Politics Briefing: Trudeau welcomes President Biden’s bid for a second term

Hello,

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is welcoming U.S. President Joe Biden’s bid for a second term as president.

“Obviously, I think it’s great news that President Biden has confirmed that he is going to continue,” Mr. Trudeau told journalists as he arrived for Tuesday’s cabinet meeting on Parliament Hill.

“He is a leader that is needed not just by the United States but by the world, and [I am] looking forward to continuing to work with him for many years.”

In French, Mr. Trudeau said Mr. Biden has not just done “great things” for Canada-U.S. relations, but for the world as well.

Mr. Trudeau’s remarks follow Mr. Biden’s announcement hours earlier that the President has formally launched his bid for a second term.

The former U.S. vice-president is the third president Mr. Trudeau has dealt with in his eight years as Prime Minister after Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

Last month, Mr. Biden made his first visit, as President, to Canada, meeting with Mr. Trudeau and members of his cabinet in Ottawa. There’s a story here on the outcomes of the visit.

Mr. Trudeau, during the visit, was effusive in his praise of Mr. Biden. “It is always a pleasure to stand beside you. It is always a pleasure to work with you,” Mr. Trudeau said at a joint news conference.

As U.S. correspondent Adrian Morrow reports here , Mr. Biden’s Tuesday announcement kicks off the country’s marathon 2024 election race and setting up a potential rematch with Donald Trump.

In an analysis here, contributor David Shribman writes that the launch of Mr. Biden’s fourth presidential bid reflects a stark contrast with the man he used to be.

The 46th president of the United States was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972. After a pair of unsuccessful bids to win the Democratic presidential nomination, Barack Obama chose Mr. Biden as his running mate, and he became vice-president to Mr. Obama’s president in 2008. They served two terms.

In 2020, Mr. Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris were elected president and vice-president.

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TODAY’S HEADLINES

SUDAN EVACUATION FACES CHALLENGES - Prime Minster Justin Trudeau says it’s not easy for Canada to arrange a landing spot in Sudan to evacuate citizens by Canadian military aircraft. Story here.

STRIKING PUBLIC SERVANTS COULD KEEP RECEIVING REGULAR PAY: PSAC - Striking federal public servants could continue receiving their regular salaries in addition to strike pay while on the picket line, according to the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the union representing these workers. Story here.

RCMP WORK-FROM-HOME POLICY BEDEVILLED CRIMINAL CASE: COURT DOCUMENTS - Delays caused by the RCMP’s work-from-home directives in the early days of the pandemic are the reason for the collapse of a criminal case against a former Agriculture Canada scientist who was accused of illegally taking payments from China. Story here.

POILIEVRE WADES INTO QUEBEC TUNNEL CONTROVERSY - Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is warning Quebec Premier François Legault a Conservative government would not provide any funding for a third link between Quebec City and the city of Lévis across the St. Lawrence River, if motorists are excluded from the project. Mr. Legault’s government has decided the planned tunnel project, once budgeted at $6.5-billion, will only be open to public transit. Story here from Le Journal de Quebec. Reneging on the plan, part of the platform for Mr. Legault’s Coalition Avenir Québec, has caused political turbulence for his government. Story here from The Montreal Gazette.

FORMER TORY MP BACKING LIBERAL CANDIDATE IN BYELECTION RACE - Having retired after two decades as a Conservative MP, Dave MacKenzie says he is now supporting a Liberal seeking to become his Southwestern Ontario riding’s next representative – citing concern over the Conservative nomination process for the race. Story here.

FEMALE ATHLETES URGE SPORTS MINISTER TO LAUNCH INQUIRY INTO ABUSE IN SPORTS - Elite female athletes from soccer, boxing and fencing have called on the Sports Minister to urgently set up a public inquiry into abuse in Canadian sports, warning further delays would lead to more athletes being harmed. Story here.

MOON MISSION COULD BOOST CANADIAN HEALTH CARE, CLIMATE EFFORTS: ARTEMIS II ASTRONAUTS - Four astronauts selected to orbit the moon say the Artemis II mission can help inform how Canada responds to food insecurity, health-care needs and climate adaptation in the Arctic. Story here.

GUN-CONTROL GROUPS CHIDE NDP OVER NONCOMMITTAL STANCE ON BILL - The federal New Democrats are coming under pressure from gun-control advocates to support the Liberals in enacting a permanent ban on assault-style firearms. Story here.

INVOLUNTARY TREATMENT FOR THOSE WITH DRUG ADDICTIONS A LAST RESORT: SMITH - Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says it would be the “last resort” to force people with severe drug addictions into involuntary treatment but her government is still exploring legislation that would broaden the circumstances for such interventions. Story here.

