Conservative New budget, cabinet would help Trudeau ‘reset ... · 1 day ago · eran Liberal MP...

Publ

icat

ions

Mai

l Agr

eem

ent #

4006

8926

Publ

icat

ions

Mai

l Agr

eem

ent #

4006

8926

BY MIKE LAPOINTE

The COVID-19 pandemic that’s gripped the globe for the last

six months has hit downtown

BY PETER MAZEREEUW

Trailing far behind the Liberals and Conservatives in opinion

BY PETER MAZEREEUW

The Liberal government should take action to show Canadi-

ans it has learned something from

the WE Charity controversy, then “reset” the political agenda with a new budget and a shuffl e of cabinet ministers and top staff, Liberal insiders say.

The Hill Times spoke to vet-eran Liberal MP Wayne Easter (Malpeque, P.E..I), who chairs

BY MIKE LAPOINTE

A number of organizations in Canada’s security and intel-

ligence establishment, including the Communications Security Estab-lishment, the Canadian Security and Intelligence Community, the Department of National Defence, and the Canadian Border Services Agency have been conducting campaigns to encourage employees

BY BEATRICE PAEZ & PALAK MANGAT

The Conservative leadership race may be ending as it

started—as a toss-up between two Conservative stalwarts—but the ongoing ethics probes into the government and a political rookie’s strong showing have helped energize what pundits had once dismissed as a lacklustre race, says one strategist.

With thousands working remotely now and into the future, Hill neighbourhood’s pubs, restaurants, bistros also feeling the crunch

‘If you’re to sum up where the NDP are at, the Liberals have eaten their lunch’: missing a WE bump, NDP banking on Singh’s record as ‘junior dance partner’ in Parliament

Canada’s federal security and intelligence establishment encouraging employees to self-identify

Conservative race still too close to call, say MPs, strategists, but Lewis’ breakout role one to watch

New budget, cabinet would help Trudeau ‘reset’ the agenda, say Liberal insiders, pollster

Continued on page 28Continued on page 7 Continued on page 15

Continued on page 16Continued on page 4

NewsNews

NewsNews News

THIRTY-FIRST YEAR, NO. 1754 CANADA’S POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT NEWSPAPER MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 2020 $5.00

The WE scandal has had a ‘corrosive impact’ on the public’s trust of Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government, but ‘it has not been catastrophic, and there’s some evidence that it has plateaued,’ says pollster Frank Graves. Meanwhile, Grit MP Wayne Easter says his own government has to fi nd a way to message to the public that, ‘for heaven’s sake,’ lessons were learned ‘by some of our senior ministers.’

MichaelHarris

p.10

Great Rebuilding: Special Report pp. 17-27

We’re in a police use-

of-force crisis p. 5

HOHp.2

Targeting McKenna underscores urgency to curb gender violence p. 14

Can Mark Carney inject

smarter thinking at a time of great

uncertainty? p. 27

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, pictured June 16, 2020. Mr. Trudeau is leading a government that has racked up record debt to keep Canada's economy afl oat during the COVID-19 pandemic. Calls for fi nancial assistance continue to come from all corners of the country, and Ontario offi cially fell into a recession last week. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Politicos starting jacking up election speculation last week, less than six

weeks shy of hitting the one-year mark since the Liberals were reduced to a minor-ity government in last October’s fall elec-tion. A lot has changed since then: a global pandemic has gripped the country, the Lib-erals are still dealing with the WE Charity controversy, and the Bloc Québécois has regained party status. Perhaps tapping into that new-found leverage, Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet renewed his calls for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his top aide Katie Telford, and Finance Minister Bill Morneau, to resign, or risk facing an election. On paper, Mr. Blanchet doesn’t have the other political parties’ support to force an election, but Liberal insider Scott Reid, who has advised the likes of former prime minister Paul Martin, cautioned from immediately declaring Mr. Blanchet’s remarks are empty threats. “In my experi-ence, few things are less predictable in a minority Parliament than what might trigger” an election, tweeted Mr. Reid, also a regular on the popular podcast The Herle Burly, in an Aug. 12 thread.

Noting the Conservatives are in the dy-ing days of a leadership contest, the NDP may struggle with the fi nancial needs of heading to the polls, and while the polls are “much worse” for the Liberals, they “prob-ably still favour” the Liberals’ re-election, he added: “BUT … who says these decisions come about neatly and rationally? In 1979, [Joe] Clark was never going to be forced into an election by the [l]eader-less Liberals. In 2000, Stockwell Day would never dream to dare [Jean] Chrétien to call an early elec-tion. In 2008 [Jack] Layton and [Stéphane] Dion wouldn’t possibly join with the BQ in an effort to unseat” the government, he add-

ed. “I’m not saying an election will happen. I’m not saying that other Ldrs [leaders] will join Blanchet. They probably won’t. But I’d just be wary of labelling the threat as empty and without consequence. Weird shit can happen in politics. We know that because weird shit has happened.” For its part, the NDP has signalled its support for the Liber-als, if they’re willing to look at changes to Employment Insurance and making child care more accessible. The Greens oppose an election during a pandemic, and a new Con-servative leader, to be named after ballots have been counted on Aug. 21, will likely decide how the party feels about heading back to the polls.

This just in: diplomatic shifts continue in New York City

A dual Canadian and British citizen sta-tioned in New York working in Canadian diplomacy is adjusting to his new post-work life this month. “It’s only been a week since my last day @CanadaUN but I miss the team already,” tweeted Gavin Nardoc-chio-Jones on Aug. 12. “Maybe it’s the self-isolation in Canada talking, but it’s tough to go from the hardest-working team in the game to sorting boxes of old baseball cards for fun.” According to LinkedIn, Mr. Nardocchio-Jones served in New York as a senior adviser at the Offi ce of the Ambas-sador for Canada’s permanent mission to the United Nations since September 2019.

“I can’t believe I won’t see you dancing to some 90s R&B working at your stand-ing desk when we go back to the offi ce,” tweeted his former colleague, Sophie Galarneau, in response. According to her LinkedIn profi le, Ms. Galarneau has been with the mission since September 2017.

Mr. Nardocchio-Jones’ move is not the only diplomatic change that has happened in the Big Apple: recently departed ambas-sador Marc-André Blanchard was replaced by Bob Rae former Ontario premier and past interim Liberal leader on Aug. 4. As noted here last week, Mr. Blanchard has since been scooped up by Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), Que-bec’s pension fund manager, to serve as its executive vice-president. Since 2016, he oversaw the campaign for Canada’s unsuc-cessful bid for a temporary seat on the UN Security Council, where it fi nished third behind Norway and Ireland.

Garry Keller has some baby newsFormer Conservative staffer Garry Keller

and his partner Anna welcomed a new addition to their family last week. The pair is “beyond thrilled to announce that baby Claire joined our family,” tweeted Mr. Keller, who is now a vice-president at government relations fi rm StrategyCorp, and previously served as a chief of staff to then-interim Con-servative leader Rona Ambrose. “Mom and Dad are tired but ecstatic about our new ad-dition!” Mr. Keller has also worked for John Baird, Stephen Harper, and former Reform MP John Williams throughout his tenure. A veteran staffer, he came to the Hill in 1997 and left politics in 2017 before moving to the fi rm the following year.

The news prompted congratulatory tweets and advice from former and current Hillites, as well as other political insiders. “Enjoy the newborn snuggles and smell!”

tweeted Kathryn Marshall, a Toronto-based employment lawyer who is married to Hamish Marshall, a former campaign manager for Conservative Leader An-drew Scheer. (Ms. Marshall has a toddler herself). “She’s stunning. Sleep when baby sleeps,” added Bessma Momani, a regular international affairs media commentator.

Rookie MPs clash at committeeThings got a bit testy last week at a

meeting of the House Offi cial Languages Committee, when two rookie MPs butted heads over decorum. During a discussion about whether the group should pursue a study of the government’s ongoing WE

Charity controversy, NDP MP Matthew Green expressed frustration when, while speaking to the Conservative motion, he was interrupted by Liberal MP Patricia Lattanzio on what she said was a point of order. “Let’s make sure it’s a point of order though, because I’ve sat through four meet-ings of this. Please name the point of order,” said Mr. Green. “Point of order is quite sim-ple. We’re making all kinds of assumptions here,” responded Ms. Lattanzio, before Mr. Green was overheard interjecting: “that’s not a point of order, that’s debate.” “That’s not a debate, you’re bringing in what’s hap-pening in other committees with regards to testimony that are being rendered at dif-ferent levels,” said Ms. Lattanzio, as the two continued to speak over one another. Mr. Green in his remarks was speaking to why he supported the motion and referenced Youth Minister Bardish Chagger’s testi-mony to other parliamentary committees at the time.

Such interactions at committees are not rare, but this one led to both leaning on their prior political chops, and seemed to turn a bit testier than usual. “I’ve been on the Hill for six months, I’m a former [Hamilton] city councillor, I know the basic rules of order. And to use it as an attempt to continue to disrupt my democratic right, to be at this table, that’s also … you can’t just continue to disrupt people,” said a visibly frustrated Mr. Green, before being cut off by Ms. Lattanzio. (Mr. Green was sitting in for his NDP colleague Charlie Angus,while Ms. Lattanzio is a regular member of the group).”I have a point of privilege. We don’t know each other, Mr. Green, and this is not ‘I was and I know and I whatever.’ I’m a former [Montreal] city councillor myself, a school board trustee,” she said, as Mr. Green spoke over her. “You are saying that I don’t know what the rules are, and that is my point of privilege, to tell you that I’ve also sat and I know the rules.” The chair, Liberal MP Emmanuel Dubourg, eventually returned the fl oor to Mr. Green, who later sided with the Conservatives to pass the motion. All fi ve Liberal MPs on the com-mittee voted down the motion but were out-numbered by the six opposition members.

New head at energy regulatorThe Canada Energy Regulator of-

fi cially got its new CEO last week after longtime public servant Gitane De Silvawas sworn into the role on Aug. 10. “It’s of-fi cial,” tweeted Ms. De Silva, adding she is “excited to get to work overseeing a strong, safe and sustainable Canadian energy sec-tor as Canada transitions to a low-carbon economy.”

The group was previously under the leadership of Sandy Lapointe, who had been its acting chief exec, since Marchof this year, after fi rst joining the orga-nization in 1992. Ms. De Silva’s resumé includes stints as Alberta’s representative to the U.S., a role she was named to by then-NDP premier Rachel Notley, special adviser with TransAlta Corporation, and Alberta’s deputy minister of international and intergovernmental relations. She will serve a fi ve-year term.

[email protected] Hill Times

MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 2020 | THE HILL TIMES2

by Palak Mangat

Heard on the Hill

‘In my experience, few things are less predictable in a minority Parliament than what might trigger’: election speculation revved up after Blanchet delivers ultimatum, Liberals approach one-year mark

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, pictured on Feb. 19, 2020, is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his chief of staff, and his fi nance minister to resign amid Ottawa's ongoing WE Charity controversy. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Gavin Nardocchio-Jones, a former senior adviser to recently departed ambassador to the UN, Marc-André Blanchard, shared some of his memories from his New York post last week. Photograph courtesy Gavin Nardocchio-Jones’ Twitter

Former Conservative staffer Garry Keller welcomed a new addition to his family this month. Photograph courtesy of Garry Keller’s Twitter

Gitane De Silva, pictured in centre, is heading up the Canada Energy Regulator for a fi ve-year term. Photograph courtesy of Gitane De Silva’s Twitter

Essential tothe EconomyServing exporters, importers, retailers, farmers and manufacturers, CN’s transportation services are integral to modern life, touching the lives of millions of people every day.

$250BWORTH OF GOODS TRANSPORTED

$2.9BCAPITAL INVESTMENTS (2020)

26, 00RAILROADERS EMPLOYED

25%OF WHAT WE TRANSPORT IS EXPORTED

cn.ca

CN_Hill_Times_ad_07_07.indd 1 2020/07/08 19:31:54

4

Andrew Brander, a former Conservative staffer and now senior consultant with Crestview Strategy, said the stakes and the level of interest in the fi nal weeks of the leadership contest have been raised.

“When this race started, peo-ple were looking at this as, ‘You’re fi ghting to be the leader of the opposition.’ A lot of people recog-nize now there’s a real chance, a good chance whoever wins could be the next prime minister,” said Mr. Brander. “The prize at the end of the path looks very different than when this race started.”

Presumptive front-runners Peter MacKay, a former Harper cabinet minister, and Conserva-tive MP Erin O’Toole (Durham, Ont.) are facing off against MP Derek Sloan (Hastings-Lennox and Addington, Ont.) and Toronto lawyer Leslyn Lewis, who has yet to hold public offi ce.

Steve Outhouse, Ms. Lewis’ campaign manager, said her out-sider status has been refreshing for many voters. “While a lot of people will spin that as a negative … the reality is, a lot of people see a need in our party for a fresh start,” he said. “To have someone come from virtually outside the establishment and run is wel-comed quite a bit by many.”

Ms. Lewis’ second-quarter fun-draising haul more than doubled from the previous quarter; she raised $996,000, up from roughly $448,000, and beat the other candidates in terms of individual donors. She has drawn support from social conservative groups.

Mr. O’Toole pulled slightly ahead of Mr. MacKay in the sec-ond quarter. The campaign man-

agers of both teams have pointed to their fundraising numbers throughout the race as indications of their momentum heading into the fi nal stretch.

Ms. Lewis’ campaign manager attributed her breakout performance in part to her criticism of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s (Papineau, Que.) appearance at Ottawa’s rally for racial justice on June 5, when he took a knee. She accused him of per-forming allyship and virtue signal-ling without backing those actions with “substantive changes.”

“She was brave and spoke out on these issues, and that’s when the attention really started to come her way,” he said.

Kate Harrison, a consultant with Summa Strategies and former Conservative staffer, said there have been “peaks and val-leys” in the race.

“This started out as a question about whether or not there’d be a coronation for Peter MacKay, and I think it’s fair to say that’s probably not what we’re going to see play out,” she said. “As the race went on, more and more members were a bit curious in [Ms.] Lewis’ candidacy for a couple of reasons.”

She pointed to the fact that Ms. Lewis is the fi rst Black woman to ever audition for the party’s top job and her efforts to “differentiate herself from social conservatives in the past.”

Ms. Harrison said Ms. Lewis has been able to “transcend” some of the baggage that comes with being associated as a social conservative: “She’s been very deliberate on not leaning too

heavily on divisive issues, things like same-sex marriage and abor-tion, while also making an effort to talk about other policies.”

But Ms. Lewis’ social conserva-tism still leaves some feeling uneasy about jeopardizing the party’s chances at forming government, giv-en that the departing leader, Andrew Scheer (Regina-Qu’Appelle, Sask.), was dogged by that affi liation.

Former Conservative candi-date Leo Demarce, who placed third in a race won by the Liber-

als’ Irek Kusmierczyk, now the MP for Windsor-Tecumseh, Ont., said many voters didn’t back him because of the leadership’s views on gay marriage and abortion.

Mail-in ballots are due to be counted Aug. 21. Eligible party members have to rank their pref-erences among the four candi-dates, and the victor must obtain 50 per cent plus one of the votes. The party said that it set a new re-cord for memberships, signing up 269,469 members eligible to vote.

Conservative MP Stephanie Kusie (Calgary Midnapore, Alta.) said she’s heard a new leader could be announced by Aug. 23.

Due to the pandemic, the crowning of the new leader will be a muted affair, with the an-nouncement likely to be broad-cast virtually, without the tradi-tional fanfare of a convention.

The race, she said, has tight-ened into a three-way contest,

with Mr. O’Toole, who she sup-ports, and Ms. Lewis potentially fi ghting for the No. 1 vote, if Mr. MacKay doesn’t win the fi rst round. But, she said, Ms. Lewis’ limited French-language skills—often a “deal breaker” thanks to the fact that Quebec is a seat-rich province with its 78 seats—could hurt the candidate’s overall showing.

Ms. Kusie said there were many other qualified candidates in the party who could have

run, but who are not fluent in French.

Still, because of Ms. Lewis’ strong performance up against two established party names, she could play an infl uential role in the party’s future, win or lose, said Ms. Kusie. “She has a strong future; I hope she will run. I see her as a future minister.”

Ms. Lewis intends to run in the next election, regardless of whether she wins the leadership race.

Though many acknowledge Ms. Lewis has demonstrated her political chops, her candidacy is still seen as a long shot in a race that some say will be driven by electability in the next general election—which could be trig-gered at any time in a minority Parliament.

The Liberals have seen some of their bump in support amid the pandemic slip due to the fallout

over the since-cancelled deal for WE Charity to oversee a student service program.

Conservative MP Michael Coo-per (St. Albert-Edmonton, Alta.), who is backing Mr. MacKay, said the position of leader of the opposition is “not an entry-level” post. At the same time, he said, he thinks Ms. Lewis could be given a “prominent” role in the caucus.

“Any member who is voting, and making a decision on how to vote, really needs to ask them-selves who is in the best position to not only lead our party, but who’s in the best position to lead Canada,” he said.

That point was echoed by Conservative MP Kenny Chiu (Steveston-Richmond East, B.C.), an O’Toole supporter. “This is not a job that could actually [allow the leader] a long time for train-ing,” he said, noting Ms. Lewis would have to run for a seat and familiarize herself with House rules and caucus duties. “I think our member base—they know that.”

Though the consensus is the new leader’s biggest challenge will be to unify the party, MPs and strategists contend that this race has been no more divisive than in previous contests.

Interest in the race also in-creased, as allegations from the O’Toole campaign surfaced ac-cusing the MacKay campaign of hacking internal data and videos. The alleged breaches have been denied by the MacKay campaign, and are being probed by the RCMP.

Mr. Cooper said whoever wins will have to “work hard to unite Conservatives and recognize that this is a big-tent party that needs to welcome all Conservatives” and broaden its appeal to voters who have soured on the Liberals.

Ms. Kusie said public brawls among candidates is par for the course of any leadership race.

“Our system is very winner-take-all,” said Ms. Kusie. “I’ve been around long enough to see whoever gets the spoils is given a respectful position in the shadow cabinet or within the party.”

—With fi les from Samantha Wright Allen

[email protected]@hilltimes.com

The Hill Times

Conservative race still too close to call, say MPs, strategists, but Lewis’ breakout role one to watch Though many acknowledge Leslyn Lewis has demonstrated her political chops, her candidacy is still seen as a long shot in a race that some say will be driven by electability in the next general election.

News

MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 2020 | THE HILL TIMES

Continued from page 1

Derek Sloan, Leslyn Lewis, Erin O’Toole, and Peter MacKay are in contention to lead the Conservative Party in the next election. Twitter photographs, The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade, and The Hill Times fi le photograph

Conservative MP Stephanie Kusie says every race is divisive, given the ‘winner take all’ system. Photograph courtesy of Stephanie Kusie’s offi ce

Conservative MP Michael Cooper says the job of leading the party isn’t an ‘entry-level’ post. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

5

VANCOUVER, B.C.—If Chantal Moore and Rodney Levi were not Indigenous,

would they have been shot dead by police? If Chief Allan Adam was the white mayor of a small town, would he have been bru-tally assaulted by police? I fi rmly believe that the answer to both questions is no.

We are in a police use-of-force crisis. The RCMP and police services across Canada need to confront and address the fact that their institutions are rife with systemic dis-crimination and racism against Indigenous peoples. While some police leaders have shown courage and leadership in acknowl-edging this, others have struggled with it and most have had nothing to say at all.

For transformative change to occur, police institutions must acknowledge the truth of the broken relationship between police and Indigenous communities; only then can much-needed reform happen. To know where we need to go, we have to recognize how we got here.

My experience as an Indigenous woman in law enforcement has given me a unique insight into the injustices faced by Indig-enous peoples. I served as a police offi cer in Ontario for 25 years—19 of them teaching use-of-force and fi rearms to recruits at the Ontario Police College and my police service. I served in many remote northern Indig-enous communities, and I was on the front lines of numerous police incidents involving Indigenous peoples. I obtained my law de-gree during my police career and have since transitioned into the practice of law.

Canada’s relationship with Indigenous peoples is deeply rooted in colonialism

based on racist policies relating to assimi-lation and the denial of rights. The ugly reality is that the face of colonialism was and still is the police. It is a relationship anchored in oppression, discrimination, unjust laws, and violence.

Broken Indigenous relationships, train-ing, and internal police culture are the issues at the core of this policing crisis. The RCMP and all other police services must take immediate action for reform to happen.

Police incidents involving excessive and deadly force against Indigenous peoples are directly related to training. Current use-of-force training is grounded in loud, repeated, aggressive, verbal commands and lacks suf-fi cient time and training in communications and de-escalation techniques. The result is that excessive and deadly use-of-force is oc-curring where it has no place—dealing with people in crisis with mental illness who cannot respond rationally.

Police training is subject to tight timelines, resulting in insuffi cient training and practice in de-escalation techniques. De-escalation is vital in calls involving people experiencing mental illness and in possession of edged weapons (knives, scissors, and sharp objects). Training in de-escalation techniques, edged weapons, and people experiencing mental illness needs to be made mandatory and given priority.

Unconscious police bias such as the “us versus them” mentality is instilled into recruits from the day they begin their training. Recruits learn to view themselves as the “good guys and gals.” The “Thin Blue Line” in policing is a barrier to trusting re-lationships with Indigenous communities.

Advancement and promotion of offi cers to higher ranks heavily favours white males—individuals who “look like us” and “fi t in with us.” In this world terms like “corporate commitment” and “loyalty” are euphemisms for “yes-men and women.”

