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BY NEIL MOSS

Despite saying it would abide by agreed-upon provisions to

give Parliamentarians more over-sight on trade deals, the Liberal government has yet to amend its official policy on tabling trade bills in Parliament.

Those provisions include tabling notice of the govern-ment’s intent to enter into free trade negotiations in the House

of Commons 90 days before those talks begin; tabling its objectives for those negotiations 30 days prior to their start; and tabling an economic impact assessment of the trade deal at the same time an implementation bill is introduced in the House for a new trade pact. The government’s notice of intent and objectives would be referred to the House Committee

BY LAURA RYCKEWAERT

Parliament’s system of expense disclosure reports recently got

a revamp, with new reports and

new details on travel, hospitality, and contract spending to be made public as early as late August.

These changes come as a result of Bill C-58, which amended the

federal Access to Information Act and introduced new proactive disclosure requirements for Parlia-

BY SAMANTHA WRIGHT ALLEN

The RCMP have seen a 62 per cent increase in mental health

and well-being calls over the last five years—worrying but incom-plete results that have critics de-manding better data and redoubling

calls for an inquiry into police-in-volved deaths for those in crisis.

BY PALAK MANGAT

Six years after police in Canada began reporting the Indigenous

identity for victims and people ac-cused of homicides to the country’s statistics agency, some officers are hoping to get buy-in from their col-leagues to similarly enhance crime data on a wider scale by early next year. But beefing up efforts to col-lect such race-based data will need to be made mandatory nationwide to truly be effective, say some experts, placing a growing impor-tance on the political will of deci-sion makers to use that evidence to guide reforms.

On July 15, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) and Statistics Canada jointly announced that they would work to “enable” police forces across the country to report stats on Indigenous and ethno-cultural groups in police reported crime data.

The announcement does not come with any funding nor tangible timelines, though Deputy Chief Stuart Betts of the London Police Service, who co-chairs the CACP’s police information and statistics committee, which is

Feds have yet to make agreed-upon changes giving Parliament greater oversight over trade deals

Race-based reporting for crime data could become mandatory for police, says cop, as group eyes boosting efforts by 2021

RCMP report 62 per cent uptick in mental health, wellness call response as critics demand better data

Deeper, detailed look at Parliament’s spending coming as new disclosure rules take effect

Continued on page 12

Continued on page 13

Continued on page 6

Continued on page 3

News

News

News

News

THIRTY-FIRST YEAR, NO. 1747 Canada’s PolitiCs and Government newsPaPer WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020 $5.00

Bad+Bitchy& Tim Powers

p.5

The House of Commons Speakers' parade, pictured on July 20. There are new disclosure requirements for the House and Senate Speakers, among a list of other parliamentary offices, including never-before-disclosed details on trips, contracts (worth $10,000 and higher), and hospitality costs incurred. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Rest in good power

Lisa Van Dusen p. 9

Which way on Huawei?

It may be out of Canada’s hands p. 7

Freeland, O’Regan, Guilbeault topped lobbyists’ lists in June p. 4

MROs shift to PCO while McNair formalizes hello to PMO Hill Climbers p. 11

Parties of the Past

p.15

Current and former MPs, including former prime minister Stephen Harper,

participated in a virtual Iran dissident sum-mit that has connections to a group that was formerly on Canada’s terror list.

The “Free Iran” summit is hosted annu-ally by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a group connected with the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MeK). The MeK was taken off the terror list in 2012 and has been accused of being a cult.

“It’s my pleasure to address the NCRI’s Free Iran Summit from Canada today; to-gether with friends and allies from around the world, I continue to stand with the people of Iran against the tyrannical and oppressive regime in Tehran,” tweeted Mr. Harper, who has attended “Free Iran” sum-mits in the past.

He was joined by his former foreign affairs minister John Baird, as well as cur-rent Conservative House Leader Candice Bergen, Conservative MP James Bezan and Liberal MP Judy Sgro, as well as Con-servative Senator Leo Housakos.

“To support the MeK—a corrupt and thuggish cult with zero legitimacy inside Iran—is morally bankrupt and strategic lu-nacy,” tweeted University of Ottawa interna-tional relations professor Thomas Juneau, who is an expert on the Middle East.

In the past Liberal MP Alexandra Mendès attended the event.

