Canadian Politics: 1) Trudeau to attend United Nations General Assembly amid turbulence around the world; 2) (Updated) House Speaker Greg Fergus asks MPs to behave better in question period after incident; 3) Trudeau tells Stephen Colbert there’s frustration in Canada, but he’ll keep fighting; 4) (Update) Poilievre makes case for taking down the government to restore ‘promise of Canada’; 5) Conservative non-confidence motion defeated; Liberal government survives; 6) ‘I wasn’t thinking about sex,’ Conservative MP says after being accused of homophobia
1) Trudeau to attend United Nations General Assembly amid turbulence around the world
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Kelly Geraldine Malone
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes his way to the podium for a news conference at the Canadian Permanent Mission, in New York, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to be in New York this week for the 78th meeting of the United Nations General Assembly and the Summit of the Future amid increasing geopolitical instability around the world.
“Canada will have a leading role in making the world fairer and more prosperous,” Trudeau said in a news release last week. “I look forward to working with other leaders to accelerate progress on our shared priorities and build a better future for everyone.”
While the prime minister is attending the assembly in New York until Wednesday, the Trudeau government is expected to face its first test in the House of Commons since the NDP ended its supply-and-confidence deal with the Liberals.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre plans to table a motion stating the House has no confidence in the government or the prime minister.
The New Democrats and Bloc Québécois have said they intend to vote against the Conservatives. Their votes will give Trudeau space to focus on the international gathering instead of a possible snap election at home.
The Summit of the Future, announced by UN Secretary-General António Guterres in 2021, is happening on Sunday and Monday ahead of the start of the annual meetings at the General Assembly.
Its goal is to reform the UN, reinvigorate multilateralism, and agree on solutions to new challenges at a time when the global institution has faced criticism for its handling of 21st century issues, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the war in Gaza.
Guterres urged member nations last week to compromise and approve the “Pact of the Future,” a blueprint to address a wide range of global challenges. But there’s been pushback from Russia, Saudi Arabia and other countries who object to some of the language around things like climate change and reforming international financial institutions.
“While diplomacy is hard and diplomacy about diplomacy is even harder, we can do hard things,” said Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, on Wednesday.
“We can think beyond what has been, push ourselves to create a system that meets this moment and the opportunities of the future.”
Thomas-Greenfield said the Biden administration supports changes to the makeup of the UN Security Council to make it more inclusive by creating two permanent seats for Africans and a new elected seat for small island developing states.
Canada has been active at the UN since it was created in 1945 and helped draft the UN Charter.
Trudeau, who is co-chair of the UN Sustainable Development Goals Advocates group, will reaffirm Canada’s commitment to its 2030 Agenda, a 15-year global framework adopted in 2015 that envisions a secure world free of poverty and hunger, with equal education and universal health coverage as well as other lofty goals.
Trudeau will also co-host a discussion with Haiti’s acting prime minister, Garry Conille, about “solutions that are Haitian-led,” the news release said.
Canada is closely invested in Haiti’s response to the ongoing humanitarian, security and political crises. A UN report released in June said surging gang activity had displaced nearly 580,000 people in the Caribbean country since March.
While at the assembly, Trudeau will also co-host an event with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen about climate change, carbon pricing and industrial decarbonization.
Pressing geopolitical challenges and the conflict in the Middle East will cast a shadow over the assembly and its formidable future plans.
Canada abstained last week from a high-profile UN vote demanding that Israel end its “unlawful presence” in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank within a year.
The State of Palestine brought the non-binding motion, which passed 124-14; Canada was among 43 abstentions. The United States voted against it.
“We cannot support a resolution where one party, the State of Israel, is held solely responsible for the conflict,” Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, told the General Assembly last Wednesday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also set to address a special meeting of the UN Security Council on Tuesday about Russia’s ongoing invasion, Thomas-Greenfield said.
Russia has a permanent seat on the Security Council and it has been resoundingly criticized over its aggression in Ukraine being a violation of the UN Charter.
“We intend to keep the pressure on Russia,” said Thomas-Greenfield..
— With files from Dylan Robertson in Ottawa and The Associated Press
2) (Updated) House Speaker Greg Fergus asks MPs to behave better in question period after incident
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Laura Osman, Sept. 23, 2024.
House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus says he expects MPs to behave better than they did last week, when an exchange between two party leaders got so heated one MP thought it may actually come to physical blows.
Fergus says he hopes to have more to say later this week in light of several demands from MPs for more discipline in the House.
In question period on Thursday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh stepped out from behind his desk to shout at the Conservative leader after Pierre Poilievre called Singh a phoney and a fraud for his refusal to vote to bring down the Liberal government.
The Conservatives insist Singh challenged Poilievre to a fight, while NDP House leader Peter Julian says Singh was merely standing up to bullying from the Tory leader.
All of it had Green Party Leader Elizabeth May fearing the two may start throwing punches.
May and Julian have both called on the Speaker to do more to rein in the antics that they say have degraded decorum in the House of Commons.
