A pregnant mother and her young daughter, who stated they were from Haiti, are watched by RCMP officers as they prepare to cross the border into Hemmingford, Que. on Aug. 21, 2017.Christinne Muschi/Reuters
Good morning,
As the saying goes, freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences.
Ontario Court Justice Bernd Zabel of Hamilton faces a disciplinary hearing today about whether wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat (the campaign slogan of Donald Trump) to his courtroom was an act of political partisanship.
The Rebel Media, a controversial crowd-funded conservative outlet, faced a wake of resignations, firings and advertiser withdrawals after what was seen as sympathetic coverage of a white-nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va. Ezra Levant, the provocateur who founded The Rebel after the Sun News TV channel shut down, admits the company needs better management. "I think we need more oversight — not more censorship — just to make sure we're really being on brand with what we believe, what we stand for," he wrote on his website.
Politicians have mostly tried to stay away, lest some of the controversy accidentally splash over onto them. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said he wouldn't do interviews with the Rebel until their editorial direction changes, but many other MPs and Senators in the party ran for cover when asked about it by The Hill Times.
The Canadian government, too, wants nothing to do with them...or 3,070 other websites. The Rebel has now made its way on to a blacklist of digital properties that the feds won't advertise on. Documents say the government is worried about its brand.
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CANADIAN HEADLINES
The Canadian government says it raised the issue of white extremism on the agenda of a meeting with U.S. intelligence and other allies in June. "We were making the point that radicalization to violence and extremism comes from a variety of sources and it would be foolish to maintain there is only one source. There are many," Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale told The Globe.
The federal government says recent mortgage-rule changes have been cooling down the housing market.
The government also insists it was prepared for a surge of illegal border crossings this year, as asylum seekers flee the United States in the hope of becoming refugees in Canada.
The lawyer for Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, suspended from his number-two job in the military earlier this year, says the RCMP should drop its months-long leak investigation into him, which so far hasn't resulted in charges.
Opposition parties have gotten their wish: MPs on the national defence committee will be back to work early for hearings on how Canada could defend itself from a North Korean attack.
And B.C.'s New Democrats say increased revenues that pushed last year's surplus to $2.7-billion -- about 10 times what was originally forecast -- will also help as the new government prepares its first budget. The surplus itself won't be of much use, since by law it must be used to pay down the deficit. But Finance Minister Carole James says the strong economic performance, which led to a significant increase in tax revenue, is likely to continue. That could help the government pay for a range of potentially costly promises. Next month, Ms. James will present an update to the budget that was tabled, but never passed, by the former Liberal government. After that, the government will prepare a full budget in February.
Globe and Mail editorial board on ties between the Trump and Trudeau administrations: "If a top adviser to the President of the United States thinks the top adviser to Canada's PM is a swell guy, then the latter needs to be congratulated, not condemned. He's doing his job. The point of diplomacy, particularly diplomacy with Canada's closest ally, largest trading partner and the most powerful nation on Earth, is to get the other side to like us, trust us and work with us. Yes, even in the Trump era. Especially in the Trump era."
Robyn Urback (CBC) on how to slow down asylum seekers coming illegally over the border: "The message needs to come from the top, using a forum that would-be asylum seekers might actually follow. Granted, it could ruin Trudeau's heartthrob progressive world leader cred, but it's just about the only immediate measure that could stymie the flow of migrants. Put it on Facebook, on Twitter, in a Snapchat story: You are not guaranteed a spot in Canada. Don't cross the border illegally."
Chris Selley (National Post) on free speech: "Any event can be 'a platform for hate speech,' if an organizer or attendee decides to make it one. The key, within reason, is that they be given the chance. Team Scheer is all but explicitly endorsing prior restraint: Person X or Group Y might be too dangerous, too likely to utter 'hate speech,' for a university to vouchsafe. As soon as you endorse that idea over a universal defence of free speech up to some reasonable definable threshold — the Criminal Code, say — you're emboldening precisely the censors Scheer claims to want to take on."
INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES
Though renegotiation of the North American free trade agreement has only just started, U.S. President Donald Trump — who pushed for the talks — says he's already thinking of walking away. "Personally, I don't think we can make a deal. I think we'll probably end up terminating NAFTA at some point," he said at a rally in Arizona last night.
In the long-running softwood trade dispute, the U.S. lumber industry is calling for the Trump administration to extend punitive duties against Canadian producers that were set to expire soon.
And the relationship between the Republican President and the Senate's Republican Majority Leader has become so poor that the two haven't spoken in weeks. Mr. Trump and Mitch McConnell will be under pressure to repair relations in the fall, when the Senate will have to pass crucial spending bills and tax reform.
John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail) on Trump's speech last night: "Because Donald Trump enjoyed running for president more than he enjoys being one, he holds these rallies to affirm himself, like a war veteran reliving battles that gave his life more purpose than it has now."
Lawrence Martin (The Globe and Mail) on the conservative movement: "One week does not a permanent shift make. But conventional conservatism, beaten down for so long by the Tea Party, Breitbart and Trump is making a resurgence. Mr. Trump's hostile takeover of the Republican Party is running aground."
Chris Hannay