Canadaland’s Jesse Brown to appear at the Finance Committee

A reporter and publisher of the online news organization Canadaland will appear before the House Finance Committee as it investigates the Liberal government’s awarding of a more than $900-million contract to WE Charity.

Jesse Brown tweeted on July 20 that he will be testifying in front of the committee on July 22.

Canadaland has been on the forefront breaking news about the operations of the organization.

It is rare for a journalist to appear before parliamentary committees with few exceptions, but publishers have appeared at committees to discuss the state of the news industry.

Global News chief political correspon-dent David Akin tweeted that Mr. Brown’s appearance is a “terrible precedent.”

“Was there something you neglected to report on that you are going to tell the committee? If not: Just tell the MPs to read what you wrote. MPs should not be sum-moning journalists to testify at Commons committees,” he tweeted to Mr. Brown.

CTV political reporter Glen McGregor tweeted that it is “utterly bizarre.”

Appearing alongside Mr. Brown will be Vivian Krause, a researcher and writer who has alleged that foreign funding is backing environmental groups in Canada.

Diversity, Inclusion, and Youth Minister Bardish Chagger has appeared before the committee over the awarding of the Cana-

da Student Service Grant to WE Charity, as has Privy Council Clerk Ian Shugart.

WE Charity founders Craig and Marc Kielburger will appear before the Finance Committee on July 28.

“A lot of things have been written and said about WE Charity over the last few weeks,” Craig Kielburger said in a state-ment. “We look forward to an opportunity to talk directly to Canadians and set the record straight.”

Former Green Party and NDP staffer Angela Rickman dies at 56

Angela Rickman, who served as a top aide for the Green Party and the NDP, died on July 17. She was 56.

Ms. Rickman, who died from ALS, served as the Green Party’s policy director and helped craft the party’s official plat-form for the 2019 election with then-leader Elizabeth May and members of the shadow cabinet.

She had known Ms. May dating back to their time working at the Sierra Club of Canada together.

Prior to working for the Greens, Ms. Rickman worked in the NDP leader’s office on the Hill as issues manager from 2011 to 2018, overlapping primarily during the period of Tom Mulcair‘s leadership.

NDP MP Charlie Angus tweeted that he was “heartbroken” at the news of Ms. Rick-man’s death.

“I worked with Angela on many files in Parliament. She had integrity and deter-mination,” Mr. Angus wrote, adding his condolences to Ms. May.

Ms. Rickman was also a parliamentary staffer to former NDP MPs Linda Duncan and Ian Waddell.

She was also the executive director of Prevent Cancer Now.

Christine Whitecross retires; Jean-Marc Lanthier joins ADGA

The Canadian military’s most senior female officer retired from her post com-manding Rome’s NATO Defence College on July 18.

Lt.-Gen. Christine Whitecross, who is Canada’s first female three-star general, has been a member of the Canadian Forces for more than 35 years. She is also the first woman to command the Defence College.

Throughout her career, she has led the Canadian Forces’ effort to respond to sexual assault and harassment allegations as the then-chief of military personnel, and served as the deputy chief of staff for strategic com-munications in 2010 to 2011 while deployed with the NATO mission in Afghanistan

“She has done amazing work in cham-pioning gender equality in the military & inspiring women to rise through the ranks,” tweeted Liberal MP Julie Dzerowicz, a member of the House Defence Committee.

In other Canadian Forces news, past vice chief of the defence staff Jean-Marc Lanthier is joining the ADGA’s strategic advisory council following his retirement from the Canadian Forces.

Lt.-Gen. Lanthier was appointed as Canada’s second-most senior soldier last July. He was succeeded by Lt.-Gen. Mike Rouleau in a July 15 transfer of authority ceremony.

Before becoming the vice chief of the defence staff, Lt.-Gen. Lanthier was commander of the Canadian Army from 2018 to 2019. Throughout his more-than 30-year military career, he participated in six deployments and three domestic operations, which included deployments to Afghanistan and the former Yugoslavia as part of the United Nations protection force.

“Lt-Gen. Lanthier’s expertise in Defence and Security make him a tremendous addi-tion to the council,” said strategic advisory council chair Richard Fadden, a former director of CSIS and deputy minister of the Department of National Defence.

Lt.-Gen. Lanthier won’t be the only past vice chief of the defence staff on the coun-cil, as Guy Thibault is also on the advisory board. Lt.-Gen. Thibault was vice chief from 2013 to 2016.

