Hello,
The federal government has accepted the carbon-pricing regimes in Ontario and New Brunswick. The deal between the federal Liberals and the provincial Progressive Conservative governments in those two provinces comes a day before the Supreme Court starts hearing the constitutionality of the federal carbon tax system. Ontario and New Brunswick are among the five provinces fighting the federal government in court.
A federal source told The Globe and Mail that the timing was no coincidence, and the deal was expected to show the justices the spirit of co-operation that Ottawa can extend.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
British Columbia is going to have a provincial election on Oct. 24. B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan, who has governed with a minority of seats in the legislature since 2017, is hoping to repeat N.B. Premier Blaine Higgs’s success last week in turning a minority into a majority in the midst of the pandemic.
The federal Liberals are set to return to Parliament on Wednesday with a Throne Speech centring on immediate health needs, income supports and a green economic recovery a little further in the future.
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole has COVID-19.
A second wave of the novel coronavirus appears to be hitting the shores of Ontario and Quebec, as both provinces report a continued increase in cases.
One of the sources of many of the deaths in the first wave were long-term care homes. Infectious-disease experts are expressing concern that Ontario appears to have done little to prepare residents and workers in those homes for the rise in COVID-19.
Bank of Nova Scotia CEO Brian Porter says the federal government needs to “significantly” increase the amount of money it sends parents to help with the high costs of child care.
The Canadian government has gone nearly two years without using the Magnitsky Act to impose any sanctions on international human-rights abusers.
Mik’maq communities in Nova Scotia are restocking lobster traps removed by non-Indigenous fishermen. The Sipekne’katik First Nation says they have a treaty right to fish at all times, which the non-Indigenous fishermen are disputing despite a landmark Supreme Court decision.
And John Turner – the influential former justice minister, finance minister and, briefly, prime minister – died on the weekend. He was 91.
John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail) on the Liberals, the NDP and the upcoming Throne Speech: “[NDP Leader Jagmeet] Singh’s demands are simple and predictable: funding for long-term care, pharmacare and child care. Equally important, the NDP wants the government to reverse planned reductions in wage supports. The New Democrats would pay for all this through increased taxes on the wealthy and by closing tax loopholes. It’s an ambitious list, but Mr. Trudeau knows he doesn’t need to tick every box. Help for long-term care and additional support for the unemployed would probably be enough. The Grits and the Dippers should be able to strike a deal.”
Senator Kim Pate (The Globe and Mail) on the argument for progress policies in the recovery period: “The risks and dangers of COVID-19 have fallen disproportionately on those living on the margins. Though they’ve been called ‘essential,’ precarious workers – in particular racialized women – face health risks, poor working conditions and inadequate benefits, if they even receive any.”
Grant Bishop (The Globe and Mail) on the carbon-tax challenge at the Supreme Court: “The court’s solution should be to recognize exclusive federal jurisdiction for regulating greenhouse gases – but also deem the backstop unconstitutional. Such a ‘split the baby’ result would establish clear authority over GHGs, but prevent Ottawa’s backdoor intrusion into provincial regulation of specific industries.”
Vincent Lam (The Globe and Mail) on the need to plan for a new lockdown in the winter: “Some will ask, what if we would not have needed to go into lockdown? Will we have done the Covatical for nothing? A core paradox of all public health intervention is that the more successful it is, the more likely it may afterward seem to have been unnecessary. In preplanning a Covatical, we will have to accept we will never know if we would have otherwise been forced by COVID-19 into lockdown.”
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Chris Hannay