Hello,
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will release the federal government’s fall economic and fiscal update on Nov. 21.
Ms. Freeland, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, announced the date today.
Parliament will be in recess next week.
A fall update provides the latest forecast for federal spending and revenue projections in light of events that have occurred since the March budget.
Updates sometimes include new spending announcements, and Ms. Freeland has previously said that this year’s update will include new measures to address housing concerns.
Full story here by Ottawa Deputy Bureau Chief Bill Curry.
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
Thirty-two more Canadians leave Gaza Strip for Egypt: Global Affairs Canada says - The department says there had originally been 40 Canadians on the list of people approved to leave through the border crossing at Rafah. Story here.
Ontario Liberals Erskine-Smith, Naqvi team up to take down leadership front-runner Bonnie Crombie - The strategic move from Nate Erskine-Smith and Yasir Naqvi – both currently federal Liberal MPs – comes two weeks before Ontario Liberals vote on who will lead them in the next provincial election.
Bank of Canada says era of super-low rates is likely over, warns people and companies must adjust - Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers told an association of financial advisers on the West Coast that it’s not hard to see a world where interest rates are persistently higher than what people have grown used to. Story here.
Deputy BC Green leader fired for liking post about Bonnie Henry and Nazi doctor - Sonia Furstenau says Dr. Sanjiv Gandhi was removed when she learned the details, namely that Gandhi “liked a tweet with an inappropriate comparison” between provincial health officer Bonnie Henry and Josef Mengele, an infamous Nazi doctor who experimented on concentration-camp victims during the Second World War. Story here.
Two Jewish schools in Montreal hit by gunshots overnight; no injuries reported - Reacting to the shootings, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters in the Montreal suburb of Longueuil today that Canadians must denounce violent antisemitism in the strongest terms. Story here.
NDP MP calls on Commons to support her bill seeking to criminalize coercive control - Laurel Collins says advocates who support women dealing with domestic violence have called it a “crucial” step to criminalize behaviour in which abusers seek to limit their partners’ independence and keep them in potentially violent situations.
Federal government will spend $900-million to build housing in Quebec, matched by province - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the funding near Montreal alongside Premier François Legault, who said the province has agreed to match the federal funds. Story here.
Freeland, Kinew sidestep carbon-pricing questions as they share podium to announce Hydro projects - At a news conference in Winnipeg today, neither Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland nor Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew would discuss the intergovernmental disagreement over carbon pricing.
Huawei still filing patents tied to work with Canadian universities after Ottawa’s restrictions - The Chinese tech company Huawei Technologies is still seeking patents for research it conducted in partnership with publicly funded universities in Canada, more than two years after Ottawa began restricting funding for academic collaborations with connections to foreign states considered national security risks, including China. Story here.
Labour minister tables replacement-worker legislation promised in Liberal-NDP deal - Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan says the bill will bar employers from hiring someone to do the work of anyone who is on strike or lockout, and will apply to multiple work sites including federal Crown corporations, airports, ports and the federal public service.
Allegations against government official over events tied to ArriveCan ‘extremely concerning,’ Trudeau says - The Prime Minister told Question Period that he knows the respective authorities will be taking the matter extremely seriously. Story here.
Newfoundland and Labrador to launch basic-income program for residents aged 60-64 - Premier Andrew Furey told reporters the three-year phased plan will streamline the province’s income-support program while expanding support for low-income families with children and for people looking to upgrade their skills to leave low-paying jobs.
Saskatchewan to spend $765,000 on pavilion at climate conference in Dubai - The cost, which doesn’t include travel, appears to be the Saskatchewan Party government’s largest trip expense ever. Story here.
Ontario to ban employers from requiring Canadian work experience in job postings - Labour Minister David Piccini says newcomers deserve a meaningful chance to contribute in their respective fields, and this change would stop employers from screening out certain workers before the interview process.
Air Canada CEO apologizes for accessibility barriers, rolls out new measures - Michael Rousseau says the carrier is speeding up a three-year accessibility plan after reports of passenger mistreatment, including an incident where a man with spastic cerebral palsy was forced to drag himself off of an airplane due to a lack of assistance.
MP says he’s received death threats after being accused of giving middle finger in House - Ken McDonald, the Liberal MP for the St. John’s-area riding of Avalon, said he and his constituency staff have faced threats of violence at his office, spurred by videos of the House incident posted by Conservative MPs on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
THIS AND THAT
Today in the Commons – Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, Nov.9 , accessible here.