Trudeau looking for new Youth Council members

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is seeking new members to join his youth council.

The youth council was an initiative of Mr. Trudeau’s to bring young Canadians into the world of policy making.

The government is looking for Canadi-ans between the ages of 16 and 24 to make up the next cohort on the council. Applica-tions for the role close on Aug. 17.

Members that are appointed to the council serve for up to two years. The council meets both in-person and virtu-ally. Meetings have been hosted all around Canada from Iqaluit, Nunavut, to St. John’s, N.L.

The council is supported by Diversity and Inclusion and Youth Minister Bardish Chagger, who serves as vice-chair.

“In Canada, diversity is one of our greatest strengths. So we’re calling on dedicated and innovative youth who reflect the diversity of perspectives, experiences, and regions as we build back an even bet-ter and more inclusive Canada,” Ms. Chag-ger said in a statement.

New Vietnam and South Korean envoys present credentials

In lieu of the traditional letter of cre-dence ceremony at Rideau Hall, the newest foreign diplomats in Ottawa officially be-gan their posts during a virtual ceremony with Governor General Julie Payette on July 16.

Pham Cao Phong of Vietnam and Chang Keung Ryong of South Korea presented their letters of credence online to Ms. Payette to comply with COVID-19 physical distancing guidelines.

Before officially beginning their diplo-matic duties, all representatives of non-commonwealth countries must present the letter of credence to Ms. Payette, which are given to them by the head of state of their home countries.

More than 180 diplomatic missions are accredited to Canada, according to a press release.

nmoss@hilltimes.com The Hill Times

WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020 | THE HILL TIMES2

by Neil Moss

Heard on the Hill

Stephen Harper, Candice Bergen, James Bezan, Judy Sgro, Leo Housakos, and John Baird participate in controversial ‘Free Iran’ virtual summit

Past prime minister Stephen Harper has made frequent appearances at the annual 'Free Iran' summit. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Jesse Brown will make a rare appearance for a journalist in front of a parliamentary committee on July 22. Photograph courtesy of Twitter/Jesse Brown

Lt.-Gen. Christine Whitecross retired from the Canadian Forces on July 18. Photograph courtesy of Twitter/NATO Defence College

Diversity and Inclusion and Youth Minister Bardish Chagger is the vice-chair of the prime minister’s youth council. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

3

helping spearhead the initiative, said the goal is to have some form of data collection effort in place in the new year.

“This is not something we want to see languish, this is not a five-year type of proj-ect. This is something that we expect to have forward momentum on, sooner than later,” Mr. Betts said in a July 17 phone interview.

“I would expect that there would be something in place by [2021] and more than a pilot,” he added. “August is when we will re-port back to the CACP [with] what our strat-egy is to collect this information, and how we intend to do so, and our work will begin to engage our community stakeholders.”

Mr. Betts said “it is within the purview” of the partnership “that this become a man-datory requirement” for forces, which will mirror the requirement to report on the Indigenous and racial identity of victims and accused. That data is fed to StatsCan for the agency’s homicide survey, and 2014 was the first year that police forces were mandated to do so.

Warren Silver, the national training offi-cer at the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics at Statistics Canada, said he has seen “co-operation” improve between police forces and the agency over his 18 years there.

“I think we have good support from the CACP, and I think this is really the body that helps to dictate this,” Mr. Silver said in an interview July 17. “They’re very unified, coming from the police chiefs themselves, and I think they recognize the importance and the need for this data.”

The announcement comes in the wake of renewed public scrutiny of police bud-gets, how officers are deployed, and calls for defunding of police services. A string of violent run-ins with police have also come to light in the last number of months, in particular involving Indigenous and Black people. Since April, eight Indigenous people have died in circumstances involv-

ing both municipal and national police forces, with some having been fatally shot. It’s a reality both Mr. Betts and Mr. Silver said they are aware of.

“I don’t expect there to be many road-blocks. What will need to be hammered out is how we should go about this, what needs to be collected, and all the details about break-down by groups and violation,” said Mr. Silver.

“Never before has the demand been greater, and we are happy to help to try and facilitate answers to questions the commu-nity has,” added Mr. Betts. Still, he acknowl-edged there may need to be enhancements to data beyond this specific initiative, which will improve StatsCan’s figures under the uniform crime reporting survey and the ho-micide survey, but only moving forward.

