Good morning,
U.S. President Donald Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin has stunned America’s political establishment and alarmed U.S. allies, who are now coming to grips with a dramatic change in the international order. Mr. Trump said he had no reason to believe Russia interfered with the 2016 U.S. election, despite the fact that a dozen Russian intelligence officers were indicted days earlier over allegations they did just that. Instead of believing American prosecutors and intelligence agencies, he deferred to Mr. Putin.
The President’s behaviour was condemned across the political spectrum, with his allies in the Republicans party joining Democrats in expressing shock and disgust. Speaker Paul Ryan reminded Mr. Trump that Russia remains hostile to American interests, while Arizona Senator John McCain described it as one “one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory.” Former CIA director John Brennan called for impeachment.
The Globe’s Doug Saunders writes that the summit had the potential to foster diplomacy and engagement but it did neither: “Whether it was a uniquely treasonous betrayal of his country’s people and interests, or just the latest in Donald Trump’s self-aggrandizing displays, it did nothing good for the United States, for Russia or for the world.”
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board says the meeting raises the spectre that the “darkest speculation” about Trump’s connections to Russia could prove true.
And Jared Yates Sexton describes the meeting as treason: “Donald Trump aided and abetted a foreign adversary.”
For more on the meeting and what it means, read our explainer.
This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Mayaz Alam and James Keller in Vancouver. If you’re reading this on the web or someone forwarded this email newsletter to you, you can sign up for Politics Briefing and all Globe newsletters here. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.
TODAY’S HEADLINES
The United States is suing Canada, the European Union, Mexico, China and Turkey at the World Trade Organization for retaliating against U.S. tariffs. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said that his government’s tariffs against steel and aluminum “are justified” but the retaliation was “completely without justification.” The news comes as a new report from the International Monetary Foundation warns that a trade war could dampen the global economy. The IMF said that protectionist measures by the U.S. and the subsequent response from its major trading partners could slow growth in the medium-term.
The federal government and its provincial and territorial counterparts must meet its conservation promises in order to stem a biodiversity crisis, according to a new report from the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s youth council is divided over the federal government’s plan to buy Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline, with a group of current and former members urging Ottawa to reverse the decision.
Canada encouraged its diplomats in Venezuela to defend human rights even though they were pressured by the government of President Nicolas Maduro into backing down. Global Affairs Canada wrote in a report last year that “Canada should maintain the embassy’s prominent position as a champion of human-rights defenders.”
The House of Commons immigration committee will be holding emergency meetings over the summer, during which they are expected to question three cabinet ministers on the government’s response to the issue of asylum seekers coming from the U.S. into Canada. The committee is preparing to hold at least two hearings before Aug. 3.
B.C.’s new NDP government is creating a Crown corporation to oversee hiring on public infrastructure construction and ensure union workers are used for major projects. The plan immediately drew condemnation from the political opposition and business groups, who warn it will drive up costs.
It’s unclear how much of Ontario’s three-year-old sex-ed curriculum will be scrapped after Ontario Education Minister Lisa Thompson repeatedly attempted to clarify the Progressive Conservatives’ plan. At the legislature she said that students will still learn about topics such as consent, cyber safety and gender identity, leaving the door open to keeping some parts of the current curriculum. Later in the day, her office issued a statement saying that the government would be “reverting to the full” curriculum that was last taught in 2014 and written in the late 1990s but that there would be “ample space” for educators to “discuss current social issues.”
Ontario’s Trade Minister is heading to Washington this week to defend his province’s auto industry. Jim Wilson will be speaking on Thursday at a U.S. Department of Commerce hearing and says he plans to highlight the benefits to Americans of working with his province’s auto sector.
Alberta’s United Conservative Party says it won’t release an internal report into voting irregularities at a constituency meeting that led to the resignation of an MLA.
Protesters camped outside the Saskatchewan legislature to object to racial injustice and the treatment of Indigenous children are suing the province over six arrests made last month.
British Prime Minister Theresa May and her government won a series of votes in Parliament after acquiescing to pressure from Brexit supporters in her party. It’s been a tumultuous several weeks for the Tory leader, which included the resignations of her foreign minister and Brexit minister as well as a rocky visit by Mr. Trump.
Vote Leave, a prominent pro-Brexit Group, has been fined after the British Electoral Commission found that it broke electoral laws during the referendum campaign. Vote Leave was also found to have coordinated with BeLeave, another pro-Brexit Group. BeLeave made payments to Aggregate IQ, the Canadian data analytics company.
Tensions flared between Israel and Palestine, with the Israeli military conducting its biggest daytime airstrike campaign in Gaza since the 2014 war. Defence officials said their goal was to strike military targets in response to mortars and rockets launched by Hamas militants.
Bessma Momani (The Globe and Mail) on Canada in Iraq: “In Iraq, Canada is in a unique position to lead by example when it comes to building a military that respects and embraces diversity, but also to stress the importance of top-down commitment from Iraqi leadership to ensure success.”
Debra Soh (The Globe and Mail) on sex-ed: “Sexual education cannot be blindly outsourced to the education system. As uncomfortable as it may be, parents must be savvy about the issues their kids are contending with in 2018.”
Michael Geist (The Globe and Mail) on copyright law: “The Canadian copyright reform process is hard enough without venturing into technological and network-based reforms that could hurt free speech, lead to greater surveillance and undermine net neutrality. This month’s copyright earthquake may have originated in Europe, but its aftershocks are likely to be felt in Canada.”
Andrew Jackson (The Globe and Mail) on the global trade order: “Canadians should be reflecting on what kind of new global order we want to shape, rather than just hoping the current storm will pass.”
Andrew Coyne (National Post) on asylum seekers: “Right now, claimants willingly surrender at the border, even having crossed it illegally, because they know they’ll get a hearing. Were we somehow to deny them that — by invoking the notwithstanding clause, say — you’d have a lot more people arriving surreptitiously: not just crossing illegally, but living here illegally. Sometimes, it is true, you have to do desperate things in a crisis. But this isn’t a crisis and, if it were, these wouldn’t solve it.”
Arjumand Siddiqi and Odmaa Sod-Erdene (Policy Options) on social assistance and public health: “Robust policy measures that prevent poverty and inequality are essential to keep Canadians healthy. It’s clear that current means of providing income supports are not doing the job.”
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James Keller