Canada-EU trade deal gets a little German boost

Share

POLITICS BRIEFING

By Chris Hannay (@channay) and Rob Gilroy (@rgilroy)

The Globe Politics is pleased to include a roundup of news and opinion on U.S. politics, through until this year's election in November. As always, let us know what you think of the newsletter. Sign up here to get it by e-mail each morning.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW IN OTTAWA

> French Prime Minister Manuel Valls got into Ottawa last night, and has a day of meetings with Canadian leaders on Parliament Hill and in Montreal. A common topic of discussion is the Canada-European-Union trade deal, which got a boost this morning when a German court rejected a bid to block that government from signing on to the agreement.

> Germany is about to table a bill to apologize and compensate thousands of men who were convicted for being gay in the decades after the Second World War. Canada has promised to do the same, but columnist John Ibbitson asks: why haven't the Liberals delivered yet?

> Questions are being raised about the head of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, a role that is meant to be a watchdog but that critics say is occupied by someone acting as a booster for the nuclear industry.

> A B.C. MP has had his information and many pictures removed from a law firm bearing his name that serves Asian businesses looking to invest in Canada. In a totally unrelated story, a group of Chinese tycoons is about to embark on a tour of Canada. And in another unrelated story, B.C.'s new tax on foreign buyers may shift some of that non-resident money to other Canadian markets.

> A senior public servant who led the implementation of the troubled Phoenix pay system has been shuffled out.

> A union representing correctional officers says the declining use of solitary confinement is putting prison workers at risk – though data hasn't shown that yet.

> Ontario politicians are rushing to hold $1,000-a-plate fundraising dinners before the events are banned starting Jan. 1.

> Tony Clement has dropped out of the Conservative leadership race, leaving only about a dozen contenders left.

> And not politics, exactly, but certainly political: Bob Dylan has won the Nobel Prize for literature.

U.S. ELECTION 2016

> The floodgates open: Last week, Donald Trump was caught on a 2005 videotape boasting about lewd behavior toward women. This week, that script may have come to life. At least three media outlets on Wednesday night posted stories of women who allege the Republican candidate groped or kissed them without their consent. The Trump campaign has denied the allegations, and has threatened at least one of the organizations – The New York Times – with legal action.

> Post for Clinton: Meanwhile, The Washington Post editorial board neatly chronicles the 16 months of Trump in the electoral spotlight and finishes with a clear endorsement of Hillary Clinton for president.

> Do conservatives still have a home?: Also in The Post, E.J. Dionne wonders if the GOP can ever again be the big tent for conservatism in America. Dionne says "millions of quiet Republicans ... are looking on as the political institution to which they have long been loyal is refashioned into a house of bizarre horrors so utterly distant from their sober, community-minded … conservative approach to life."

> Moving forward: The Post also cast its glance past Nov. 8, with an in-depth feature on political life in Washington assuming Clinton wins the presidency. It says the relationship between Ms. Clinton and Paul Ryan, speaker of the House of Representatives, "could become Washington's most important in determining whether the federal government functions over the next four years."

> Trump's toxic masculinity: In The New York Times, Jaren Yates Sexton says the tough-guy talk from the likes of Donald Trump "might temporarily shelter men from the pressures of their daily lives, [but] inevitably it robs them of their lives."

> Donald, we'll miss you: With tongue firmly in cheek, Clifford Orwin in The Globe and Mail says we're all going to miss Donald Trump when he presumably loses the election on Nov. 8. "Mr. Trump has grown on us even as we have despised him. Our relationship with him has evolved into co-dependency. Mr. Trump's need of us has been only too clear. Our loathing for him has proved his foremost political asset."

WHAT EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT

Globe and Mail editorial board: "It's not false modesty to say that co-operation with the French military will be more helpful to Canada than the Canadians will be to France. This country's troops will be at best rusty, or more accurately, inexperienced, in dealing with Third World conflicts and the Sahel region of Africa in particular."

Michael Wilson (Globe and Mail): "As the federal, provincial and territorial governments work toward a new Health Accord, one thing is apparent – there must be a significant infusion of new money earmarked to address the pressing social and economic imperative of mental health problems and illnesses in this country."

Gerald Caplan (Globe and Mail): "Of course France is not China, and we reasonably judge it (and most Western countries) by a different and higher standard. The experiences of [Hassan] Diab highlights some of its imperfections, and they are serious. The Diab case therefore raises serious questions about how Canada protects its citizens during dubious extradition proceedings."

Martin Regg Cohn (Toronto Star): "[Jagmeet] Singh is young enough to learn from his mistakes. Like Justin Trudeau – to whom Singh has been compared (not least because he has great hair underneath that turban) – Singh is easily underestimated. He may not be quite ready for the top job, and could benefit from more political seasoning. Then again, that's what they once said about [Justin] Trudeau. We'll soon see if New Democrats are ready to take the leap on a progressive politician who remains a work in progress."

Kelly McParland (National Post): "Democracy is a good thing. It must say something about the [Conservative] party that so many of its members consider its leadership an attractive proposition, but it also calls to mind the early days of the Republican nomination race in the U.S., which began with a dozen unappetizing options and ended in choosing the absolute worst of the bunch. It also reinforces the suspicion that better-known Conservatives see little prospect of defeating Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberals in the next election, and can't be bothered trying."