Hello,
Amid expectations of a federal cabinet shuffle this week, veteran cabinet minister Carolyn Bennett has announced she is leaving federal politics.
At an announcement in Toronto, Canada’s Minister of Mental Health and Addictions said she will not seek another term in the Toronto-St. Paul’s riding she has represented since 1997.
“I do want to share that I have shared with the Prime Minister, met with the Prime Minister, that I will not be seeking re-election in the next election,” Ms. Bennett said.
“But serving the people of Toronto-St. Paul’s is the best job anybody can have and I look forward to doing whatever I can and whatever the Prime Minister wants me to do,” she said.
Ms. Bennett, a physician, previously served as the minister of Crown-Indigenous relations and as minister of Indigenous and northern affairs. Under former prime minister Paul Martin, she was a minister of state for public health.
Mr. Trudeau is expected to announce a shuffle on Wednesday, an effort that comes ahead of a Liberal cabinet retreat in Prince Edward Island next month. There’s a list of current cabinet ministers here.
Ms. Bennett’s announcement came as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was, according to his official schedule, in private meetings in Ottawa.
Also Monday, scheduled events for a pair of cabinet ministers were cancelled. Transport Minister Omar Alghabra was to make an announcement at Vancouver International Airport and Ginette Petitpas Taylor, the Official Languages Minister, was to make an announcement in Montreal.
Mr. Trudeau last shuffled his cabinet in October, 2021 after the last federal election, with 38 ministers in addition to himself at the cabinet table.
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TODAY'S HEADLINES
No bailout for Toronto: Freeland - Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland is rejecting Toronto’s request for a bailout to address the city’s financial shortfalls, saying the Ontario government is in an “excellent fiscal position” to help. Story here.
Ottawa reveals conditions for allowing future fossil-fuel subsidies - Ottawa is restricting the conditions under which it will allow subsidies to the fossil-fuel industry. The federal government has released guidelines that will limit when public funds are used to support oil and development. Story here.
Mandate letters reveal Alberta government agenda - Alberta’s United Conservative Party plans to pursue a raft of policies related to the government’s flagship sovereignty legislation, despite staying mum on the controversial topics during the spring election, according to Premier Danielle Smith’s mandate letters to cabinet. Story here.
Documents indicate internal debate on ArriveCan app costs - Revelations last year that the cost of the ArriveCan app had climbed to $54-million prompted weeks of turmoil and finger-pointing as officials attempted to account for the spending, according to internal documents obtained by The Globe and Mail. Story here.
Embattled LRT out of service for at least another week - The light-rail transit system in the nation’s capital will remain shut down for at least another week, city officials announced Monday, with plans for a “gradual” return to service starting July 31. Story here from CBC.
Federal by-election in Calgary on Monday - A federal by-election is being held in Calgary on Monday to fill a seat left vacant since a Conservative MP called it quits last year, but the outcome isn’t expected to have much of a ripple effect across the country. Story here.
Greenbelt plan challenges loom in Ontario - The centrepiece of Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s Greenbelt housing plan faces multiple roadblocks, with the needed pipes and roads to convert Duffins Rouge to housing expected to take years and cost millions, local municipal officials say. The 1,900 hectares of Duffins Rouge represents nearly two-thirds of the real estate Mr. Ford removed from the Greenbelt map, something he says is necessary as the province battles a housing shortage amid booming immigration. Story here.
Report tells story of Bernardo’s years in prison - A report from the Correctional Service of Canada offers new details of Paul Bernardo’s life behind bars, including the disclosure that Mr. Bernardo was considered an “inmate in danger” when he was first sent to the Kingston Penitentiary in 1995 and was involuntarily segregated for 18 years until the prison closed. Story here.
Administrator’s death raises questions about safety of staff from bullying, harassment - An Ontario principals’ group says it is concerned about the safety of staff from bullying and harassment after the recent death of an administrator who had filed a lawsuit against the Toronto District School Board for failing to protect him after a confrontation during a diversity training session. Story here.
CBC head’s comments in Globe interview ‘blindsided’ staff - After the head of Canada’s public broadcaster gave a newspaper interview earlier this year that promised CBC would eventually become a digital-only product and that criticized Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, senior managers were quick to refute her comments, internal emails suggest. Story here.
