Hello,
Federal Health Minister Mark Holland says he is “deeply disturbed” by Alberta’s planned measures on transgender rights, and will be talking soon to his Alberta counterpart about the proposed policies.
“I think it’s extremely dangerous to engage in this kind of thing, which is, I think, playing politics when you’re talking about children’s lives,” Holland said today on Parliament Hill, responding to media questions.
Holland said he will talk with Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange in a pending trip to the province.
“I’ve had a very strong working relationship with her. I want to talk through these issues. I want to see us, if we can find a solution through talking, to really understand what this is going to mean and the devastation that it’s going to bring, so that we can find an off-ramp.”
As Carrie Tait and Alanna Smith report, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has unveiled Canada’s most aggressive package of proposals limiting transgender rights, including restricting access to medical treatments for youth and excluding transgender athletes from women’s sporting competitions.
The plan stirred up reaction on Parliament Hill today.
Justice Minister Arif Virani, appearing at a news conference with Holland, ruled out legal action at this point, saying the Alberta government has not yet actually tabled anything.
“There’s no legislation. There’s nothing to be taking to court. I’m not going to speculate about future processes,” he said.
Marci Ien, the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, said at a news conference that the government will consult widely on what the wider community wants to do next. “And we’re bringing everything back to the table.”
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TODAY'S HEADLINES
Liberal government delays planned expansion of assisted dying eligibility until 2027: Health Minister Mark Holland introduced legislation today that would delay the change until well after the next federal election, scheduled for 2025.
Interest rates not to blame for housing crisis, Bank of Canada’s Tiff Macklem says: The central bank governor appeared before MPs on the finance committee, just over a week after the most recent interest rate decision and faced multiple questions on housing affordability.
Five former 2018 Canadian world junior players to appear in court Monday on sexual-assault charges: A charging document filed in London, Ont., shows that Dillon Dubé, Cal Foote, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton and Michael McLeod are each charged with one count of sexual assault in connection with an attack on a woman on June 19, 2018.
Quebec governing party to stop collecting political donations: Premier François Legault says his Coalition Avenir Québec party will, instead of donations, rely exclusively on government funding, amid mounting allegations that mayors were pushed to pay for access to cabinet ministers.
Ottawa denies it told CBC to find 3.3-per-cent budget cut, as executives have claimed: The Treasury Board, which oversees spending in the federal budget, said no such directive was given to the public broadcaster, with board president Anita Anand saying, “Whatever Radio-Canada and CBC is doing is their decision.”
Procuring-sex charge stayed against Saskatchewan MLA after he completed program: Ryan Domotor recently completed a prostitution offender intervention program, prosecutor Carmody Hallamore told reporters outside court.
Canada warned to cut off military exports to Israel or face legal challenge: A coalition, which includes Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights and Al-Haq – Law in the Services of Man, an independent Ramallah-based non-governmental organization, says it awaits a response from Ottawa “confirming it has stopped this illegal activity within 14 days, failing which the coalition will consider its legal options.”
B.C. to apologize for historical treatment of Doukhobor sect: B.C. Attorney-General Niki Sharma’s office confirmed a public apology to the survivors, who may number about 75, and their families will be made in Castlegar, a community in southeastern B.C.
THEY SAID IT
“This is our NATO moment as an LGBTQ2 community. An attack on one of our communities is an attack on us all.” – Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault on Alberta’s proposed gender identity policies.
“I hope that we can depoliticize these issues as much as possible” – Alberta Premier Danielle Smith at a news conference on the transgender policies.
THIS AND THAT
CP Ottawa bureau chief exits: Joanna Smith has confirmed her departure from leading The Canadian Press bureau in Ottawa. “It was a thrilling adventure – and a great honour – to build and lead a team of talented and dedicated journalists on Parliament Hill as bureau chief over the last three years,” Smith said in a LinkedIn posting.
Conflict commissioner reports: Konrad von Finckenstein, the interim ethics commissioner, was in the spotlight this week, testifying at a Commons committee about a vacation that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family took in Jamaica over the Christmas break. Now, von Finckenstein’s office has reported on its activities in the last quarter. It’s an interesting overview.
Today in the Commons: Today’s projected Order of Business at the House of Commons.The Senate sits again Tuesday.
