Hello,
The first Canadian government evacuation flight has departed Tel Aviv for Athens with approximately 130 passengers, Defence Minister Bill Blair says.
Department of National Defence media relations head Daniel Le Bouthillier said a second flight had left Tel Aviv.
The airlift of Canadian citizens and permanent residents out of Israel began almost six days after Hamas’s brutal attack on Israeli civilians.
Full story here from Senior Parliamentary Reporter Steven Chase and Senior Political Reporter Marieke Walsh.
Meanwhile, the loved ones of of Canadian Adi Vital-Kaploun are recounting her horrifying murder at the hands of Hamas gunmen.
And the Privy Council Office has launched an internal investigation into a senior public servant for posting anti-Israel sentiments on social media in the aftermath of the massacre.
This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Ian Bailey. It is available exclusively to our digital subscribers. If you're reading this on the web, subscribers can sign up for the Politics newsletter and more than 20 others on our newsletter signup page. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.
TODAY'S HEADLINES
Organization representing Canada’s major publishers urges Ottawa to accommodate Google’s concerns over Bill C-18 – News Media Canada is urging the federal government to accommodate Google’s concerns about the Online News Act before it goes into effect Dec. 19.
Ottawa local testifies at trial of convoy protest organizers – The sanctuary at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in downtown Ottawa was “brutally altered” during the truckers convoy, the church’s administrator told the criminal trial of two protest organizers.
Single-payer pharmacare would cost billions more a year, but save economy money, PBO says – The Parliamentary Budget Officer says a single-payer universal drug plan would cost the federal and provincial governments $11.2-billion in the first year, and $13.4-billion annually within five years.
Saskatchewan tables school pronoun bill, invokes notwithstanding clause – The Saskatchewan government has tabled legislation and the notwithstanding clause to prevent children under 16 from changing their names or pronouns at school without parental consent.
Federal fall update to reveal Ottawa faces fiscal squeeze – Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s fall update will show worsening projections for the federal debt and deficits over the coming years, economists say, leaving the Liberals with less fiscal room to deliver on spending promises, including responding to concerns over the cost of housing and prescription drugs.
Quebec Premier inaugurates $7.4-billion hydroelectric complex – François Legault inaugurated the $7.4-billion Romaine hydroelectric complex on the province’s North Shore, accompanied by Jean Charest who was Quebec premier when construction began in 2009.
Sexual assault charges stayed against former top general – A criminal charge against a former senior commander of the Canadian Armed Forces was stayed because of trial delays that the presiding judge blamed in part on military police.
Nurses’ unions urge politicians to crack down on for-profit nursing agencies – Canadian nursing leaders are urging health ministers meeting in Prince Edward Island this week to rein in the use of private, for-profit nursing agencies as they and other health leaders look for ways to solve the human-resources crisis bedevilling the country’s medical system.
Montreal facing major budget crunch – The City of Montreal is going to make major cuts to its expenses, including a hiring freeze, to address a massive budget shortfall heading into 2024.
Man accused of murder, terrorism testifies about his background – The man accused of killing four members of a Muslim family in an alleged act of terrorism has testified that he had a “fundamentalist” Christian upbringing that involved homeschooling and corporal punishment.
THIS AND THAT
Commons and Senate on a break – The House of Commons is on a break until Monday. The Senate sits again next Tuesday.
Deputy Prime Minister’s day – Chrystia Freeland is in Marrakech, Morocco, for G7 and G20 finance ministers’ meetings and annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. On Thursday, she was participating in a public IMF seminar called Boosting Growth with Domestic Resources: How to Pay for It All.
Ministers on the road – National Revenue Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge, in the Quebec village of Ayer’s Cliff, made an announcement on regulations and lakes and rivers. National Defence Minister Bill Blair is in Brussels, Belgium, for a meeting of defence ministers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Public Services Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, at the urban reserve of Wendake in Quebec, announced $861,799 to the Quebec Native Friendship Centre Group for projects to deal with gender-based violence. Health Minister Mark Holland and Mental Health and Addictions Minister Ya’ara Saks, in Charlottetown, co hosted a meeting of provincial and territorial health ministers. Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc and Justice Minister Arif Virani, in Bromont, Que., continued to co-host a meeting of provincial and territorial ministers responsible for justice and public safety. Innovation Minister Mary Ng, in Markham, Ont., made an announcement about domestic biomanufacturing. She was also scheduled to speak at the Toronto Global Forum.
