Hello,
Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says his party’s platform in the next election will include a new approach to dealing with natural disasters.
At a news conference in Vancouver, the Leader of the Official Opposition said the federal government needs a better, co-ordinated approach to responding to forest fires, floods and other natural disasters.
“We have resources scattered across the country that need to be co-ordinated and deployed more quickly so that places that have surplus resources can quickly make them available to places that are in desperate need to respond to a natural disaster,” he said.
“Part of our election platform will be to counter these natural disasters with better, centrally co-ordinated responses in co-operation with local and provincial authorities.”
Mr. Poilievre’s remarks were prompted by news of the death of a B.C. firefighter, a member of the B.C. Wildfire Service, who died while battling a fire in southeastern B.C., just outside Revelstoke. Story here.
The Conservative Leader’s comments come as British Columbia has put out a call for national and international help to fight about 350 wildfires that are also blanketing communities in thick smoke.
Canada is in the midst of its worst wildfire season on record, with nearly 95,000 square kilometres burned, almost ten times the average amount burned by this point in the summer over the last 25 years.
Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said earlier this summer that Canada has sufficient resources to deal with this season’s wildfires, and is open to feedback on that response.
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TODAY'S HEADLINES
Questions about fate of emergency visas program for Ukrainians - Canada is expected to close applications for temporary emergency visas offered to Ukrainians fleeing Russian aggression Saturday – but hasn’t announced whether it plans to offer long-term refuge. Story here.
Ontario Auditor-General overstepping her authority: premier - Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the province’s Auditor-General is overstepping her authority by demanding interviews and documents from two prominent developers who are benefitting from the government’s decision to carve land out of the protected Greenbelt. Story here.
Australia, Canada should consider trade agreement: former Australian foreign affairs minister - Former Australian foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop says Australia and Canada should consider a trade agreement to deepen economic ties. Ms. Bishop is co-chair of the Australia-Canada Economic Leadership Forum event taking place in Toronto next week, bringing together more than 150 leaders from government and the public and private sectors. Story here.
AFN denounces inaction on Winnipeg landfill search - The Assembly of First Nations denounced federal and provincial governments’ refusal to search a Winnipeg landfill for the remains of Indigenous women on Thursday after Minister of Crown-Indigenous Affairs Marc Miller said that he has no jurisdiction to step in and launch his own investigation. Story here. Meanwhile, former federal attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould made a guest appearance at the third and final day of the AFN meeting, where she blasted the federal government on its United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples action plan. Story here from APTN.
B.C. suspends Facebook advertising - British Columbia has joined the federal government, Quebec and dozens of Canadian companies, cities and institutions and suspended advertising on Facebook over the tech giant’s decision to block Canadian news in response to the federal Online News Act. Story here.
Canada to reopen talks with Turkey on drone export controls - Canada has lifted its freeze on talks with Turkey about export controls on drone parts after Ankara gave its nod for Sweden to join NATO, a person familiar with the talks said, a move seen as one of several concessions won in exchange for the Turkish blessing. Story here.
B.C. announces measures in light of wildfires, drought - British Columbia has ordered the oil and gas industry to temporarily stop diverting water to operations in one northeast district, and is now considering banning water use by other industries in other parts of the province, as it tries to conserve resources for its fight against the twin crises of drought and wildfires. Story here.
Police and emergency response agencies looking at Threads - As tens of millions of people begin using Threads, Meta’s rival to Twitter, police and emergency response agencies across Canada are considering embracing the new text-based app. Story here.
NDP member of Ontario legislature quits, citing child-care concerns - The New Democrat member of provincial parliament for Kitchener Centre has officially resigned her seat, saying her exit was prompted by the challenges of her child-care situation as a single mother working between Toronto and Kitchener. Story here.
Impacts loom in Canada because of U.S. actors strike - The U.S. actors’ strike that begins Friday will grind film and TV production to a halt worldwide, augmenting the continuing American screenwriter walkout in a move that will clear out sound stages across Canada and possibly dim the star factor of the Toronto International Film Festival in September. Story here.
Laurier endures on $5 bill - CBC reports here that an announced Bank of Canada plan to remove the face of Sir Wilfrid Laurier – the only French-Canadian prime minister on a banknote – from the $5 bill for a less well-known figure from a diverse shortlist has stalled.
