Hiya,
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is convening a Feb. 7 assembly with the premiers and territorial leaders in Ottawa to debate well being care.
However as he introduced the gathering, Mr. Trudeau mentioned Wednesday there will probably be no health-care settlement on the desk for the leaders to signal.
“It’ll be second for us to assemble, however we’re not going to be signing offers on that individual second,” Mr. Trudeau informed a information convention as this week’s federal cupboard retreat in Hamilton concluded.
The Prime Minister described a “working assembly” that may enable the federal authorities to share plans to assist the health-care techniques throughout Canada and listen to their priorities for funding.
Mr. Trudeau didn’t say how a lot cash he would advance for health-care transfers. “We’re going to have discussions. There’s little question about that,” the Prime Minister mentioned.
Amidst challenges which have included crowded emergency rooms and delays in surgical procedures throughout Canada, the premiers have requested the federal authorities to cowl 35 per cent of the price of well being care, in contrast with the present 22 per cent.
On Parliament Hill, federal Conservative Chief Pierre Poilievre, throughout a information convention, didn’t immediately reply a query about whether or not he would enhance health-care funding alongside the traces the premiers and territorial leaders have requested.
He did say, as prime minister, that he would hearken to the priorities of the provinces.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford mentioned he’s wanting ahead to the assembly. “We now have lots to debate, together with ensuring the federal authorities correctly funds the well being care individuals depend on. When Crew Canada works collectively, there’s nothing we will’t do,” Mr. Ford mentioned in a tweet here.
Within the Quebec city of Léry, Quebec Premier François Legault mentioned he had spoken to Mr. Trudeau on Tuesday evening, and that the Feb. 7 assembly will probably be a negotiating session.
“It’s a working assembly, so we don’t count on that we conclude and signal a deal Feb. 7. However we’ve got been asking Ottawa for years to desk a proposition,” Mr. Legault mentioned Wednesday, based on a Montreal Gazette report right here.
Senior political reporter Marieke Walsh experiences right here on the Feb. 7 assembly.
Mr. Trudeau’s feedback got here as this week’s cupboard retreat concluded. On Tuesday night, the Prime Minister confronted protesters in an incident recorded here. Mr. Trudeau downplayed the state of affairs, saying he had typically skilled an “extraordinary” welcome in Hamiton. “A handful of offended individuals don’t outline what Hamilton is or democracy on this nation is,” he mentioned. There’s a narrative right here from International Information.
That is the day by day Politics Briefing publication, written by Ian Bailey. It’s out there solely to our digital subscribers. In case you’re studying this on the net, subscribers can join the Politics publication and greater than 20 others on our publication signup web page. Have any suggestions? Tell us what you suppose.
TODAY’S HEADLINES
BANK HIKES INTEREST RATE – The Financial institution of Canada elevated its benchmark rate of interest by 1 / 4 of a proportion level, however mentioned that it expects to carry off additional fee hikes, making it the primary main central financial institution to say it could pause financial coverage tightening. Story right here.
CANADA YET TO CONFIRM TANKS FOR UKRAINE – The U.S. and Germany have unveiled they may ship greater than 100 tanks to Ukraine, whereas Canada has not but dedicated to becoming a member of the plan. Story right here.
TRANSIT ATTACKS PROMPT CALL FOR NATIONAL TASK FORCE – The president of a Canadian transit union desires to convene a nationwide job pressure as violent assaults on public transit attain what he calls “disaster ranges”. Story right here. In the meantime, Toronto Mayor John Tory is looking for a nationwide summit on Canada’s psychological well being disaster. Story right here.
RESULTS COMING ON SEARCH OF GROUNDS OF FORMER B.C. RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL – A First Nation in central British Columbia is able to announce outcomes from the second part of an investigation of grounds across the former St. Joseph’s Mission residential college, outdoors Williams Lake. Story right here.
FREELAND FORECASTS NEXT BUDGET – Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says her 2023 funds will prioritize spending on well being care and the inexperienced vitality transition, whereas making certain the federal government’s total fiscal plan is sustainable throughout what is anticipated to be a difficult 12 months. Story right here.
CAMEROON ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS CHALLENGES FOR CANADA’S AFRICA STRATEGY – An embarrassing setback in a Canadian peace initiative in Cameroon has demonstrated the challenges that might hamper Ottawa’s deliberate new Africa technique this 12 months, however federal officers are optimistic the peace talks will nonetheless proceed. Story right here.