Diversity within all ranks of law en-forcement, not just entry-level positions, is a matter of safety. The lack of diversity within the higher ranks of policing has led to a disconnect with diverse communities. For promotions to diversify police institu-tions, particularly in the areas of recruiting and training, substantive shifts in policies, processes and procedures will be required. The current, narrow focus on recruitment is not enough.

Transformative change within the institutional structure of policing is long overdue. Extensive cultural competency training, starting with senior police ranks,

should be mandatory and ongoing. Forg-ing trusting partnerships and relation-ships with Indigenous and other diverse communities is paramount. The Yukon’s Kwanlin Dün Community Safety Offi cer program and Ontario’s Nishnawbe Aski and Wikwemikong Police Services serve as examples of the potential for Indigenous communities.

Reform, restructure, revitalize—real change depends on the inclusion of Indig-enous and diverse voices at every step of the way. Justice demands it.

Heather-Anne Manly is a member of the Haisla Nation and served for 25 years with the OPP. She works with an aboriginal law fi rm in Vancouver and is preparing for her call to the bar.

We are in a police use-of-force crisis Transformative change within the institutional structure of policing is long overdue. Extensive cultural competency training, starting with senior police ranks, should be mandatory and ongoing. Forging trusting partnerships and relationships with Indigenous and other diverse communities is paramount. The Yukon’s Kwanlin Dün Community Safety Offi cer program and Ontario’s Nishnawbe Aski and Wikwemikong Police Services serve as examples of the potential for Indigenous communities.

Opinion

THE HILL TIMES | MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 2020

Le 16 septembre, TDDC tiendra une

assemblée publique pour présenter

ses activités et son rendement en ce

qui concerne le soutien fourni aux

entreprises de technologies propres

canadiennes en 2019-2020.

Announcing Sustainable

Development Technology

Canada’s Annual Public

Meeting 2020

TDDC annonce la

tenue de son assemblée

publique annuelle

de 2020

On September 16, SDTC will hold

a public meeting to review our

activities and performance in

2019-2020 supporting Canadian

cleantech companies.

or more information,

please visit www.sdtc.ca

Pour plus d’informations,

veuillez visiter www.sdtc.ca

Heather-Anne Manly

Opinion

If Chief Allan Adam, left, was the white mayor of a small town, would he have been brutally assaulted by police? If Chantal Moore and Rodney Levi were not Indigenous, would they have been shot dead by police? I fi rmly believe that the answer to both questions is no, writes Heather-Anne Manly. Photographs courtesy Facebook and handout

6

BY PALAK MANGAT

As Ottawa continues to mea-sure COVID-19 outbreaks on

a monthly basis to guide its deci-sions on limiting non-essential travel, some MPs with border ridings say that approach allows for fl exibility in an ever-changing pandemic, and they are not hope-ful there will be any changes until the new year.

Speaking to The Hill Times this month, Conservative MP Tony Baldinelli (Niagara Falls, Ont.) said his riding is the “No. 1 tour-ism leisure destination in all of Canada,” but his constituents un-derstand why the border needs to remain closed, given the number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S.

“COVID hit Niagara hard, [tourism] is the economic engine of our community,” he said in a phone interview this month. “We employ 40,000 workers, we have over 16,000 hotel rooms, and generate about $2.4-billion in tourism receipts in support of our economy.”

As of Aug. 14, there were more than fi ve million cases of CO-

VID-19 in the U.S., and 121,000 in Canada. Tourism has been among the harder-hit industries amid the pandemic, thanks to border closures and limits on travel that have been in place for months now. Ottawa has extended its ban on discretion-ary travel every month since March.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair (Scar-borough South-west, Ont.) announced on Aug. 14 that the border closure would be ex-tended until at least Sept. 21.

Like other MPs and experts, Mr. Baldinelli agreed there is a need for governments to promote do-mestic tourism, “that notion of stay-cation, getting into the GTA, the rubber tire market. But we’re missing out on the international market, and that international market, we can’t expect to fully recover until at least, at the earli-est, next spring.”

He said that means a lot more is needed than the $4.5-million in marketing dollars that the feds announced in May for Niagara Falls Tourism, where Economic Development Minister Mélanie Joly (Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Que.) said the “new movement” across the country is to “visit local.” The money is part of the feds’ $962-million regional relief and recovery fund that will help busi-

nesses market and promote as they recover from the pandemic’s impact.

He added that when a decision is eventually made to reopen the border, the feds should pres-ent substantive “benchmarks” to prove why that decision was made, as a form of due diligence. Until then, the current 30-day approach is a “prudent one” and allows the government to be “nimble” in its decisions.

NDP MP Richard Cannings (South Okanagan—West Koote-nay, B.C.) said there’s a “huge sen-timent” in his riding that people “don’t even want to think about reopening the border.”

“I think Canadians are learn-ing to live with a closed border,” he said, predicting that about 80 per cent of his constituents want to see it closed “for the foresee-able future.”

“Whether that sentiment will change through the winter, depending on elections in the U.S. and what our own COVID outbreaks look like, I don’t know,” he said.

Some experts have suggested the ban could be in place for one year, or wondered if Canada should think on a three- or six-month basis, but Conservative MP John Barlow (Foothills, Alta.) cautioned against putting an “ar-bitrary date” on the measure.

“We have seen how quickly things can change in this pan-demic, so I think going on a 30-day basis is fi ne for right now, but I don’t think we should say we’re

going to be close for the next six months,” he said.

Mr. Barlow said his constitu-ents are “pretty much split … but I’d say when we see the numbers south of the border, I don’t think there’s any good health reason right now to open it.” He said he has “dozens, if not in the hun-dreds” of constituents who own vacation properties in areas like Montana and Idaho, and said it’s been diffi cult for them to tend to those properties because of the limitations. Offi cials at both borders have said in the past that checking on property is not con-sidered “essential travel.”

Liberal MP Terry Sheehan represents Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., home to about 80,000 people, which has a sister city by the same name in Michigan of about 15,000 just across the St. Marys River.

“There obvi-ously has been a lot of friend-ship and joint efforts through-out the years,” said Mr. Shee-han, who was born and raised in the area, and served as a city council-lor for four terms before becoming an MP. “We miss our American friends dearly, we do, but both sides of the border recog-nize the need to keep our citizens safe, so it’s absolutely

critical that we continue to do what we need to do.”

As of Aug. 14, the state of Michigan alone had 99,000 cases to Canada’s 121,000. At the time of the interview, Mr. Sheehan said the state had many more than Cana-da’s total, which “weighed heavily on the minds of my constituents.”

Like Mr. Cannings, he said he has also been fi elding calls from people who see American license plates and have “visceral reac-tions.”

“All eyes and ears are open in the riding, so certainly if some-body thinks somebody shouldn’t be here, the Canada Border Services Agency would be alerted

and [they’d] investigate,” said Mr. Sheehan.

Liberal MP Marcus Powlowski (Thunder Bay-Rainy River, Ont.), a physician by trade, said most people in his riding support the closure, seeing it as prioritizing “health concerns over economic concerns.”

“I think there’s a general perception that we’ve done better than the States in managing the pandemic, and we don’t want to have that all undermined by opening the border,” he said. “One of the saving graces with COVID for Canada has been that we’re a vast country with large distances between a lot of the towns, and we have used that to our advan-tage.” His Rainy River region, according to the Northwestern Health Unit, has about 10 cases, while the greater area has 44.

“I’ve got a brother who lives in Geneva. Normally I’m quite jeal-ous of people who live in Europe, that they can drive in one direc-tion, and in an hour and half, be in Italy,” laughed Mr. Powlowski. “So normally, the fact that there’s a lot of people close together, is some-thing that I fi nd kind of makes for a more interesting life, but with COVID-19 [possibly coming] to a place like Thunder Bay, which is quite isolated unless you fl y here, it’s worked to our advantage.”

Asked how tourism operators like those running fi shing lodges and camps are coping with the border restrictions, as some rely on American visitors, Mr. Pow-lowski said “some people … have been on board and realized that it’s a necessary evil, and some have in fact encouraged our bor-ders to remain shut” to stamp out the possibility of cases, especially given that some Indigenous com-munities in his riding have poor sanitation systems, making them more vulnerable.

He said he’s advocated “lo-cally” for more direct fi nancial aid for those operators, and has spoken in the past about the limit-ed federal funding for such relief measures.

“The business community wants certainty, but unfortunately, in some things in life, it’s impos-sible to bring certainty in,” he said. “So we just don’t know, and we can’t give them our assurance that next year everything is going to be all fi ne and dandy.”


‘We just don’t know:’ some MPs with border ridings unsure if non-essential travel will be allowed by new year, but not in any rush to open border ‘I think Canadians are learning to live with a closed border,’ says NDP MP Richard Cannings, predicting that about 80 per cent of his constituents want to see it closed ‘for the foreseeable future.’

News


Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has been stickhandling some of the discussions around the Canada-U.S. border closure, which has been shut to non-essential travel since March. Some MPs with border ridings say the closure may continue into the new year. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

NDP MP Richard Cannings, pictured left on June 15, 2017, at The Hill Times’ annual party and who represents South Okanagan-West Kootenay, B.C., said there’s a ‘huge sentiment’ in his riding that people ‘don’t even want to think about reopening the border.’ The Hill Times photograph by Cynthia Münster

7

polls following the WE Charity controversy, the NDP is betting that party leader Jagmeet Singh’s work to pressure the government into looking out for the little guy will pay off when it matters.

The WE scandal has dogged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) and his inner circle for more than a month, and counting. Mr. Trudeau, his chief of staff, Katie Telford, and Finance Minister Bill Morneau (Toronto Centre, Ont.) were dragged in front of an opposition-controlled House Finance Committee to face a grilling on their involvement in the award of a big fi nancial con-tract, $500-million, to an organi-zation with ties to all three.

The affair dominated news headlines, beginning in late June, and continued to generate new coverage through last week. Eth-ics Commissioner Mario Dion is—for the third time—investigat-ing Mr. Trudeau, and Mr. Morneau as well.

The scandal fi ts neatly into a narrative the federal NDP has been trying to weave since before the last election: that the Liberals

are ethically suspect, and govern for the benefi t of their friends. In the wake of the SNC-Lavalin scandal, the NDP ran an election campaign ad in which Mr. Singh (Burnaby South, B.C.) told Cana-dians that, unlike other leaders, “I don’t work for the wealthy and well-connected. I don’t think gov-ernment should be run for their benefi t, like it has for decades. I believe that government should work for all of us.”

Yet, news of the scandal trans-lated into a meagre bump in pub-lic support for both the NDP and Conservatives, at least according to national opinion polling. Polls from Nanos Research show a four percentage point increase for both parties between June 19 and Aug. 7.

That bump put the Conserva-tives at 30 per cent support na-tionwide, within striking distance of the Liberals, who were sitting at 36 per cent on Aug. 7, down just two points from before the scandal.

The NDP, however, has re-mained in a distant third place in the polls. Nanos had them at 18 per cent support on Aug. 7. Ekos had the NDP at 15 per cent sup-port mid-way through July—20 points behind the Liberals. Léger had the NDP at 15 per cent sup-port, the Conservatives at 29, and the Liberals at 36, in a poll taken from Aug. 7 to Aug. 9.

“If you’re going to have a scan-dal, the middle of the summer is probably your best time,” said Peggy Nash, a former NDP MP and fi nance critic.

“Am I seeing momentum right now? No. But I’m not seeing mo-mentum right now for any party,” said Ms. Nash, who now chairs an advisory committee at Ryerson University’s Centre for Labour Management Relations.

The New Democrats are cur-rently the fourth party in the House, with 24 seats. The Liberals have 156, the Conservatives 121, and the Bloc Québécois has 32.

Still, NDP insiders are con-fi dent that the party is on the right track. Its polling results now aren’t far from where the party stood with Canadians in August of 2014, before it vaulted into a serious contender to win the 2015 election. The party also raised $1.3-million in the second quarter of 2020, more than it did in the same quarter of 2016, 2017, or 2018, and just less than the $1.4-million it raised in the second quarter of 2019, an elec-tion year.

However, the party is still dig-ging itself out of a fi nancial hole, and election campaigns cost a party a great deal of money. Elec-tions Canada has not yet posted the party’s annual fi nancial re-turn for 2019, but as of the end of 2018 the party owed $4.5-million more than it had in assets. Since then, the NDP has raised just more than $10-million, and spent roughly the same amount on last fall’s election campaign.

Occasional public grumbles of discontent from inside the party have largely ceased since the last election, when Mr. Singh turned in a campaign performance that likely saved his job as leader—even though the New Democrats won 19 fewer seats than they had captured in 2015.

NDP insiders largely chalked up the stagnant polling results to the pandemic, which shifted public attention squarely onto the governing Liberals, and to the party’s decision to support the Liberals in the House of Com-mons in exchange for action on NDP priorities—a strategy that may not pay off in the polls right away.

One senior NDP staffer, speaking on a not-for-attribution basis, pointed as an example to the Liberal government’s deci-sion in March to expand its 10 per cent wage subsidy to instead cover 75 per cent of wages, after campaigning from Mr. Singh, as well as business lobbyists includ-

ing the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

The party has also taken credit for the Liberal decision to expand the eligibility for the government’s Canada Emergency Response Benefi t days after Mr. Singh campaigned publicly for the change.

“Now he’s got a record. He’s got a minority Parliament that he made work,” said Robin MacLachlan, a vice-president at Summa Strategies, and former staffer to NDP MPs Ed Broadbent and Paul Dewar.

Several NDP insiders said they expect the party to continue, what Mr. MacLachlan called, its “junior dance partner” role when Parlia-ment returns.

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet (Beloeil-Cham-bly, Que.) vowed last week to bring down the government if Mr. Trudeau, Mr. Morneau, and Ms. Telford didn’t resign. The Liberals only need the support of one of the Bloc, Conservatives, or NDP to maintain the confi dence of the House. It’s not yet clear how the Conservatives would handle a confi dence vote this fall, as the party is set to elect a new leader at the end of this month.

The NDP’s support will come at a price, said Karl Bélanger, a former principal secretary to ex-NDP leader Tom Mulcair, and the president of the Douglas-Coldwell Foundation.

“When you have a government that is damaged by scandals, such as the Trudeau government right now, there is an opportunity to le-verage your support for priorities in your agenda, priorities that you can use, if successfully imple-mented, as a record on which to run,” said Mr. Bélanger.

Mr. Singh performed “excep-tionally well” in the last cam-paign, said Ms. Nash. “I expect he’ll do that again in the next election, and hope that that’s when people are paying attention, because that’s when the numbers really matter.”

The NDP are in diffi cult politi-cal terrain that will likely carry into the next election, however, according to veteran pollster Nik Nanos. The party has effectively been “crowded out” of the picture by the Liberals, who have tracked to the left under Mr. Trudeau.

That dynamic hurts the New Democrats, said Mr. Nanos; even when the Liberals disappoint left-wing voters, they have more appeal to that group than a Conservative Party that thrives when the progressive vote is split.

“If you’re to sum up where the NDP are at … the Liberals have eaten their lunch,” said Mr. Nanos, who chairs Nanos Research.

The NDP insiders said they believe the Liberals will have a tougher time selling themselves to the political left after fi ve years in power, and a record of broken promises and moves unpopular with progressive voters: ditching electoral reform, failing to scrap mandatory minimum sentencing, purchasing the TMX pipeline, and failing so far to deliver a national pharmacare system.

Mr. Singh is “going to ramp up the pharmacare, the childcare, the wealth tax, housing arguments with some vigour. I don’t think that the Liberals will be in a posi-tion to match them,” said Robin Sears, a consultant at Earnscliffe Strategy Group who directed four national NDP campaigns.

The NDP’s progressive politics have cost the party some of its traditional support in Canada’s labour unions, however. Opposi-tion to the Trans Mountain and Keystone XL pipelines under Mr. Singh and Mr. Mulcair before him have alienated unionized trades-people who stand to gain from such major construction projects.

“I have members that build pipelines. I’m a pipeline guy. So many of my members will disagree with the position the NDP has taken on oil and energy,” Jerry Dias, the leader of Canada’s largest private sector union, Uni-for, told the CBC in October.

The NDP has also struggled mightily in Quebec, losing seats in the province in the last two elec-tions. It now holds just one—Rose-mont-La Petite-Patrie, a Montreal riding where one of the party’s best-known faces, Alexandre Boulerice, won his third consecutive election.

Recent polls by Nanos, Léger, Ekos Research, and Abacus Data all put the NDP in fourth place in Quebec.

Mr. Bélanger said he believes Mr. Singh was able to break through to some degree with Quebecers during the last elec-tion campaign, and needs to be seen and heard more often in the province to turn that into real momentum in the next campaign. Running against two party leaders native to Quebec will make the task even more diffi cult, he said.

“I don’t know if it will be differ-ent next time. For that to happen, the NDP will have to recruit some very strong candidates,” he said.


‘If you’re to sum up where the NDP are at, the Liberals have eaten their lunch’: missing a WE bump, NDP banking on Singh’s record as ‘junior dance partner’ in Parliament ‘When you have a government that is damaged by scandals, such as the Trudeau government right now, there is an opportunity to leverage your support for priorities in your agenda,’ says former national director Karl Bélanger.

News



NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, pictured on Jan. 22, 2020, in a Hill scrum. The NDP is trailing the Liberals and Conservatives by double-digits in several national opinion polls, and in fourth-place in Quebec. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

8

Speaking at the House Ethics Committee on Aug. 11, Canada’s federal Employ-

ment Minister Carla Qualtrough put it bluntly. She said the federal government had “dropped the ball” on the whole student volunteer program which quickly turned into the WE Charity fi asco. Ms. Qualtrough said she could make “no excuse or justifi ca-tion” for the roles played by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau who should have recused them-selves from cabinet’s decision to award the $500-million contract to the charity to ad-minister the federal government’s student volunteer program, one that both men have family connections to.

“It was a pandemic and things were crazy and we were going at break-neck speed. But we should have not dropped the ball on this,” she said. “It’s an unfortunate situation. I don’t think in any way it takes away from the other really important, and I would say, fantastic work that we’ve done for students and for Canadians writ large. But they should have recused themselves and they’ve apologized for not doing so, and I accept that apology and believe we’ve learned from this.”

“We knew from the start things would not be perfect, and we were prepared to have to course correct when we needed. There was no time to test or pilot the pro-grams. We had to understand the limits of our existing system and work with them,” she said.

It’s not quite the scandal the opposition parties were hoping for and it’s under-standable that mistakes will be made when the government’s been operating at “break-neck speed” and under the guiding principle to deliver supports “quickly and reliably” to Canadians. But there’s also no doubt the WE Charity controversy has

damaged public trust in the prime min-ister, the fi nance minister, and the gov-ernment. This is an issue of trust, strong leadership, and good judgment, especially in these extremely challenging times, and, on these fronts, the prime minister hasn’t done himself any favours. Prime Minister Trudeau, his government, the bureaucracy and the provincial premiers have indeed been working exceptionally hard over the last fi ve months to deliver those services to Canadians. That should be acknowl-edged, but the prime minister can’t afford to make any more mistakes, especially easily avoidable ones and especially as the country heads into choppier waters with an expected second wave of the pandemic and even more diffi cult economic times. A Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies poll released two weeks ago found that nearly half of Canadians would sup-port an election right now if the federal ethics commissioner fi nds the prime minister violated the Confl ict of Interest Act again over the WE Charity issue, The Canadian Press recently reported.

If the prime minister wants to regain some of that lost public trust, he could shake up his PMO and shuffl e his cabinet, but he’s also going to have to set a serious legislative and policy agenda for the fall. He’s also going to have to reach out to the opposition parties more and show that he’s listening. Good things can happen in minority Parliaments, especially during challenging times. If the prime minister wants to stick around, he’s going to have to change his style, stop and think, com-municate better, and start making good on some of his political promises left over from the last two election campaigns. It’s show time.

The Hill Times

KAIROS joins the mounting call in sup-port of permanent residency for foreign

migrant workers including those who have fallen through bureaucratic cracks and are undocumented. We urge the federal govern-ment to immediately grant these work-ers status and, moving forward, status upon arrival for all migrant workers.

Unlike migrant workers in other sectors, caregivers have a pathway to permanent residence if they complete two years of work in Canada. However, caregivers who work for unscrupulous employers can see this pathway erode when forced to leave—or be forced to endure two years of hardship to fi nally earn status in Canada.

Since COVID-19 hit I have been swamped with phone calls from migrant workers in various sectors who were fi red, received minimal support after contracting the virus, or felt trapped in abusive workplaces.

Caregivers, like all migrant workers, are vetted prior to coming to Canada. Canada

could create an effi cient one-step solution by granting all overseas workers permanent resident status upon arrival as part of build-ing a fair and inclusive country.

There was a time when Canada did this. Up until the early 1970s, workers from abroad—primarily Europe—who fi lled labour shortages were granted permanent residency upon arrival. Their services were needed and they were regarded as valued workers and future citizens. Also, from 1960 to 1986 Canada implemented regularization programs and provided permanent residence status to illegal/undocumented migrants, in-cluding the Chinese Adjustment Statements Program that ran from 1960 to 1973.

Canada could glean some lessons from these experiences and support our fellow hu-man beings who fi ll roles in essential sectors.

Connie SorioMigrant justice coordinator

KAIROSOttawa, Ont.

