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It’s Day Two of Pride Month. In Toronto, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is meeting with the leader of Poland, a country with one of the worst records in Europe for LGBTQ rights. In Winnipeg, Pierre Poilievre dodged a question about whether he will march in a Pride Parade.

Mr. Trudeau met in downtown Toronto with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki for a bilateral meeting, press conference and luncheon. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was also on hand for the bilateral meeting and midday meal.

This year, the European chapter of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, known as ILGA, ranked Poland as one of the worst places in Europe to live for queer people. The organization ranked the country 42 out of 49 – behind Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, but ahead of Belarus, Russia and Turkey.

Mr. Morawiecki’s political party has called out LGBTQ rights as “an attack on the family and children” and turned a blind eye to municipalities and regions declaring themselves “LGBT-free zones,” reports The Canadian Press.

According to Amnesty International, at the end of 2022, 79 Polish administrative units still declared themselves “LGBT-free zones.” More had previously made the same declaration but were forced to revoke those declarations after pressure from civil society and the European Commission.

Last month, Mr. Trudeau publicly challenged Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on ”some of the positioning that Italy is taking in terms of the LGBT rights.”

Italy ranks higher than Poland for LGBTQ rights but Mr. Trudeau made no similar comment at the top of his meeting with Mr. Morawiecki. Asked about his silence, Mr. Trudeau told The Globe and Mail’s Laura Stone Friday that he privately ”raised concerns that we have around some of the reports coming out of of Poland, around LGBT rights, around democracy.” He didn’t provide any specifics. The Globe will have more on the issue on its politics page later today.

Meantime, Canada’s Official Opposition Leader declined to say Friday whether he will march in any Pride Parades this summer. Mr. Poilievre told a reporter that, “My purpose is to make Canada the freest country in the world. Freedom for everybody, including gays and lesbians, the freedom to marry, start a family, raise kids. Freedom from bigotry and bashing.”

“That’s why I wish everyone Happy Pride month because our freedom is something in which all of us can take pride,” Mr. Poilievre said without answering the reporter’s question about whether he would participate in a Pride Parade.

His office did not respond to The Globe’s subsequent requests to clarify whether he will march in a Pride Parade.

This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter. Today’s newsletter is written by Marieke Walsh. 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

MESSAGE SENT, BUT MAYBE NOT READ — A July, 2021 CSIS assessment warning that Beijing was targeting a Conservative MP and his relatives in China was sent to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s national-security adviser at the time, as well as three deputy ministers, but it’s unclear if anyone read the top-secret document, MPs heard Thursday. Robert Fife and Steven Chase have the latest.

FACEBOOK WILL BLOCK NEWS FOR SOME USERS — Up to 1.2 million Canadians are to have their ability to view or share news on Facebook blocked this month in tests of its response to Ottawa’s online news bill. Marie Woolf has the details.

CONSERVATIVES VS. PEOPLE’S PARTY — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is on the stump in Manitoba to rally Conservative supporters ahead of a by-election that People’s Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier is hoping will send him back to Parliament. Stephanie Taylor looks at the race in a Conservative stronghold.

MPP TURNED MP VIES TO BE LEADER — Former Ontario cabinet minister and current federal Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi will launch his campaign to become Ontario Liberal Party leader on Saturday, with rallies in Ottawa and Mississauga. Laura Stone profiles the leadership hopeful.

UNPRECEDENTED WILDFIRES SHAKE THE EAST COAST — The largest wildfire in Nova Scotia’s recorded history was still growing yesterday, as firefighters said they were overwhelmed, Ottawa pledged more military support for the province, and a Halifax landmark was gutted in a separate blaze during another day of extremely hot, dry weather. Atlantic reporter Lindsay Jones has the latest.

THE DECIBEL

On Friday’s episode, Stefanie Marotta joins The Decibel to explain why missed earnings targets for Canada’s big banks could be a warning sign of a possible recession. Catch the latest episode here.

PRIME MINISTER'S DAY

The Prime Minister’s public itinerary details his three events with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in Toronto.

LEADERS

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is swinging through Manitoba today, home to two of the four federal byelections under way, one in Winnipeg South Centre and the other in Portage-Lisgar. After his morning press conference in Winnipeg, he is heading to Winkler, Man., to campaign for his Portage-Lisgar candidate, Branden Leslie.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is in Winnipeg South Centre today campaigning for NDP candidate Julia Riddell.

Also in Manitoba today is People’s Party Leader Maxime Bernier, who is running in Portage-Lisgar.

OPINION

John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail) on David Johnston’s report on foreign interference keeping the issue front and centre: “Mr. Trudeau may have been hoping that, by the time Mr. Johnston submits his final report, the caravan will have moved on and the report will be ignored. He can forget about that. Mr. Johnston’s hearings and report will, if nothing else, keep the issue front and centre.”

The Editorial Board (The Globe and Mail) on the nanny state’s latest smoking rules: “Starting next year, every individual cigarette in a pack of smokes will have to carry a printed health warning... The Trudeau government is the first in the world to go this far, which isn’t surprising. Only a government as convinced of its own virtue as this one is would believe that literally putting words into people’s mouths was the logical next step in what we all recognize is an important public-health battle.”

Vicky Mochama (The Globe and Mail) on the about face from the inventers of AI: “How could the architects of a field that aims to make machines more human and as intelligent as we are have possibly foreseen that we might face terrifying human-like machines that are as intelligent as we are?”

Konrad Yakabuski (The Globe and Mail) on how the Pride flag flap shows why it is time to end public funding for Ontario Catholic schools: The York Catholic District School Board’s “refusal to hoist the Pride flag might not seem like a big deal amid the avalanche of gay-positive marketing that Canadians will see this month. But it should be the last straw for Ontarians who want their province’s public schools to celebrate equality rather than show contempt for it.”

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