After the exchange last week, Fergus asked the MPs to respect the long-standing traditions of the House but did not ask anyone with withdraw their comments or apologize.
3) Trudeau tells Stephen Colbert there’s frustration in Canada, but he’ll keep fighting
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Rob Drinkwater, September 24, 2024
Justin Trudeau’s interview on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” began with the expected jokes about bacon and Canadians saying sorry a lot. The prime minister acknowledged it’s “a really tough time” in the country when the host asked about an expected confidence vote in Parliament this week.
“People are hurting. People are having trouble paying for groceries, paying for rent, filling up the tank,” Trudeau said during the CBS program Monday in New York, where he has been meeting with world leaders attending the United Nations General Assembly.
Trudeau admitted there’s frustration. He said the housing crisis “is a little sharper” in Canada than it is in the U.S. And even though he said Canada’s economy is performing better on a “macro” level than its southern neighbour’s, people don’t feel it when they’re at the checkout.
Still, he said it’s important to invest in people by moving forward with $10 a day child care, dental care and pharmacare so that diabetes medication and prescription contraception will be free.
Trudeau will return to Ottawa on Wednesday in time for a vote on an expected non-confidence motion the Conservatives have threatened to bring in against his minority government.
“People are sometimes looking at change, but the reality is I deeply believe in continuing to fight climate change and continuing to invest in people, continuing to be there to support people. And I’m going to keep fighting,” he told Colbert.
At one point, Colbert said flirtations with fascism and xenophobia were rising across the globe, and he said that even in Canada, Trudeau’s opponent has been called “Canada’s Trump.” He wondered why such ideologies were getting traction in a country “as polite as Canada.”
Trudeau didn’t bite on the Trump remark, but responded that Canada isn’t perfect. He said universal health care took decades to fight for, and things like leading the world with action on climate change is worth fighting for, too.
“There’s a big argument right now about whether dental care really exists. We’ve delivered it to 700,000 people across the country and my opponent is gaslighting us and saying, oh, dental care doesn’t even exist yet,” he said.
Conservative health critic Stephen Ellis said in a statement this month that the government had botched the dental program, saying the vast majority of Canadians don’t qualify, and those who do may still have to pay out of pocket.
Colbert also asked Trudeau about issues Canada and the U.S. fight over, such as the softwood lumber duty that the U-S Department of Commerce nearly doubled in August. Trudeau replied that Americans are paying too much for lumber because of the tariffs.
“We come over the border for cheaper drugs. You guys happy with that?” Colbert asked.
“We’re happy to try and help you out but it would be really easier if you get universal health care,” Trudeau answered, to loud applause from the audience.
4) (Update) Poilievre makes case for taking down the government to restore ‘promise of Canada’
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Laura Osman, Sept. 24, 202
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre urged MPs to defeat the Liberal government on Tuesday, but opposition parties are turning the debate on his non-confidence motion into a referendum on the Conservative party’s policies instead.
Poilievre introduced a non-confidence motion in the opening minutes of the House of Commons sitting Tuesday, delivering a campaign-style speech laying out his vision for Canada under a Conservative government.
He said his plan is “to bring home the promise of Canada, of a powerful paycheque that earns affordable food, gas and homes and safe neighbourhoods where anyone from anywhere can do anything. The biggest and most open land of opportunity the world has ever seen: that is our vision.”
Polls have favoured the Conservatives for more than a year now, and if they were to hold true in the next election it could result in a Conservative majority government.
Poilievre told the House if that happens he would lower taxes and eliminate the price on carbon, instead fighting climate change by approving large-scale green projects and using the revenues to reduce government debt.
“We will cap government spending with a dollar-for-dollar law that requires we find $1 of savings for every new dollar of spending,” Poilievre said.
“We will cut bureaucracy, waste and consulting contracts.”
Poilievre and his party have not been specific about where exactly those cuts will come from. The NDP’s Jagmeet Singh asked Poilievre if his government would dismantle the dental-care program the Liberals instituted in co-ordination with the NDP, but the Conservative leader wouldn’t say one way or another.
Those unidentified cuts are the very reason Singh said his party wouldn’t vote to bring down the government.
“We are going to fight today against Conservative cuts and against the Conservative motion,” Singh told the House.
Debate on the motion will conclude Tuesday with the vote scheduled to take place Wednesday afternoon.
Both the NDP and the Bloc Québécois indicated last week they would not support the non-confidence motion because they don’t support the Conservatives. If they vote no, the motion will be defeated and the Liberal government will survive its first test since its supply-and-confidence deal with the NDP ended earlier this month.
If the motion were to pass, the government would be defeated and Canadians very likely would see an immediate election.
The Bloc Québécois said they’d rather use the opportunity presented by the minority Parliament to negotiate with the Liberals, rather than trigger an election that would likely install Poilievre as prime minister.
“We listen to the Conservatives and are not sure that we’re so eager to see them take power,” the Bloc’s House leader Alain Therrien told the House in French on Tuesday.
He said Poilievre has no plan to address the challenges of Quebec’s distinct society.
“There are situations in Quebec that are quite different from the rest of Canada,” he said.