“We wouldn’t be able to retroactively go back and attach a grouping or identity to those individuals, it’s just—that time has passed. This would be establishing a go-forward benchmark,” said Mr. Betts.

At this stage, the efforts will not cover demographic data for provincial offences, including what Mr. Betts called “mental health apprehensions,” as they do not fall under the Criminal Code. But he said “nothing precludes provinces or police services from making that a practice if that is [deemed to be] a best practice.”

Mr. Betts acknowledged that leaves a gap in data, which could be mandated and filled in by individual jurisdictions. He pointed to Ontario, which mandated officers logging racial data in interactions involving use of force.

Since January, officers in Ontario have had to log the race of somebody when they draw or fire a handgun, use a weapon other than that, or are involved in a physical alter-cation with somebody that causes serious injuries that need medical attention. A form lays out seven ethnic categories for them to choose from on this use of force report; Black, East/Southeast Asian, Indigenous, La-tino, Middle Eastern, South Asian, and white.

“Once the framework has been estab-lished for the criminal process, it may be a good practice to adopt that for provincial practices as well,” he said.

Mr. Silver noted the agency’s homicide survey can act as “model” for providing ra-cial categories, and some forces themselves may come up with their own categories to tailor it to their respective communities.

‘Equity in our society’ at stake with effort, says expert 

There is recent precedent for the initia-tive to lean on as CACP and StatsCan consult stakeholders this year.

Lorne Foster, director of the Institute for Social Research at York University,

was hired by the City of Ottawa in 2013 to create a race-based data collection project for people who were pulled over at traffic stops.

That project required officers to log who they stopped into seven categories: Black, East/Southeast Asian, Indigenous, Middle Eastern, South Asian, white, and other ra-cialized minorities. It came with a price tag of more than $400,000 over two years, to pay for expertise and upgrade the software that police used to collect such data.

“You’d have to be able to have the of-ficers add one more item to their round of routines,” said Prof. Foster in a phone in-terview July 20, likening it to an extra “tab,” but it’s work that is “not a very technically difficult adaptation.”

“If people fight back about the resource issues in relation to data collection and the difficulties that that causes for police, one of the things that has to be raised is what’s at stake here,” he added. “What’s at stake here is human life, and in a systemic sense, the treatment of vulnerable groups and actually being able to embed equity in our society.”

In November 2019, the second instalment of Ottawa’s study, figures showed that out of the almost 100,000 traffic stops between 2015 and 2018, officers targeted young Black and Middle Eastern men at a rate of two and three times what would be expected based on their population size. There have since been recommendations for the force to set yearly targets to reduce the racially biased stops by 10 per cent each year, eliminating the disproportionality in 2025.

“Racial profiling is really a systemic problem in policing. It’s something that’s built in through the system and it’s become a normal functioning aspect of it, and it’s so normal that officers actually contend that it doesn’t even occur,” said Prof. Foster. But through data and studies like his, officers are more aware of their “implicit biases” that are “so subtle and covert.”

As a result, he said any initiatives around data collection will need to be made mandatory to truly be consequential in the long run.

“It’s very difficult to compare, integrate, or see in a holistic fashion what’s going on in terms of the system and institutions [otherwise].”

The initiative is being praised by the Native Women’s Association of Canada, which has had to sometimes rely on old or incomplete figures to make proposals in its work, said its president Lorraine Whitman.

“It’s been too many years that we’ve gone with a scarcity of information,” said Ms. Whitman, a member of the Glooscap First Nation in Nova Scotia, in an interview last week.

She said the initiative is a long time coming, especially given that the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indige-nous Women and Girls has highlighted the

need for such data. “I’m pleased that they are going forward with this, it is a positive step in a movement.”

Kim Baird, a former chief of the Tsaw-wassen First Nation in B.C., said the announcement is encouraging but “under-whelming” with the lack of details around its rollout. “People are more worried about excessive use of violence on Indigenous people and other communities, so it’s hard to see how impactful this will be. Maybe it will be, and maybe it’s part of a bigger systemic change that is needed, but I think Indigenous people would like to see other safeguards put in place to ensure that people aren’t killed,” she said in an inter-view this week.

What will be most telling about the initiative is how decision makers use it by way of reforms.

“If this initiative results in better data, it’s probably worthwhile, ultimately. I think that it may quantify the challenge of polic-ing in relation to racial interactions, but it doesn’t fix it,” Ms. Baird added.