Deputy Prime Minister’s day: As part of prebudget consultations, Chrystia Freeland met with social policy experts on the topic of affordability and leaders from the postsecondary education sector on research and skills development.
Ministers on the road: Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is on a trip to Moldova and Poland through today.
Commons committee highlights: Philippe Dufresne, the privacy commissioner of Canada, appeared before the access to information committee on the federal government’s use of technological tools capable of extracting personal data from mobile devices and computers. Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem and Carolyn Rogers, the senior deputy governor, appeared before the finance committee on the bank and monetary policy. Mental Health and Addictions Minister Ya’ara Saks and Theresa Tam, the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, were among the witnesses who appeared before the health committee on the subject of the opioid epidemic and toxic drug crisis in Canada.
Charest fundraiser: Jean Charest is holding a fundraising event at the Albany Club in Toronto as he works to pay off costs associated with his unsuccessful 2022 effort to win the leadership of the federal Conservatives.
PRIME MINISTER'S DAY
Justin Trudeau, in the Ontario town of Caledon, visited a family in their home to discuss affordability and housing, and later met with young adults to discuss mental health.
THE DECIBEL
On today’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, The Globe’s Robyn Doolittle discusses the case of five hockey players from Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team who are charged with sexual assault in connection with an event alleged to have taken place in London, Ont., in 2018. Four of them are current NHL players. The Decibel is here.
LEADERS
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, in Ottawa, attended the House of Commons sitting, and, in the evening, is to speak virtually to the annual Grade 7 Climate & Biodiversity Summit at St. Margaret’s School in Victoria.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in Ottawa, speaks in the evening at the Douglas Coldwell Layton Foundation’s Mouseland Gala.
No schedules released for Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet or Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
PUBLIC OPINION
Economic distress: Half of Canadians under the age of 55 worry they could be affected by layoffs because of the economy, according to new research from the Angus Reid Institute.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on how MPs should take an interest in better ethics rules: “Anyone who watched the House of Commons ethics committee question interim federal ethics commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein on Tuesday no doubt wondered what the point of the exercise was. The committee members used their allotted time to accuse each other’s caucus colleagues of accepting dodgy gifts and trips, asked loaded questions so that they could later post the loaded answers on social media as gotcha moments, and bickered over the cost of a hypothetical Ferrari – an issue, no doubt, close to the heart of every Canadian.”
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on how it’s too late for universities and colleges to complain about the foreign student cap: “Canada’s universities and colleges sent an open letter to Immigration Minister Marc Miller this week about the cap he has imposed on new foreign students. The gist was this: Please no, don’t do this yet, wait, hold on, we’re not ready, this is too sudden, can you give us a break? Mr. Miller’s answer should be, in a word, no.”
Kelly Cryderman (The Globe and Mail) on how Rachel Notley has a key task to finish before leaving politics: killing the idea of a separate Alberta pension plan: “Rachel Notley has attained what many thought was impossible: building the Alberta NDP into a solid, and potentially winning, political brand. But she has one sticky wicket she’d like to manoeuvre through before leaving as Leader in early summer: putting an end to the United Conservative Party’s proposal for a separate Alberta pension plan. “It’s such a horrifically bad idea,” she said of Alberta leaving the CPP to forge its own pension path.”
Tanya Talaga (The Globe and Mail) on how the arrest of Indigenous journalist Brandi Morin chills press freedom in Canada yet again: “Time and again, journalists have run up against law enforcement when they try to share the perspectives of Indigenous peoples. Ms. Morin’s arrest is the latest chilling example. “You always think there is a possibility of arrest because of the nature of this work but when it happens it is a different story,” Ms. Morin told me on Tuesday evening, after she had reported to an Edmonton police station to be fingerprinted and have her picture taken. “I never thought it would happen in Treaty 6.”
Murray Mandryk (Regina Leader-Post) on how the latest Saskatchewan Party MLA criminal charges are a disaster for Premier Scott Moe: “This is the kind of issue that doesn’t go away. And unlike most issues these days, it cuts across party lines. It is a problem for the Sask. Party that Beck is being aggressive in her criticism Wednesday, even raising the spectre of the 1980s Progressive Conservative government communication allowance fraud scandal.”
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Ian Bailey