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politics briefing newsletter

Good morning,

“Canada does not conduct its diplomacy through ad hominem attacks,” Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters yesterday, a statement that in any other year would sound obvious but that, in fact, sets Canada up as quite different from its neighbour to the south.

Although the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Charlevoix, Que., seemed to go reasonably well while U.S. President Donald Trump was in town, as soon as Air Force Once lifted off the tarmac the mud started flying. Mr. Trump tweeted that Justin Trudeau was “meek and mild” and “very dishonest and weak,” and one of his trade advisers appeared on Fox to say “there’s a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad faith diplomacy” with Mr. Trump. Although Canada was the main target in Mr. Trump’s attacks, he also criticized Germany and the rest of the G7 leaders who have a prosperous trade relationship with the United States.

The President’s top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, made a startling admission on CNN about what caused the angry turnabout. “[Mr. Trump] is not going to permit any show of weakness on a trip to negotiate with North Korea,” Mr. Kudlow said. He explained that Mr. Trump, who is now in Singapore and will meet with Kim Jong-un tomorrow, believed the outbursts against his allies were a sign of strength and conviction. We’ll find out soon whether Mr. Kim believes so, too.

This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Chris Hannay in Ottawa and 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. Have any feedback? Let us know –

TODAY’S HEADLINES

One positive development from the G7 summit was a historic $3.8-billion investment in girls’ education. “We’re pleased to see the Canada-led initiative address some of the barriers that keep women and girls in conflict situations from receiving a quality education. The rest of the G7 countries should commit to strengthening the initiative, and we urge them to go even further,” Oxfam International executive director Winnie Byanyima said.

Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel is at the centre of the most powerful image to emerge from the G7 meeting.

A group of Inuit forcibly relocated by federal bureaucrats is on track for an apology from the Liberals. The Ahiarmiut and the horrors they went through were fictionalized in some of Farley Mowat’s stories as the People of the Deer.

Pierre Dalphond, a retired judge and brand-new senator, says he was right to vote on the passage of the marijuana legalization bill hours after being sworn into office.

Incoming Ontario premier Doug Ford’s plan to end the province’s cap-and-trade system could prove costly for businesses, especially those holding some of the $2-billion in allowances already issued.

Washington state is raising concerns about the capacity to clean up an oil spill off Canada’s west coast. The state’s governor opposes the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, and his government has specifically pointed to the ability to clean up a heavy crude spill.

Meanwhile, Trans Mountain is confirming that recent oil spill was 48 times larger than initially reported. The spill in May, near Kamloops, was immediately seized upon by environmentalists, who said the incident shows the pipeline is too dangerous.

A housing expert says B.C.’s housing crisis can be blamed on various levels of government actively courting foreign investment in the real estate market.

And meet the U.S. public servant whose job is to preserve presidential records – which, in the case of Mr. Trump, means Scotch-taping together a lot of ripped-up paper.

Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on Trump: “Yet, it’s a mistake to think that Mr. Trump’s animal spirits, or his tactics, are easily outsmarted, or inconsequential. He can make a game of chicken scary.”

Barrie McKenna (The Globe and Mail) on tariffs: “The objective is not just to reduce the massive U.S. trade deficit with the world − as Mr. Trump and his top officials repeatedly insist. Fomenting trade uncertainty is also being used to bully companies into moving jobs, production and investment back to the United States and to discourage U.S. companies from investing outside the country.”

Ross K. Baker (USA Today) on relations: “Dear Canada, I know that it’s presumptuous of me to apologize to you for the crude and unmannerly behavior of our president, but even as a private citizen I feel that you deserve better than to have your prime minister treated harshly and disrespectfully.”

David Leonhardt (New York Times) on allies: “If a president of the United States were to sketch out a secret, detailed plan to break up the Atlantic alliance, that plan would bear a striking resemblance to Trump’s behavior.”

Globe and Mail editorial board on patience: “Our government has been patient with the President and his protectionist agenda. So too have Canadians, but this is getting tiresome. We are a polite people, but the President will learn that, when roused, we don’t roll over at the request of an insulting bully, no matter how big.”

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