Deputy Prime Minister’s Day - Private meetings in Winnipeg. Chrystia Freeland was scheduled, with Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew and provincial Finance Minister Adrien Sala, to visit a clean-energy utility company, make an announcement and take media questions.
Ministers on the Road - International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen is in Paris, attending the conference on humanitarian aid for Gaza convened by France. At the meeting, Hussen announced Canada is allocating $20-million for humanitarian assistance to address urgent needs in Gaza. Mental Health Minister Ya’ara Saks, in Brampton, Ont., made an announcement on the mental health crisis and suicide prevention support. Families Minister Jenna Sudds, in the eastern Ontario township of Beckwith, made a funding announcement through the Green Municipal Fund on behalf of Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson.
Meritorious decorations - Governor-General Mary Simon, in Ottawa at Rideau Hall, was scheduled to present a total of 62 Meritorious Service Decorations (Military Division). List of recipients here.
Commons Committee Highlights - Jerry DeMarco, environment and sustainable development commissioner, briefs the environment and sustainable development committee.
PRIME MINISTER'S DAY
In the Montreal area, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, with Housing Minister Sean Fraser, toured a newly built affordable housing unit, made an announcement with Quebec Premier François Legault, then took media questions. Trudeau later visited a local Royal Canadian Legion.
LEADERS
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, in Ottawa, held a news conference on Parliament Hill with Jonathan Pedneault, the party’s deputy leader.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in Ottawa, held a news conference with labour leaders about supporting workers.
No schedules provided for Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet or Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
THE DECIBEL
On Thursday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, education reporter Caroline Alphonso and National news reporter Zosia Bielski talk about their interviews with students caught up in the issue that parents should have more control over what’s being taught and talked about in schools – particularly when it comes to gender identity and sexual education. The Decibel is here.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on how Canada’s prosperity problem points to a lower-wage future: “Thirty years ago, Canada could be rightly thought of as one of the more prosperous countries in the world. Canadians were not quite as rich as Americans, but we had many other advantages – and were better off than pretty much everyone else. That’s the past. The present and future look to be a great deal less pleasant: Canada is not just losing ground relative to other countries but there is an increasing likelihood of an outright decline in living standards.”
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on a bureaucrat pointing a finger in an ArriveCan whodunnit: “You wouldn’t have guessed Cameron MacDonald would plunge parliamentarians into a whodunnit. The slender, bespectacled public servant with a closely shaved head looks like what he is: A senior mandarin in IT. But on Tuesday afternoon, he was at a House of Commons committee telling MPs that his former boss, Minh Doan – now the government’s chief technology officer – had lied to them.”
Kelly Cryderman (The Globe and Mail) on how Tucker Carlson’s event is a spectacle that Alberta doesn’t need - “A source in the Premier’s office, who is not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said Ms. Smith feels Mr. Carlson’s reach to millions of viewers is an opportunity. The Premier will “explain to folks of his political persuasion that emissions reduction and energy development are not mutually exclusive, and that it’s important that conservatives lead and advocate for this position rather than do nothing. “We need to win converts all over North America to Alberta’s position on this.” We can applaud Ms. Smith talking about her (as of yet loosely planned) commitment to net-zero by 2050, and her willingness to talk to all types of people. But a bit of discernment for a sitting premier is in order.”
Konrad Yakabuski (The Globe and Mail) on how CBC president Catherine Tait’s reign of error will not soon be forgotten: “When the smart people running the CBC were looking to produce a French version of one of its podcasts this year, it somehow never dawned on them that outsourcing the adaptation to a Paris-based production house might not be viewed as a stroke of genius. Canada, after all, is an officially bilingual country. The Broadcasting Act stipulates that the CBC is our national public broadcaster in French and English with a mandate to, among other things, “contribute to a shared national consciousness and identity.”
Ken Boessenkool (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on setting ground rules for the debate over an Alberta pension plan - “A number of provinces recently asked a series of questions as part of a reference case to the Supreme Court on the Impact Assessment Act. The court came back with an opinion, saying that it saw federal overreach in the Act. Importantly, Alberta cheered its findings; Ottawa is now making changes based on the court’s non-binding ruling. The federal and Alberta governments should do the same here. An APP/CPP Supreme Court reference case should ask these two questions: What are the rules governing the division of assets when a province withdraws from the Canada Pension Plan to establish its own? And what scope does the federal finance minister have when it comes to deciding whether a withdrawing province has established a “comparable” plan?”
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Ian Bailey