POILIEVRE ANNOUNCES FIRST-NATIONS CONSULTATIONS – The federal Conservative chief says he’s launching countrywide consultations between First Nations and trade leaders on a proposed opt-in coverage for First Nations to share the income generated by useful resource improvement on their lands. Story right here.
ONTARIO LEGISLATURE MEMBER PRAISED FOR MENTAL-HEALTH CANDOUR – A former Ontario cupboard minister’s public acknowledgment of her bipolar dysfunction and the very fact she spent a part of final spring’s election marketing campaign hospitalized and in disaster was an “heroic” act that may assist many others who’re struggling, says the pinnacle of the Canadian Psychological Well being Affiliation in Ontario. Story right here from The Ottawa Citizen.
N.S. COMMUNITY REMOVES CORNWALLIS NAME FROM SIGNS – One other group in Nova Scotia has eliminated the title Cornwallis – as in former Nova Scotia governor Edward Cornwallis, who issued a “scalping proclamation” in 1749 – from municipal property – and the city of Lunenburg is now searching for new names from the general public. Story right here.
THIS AND THAT
HOUSE ON A BREAK – The Home of Commons is on a break till Jan. 30.
GG TO FINLAND – Governor-Normal Mary Simon goes to Finland from Feb 6-10 for a state go to, the Prime Minister’s Workplace introduced Wednesday. Throughout her go to, Ms. Simon is scheduled to satisfy with Finland President Sauli Niinistö, Prime Minister Sanna Marin, and Antti Rinne, the primary deputy speaker of the Finland parliament. She may even go to the northern metropolis of Rovaniemi.
JORDAN’S KING VISITS – Jordan’s King Abdullah II of Jordan is to go to Canada on Thursday and Friday, and can meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Governor-Normal Mary Simon whereas in Ottawa.
PM REACHES OUT TO FORMER N.Z PM – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke Tuesday with Jacinda Ardern, the previous New Zealand prime minister, based on Mr. Trudeau’s workplace. “Prime Minister Trudeau thanked Ms. Ardern for her considerate and provoking management, friendship, and priceless partnership whereas she was in workplace,” mentioned an announcement right here. Chris Hipkins was sworn in Wednesday as New Zealand’s new Prime Minister. Story right here.
COMMITTEE MEETINGS – Quebecor Media Inc. President and Chief Government Officer Pierre Karl Péladeau, Rogers Communications Inc. President and Chief Government Officer Tony Staffieri and Paul McAleese, the president of Shaw Communications Inc are among the many witnesses this afternoon at a gathering of the Commons Standing Committee on Trade and Expertise on the Proposed Acquisition of Shaw by Rogers. There’s a gathering discover right here that features the hyperlink to look at the proceedings. The assembly started at 2 p.m. ET and is to run till 4 p.m. ET. Telecom Reporter Alexandra Posadzki and Irene Galea report right here on the federal court docket dismissing the Competitors Bureau’s attraction of the Rogers-Shaw takeover approval.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in Hamilton for this week’s cupboard retreat, held non-public conferences, visited an automotive useful resource centre, accompanied by Hamilton-area MP Filomena Tassi, the minister liable for the Federal Financial Improvement Company for Southern Ontario. Mr. Trudeau held a media availability after which attended the cupboard retreat.
LEADERS
Conservative Chief Pierre Poilievre held a media availability on Parliament Hill.
NDP Chief Jagmeet Singh, on Vancouver Island, visited Nanaimo the place he and NDP MP Lisa Marie Barron of Nanaimo Ladysmith, held a roundtable on well being care, then spoke to the media concerning the challenge. Afterward, they met with municipal leaders and toured the Harmac Pulp Mill. Later, within the metropolis of Duncan, Mr. Singh and NDP MP Alistair MacGregor of Cowichan-Malahat-Langford attended a meet-and-greet occasion.
No schedules launched for different get together leaders.
