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Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says she is hoping an expected deal for the release of hostages in the Israel-Hamas war leads to a ceasefire.
“We think that this potential deal could lead to a form of, eventually, ceasefire. But first, it needs to happen,” Joly told journalists today as she arrived for the weekly cabinet meeting.
The leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, said today a truce deal with Israel was close, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hoped for good news soon about hostages – optimistic signals of an impending deal to pause the war in Gaza, a territory that is home to 2.3 million Palestinians, and free captives. Story here.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has urged Israel to to exercise “maximum restraint” in its war against Hamas, but has not called for a ceasefire in the conflict.
Joly said today she spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week about a hostage deal, and that Julie Sunday, Canada’s representative on hostage affairs, was in Israel last week and has been in Egypt and Qatar to advocate for the hostage releases and to push for Canadians to be able to get out of Gaza.
The Minister said about 200 Canadians remain in Gaza.
“We are still calling for humanitarian pauses, a humanitarian truce, which would lead to a potential ceasefire,” Joly said.
Fall economic statement - Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is releasing the Liberal government’s fall economic statement at 4 p.m. ET this afternoon. Please check The Globe and Mail for coverage of the update.
Deputy Ottawa Bureau Chief Bill Curry and Mark Rendell report here that Freeland will announce several housing-related measures. including new rental home construction loans and guidelines for homeowners managing looming mortgage renewal shocks. The measures will take into account key economic changes that have occurred since the federal budget in March.
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TODAY'S HEADLINES
Canada’s inflation rate fell to 3.1 per cent in October - Inflation is ebbing after the Bank of Canada raised interest rates at the fastest pace in decades – a dramatic shift in monetary policy that’s forced many households to curtail their spending and has effectively brought economic growth to a standstill.
Global Affairs faces calls for oversight after Michael Spavor’s allegations - One former senior CSIS official described the Global Security Reporting Program, created in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks to field a special class of Canadian foreign service officers tasked with reporting back to Ottawa on security matters, as a “very amateurish way of foreign affairs trying to create a mini-spy agency within the department.”
Ontario’s elementary teachers reach tentative agreement with province - Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced the tentative deal with the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, the province’s largest education union. Story here.
Alberta COVID-19 panel chair urges federal Conservatives to weaponize his findings - Preston Manning, the former head of the Reform Party, made the pitch last week in an e-mail sent to Conservative MPs on the same day the report from the panel he chaired was published. Story here.
Dequoy clarifies fiery ‘keep your English’ speech after Grey Cup win - In a passionate postgame speech, Marc-Antoine Dequoy, the East Division’s nominee for outstanding Canadian this season, told television station RDS that nobody believed in the team and took issue with the lack of French signage at the Grey Cup.
Windsor police say they expect 1,600 Koreans to work at EV battery plant - Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre told reporters in Ottawa that he wanted “a full inquiry” and for the Prime Minister to make public the contract with global auto giant Stellantis NV and South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd., to see what terms they had struck on jobs for Canadians.
Elephant ivory and rhino horn imports banned by Ottawa - The move follows years of campaigning by conservation groups, as well as singer-songwriter Bryan Adams, who says he’s “thrilled that Canada has listened to the overwhelming number of Canadians who demanded action to end the senseless killing of elephants and rhinos.”
Quebec strikes: Parents scramble as schools shut until Thursday; health care also hit - Thousands of Quebec parents have been forced to make alternative plans for their families, as a provincewide public sector strike will keep schools closed between Tuesday and Thursday. Meanwhile, overlapping strikes are affecting most health facilities. Story here.
First throne speech from Wab Kinew’s NDP government - The first session of the 43rd legislature is scheduled to begin this afternoon, when Lt.-Gov. Anita Neville is slated to read a speech outlining the priorities of Premier Wab Kinew, who led the NDP to victory last month.
THIS AND THAT
Tear down 24 Sussex Drive: Caroline Mulroney - As the daughter of former prime minister Brian Mulroney, Caroline Mulroney spent a number of years at 24 Sussex Dr. The residence for the prime minister and their family has fallen into disrepair, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family have never lived there.