Re: ” ‘I await your response’: inside N.S. Liberal MPs’ push for a public inquiry,”

(The Hill Times, Aug. 5, p. 1). This article was incredibly hurtful. I know your paper often covers events in and around the “Ottawa bubble,” but it would have been nice if you had burst that bubble and come talk to me, or any of the other family members who lost mothers, and fathers and sons and wives before putting it out. Let me be honest: what we watched happen over the last two weeks, doesn’t match up with this version of events.

Losing my wife and my unborn child is a pain I hope no one reading this ever knows. Knowing it likely could have been prevented with proper use of the emergency alert system makes it even more diffi cult. Inquiries answer those kinds of questions. They give families closure, or at least they’re supposed to.

So why did the federal and provincial governments make this process so hard on us? Why did it take the backlash from a review that nobody wanted for all the politi-cians to crawl out of the woodwork?

Liberal MPs Lenore Zann, Sean Fraser, and the others didn’t lift a fi nger before the politics started to hurt them. They stayed quiet when we needed their voices.

From your article, readers would be left to believe that Nova Scotia Liberal MPs were the ones who got us our inquiry. In reality, Nova Scotia Liberal MPs didn’t say a word about wanting an inquiry before a review was announced. Then, Nova Scotia Liberal MPs signed off on a letter support-ing a review, not an inquiry.

Make no mistake, the families ensured we got an inquiry. We made this happen. My fellow Bluenosers made this happen. Sympathetic Canadians across the country who I’ll never meet, and who saw something wrong, spoke up, and made this happen.

Canada’s federal Public Safety Minis-ter Bill Blair’s reversal all felt staged, to be honest.

Can Ms. Zann and Mr. Fraser show a little bit of humility and just say “we were wrong,” instead of trying to take credit for doing something someone else did? Is being a Liberal more important than being a Nova Scotian? I’m overwhelmed with the love this country has shown me and the other fami-lies, but I’ll never understand why people in positions of power have continued to add to our pain.

Nick BeatonBelmont, N.S.

In this “Era of Wokeness,” along with the ascension of Black Lives Matter into

the public consciousness, I believe that it would be detrimental to the Conser-vative Party of Canada to have Erin O’Toole as its leader. O’Toole recently refused to use the word “racism” and did not answer clearly when pressed

on whether he believes it even exists. O’Toole will hand the Trudeau Liberals an easy victory during the next elec-tion, should he become Tory leader. Canada cannot afford another four years of Justin Trudeau.

Gila KibnerToronto, Ont.

Time for Prime Minister Trudeau to regain trust, and to lead better in challenging times

KAIROS joins the mounting call in support of permanent residency for foreign migrant workers: Sorio

Families got the public inquiry into Nova Scotia’s shootings, not Liberal MPs: Nick Beaton

O’Toole leadership win would be victory for Trudeau: reader

Editorial Letters to the Editor


PUBLISHERS Anne Marie Creskey, Jim Creskey, Ross DicksonGENERAL MANAGER, CFO Andrew Morrow

PUBLISHED EVERY MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY BY HILL TIMES PUBLISHING INC.246 Queen Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5E4

EDITOR Kate MalloyMANAGING EDITOR Charelle EvelynDEPUTY EDITORS Peter Mazereeuw, Laura RyckewaertASSISTANT DEPUTY EDITOR Abbas RanaDIGITAL EDITOR Beatrice Paez

EDITORIALNEWS REPORTERS Aidan Chamandy, Mike Lapointe, Neil Moss, Samantha Wright Allen, and Palak MangatPHOTOGRAPHERS Sam Garcia, Andrew Meade, and Cynthia MünsterEDITORIAL CARTOONIST Michael De AdderCOLUMNISTS Cameron Ahmad, Andrew Caddell, Andrew Cardozo, John Chenier, Sheila Copps, Éric Couture, David Crane, Jim Creskey, Murray Dobbin, Gwynne Dyer, Michael Geist, Dennis Gruending, Phil Gurski, Cory Hann, Michael Harris, Erica Ifill, Joe Jordan, Amy Kishek, Rose LeMay, Alex Marland, Arthur Milnes, Tim Powers, Mélanie Richer, Susan Riley, Ken Rubin, Evan Sotiropoulos, Scott Taylor, Lisa Van Dusen, Nelson Wiseman, and Les Whittington.

ADVERTISINGVICE PRESIDENT MARKETING AND MULTIMEDIA SALES Steve MacDonaldDIRECTORS OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Craig Caldbick, Erveina Gosalci, Martin Reaume, Ulle Baum

PRODUCTIONPRODUCTION MANAGER Benoit DeneaultSENIOR GRAPHIC, ONLINE DESIGNER Joey SabourinDESIGN MANAGER Serena MasondeWEB DESIGNER Jean-Francois LavoieASSISTANT WEB DESIGNER Ian Peralta

CIRCULATIONDIRECTOR OF READER ENGAGEMENT Chris RivoireDIRECTOR OF MARKETING Leslie DicksonSUBSCRIPTIONS AND LICENSING EXECUTIVE Darryl Blackbird, Lakshmi KrishnamurtiVICE PRESIDENT OF CONTENT LICENSING SALES Sean HanselCIRCULATION MANAGER Dan Lahey

ADMINISTRATIONHUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER Tracey Wale

Published every Monday and Wednesday by Hill Times Publishing Inc.

246 Queen Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5E4(613) 232-5952 Fax (613) 232-9055Canadian Publications Mail Agreement No. 40068926 www.hilltimes.com

CMCAAUDITED

Please send letters to the editor to the above street address or e-mail to [email protected]. Deadline is Wednesday at noon, Ottawa time, for the Monday edition and Friday at noon for the Wednesday edition. Please include your full name, address and daytime phone number. The Hill Times reserves the right to edit letters. Letters do not reflect the views of The Hill Times. Thank you.

2012 Better Newspaper Winner

DELIVERY [email protected]

Publications Mail Agreement No. 40068926RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO: CIRCULATION DEPT. 246 Queen Street Suite 200, Ottawa, ON K1P 5E4

9

OTTAWA—Leaders came and went last week.

And the coming was so much better than the going.

Kamala Harris was revealed as the vice-presidential choice of Democratic White House nomi-nee Joe Biden.

She ticked all the boxes. With a family tree straddling three con-tinents, she can literally classify

as an Afro-Asian American. She has political experience at the lo-cal, state and national levels and she represents the generational change that the American presi-dential race desperately needs.

The same day she joined the American ticket, Andrew Scheer spent his last day in Parliament as the leader of the Conservative Party.

And, oh, what a bitter exit it was. His fi nal public statement was to challenge the prime minister to sue him, a reference to the heated campaign rhetoric when leaders were calling each other liars.

Scheer presented a rather sorry picture of a political leader who was wanted neither by his party nor his country.

It was a disappointing fi nale for a politician whose star seemed to shine brightly throughout his career.

An eastern-born westerner with a good command of French, he was the natural choice for House Speaker during the 10-year tenure of prime minister Stephen Harper.

The position came with its own set of perks, a house and a private apartment in Parliament. It also gave him a hospitality budget to wine and dine his fel-low parliamentarians, preparing the way for his ascendance to the Conservative leadership.

All the while, Scheer was nurturing his brand as a smiling, softer Tory who managed to make friends on all sides of the House.

It wasn’t until he actually grasped the brass ring that we began to see the seedier side of Scheer.

His exit speech last week solidi-fi ed that impression. Instead of using his time in Parliament to refl ect on some of the positive things he was able to accomplish, the outgoing leader sounded like he was still on the election campaign. Painfully vitriolic was the tone of his fi nal speech in Parliament, a far cry from the smiling young man who took his place as the youngest House Speaker in the history of Canadian politics.

Why would Scheer not follow in the footsteps of other outgoing leaders, with a gracious state-ment that unites people instead of dividing them?

It is to be expected that your fi rst days in power are your best.

So, it is not surprising that Har-ris’ week in the news was a far cry from Scheer’s snarling exit.

She immediately hit the cam-paign trail with Biden and showed exactly why she was the perfect choice to be his running mate.

Donald Trump weighed in immediately, pointing out one of Harris’s few fl aws; she did not do very well in the presidential runoff against Biden.

Trump hit the tweet scene to trash her. As one American com-mentator noted, the president seems to glean special pleasure when he gets a chance to trash-talk women, particularly women of colour.

But as others pointed out, Biden’s decision to embrace a former opponent also illustrates the glaring difference between the two presidential hopefuls.

Trump pushes every opponent away, even when they are public servants dishing up the advice that he appointed them to provide.

Just look at his relationship with Anthony Fauci.

Fauci speaks truth to power and Trump simply cannot abide someone who disputes his claim

that drinking bleach can help clean out COVID-19.

Harris can expect some negative pushback from Trump supporters in the media, but they are becoming fewer and farther between.

Her selection will motivate women, uplift minorities and inspire a younger generation, all decisive players in the presiden-tial election in November.

As for Scheer, his replacement will be voted on shortly and an-nounced as soon as the com-plexities of the mail-in balloting system are conquered.

If it is Peter MacKay, you can expect Scheer’s standing in his party to diminish even further.

MacKay’s success will be de-pendent upon distancing himself from the Rebel right, and that was the crowd that Scheer cultivated so successfully to gain power.

If Erin O’Toole wins, Scheer will still enjoy a place of honour in a party with well-entrenched Western Canadian roots.

Meanwhile, Harris and Biden will be an unbeatable ticket in the United States as Trump’s mishandling of the pandemic has caused him continued erosion within his own party.

If the launch was any indica-tion, Harris will be a positive force for Biden.

The same cannot be said of the outgoing Conservative leader.

He left Parliament with a bitter taste in his mouth.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister.

The Hill Times

OAKVILLE, ONT.—Anyone who dares to make predic-

tions about Canada’s political future right now, does so at their peril.

After all, never before in our history have political tea-leaf

readers had to contend with so many unstable variables, so many unknowns, so many constantly shifting narratives, and so many unprecedented situations.

Basically, it all makes for a future that’s like a distant shore shrouded in an impenetrable mist.

So rather than making any wild guesses about what’s to come, I thought it’d make more sense to list and examine some of the questions lingering in the air.

Knowing the extent of the chaos could perhaps present us with an overall picture of where we stand now, which might help us come to grips with possible alternative futures.

Okay, this is beginning to sound like a Star Trek time-trav-

elling episode, so let’s just begin our exercise.

Here, in no particular order, are some key questions that need answering to fully understand our political future:

What happens if Joe Biden wins?

As we all know, Americans are slated to go to the polls in a few months to elect a president and who they choose will have real implications here in Canada. For example, if the Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, wins the White House (and for what it’s worth, current polls say it’s likely he will) how will that impact on Canada’s political scene? On one hand, you could argue a Trump-less America might hurt Prime Minister Justin Trudeau chances as this would remove one his most potent pitches: “Vote for me because I’m Canada’s progres-sive answer to Trump’s dangerous populism. Only I have what it takes to stand up to him.” In short, no Trump, means no longer any need for an anti-Trump. On the other hand, however, perhaps a Biden victory would help Trudeau, since it might help give momen-

tum to the progressive cause in Canada.

Will Canadians blame Trudeau for a bad economy?

Experts keep warning us that, thanks to the recent societal lockdown, Canada is headed for an extreme economic downturn, perhaps even a recession. Typi-cally, of course, such dreadful economic news would be bad for the incumbent. But will that be the case now? Keep in mind, Trudeau can always blame any future economic downturn on the global pandemic and, if need be, he can always blame Com-munist China. So, maybe voters will cut Trudeau some slack and won’t hold him responsible if a recession occurs. Or maybe they will. When economic anxiety actually starts to soar, rightly or wrongly, the guy in charge might get the blame. Politics isn’t always fair.

How will the Conservatives react?

The Conservative Party of Canada not only has to choose a

brand new leader, it’ll also need to redefi ne itself in a time of ex-ceptional economic and cultural turbulence. What will that rede-fi ned party look like? Will it focus on policy or on the personality of its leader? Will it take sides in the raging culture wars? What kind of fi scal stances will it take? Will the party be united? On a more tactical level, will Conservative strategists fi gure out a way to ex-ploit Liberal vulnerabilities? Only time will tell.

What will happen with the virus?

Finally, perhaps the biggest question of all concerns CO-VID-19; specifi cally, will there be a “second wave?” If COVID surges in the fall or winter, does that mean another round of lock-downs? What will that do to the economy? How will voters react? Hard to say.

So, yeah. Lots of questions out there muddying up the waters.

But that’s okay. Sometimes questions are more interesting than answers.

Gerry Nicholls is a communi-cations consultant.

The Hill Times

Opinion


Harris will be a positive force for Biden

An impenetrable mist is masking our political future

Kamala Harris and Joe Biden will be an unbeatable ticket in the United States as Donald Trump’s mishandling of the pandemic has caused him continued erosion within his own party.

Never before in our history have political tea-leaf readers had to contend with so many unstable variables, so many unknowns, so many constantly shifting narratives, and so many unprecedented situations. Basically, it all makes for a future that’s like a distant shore shrouded in an impenetrable mist.

Gerry Nicholls

Post-Partisan Pundit

Here she comes: Kamala Harris was revealed as the vice-presidential choice of Democratic White House nominee Joe Biden. Photograph courtesy of Flickr

Sheila Copps

Copps’ Corner

HALIFAX—It has been the summer of discontent for

Justin Trudeau.Despite a stumble start when

COVID-19 fi rst appeared in Canada, he should be basking in praise for his solid handling of the pandemic, once he real-ized the gravity of the situation. Instead, the newspapers are full of stories about cronyism, dishon-esty, and scandal besmirching his government.

When Parliament gets back to full-time business, the Bloc Québécois will be leading the pack in demanding the PM’s resignation for botching the now moribund student volunteer grant

program handed to the WE Char-ity on a sole-source basis.

The Bloc will inevitably get help from the new CPC leader. Regardless of who that is, they will be straining at the leash to show that they are more san-guine than the feckless Andrew Scheer when it comes to caveman politics. Club the victim fi rst, let scholars worry about the facts later.

And while they’re trying to bring down the PM, they will also be going for Bill Morneau’s throat because the fi nance minister was so sloppy, or so entitled, that he forgot to pay for $41,000 in travel lavished on him by the star-crossed WE Charity. He also fool-ishly participated in the cabinet decision to outsource the massive contract to WE.

Even the PM’s senior offi ce staff will be in the crosshairs of opposition snipers. Having forced out Trudeau’s principle secretary, Gerald Butts, over the SNC-Lavalin Scandal, now the target is Katie Telford, his chief-of-staff and long-time acolyte.

Telford’s alleged confl ict of interest? Federal money, $84-mil-lion, going to a mortgage com-pany that employs her husband,

Rob Silver. Like WE, MCAP got the contract to administer a federal program, this one dealing with rent subsidy.

Unlike WE, MCAP won the contract through a competitive bidding process administered by the public service. And unlike the PM, who did not recuse himself from the cabinet decision to shower WE with cash for running the student volunteer program, Telford removed herself from all discussions about the MCAP deal.

The opposition parties could care less about ethical walls or screens or recusals. They practise perception politics, where the scent of blood in the political wa-ter is enough to cause a feeding frenzy of half truths, misinforma-tion, and garden-variety slander.

Nor can the PM be happy that the WE scandal has drawn in his own family—wife Sophie, mother Margaret, and brother Alexandre. His fate on that score is in the hands of Mario Dion, the ethics commissioner.

If Dion fi nds that either Trudeau and Morneau broke the confl ict-of-interest rules, Ca-nadians will be inundated with editorial screeds about how unfi t for offi ce both men are. With two

previous fi ndings that Trudeau has broken the ethical guidelines, a lot of people will be talking about what usually happens when you take a strike three.

The PM’s personal conduct is not the only thing raising ques-tions about his judgment.

Trudeau was thrilled when he found out that former astronaut Julie Payette was available to fi ll the Governor-General’s post. The hurrays turned to horror when the CBC broke a story alleg-ing widespread harassment and abuse of staff at Rideau Hall.

Payette and her secretary were accused by multiple staff members of allegedly creat-ing a “toxic” work environment, charges that convinced the Privy Council Offi ce that an indepen-dent investigator had to look into these serious and unprecedented complaints.

As Trudeau refl ects on the state of his political karma, he must be haunted by the grim fact that threats against himself and other members of the government have gone up 30 per cent over last year. That point was brought into sharp focus on July 2.

A member of the Canadian military armed with two shot-

guns, an M-14 rifl e, and a hand-gun breached security on the Rideau Hall estate where Trudeau and his family live while 24 Sus-sex Drive is under renovation. The man had driven all the way from Manitoba seeking out the PM. The RCMP later laid 22 criminal charges against Corey Hurren, including uttering a threat to “cause death or bodily harm” to the prime minister. Luckily, the Trudeaus were not at home.

It must have seemed like déjà vu. In August of 2014, Trudeau’s wife and children were asleep in their Ottawa residence when someone broke in. Trudeau was in Winnipeg at the time and was understandably rattled. He has always been aware of an assas-sination threat, and that was one of things he considered with his closest advisers before agreeing to run for his party’s leadership.

Finally, the near term pros-pects for leading any government in the COVID-19 era are poor, to say the least. Politicians, who can read a balance sheet but not a scientifi c report, are already clamouring for the transition from fi ghting the pandemic to reopening the economy. They are fools.

If Trudeau is imprudent enough to take that route, he will be confronted with the defi cits he has incurred battling COVID-19 with his massive economic aid package. Compassion will quickly be turned into allegations of mismanagement. Most people liked the meal Trudeau served up. They will like it less when the bill appears.

But there is something far worse about rushing into the reopening of the economy than the unavoidable necessity of re-covering some of the vast amount money that’s been spent. The pandemic is not only not over, the world is almost certainly headed for a second phase.

According to people like Dr. Anthony Fauci, that second phase could be far worse than the fi rst one that caused a shutdown of the economy. Under those cir-cumstances, anyone running the country will be the PM of chaos and catastrophe. Everything else in, that may not prove to be an attractive proposition—just as it didn’t for Liberal premier Stephen McNeil of Nova Sco-tia. Exhausted by his province’s battle with the pandemic, and the recent mass shooting, McNeil an-nounced he was stepping down. No one could be totally surprised if Trudeau took the same path.

And hovering behind all that is the redoubtable Mark Carney, a person some are already saying is the understudy-in-waiting to assume the fi nance minister’s job should Morneau end up under the bus for his blundering on the WE fi le.

Depending on the result of Justin Trudeau’s soul-searching about his own future, the former governor of the Bank of England and the Bank of Canada could be aiming much higher than that.

Michael Harris is an award-winning journalist and author.

The Hill Times

10

PoliticsIt’s perception politics, where the scent of blood in political water’s enough to cause a feeding frenzy of half truths, misinformation, and garden-variety slander And according to people like Dr. Anthony Fauci, that second phase could be far worse than the fi rst one that caused a shutdown of the economy. Under those circumstances, anyone running the country will be the PM of chaos and catastrophe.


Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, PM's chief of staff Katie Telford, Finance Minister Bill Morneau, Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, and Mark Carney. The Hill Times photographs by Andrew Meade

Michael Harris

Harris

11

MONTREAL—The cost of COVID-19 has been tremen-

dous—in human lives, socially, culturally and, of course, eco-nomically. This pandemic has also thrown the realities of inequality right in our faces. Everybody is talking about recovery now, and many (fortunately) are talking about a green and just recovery. I’ve seen these concepts used in all kinds of ways, depending on who the person is and where they stand on the political spectrum.

Whatever your political lean-ings, the reality remains the same: the current health crisis is going to be very expensive. In April alone, just one month after the start of lockdown, nearly 5.5 million Canadians lost their jobs or had their hours cut by more than half, according to Statistics Canada. Finance Minister Bill Morneau, for his part, is forecast-ing a $343.2-billion defi cit for the fi scal year 2020-2021. The neces-sity of a stimulus plan is not in question, but the kind of recovery we want defi nitely is.

The impacts of COVID-19 are unlikely to be shouldered equi-tably by all people in Canada. I don’t think it comes as a surprise

to anyone that, to date, certain socio-demographic groups have been disproportionately affected by this pandemic; we need only think of women, Indigenous Peoples, racialized communities, and migrant workers. A green and just recovery must absolutely identify and recognize these in-equalities and take urgent action to correct them.

In this respect, Greenpeace is among several environmental, social, and civil society organi-zations presenting our elected representatives with recom-mendations for a recovery that addresses inequality and injustice and which implements major structural measures aimed at mitigating the climate crisis. This is what we mean by a green and just recovery.

With these recommendations come doubts and questions about the feasibility of such a recovery. How will we fi nance it? Where will we fi nd the money? It’s al-ways the same old story when we talk about raising the minimum wage, when we talk about going green, when we talk about provid-

ing access to drinking water for all Indigenous communities in Canada—I could go on.

When it comes to the money, I fi nd myself wanting to shout my response to these naysayers, “Let’s go fi nd it where it is!”

While COVID-19 has had dramatic consequences on the wallets of ordinary people like us, the wealthiest have become richer during this pandemic. A TaxCOOP report released at the end of May showed that the fi ve richest billionaires in Canada saw their wealth increase by nine per cent between March 16 and May 16, 2020. In fact, one per cent of Canadians own 25.6 per cent of the wealth, accord-ing to the Offi ce of the Parlia-mentary Budget Offi cer. Such staggering wealth inequality is directly tied to the environment: the world’s top 10 per cent of income earners are responsible for 25 to 43 per cent of environ-mental impact.

