Hello,
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is playing down any personal inconvenience he suffered this week when he was targeted by protesters over the Israel-Hamas war while he was at a pair of Vancouver eateries.
In one case, Vancouver police had to send 100 officers to a cocktail bar in the city so Trudeau and his security detail could safely depart given the presence of 250 pro-Palestinian protesters.
“It’s not about me,” Trudeau said today when asked what the incidents said about his safety in a place, namely British Columbia, where he used to live and visits frequently.
“Right now, the grief, the anger, the despair so many Canadians are feeling is bleeding over into each other,” Trudeau told a news conference in San Francisco held as the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation leaders’ meeting wrapped up. “We are not a country where Canadians should be scared of other Canadians.”
“We all have to commit ourselves every day to be there to listen to each other, and to have compassion for each other.”
In London, Ont., pro-Palestinian protesters this week disrupted a rally held by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who was interrupted several times by protesters as he spoke to supporters.
On another note, Trudeau declined to describe Chinese President Xi Jinping as a “dictator” – a term U.S. President Joe Biden used after a meeting on the sidelines of the summit with his Chinese counterpart.
However, the Prime Minister acknowledged China is not a democracy.
“Look, China is a one-party state. I don’t think anyone would call it a democracy,” Trudeau said. “We can get into all sorts of different definitions. The fact is he is not running a democracy. It’s an authoritarian state.”
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
EV battery subsidy deals to cost $5.8-billion more than government projections: PBO report - The report analyzes the costs to governments of recent deals struck to locate EV battery manufacturing facilities in Canada. Story here.
Ottawa’s exclusion from Indo-Pacific talks worries business group - Goldy Hyder, president of the Business Council of Canada, who was in San Francisco for the APEC summit, said the fact that Canada has yet to be invited to join the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework For Prosperity is concerning.
Halifax security forum to include former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak - The annual Halifax International Security Forum, launching today, is focused on the Ukraine war, but the fighting between Israel and Hamas will likely come up when former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak participates in a discussion on Saturday. Story here.
Ethics watchdog to probe conflict-of-interest allegation against Sustainable Development Technology Canada chair - Interim conflict of interest and ethics commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein wrote in a letter he is satisfied an examination of the situation is warranted under the legislation governing public bodies.
Manitoba PCs eye new rules for leadership races, after 2021 controversy - The last race, in which Heather Stefanson narrowly defeated Shelly Glover, prompted many party members to complain they did not receive ballots in time to mail them back. Story here.
RCMP’s federal unit has shortfall of 1,000 police officer positions - Spokeswoman Marie-Eve Breton said the Mounties’ federal policing wing has 507 fewer police officers than it did a decade ago and has funding for an additional 500 positions that have gone unfilled as well. Story here.
Federal Court judge rules that Ottawa’s labelling of all plastics as toxic is unconstitutional - The ruling Thursday by Federal Court Justice Angela Furlanetto was the second major court decision in five weeks that determined federal environmental policy to be unconstitutional.
Elon Musk under fire for not taking down antisemitic tweets in Canada - The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs has written to the owner of the social-media platform, saying that repeated calls to remove tweets that violate his social-media platform’s hateful conduct policies have been ignored.
Legault describes ‘wave of sadness’ after Karl Tremblay’s death - Quebec Premier François Legault says he is offering Tremblay’s family a national funeral to commemorate the renowned singer. Story here.
THIS AND THAT
New diplomats welcomed - Governor-General Mary Simon accepted the credentials of eight new diplomats in Canada, including ambassadors for Finland, Sweden, the Dominican Republic, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Norway.
Joe Clark honoured - Former prime minister Joe Clark was among the recipients today of an honorary degree from Queen’s University’s fall convocation ceremonies.
Commons and Senate on a break – The House of Commons is on a break until Nov. 20. The Senate sits again on Nov. 21.
Deputy Prime Minister’s Day - Chrystia Freeland held private meetings in Toronto and announced the delivery of the first of 60 new made-in-Canada streetcars to the Toronto Transit Commission, supported in part by a $180-million federal investment.