ONTARIO ELIMINATING TUITION FEES FOR BASIC CONSTABLE TRAINING - Ontario Premier Doug Ford says the province is eliminating tuition fees for the basic constable training program at the Ontario Police College and expanding enrolment in a bid to get more police officers into communities. Story here.

THIS AND THAT

TODAY IN THE COMMONS – Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, April. 25, accessible here.

PRIME MINISTER'S DAY

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in Ottawa, spoke with the African Union Commission Chairperson, H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, then chaired the weekly cabinet meeting, and attended Question Period. Mr. Trudeau met with the members of the Artemis II moon mission, and he and the astronauts were then scheduled to meet with industry experts and youth on space exploration. Mr. Trudeau and the astronauts were then scheduled to participate in an industry panel discussion moderated by Lisa Campbell, president of the Canadian Space Agency, and NASA Administrator, Senator Bill Nelson. Mr. Trudeau was then scheduled to attend a Space Canada and Aerospace Industries Association of Canada reception.

LEADERS

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet attended Question Period.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in Ottawa, met with journalists to take questions, met with the Metro Vancouver Board, and attended Question Period.

No schedules released for other party leaders.

THE DECIBEL

Tuesday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast focuses on Sudan, which is on the brink of civil war, after fighting broke out between the country’s military and a paramilitary group, the RSF. Hundreds of people have been killed, and thousands more injured. The podcast features two Sudanese-Canadians, Esraa Fadul and Ahmed Osman, stranded in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum. Also: The Globe’s Africa bureau chief Geoffrey York talks about what led to this conflict and what it means for an already-struggling country. The Decibel is here.

OPINION

The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on how Canada needs to honour its pledge to NATO: “NATO leaders are certain to ask Mr. Trudeau why he has no intention of meeting even the minimum target to which Canada is publicly committed, especially in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We believe Mr. Trudeau should answer, emphatically, that Canada will meet the 2-per-cent target, and that a path to making good on this commitment will be in the next federal budget. Critics of the 2-per-cent target maintain the figure is arbitrary. But so is a speed limit of 100 kilometres an hour. In both cases, that goal lays out a path to something vital: safe highway driving, or a defence capacity adequate to Canada and NATO’s needs. And, it must be said, Canada has agreed to this goal; our word should mean something.”

Tony Keller (The Globe and Mail) on how a second term for Joe Biden is a terrible idea – except for all the alternatives: “He isn’t the preferred candidate of most Americans, or even most Democrats. But as he often says, don’t compare me with the Almighty, compare me to the alternative. Compared to the alternative, he looks good. Or at least good enough. But before I shower Scranton Joe with faint praise, let’s talk about the elephant that dogs him: age.”

André Picard (The Globe and Mail) on whether forcing drug users into treatment would help ease the toxic drug crisis: “As well-intentioned as expanding involuntary treatment may be, the proposals put forward by B.C. Premier David Eby and his Alberta counterpart, Premier Danielle Smith, raise many questions that need to be answered before we start a wave of coercive care and pre-electoral roundups of people living with addiction. First of all: is this jail by another name? Neither province has actually tabled new legislation, so the proposals remain vague at best, free of the devilish details that ultimately matter.”

Anna Mehler Paperny (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on how involuntary care doesn’t need to be dehumanizing: “I’ve been there. I’ve spent weeks locked in psych wards because I was deemed a suicide risk; I know how awful and disempowering it is to lose agency behind those auto-locking doors. But I got lucky: The doctor who ordered the extension of my first involuntary stay, a decision I cursed him for at the time, became my outpatient psychiatrist and a lifesaver. He treated me – still treats me – as a human with wishes to be respected. He just didn’t think I was able to make this one decision at that particular point in time (though I happen to disagree). It is possible to deprive someone of one right while respecting others, to recruit patients as collaborators in their own care. But this happens too rarely.”

Tom Mulcair (The Montreal Gazette) on how Quebec Premier François Legault has no place to hide and is exposed like never before since becoming premier: “Premier François Legault has been caught intentionally misleading the public. It’s hard to draw any other conclusion after he sold (and resold) his promise to build a new link between Quebec City and its South Shore. It has brought shame to local MNAs and outright humiliation to ministers like Bernard Drainville, who swallowed himself whole before the cameras. Quebec City’s projects don’t often make news throughout the province. The issue of a “troisième lien” — third link — between the shores of the St. Lawrence in our capital region is one that has taken on a life of its own.”

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