So when we ask ourselves how we can fi nance a green and just recovery, two words, come to mind: wealth tax. Another report

from the PBO released earlier this month found that a tax on the richest Canadians’ wealth would net $5.6-billion in annual revenue. Most Canadians, even across political parties, support such a tax. Abacus Data polling suggested that 75 per cent of re-spondents supported a one to two per cent tax on the value of assets of Canada’s wealthiest people to help pay for the recovery. It is time for tax reform to ensure that the cost of the pandemic is fairly shared.

Still think I’m too radical? Millionaires disagree with you. Several of them have chosen to co-sign an open letter asking their respective governments to tax them more: “Immediately. Sub-stantially. Permanently.” Because, as they so eloquently put it, “We must rebalance our world before it is too late.”

We can’t miss the boat with this recovery plan. We will not see investments of this magni-tude from our governments again any time soon. If we really want to build back better, we have an opportunity—today—to seize it. The climate crisis cannot wait. Inequalities will not go away by themselves, and we must give ourselves the means to achieve our ambitions.

Marie-Christine Fiset is the head of media at Greenpeace Canada.

The Hill Times

OTTAWA—Yet again, the fed-eral government looks like it

is about to transfer tens of billions of dollars to the provinces with es-sentially no strings attached.

We’ve seen this before. The 2004 First Ministers’ Health Ac-cord transferred $40-billion to the provinces with homecare as one of the priorities. In the 2017 Health Accord, $11-billion was trans-ferred with money earmarked for homecare and for mental health and addictions. We have no evi-dence of any signifi cant progress in the provision of home care.

The most recent transfer an-nounced July 23 by the prime minister promises $19-billion for

the Safe Restart Program, though without any details so far.

What does the federal govern-ment receive in return? Almost nothing, not even decent data.

Canada suffers profoundly from a major lack of high-quality pan-Canadian data, especially high-lighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. While U.S. analysts are able in near real time to estimate and project COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths down to the county level, Canada is barely able to produce comparable data by province.

A portion of the $19-billion announced is meant to help fund COVID testing and tracing, and improvements in long-term care.

There is widespread agree-ment that a major failing in the tragic and disproportionate CO-VID-19 mortality rates in nursing homes was due to poor staffi ng levels. As strongly recommended in a just published Royal Society of Canada report, it is essential to have high-quality data on current staffi ng levels, and to have these connected at the individual level to health outcomes. This crucial information is fundamental for the federal government to develop the evidence-based national stan-dards for long-term care so many have been calling for.

The issue of inadequate staffi ng levels has been known for decades and has been pointed out repeat-edly in various reports and studies.

But the federal government has essentially no data in this area.

The provinces have typically objected that health care is a pro-vincial jurisdiction, so the federal government cannot compel them to provide sorely needed data. However, we have had almost two decades of cajoling the prov-inces with the federally funded Canada Health Infoway paying at least half the cost to develop and implement standardized and interoperable software systems for electronic health records.

Most relevant for the current pandemic, Infoway was specifi cally tasked with producing a system for anticipating and dealing with infec-tious disease outbreaks. This system, had it been working even 15 years

after its initial funding in 2004, would have enabled a very different out-come this year, with likely far fewer cases and deaths from COVID-19.

Paper agreements and cajoling the provinces with optional sub-sidies have clearly failed. It’s time for a much tougher stance.

The federal government has the necessary constitutional pow-ers, including explicit jurisdiction for statistics, plus criminal law and spending powers, and the general peace, order and good government (POGG) power, to compel the collection and fl ows of 21st century kinds of data.

Monique Bégin, as Canada’s federal minister of health from 1977-1979 and 1980-1984, success-fully ended the practice of physi-

cians’ extra-billing by amending the Canada Health Act to deduct any extra billing from that prov-ince’s fi scal transfer. The Supreme Court has just upheld the federal government’s genetic privacy leg-islation as constitutional despite objections from Quebec.

In the current pandemic emer-gency, high-quality, standardized, real-time data on excess deaths, COVID cases and hospitaliza-tions, and details on the opera-tions of the thousands of nursing homes and retirement residences across Canada are essential.

For nursing homes, we need these data to learn why some were completely successful in avoid-ing any novel coronavirus cases amongst residents and staff, while others suffered tragically. In turn, such statistical information will provide the federal government the strong evidence base needed to take the lead in establishing national standards for nursing home staffi ng levels, though action on staffi ng must not wait for perfect data.

Once we have standardized individual-level data on COVID cas-es, including factors like age, sex, neighbourhood, other diseases, the individual’s household composition, race, hospitalization rates, disease severity, and deaths, as the U.K. has been able to do for 17 million of its residents in near real time, then Canada will be able to support far more sophisticated analysis and projections to deal with the current top pandemic issues—not least, whether to open bars or schools.

Michael Wolfson, PhD, is a former assistant chief statistician at Statistics Canada and a mem-ber of the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics at the Univer-sity of Ottawa.

The Hill Times

Opinion


Marie-Christine Fiset

Opinion

Michael Wolfson

Opinion

Wealth tax is key to a green, just recovery—and long overdue

Fiscal federalism: driving in the dark without lights or a map

While COVID-19 has had dramatic consequences on the wallets of ordinary people like us, the wealthiest have become richer during this pandemic.

Feds should make data a priority, tie it to new health funding.

Once we have standardized individual-level data on COVID cases, including factors like age, sex, neighbourhood, other diseases, the individual’s household composition, race, hospitalization rates, disease severity, and deaths, as the U.K. has been able to do for 17 million of its residents in near real time, then Canada will be able to support far more sophisticated analysis and projections to deal with the current top pandemic issues—not least, whether to open bars or schools, writes Michael Wolfson. Photograph courtesy of Pexels

12

OTTAWA—The world as we knew it before COVID-19 is gone and not likely to return.

In addition to the transformation being forced by the pandemic, the great power rivalry and economic decoupling between the United States and China have left Canada adrift in a world without the structure that has been the bedrock of Canadian foreign policy.

In the absence of American leadership, Canada needs to redouble its focus on key bilateral relationships. Traditional allies like the United Kingdom, France, and Australia will remain key. However, our low-profi le relation-ship with Japan offers considerable opportu-nity for stepping up collaboration to the benefi t of both countries.

Our two countries have much in common. They are strong and increasingly complicated economies that need much of what the other pro-duces. Both are parliamen-tary democra-cies, possess strong public health care systems, re-spect the rule of law, support multilateral-ism, have interesting and powerful neighbours, enjoy a web of free trade agreements and possess well-educated workforces. As the two largest players in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacifi c Partnership, we were just starting to leverage the opportunities presented by CPTPP before the pandemic struck.

The spread of the virus has disrupted some of the plans that were being formed, but it has also created both an opportunity and an im-perative for closer collaboration. As the world’s third-largest economy, Japan can be a crucial partner in the fi ght against COVID-19 and in protecting Canadian interests.

There are four main areas where we can work bilaterally to combat the pandemic.

First, preparing for a second wave of COV-ID-19 or future pandemics will take global col-laboration organized through the World Health

Organization (WHO). While the WHO’s han-dling of COVID-19 has been seriously fl awed, global pandemics require a global response. We need to reform the WHO, not abandon it. Japan is an even larger fi nancial contributor to the WHO than Canada and our two countries should work together to reform and strengthen the institution. We need to learn the lessons from COVID-19 and to increase transparency and information-sharing among members.

Secondly, we must increase our efforts to support trade fl ows of medical goods. The early days of the pandemic were marked by a scramble for governments and businesses to secure personal protective equipment. As economies continue to reopen, the acute need for these products will only grow.

Export controls enacted around the world became a huge problem as they disrupted the fl ow of medical supplies and equipment when they were needed most. Efforts to resolve this issue are currently at an early stage at the World Trade Organization, but Canada and Japan can take a leadership role through the Ottawa Group to develop transparent and predictable rules on the trade in medical prod-ucts. It’s in our mutual self-interest to ensure we have the supplies we need to protect our citizens.

Another area for joint activity is in sharing best practices. Fortunately, we don’t each have to fi gure out how to deal with the pandemic by ourselves. Instead, we can share best practices and learn what works and what doesn’t in other countries. The numbers show that the Japanese, despite living in one of the most densely populated countries, are among the world leaders in fl attening the curve. They have developed innovative ways of identifying and isolating new clusters, and their rate of

infections and deaths is one of the lowest reported. And, like Canadians, the Japanese have ready access to a modern health insur-ance system within a complex web of responsi-bilities at the municipal, provincial/prefecture and national levels.

Finally, our countries need

to continue our efforts to develop a vaccine. Japan has recently launched human clinical trials and the Japanese company, Medicago, is doing vaccination research in Canada. Deliver-ing vaccinations on a global scale will require an unprecedented global effort. As countries with some of the best scientifi c minds, bilateral cooperation can help us achieve our mutual goals that much more easily.

Canada has maintained a diplomatic relationship with Japan for more than 90 years, but that relationship remains underde-veloped. The current global environment has both created new opportunities to engage with one another and has made collaboration even more urgent.

Perrin Beatty is the president and chief executive offi cer of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

The Hill Times

Opinion


Perrin Beatty

Opinion

Japan can be Canada’s partner in combatting COVIDCanada has maintained a diplomatic relationship with Japan for more than 90 years, but that relationship remains underdeveloped.

Dear fellow PEN supporter,

I’m writing today to ask you to join me in donating to PEN Canada at this critical time.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, PEN Canada has experienced a 70 percent drop in fundraising revenues.

Like many human rights organizations, PEN’s ability to deliver the important work it does depends predominantly on private donations. Not surprisingly, this unprecedented decline in donations presents a significant challenge to the sustainability of PEN's work for the remainder of this fiscal year and perhaps its very survival in the future.

In these days of growing social and political inequity and unrest, we need more than ever to ensure that the voices of writers are heard. But without the support of donors like you and me, PEN Canada’s programs and indeed the organiza-tion itself are in real danger of collapse.

So today, I am pledging to match up to $25,000 in your donations until we reach our goal of $50,000.

Please join me in supporting PEN Canada. Share our message with your friends and colleagues on Facebook and Twitter.

Donate today and help us continue to celebrate literature, protect freedom of expression and ensure that our voices are heard.

PEN Canada • www.pencanada.ca401 Richmond St. W., Suite 258 Toronto, ON, M5V 3A8

PENCanadaCentre @PENCanada pen_canada

Sincerely,

Margaret Atwood

Honorary Vice-President, PEN International

Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne, pictured July 22, 2020, on the Hill. In the absence of American leadership, Canada needs to redouble its focus on key bilateral relationships. Traditional allies like the United Kingdom, France, and Australia will remain key. However, our low-profi le relationship with Japan offers considerable opportunity for stepping up collaboration to the benefi t of both countries, writes Perrin Beatty. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

13

LONDON, U.K.—“India is emo-tional as decades of wait has

ended,” declared India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, laying the cornerstone of a new temple in Ayodhya a week ago. “For years our Ram Lalla (the infant Lord Ram) lived beneath a tent; now he will reside in a grand temple.” As if infants cared about the size of their dwelling.

The 16th-century mosque that once stood on the site was destroyed by a Hindu mob in 1992, sparking riots that killed more than 2,000 people. Modi had visited the location the previous year, swearing not to return until the mosque was gone and a Hin-du temple was under construction on the site, and lo!—there he was laying a 40 kilogram foundation stone of pure silver for the new temple.

Does Narendra Modi really be-lieve that Rama, 7th avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, was born at this particular site in Ayodhya at 12:05 p.m. on Jan. 10, 5114 BC? As with any politician who exploits religion to gain power, we’ll never really know, and in any case it doesn’t matter.

What does matter is the exploitation, which is destroying the secular Indian democracy of the past. And, of course, not only Hindu extremists exploit religion: on Aug. 9, police opened fi re on Muslim demonstrators in Banga-lore, killing three, after local Mus-lim leaders spotted a Facebook post by a Hindu politician that allegedly “offended” the Prophet Muhammad. (Does he really take offence so easily?)

But there are six Hindus in India for every Muslim Indian, so

this is not going to end well for the Muslims. Indeed, it has al-ready ended very badly for some. Kashmir, the only Indian state with a Muslim majority, suddenly had its special status stripped away last August by Modi.

Kashmir has been split in two and is occupied by hundreds of thousands of Indian troops. Most of its politicians were kept under arrest for six months without charge, and the most senior ones have been charged under the Public Safety Act, which allows detention without trial for up to two years.

Five years ago, Indian-born artist Anish Kapoor called Prime Minister Modi a ‘Hindu Taliban,’ and Modi’s role in promoting an anti-Muslim pogrom that killed 2,000 (including some Hindus) when he was chief minister of Gujarat state in 2002 gave early evidence of his promise. But he was surprisingly low-key about religion during his fi rst term as prime minister of all India in 2014-19.

That went well economically, and Modi was rewarded with a landslide majority in the May, 2019 election—whereupon he dropped his mask of modera-tion and went on an anti-Muslim spree. Kashmir last August, Ayod-hya this August—and in between, a pair of new laws that threaten to take away the citizenship of many of India’s Muslims. (They’re less trouble if they can’t vote.)

One new law is the National Register of Citizens, which every-one must be inscribed in. To be reg-istered, however, you have to prove you are a citizen, which would pose a problem for many people who lack the necessary documents to prove they were born in India. It’s a particular problem for Muslims, who are on average poorer than Hindus, and therefore less likely to have such documents.

But never mind: the Citizen-ship Amendment Act, passed at the same time, says that most illegal immigrants and refugees will be allowed to register without such documents. Since undocu-mented people living in India will effectively be treated as illegal

immigrants, that will give them automatic citizenship if they are Hindu, Sikh, Christian or Bud-dhist. Muslims, however, do not get a free pass. No documents? Problems.

India can never expel 170 mil-lion Muslims. There’s nowhere else for them to go. The goal of Narendra Modi and his Hindu su-premacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP—Indian People’s Party) is to redefi ne them as an underclass without rights, and at the same time to preserve them as a per-manent ‘threat’ that keeps Hindus united behind the BJP.

Why do so many Hindus go along with this vicious nonsense? Because for about seven centuries waves of Muslim invaders from central Asia ruled over most of India. It ended in the 18th century with the establishment of British rule (which didn’t interfere with religion), but by then one-third of the population of the subconti-nent was Muslim.

Very few of today’s Muslims in India (or Pakistan or Bangladesh, for that matter) are descended from Central Asian conquerors. Most are descended from native-born Hindus who were forcibly

converted to Islam, or changed their religion later to escape the Hindu caste system or the higher taxes paid by non-Muslims, or even sometimes for genuinely religious reasons.

It was all a very long time ago, and it shouldn’t matter now. In a truly secular India, it wouldn’t matter, which is why the country’s founders insisted that it should be secular. But that’s not what Modi wants, and Modi is winning.

Gwynne Dyer’s new book is ‘Growing Pains: The Future of Democracy (and Work)’.

The Hill Times

Opinion


India: the weight of history Very few of today’s Muslims in India (or Pakistan or Bangladesh, for that matter) are descended from Central Asian conquerors. Most are descended from native-born Hindus who were forcibly converted to Islam, or changed their religion later to escape the Hindu caste system or the higher taxes paid by non-Muslims, or even sometimes for genuinely religious reasons. In a truly secular India, it wouldn’t matter, which is why the country’s founders insisted that it should be secular. But that’s not what Narendi Modi wants, and Modi is winning.

India can never expel 170 million Muslims. There’s nowhere else for them to go. The goal of Narendra Modi and his Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP—Indian People’s Party) is to redefi ne them as an underclass without rights, and at the same time to preserve them as a permanent ‘threat’ that keeps Hindus united behind the BJP, writes Gwynne Dyer. Photograph courtesy of Commons Wikimedia

Gwynne Dyer

Global Aff airs

14

OTTAWA—A hateful and invective-fi lled diatribe by a

man at Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna’s constituency offi ce—now being investigated by the Ottawa police hate crimes unit—is only the latest incident in a trend that should alarm every Canadian.

“This isn’t an isolated inci-dent,” McKenna said. “It’s not just involving me, my staff members, my family. Too often there are in-cidents against politicians, often female politicians.”

It’s been eight months since Montreal marked the 30th year since the murder by a Quebec man of 14 women at the École Polytechnique by offi cially nam-ing the incident for was what it was—an attack on feminists.

That recognition was a long-overdue but important reminder of the violence and hate-monger-ing, particularly against women, that is increasingly being seen here, and globally. But events since have only driven home in the most appalling way the need to take action on an extremely urgent basis to confront this prob-lem.

On April 18, Gabriel Wortman, a man with a history of abusing his common-law wife, assaulted her in an outburst that kicked off a murderous, 13-hour rampage in Nova Scotia, which led to the worst-ever mass killing in Cana-da, with 22 people murdered.

On July 2, a heavily armed Canadian Armed Forces member from Manitoba crashed his truck through the gate at Rideau Hall and crossed the grounds on foot toward Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s home. Besides alleged fi rearms violations, the man is accused of uttering a threat to “cause death or bodily harm” to the prime minister.

The Liberal government is moving to tighten fi rearms restrictions. Although welcome, that’s only a small part of the

overall effort that is required if Canadians are going to do some-thing serious about the poisonous scourge of hate and violence be-ing amplifi ed by political polar-ization and the extremism and dangerous conspiracy theories generated by social media—much of which is focused on politicians and women leaders.

There’s a direct line over the decades connecting the Mon-treal massacre to the outpouring of sexualized hate and threats against McKenna, which were of such concern last year that the government had to give her a security detail.

And this aggression echoes a worldwide phenomenon. No doubt U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated vilifi cation of his female opponents—as in suggesting rival Hillary Clinton should be jailed or maybe shot—has given licence to extremists everywhere. Globally, illiberal populist strongman governments in Poland, Brazil, Turkey, the Phil-ippines, and other countries have fl ourished as they built various strains of anti-feminism into their policies.

The overall picture is deeply disturbing. According to the World Health Organization, one in three women globally, and one in fi ve women in rich countries, have experienced sexual and/or physical violence from a partner or sexual violence from a non-partner.

In Canada, a Toronto man who was charged with fi rst-degree murder after a 2018 van attack, which killed 10 pedestrians, in-cluding eight women, told police

he was avenging his status as an incel (involuntary celibate), a term for men who blame society for their failure to attract women. The term became infamous in 2014 when a California man left a misogynistic manifesto after kill-ing six people.

Some analysts see anti-feminist messaging as a prime gateway for alienated young men transiting into the wider realm of extreme racism and poten-tially violent behaviour fuelled by conspiracy theories prominent on the web.

Speaking at the UN following the Christchurch, New Zealand, terrorist attack in early 2019, then-foreign affairs minister Chrystia Freeland said “neo-Nazis, white supremacists, incels, nativists, and radical anti-glo-balists who resort to violent acts are a threat to the stability of my country and countries around the world.”

The upsurge of extremism in Canada has gained momentum from the angry reaction in the West to the economic downturn in Alberta caused by the endur-ing oil price slump and resent-ment of non-Prairie Canadians’ attitudes on climate change, pipelines, and oil and gas devel-opment.

Alberta Premier Jason Ken-ney has politically weaponized these hard-done-by feelings, ac-cusing Trudeau of purposely and systematically putting Albertans at a disadvantage. Part of Ken-ney’s communications has been an attempt to demonize envi-ronmentalists as foreign-backed interlopers out to destroy his

province’s economic mainstay. Whipping up this kind of rancour has consequences, as McKenna might point out.

In this context, Kenney and outgoing Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, and his impend-ing successor, might want to think twice about their strategy of blaming Trudeau for all of Canada’s problems in the most personally vituperative manner possible. This approach obviously breeds hatred among alienated, angry people—the kind who call the prime minister a traitor or think it’s cute to wear T-shirts bearing threats to lynch him (the type of thing seen on Parliament Hill on July 1).

The Trudeau government is seized with the issue of gender-based violence and the need to do more to confront this hate-driven reality. An effective response will have to be wide-ranging, includ-ing more support for women’s shelters, improved legal protec-tions, a crackdown on online hate speech, education of judges in sexual assault law, and continued efforts to curb workplace harass-ment.

And the commitment will have to be long-term and vigorous enough to encourage real change. On guns, for instance, the power of the gun lobby is formidable, as the reaction to the Liberals’ outlawing of assault rifl es has shown. Besides Conservative party opposition, the new gun regulations have infl amed intense resentment among gun-owners wedded to their misguided U.S.-style obsession with military-style fi rearms.

And there’s no time to lose. A woman or girl is killed every 2.5 days in Canada, according to a report last year by the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability. And 90 per cent of the accused in these cases are men.

Les Whittington is a regular columnist with The Hill Times.

Editor’s note: This column was originally published on Dec. 11,

2019, and was updated last week.The Hill Times

Opinion


There’s a direct line over the decades connecting the Montreal massacre to the outpouring of sexualized hate and threats against Catherine McKenna, which were of such concern last year that the government had to give her a security detail.

Latest incident targeting McKenna underscores urgency of eff ort to curb gender violence

Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna, pictured Aug. 10, 2020, outside her Ottawa Centre constituency offi ce, addressing reporters following an incident at her constituency offi ce involving a man who launched into a invective-fi lled diatribe directed at her female staffer. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Les Whittington

Need to Know

15

the House Finance Committee, former Liberal strategists Greg MacEachern and John Delacourt, and pollsters Frank Graves and Nik Nanos about the way forward for a Liberal government weighed down by yet another ethics scan-dal.

Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion is investigating Prime Min-ister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) for the third time, as well as Finance Minister Bill Mor-neau (Toronto Centre, Ont.), after reporting by CanadaLand and the CBC in late June revealed that the two had close ties with the char-ity to which their government had awarded a sole-sourced contract to deliver hundreds of millions worth of aid to students during the pandemic.

The WE Charity paid hun-dreds of thousands of dollars to Mr. Trudeau’s immediate fam-ily members during his time as prime minister for speaking engagements, after telling other WE speakers that the organiza-tion didn’t pay for that service. Two of Mr. Morneau’s daughters have ties to WE as well. Neither Mr. Trudeau or Mr. Morneau re-cused themselves from a cabinet decision to approve handing the contract to WE. They have since apologized and the partnership between the federal government and the charity was ended be-cause of the controversy.

The government has said the decision to award the contract to WE was made by public servants alone, though Mr. Morneau’s of-fi ce and Youth Minister Bardish Chagger (Waterloo, Ont.) had

conversations with WE before that decision was made. Sev-eral executives and analysts in Canada’s charitable sector told The CBC in July that WE was not the only charity that could have delivered the student grant pro-gram, and in fact lacked experi-ence and some of the connections needed to do so.

Nearly half of Canadians polled by Léger and the Associa-tion for Canadian Studies at the end of July and beginning of August said they would support an election call if Mr. Dion fi nds that Mr. Trudeau has again vio-lated ethics laws. Mr. Trudeau was found to have broken ethics rules twice before during his time as prime minister—once over his va-cation on the Aga Khan’s private island, and more recently when he put pressure on former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould (Vancouver Granville, B.C.) to cut a deal to help Montreal’s SNC-La-valin to avoid a prosecution on corrup-tion charges.

Still, after a slight drop in the polls during the height of the contro-versy, the Liberals have rebounded. Polling by Nanos Research suggested support for the Liberals was at 36 per cent nation-wide as of Aug. 8, just two percent-age points below where it stood before the scandal. The Conserva-tives trailed at 30 per cent. Polling by Léger between Aug. 7 and Aug. 9 put the Liberals at 36 per cent and the Conservatives at 29 per cent. Poll-ing by Ekos Research in mid-July put the Liberals at 35 per cent support, and the Conservatives at 30.

Historically, parties in Canada with support in the high 30s or above at election time have a good chance of winning a major-ity government.

The WE scandal had a “corro-sive impact” on the public’s trust of Mr. Trudeau and the Liberal government, said Mr. Graves, the president of Ekos, but “it has not been catastrophic, and there’s some evidence that it has pla-teaued.”

“In the unlikely event that there was an election [now], they would win, probably pretty hand-ily,” Mr. Graves said.

With a minority Parliament, and a vow from Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet

(Beloeil-Chambly, Que.) to bring down the government, an election could come within the next year. However, the governing Liber-als have yet to deliver on almost any of their promises from the last election, after a slow start in Parliament and a quick pivot to managing the all-consuming COVID-19 pandemic.

The government needs to “reset the narrative” in federal politics, said Mr. Nanos, the chair of Nanos Reseach, “because right now the narrative is decidedly against them, because of the WE controversy and how it is a nega-tive overhang for them.”

For Mr. Easter, that should start with a federal budget. The govern-ment has not tabled a budget for 2020. Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Mor-neau have pointed to the fast-changing demands on government spending during the pandemic as the reason. Federal budgets are primarily political documents,

publicly pronouncing the govern-ment’s spending priorities, but are not required by law to be released.

“Absolutely we need a bud-get,” said Mr. Easter, who added that the Finance Committee had already received hundreds of sub-missions as part of its pre-budget consultations for 2021.

“All those issues should be laid out in a budget plan on how we’re going to move the country forward, and over time, how we’re going to address the costs that the pandemic has created,” he said.

Mr. Easter said it was “ridicu-lous” to call the WE charity story a scandal. “There has been no money misappropriated here, the name ‘scandal’ is very much an overreach,” he said.

Still, the government should take some action to show Canadi-ans that its most senior members have learned something from the controversy.

“It’s certainly serious errors in judgement at many levels along

the way,” said Mr. Easter, who said he was “shocked” by errors in “due diligence” by the Privy Council—the highest department in the federal public service—as well as among top political staffers in the government.

“They’re going to have to fi nd a way to message to the public that, for heaven’s sake, lessons [were] learned by some of our senior ministers. Lessons learned in the PMO and at cabinet level,” he said.

People in P.E.I. are more concerned with the state of the economy than the WE controver-sy, he said, and whether business-es that rely heavily on ordinarily prosperous summer months will survive until the next season.

“The government needs to make sure that the fi nancial secu-rity is going to be there through to the spring of 2021,” he said.

Focusing more on the eco-nomic recovery could help Mr.

Trudeau with male voters, a demographic where the Liberals are struggling to get ahead, and who typ-ically rank the economy and fi scal discipline as a higher pri-ority than do women, said Mr. Graves.

Ekos found the Liberals trailing among men in July, with 31 per cent support com-pared to 34 per cent for the Tories. Women were far more likely to

favour the Liberals—40 per cent versus 25 per cent for the Conser-vatives. Nanos Research showed similar fi gures earlier this month.

The Liberals can rebuild their image in part by highlighting any cooperation with some of the people and organizations that Canadians trust most, said Mr. MacEachern, whose fi rm, Proof Strategies, conducted a survey on that subject in April and May.

The survey found that munici-pal governments were deemed more trustworthy than other lev-els of government, and that doc-tors and scientists, who have been heavily involved in the national response to the pandemic, were among the most trusted people in the country.

Mr. Trudeau should also shuffl e his cabinet and senior staffers in the government, said Mr. MacEachern, to refocus the government on the pandemic re-covery. Mr. MacEachern, a Nova Scotia native, said Mr. Trudeau

should think about rewarding Atlantic Canada for its support for the Liberal government—Ekos put support for the Grits at 45 per cent in the region, Nanos at 54 per cent—and bring more than the customary four Atlantic min-isters into cabinet.

Mr. Easter said a cabinet shuffl e could help the government get its best team for the pandemic recovery in place.

“The prime minister has to look at where we are on CO-VID-19, where we are on recov-ery,” he said. “If there has to be some moving of the players, to emphasize certain abilities that individuals have in order to move us forward more progressively on a recovery plan, then you have a shuffl e,” said Mr. Easter.

A prorogation of Parliament would be another way to reset the agenda, said Mr. MacEachern.

Mr. Easter said a proroga-tion of Parliament was the last thing the country needed dur-ing a pandemic— “probably you need Parliament to be more in-volved”—unless it was only to last for a day before MPs returned. A prorogation would also trigger a Throne Speech and a confi dence vote, at a time when Mr. Blanchet has vowed to try to bring down the government.

Mr. Trudeau or Mr. Morneau could just as easily deliver a speech in the House of Commons, laying out the government’s re-newed priorities, without trigger-ing a confi dence vote, he said.

The Liberals should focus on initiatives that will gain support from the opposition in Parlia-ment, said Mr. Delacourt. He men-tioned pharmacare, a top priority for the NDP, as an example.

Plotting the country’s eco-nomic recovery will be the chief focus when the House returns, and fi nding consensus with the opposition “will be the overrid-ing tactical consideration,” said Mr. Delacourt, who served in the Liberal Research Bureau and Liberal leader’s offi ce in both government and opposition, and now works as a lobbyist for Hill and Knowlton.


New budget, cabinet would help Trudeau ‘reset’ the agenda, say Liberal insiders, pollster The WE scandal has had a ‘corrosive impact’ on the public’s trust of Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government, but ‘it has not been catastrophic, and there’s some evidence that it has plateaued,’ says pollster Frank Graves. Meanwhile, Grit MP Wayne Easter says his own government has to fi nd a way to message to the public that, ‘for heaven’s sake,’ lessons were learned ‘by some of our senior ministers.’

News


The province of Ontario, Canada’s economic engine, is now in a recession, the province’s fi nance minister, Rod Phillips, said on Aug. 12.

Alberta’s economy has been battered by both the COVID-19 pandemic and severe drop in oil prices, and businesses across the rest of the country are under pressure as well.

Liberal MP Wayne Easter said the dry weather and the end of the summer season has people in P.E.I.’s tourism, agricultural, and other seasonal industries worried.

The federal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has rolled out hundreds of billions worth of fi nancial relief measures for individuals and businesses to try to stem the damage done by the pandemic. Finance Minister Bill Morneau predicted in a fi scal update in July that Canada’s debt-to-GDP ratio would swell from 31 per cent to 49 per cent by the end of the 2020-21 fi scal year as a result.


Economy on the rocks

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, pictured on July 16, 2020. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

16

who belong to one of the four designated groups listed in the Employment Equity Act—women, Indigenous people, members of a vis-ible minority, and people with a disability—to self-identify, as part of their efforts to improve data collection and hiring practices.

The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, composed of 11 MPs and Senators and chaired by Liberal MP David McGuinty (Ottawa South, Ont.), focused on diversity and inclusion issues in the security and intelligence com-munity in its most recent annual report.

The report notes that one of the chal-lenges in the security and intelligence committee surrounds voluntary self-iden-tifi cation.

But the report also notes that “self-iden-tifi cation campaigns and internal commu-nications are [a] way organizations try to increase awareness on these issues,” and that the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), the Communications Secu-rity Establishment (CSE), and the Depart-ment of National Defence (DND) have conducted campaigns to “demystify the self-identifi cation process and encourage employees to self identify.”

The Hill Times reached out to the four organizations noted in the report for more information on how they have done that.

Communications Security Establishment

Diversity and inclusion is an important el-ement in ensuring that the Canadian security and intelligence community can effectively protect Canada, said Ryan Foreman, a media relations representative with the Communi-cations Security Establishment (CSE).

Mr. Foreman outlined a number of ini-tiatives undertaken by the CSE to encour-age self-identifi cation, including a 2017 push to increase organizational awareness of the requirements of the Employment Equity Act, and to explain how a diverse workforce strengthens CSE’s ability to deliver on its mandate.

“This included providing data to manag-ers, and developing strategies to attract job applicants from underrepresented groups,” said Mr. Foreman, who also noted that CSE launched a self-identifi cation campaign called “Show us what CSE is made of,” which was designed to encourage employ-ees to self-identify.

“The messaging for this campaign com-municated the importance of employment equity data and its impact on other orga-nizational initiatives, such as recruitment and training,” said Mr. Foreman. “Both the 2017 initiative and the self-identifi cation campaign started in 2018 are on-going.”

Canadian Security and Intelligence Community

“As Canada’s security and intelligence service, it is critical that CSIS refl ects the communities it protects, wrote CSIS spokesperson John Townsend in an email to The Hill Times. “To this end, CSIS has implemented an ongoing internal commu-nications campaign to encourage employ-ees who belong to one of the four designat-ed groups listed in the Employment Equity Act to self-identify.”

“The campaign includes an annual Employment Equity questionnaire among other tools to advise employees on the importance of self-identifi cation.”

Ninety per cent of CSIS employees have engaged with these tools, according to Mr. Townsend.

“The work of making CSIS more rep-resentative of Canada is never fi nished but our commitment is steadfast and our efforts continue,” wrote Mr. Townsend.

Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces

Staff at the Department of National Defence and members of Canadian Armed Forces have returned self-identifi cation forms at a greater rate this year than in the past, thanks to organizational efforts to spread the word about the importance of self-identifi cation, according to Major Smyth, spokesperson for DND.

The Employment Equity Act requires that every member be provided the op-portunity to self-identify as a member of a designated group, but it remains voluntary to do so.

As such, employment equity representa-tion rates are based on a voluntary process and may not represent the actual employ-ment equity representation in CAF, accord-ing to Mr. Smyth.

“Overall, the CAF continues to im-prove upon its self-identifi cation return rates,” said Mr. Smyth. “The fi rst part of the self-identifi cation form is a personal identifi cation portion. For this portion, the regular force achieved its highest return rate yet with 97.5 per cent of [members] having had the opportunity to self-identify as a member of a designated employment equity group.”

“While the return rates are lower in the primary reserve units, the CAF saw an overall increase in self-identifi cation as designated group members from both regular force and primary reserve mem-bers compared to 2017/18.”

“Current representation rates, as of July 2020, for the regular force and the pri-mary reserves combined, were as follows: women, 16 per cent; visible minorities, 9.3 per cent; and Indigenous Peoples, 2.8 per cent.”

DND/CAF did not identify the represen-tation of persons with disabilities in their response to The Hill Times.

The CAF works closely with Statistics Canada to ensure that “labour market data they provide, and upon which the CAF sets its employment equity representation rate goals, is refl ective of the unique occupa-tions and employment criteria of the CAF.”

“DND/CAF is committed to refl ecting the Canadian ideals of diversity, respect and inclusion. Both long and short term goals have been created, based on the la-bour market analysis provided by Statistics Canada. We review our progress regularly to ensure that we are always working to-wards increasing representation rates,” said Mr. Smyth.”

Canadian Border Services Agency The Canada Border Services Agency’s

campaign encouraging self-identifi cation began in 2017 and was repeated in 2018, according to Jacqueline Callin, spokesper-son with the agency.

“They stressed the importance of un-derstanding our workforce composition and reinforced that employee information would be protected. Recognizing that the Agency’s manual process might be con-tributing to response rates of 61 per cent, an online form was piloted with success in 2019 and was set to be launched in March 2020 as part of our ‘Your Voice Matters’ campaign. It has been postponed due to the current COVID-19 pandemic and current efforts are focused on how best to virtually promote self-identifi cation,” she said.

Employment Equity Act ‘has served Canada and the public service well,’ says expert

Andrew Griffi th, who is the former director general for Citizenship and Mul-ticulturalism and has worked for a variety of government departments in Canada and abroad, told The Hill Times that the Em-ployment Equity Act has served Canada and the public service well, and that the diversity of virtually every group has in-creased since the act was introduced.

“So the basic structure of the act, I think, has worked in the reporting struc-ture and the data collection, and the public-ity that comes with the results,” said Mr. Griffi th, who is a fellow of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute and Environics Institute.

“But if you re-open the act, I’m just not sure that it’s worth all that much effort, time, and invariable divisiveness and controversies that it will raise,” said Mr. Griffi th. “I’m thinking that if you want to use government time wisely, it would be more, I would think in terms of looking at specifi c anti-racism initiatives and looking at some of the specifi c barriers rather than a wholesale of revision of the act, because I think the challenge is less with the act and more with some of the practical stuff.”


Canada’s federal security and intelligence establishment encouraging employees to self-identify The Canadian Border Services Agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Communications Security Establishment, and the Department of National Defence have conducted a campaign to ‘demystify the self-identifi cation process and encourage employees to self identify.’

News


DIRECTOR, GOVERNMENT AND POLICY AFFAIRS(Term, November 2020 to January 2022, Maternity/Parental Leave Replacement, Ottawa)

ABOUT THE CMPA: The Canadian Media Producers Association is the national advocacy organization for independent producers, representing hundreds of companies engaged in the development, production, and distribution of English-language content made for television, cinema, and digital media channels. We work to promote the continued success of the Canadian production sector and to ensure a bright future for the diverse content made by our members for both domestic and international audiences.

This high-profile position requires the incumbent to represent the CMPA and its key objectives to high-level government officials and policymakers. The incumbent will also advise senior CMPA executives on the implications of proposed legislation, regulation and other public policy initiatives at both the federal and provincial levels, and provide recommendations on an appropriate response. The Director will also support the policy work of the CMPA senior staff, as required.

As the successful candidate you will hold a Bachelor’s degree from a recognized university or an equivalent level of professional experience working in government affairs or public administration either provincially or federally and will possess at least seven (7) years of professional experience working in government affairs or public administration at either the provincial or federal level. You will have a thorough understanding of the functioning of Parliament and the legislative process and have successfully managed the work of external lobby firms and consultants. You will also have a proven background of building and maintaining effective working relationships with elected officials and with your colleagues. Further, you will have developed a solid track record of building and executing on successful advocacy initiatives including such activities that sought to engage and mobilize constituencies at the grassroots level. You will have superior communication skills (oral and verbal) in English, with French as a significant asset. Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to think and act strategically are critical in this position. Some travel is required.

Note: Due to the nature of the duties and responsibilities of the position, only candidates not bound by both the Conflict of Interest and Post-Employment Code for Public Office Holders and the relevant Rules for Former Reporting Public Office Holders under the Conflict of Interest Act will be considered for this position.

A detailed job description is available on our website at www.cmpa.ca. Eligible applicants may submit a CV and cover letter by August 25, 2020 to Debra Bullis, Office Coordinator at [email protected] with the subject line: Director, Government and Policy Affairs.

CAREERS


David Vigneault is the director of CSIS, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. Like other security and intelligence agencies, CSIS is encouraging its employees to self-identify if they are women, Indigenous, disabled, or members of a visible minority. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

https://cmpa.ca/cmpa_career/director-government-and-policy-affairs/

The Great Rebuilding Part 3A Special Report on Canada’s Economic Recovery

Procurement eyed as vehicle for tech stimulus, driving

innovation p. 18

Sweden’s COVID-19 crisis is a care home crisis, and so is ours

p. 21

Justin Trudeau has no plan to restart our

economy: Scheer p. 22

Who should bear the costs of COVID-19?

p. 23

Are we letting this crisis go to waste?

p. 24

How Canada’s international trade

commitments can be utilized for Indigenous businesses challenged

by the COVID-19 recession

p. 25

Intergovernmental relations and the

pandemic p. 26

Wealth tax is key to a green, just recovery

and long overdue p. 27

Fiscal federalism: driving in the dark

without lights or a map p. 27

The Hill Times Aug. 17, 2020

BY AIDAN CHAMANDY

As Canada’s tech sector grapples with the fallout of

COVID-19, more nimble federal procurement practices are being eyed as a lever to stimulate the sector’s recovery, particularly among small- and medium-sized businesses, and to drive innova-tion in the public and private sectors.

The marketDocuments released to the

House Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates show how lucrative the potential tech procurement market is in Canada. In fi scal year 2018-19, Ottawa spent nearly $7-billion on tech procurement. The documents, however, only include responses from 47 of the more than 100 federal depart-ments and agencies. Shared Services Canada was by far the single-largest technology pur-chaser, accounting for nearly $2.5-billion that year.

A 2017 study from the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa found that the federal government is the largest purchaser of goods and services in Canada, accounting for some $23-billion in spending in 2017, according to a report from the Government Operations Committee in June 2018.

The documents were tabled in response to a question from Conservative MP Ziad Aboultaif (Edmonton Manning, Alta.), his party’s digital government critic, back in February, when he asked Glenn Purves, assistant secretary of expenditure management sec-tor at Treasury Board, for a copy of reports on the department’s information-technology spending for the 2018-19 fi scal period.

Each department provides this information annually to the Treasury Board through the chief

information offi cer “around the end of September” according to Feb. 27 testimony from Karen Cahill, assistant secretary and chief fi nancial offi cer at Treasury Board.

The new realityFederal procurement practices

have changed dramatically since the onset of the pandemic, ini-tially due to the high demand for personal protective equipment, and have “demonstrated that the government can be more nimble,” said Barbara Orser, a professor in the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa. Prof. Orser has written several aca-demic papers and reports on gov-ernment procurement in Canada and the United States.

“The pandemic arrived and got it done,” she said.

On May 3, Procurement Minister Anita Anand (Oakville, Ont.) an-nounced a supply advi-sory council that included members of the private and non-profi t sectors. Although the council was initially billed as be-ing primar-ily focused on “masks, gloves, and disinfectants,” according to the accompanying press release, Prof. Orser said the enhanced collaboration “should be the new norm.”

“What this is demonstrating to small businesses is the ex-cuses that have been given for years about why we can’t change procurement practices don’t hold water. This is a signal that govern-ment can be nimble. All small businesses are looking for this,” Prof. Orser said.

She added that the private sec-tor also “isn’t just a token element of procurement policy, but really helps design and comment on delivery of procurement policy.”

These joint committees, Prof. Orser said, help to create “pro-cesses that are fair and equitable and effi cient, but also ensure that small and medium sized business-es are securing contracts.”

Angela Mondou, president and CEO of Technation, formerly the Information Technology As-sociation of Canada, an industry organization representing tech fi rms of all sizes, has been a key player in this new procurement environment.

Ms. Mondou is part of a work-ing group made up of businesses of all sizes across the industry that’s working with government, including PSPC and industry department, to modernize the procurement strategy.

Before the pandemic, the industry experienced diffi culties with the administrative side of the request-for-proposal process and procurement timelines not syncing with the latest industry developments, according to Ms. Mondou.

“RFPs generally are inches deep in height. It may take the government two years to develop solid, detailed requirements of the technology they want to procure, and then it goes out to the tech sector,” she said. “There are only certain sized companies with teams, project manager, resources and the time and capability to then respond to an RFP. It does not allow for the inclusivity of small- and medium-sized enter-prises.”

Another issue has been with the rapidity of technological changes. If the federal govern-ment spends time fi guring out what to buy, then drafting and issuing the proposal, is “possibly out of date.”

Challenge-based procure-ment, she said, is the best route

for meeting the needs of both parties.

“Challenge-based procure-ment is non-proscriptive. It’s the government saying, ‘Here’s our problem we need you to help us solve. You come back to us with your recommendations on that,’ ” she said. “They might get 10 great recommendations and then work through the data far more effec-tively and getting the technology innovators and experts coming back with a leading-edge solu-tion.”