Quebec boosts funding for supervised consumption sites in Montreal - Quebec is boosting funding for supervised consumption sites in Montreal in an effort to prevent overdoses as the city grapples with homelessness and a rise in suspected drug-related deaths. Story here.
THIS AND THAT
Summer break – Both Parliament and the Senate are on breaks. The House of Commons sits again on Sept. 18. The Senate is sitting again on Sept. 19.
Deputy Prime Minister’s day - Private meetings in Toronto.
Ministers on the road - Mental Health Minister Carolyn Bennett, in Toronto, announced $156-million to launch a 988 crisis hotline in November. (Story here.) Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and her Manitoba counterpart Derek Johnson, in Winkler, Man., announced nearly $2.4-million over two years to support a $52.8-million capital project at Winkler Meats. In addition, Manitoba approved over $7.8-million in loan financing and tax rebates. Tourism Minister Randy Boissonnault, in Edmonton, made a 2 Billion Trees program announcement with Mayor Amarjeet Sohi. International Trade Minister Mary Ng, in Toronto, announced the first cohort of Canadian companies to be part of the Global Hypergrowth Project. Filomena Tassi, Minister for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, in Toronto, made an announcement for innovative businesses in southern Ontario.
New diplomatic appointments - Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly has announced three new diplomatic appointments. Hugh Adsett is the new ambassador to the Netherlands and permanent representative for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Adler Aristilde is the new ambassador for Zimbabwe. And Behzad Babakhani is the new consul general in Guangzhou, in China. There are biographies of the appointees here.
PRIME MINISTER'S DAY
Private meetings in Ottawa.
LEADERS
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, in Gaspé, Que., held a news conference with Gaspé Mayor Daniel Côté at the Cap-des-Rosiers Lighthouse, accompanied by the Cap-des-Rosiers Lighthouse Restoration Committee.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was scheduled to hold rallies in Kenora and Thunder Bay, Ont.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in Yellowknife, met with Premier Caroline Cochrane and held a news conference.
No schedules released for other party leaders.
THE DECIBEL
On Monday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, Nicole Redvers talks about the consequences of this year’s unprecedented wildfire season. The associate professor at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Western Ontario is also an expert on the impact of forest fires on Indigenous communities. The Decibel is here.
TRIBUTE
Monte Kwinter - Ontario’s oldest-ever member of the provincial legislature has died, aged 92. Steve Paikin of TVO remembers the former cabinet minister here.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on E-bikes and the future of transit: “Beyond poor manners, the crackdown on e-bikes speaks to a larger failure of GO Transit to imagine the future of commuting. An agency that has long assumed its passengers would drive to the station should be encouraging people who arrive by bike, including by letting them bring their wheels on board. Why doesn’t every GO train include a special car equipped to carry bikes? In response to social media reports that some riders were stranded at Toronto’s downtown station overnight after being prohibited from boarding, the agency did say it was working to provide more on-board bike options. Good news, but this shouldn’t have taken a PR black eye.”
Kelly Cryderman (The Globe and Mail) on how Danielle Smith’s stroll with a donair shows she understands the power of optics: “In this summer of extreme heat, forest fires and labour unrest, Albertans will forever recall the striking image of their Premier strolling with a donair. Well, strolling with a person in a donair costume, that is. The mascot-like getup came out of the shadows of a dusty storage site thanks to reporting from AB Today’s Catherine Griwkowsky, who regularly keeps tabs on the weird world of Alberta government online auctions. She noticed the custom-made ensemble was for sale and tweeted photos this week.”
John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail) on how all major national party leaders face decisions in cabinet shuffle, but Trudeau’s is the toughest: “This week’s anticipated federal cabinet shuffle arrives at a time when all three major national party leaders need to consider their futures. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose government is almost eight years in office with three elections under its belt, has the biggest decision to make. His Liberals have trailed the Conservatives in the polls ever since Pierre Poilievre became the opposition party’s leader in September, according 338Canada.com, which aggregates and analyzes polls.”
Robin Wiebe and Ted Mallett (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how the housing crisis won’t improve until all levels of governments tackle it head on: “Homeownership is the cornerstone of the Canadian dream. It’s practically a Canadian birthright. Yet skyrocketing housing prices are threatening an entire generation’s housing aspirations, and governments at all levels need to be much more innovative in efforts to bring down housing costs.”
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Ian Bailey