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politics briefing newsletter

Good morning. I’m Shannon Busta, filling in for Chris Hannay today.

Things have gone from bad to worse for Theresa May.

The British Prime Minister continues to defend a draft Brexit deal that has led to the resignation of cabinet ministers (including Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab) and plots against her leadership. Ms. May managed a small victory, however, when her environment secretary silenced resignation rumours by committing to help the PM sell the bill to Parliament.

Unfortunately for Ms. May, the good news ends there. Tory MPs who feel the draft agreement keeps the U.K. too closely tied to the EU are working to oust her as leader, and several MPs have publicized letters calling for a no-confidence vote.

Despite the turmoil, Ms. May remains defiant. “I believe with every fibre of my being that the course I have set out is the right one for our country and all our people,” she said during a televised press conference. “Am I going to see this through? Yes.”

This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, usually written by Chris Hannay in Ottawa. It is exclusively available only to our digital subscribers. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.

TODAY’S HEADLINES

Canada’s oil sector is divided over how to address plunging crude prices. Cenovus Energy chief executive Alex Pourbaix is advocating for government intervention in the form of forced production cuts. Suncor Energy Inc. and Husky Energy Inc. – whose refining operations benefit from low prices – oppose intervention, arguing it would risk triggering retaliation from the United States.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said yesterday that Canada is considering sanctions over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The statement comes after the U.S. announced Magnitsky Act sanctions on 17 Saudi officials in response to their alleged role in Mr. Khashoggi’s murder.

Brian Gallant has resigned as leader of New Brunswick’s Liberal Party, two weeks after losing a confidence vote over the Throne Speech that would have enabled his provincial Liberals to form a minority government. Progressive Conservative Leader Blaine Higgs was sworn in as Premier last week. The legislative shakeup comes less than two months after the incumbent Liberals placed second in a nail-biting election with just 21 of the legislature’s 49 seats. The Progressive Conservatives took 22 seats.

The federal government is holding up Canada’s experience with residential schools as a warning to China over its mass detention of Muslims. Canada’s historic use of residential schools has “parallels” with the “current situation with Uyghurs in China,” John McCallum, Canada’s ambassador to China, said in an interview Thursday. In raising the issue with China, Canada has sought to “acknowledge our own troubles,” Mr. McCallum said, and “point out that those episodes in Canadian history could have lessons for China today.”

And the Japanese government has a new cabinet minister responsible for overseeing the cybersecurity of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games, but there’s a catch: Yoshitaka Sakurada, 68, admits he has never used a computer before.

John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail) on the irony of Canada signing a post-Brexit trade deal with the UK: “Assuming the chaotic mess at Westminster somehow resolves itself, and Brexit actually occurs next March 29, the first free-trade agreement the British sign outside the EU could be with Canada, reversing the relationship between the mother country and her former dominion.... A quick deal with Canada would demonstrate that Britain is willing and able to re-establish its trading relationships outside the EU with a minimum of disruption. But students of history would shake their heads in wonder.”

Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on the U.S levelling sanctions against 17 Saudis over the death of Jamal Khashoggi: “Last month, when the Saudis started blaming rogue agents for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the former head of Britain’s MI6 spy agency, Sir John Sawers, described it pithily as “blatant fiction.”.... Until Western governments start to zoom in on the man with iron-clad power over Saudi Arabia and its security services – Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, widely known as MBS – we’re still being asked to believe fiction... There’s no way to accept that this group should be punished but that the all-powerful Crown Prince was in the dark and should be beyond suspicion. Not in the realm of non-fiction.”

David J. Bercuson (The National Post) on the hypocrisy of Canada’s foreign policy: “To say that Canada is unhappy with Saudi Arabia would be an understatement. And yet Canada continues to pursue trade agreements, and specifically a wide-ranging free trade agreement, with China, which makes Saudi Arabia look like a protector of human rights by comparison. China’s record on human rights has long been absolutely deplorable, both in individual cases of imprisonment of dissidents and in the current campaign to completely suppress the Muslim Uighur minority of Xinjiang Autonomous Region in northwest China.”

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