ISG Senator Colin Deacon (Nova Scotia) agreed.

Government should “really carefully specify the problem and the constraints the government is working within, versus specifying the solution,” he said.

The government had taken this route be-fore the pan-demic, but Ms. Mondou said the increased collaboration with industry during the pandemic has proven useful.

The federal government isn’t sim-ply “putting up on a site [that says]: ‘Here’s a challenge; come to us in a month.’ They’re actu-ally work-ing with us to drive outreach, to ensure the tech sector knows about

the challenge,” Ms. Mondou said.Knowing federal procure-

ment opportunities are out there is a big issue for all small- and medium-sized enterprises, but particularly so for tech fi rms. In the 2017 Telfer study, SMEs cited the complexity of the contracting process, the costs, the diffi culty in fi nding opportunities and meeting requirements as obstacles to sell-ing to the government much more than other industries.

More than 52 per cent of tech SMEs said fi nding contracting opportunities was one of the main obstacles. SMEs in transportation and warehousing were the next highest, coming it at just under 39 per cent.

Continuing along this more collaborative path, Ms. Mondou said, would allow the govern-

ment to leverage “procurement as stimulus.”

For Hamid Arabzadeh, president and CEO of the Ottawa-based tech fi rm Ranvous, get-ting a government contract also allows for more innovation and opens the door for Canadian tech SMEs to break into other mar-kets.

“Once the Canadian govern-ment signs behind you, then then you can actually get more support from other Canadian govern-ment agencies to be able to go beyond the scope and innovate and generate more IP [intellectual property],” he said. He added that securing a government contract in Canada serves as a quasi-vetting process that begets more confi dence in the company from foreign investors and govern-ments.

Growth halted by pandemic

COVID-19 has caused slow-downs in the tech industry. In a survey by the Council of Ca-nadian Innovators, nearly half of Canadian tech companies said their company has experi-enced a drop in value directly tied to the pandemic.

The Canadian tech sector was exceeding expectations before the pandemic, according to a 2017 government survey.

That survey suggested that the Canadian tech sector had more than 43,000 companies and 666,000 employees. Just under 99 per cent of Canadian tech com-panies were small- and medium-sized businesses, defi ned as employing fewer than 100 people. There are approximately 105 large fi rms, defi ned as employing over 500 people, including sub-sidiaries of foreign multinational corporations, according to the 2019 Information and Communi-cation Technology Snapshot from the Department of Innovation, Science, and Economic Develop-ment.

The sector has been grow-ing rapidly year over year. In 2019 alone, the tech sector grew in terms of total revenue, GDP contribution, goods and ser-vices exports, and research and development spending. Despite employing just 3.6 per cent of the Canadian workforce, the sector contributed nearly fi ve per cent ($94-billion) of total GDP, more than 15 per cent ($11.5-billion) of services exports, and more than 40 per cent ($7.5-billion) of busi-ness research and development spending.

For Sen. Deacon, the only way to address the government’s fi nancial issues, while stimulating the economy is through disruptive technologies.

“We’re going to have to fi nd more effective and cost effi cient ways of doing things if we’re going to address this massive budget defi cit that will continue as a result of COVID,” he said. “We have to stimulate private sector growth and government produc-tivity growth. The only way to do that is to bring is disruptive technologies and disruptive ap-proaches.”


Tech sector eyes procurement as way to stimulate business Documents released to the House Government Operations Committee give a glimpse into how lucrative the federal technology procurement space is.

18

The Great Rebuilding IIIMONDAY, AUGUST 17, 2020 | THE HILL TIMES

The work of Procurement Minister Anita Anand, pictured June 2, 2020, speaking with reporters in the West Block, during the pandemic has demonstrated federal procurement can be more nimble, says University of Ottawa professor Barbara Orser. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

As a trusted partner, Taiwan has had the honour of standing

From Outbreak Through Recovery, Taiwan Can Help

The cloth mask has become the pre-eminent symbol of

life in the COVID era. Masks are everywhere now, and as they become ingrained in our daily social routines, they can even begin to grow on us. They come in all sizes and colours, often in beautiful patterned fabrics. Many carry a message or slogan. Some are homemade, some are design-er-stitched. We start to recognize

friends and colleagues by their masks. And the more ubiquitous they become, the more effective they are at hindering the spread of coronavirus.

Cloth masks have enabled our individual and collective lives to take an important step towards normalcy, and provided some helpful stability to the process of reopening of our economy.

They also happen to be the re-sult of a massive and coordinated international scientifi c inquiry, one that would have been highly improbable just six months ago.

At the outset of the pandemic, it was unclear whether cloth masks were effective at stopping the spread of COVID-19, because no one had studied the issue. Like so much of COVID-era sci-ence, the study of masks quickly became a kind of relay race, with one scientifi c discipline handing its results off to the next. Environ-

mental scientists and engineers teamed up with infectious disease researchers to conduct simula-tions in chambers with fl uores-cent dyes, calculating the distance that COVID aerosols and droplets could travel. Materials scientists then conducted experiments using different types of fabric in different combinations and thick-nesses to determine which were most effective at preventing the virus from spreading. Behaviour-ists studied the social barriers and incentives to wearing masks. And mathematicians constructed models based upon all those re-sults, to predict masking’s impact on disease transmission.

At every step, researchers pub-lished their fi ndings openly, and every subsequent step was taken up and built upon by scientifi c teams around the world. Some of those teams were already in place, but many others came together rapidly, as scientists mo-bilized and cobbled together the expertise needed to help manage the pandemic.

And as it went with masks, so it has gone with nearly every aspect of COVID science. New types of ventilators are now being manufactured thanks to the work of respirologists, physicists and design and process engineers. The procedure for the decontamina-

tion of N95 medical masks was the combined work of materials scientists, microbiologists and en-gineers. Testing technologies were developed thanks to the work of virologists, geneticists, and biochemists; from there, public health physicians and epidemi-ologists established the test-trace-isolate model for containing the virus’ spread. Throughout the pandemic, these efforts have been supported by substantial, tar-geted government investment in COVID-related research.

Over the past few months, as the Government of Canada has sought out reliable information on how best to manage the pan-demic, Canada’s scientists came forward to lend their expertise. I was struck by the sense of ur-gency displayed by my peers from all disciplines, across industry and academia, as they devoted their time and energy to assisting policy-makers. Across my 30-year career as a scientist, I had never seen anything of that intensity. Others in government, with de-cades of experience in the public service, told me much the same.

That same measure of com-mitment is now being applied to the search for COVID treatments, whether in the form of vaccines to prevent infection or antiviral drugs to slow the disease’s course

and alleviate its lingering ef-fects. And thus far, we are seeing remarkable progress at a pace never seen before. But even with every effort to shorten timelines, mass vaccination is unlikely to happen before late 2021.

The novel coronavirus will be with us for months to come. We will all remain vulnerable to its spread, and we must continue to fi ght it, to-gether, with the means that we have.

We all want a full return to normalcy, to a life in which CO-VID is of no more concern than the seasonal fl u. I am confi dent that science will get us there. In the meantime, science has shown what we can all do to help: mask-ing, physical distancing, frequent hand-washing, and reduced social circles can slow the spread of the virus to a trickle.

These measures are a sig-nifi cant departure from our usual social habits, and they feel like a sacrifi ce. But they are also simple actions, easily adaptable by one and all in our daily routines. When we adopt them together they become a signal of our care and respect for one another, and when those values take hold we are certain to win the fi ght.

Dr. Mona Nemer is the chief science adviser to Canada’s prime minister.

The Hill Times

Mona Nemer

Opinion

20


How science is bringing Canada back to life Canada’s scientists stepped up like never before during the COVID-19 pandemic, helping to fl atten the curve and pave the way towards reopening. But with vaccines still months away, researchers are also showing us how to live safely with the virus in our midst.

Canada’s Chief Medical Offi cer Theresa Tam, pictured June 16, 2020, arriving for that day’s daily press conference in West Block. We all want a full return to normalcy, to a life in which COVID is of no more concern than the seasonal fl u. I am confi dent that science will get us there. In the meantime, science has shown what we can all do to help: masking, physical distancing, frequent hand-washing, and reduced social circles can slow the spread of the virus to a trickle, writes Canada’s chief science adviser to the prime minister Mona Nemer. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

TORONTO—“The Swedish experiment has failed,” countless headlines admon-

ished us. Sweden has a higher COVID-19 death rate relative to its population than its neighbours, almost on par with Eng-land and Italy. In Denmark, Finland, and Norway, far fewer people per million have fallen victim to the virus. These countries locked down completely while the Swedes allegedly took a gamble.

Unfortunately, this story does not fi t with the facts—the Swedes did act. High schools and universities were closed. Large events were cancelled. Public health rec-ommendations about social distancing and working from home as much as possible were issued. Primary schools and daycares stayed open, reasoning that vulnerable children would be better off there than cooped up without supervision or worse, with abusive parents. Senior citizens were asked to avoid venturing out as much as possible. Non-urgent medical procedures were postponed to free up hospital space. The Swedish government treated citizens as responsible adults who would follow public health guidelines voluntarily. And, by and large, they have done so. Traffi c in Stockholm went down almost as much as in Toronto. Yes, Swedes still meet in groups of friends, but if the noise level around my backyard is any guide, many Torontonians are also taking an increasingly relaxed view of social distancing.

So why the high death rate? First, let’s attempt a fair comparison. Why only look at Scandinavia and Finland? In Canada, the provinces manage health policy. We could compare Quebec, which has a population of 8.4 million, with Sweden, and its population of 10.2 million: both have left-leaning values, generous social pro-grams, great hockey players and ice-cold winters. We can work out that Quebec had 677 deaths per million against Sweden’s 566. Even Ontario’s 193 deaths per million looks worrying compared to Finland’s 60. What’s more, Sweden’s COVID-19 daily fatality fi gures (though not cases) are now in the single digits with fewer than 35 people in intensive care. We could also look at “excess deaths,” the deaths from all causes. Governments might miscount COVID-19 victims, but democracies do not undercount deaths in general. The EU’s early warning system tracks this fi gure precisely to identify possible pandemics even before a pathogen is identifi ed. On that measure, too, Sweden is long back to normal numbers.

What really happened in Sweden? Much like in Canada, in Sweden, the

majority of deaths occurred in long-term care homes. It turns out that lock-ing down econo-mies did little to protect the frail and elderly. In the majority, Swedes do not ask, “why didn’t we shut down as well?” They ask, “how can it be that in our world-renowned welfare state, care homes turn into morgues?” And

indeed, care homes in Sweden are often run by companies for profi t, much like here in Canada—but unlike in Denmark or Norway, where non-profi ts, churches and the state take on this responsibility.

As Canadians, we should be just as hon-est with ourselves and our politicians that our “decisive action” failed to protect the old. For all we know, the coronavirus is a small risk for the young, dangerous to the old, but truly lethal if you are in a care home. It took the Canadian Forces to bring the horren-dous care home conditions to light. Painful as it may be, let us not take our gaze off too quickly. Could we hold those responsible to account? When we are emerging from the pandemic, can we start thinking in earnest about how we pay for decent standards of care in an aging society? Not only will most of us grow old in future, but we owe it to our elders in the present.

Mark Manger is associate professor of political economy and global affairs at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto.

The Hill Times

Sweden’s COVID-19 crisis is a care home crisis, and so is ours As Canadians, we should be just as honest with ourselves and our politicians that our ‘decisive action’ failed to protect the old.

21

The Great Rebuilding IIITHE HILL TIMES | MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 2020

Mark Manger

Opinion

Meet the Citizens of Burin, Newfoundland. They want to be a Testing Ground for Financial Services at the Post Office.

The town of Burin sits on a peninsula of some of the world’s oldest bedrock and is part

of Newfoundland’s rich history of fishing settlements dating back to the seventeenth century. In 1929, an earthquake shook the Grand Banks and a powerful tidal wave washed over Burin, the second largest seismic event ever recorded in North America.

Postmaster Noreen Banfield sees this view from her tiny post office every day. Unfortunately, she and other Burin residents are also seeing cuts gradually erode the postal service. In 2014 and again in 2016, Canada Post cut the Burin PO’s opening hours, downgrading its services and losing a job for the community.

The people of Burin have also lost their bank. In 2017, after over a century in the community, the Bank of Nova Scotia closed its doors, costing the town an estimated $27,000 in business revenues. They now have to travel 20 km to Marystown to do their banking. Elderly residents who don’t drive are losing their independence. For Noreen and other Burin residents, it makes sense to expand the services her post office can offer the town by increasing hours and staff to offer financial services.

That possibility is now closer to reality because Canada Post has agreed

to work with the Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association, the union representing rural post office workers, to study and test financial services in several pilot projects.

The closure of institutions such as post offices and bank branches in rural communities eventually starves them

of the resources they need to keep thriving. Consolidating postal and financial services would give a boost to both types of infrastructure, helping to rebuild historic places like Burin for generations to come.

A message from the Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association.

acmpa.cacpaa.ca

It took the Canadian Forces to bring the horrendous care home conditions to light. Painful as it may be, let us not take our gaze off too quickly. Could we hold those responsible to account? When we are emerging from the pandemic, can we start thinking in earnest about how we pay for decent standards of care in an aging society? Not only will most of us grow old in future, but we owe it to our elders in the present, writes Mark Manger. Photograph courtesy Cpl. Myki Poirier-Joyal/DND?Canadian Forces

The last fi ve months have tested Canadians. Millions

have lost their jobs, more than 100,000 people got sick, and sadly thousands have died. Businesses were forced to close their doors, and many have never reopened. Too many watched their life savings dry up before their eyes and as a result are facing serious fi nancial hardship.

From the very beginning of the pandemic, Conservatives have been focused on getting Canadi-ans the help they need. We recog-nized that the biggest economic crisis on record necessitated a serious Team Canada response. We rolled up our sleeves and pro-posed constructive solutions to improve government legislation and programs. Our focus was, and is, on ensuring that families, busi-nesses and workers get the sup-port they need and ensuring that no one falls through the cracks.

Conservatives were successful in signifi cantly increasing the wage subsidy from just ten percent to seventy-fi ve percent. We secured more COVID-19 support for seniors, students and expectant mothers. We demanded the Liberals support farmers, fi sh and seafood harvest-ers, and Canada’s oil and gas sector. And we put forward proposals to make the Canada Emergency Re-

sponse Benefi t (CERB) more fl ex-ible so that no one is penalized for going back to work, and to make it easier for businesses to access the Canada Emergency Business Ac-count (CEBA).

As provinces started to re-open, Canadians were optimistic about their futures and eager to go back to work. Since May, we have seen three consecutive months of rising employment, un-derlining the power of the private sector and the resiliency of the Canadian workforce. But there is still a long way to go.

The Trudeau government’s Economic and Fiscal ‘Snapshot’ painted a dire picture of Canada’s fi nances. A $343-billion defi cit, a $1-trillion debt, and absolutely no plan to help Canadians get back to work or to restart our economy.

Despite spending more money than any other G7 country during the pandemic, except Germany, Canada is falling behind under Justin Trudeau. We have the high-est unemployment rate in the G7, we lost our AAA credit rating and we are the only G7 country without a recovery plan. In fact, we have among the highest unem-ployment rates in the OECD, fall-ing fourth right behind Greece.

To understand why, you only have to look at the Trudeau govern-

ment’s troubled business support programs, which have failed mil-lions of businesses, forcing them to close or to fend for themselves as revenues collapsed. The wage subsidy paid out less than a quarter of what the government expected, the $40,000 CEBA is too small to help companies facing six months of massive revenue declines, the rental subsidy doesn’t work because it requires the approval of landlords, businesses can’t access the Business Credit Availability Program (BCAP) loans unless they meet stringent criteria, and not a single business has received funds from the government’s Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility (LEEFF).

As a result, we are now facing a second wave of bankruptcies. Restaurants Canada is warning that half of all restaurants could fail in this country. The Canadian Federation of Independent Busi-ness is warning that 14 per cent of Canada’s small businesses, 158,000 enterprises, could shut permanently.

Today, every Canadian business association is pleading for a “pivot” away from the life support of CERB and wage subsidies, towards investments, tax cuts and regula-tory improvements that will build competitiveness, and make Canada

a better place to invest and rebuild. Coming out of the pandemic, every single country on the planet will be desperately competing for the same opportunities and the same investments. So where is Justin Trudeau’s plan to set us apart?

To be competitive, we need to unleash the power of the private sector and help get workers and local businesses back on their feet as quickly as possible. That is why Conservatives announced the back to work bonus, a CERB top-up that would give workers the support they need to transi-tion back into the workforce. We understand that the private sector is vital to our economic recovery.

As provinces and territories continue to reopen, Canadians want to work, and businesses want to reopen and welcome back staff and customers. They are determined to rebuild and are coming up with innovative new ways to offer services.

The biggest misconception right now on the economy is that if we simply lift the restric-tions and provinces reopen, our economy will come roaring back to life. The reality is, it will take leadership, big ideas, and a lot of hard work.

Throughout this pandemic, Conservatives have been focused on helping Canadians. Mean-while, Justin Trudeau has been wrong or slow to act. Now he has no plan to restart our economy. So you who do you trust to lead us through the recovery?

Conservative Leader An-drew Scheer represents Regina-Qu’Appelle, Sask.

The Hill Times

The biggest misconception right now on the economy is that if we simply lift the restrictions and provinces reopen, our economy will come roaring back to life. The reality is, it will take leadership, big ideas, and a lot of hard work.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer

Opinion

22


Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, pictured on July 8, 2020, at a press conference in the West Block ahead of the release of the economic and fi scal snapshot. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Justin Trudeau has no plan to restart our economy: Scheer

TORONTO—This is not a normal economic crisis. The

pain has been distributed un-evenly—and arbitrarily. Those who have suffered most were not, for the most part, reckless, poorly prepared or irresponsible. Overwhelmingly, it has been a matter of luck. The bad luck has been concentrated among those in face-to-face sectors, and those with more insecure contracts—disproportionately women, younger workers, vis-ible minorities and those with lower-incomes. Meanwhile, a smaller minority—often already wealthy—have seen their wealthand profi ts expand further. Absent substantial and contin-ued support, vulnerable groups will likely exit the crisis worseoff than when it began, and our country will be more unequal.

But that does not need to be the case. A crisis like this al-lows for new ways of thinking. Concerns about moral hazard in providing large-scale and contin-ued support to the worst affected are limited. Instead of safety nets, we can and should be thinking in terms of burden sharing—about how we ensure that the weight of this crisis, of no one’s making, is truly shared more broadly.

Deciding how to share that burden isn’t just a technical exercise, but a broader statement about what we value as a society. Do we accept that we will soon live in a more unequal society be-cause of the crisis? That women’s equality, or that of visible mi-norities, will be set back? That, relatively speaking, the crisis will make the rich richer, and the poor poorer? Or do those of us

who have struggled less have a corresponding responsibility to do more?

Doing more would mean sup-porting larger and more sustained programs to support those worst affected—large enough, at mini-mum, to avoid any enduring in-crease in inequality. This requires a willingness, collectively, to pay for that additional support.

What should a strategy to pay for a broader response to the cri-sis look like? Governments have been reluctant to discuss revenue raising in the midst of the crisis. But as the economic downturn continues, serious discussion of revenue raising now appears to be on the horizon. Those discus-sions should be guided not only by concerns about economic effi ciency, but by principles that refl ect the uniqueness of the cri-sis, and its impacts.

First, openness. We will need open dialogue about adequate responses, and who should bear those costs. There has been a temptation to argue that the bill will never fully come due: govern-ments of rich countries can carry additional one-off debt increases, at historically low interest rates, and emerge from that debt through growth and infl ation. But these rosy predictions disguise likely future needs. Economic

support programs will likely need to continue for years, not months. Growth will be slow to resume. While infl ation can reduce the defi cit as a share of GDP, it is the worst kind of tax—invisible, and often regressive. If we don’t turn our focus to raising new revenues it will be refl ected in reduced services – including within cash strapped municipalities – with the impacts felt most acutely by those already suffering most from the crisis. Now is the time to think se-riously about the future revenue needed to prevent an expansion of poverty and inequality.

Second, burden sharing. We should ask more of those who have been least affected. This is primarily a question of tax policy: those who have kept well paid jobs, or whose companies have fl ourished, can afford to pay a bit more tax in order to fund broader support. When the crisis fi rst hit the International Monetary Fundand OECD suggested “solidarity surcharges” on top incomes and on higher than normal corporate prof-its. This remains a compelling idea. Strengthening taxation of digital fi rms in particular—including through international tax reform—should also be central to this story. Contrary to blanket statements that taxes would harm growth and recovery, such measures would

pose little threat to the economy: if used to fund transfers to lower-in-come groups, who are more likely to spend their income. They may actually stimulate demand and eco-nomic recovery.

This same logic of burden sharing applies within large orga-nizations. Currently, one group of employees is likely to bear almost all of the costs of layoffs and fur-loughs, while others remain rela-tively unaffected. Genuine burden sharing would mean that those who have remained employed make sacrifi ces—including tem-porary salary sacrifi ces—in order that others keep their jobs. Across industries we have seen examples of salary sacrifi ces from small business owners, executives and better paid employees. Landlords providing rent relief have done the same. If the crisis continues, more will be warranted. That is what healthy burden sharing looks like in practice.

