national ceremony. She is recovering in hospital from a respiratory virus. Chief Justice Richard Wagner filled in for Simon at the National War Memorial.
Find full coverage and commentary on Remembrance Day here.
In other news, Ontario has signed a one-year extension of its child-care agreement with the federal government, according to a letter from provincial Education Minister Paul Calandra.
Emily Haws and Dave McGinn report that Calandra said in the letter, addressed to parents and guardians, that the funding will keep fees at an average of $19 a day until at least Dec. 31, 2026, with a maximum of $22 a day.
The funding had been set to expire at the end of next March.
“This extension ensures continuity of the program for the coming year, providing much-needed stability for families,” Calandra wrote in the letter.
In 2021, the federal government introduced a Canada-wide early learning and child-care program. It provided $35-billion to provinces, territories and Indigenous partners through bilateral funding deals, with the aim of bringing child-care fees down to an average of $10 a day by March, 2026.
In October, Ontario’s Auditor-General said the province needs almost $2-billion to meet the target.
In other news, proponents are saying a hydro-fibre line to Canada’s North is key to Arctic sovereignty.
Jeffrey Jones reports that Anne-Raphaëlle Audouin, chief executive officer of Nukik Corp., the Inuit-owned company proposing the Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link, says the ambitious project has all of the elements that make it a solid candidate for Ottawa’s push to develop projects of national interest – especially strengthening resilience and security.
The $3.2-billion hydro line would run from Manitoba to Nunavut.
Nunavut’s reliance on United States-imported fossil fuels and Elon Musk’s Starlink internet leaves much of the North vulnerable as the country seeks to develop critical mineral mines and increase its military presence in the region to bolster sovereignty, Audouin said in an interview. The project addresses both of those vulnerabilities, she said.
“It is very concerning to us because if the States turn their back on us in the North, we go dark, literally. There’s no optionality, there’s no other pathways, there’s no redundancy in any kind of critical system that’s been looked into or developed,” Audouin said.
“So, there’s a sense of urgency, not just carried by us as proponents, not just emphasized in the Kivalliq region of Nunavut. It’s the whole of that territory that is heading into a wall.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney places a wreath alongside his wife Diana Fox Carney during a Remembrance Day service at the National War Memorial in Ottawa, on Tuesday.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
What else is going on
Remembrance Day
Second World War veterans a shrinking presence at Remembrance Day ceremonies: More than 1.1 million Canadians served during the Second World War from 1939 to 1945. Veterans Affairs Canada estimates the number of living Second World War veterans is now just 3,691 men and women.
Indigenous veterans on fighting battles, both at home and abroad: Canada marked Indigenous Veterans Day on Saturday, shining a spotlight on wartime experiences that historian Scott Sheffield says represented a place where some would find a sense of belonging, away from racism at home.
Politics
Copyright change means Canadian artists will get more resale money: Visual artists are poised to get a slice of the proceeds when their art is resold under changes to be brought forward in an omnibus budget bill.
More projects named Thursday: The federal government will announce the next round of projects on the list of the Major Projects Office on Thursday in Prince Rupert, B.C., Prime Minister Mark Carney says.
Engler wants in to NDP leadership race: Left-wing activist Yves Engler today said he has raised $90,000 of the $100,000 required to stand although his candidacy has not yet been approved by the party.
Champagne on LNG Canada project: The second phase of LNG Canada, a liquefied natural gas export terminal in Kitimat, B.C., would be a “game changer” for Canada and underscores how attitudes to energy have recently changed, says federal Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne.
Canadian curator sues Philadelphia Art Museum over dismissal: Sasha Suda, a former director and CEO of the National Gallery of Canada who joined the Philadelphia museum in 2022 on a five-year contract, argues she was terminated after a “sham investigation” and resistance from board members as she tried to transform the institution.
On our radar
Commons break: The House of Commons is on a break this week, with MPs returning Nov. 17. The Senate is also on a break. Sittings there will resume Nov. 18
Prime Minister’s Day: In Ottawa, Mark Carney attended the National Remembrance Day Ceremony.
Party Leaders: In Sidney, B.C., Green Party Leader Elizabeth May attended Remembrance Day ceremonies. NDP Interim Leader Don Davies, in Vancouver, attended the Remembrance Day service with the South Vancouver Veterans Council before heading to the Chinatown Remembrance Day Ceremony. Davies also attended the Let Peace Be Their Memorial ceremony. No schedules released for Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
Ministers of the Road: In the Niagara region, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand is hosting the continuing G7 Foreign Ministers’ meeting held today and Wednesday. In the northern Brazilian city of Belém, Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin is attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP30, from today through Friday.
Question Period
The National War Memorial cenotaph was central to Remembrance Day ceremonies in Ottawa today. Who designed it and how many times did that person see the finished result?
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for the answer.
Perspectives
The poppy is a symbol of justice, not bias
So, courts in Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia should rethink their ill-considered banishment of the red plastic poppy. Not because it offends Mr. Houston. Not even because of the deep offence to veterans and their families.
— The Globe and Mail Editorial Board
Our war heroes recognized that Canada is good
But Remembrance Day is also the day when we must recall all the times we got it right: When we rallied; when we threw ourselves into the breach; when we didn’t send thoughts and prayers but soldiers, bombers, ships and tanks instead.
— Rory Gilfillan is a history teacher at Lakefield College School in Lakefield, Ont.
Floor-crossing is not a threat to Canadian democracy – in fact, it might be beneficial to it.
If, six months from now, a Liberal were to join the Tories, the same Conservatives complaining of Mr. d’Entremont’s betrayal today would welcome their new caucus member with open arms, just as their forebears did when David Emerson left the Liberals to join Stephen Harper’s minority government in 2006, and when Leona Alleslev left Justin Trudeau’s side to join the blue team in 2018.
— David Moscrop is a contributing columnist for The Globe and Mail.
Go deeper
- The Decibel: On today’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, B.C. politics reporter Justine Hunter talks about a precedent-setting ruling involving Aboriginal title at the B.C. Supreme Court has caused widespread uncertainty and tension in the province
- Follow along for our stories on Canada-U.S. relations as news develops
- Get the latest insight and analysis from our political opinion writers
- Take a look at the history of immigration reporting and great political scandals from A Nation’s Paper, a book about The Globe and Mail’s role in Canadian history
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The answer to today’s question: Vernon March of the British village of Farnborough won a world-wide competition, held in 1925 and 1926, to design the memorial. March won over 126 other entries. However, he died of pneumonia in 1930, and his design was completed by seven of his siblings. The memorial was officially unveiled by King George VI on May 21, 1939, as about 100,000 people looked on.