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The Bloc Québécois leader is getting his meeting with the federal government’s newly appointed special representative on combatting Islamophobia amid a debate over comments she made about Quebec.
News of the meeting came Tuesday, a day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he would facilitate it.
The office of Yves-François Blanchet announced he will meet with Amira Elghawaby, a human-rights advocate and journalist, whom Mr. Trudeau has appointed to the new Islamophobia post.
The meeting will be held on Wednesday in the BQ offices on Parliament Hill, and Mr. Blanchet will be accompanied by BQ member Martin Champoux, whose files include heritage and Quebec values.
Ms. Elghawaby has been under fire from the Quebec government, the federal Conservatives, and the Bloc over a 2019 article she co-authored that had material perceived as showing anti-Quebec sentiment. The column opposed Bill 21, the Quebec law that bans some public servants from wearing religious symbols, such as hijabs.
Ottawa reporter Marsha McLeod reports here on the controversy.
In a statement on Tuesday, BQ spokesperson Julien Coulombe-Bonnafous said the Bloc wants to know, from Ms. Elghawaby, how Mr. Trudeau presented the mandate for her assignment, and, in turn, party representatives will present their views on the separation of church and state and the history that led to Bill 21 in Quebec.
During Monday’s Question Period, Mr. Blanchet asked Mr. Trudeau about the possibility of an opportunity to meet with Ms. Elghawaby.
“That meeting will take place,” Mr. Trudeau said, adding he would facilitate it. “I think it will be a great conversation. She will be able to explain the extent to which Islamophobia and systemic racism are a reality for people all across this country.”
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
FEDERAL CONTRACTS WORTH 10% OF REVENUE IN CANADA: MCKINSEY - Global management consulting giant McKinsey and Company says its contracts with the federal government make up as much as 10 per cent of its gross revenue in Canada. Story here.
DRUG DECRIMINALIZATION UNDER WAY IN B.C. - Decriminalization of people with small amounts of illegal drugs for their own use has become a reality in British Columbia, but substance users and researchers say the change is expected to make little immediate difference because of a toxic drug supply. Story here.
CANADIAN ECONOMIC GROWTH SLOWING - The Canadian economy is growing much more slowly than it did in the early parts of 2022 as the Bank of Canada hikes interest rates to tamp down excessive inflation, the prelude to a potential recession this year. Story here.
BAN UNIVERSITY RESEARCH WORK WITH CHINA’S MILITARY SCIENTISTS: OPPOSITION - The Official Opposition called on the federal government Monday to ban research partnerships with Chinese military scientists and issue a ministerial order to advise provinces and Canadian universities to do the same. Story here.
HYBRID PARLIAMENT SHOULD BE PERMANENT: MPS REPORT - The hybrid sitting structure and electronic voting system should become permanent features of the House of Commons, according to a new report from MPs on the Procedure and House Affairs Committee. Story here from CTV. The report is here.
ONTARIO TO CONSIDER NEW NATIONAL LTC STANDARDS: MINISTER - Ontario will take a look at new national standards for long-term care, the minister responsible for the sector said Tuesday, but wouldn’t want to “water down” what the province is already doing to improve care. Story here.
ONTARIO GREEN LEADER CONSIDERING REQUEST TO SEEK LIBERAL LEADERSHIP - Ontario Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner says he is considering a request from 40 Liberal Party members to cross the floor and run for the leadership of their party. Story here.
ROBERTS NAME TO BE REMOVED FROM VANCOUVER SCHOOL - Members of the Vancouver School Board have voted unanimously to support the renaming of Lord Roberts Elementary in the city’s West End neighbourhood over concerns regarding the background of the school’s namesake, who led the British forces during the Boer War in southern Africa. Story here.
ENGLISH ALLOWED FOR HOLLYWOOD FILMS IN QUEBEC DESPITE LANGUAGE LAW - Bill 96 has made it harder to sell Quebec as a location for Hollywood film and TV shoots, with film insiders in the province now saying they have to regularly explain to the executives at the Hollywood studios that they are still allowed to shoot in English in the province. Story here from The Montreal Gazette.
THIS AND THAT
TODAY IN THE COMMONS - Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, Jan. 31, accessible here.