Third, solidarity: it’s crisis of no one’s making that risks lasting damage to our collective well-being, demands increased contributions from those most able to pay—designed in ways that are least likely to deepen the recession. Wealth taxes, though not without challenges, have been advocated by many—in-cluding the IMF—as a means to

address the immediate crisis, and the longer-term rise in the concentration of wealth around the world. Others have advocated for increased rates of property tax for high-value properties, increased taxes on capital gains or increases in top income tax rates. Enhanced carbon taxes, with rebates targeted specifi cally to lower-income groups, could combine achievement of the same goals with tackling the urgent threat of climate change.

There are no easy answers about how precisely to share the burden of the crisis. More detailed policy discussions are needed. A good starting point would be to agree that when we ask, “Who should bear the costs of COV-ID-19?” we can collectively answer “All of us, equitably.” Historically, countries have frequently levied new taxes, particularly on the best off, in times of wartime mobiliza-tion—and have found expanded public support for doing so. Those moments of national mobiliza-tion—and innovation—are the best guide to our current response.

Wilson Prichard is an associ-ate professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto, and CEO of the International Centre for Tax and Development.

The Hill Times

Who should bear the costs of COVID-19? There are no easy answers about how precisely to share the burden of the crisis. More detailed policy discussions are needed. A good starting point would be to agree that when we ask, ‘Who should bear the costs of COVID-19?’ we can collectively answer ‘All of us, equitably.’

23


Wilson Prichard

Opinion

Contrary to blanket statements that taxes would harm growth and recovery, such measures would pose little threat to the economy: if used to fund transfers to lower-income groups, who are more likely to spend their income. They may actually stimulate demand and economic recovery, writes Wilson Prichard. Photograph courtesy of Pexels

TORONTO—We are in the midst of one of the great-

est health and economic crises in more than a century. Policy-makers and business leaders are struggling to fi gure out how we can get the economy back on track while at the same time keeping people safe. We all are wishing we could “get back to normal,” but we have to remember that the old “normal” wasn’t great for everyone.

While we once had thought that the pandemic would be the great leveller because viruses don’t see wealth or gender or race, it turns out that, in fact, COVID-19 has laid bare the eco-nomic and social inequalities in our society.

In Canada, the people most likely to be affected by both the economic downturn and the threat of illness are those at the bottom of the income ladder, particularly women, Indigenous people and racialized minorities.

In Toronto, for example, the poorest neighborhoods are the hardest hit. And, when the strict stay-at-home orders were put in place, it led to an immediate decrease in cases in the wealthi-est neighborhoods, but not else-where. This is because those in poorer areas cannot afford to stay at home. If they were not laid off, their jobs are more likely to be in service industries or care work that put their bodies in harm’s way. They often cannot afford to have groceries delivered and may live in housing situations that put them in direct contact with many other people.

So, in some ways, nothing could be worse than a return to normalcy. We need instead to think about how the grand rebuild that we are undertaking as a country, and as a world, can create a better, more equal society in which we heal the fractures that the coronavirus revealed.

One thing we know about crises: we are able to do things we

never thought were possible. We can make changes that had been resisted in calmer moments. At my own employer, the Rotman School of Management, we had debated for years about whether we should add any online offerings for our courses. Imagine many (many!) committee meetings, studies and reports. Then, over one weekend in March, we moved all of our programs to online learning. Crises reveal that radical change is possible.

The Black Death in Europe in the mid-1300s created the condi-tions for the Renaissance. We have the opportunity to use this crisis to create our own rebirth. We can build back better.

As Arundhati Roy has written in her new essay, “The Pandemic is a Portal,” the pandemic is a chance to imagine the world anew. “It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next. We can choose to walk through

it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our ava-rice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little lug-gage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fi ght for it.”

But, our window is short. If we don’t embed principles of gender equality, racial justice, and sustain-ability into the government and corporate recovery plans, we will have gone back to an “old normal,” only one that has been degraded by our experience in the pandemic. Our country will be worse off, not the same as in the past.

A more just recovery will also create a more resilient economy as we prepare ourselves for a 21st century that will bring only more crises, driven by global warming, political uncertainties and dislocations created by tech-nological advance.

As a proud immigrant to Can-ada and a newly minted Cana-dian citizen, I believe that Canada can be a global beacon of light if we get our recovery right.

For government policy-mak-ers—as detailed in the recent feminist economic recovery plan from my institute and the YWCA Canada—this means focusing on reconciliation and anti-Black rac-ism as we strengthen social infra-structure. A good recovery will be an egalitarian recovery in which migrant workers can do their jobs safely, women are not held back because we don’t have adequate childcare and eldercare, rural citizens can access high-speed internet and clean water, small businesses—especially those led by women, Indigenous people and other marginalized communi-ties—don’t get left behind, and everyone has adequate housing to keep them safe.

For businesses, this means re-thinking how work is designed to accommodate everyone’s access to good jobs, reorienting priori-ties to consider social responsi-bility and not just the bottom line, and reconfi guring corporate governance to give a broader set of stakeholders a seat at the table.

Some might say that these changes are not feasible. But, this cri-sis makes all sorts of futures possible, so let’s imagine a more just one.

Sarah Kaplan is distinguished professor and director, Institute for Gender and the Economy at the Rotman School of Management and author of The 360º Corpora-tion: From Stakeholder Trade-offs to Transformation. Last month the Institute for Gender and the Economy and YWCA Canada published A Feminist Economic Recovery Plan for Canada. https://www.feministrecovery.ca/

The Hill Times

Are we letting this crisis go to waste? The Black Death in Europe in the mid-1300s created the conditions for the Renaissance. We have the opportunity to use this crisis to create our own rebirth. We can build back better.

Sarah Kaplan

Opinion

24


As Arundhati Roy has written in her new essay, ‘The Pandemic is a Portal,’ the pandemic is a chance to imagine the world anew. ‘It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next. We can choose to walk through it, dragging the carcasses of our prejudice and hatred, our avarice, our data banks and dead ideas, our dead rivers and smoky skies behind us. Or we can walk through lightly, with little luggage, ready to imagine another world. And ready to fi ght for it,’ writes Sarah Kaplan. Photograph courtesy of Commons Wikimedia

FREDERICTON, N.B.—The dire economic consequences of the

global pandemic are particularly felt by remote communities, own-ers of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMSEs) and Indig-enous entrepreneurs. Research conducted by the Canadian Coun-cil for Aboriginal Business on COVID-19’s impact on Indigenous enterprises strongly supports this conclusion. The overwhelming majority of Indigenous busi-nesses are SMSEs, so any relief provided to SMSEs will also benefi t Indigenous business own-ers. Beyond the general support provided to SMSEs, Indigenous SMSEs require direct stimuli, as well as coordinated government action, through more sustainable economic participation options, by increasing government pro-curement opportunities. Consid-ering the Government of Canada spends approximately $22-billion a year on public procurement and that SMSEs receive approximate-ly three-quarters of the contracts awarded annually to suppliers in Canada, the potential economic impact for Indigenous businesses from securing additional procure-ment contracts is enormous.

Government procurement can become a very useful instrument as a second stage, post-stimulus tool, to ensure the full maximiza-tion of Indigenous SMSE poten-tial and long-term prosperity. In a procurement process, a public au-

thority enters into a contract with individuals or corporations in order to receive goods or services. Historically, public procurement has been used to provide govern-ments with goods and services but also strategically, to achieve industrial policy and socio-eco-nomic goals. With preferential procurement, governments are able to support vulnerable groups which otherwise would not be able to participate in the formal economy on equal footing with others.

The Canadian Procurement Strategy for Aboriginal Business includes policies for preferential access to federal procurement for Indigenous peoples. Current Canadian international trade obli-gations and cross-border procure-ment outline a very permissive

normative framework. Canada has negotiated and reserved almost unlimited privileges for Indigenous people and businesses and a large margin of fl exibility for all SMSEs in its WTO and other bilateral and regional trade obligations. Specifi cally, a pro-gram could be designed so that any Indigenous business can be awarded government contracts regardless of the size of the con-tract, and in priority to all other bidders. Canada’s international trade obligations, and internal trade obligations, are fully com-patible even with sole sourcing for Indigenous-owned businesses; that is, opening the competition for government contracts exclu-sively to Indigenous applicants. This would grant Indigenous SMSEs and individuals a true

advantage, particularly in view of the economic consequences of CO-VID-19. The question is, why isn’t the government—both federal and provincial—taking advantage of this framework to give Indigenous businesses the opportunities and benefi ts that Canada has negoti-ated on their behalf?

The current procurement regime is not geared to assist Indigenous SMSEs, especially during a major disruptive event, such as a pandemic. For example, the Offi ce of Small and Medium Enterprises, the mechanism providing technical assistance to SMSEs for procurement, has up-dated its webpage to include op-portunities for SMSEs to provide products and services in support of Canada’s response to COV-ID-19, but there is little guidance

for Indigenous. Also lacking is the reporting on how the federal and provincial authorities plan to reach their self-proclaimed targets of awarding government contracts to Indigenous SMSEs and individuals. Challenges regarding unreliable or painfully slow internet access for remote Indigenous communities add to the informational defi cit.

Lessons drawn from the early days of COVID-19, when many public and private institu-tions pivoted towards online and remote delivery of services, can be helpful in designing changes to the Indigenous procurement regime. While the switch was and remains disruptive, useful lessons can be drawn that can further help recalibrate Indig-enous procurement. COVID-19 demonstrated that internet access is part of our critical infrastruc-ture for every dimension of life; social, economic, and educational. During restrictions in movement, most Canadians—as most people in the world—relied on their internet access to be able to virtu-ally socialize, communicate with their doctors, shop, educate their children or continue with their own post-secondary education. Unreliable internet access does not just impede an Indigenous procurement expansion initiative; it exacerbates extant economic and social disparities. Communi-ties underserved by ISPs cannot access critical services, not to mention accessing educational opportunities or pivoting towards online delivery of services.

Canadian procurement governance needs to implement a robust regime to support the delivery of online services by Indigenous SMSEs. Following immediate fi nancial assistance, new policy and legislation needs to combine fi ve elements: fi rst, continue to provide preferential access for Indigenous peoples to government jobs and procure-ment contracts; second, emphasis and set-asides of jobs and servic-es that can be offered remotely; third, continuing education pro-grams that are offered via online platforms; fourth, immediate provision of reliable, high-speed internet access to geographically remote Indigenous communi-ties; and fi fth, transparency and reporting with respect to mea-sures adopted to reach targets for awarding government contracts to Indigenous applicants. Rede-signing procurement policy by using lessons from COVID-19 will not only assist long-term econom-ic sustainability of Indigenous SMSEs, but will increase their domestic business capacity, keep procurement dollars in Canada and will allow Indigenous busi-ness to achieve export readiness.

Maria Panezi teaches interna-tional trade law at the University of New Brunswick’s school of law. She is the author of the chapter “The Complex Landscape of Ca-nadian Indigenous Procurement” in the recent book, Indigenous Peoples and International Trade: Building Equitable and Inclusive International Trade and Invest-ment Agreements, edited by John Borrows and Risa Schwartz and published by the Cambridge Uni-versity Press, 2020.

The Hill Times

How Canada’s international trade commitments can be utilized for Indigenous businesses challenged by the COVID-19 recession Government procurement can become a very useful instrument as a second stage, post-stimulus tool, to ensure the full maximization of Indigenous SMSE potential and long-term prosperity.

Maria Panezi

Opinion

Considering the Government of Canada spends approximately $22-billion a year on public procurement and that SMSEs receive approximately three-quarters of the contracts awarded annually to suppliers in Canada, the potential economic impact for Indigenous businesses from securing additional procurement contracts is enormous, writes Maria Panezi. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

25


BY JENNIFER WALLNER, DANIEL BÉLAND, & ANDRÉ LECOURS

The moment Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took to the

airwaves and announced the lockdown on March 13, 2020, it was clear that responding to the COVID-19 pandemic would re-quire unprecedented intergovern-mental activity. Since then, fi rst ministers’ meetings have been held weekly, via conference calls, which is a remarkable feat in a federation where such meetings have been held at best annually, and always at the pleasure of the prime minister.

While the pandemic has af-fected all Canadians, the direct effects of COVID-19 have varied greatly from one province to the

next. The highest number of cases are found in Quebec, and less than 50 cases in Prince Edward Island. Similarly, as the shutdown has initiated a sudden and widespread economic downturn, some sectors of the economy were harder hit, and regional variations are prov-ing signifi cant here too. Provinces already experiencing declining revenues, like Alberta and New-foundland and Labrador, are in dire fi scal situations, while others, like British Columbia, are better positioned to weather the crisis.

In an effort to stave off the po-tential fi nancial hardships caused by the pandemic, the federal gov-ernment moved quickly to enact temporary, yet massive emergency measures to assist families, work-ers, employers, and specifi c eco-nomic sectors. The federal govern-ment also recently announced the creation of a one-time, somewhat conditional, block transfer to the provinces and territories to assist in the reopening of the economy.

Meetings and sudden cash injections are great, but how has federalism functioned through the pandemic? In terms of rhetoric, federal, provincial, and territorial leaders have had largely positive appraisals of each other, which is somewhat surprising, given the acrimony in certain parts of the country, especially in prov-inces with right-to-centre govern-ments such as Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, and Saskatchewan, over such policy issues as carbon pric-ing, pipelines, and equalization. More generally, during the fi rst

wave of the pandemic, the fact that the Liberals are in power in Ottawa but in only two of the 10 provinces (Nova Scotia and New-foundland and Labrador) have not created signifi cant tensions between the federal government and the provinces. Furthermore, dramatic measures like internal border closures were instituted and upheld with virtually no confl ict or debate. Put together, coordinated actions combined with rigorous physical distancing protocols seem to have worked for Canada, a situation that con-trasts with the one prevailing in the United States, where sheer in-competence and divisive rhetoric on the part of the Trump admin-istration, combined with political fi ghts between the Republican president and Democratic gover-nors have hindered the response to the COVID-19 crisis.

Intergovernmental relations during the pandemic have been much more confl ictual and less collaborative in the U.S. than in Canada for three reasons. First, presidentialism: the presidential system makes it easier for populist outsiders to gain control of the executive branch while favouring a personalization of politics where a president skeptical of science and experts holds the Oval Offi ce. Second, the territorial structure of political parties: in the U.S., parties are completely integrated across federal and state levels of governments, meaning that U.S. President Donald Trump has many incentives to demonize Demo-

cratic governors at the state level. In Canada, the fact that parties are not integrated means that Con-servative premiers, like Ontario Premier Doug Ford, can work with the federal Liberal government if it’s in their interests. Finally, the absence in the U.S. of any permanent structure for federal-state relations means that states struggle to get the attention of the federal government during the pandemic. By contrast, pre-exist-ing networks in Canada facilitated communication, information, and ultimately collaboration during the pandemic.

However, while the contrast between the situation in Canada and the drama playing out south of the border might make Canadians feel better about their country’s response to this global pandemic, the crisis revealed major challenges that must be tackled. For instance, in public health surveillance and data sharing, leading experts in public health have argued that Canada has performed poorly. Here, offi -cials missed the potential lessons that should have been learned from the 2003 SARS outbreak, as Canada still lacks the federal-pro-vincial-territorial collaboration that is necessary to assure that we have access to reliable and comprehensive data and testing regimes to reopen the economy safely. Simultaneously, the trag-edy in long-term care homes falls on all our shoulders as all govern-ments throughout the federation have abandoned those who need

our care the most.Are there signs of transfor-

mative changes at work in the machinery of intergovernmental relations? As the old adage goes, “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.” Similar patterns and traditions persist in the management and operation of intergovernmental relations in Canada. Despite their consider-able signifi cance on the front-line of managing the pandemic, municipalities remain entirely sidelined, represented principally by provincial interlocutors rather than having their own seat at the table. Indigenous peoples have also remained largely outside of formal discussions, despite the federal government’s commit-ment to “reconciliation.” Horizon-tal work among the provinces and territories also appears to have ceased. Where they could be pooling resources to devise new strategies to re-open schools, for example, no efforts at formal collaborations have appeared. Renewing the horizontal policy dialogue among provinces and territories is thus an objective worth prioritizing in the months to come, as we await a potential second wave of COVID-19.

Jennifer Wallner is an associ-ate professor of political studies the University of Ottawa. Daniel Béland is director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Cana-da. André Lecours is a political science professor at the Univer-sity of Ottawa.

The Hill Times

Intergovernmental relations and the pandemic

Renewing the horizontal policy dialogue among provinces and territories is an objective worth prioritizing in the months to come, as we await a potential second wave of COVID-19.

26


Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, pictured May 21, 2020, holding a press conference outside the Rideau Cottage in Ottawa. While the contrast between the situation in Canada and the drama playing out south of the border might make Canadians feel better about their country’s response to this global pandemic, the crisis revealed major challenges that must be tackled. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

TORONTO—The pandemic jobs crisis is far from over. While

there are hopes that we will regain jobs lost and that those on furlough will go back to work as economic growth resumes, big risks lie ahead. More will need to be done if an economic/social crisis is to be avoided.

But what to do? Planning for future job creation has to take place in a hugely uncertain world. We don’t know the future course of the pandemic. Nor do we know the longer-term economic and social changes that will result, in-cluding those that are already un-derway although below the radar.

There will be a huge challenge in trying to determine what public policies have the best chance of delivering results.

How quickly can we speed up infrastructure projects without wasting money? What do we need to do to accelerate the growth of the drivers of future economic growth—our broadly defi ned technology sector? How do we incentivize business to boost capital spending rather than cut-ting back—this year, businesses expect to cut spending by about 17 per cent? How do we retrain

Canada’s unskilled workers—the most vulnerable members of the workforce—for better jobs? How do we boost jobs by more aggressive action on climate change? Is this the time to boost the Canada Workers Benefi t to increase incomes for low-wage workers? Can Mark Carney inject smarter thinking into improving opportunity at a time of great uncertainty?

The risks are clear. Will more small businesses close because they face evictions as temporary rent relief ends or there’s no longer a reason to justify trying to hang on? If people are cutting back on spending what will this mean for manufacturing jobs—even more so if the U.S. and other foreign markets are weakening as well?

Will remote work at home increase while work in the of-fi ce declines—and will those remote workers be in Canada or elsewhere? Will there be more e-commerce instead of going to shops? Will there be a movement away from big cities to smaller communities? Will there be more e-learning rather than classroom learning? Will there be less travel and fewer visits to restaurants? Will there be more protectionism and fewer global value chains?

We don’t know how soon—and whow many—people will return to the offi ce. In the meantime, what happens to all those service jobs that support the offi ce economy—food courts, restaurants, hair salons, boutiques, coffee shops, convenience stores, drug stores, and the many other retail clusters that we fi nd around every offi ce complex. Some of these business-es are already gone, others depend on temporary rent relief and many may be hanging on in the hope that things will get better, though they cannot do that indefi nitely. What about gyms, sporting events, the performing arts—they all sup-port an array of services.

What about travel? Will more people rely on Zoom instead? Can airlines, intercity buses and

passenger rail recapture lost busi-ness—or will they need far fewer people? Hotels are reopening but at what level of business? What is the future for tourism? This sum-mer, restaurants and coffee shops have set up outside patios on side-walks and roads to stay alive. But what happens in November?

And what about the huge human costs? We have skated though the pandemic so far by spending tens of billions of dollars to provide families with income. But as these programs taper off, as they will, then what happens? Low-wage workers are the most vulnerable. They also tend to be renters and so face the risk of increasing evictions if their income falls. And what about young families that have committed to costly housing with high mortgages? Will there be more foreclosures if these fami-lies face a loss of income?

What we have already seen is that the country’s employment rate—the percentage of Canadians of labour force age who actually have a job—has fallen signifi cantly. In July last year, before the pan-demic, 61.9 per cent of Canadians of labour force age were employed. A year later, with the pandemic still a black cloud over the economy, 57.3 per cent of Canadians of la-bour force age were employed.

If we had had the same em-ployment rate in July of this year that we had a year ago, then the number of employed Canadians last month would have been 19.3 million, or 1.4 million more than a year ago. Instead, the number of employed Canadians in July this year was 17.8 million. This is one way of measuring the impact of the pandemic on jobs.

The age group most drastically affected is the 15-24 age group, which includes young people entering the work force to launch their careers and also those young people still pursuing their educa-tion. A year ago, the employment rate for this age group was 57 per cent, with an unemployment rate of 11.4 per cent. Last month, their employment rate was just 47.9 per cent and their unemployment rate 24.2 per cent.

The fi ve industries with the largest job losses over the past year have been accommodation and food (277,000 jobs gone); transportation and warehous-ing (down 121,000); construction (down 110,000) manufacturing (down 109,000); and wholesale and retail trade (down 100,000).

Addressing the challenges through public policy will require a much greater capacity for dem-onstrating that proposed policies will actually deliver the benefi ts promised. Every new plan should have to include the basis for expecting it to work—and that analysis should be public.

Restoring and rebuilding the economy is a national project, not something to be done behind closed doors. As we are often told, we are in this together. The risks are great. And big changes are on the way, even if we have little understanding on how they will unfold. That’s why we need a better kind of politics and policy-making if we are to manage this successfully.

David Crane can be reached at [email protected].

The Hill Times

Restoring and rebuilding the economy is a national project, not something to be done behind closed doors. As we are often told, we are in this together. The risks are great. And big changes are on the way, even if we have little understanding on how they will unfold. That’s why we need a better kind of politics and policy-making if we are to manage this successfully.