“To me, how this data gets used and where the accountability for it lies, is a big question.”

Ms. Baird, who was consulted for a Jan-uary 2019 report for Indigenous Services Canada and the Assembly of First Nations on how to improve First Nations data, said that it ultimately comes down to political will, which Prof. Foster agreed with.

“If one agency is collecting data, that’s better than none. But it does present dif-ficulties in terms of the impact that it could have in terms of improving society,” he said. The professor suggested that data col-lected on the frontlines should be regularly audited by supervisors who are able to recognize patterns and build it into perfor-mance reviews of officers, so it acts as an “incentive for them to maintain proper pro-tocol.” Similarly, racial categories should also be subject to review as they are social constructs that can change over time.

So far, Prof. Foster said he had not been contacted to be one of the stakeholders who will be consulted on the initiative. He encouraged not just experts but also com-munity organizations to take part in those discussions.

“If [police are] only going to collect data in ways that help them to better enforce public order, or better engage crime, that’s a very narrow approach that does not intersect with the general conversation that’s going on in our society today about systemic discrimination,” he said.

Prof. Foster added he is hopeful that the stats will be helpful for other agencies and institutions to take note of too. “When you think about systemic discrimination … all of them should be a part of the solution, because they’re all part of the problem.”

pmangat@hilltimes.com The Hill Times

Race-based reporting for crime data could become mandatory for police, says cop, as group eyes boosting efforts by 2021‘What’s at stake here is human life, and in a systemic sense, the treatment of vulnerable groups and actually being able to embed equity in our society,’ says York University professor Lorne Foster.

News

THE HILL TIMES | WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020

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Continued from page 1

Innovation, Science, and Industry Minister Navdeep Bains, pictured March 20 with Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, will oversee Statistics Canada as the agency partners with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police to beef up its efforts to collect race-based crime data. A July 15 announcement came with few details and no money linked to the initiative, though one officer hopes to have something in place by 2021. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

4

BY SAMANTHA WRIGHT ALLEN

Some associations are calling their June lobbying efforts

a success, after the government agreed to a widespread push to extend the emergency wage sub-sidy program.

The pandemic has necessi-tated fast-paced policy develop-ment and economic response, and companies report their govern-ment relations arms are busier than ever. Though June’s 2,002 recorded communications were down compared to each of the four previous months of 2020, last month was busier or on par with the pace of Junes in the past.

June 2019 recorded 1,480 interactions—putting this year up 35 per cent—while June 2018 had 1,804, and June 2017 had 2,141.

The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME) logged the most communications in June by far, with much of its 62 filings tied to its virtual lobby days effort June 22 to 26, during which it met with more than 40 MPs across party lines.

In many of those conversa-tions, CME president Dennis Dar-by said members told MPs that companies needed the wage sub-sidy extended so there wouldn’t be a complete cut-off when many companies are having a hard time coming back, facing lost contracts and lowered demand for services in some cases.

“I think overall we were satisfied with the level of en-gagement but more importantly

satisfied that some of our stuff got advanced,” said Mr. Darby in reference to the government’s July 13 wage subsidy extension announcement.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s (Papineau, Que.) exten-sion of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) program to December was welcomed by many business groups, including the CME. The program, which previously covered 75 per cent of wages for companies that could demonstrate a 30-per-cent revenue loss, has widened the cri-teria for eligible companies. MPs passed the required legislation to put these measures into place on July 21 as part of a negoti-ated two-day return to debate Bill C-20, which also saw opposition secure two more House commit-tees in action.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce also pushed for and were happy to see this result during its 19 interactions with of-ficials from Finance; Innovation, Science, and Industry; and Public Services and Procurement, as part of a bigger focus on getting Canadians back to work, said vice-president of policy Trevin Stratton.

As the largest business as-sociation in Canada, he said the chamber has been in regular conversation with its members about how they’re impacted and

have reported that back to the government, making it among the busiest groups over the course of the pandemic, according to the lobbying registry.

“Because economic conditions are changing so quickly and it’s a very fluid situation, there are a number of issues that come up quickly that it’s important for us to talk to the government about” to give officials the best informa-tion possible to help save busi-nesses, he said. “We’re all team Canada.”

The chamber’s June conver-sations centred on a document it prepared called “Roadmap to Recovery,” which highlights nine different policy areas to keep sup-ply chains open, Canadians work-ing, managing debt, and adopting innovations.