RICHER LEAVES NDP - Mélanie Richer, the former communications director for the federal NDP, has joined Earnscliffe Strategies, a high-profile strategic communications, government relations and opinion research company. Ms. Richer is to be a senior consultant. Over the last four years, Ms. Richer held senior communications posts for the NDP, including a stint as press secretary for Jagmeet Singh’s 2021 election tour, and three years as deputy communications director and communications director. Details here.
CHAMPAGNE ON ROGERS-SHAW DEAL - Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne was asked about the Rogers-Shaw deal as he arrived Tuesday for the weekly cabinet meeting. There’s a story here on the proposal. He said his team is still looking at the Federal Court of Appeal decision. “My role is to protect public interest. We have long held in Canada that we want to have better prices, more competition, and the best way to achieve that is to have a fourth national player. So I’ll be rendering a decision in due course and certainly making sure that whatever decision – this is in the best interest of Canadians, and that the decision will help to bring down prices here in Canada.”
B.C. DELEGATION IN OTTAWA - British Columbia’s new Premier, David Eby, will be in Ottawa on Wednesday with a delegation of six cabinet ministers for a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and several federal cabinet ministers. The B.C. delegation includes the province’s Attorney-General, Energy and Environment Ministers as well as Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister Murray Rankin. Mr. Rankin was the NDP MP for Victoria from 2012 to 2019,
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in Ottawa, held private meetings, chaired the federal cabinet meeting, and spoke with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. Mr. Trudeau was, on Tuesday evening, scheduled to deliver remarks at a Lunar New Year reception, accompanied by International Trade Minister Mary Ng.
LEADERS
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh attended Question Period in Ottawa.
No schedules released for other party leaders.
THE DECIBEL
On Tuesday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, telecom reporter Alexandra Posadzki explains the implications of the largest telecommunications takeover in Canadian history. The deal would see Rogers Communications Inc buy Shaw Communications Inc for $20-billion. In an already concentrated industry, Canada’s Competition Bureau has argued that the deal would be bad for consumers who already pay some of the highest cellphone bills in the world. Ms. Posadzki also explains why, even though the deal has cleared significant legal hurdles, Canada’s federal Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne won’t rush his sign-off. The Decibel is here.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on setting the bar for responsible drinking: “Some drinkers, particularly when individual medical histories are taken into account, could very well benefit from moderate consumption. The overall risk and/or benefit depends in large part on the consumption habits of the person buying the product; it’s hard to square that nuanced message with health-warning labels. Standard-drink information, on the other hand, would allow Canadians to make better decisions about responsible alcohol use. That would be a far preferable approach than public health officials – however good their intentions – trying to stampede moderate drinkers toward teetotalling.”
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on a listless House of Commons returning without pivotal moments: “Pierre Poilievre’s speech to the Conservative caucus last week was an assertion that Justin Trudeau was spreading suffering throughout the land. Mr. Trudeau told his caucus this is a pivotal moment. But by the time MPs assembled for the first Question Period of the year, nothing appeared particularly pivotal. Or urgent. Far from engaging in a fight for the ages, Mr. Trudeau’s ministers appeared listless, delivering rote answers with low energy.”
John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail) on how a letter from some Ontario Liberals to Green Leader Mike Schreiner screams desperation: “It’s hard to imagine anything more foolish than the public letter in which 40 prominent Liberals urged Ontario Green Leader Mike Schreiner to cross the floor, become a Liberal, and run for the leadership of the party. And yet Mr. Schreiner says he is considering it. The letter exposes the desperation of Liberals in Ontario to find some way, any way, to return to power. But instead of advancing their cause, they have undermined it. And if Mr. Schreiner does decide to cross the floor, he will be damaging his own reputation as well as that of both the Liberals and the Greens.”
Leilani Farha and Diana Chan McNally (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how an Ontario ruling defending those living in encampments is only a partial victory: “Homeless people living in encampments in the province and their advocates are calling it a win. And certainly, Justice Valente’s decision – which follows a line of cases in British Columbia – sends a clear message to Ontario municipalities: You can no longer use bylaws to forcibly remove homeless people from public spaces when they have nowhere suitable to go. This should put an end to the brutal evictions that encampment residents experience.”
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Ian Bailey