Hello,
Pierre Poilievre says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should provide Canadians with hard evidence that agents of the Indian government were behind the slaying of a prominent Sikh leader that has led to a deep chill in Indo-Canadian relations.
“The Prime Minister needs to come clean with all the facts,” the federal Conservative leader told journalists in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
Trudeau announced Monday that Ottawa had credible intelligence that India carried out the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar of British Columbia and it expelled India’s top foreign intelligence officer in the High Commission in Ottawa.
Shortly after Trudeau’s remarks, Poilievre told the Commons that India must account for its conduct if the allegations are true.
Trudeau’s bombshell revelation came shortly after The Globe and Mail broke the news that Canadian security agencies had credible evidence that India was behind Nijjar’s slaying.
On Tuesday, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly denied the allegations and said he was expelling a Canadian diplomat in turn. He said the New Delhi-based diplomat had five days to leave the country.
Full story here by Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife and Senior Parliamentary Reporter Steven Chase.
There’s an overview here on the killing of Nijjar. Meanwhile, family and friends react here to revelations on Nijjar’s death. And there are political leaders’ statements here on the slaying of Nijjar.
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
Canada’s inflation rate rises to 4% in August - Canada’s annual inflation rate accelerated sharply for the second month in a row, increasing pressure on the Bank of Canada to raise interest rates again shortly after it announced its second pause to monetary policy tightening this year. Story here. Economists react here to the August inflation data.
Zelensky to visit Canada after U.S. trip, sources say - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit Canada later this week and address the House of Commons to rally support as the Russian invasion of his country grinds on, sources told The Globe and Mail. Story here.
Canada will ‘go after’ big manufacturers to stabilize food prices: Champagne - Canada intends to “go after” big manufacturers to stabilize food prices in Canada, Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne said Tuesday, adding a future meeting will be held with their representatives, similar to the one held Monday with grocery store CEOs. Story here.
Chow meets with Ford as Premier backs new financial deal to address budget shortfalls - Ontario Premier Doug Ford has announced his backing for a new financial deal that would address Toronto’s perennial budget shortfalls, while appearing cool to the city’s recent push for extra taxes. Story here.
Canadian intelligence sealed Avro Arrow’s cancellation, new paper says - The Diefenbaker government’s 1959 decision to scrap the fabled Avro Arrow was significantly influenced by Canadian intelligence that pointed to a diminishing need for the costly aircraft in the evolving Cold War, says a new research paper based on previously secret information. Story here.
Experts warn against New Brunswick’s proposal for forced treatment of drug users - A group of experts is sounding the alarm about a proposal from the New Brunswick government that could result in forced treatment for drug users. Story here.
Court arguments underway over injunction for Saskatchewan’s school pronoun policy - An injunction application hearing has begun over Saskatchewan’s policy that affects children who want to use different pronouns at school. Story here.
Ottawa can balance housing agenda, new home for Prime Minister: Public Services Minister - The federal government can balance coming up with a new residence for the Prime Minister with action on creating more affordable housing for other Canadians, the Public Services Minister says. Story here.
Trudeau says he ‘should have, could have’ moved faster on housing - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he “could have” and “should have” moved faster on making affordable housing a priority for his government — an insight that comes as his government faces the worst polling it’s seen since coming to power. Story here from CBC.
THIS AND THAT
Today in the Commons – Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, Sept. 19, accessible here.
Ministers on the road - Defence Minister Bill Blair, at Ramstrein Air Base in Germany, attended the15th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, then travelled to Prestwick, Scotland, and visited the Royal Canadian Air Force’s air mobility detachment. Employment Minster Randy Boissonnault, in Calgary, announced funding to two Calgary-based organizations to help create more training and career opportunities in the green economy. Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, in New York at the United Nations to promote Canada’s climate policy, attended various events including a panel discussion at Columbia University on Bridging the Divide: Making Action on the Energy Transition a Reality.
In Ottawa - Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, with Romania’s Energy Minister Sebastan Burduja and Ontario Energy Minister Todd Smith, among others, made an export financing announcement with Romania.
Poilievre housing bill - Pierre Poilievre, the federal Conservative leader, said last week he would be introducing a private members’ bill Monday with his housing ideas. Sam Lilly, a spokesperson for the official opposition leaders’ office, said in a statement on Tuesday, the bill would be, in fact, introduced in the house on Wednesday.
