Politics Briefing newsletter: Justin Trudeau visits Ireland

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Good morning,

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Ireland today, as part of a European tour before the G20 Summit on Friday. While the meeting of leaders is sure to be fraught, so far Mr. Trudeau has received a very warm welcome from the Irish.

This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Chris Hannay in Ottawa and Mayaz Alam in Toronto, with James Keller in Vancouver. If you're reading this on the web or someone forwarded this email newsletter to you, you can sign up for Politics Briefing and all Globe newsletters here. Let us know what you think

CANADIAN HEADLINES

The Liberal government is set to issue an apology and $10-million in compensation to former child soldier Omar Khadr, for abuses he suffered over more than a decade of Canadian and U.S. captivity. The compensation package is similar to that given to Maher Arar, who was tortured in Syria.

A majority of Canadians are worried about the takeover of Canadian tech firms by Chinese companies, according to a Nanos Research poll commissioned by The Globe. A slim majority do favour a Canada-China free-trade agreement, however.

The government is set to announce $2-billion today for a national trade corridor. The government will be looking for submissions for projects aimed at modernizing Canada's transportation network.

The government is also weighing major investment in Via Rail in its Montreal-Ottawa-Toronto corridor.

And the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women continues to face an exodus of staff, with executive director Michele Moreau leaving later this month.

Adam Radwanski (The Globe and Mail) on fundraising and the Ontario Liberals: "Outspending opponents well before an election hardly assures victory; if the Liberals campaign effectively next year, and the Tories and New Democrats poorly, all of the above may be moot. But there is another reason for the Liberals to fear their current financial state. Their borrowing, to spend the limit next year, will largely be against their per-vote subsidy. If they win, or lose narrowly, they'll get the money to pay it back. If the bottom falls out and they wind up under 25 per cent of the popular vote – or if Mr. Brown won and then followed Stephen Harper's lead by doing away with the subsidy altogether – they could really wind up broke, with consequences far beyond a little forced restraint before turning on the election taps."

John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail) on the next Governor-General: "We can speculate on what Mr. Trudeau is looking for in his first federal viceregal appointment. By the rule of rotation, the next governor-general should be a francophone. He or she will probably be younger, to reflect the youthful image that this government likes to project. Mr. Trudeau would no doubt like to choose a woman, to reflect the gender balance that Mr. Trudeau established in his cabinet. Since Jeanne Sauvé was appointed in 1984, Canada has had three female and three male GGs. No doubt the Prime Minister would very much like to nominate Canada's first Indigenous governor-general."

Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on the Canada-China relationship: "Tip: If you're trying to sway ordinary Canadians toward a trade deal with China, try not to look like you're starting a campaign with a secret meeting of the 1 per cent."

Francis Fong (The Globe and Mail) on income inequality in Canada's cities: "With all of its benefits, the rapid pace of urban growth has led to concerns that it is also unsustainable. Signs of income stratification and inequality are everywhere, whether it be sky-high home prices in certain cities or in the persistent fraction of Canadians living in a quasi-permanent state of low income. By far, the biggest increases in inequality have occurred in our four largest metro areas: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary. After-tax inequality in Calgary has risen four times more than the national average since 1982. Vancouver and Toronto follow closely behind with increases two-and-a-half and three times larger, respectively."

B.C. UPDATE

B.C.'s New Democrats have been highly critical of the province's "Wild West" campaign finance rules, but the party says it has no intention of rejecting money from unions and corporations as it prepares to form government. The NDP are preparing to take power after defeating the Liberals in a confidence vote, and campaign finance has emerged as a significant issue. Premier-designate John Horgan had repeatedly criticized the Liberals' fundraising practices and even called a pre-election fundraising event the "last supper." But the NDP continues to take in corporate money -- it won't say how much -- and party spokesman Glen Sanford says that won't change until the new government is able to change the law. Green Leader Andrew Weaver, whose party is supporting the NDP in a power sharing agreement, says there's no reason for any party to take money from unions and corporations.

Shortly after Premier Christy Clark's government was defeated last week, she visited the province's Lieutenant-Governor to ask for an election rather than an NDP government. But it turns out Lieutenant-Governor Judith Guichon's mind was largely made up by the time Ms. Clark arrived. Ms. Guichon had been consulting experts from around the world, and the conventions that favoured allowing the NDP a chance to form government were just too great, according to an official with knowledge of the viceregal's deliberations.

Lori Turnbull (The Globe and Mail) on B.C. and the parliamentary system: "The events in B.C. have reminded us that in parliamentary systems, it is entirely legitimate for a legislature to choose a new government without holding a new election. In recent history, some misguided rhetoric has placed doubt around this fundamental constitutional convention."

INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES

Free trade and climate change are on the agenda for the annual G20 summit, but many experts believe that little will be accomplished. The growing divide between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her allies against U.S. President Donald Trump threatens to derail the gathering. Ms. Merkel is hosting the summit in her home town of Hamburg and the meeting of world leaders comes two months before Germany's election. 

"North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life," Mr. Trump tweeted after North Korea launched a ballistic missile that landed in Japanese waters. This came after China's ambassador to the United Nations warned that further escalation of tensions in the Korean Peninsula would lead to disastrous consequences. On Sunday, Mr. Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about the threat posed by North Korea.

Nearly a month after a group of Arab Gulf nations severed ties with Qatar, the crisis in the Middle East continues. The deadline for the energy-rich country to comply with a 13-point ultimatum has been extended two more days after Kuwait entered the dispute as a mediator.

Political opposition in Venezuela is challenging President Nicolas Maduro with plans for an unofficial referendum. Protests in the South American country are entering their fourth month after Mr. Maduro's attempts to rewrite the constitution in order to cement his power.

Margaret Wente (The Globe and Mail) on minimum wage lessons from Seattle: "The latest results are in for Seattle, and they are devastating. A new study from the University of Washington found that raising the minimum wage from $11 to just $13 (the $15 rate doesn't kick in till later) had huge effects. Employment fell so much that the income paid to low-wage employees sank by roughly $120-million on a yearly basis. That worked out to a loss for each worker of $125 a month."

Andrew Hammond (The Globe and Mail) on Trump's next trip: "The Polish trip will be welcome respite for President Trump given growing international disdain for him. As polls indicate, he may become the least-popular U.S. president overseas in modern history, undermining his potential for foreign-policy success in coming years."

Lawrence Martin (The Globe and Mail) on Trump's new found friend: "With Mr. Obama, the Trudeau companionship is hardly a shocker, both being liberals. With President Trump, a polar opposite in many respects, it's strange. Nor can it be expected to last – not given this President's impulsiveness and volatility. But for the time being, the way Canadian officials see it, better to be on his side than not."