New lieutenant-governor for Newfoundland and Labrador announced – Joan Marie Aylward succeeds former federal Liberal cabinet minister Judy Foote, who was appointed in 2018 and became the first woman to hold the post. Aylward, once the president of the province’s registered nurses’ union, is a former provincial Liberal cabinet minister. Most recently, Aylward was vice-chair of the provincial labour relations board.
Israeli ambassador-designate to present credentials – Iddo Moed is among the diplomats scheduled Friday to present their credentials to Governor-General Mary Simon. The measure is a formality for new diplomats. A total of six diplomats, including representatives of Vietnam and Mongolia, are scheduled to present at the ceremony.
In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Moed said he had been in Canada for a month, but not had a chance to present his credentials and thus has not been able to have direct contact with elected Canadian officials. “But that’s going to change very soon,” he said. “And once I have done that, I am sure there will be open channels to ministers to convey messages and to relay messages.”
The former cybersecurity co-ordinator for Israel’s Foreign Affairs Ministry succeeded Ronen Hoffman, who said in January that he would leave his post because of disputes with the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu.
Ontario Liberal leadership debate – The four candidates seeking to lead the Ontario Liberals debate on a new edition of the Herle Burly podcast.
“Politics is all just to get my band exposure” – B.C. Premier David Eby, in a radio interview, talks about his musical past.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, continuing a visit to the Northwest Territories, announced $20-million federal funding to help build 50 new homes in a downtown Yellowknife apartment building, Later, Trudeau participated in a roundtable with the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce.
LEADERS
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, in the Quebec city of Trois-Rivières, held a press conference on the sidelines of the symposium on artificial intelligence.
Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre, in Vancouver, held an evening fundraising event,
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, in Victoria, attended a prayer vigil on events in Israel.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was in meetings Thursday ahead of the NDP national convention beginning Friday in Hamilton.
THE DECIBEL
Thursday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast spotlights the new Globe pod In Her Defence, which tells the the story of Helen Naslund, in her words for the first time. Through jailhouse interviews with The Globe’s Jana G. Pruden, Naslund speaks about the domestic violence she suffered and what led to the murder of her husband.
TRIBUTE
Jim Lee – The premier of Prince Edward Island between 1981 and 1986 has died at the age of 86.
PUBLIC OPINION
Jagmeet Singh -– As New Democrats meet in Hamilton on Friday to begin their largest in-person gathering in three years, Abacus Data has some newly released research on their party’s leader.
Notwithstanding clause and `parental rights’– Nearly half of Canadians say they support their province using the notwithstanding clause to ensure schools tell parents if their child wishes to use a different name or pronoun, a new poll suggests, and more people support that idea than oppose it.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on the right way to deal with a Nazi memorial : “Nestled among the gravestones of cemeteries in Edmonton and Oakville, Ont., are two monuments that commemorate those who fought for the freedom of Ukraine. To the untutored eye, they seem innocuous – almost as innocuous as, say, honouring a 98-year-old Ukrainian war veteran in the House of Commons. But what seemed to be an anodyne gesture turned out to be a colossal error that snowballed into an international embarrassment after it was discovered that the nonagenarian in question, Yaroslav Hunka, was a veteran of the Waffen SS Galicia Division.”
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on how Quint’s statement highlights Canada’s lack of influence on the global stage: “When the U.S. and four European countries decided to issue a joint condemnation of Hamas’s attacks in Israel and a warning to others not to join in the fighting, nobody called Canada. That’s an omission. But it shouldn’t surprise anyone. This country just doesn’t have that kind of influence.”
Phoebe Maltz Bovy (contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how, if you can’t say anything reasonable, say nothing at all: “Ever since war broke out in Israel and Gaza, there has been – alongside horrific news and eyewitness accounts – a newly ubiquitous form of communication: statements. Suddenly, every institution, every politician, and every third cousin twice removed has issued a statement about the crisis.”
Randall Denley (The National Post) on why Ontario Premier Doug Ford is done: “If Ford can’t figure this out on his own, people need to tell him he has to go. Not Liberals or NDPers who think he’s never done anything right, but his own supporters, party workers and donors. The last time the PCs lost power, after two Mike Harris majorities, it took 15 years to get it back. They don’t want to repeat that.”
Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com. Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop.
Ian Bailey