“It’s a challenge to create pol-icy, that oftentimes take months, in the span of days,” he said of the crisis, so the chamber is offering its 51 recommendations. While none have been committed to yet, he said it’s part of an ongoing ef-fort to influence the government’s agenda.

The chamber met with Pro-curement Minister Anita Anand (Oakville, Ont.)—as did CME—re-lated to the PPE Supply Council, which the chamber sits on, and with Transport Minister Marc Garneau (Notre-Dame-de-Grâce-Westmount, Que.) to discuss the

importance of air cargo to ensure the resiliency of Canadian supply chains, Mr. Strat-ton said.

Wages are a really important piece, said Mr. Darby, but the gov-ernment also has a role to play in incentivizing do-mestic demand to encourage people to spend money and drive the sec-tor forward.

“Manufacturing drives exports, and our exports will help drive our re-covery,” he said, a point which will be CME’s “long game”

focus. “[Recovery planning] is going to take time because there’s so many things the government has to balance and I know they’re still working on their long-term strategy but we have to take it one day at a time.”

At the same time, Mr. Stratton added, Canada should consider winding down some of the other subsidies that he said might be “creating distortions in the labour market,” while also making sure there are supports to those who don’t have a job to go back to.

Expanded program eligibility welcome

Greater flexibility to the wage subsidy program will help mem-bers of the Food and Consumer Products of Canada who were previously shut out from eligibility, said Carla Ventin, its senior vice-president of government relations.

Its members manufacture the vast majority of products found on grocery and drugstore shelves, in-cluding packaged foods like cereals and frozen vegetables, or drugstore aisle items like batteries, disinfec-tants, shampoos, and vitamins. During the pandemic, demand for these products skyrocketed with some seeing spikes upwards of 500 per cent, said Ms. Ventin, but it also came with challenges and added safety and training costs that couldn’t be alleviated under the original wage subsidy program, which required companies prove a 30 per cent revenue loss.

It meant a “huge pivot” for members who need access to secure supply chains and essen-tial workers to run manufacturing facilities, so that neither products or people were stopped at the Canada-U.S. border.

In June, the organization logged 18 communications with officials and MPs, including the parliamentary secretaries to the ministers of small busi-ness, agriculture, and innovation. The organization also met with Labour Minister Filomena Tassi (Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas, Ont.), who was mentioned in 12 filings. The CME, whose members employ almost 1.8-million Cana-dians, also met with Ms. Tassi.

Ms. Ventin said the group also stressed to officials that members

need more funding to help offset COVID-19 related costs. While the $77.5-million emergency processing fund has been among the most helpful programs for the food and consumer products sec-tor, she said the B.C. portion has already been over-prescribed and more is likely needed.

Most-lobbied ministersNatural Resources Minister

Seamus O’Regan (St. John’s South-Mount Pearl, N.L.) was the top-lobbied cabinet minister in June, with 16 mentions, followed by Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault (Laurier-Sainte Marie, Que.) and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland (University-Rosedale, Ont.), with 14 apiece.

Most of Mr. O’Regan’s meet-ings were logged by oil and gas companies, with unions and for-est associations also on his card.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) was in that mix and was the busiest group in May, keeping that pace in June to tie for second spot with 19 filings. CAPP also met with Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna (Ottawa Centre, Ont.), who had seven mentions, as well as the parliamentary secretaries to the ministers of environment and Indigenous services. CAPP’s advocacy efforts are focused on economic recovery, and the “right federal measures will position Canada to attract investment and enable the natural gas and oil industry to be a strong founda-tion for economic recovery,” said Shannon Joseph, vice-president of government relations.

Mr. Guilbeault, meanwhile, met with a mix of energy and environmental groups, as well as News Media Canada—which is distributing part of Canada’s five-year $50-million local journalism initiative—as well as the Cana-dian Hockey League.

Ms. Freeland was listed by Rio Tinto Aluminium several times, as well as Loblaw Companies Limited, the Aluminum Asso-ciation of Canada, the Canadian Steel Producers Association, and steel producer ArcelorMittal Dofasco. Last week, Mr. Trudeau responded to reports that the U.S. is considering reimposing tariffs on Canadian metals, saying he is concerned.

