Hello,
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.
BREAKING - Survivors of the Kamloops residential school are speaking out today about their experiences as the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation releases a report outlining the findings of a search of the former school property using ground-penetrating radar.
The Tk’emlups te Secwepemc announced in May that the ground-penetrating radar had identified what are believed to be the remains of 215 children in unmarked graves.
Evelyn Camille said, at the presentation in Kamloops, that the residential schools were specifically built “to take the Indian out of us, to take away our language culture and traditions.”
But she said it did not work. Ms. Camille, a Kamloops residential school survivor, said she learned about remains being found on the property by a piece of paper being stuck on her door. She didn’t see who delivered it.
“I was home alone. I opened that letter. I was in shock. My daughter came home. She said `What’s the matter?’ I showed her the letter.”
She said her family, at a supper, asked her why she had not previously talked about what happened to her as a residential-school student.
“Would you talk to your family about the abuse that you had, the sexual abuse?”
RoseAnne Archibald, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said of the “little ones” in graves that they were loved, and cared for by their families and communities.
“These are not discoveries. These are recoveries.”
She said it is time to find these children and bring them home to rest in peace through proper ceremonies.
There is story here on today’s developing situation.
And there’s a Globe and Mail primer here on residential schools’ unmarked graves so far
Meanwhile, in Manitoba, the Leader of the province’s NDP intervened on the spot when the province’s new Indigenous Affairs Minister made some comments about the role of residential schools.
Dr. Alan Lagimodiere is replacing Eileen Clarke, who has resigned. There’s a story here on Ms. Clarke’s exit.
“I have spoken up on several issues but I feel my voice and other voices were not heard in Cabinet,” Ms. Clarke said in a statement issued Thursday. (Premier Pallister responds here to her resignation.)
In remarks to the media, Dr. Lagimodiere said the residential school system was designed to take Indigenous children and give them the skills and abilities they needed to fit into society. Wab Kinew stepped forward to disagree. The moment is here.
TODAY’S HEADLINES
CRUISE SHIPS RETURNING -The federal government says cruise lines will return to Canadian waters starting in November. Earlier Ottawa had said the ships would be banned until at least February, 2022. From CTV
COMMITTEE HEARING IN THE WORKS - The Liberal chair of the Commons finance committee is calling a special one-day sitting next week to sort out the confusion over whether the Finance Department can freeze small-business tax breaks that have already received royal assent in Parliament.
HELP COMING FOR AFGHAN INTERPRETERS: TRUDEAU - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged to help Afghan interpreters as calls intensify to bring former employees of the Canadian government to Canada.
PAUL’S GREEN MEMBERSHIP IN QUESTION -Green party executives have taken a first step toward suspending Annamie Paul’s membership in the party she leads, the latest development in a feud that has threatened her future in the top job.
ELECTION FORECAST
CBC traces the pre-election activities of the major parties as their leaders fan out across the country to meet voters. Story here. From CBC.
O’TOOLE IN B.C. - In an interview with The Vancouver Sun, Erin O’Toole, touring British Columbia, touts his B.C. credentials: “The leader of the Conservative Party of Canada knows B.C., including from age 18, when he endured the rigours of military boot camp near Chilliwack and then trained as a helicopter pilot at CFB Comox.” Story here.
TRUDEAU PROMISES WIND-TURBINE HELP -Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelled to Quebec’s Gaspe region on Wednesday and made a campaign-style announcement of $25-million to expand a wind turbine plant to produce blades destined for markets in the United States and Europe.
SINGH PLEDGES JOBS - NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh unveiled his party’s jobs plan on Wednesday, with an aim to create one million new jobs, raise wages and implement a wealth tax.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
In Montreal, the Prime Minister meets with youth leaders from Le Forum Jeunesse de Saint-Michel. He then visits a vaccination site. He makes an announcement with Quebec Premier François Legault and holds a news conference. In Ottawa, the Prime Minister hosts a call with provincial and territorial premiers. Interviews with the Prime Minister air on 98.5 FM Montreal, LCN and TVA Nouvelles.
LEADERS
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet continues his summer tour with stops in the Quebec City region that include a visit to a distillery and a dinner meeting.
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole - No schedule provided by Mr. O’Toole’s office.
Green Party Leader Annamie Paul - No schedule provided by the Green Party.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in London, Ont., holds a news conference to discuss the NDP’s jobs plan, and later meets with staff at Glen Cairn Community Resource Centre and Atlohsa Family Healing Services.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on the need for Canada to help Afghan citizens who worked for NATO military forces, embassies and consulates: “To see the country fall to the Taliban is heartbreaking enough. To see Canada abandoning Afghans who believed in and worked for something better than Taliban rule is disheartening, and baffling. It is not enough for Canada to fast-track applications that happen to land on the desks of immigration officials. Ottawa should be seeking out the men and women who were our allies and helping them get to safety, while there’s still time.”
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford can cut a deal on child care: “And Ontario – that’s the whale. It’s the biggest province. It is run by Tories. Getting Ontario in would signal to voters that the Liberals’ child care program will indeed be a national reality. Holdout provinces will be under pressure to take the money. And if Mr. Ford’s Tories sign up before the federal election that is expected soon, it undermines criticisms by Erin O’Toole’s federal Conservatives of the Liberal plan. You might expect Mr. Ford’s Tories to be cool to Ottawa’s plan for a wall-to-wall, $10-a-day child care plan, and certainly some in his party are. But Mr. Trudeau is offering scads of federal cash – in proportions well beyond your typical federal-provincial deal. And Mr. Ford is already promising more child care spaces, and more affordable ones.”
Lawrence Martin (The Globe and Mail) on the crumbling cornerstone of U.S. democracy: “All will come to a head in the midterm elections in the fall of 2022, when all hell could break loose over voter eligibility, vote-count confrontations, overturned verdicts, or all three. To win, Republicans are convinced they have to disenfranchise minorities. Their very purpose is to see the current voting system undermined. Unless Mr. Biden overcomes prohibitive odds to pass legislation to – you might say – stop the steal, it will very likely happen.”
Send along your political questions and we will look at getting answers to run in this newsletter. It's not possible to answer each one personally. Questions and answers will be edited for length and clarity.
Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com. Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop
Ian Bailey