Hello,
The Canada-U.S. trade story of 2018 was the renegotiation of the free-trade agreement. The story of 2019 is whether and when the deal will actually be ratified.
Although the negotiations were wrapped up by the 2018 midterms, the Democratic takeover of the House threw ratification for a loop.
Democratic lawmakers wanted labour and environmental provisions strengthened in the agreement. They seem to have gotten at least some of what they wanted.
“We are within range of a substantially improved agreement for America’s workers,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.
The focus of those talks continues to be between the United States and Mexico. But some of Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland’s staff are in Washington today to help in crafting the side letter to the deal, and Ms. Freeland herself may yet make an appearance.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
The Ecofiscal Commission, in their final report, say carbon pricing is the most cost-effective way to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. The commission’s experts say the carbon tax would probably have to rise to $210 a tonne to meet Canada’s 2030 targets, about four times what is currently planned.
Federal and B.C. privacy commissioners say AggregateIQ broke privacy laws in how it used personal information from social media in political campaigns, but the company will not face any punishment for its misbehaviour.
The future of Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant, is in limbo as the federal government continues to weigh whether to allow the company to take part in the next-generation 5G mobile network over national-security fears. Huawei itself says its investments in Canada have been worth millions of dollars to the economy. Meanwhile, in Europe, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said European countries should have a united front on the issue, whatever is decided.
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer’s listening tour had a stop in Montreal, where he received an earful from defeated candidates and organizers unhappy with the party’s result in the election. His supporters, though, say it is good of him to receive the criticism. “It is an exercise that requires much humility and courage," said Conservative MP Luc Berthold.
The happy end to the CN Rail strike – a negotiated agreement between management and the unions – took pressure off the Liberal government to order strikers back to work. The situation at Canada Post shows what could have happened if it had gone the other way: The Liberals passed back-to-work legislation last November to get postal workers back on the job. A year later, there is still no agreement for workers and the federally appointed arbitrator has asked for an extension into next June to continue bargaining.
Senator Lynn Beyak is back on the public payroll after her suspension lifted with the election call this fall. Ms. Beyak was censured by her fellow senators for publishing allegedly racist letters about residential schools. Senators will have to decide whether to welcome her back, suspend her again or even expel her when the Senate resumes sitting next month.
And an Ontario woman has been ordered to pay $600,000 after she attempted to back out of buying a house whose value dropped due to the foreign-buyers tax.
Robyn Urback (The Globe and Mail) on the Liberals and the middle class: “The beauty of a ministry for the middle class, from a political perspective, is that it presents itself as a ministry for everyone – or at least the roughly 50 per cent to 70 per cent of Canadians, depending on the poll, who self-identify as middle class.”
Konrad Yakabuski (The Globe and Mail) on equalization: “If the wealth gap between the two provinces is shrinking, Albertans ask, why does Quebec continue to receive more in equalization every year? The answer to that question is as hideously complex as the equalization formula itself. But as Alberta Premier Jason Kenney ramps up his crusade for equalization reform, he is misleading Albertans and feeding into longstanding myths about the program. As a member of the federal Conservative government that adopted the current equalization formula in 2007, and tweaked it in 2009, Mr. Kenney knows what the truth is. He should start telling it.”
Gary Mason (The Globe and Mail) on B.C.'s NDP government: “There is little question that the BC NDP inherited a strong economy and a solid ledger sheet (including five straight balanced budgets) from the Liberals when it took power in 2017. The NDP has, in turn, tabled two balanced budgets and is now drafting its third, which will be out early next year. The question is, will it be balanced? Or maybe it’s better phrased this way: Can the NDP afford it not to be?”
Andrew Cohen (Ottawa Citizen) on the City of Ottawa: “Managing Ottawa has become a political and administrative mess. It is a failure to clear roads smartly in winter and fix them quickly in spring, which is why they feel and look like those of Jakarta. It is a failure to offer good, reliable public transit. It is a failure to preserve beauty and history, where bungalows give way to monstrosities. It is a failure to build new things well.”
Prajakta Dhopade (Maclean’s) on politicians, including Catherine McKenna, showing emotion: “Her resilience should encourage women. Her tears show us that she’s human and not some political archetype crafted by centuries of masculine ideals. McKenna teaches women that they don’t have to be emotionally detached while holding a position of power. There is strength in vulnerability.”
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Chris Hannay