THE DECIBEL
On Wednesday’s version of The Globe and Mail podcast, Montreal Reporter Eric Andrew-Gee talks about his go to to the Quebec Metropolis of Rouyn-Noranda the place residents have lengthy identified concerning the arsenic emissions coming from the native smelting plant. The Decibel is right here.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on how Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is (rightly) courting a combat over the however clause: “Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stirred up a constitutional hornet’s nest this week when he mentioned that his Justice Minister is searching for methods to curb the power overuse of the however clause by some provinces, and that Ottawa would possibly ask the Supreme Courtroom for a reference on the matter. The loudest buzzing got here from Quebec, the place Premier François Legault instantly condemned the PM’s audacity in well-rehearsed language. “Mr. Trudeau’s need to do it is a frontal assault on our nation’s means to guard our collective rights,” Mr. Legault tweeted. “Quebec won’t ever settle for such a weakening of its rights. By no means!” Understood. However Mr. Trudeau is true to level out, as he did this week in an interview in La Presse, that using the however clause by provincial premiers has turn into “trivialized.”
Andrew Coyne (The Globe and Mail) on how the federal authorities’s fiscal plan is a sham: “As a former deputy minister of Finance – he was Paul Martin’s right-hand man within the deficit-busting Nineties – David Dodge would know a factor or three about misrepresenting the nation’s funds. In these days the sport was “conceal the excess”: Federal budgets serially understated the energy of the federal government’s fiscal place to fend off calls for for extra spending. Nicely, now, right here we’re greater than 20 years later, and Finance is taking part in a really completely different sport, as Mr. Dodge describes in a brand new report co-authored with Robert Asselin – funds director beneath one other former Liberal finance minister, Invoice Morneau – and Richard Dion, a senior adviser at Bennett Jones. Don’t let the anodyne title (Assessing the Potential Dangers to the Sustainability of the Authorities of Canada’s Present Fiscal Plan) and diplomatic language idiot you. The gist of the report is that this: The federal government’s numbers are a fiction and a fraud. Solely now the sport is “conceal the deficit.”
Gary Mason (The Globe and Mail) on how Preston Manning’s COVID-19 panel appointment is a $253,000 travesty: “When Alberta Premier Danielle Smith introduced that former Reform Celebration chief Preston Manning can be main a evaluate of the province’s COVID-19 pandemic response, few might recognize the pure genius of the transfer. Sure, the price is steep: a funds of $2-million and a wage of $253,000 for Mr. Manning. However not many knew on the time that the arch-conservative former federal politician had already carried out in depth leg work on this space. Certainly, in Could of final 12 months, Mr. Manning issued the findings of an inquiry into the federal authorities’s dealing with of the pandemic. Report of the COVID Fee, it was entitled. And it was written by Mr. Manning himself. How nice is that? Really, not that nice in any respect.”
Adam Goldenberg (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on the way it’s not Justice Rouleau’s job to say if Ottawa was proper to invoke the Emergencies Act: “Did the Trudeau authorities act lawfully when it invoked the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14, 2022? That query dominated the hearings earlier than the Public Order Emergency Fee within the fall. Unsurprisingly, many count on the commissioner – Justice Paul Rouleau – to supply his reply in his report, which should be tabled in Parliament by Feb. 20. Justice Rouleau mustn’t reply that query. The Ontario decide ought to as a substitute depart it to the federal courts and to Parliament to resolve whether or not the federal government acted with correct statutory authority.”
Rosalie Wyonch (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how we’ve got to cease pretending that well being care is totally public: “The current controversy sparked by Ontario’s announcement that it’s going to develop using non-public surgical procedure and diagnostic-imaging clinics has missed the purpose. Well being care in Ontario is already rather more “non-public” than most individuals know, and the province has by no means had a common system that’s publicly funded and publicly delivered in a very complete method. Myths about how our well being care system does (or doesn’t) work are unhelpful when making an attempt to handle the very actual challenges that end in lengthy delays for surgical procedures and physician’s appointments.”
Michael Wernick (Coverage Choices) on the pull and push of the centre that haunts the general public service: “Lately this stress has been revealed in heated discussions of post-pandemic workplaces. Ought to the “centre” impose consistency on hybrid-work preparations or depart the discretion to particular person deputy heads who might in flip delegate selections additional down of their organizations? The coverage that got here out tries to have it each methods, creating a standard framework however leaving a number of flexibility inside it.”
Obtained a information tip that you just’d like us to look into? E-mail us at [email protected]. Have to share paperwork securely? Attain out through SecureDrop.