THIS AND THAT
Today in the Commons – The House of Commons is now on a break until Sept. 18. The Senate resumes sitting on Sept. 19.
Deputy Prime Minister’s Day - Private meetings in Ottawa.
Ministers on the Road - Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, in Brussels, Belgium, wrapped up co-hosting the two-day seventh ministerial gathering on climate action alongside the European Union and China. Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, in Jakarta, Indonesia, attended the 56th foreign ministers meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez, in Rawdon, Que., with Quebec Culture Minister Mathieu Lacombe and Housing Minister France-Élaine Duranceau announced joint funding of $2,337,300 to expand an old hardware store into a library. Sport Minister Pascale St-Onge, in Saint-Denis-de-Brompton, Que., also minister for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, announced a joint investment, with Quebec of $951,682 to renovate and develop sports infrastructure. International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan, with Marci Ien, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, is travelling in Britain, Rwanda and Tanzania through July 23
New chair of the IRB - Manon Brassard has been appointed chair of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada for a five-year term, effective July 23. Immigration Minister Sean Fraser announced the appointment Friday of Ms. Brassard, a former board executive now president of the Canada Economic Development Agency for Quebec Regions, a position she took on in 2016.
PRIME MINISTER'S DAY
Private meetings in Ottawa.
LEADERS
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, in Vancouver, held a press conference. An advisory from his office said he would hold an evening meet-and-greet event in Langley, B.C.. However, a tweet from the leader said he was holding an evening event in Surrey.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is in private meetings.
No schedules released for other party leaders.
THE DECIBEL
There’s no new episode of The Globe and Mail podcast on Fridays in July and August, but recent episodes are available here.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on how there must be (at least) nine more ways for the Liberals to defend democracy: “In case anyone wasn’t clear on how the Liberal government views the stakes in its battle against Google and Facebook, here is the way Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described them at a press conference last week, after Facebook started blocking Canadian news media on its platforms, and Google threatened to do the same: “Journalists should be paid for their work they do serving our democracy. … Canadians have a long history of standing up to bullies, and Facebook made the wrong choice in attacking Canada. We defend democracy around the world. It’s what we’re doing by supporting Ukraine. It’s what we did in the Second World War. It’s what we do at the United Nations every day. We are there to defend the principles and values of democracy.” Our response is twofold. One, wow. Mr. Trudeau’s rousing defence of our way of life may be lacking a bit of perspective. And two, could we get a little more of that enthusiasm for democracy right here at home?”
Andrew Coyne (The Globe and Mail) on how the Liberal-NDP deal has changed the political game in ways we still haven’t grasped: “So what’s to stop the Liberals and NDP from telling the voters next time: While naturally we’d each like to govern on our own, if it takes both parties to put together a parliamentary majority then yes, we will once again govern in tandem. At a stroke they would disarm Tory charges that they were plotting to pull a fast one after the election. Nobody could say they weren’t warned.”
Marcus Gee (The Globe and Mail) on how part of Olivia Chow’s job as Toronto mayor is to restore Toronto’s confidence: “Naturally, the new mayor will need to show that she takes all these problems seriously and is ready to roll up her sleeves. She has already made a good start, convening a series of community meetings to talk about some of the most pressing issues. But Ms. Chow has an another, equally important task before her: putting Toronto’s troubles in perspective. Because despite everything, it remains a healthy, prosperous, dynamic metropolis, with little resemblance to the smoking hell pit the headlines sometimes suggest. The Economist Intelligence Unit ranks it among the world’s most liveable cities, number 9 in a list of 173.”
Kira Hoffman (The Globe and Mail) on how Canada’s wildfire approach needs to shift from reactive to proactive: “In our current reality, almost no Canadian community is safe from wildfires or their cascading consequences. This season is confirming something we’ve observed over the past decade – that wildfires are now commonly exceeding our capacity for suppression. Despite this, we continue to put the vast majority of funds into reactive fire responses, such as fire suppression, and fail to invest enough in pro-active management efforts that would reduce wildfire severity. We will always need fire suppression to protect lives, infrastructure and resources, but Canada’s predominant approach to wildfires too often disregards longer-term strategies such as forest thinning, fuel removal, and the regular use of prescribed and cultural fire at the landscape scale.”
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Ian Bailey