Hello,
The big news in Ottawa this week is expected to be Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s unveiling of a new cabinet on Wednesday.
A government also plays its cabinet-shuffle cards close to its chest before the official ceremony, but sources have told Globe and Mail reporters a few things to expect.
First, the cabinet will get larger as the number of files that the Liberal government manages increases.
Finance Minister Bill Morneau is expected to stay in his post. Chrystia Freeland is expected to remain a senior minister, but may not stay on at Foreign Affairs.
And Mr. Trudeau, who has previously eschewed regional ministers, may finally appoint some. Jonathan Wilkinson, currently the Fisheries Minister, is from B.C. but grew up and worked in Saskatchewan. He may become the Liberals’ lieutenant for the West. Pablo Rodriguez, who has served as government whip and Heritage Minister, and François-Philippe Champagne, who has overseen trade and infrastructure, could be the most senior Quebeckers.
We’ll find out more in the coming days.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
The situation in Hong Kong continues to get worse. Police have laid siege to a university campus where hundreds of protesters have sought refuge. There is currently a standoff where some protesters are trying to escape the situation but are being apprehended by police. Protesters won a legal victory today, as Hong Kong’s high court struck down the government’s ban on wearing masks. Several Canadian universities are urging exchange students in Hong Kong to return to Canada as soon as they can.
More than a third of the people shot and killed by the RCMP over a decade were Indigenous, according to data obtained by The Globe and Mail. “We call for immediate action to end the killing of our people,” said Perry Bellegarde, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations.
Ontario Attorney-General Doug Downey is considering revamping how the province appoints judges and justices of the peace, as he says the current work of the advisory committee is “too subjective.” A provincial government source told The Globe and Mail that Mr. Downey had already rejected some of the recommended candidates proposed by the committee.
Quebec Senator Jean-Guy Dagenais has quit the Conservative caucus, saying leader Andrew Scheer’s social views lost the party the election and that he has little confidence change will happen quickly enough to stave off a repeat in the next election.
Museum professionals say their institutions are running out of space and are not properly equipped to handle the large collections they are amassing.
Canadians are saving less than they have in decades.
And it’s week two of the U.S. House of Representatives’ impeachment hearings against President Donald Trump. The most highly anticipated witness is Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, but the investigating committee will also hear from an aide to Vice-President Mike Pence and other senior bureaucrats and diplomats.
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on the U.S.-China trade conflict: “In Beijing and Washington, it is now common for foreign-policy thinkers to see the world’s two superpowers as trapped on a path toward eventual war. U.S. President Donald Trump doesn’t talk about it, but Chinese President Xi Jinping does. The idea the two giants are being pulled toward war has been labelled the Thucydides Trap by Harvard political scientist Graham Allison. The puzzle Dr. Allison and others are contemplating now is how to escape.”
Julia Lovell (The Globe and Mail) on the future of China’s leadership: “Yet, despite their bombastically unitary tone, the [Communist Party]’s recent edicts are fractured by contradictions between the diverse ideas and objectives that contend in contemporary China. On the one hand, these proclamations extol values such as democracy, freedom, creativity and justice, the functioning of which require individual debate and discussion. On the other, both are focused on unifying and rejuvenating the nation under the unchallenged auspices of the Chinese Communist Party and its helmsman [President Xi Jinping].”
John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail) on Trudeau’s next budget: “Today, just as in 1972, the Liberals must spend to survive. As well, they know that the route to obtaining a majority in the next election lies through picking up seats in Ontario and Quebec – the West is a writeoff – and the best way to win those seats is by spending.”
Themrise Khan (Ottawa Citizen) on how Canada could use its citizens living abroad: “Diaspora can inform effective business practices, trade, immigration, overseas development and foreign policy outcomes for countries of origin. Canadians living abroad, for instance, are engaged in many activities within a range of organizations, and their knowledge and expertise of the countries they are based in can only enhance the direction Canada may wish to take in dealing with these countries.”
Chris Nelson (Calgary Herald) on Canada’s veterans: “So when TV hockey commentator Don Cherry lambastes immigrants for not showing vets respect he might ponder how much respect those born in Canada show past and present members of our Forces, outside of those few days marking the Armistice, 101 years ago. Not much would be the answer. Which is why, for example, most people haven’t a clue that a majority of the Canadian Corps that fought for the first time under a countryman’s command at Vimy Ridge were actually immigrants.”
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