Ministers on the Road - Defence Minister Bill Blair, in Cherry Brook, N.S., with Veterans Affairs Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor announced $2.25-million over five years for the commemoration of the No. 2 Construction Battalion. Later, Blair held a news conference ahead of co-hosting the annual Halifax International Security Forum. Public Services Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, in Quebec City, announced federal investments for Québec-based BioTwin to support the development of its technology used to detect and predict early cancer development. Tourism Minister Soraya Martinez Ferrada, in Vancouver with Keith Henry, president and CEO of the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada, announced support for Indigenous tourism. Housing Minister Sean Fraser, in Port Hawkesbury, N.S., announced federal support for a proposed green hydrogen and green ammonia plant in Cape Breton. Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu, also minister for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario, announced $1.3-million support for a Thunder Bay-based business that designs, manufactures, ships, and installs modular buildings. Rural Economic Development Minister Gudie Hutchings, in the Codroy Valley of Newfoundland and Labrador, announced federal support to expand the Starlite Trail. Immigration Minister Marc Miller, in Toronto, held a media availability alongside his provincial and territorial counterparts after a meeting of the Forum of Ministers Responsible for Immigration. Emergency Preparedness Minister Harjit Sajjan, also minister for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada, announced the location of PacifiCan’s new headquarters in Surrey, B.C. Mental Health and Addictions Minister Ya’ara Saks made an announcement, in Toronto, on providing support for mental wellness and suicide prevention of young people. Small Business Minister Rechie Valdez, in Toronto, with Marci Ien, minister for women and gender equality and youth, at the Toronto Stock Exchange Market Open ceremony announced $3.8-million support for women entrepreneurs across Canada. Justice Minister Arif Virani, in Halifax, announced $1.1-million in federal support over five years for access to justice services in both languages in Nova Scotia.
Conservative MP urges the adoption of hostages - Conservative MP Marty Morantz is urging Canadians and MPs to adopt a hostage taken by Hamas during their attack on Israel last month as part of what the Manitoba member calls #ProjectBringThemHome. In a statement today, he said he hopes such an effort will raise the profile of the hostages so that the international community increases pressure on Hamas to release the hostages. The campaign’s title echoes the “Bring it Home” slogan of the Conservatives’ campaign for voter support.
PRIME MINISTER'S DAY
Justin Trudeau, in San Francisco for the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation leaders’ summit, held a media availability, attended an APEC leaders retreat, and departed for Ottawa.
LEADERS
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre held a news conference and a rally in Kitchener, Ont.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May travelled to the Kitchener-Waterloo region to join Kitchener-Centre Green MP Mike Morrice for his candidate nomination meeting event and to support Aislinn Clancy’s bid to become MPP for the Ontario Green Party in Kitchener Centre.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was in transit to British Columbia for the BC NDP Convention taking place this weekend in Victoria.
No schedule provided for Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet.
THE DECIBEL
On Friday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, Willow Fiddler, a national reporter for the Globe, talks about how the United States is reckoning with its history of government-run residential schools and where Canada stands when it comes to repatriating the remains of Indigenous children who died at residential schools. The Decibel is here.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on how, as support for a carbon tax is collapsing, an agreeable climate policy is clean power: “After the federal Liberals’ carbon tax retreat on home heating oil, this space concluded: ‘The best climate measures are the ones that are effective – and durable.’ At the top of the list is clean power. Canada generates the bulk of its electricity from hydro and nuclear but to reach net zero emissions by 2050 across the economy a lot of new power needs to be built, alongside replacing fossil fuel facilities in provinces such as Alberta and Nova Scotia. The problem was and is a lack of ambition. A year ago, The Globe reported that regulators and power companies are overly cautious.”
Andrew Coyne (The Globe and Mail) on holding Israel to fighting within the rules, but blaming Hamas for the war and its casualties: “Surely the Prime Minister was only stating the obvious. Surely he was just speaking the truth. When Justin Trudeau demanded, at a news conference on Tuesday, that Israel use ‘maximum restraint’ in its war with Hamas – well, who is against restraint? When he demanded a stop to ‘the killing of women and children, of babies’ – are babies in Gaza not being killed? And is Israel not, in fact, killing them? How, then, to explain the stiff reply he received from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?”
Marsha Lederman (The Globe and Mail) on when protest should be considered offside: “Protest is a cornerstone of any democracy and should not only be allowed, but encouraged. That said, it doesn’t belong everywhere – courts have set out that the right to free assembly does not include the right to physically impede or blockade lawful activities. But there are certainly more urgent examples than those two where protest should be considered offside, as war in the Middle East rages.”
Joe Clark (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how we need to build national understanding to restore unity in Canada: “I’ve come to realize that for all of their pride and investment in this country, many Albertans, along with many other Western Canadians more generally, consider themselves to be ‘outer Canadians’: Canadians still, but without the connections and the influence – and sometimes, the sense of shared destiny – of those in Ontario, Quebec or Atlantic Canada. That latent alienation is most acute in Alberta and Saskatchewan, although there are some similar senses of estrangement in British Columbia, Manitoba and the North.
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Ian Bailey