THE HILL TIMES | MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 2020 27

The Great Rebuilding III

Big risks lie ahead, and we’ll need to do more to avoid economic and social crises

Can Mark Carney, pictured at the National Press Theatre on July 19, 2012, inject smarter thinking into improving opportunity at a time of great uncertainty, David Crane asks. The Hill Times fi le photograph by Jake Wright

David Crane

Canada & the 21st Century

Ottawa businesses hard, includ-ing all Parliament Hill’s favou-rite pubs, restaurants, and food courts.

The historic Fairmont Château Laurier closed it doors for the fi rst time since 1912, the Métro-politain Brasserie shut down for

three months, and revenue has been reduced to essentially zero at the normally bustling Friends Coffee’s on Queen Street.

With thousands of public servants, political staffers and lobbyists working remotely for the last six months—and likely to continue to do so for the foresee-able future—local businesses in

downtown Ottawa who depend on the government breakfast, lunch, and dinner rushes have felt the crunch.

A perennial hotspot for politi-cos, lobbyists and people in the media, the Metropolitain Bras-serie, located next to the Fairmont Château Laurier, was shut down for almost three full months, ac-cording to Sarah Chown, manag-ing partner of the restaurant.

A lot of their business is built on events surrounding what’s go-ing on in and around Parliament, and the loss of those events “was a huge hit for us.”

“To lose that was devastating—when we re-opened in June, we would have hosted a budget party here which we do every year. It’s a huge day, it’s a super fun day, you get people in here from all differ-ent parties, everyone is mixing and mingling, there’s staffers, there’s media, there’s MPs, Senators, lob-byists, it’s just a hodgepodge of a good time,” said Ms. Chown.

“Losing out on those big patio barbecue buyout patio events, the House rising events in June, House warming in September, all of those things are just not hap-pening anymore. You can pivot, but you can’t pivot enough to make up for that.”

There are about 55 staff members, all of whom have been brought back, according to Ms. Chown.

“Some of that is part-time staff—high-school and university students—but they all got laid off immediately on [March] 17,” said Ms. Chown. “We got them their paperwork right away so that they could get in the queue really quick, but most of them had already got-ten on the EI train early on.”

‘The coronavirus just seemed to come out of nowhere’

General manager of D’Arcy McGee’s Jeff O’Reilly told The Hill Times said they were busy gearing up for one of their busiest days—St. Patrick’s Day—when the pandemic hit.

“[It’s] a celebration of life, of mu-sic, of culture, and then something

28

With thousands working remotely now and into the future, Hill neighbourhood’s pubs, restaurants, bistros also feeling the crunch The historic Fairmont Château Laurier hotel, located above the Rideau Canal locks and just south of the Ottawa River, closed its doors temporarily for the fi rst time in its history since 1912 at noon on March 21.

News


Jeff O’Reilly, general manager at D’Arcy McGee’s, pictured on Wednesday, Aug. 12.The popular political watering hole was preparing for St. Patrick’s Day festivities when the pandemic hit. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Sarah Chown, managing partner at the Metropolitain Brasserie in Ottawa, sits for an interview with The Hill Times on the restaurant’s patio on Aug. 12, 2020. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew MeadeThe patio of the Metropolitain Brasserie in Ottawa on Aug. 12, 2020. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade


Continued on page 29

more pressing comes along,” said Mr. O’Reilly. “The coronavirus just seemed to come out of nowhere—we were aware of it, but we certainty could never have imagined the scope, or that we’d still be in this into August, and in a couple of weeks trying to fi gure out what’s going on with kids going back to school.”

“So when you take away the public service, Parliament, and the tourists from the hotels, the National Arts Centre, the events, and even just people who still aren’t ready to come out and sit on a patio let alone inside a res-taurant, it’s huge.”

Mr. O’Reilly said he’s more worried about people’s safety than he is about the economy, which he thinks will come back in some way, shape or form.

“We’re over 20-million cases worldwide, it’s mind-boggling that we’re in this, but we’ll weath-er the storm,” said Mr. O’Reilly. “We’ve done what we can to make sure that our guests are safe and our staff is safe, so when we get to that point, we’ll be ready.”

“It’s a learning experience daily.”

Fairmont Château Laurier closed it’s doors for the fi rst time in it’s history since 1912

The historic Fairmont Châ-teau Laurier hotel, located above the Rideau Canal locks and just south of the Ottawa River, closed its doors temporarily for the fi rst time in its history since 1912 at noon on March 21.

“We met with our colleagues, we met with out leaders to give them as much information as we had, and things were in fl ux and changing very quickly,” said De-neen Perrin, director of public re-lations with the Fairmont Château Laurier, when asked about the fi rst few days of decision-making when the pandemic hit.

“We looked at business vol-umes, but also keeping in mind the safety and security of our guests and our colleagues, and that was of course at the forefront when mak-ing that decision,” said Ms. Perrin.

They have since re-opened as of July 1, “with the same notion

that we have more information, everyone is wearing a mask, all of those precautionary measures were put into place, and during the time that we were closed, we were able to put together all those [measures] that were important for re-opening.”

There was a skeleton staff working during the closure, but other staff members have been progressively coming back into the fold in the past few weeks.

‘Everybody knows what happened in March’

Nasser Aboueldaoule came to Canada in 2000, and opened Friends Coffee on Queen Street in 2002.

“We’ve been hit on this street, here in downtown Ottawa, three times,” said Mr. Aboueldaoule. “The fi rst one was in 2011-2012, when the government laid off 35,000 people. And because we are working in this government area, we were hit with 50 per cent of our income.”

“In 2014-2015, when the City of Ottawa started construction on the street, that was the second hit,” said Mr. Aboueldaoule. “We were losing business [in terms of] 70-80 per cent of our income.”

Following the fi nish of Ot-tawa’s LRT in 2019, Mr. Aboueld-aoule decided to change the busi-ness from a small, local business to make into a small franchise. The plan was to have everything fi nished by the beginning of the spring, including the unveiling of a re-furbished room

“But everybody knows what happened in March,” said Mr. Aboueldaoule. “Now, we have zero income, we have nothing left to survive, and if the government didn’t help us with the rent since April until now, I would not be opening my store again.”

“This is a message for the government and the landlord—if they don’t help us to continue in this dramatic story, I’ll be the fi rst one to close my store.”

‘There are a lot of businesses that continue to struggle’

According to Corinne Pohl-mann, senior VP of national

affairs with the Canadian Fed-eration of Independent Busi-ness, “it’s a very tough situation for downtown businesses in Ottawa, but it’s not unique to Ottawa,” said Ms. Pohlmann. “I think they’re feeling it in a lot of the bigger downtown cores, because most office jobs are not fully back. But one of the messages we’ve been sending to government is that while things appear to be re-opening, we have to be cognizant that it’s very mixed, and there are a lot of businesses that continue to struggle.”

“Some of these programs are coming to an end, and we have to really refl ect on whether this is the right time to do that when businesses are still struggling, through no fault of their own,” said Ms. Pohlman.

Ms. Pohlman noted that the Canadian Emergency Commer-cial Rent Assistance Program (CECRA) has had a small take-up and has not been “anywhere near what they thought it would be.”

“It doesn’t allow tenants to ac-cess the money directly, they have to rely on a landlord, and it’s up to landlords, who also have bills to pay, who have circumstances that don’t always give them opportunities to forego certain funds either, so that particular program has just not worked,” said Ms. Pohlman.

According to an August 13 press release from the CFIB, the organization estimates that 1580,000 businesses (one in seven) may close their doors.

“Government needs to un-derstand that there is a growing anger on the part of business owners who are left out by these critical supports,” said CFIB president Dan Kelly in the release. “The CECRA program has created massive frustrations as even those businesses who are eligible for the subsidy are not getting it as landlords are required to apply on behalf of their commercial tenants. And there are huge gaps in cover-age for the CEBA loan program, despite a promise to expand the program from the Prime Minis-ter in mid-May.”


29

News


La Terasse at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier in Ottawa on Aug. 13, 2020. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Nasser Aboueldaoule, owner of Friends Coffee, which was slated to become Happy Goat coffee before the pandemic hit, pictured in his store on Queen Street in Ottawa on Aug. 13, 2020. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

The normally bustling food court, pictured at 1 p.m. on Aug. 11, 2020, in the C.D. Howe Building on Queen Street is closed. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Brixton’s patio along Sparks Street on Aug. 11, 2020. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade


30

Feature


Photo Feature by Andrew Meade

Party leaders mask it up on the Hill

Green Party Parliamentary Leader Elizabeth May, pictured June 2, 2020, arriving in style for a House Special Pandemic Committee meeting in the Commons wearing a heavy-duty white mask and green plastic gloves.

Outgoing Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, pictured again on July 20, 2020, before his press conference in the West Block on the Hill. The Hill Times photographs by Andrew Meade

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, pictured July 20, 2020, wearing a blue disposable surgical mask at his press conference in the West Block to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s confl ict with the WE Charity.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, pictured July 8, 2020, before starting his presser ahead of the economic and fi scal update in the West Block and wearing a black cloth mask.

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet, pictured July 21, 2020, also in the West Block to hold a press conference and wearing a white cloth mask.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, pictured July 8, 2020, before his press conference in the West Block, takes a pragmatic approach and style with his mask.

HOUSES FOR RENTBEAUTIFUL 3 BEDROOM BUNGALOW + DEN FOR RENT SEPTEMBER 1ST

Charming bungalow in Ottawa's west end. Close proximity to shopping, hospital and major routes. Beautiful gardens and pond. Contact 613-402-2060.

1 BEDROOM + DEN FOR RENT IN CENTRETOWN

1 Bedrm + Den at SOHO Lisgar. Floor to ceiling windows, gourmet kitchen, marble bath, tons of ame-nities, ideal location 613.238.2801

COZY HOME AWAY FROM HOME ONE BEDROOM HOME in Chelsea, QC. Renovated, light-filled, wood stove, walk-in ready furnished, beach. Sept. 2020, 3K/month. Chris @ 873-355-0011.

CONDO FOR RENT700 SUSSEX

APARTMENT - RENTING AT ITS BEST

Desired location, over 1400 sq ft , 2 bedroom, 2 bath-room, c lass ic f in ishes, 24 hr security, garage parking, wonderful views. 613-262-2277

FINANCIAL SERVICESFREE CONSULTATION

$$ MONEY $$ • 1ST, 2ND & 3RD MORTGAGES FOR A N Y P U R P O S E • D E B T C O N S O L I D AT I O N • B A D CREDIT • TAX OR MORTGAGE A R R E A R S • D E C R E A S E PAYMENTS UP TO 75% • SELF-EMPLOYED • NO PROOF OF INCOME. We Can Help! Even in extreme situations of bad credit . FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO APPLY NOW BY PHONE OR ONLINE: 1 - 8 8 8 - 3 0 7 - 7 7 9 9 . w w w.ontar io-widef inancial .com. ONTARIO-WIDE FINANCIAL. 1801347inc. FSCO Licence #12456. !! WE ARE HERE TO HELP !!

FINANCIAL SERVICES

$$ CONSOLIDATE YOUR DEBT NOW $$

HOME OWNER LOANS FOR ANY PURPOSE!! Pay down other h igh interest debt! Bank turn downs, Tax or M o r t g a g e a r r e a r s , S e l f -E m p l o y e d , B a d C r e d i t , Bankruptcy - We Can Help! E v e n i n e x t r e m e s i t u a -tions of bad credit. Borrow: $50,000 Pay Monthly: $268 • Bor row: $100,000 Pay Mon th l y : $537 . LARGER A M O U N T S AVA I L A B L E ! ! Decrease monthly payments. u p t o 7 5 % ! ! B a s e d o n 5% APR. OAC FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO APPLY NOW BY PHONE OR ONLINE: 1 - 8 8 8 - 3 0 7 - 7 7 9 9 . w w w.ontar io-widef inanc ia l . com ONTARIO-WIDE FINANCIAL 1801347inc, FSCO Licence #12456, !! WE ARE HERE TO HELP !!

ARTICLES FOR SALE/WANTEDWANTED:

OLD TUBE AUDIO EQUIPMENT.

50 years or older. Amplifiers, S t e r e o , R e c o r d i n g a n d Theatre Sound Equipment. H a m m o n d O r g a n s , a n y cond i t ion . CALL To l l - Free 1-800-947-0393 / 519-853-2157.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

LOWER YOUR MONTHLY PAYMENTS AND

CONSOLIDATE YOUR DEBT NOW!!!

1st, 2nd, 3rd MORTGAGES D e b t C o n s o l i d a t i o n Refinancing, Renovations Tax Arrears, No CMHC Fees $50K YOU PAY: $208.33 / MONTH (OAC). No Income, Bad Credit. Power of Sale Stopped!!! BETTER OPTION MORTGAGE. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CALL TODAY TOLL - FREE : 1-800-282-1169 www.mort-gageontario.com (Licence # 10969)

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITYATTN: ONTARIO INVENTORS!!Need Inventing Help? Call Davison!! Ideas Wanted! CALL DAVISON TODAY: 1-800-256-0429 OR VISIT US AT: Inventing.Davison.com/Ontario FREE Inventor's Guide!!

EMPLOYMENTDAVISON INVENTORS WANTED! Do you have a new product idea, but you’re not sure where to start? CALL DAVISON TODAY: 1-800-256-0429 OR VISIT US AT: Inventing.Davison.com/Ontario and get your FREE Inventor's Guide!!

Information and advertisement placement: 613-232-5952 • [email protected]

CLASSIFIEDS

Call to consult • 613 234 5758 [email protected] • [email protected]

If you washed your hands and your hand bledYou would think

Why are bleeding gums when you floss any different??

“THIS IS SERIOUS STUFF”

For information contact Kelly: [email protected] • 613-232-5952

Have a house to rent or sell?Items or products to sell?

Advertise them in The Hill Times

MONDAY, AUG. 17The Benefi ts and Challenges of Sending

Children Back to School—The Jean-Luc Pépin Research Chair and the CN-Paul M. Tellier Chair on Business and Public Policy at the University of Ottawa are presenting two luncheon webinars on “The Benefi ts and Challenges of Sending Children Back to School” on Aug. 17 and Aug. 18 at noon. The fi rst webinar offers a panel discussion about the economic, education, labour, and health perspectives of sending children back to school in the fall. The second webinar shines a particular spotlight on children and youth with dis-abilities. Each webinar requires a separate online registration. The link to access the webinars via Zoom will be available in the respective tickets and confi rmation e-mails once registration has been completed. The events are open to all and free of charge. For more information and registration, please go to https://uocal.uottawa.ca/en/node/25495 and https://uocal.uottawa.ca/en/node/25496. For questions, please contact Christina Charles at [email protected].

House Sitting—MPs are scheduled to meet as a committee of the whole on Aug. 26. The House is then scheduled to return in the fall on Monday, Sept. 21, for three straight weeks, as per the original House sitting calendar.

Senate Not Sitting—The Senate is adjourned until Sept. 22.

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 19 Ipsos COVID-19 August Update: Ask Me

Anything Webinar—Join Darrell Bricker, global CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs for another interactive and frank “Ask me any-thing” webinar examining how the public mood around COVID-19 has evolved, where concerns are most focused now, and how the crisis is affecting Canadians’ behaviour now and in the future. Aug. 19, 1:30 p.m. (ET), online. It will last 60 minutes. Regis-ter at Ipsos.com.

FRIDAY, AUG. 21Conservative Party Leadership Contest—

The federal Conservative Party’s Leadership Election Organizing Committee, also known as LEOC, announced on April 29 that Aug. 21 is the deadline for mail-in ballots, after the leadership was suspended on March 26 due to the global pandemic. The party says the winner will be announced once the ballots can be safely counted.

MONDAY, AUG. 24Innovation and Manufacturing in the Time

of COVID—The Pearson Centre will host this talk with Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains on Monday, Aug. 24 from 1:30 to 2 p.m. to discuss his government’s plans to assist the private sector in the rebuilding and recovery of the Canadian economy. He will be discussing this issue with Rhonda Barnet, president & COO at AVIT Manu-facturing, and past chair of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters. Mr. Bains is expected to talk about how he believes the Canadian industry can return to its strong footing in the global economy in the coming years. Go to the Pearson Centre’s website to register.

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 243rd FIPP World Media Congress—Susan

Goldberg, editor-in-chief of National Geo-graphic and editorial director of National Geographic Partners, is the latest speaker to be confi rmed for the 43rd FIPP World Media Congress, which will take place online from Sept. 2-30. To fi nd out more, www.fi ppcongress.com.

MONDAY, SEPT. 21 House Sitting—The House is scheduled

to return in the fall on Monday, Sept. 21, for three straight weeks, as per the original House sitting calendar.

TUESDAY, SEPT. 22 Senate Sitting—The Senate is scheduled

to return in the fall on Tuesday, Sept. 22.

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 23Politics and the Pen 2020: Digital

Edition—Politics and the Pen will hold a virtual event on Wednesday, Sept. 23. Poli-tics and the Pen is a highlight of political Ottawa’s social calendar and an important annual fundraising event benefi ting the Writers’ Trust. The in-person event regularly

attracts 500 guests from Canada’s political and literary circles. The 2020 digital event will feature a special presentation of the 20th Shaughnessy Cohen Prize as well as memorable moments from past galas. To date, Politics and the Pen has raised more than $4.5-million to support the programs of the Writers’ Trust. This year’s fi nalists are: Canada on the United Nations Security

Council: A Small Power on a Large Scale, by Adam Chapnick; Peace and Good Order: The Case for Indigenous Justice in Canada, by Harold R. Johnson; Claws of the Panda: Beijing’s Campaign of Infl uence and Intimi-dation in Canada, by Jonathan Manthorpe; Truth Be Told: My Journey Through Life and the Law, by Beverley McLachlin; and Cana-dian Justice, Indigenous Injustice, by Kent

Roach. For information and sponsorship, contact Julia Yu, events manager, at [email protected]

SUNDAY, SEPT. 26Green Party Leadership Online Voting

Begins—Online voting to choose the next leader of the federal Green Party begins today and will continue until Oct. 3.

SATURDAY, OCT. 3Green Party Leader Announcement—The

Green Party of Canada is set to announce its new leader in a virtual event at 8 p.m. EST.

THURSDAY, OCT. 15PPF Testimonial Dinner and Awards—Join

the Public Policy Forum at the 33rd annual event to network and celebrate as the Public Policy Forum honours Canadians who have made their mark on policy and leadership. Anne McLellan and Senator Peter Harder will take their place among a cohort of other stellar Canadians who we’ve honoured over the last 33 years, people who have dedicated themselves to mak-ing Canada a better place through policy leadership and public service. The gala event will be held on Thursday, Oct. 15, at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, 255 Front St. W., Toronto.

SATURDAY, OCT. 24Parliamentary Press Gallery Dinner—The

Parliamentary Press Gallery Dinner happens on Saturday, Oct. 24, in the Sir John A. Macdonald Building on Wellington Street in Ottawa.

FRIDAY, OCT. 30CJF Awards Celebrating 30 Years of

Excellence in Journalism—The Canadian Journalism Foundation Awards will be held on Oct. 30, 2020, at the Ritz-Carlton, Toronto, hosted by Rick Mercer, former host of The Rick Mercer Report. The CBC’s Anna Maria Tremonti will be honoured. Tables are $7,500 and tickets are $750. For more information on tables and sponsorship opportunities, contact Josh Gurfi nkel at jgurfi [email protected] or 416-955-0394.

TUESDAY, NOV. 3 U.S. Presidential Election—The U.S.

presidential election is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. U.S. President Donald Trump is the Republican candidate and former vice-president Joe Biden is the presumptive Democratic candidate. The winner is scheduled to be inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2021.

THURSDAY, NOV. 12Liberal Party National Convention—The

Liberal Party of Canada announced the 2020 Liberal National Convention will be hosted in Ottawa, from Nov. 12-15. For more information, please contact: [email protected], 613-627-2384.

FRIDAY, NOV. 13Bridging Divides in Wake of a Global

Pandemic—The University of Victoria (UVic) and the Senate of Canada are bringing together change-makers at the Victoria Forum to help generate solutions to some of the world’s most divisive problems. The two-day virtual forum will be held Nov. 13-14 to examine issues that fall under the theme of “Bridging divides in the wake of a global pandemic.” The forum will draw on emerging trends and lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic through biweekly webinars. For more information or to regis-ter, visit www.victoriaforum.ca.

The Parliamentary Calendar is a free events listing. Send in your political, cultural, diplomatic, or governmental event in a paragraph with all the relevant details under the subject line ‘Parliamentary Cal-endar’ to [email protected] by Wednes-day at noon before the Monday paper or by Friday at noon for the Wednesday paper. We can’t guarantee inclusion of every event, but we will defi nitely do our best. Events can be updated daily online, too.

The Hill Times

More at hilltimes.com/calendar

Parliamentary Calendar31THE HILL TIMES | MONDAY, AUGUST 17, 2020

MPs scheduled to meet in House as a committee of the whole on Aug. 26

Minister of Economic Development and Offi cial Languages Melanie Joly, pictured July 22, 2020, speaking with reporters outside the West Block on Parliament Hill. MPs are scheduled to meet as a committee of the whole on Aug. 26. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

CANADIAN WINE GROWERS WANT TO INCREASE THEIR ECONOMIC

CONTRIBUTION TO CANADA

Conservative New budget, cabinet would help Trudeau ‘reset ... · 1 day ago · eran Liberal MP...

Documents

Transcript of Conservative New budget, cabinet would help Trudeau ‘reset ... · 1 day ago · eran Liberal MP...