The Bloc has asked the Liberals to green-light the funding for their private member’s bill to raise pension payments for seniors under the age of 75.
The government hasn’t committed to doing that. The parliamentary budget officer has estimated the proposed change would cost about $16 billion over five years.
The debate in the House more closely resembled a debate over the Conservative vision for Canada than the government’s, Liberal House leader Karina Gould said during question period.
“Today what we are doing is demonstrating that this House doesn’t have confidence in the Conservative Party of Canada,” she said.
The prime minister was not in Ottawa for the debate, and is instead representing Canada at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
He was asked about the non-confidence motion after U.S. President Joe Biden used his speech at the UN to reflect on his decision to withdraw from his party’s ticket in the upcoming election, saying that he chose to think about the people he serves rather than his own power.
“The Conservatives are very much thinking about power right now,” Trudeau said in response.
“I’m thinking about how we can best help Canadians. I’m thinking about how to put the best balance sheet in the G7 in service of Canadians, to invest in Canadians. Confident countries invest in their citizens. Right now, Pierre Poilievre is offering cuts.”
The Conservatives have another chance to introduce a non-confidence motion on Thursday during a second opposition day in the House of Commons. There are a total of seven opposition days required this fall, of which five will go to the Conservatives.
5) Conservative non-confidence motion defeated; Liberal government survives
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Canadian Press Staff, Sept. 25, 2024.
The Liberal minority government has survived a vote of non-confidence in the House of Commons by a count of 211-120.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre put forward the motion asking MPs to declare they did not have confidence in the prime minister or his government.
Poilievre failed to get the support of other opposition parties to bring the government down.
The Bloc Québécois and the NDP voted against the motion.
If the non-confidence motion had passed it would have defeated the government and very likely triggered an immediate election campaign.
This is not the final test for the Liberals, though: the Tories intend to introduce another non-confidence motion as early as Thursday.
6) ‘I wasn’t thinking about sex,’ Conservative MP says after being accused of homophobia
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Nojoud Al Mallees, September 26, 2024
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rises to vote against an opposition motion on confidence in the government following Question Period, Wednesday, September 25, 2024 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Accusations of homophobia and partisan jabs took centre stage in the House of Commons on Thursday as MPs debated another Conservative motion aimed at toppling the government, after their first attempt failed.
The fall sitting of Parliament has been off to a heated start and hostilities continued to run high Thursday, forcing House Speaker Greg Fergus to play referee in question period and beyond.
Conservative MP Garnett Genuis defended himself against accusations of homophobia over a comment he made on Wednesday about the prime minister engaging in a bathtub with other leaders.
The comment, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s response, derailed question period for a time after Trudeau accused the Tories of bullying and casual homophobia, and said he would “call them out on their crap.”
On Thursday, NDP MP Heather McPherson called on the Speaker to uphold decorum in the House of Commons, calling Genuis’s remark homophobic and disgusting.
“It had nothing to do with sex, I wasn’t thinking about sex at all,” Genuis said, as members around him shouted.
The tensions in Parliament come as the Conservatives make back-to-back bids to try and bring down the minority government.
The majority of MPs voted on Wednesday against the first non-confidence motion that was put forward by the Conservative leader.
If that motion had passed, it would have defeated the government and very likely triggered an immediate election campaign.
The Conservatives are now accusing the NDP and Bloc Québécois of propping up a government they have repeatedly criticized.
However, the NDP and Bloc are rejecting the Conservatives’ framing of events, saying that the non-confidence vote essentially asks them to support Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre over Trudeau.
The second non-confidence motion brought forward by Poilievre on Thursday states that the House of Commons has lost confidence in the Liberal government and “offers Canadians the option to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime.”
That’s the list of slogans the Tories have been using for months.
NDP MP Charlie Angus said Thursday the confidence vote was about “whether the leader of the Opposition should be trusted.”
The series of confidence votes comes after the NDP ended the supply-and-confidence deal that had kept the government stable since early 2022.
The Bloc Québécois has given the Liberals until Oct. 29 to pass two private member’s bills related to supply management and old age security if they want to avoid an election before Christmas.
MPs will vote on the latest Tory motion on Oct. 1 and on another confidence motion related to the Liberals’ capital gains tax changes on Oct. 2.
Patricia is the Business Mentor and owner of Grow Vantage and a Past President of the Barrie Chamber of Commerce. She applies over 30 years of business experience (from start-up to corporate) to mentor entrepreneurs. Since 2011, she has held over 6,500 coaching and training sessions in-person and online. Through Ask For Directions Training, her entrepreneurial training program (and parent company Grow Vantage), and as a business coach, she works with start-ups who are new (or who have lost traction) to design, launch and grow their businesses. Along with 20 other expert instructors she teaches strategies in marketing, sales, communications, and finance, as well as practical techniques to increase productivity, and manage their businesses. In other words, everything entrepreneurs need to learn to grow and run their businesses successfully, and avoid the costly mistakes they can't even see coming - that lead to delays in growth and getting stuck.
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