During an interview with Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe posted on his podcast Digging Deep, Mulroney, president of the Treasury Board of Ontario, said 24 Sussex Dr. was an excellent venue for her father to forge relationships with other leaders that were beneficial to Canada, but she suggested its time is up, and it needs to be replaced. “I think the thing should be torn down. I don’t think the building as it stands is worthwhile.”
“The life of a Prime Minister is unique so there’s nothing wrong with having a unique kind of work-home experience or residence for them,” she said.
Sutcliffe said he agreed with Mulroney, but that 24 Sussex Dr. belongs to the people of Canada and that it should never have been allowed to fall into a such a state of disrepair.
Today in the Commons – Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, Nov. 21, accessible here.
Deputy Prime Minister’s day - Private meetings in Ottawa. Chrystia Freeland attended cabinet meetings, held an embargoed press conference on the fall economic statement, joined the Prime Minister for a photo opportunity, and will present the statement in the House of Commons.
Senators sworn in - Four new senators are scheduled to be sworn in today in the Senate chamber. Senate Speaker Raymonde Gagné will preside over the swearing in of senators Krista Ross, Joan Kingston, John McNair and Réjean Aucoin. They were appointed Oct. 31.
Commons committee highlights - Andriy Kostin, prosecutor general in the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, spoke to the international human rights subcommittee on the unlawful transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia. Tobi Nussbaum, chief executive officer of the National Capital Commission, appeared before the public accounts committee on the Rideau Hall Storage Building.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
Private meetings in Ottawa, then Justin Trudeau chaired the cabinet meeting, attended Question Period and participated in a fall economic-statement photo op with Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland. He will attend Freeland’s speech on the statement in the Commons.
LEADERS
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet held a news conference in the foyer of the House of Commons and attended Question Period.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May attended the House of Commons, participated in a panel discussion on nuclear disarmament at the Youth-Parliament Nuclear Summit and attended the lockup for the fall economic summit.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in Ottawa, held a news conference on the NDP’s expectations for the fall economic statement, spoke to a meeting of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and participated in Question Period.
No schedule released for federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
THE DECIBEL
On Tuesday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife talks about the story he broke with colleague, Senior Parliamentary Reporter Steven Chase. They reported how one of the two Michaels – Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig – who were detained by Chinese authorities on Dec. 10, 2018 - alleges he was only detained because of information he provided to the other Michael, that was in turn passed onto the Canadian government. China accused the men of procuring and sharing Chinese state secrets and held them for 1,020 days. The Decibel is here.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on lessons in modesty for the Liberals from the courts: “The most important lesson is one of humility. The Liberals’ environmental ambitions are valuable but their instincts to always try to do too much has led to unnecessary losses. The plastics case is a perfect example. A more modest focus on specific problems – the vast waste of plastic straws and bags – would have avoided another legal defeat.”
Andrew Coyne (The Globe and Mail) on how we are not on war on several fronts, but one: “It is surely no coincidence that we are now fighting two major wars at the same time, in Ukraine and the Middle East, with a third, Taiwan, and perhaps a fourth and fifth – in the Balkans, perhaps, or the Sahel – waiting in the wings. Granted, the members of the CRINKs have important differences, in ideology, in interests and in strategic outlook. But they are alike as proprietors of what are, stripped of their pretensions, essentially criminal enterprises, and in their hostility to the democracies, for the obstacles they pose to their ambitions.”
Tony Keller (The Globe and Mail) on why our schools are addicted to foreign student tuition: “But necessity is the mother of financial invention. Which is how public universities, and especially colleges, discovered a new source of funds: foreign students. Their numbers are potentially unlimited and their tuitions are uncapped. Provincial governments, led by Ontario, encouraged the institutions to move in that direction. And all were enabled by the federal government’s student visa system. It makes no distinctions among public institutions or programs, has no controls over quality, and puts no caps on the number of visas on offer.”
Payam Akhavan and Andriy Kostin (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how Canada must do everything possible to combat Russia’s abduction of Ukrainian children: “The large-scale deportation of children constitutes a war crime and crimes against humanity. In March of this year, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Mr. Putin and Russian children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, holding them personally responsible for forced deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children. In September, the Canadian government took significant action by imposing Magnitsky sanctions on 42 individuals and 21 entities implicated in the transfer and custody of Ukrainian children in Russia.”
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Ian Bailey