Public Safety Minister Vic Toews: “We feel it’s not in the public interest to provide pizza parties to criminals on a regular basis. We make no apologies for that.”CHRIS WATTIE/Reuters
Politics Today is your daily guide to some of the stories we're watching in Ottawa and across Canada, by The Globe and Mail's team of political reporters.
The high cost of policing
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews will address reporters early Wednesday morning ahead of a national summit on the cost of policing in Canada. The event is bringing police chiefs, academics and officials from all levels of government together for two days of discussions on what can be done to keep police budgets under control. Talks are likely to touch on the potential for the private sector to play a role in police services, as well as possibilities for integration of some police forces. "This [summit] is really about opening our minds to new approaches in service delivery," Matt Torigian, chief of the Waterloo Regional Police Service, told the Globe and Mail on Tuesday.
– by Kim Mackrael in Ottawa
We've come a long way, Mali
Canada lent a plane to France's military intervention in Mali, but now the diplomatic pressure is on. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird meets with ambassadors from France, Mali and the Ivory Coast today over fears the coup and ensuing crisis could seriously undermine democracy in the country. As John Ibbitson points out, even with a Prime Minister who once pushed for Canada to join the Iraq War, Mali has shown just how reluctant we and the United States have become to get entangled in another conflict.
Talk to Raitt
Labour Minister Lisa Raitt releases new voluntary stands for mental health safety in the workplace this morning in Toronto. Have a question for Ms. Raitt? You can ask her yourself: She and David Goldbloom, the chair of the Mental Health Commission, are taking reader questions in a Globe discussion at noon ET.
Explore the data: Ontario Liberal leadership
With no limit on contributions, Ontario Liberal leadership candidates have been raking it in. Explore the data yourself, in graph and table form, with this nifty interactive from the Globe's Stuart Thompson.
Just how bad will today's #IdleNoMore day of action be?
A day of action threatened by first-nations leaders who are frustrated with the approach taken by the federal government in dealing with their issues is upon us but it is unclear how widespread and sustained the disruptions will be. Chief Gordon Peters of the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians has called for blockades of major transportation corridors throughout Ontario, including Windsor, Ont., the major trade crossing between Canada and the United States.
He says he expects supporters of the grassroots protest group Idle No More to be the foot soldiers of the disruptions. It is a loosely constructed movement fuelled by the energy of native youth who may well heed Mr. Peters' call to action.
– by Gloria Galloway in Ottawa
Cauchon is mighty confident
Liberal Party national director Ian McKay gives a media briefing in Ottawa this afternoon on the state of the leadership race. For his part, final entrant Martin Cauchon is very, uh, confident. The former cabinet minister – who, not withstanding an attempted comeback in 2011, had quit politics in 2004 – dismisses the longevity of the NDP. "The NDP will not stay at its current level, it was Jack Layton's NDP and that is for whom people voted," he said. Could be, but don't tell that to Canadians who have been polled.
Chris Hannay