Lantsman private member’s bill - Deputy Opposition Leader Melissa Lantsman has introduced her first private member’s bill, the Foreign Hostage Takers Accountability Act (C-353), which would impose restrictive measures against foreign hostage takers and those who practice arbitrary detention in state-to-state relations. The Thornhill MP said in a statement, that she is hoping for support from other MPs, stakeholders and allies.
PRIME MINISTER'S DAY
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in Ottawa, held private meetings, chaired a cabinet meeting, attended Question Period, and, in the afternoon, departed for New York, attending the closing session of the Sustainable Development Global Summit. Trudeau is in New York through Thursday to participate in the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
LEADERS
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet wraps up a visit to Washington.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre held a news conference in the House of Commons.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May is in her Vancouver Island riding, participating virtually in Commons matters.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in Ottawa, participated in a Canadian Labour of Congress and CUPE rally to press for federal action on banning replacement workers for federally regulated industries. Following a news conference, Mr. Singh attended Question Period.
THE DECIBEL
On Tuesday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, Geoffrey York, the Globe’s Africa Bureau Chief, explains why so many countries are facing coups, what it means for the people of those countries, and what role other countries like Russia, China and the US have in what’s going on. The Decibel is here.
OPINION - HARDEEP SINGH NIJJAR
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on Canada, once more, forced to reckon with an era of foreign intimidation: “It was a jolt for Canada when China retaliated for the arrest of a Huawei executive in Vancouver by locking up two Canadian bystanders, the two Michaels, five years ago. Now a second shock shows us foreign governments are continuing to reach into Canada to intimidate. This time, agents of a supposedly friendly country, India, are alleged to be linked to the death of a Canadian, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh community leader who in June was shot in his truck in the parking lot of the Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Surrey, B.C. There has never been anything like this before: an explosive public allegation that a foreign government’s agents targeted and killed a Canadian citizen, in Canada.”
Andrew Coyne (The Globe and Mail) on whether India assassinated a Canadian citizen: “India is a country of vast strategic importance to the West, notably as a counterweight to China. We have limited leverage over it, and much reason to want to keep it onside, or at least not offside – and if we did not, our allies, whose opinion we are bound to respect, do. India under Mr. Modi may be drifting toward authoritarianism, but it is nothing like the sort of bestial dictatorship that China or Russia is, and still worth courting as part of a global effort to contain them. But as much as Canada has a strategic interest in India, it has even more of a strategic interest in defending its sovereignty and protecting its citizens. There will have to be a price paid for the killing of Mr. Nijjar, and a stiff one, lest other bully states be tempted to take similar liberties. One bounced diplomat won’t do it.”
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on Justin Trudeau’s Ron DeSantis moment: “What do Justin Trudeau and Ron DeSantis have in common? The two men’s ideologies could hardly be more different, but both have shown they’re willing to conjure up corporate scapegoats for populist crusades, and to wield the threat of punitive taxes for political advantage. For Florida’s Republican governor, the crusade targets Disney and the company’s opposition to a state law that bans teaching gender identity and sexual orientation to pupils in kindergarten to Grade 3. In Canada, the Prime Minister is training his populist lens on grocery stores, now cast as the villain in a plot to fleece Canadians by driving up food prices. Mr. Trudeau summoned the heads of the grocery chains to Ottawa on Monday; they are to hash out a plan by Thanksgiving to “stabilize and lower prices.” If they fail to do so, Mr. Trudeau threatens to take action, including imposing a tax on companies that refuse to get with the Liberal program.”
Jen Gerson (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how the lessons of Walkerton were lost on Danielle Smith’s government: “It’s a catastrophe. And although none of the children have died – thank God – this outbreak is rapidly becoming the most serious of its kind since Walkerton. It’s worse, in some ways, because almost all of the victims are children: the population most likely to suffer serious adverse outcomes, including hemolytic uremic syndrome, a secondary illness caused by E. coli. I have no reason, at present, to doubt that officials at AHS have acted promptly and appropriately behind the scenes, but given the scale and scope of the situation, the lack of communication to the general public by politicians and public health leaders has been nothing short of astonishing.”
Allison Hanes (The Montreal Gazette) on Anthony Housefather paying the price for defending Quebec anglos: “Don’t cry for Anthony Housefather. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had no qualms about throwing English-speaking Quebecers under the bus by including references to this province’s controversial Bill 96 in his government’s update of the Official Languages Act last spring. Now he’s doing the same to the MP for Mount Royal for casting the sole vote in the House of Commons against C-13. Housefather was quietly stripped of his parliamentary secretary duties when a new roster of appointees was announced on Saturday.”
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Ian Bailey