Overall, conversations with MPs and their staff were relatively static in June 2020, compared to last year, but conversations with ISED officials jumped 46 per cent, with 222 communications com-pared to 152 in June 2019, while Natural Resources Canada saw a 86 per cent uptick with June 2020’s 119 communications. Glob-al Affairs Canada had the same number of mentions last month, putting it up 57 per cent compared to June last year. Conservative MP Randy Hoback (Prince Albert, Alta.), who is vice-chair of the House International Trade Com-mittee, was the most-lobbied MP, mentioned in 18 filings.

Though not among the top five institutions, Employment and Social Development Canada (91) and Canadian Heritage (71) saw the biggest rise in interest com-pared to the same time last year, with 184 per cent and 238 per cent increases, respectively.

swallen@hilltimes.com The Hill Times

June lobbying a success with wage subsidy extension, groups say With 2,002 recorded communications, June saw a dip in lobbying compared to each of the four previous months of 2020, but it was busier than the last sitting month in 2019.

News

WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020 | THE HILL TIMES

A snapshot of federal lobbying since June 2019, by number of communications registered. Graph created with Infogram

Natural Resources Minister Seamus O’Regan, Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault, and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland were the top three most-lobbied cabinet ministers in June. The Hill Times photographs by Andrew Meade

5

OTTAWA—The Trudeau govern-ment has done it again—creat-

ed a giant mess of their own mak-ing. Of course, I am referring to the Liberals’ extremely ill-conceived attempt to sole source a contract to the WE organization. Because of all of this, both the prime minister and the finance minister now find themselves under investigation, and fresh research from our polling company Abacus Data demon-strates the government has taken a hit in popular support.

We will be hearing about WE for months. It will likely get worse before it gets better and could prove to be a significant electoral vulnerability for the gov-ernment. But for now, I want to focus on something the Canadian government did get right during this pandemic.

Not permitting the Toronto Blue Jays to play their home games in Canada during the shortened Major League Baseball season was the right call. It would have been an extremely risky proposi-tion for the federal government to allow the Jays and visiting teams from the U.S. to go back and forth across the border as the pandemic runs wild in America.

From both a public health perspective and a public op-tics one, it would have been an unmitigated disaster if it did allow the Jays to proceed. The increased risk of COVID-19 out-breaks would have been higher and the prospect of being ac-cused of doing favours for rich athletes was not one the Liber-als—or any other government, for that matter—would want to wear at this point.

As much as many of us want professional sports to resume, a government cannot justify it at any costs. Besides, having done a more sensible deal with the National Hockey League with the creation of two hubs and con-trolled city environments, both in Canada, provided an easy back-drop for the government to say it is doing its part to get sports going again, but in a responsible man-ner. Also, it being hockey, a sport dominated by Canadian athletes, it gave it some more currency.

Assuming the NHL does start up in August as planned, this is an important win, not just for hockey lovers but also for the feds who also want a return to normal. People talking about hockey might also help distract from the WE scandal. Sorry, politics is never that far from the service.

The bigger challenge for the Trudeau government and the prov-inces on the sports front is not going to have been saying “no” to baseball and “yes” to hockey—it is the state of our national sports structure. All the bodies and organizations that oversee and help administer everything from your kids’ soccer to your grandparents’ curling are

legitimately threatened by COV-ID-19. It is this sports structure that keeps tens of millions of Canadians active, healthy, and well. It is also a huge economic driver for all sorts of communities coast to coast, not just NHL hub cities like Toronto and Ed-monton. Multiple billions of dollars are generated each year through sports tourism.

As someone who voluntarily heads a national sports organiza-tion, Rugby Canada, I can tell you there is grave concern across the land about the pandemic’s threat to the sports system and, in turn, our nation’s wellness. There are also thousands of jobs at stake. Govern-ments, including the Trudeau gov-ernment, have been responsive and helpful to date. There is genuine gratitude for that. But the longer the pandemic goes on, the greater potential for systemic carnage, which will impact us all.

So, while I am glad I can soon watch Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, and Auston Matthews play again, and I feel safer that the MLB’s season will be played en-tirely south of the border, I am more than a little concerned about our nation’s sports structure. “We” all need Canada’s sports system stable and able to truly get back to normal.

Tim Powers is vice-chairman of Summa Strategies and manag-ing director of Abacus Data. He is a former adviser to Conservative political leaders.

The Hill Times

OTTAWA—In addition to Black and Indigenous people, the

Trudeau government is failing women, hard.

Since coming to power in 2015, the Liberal government has done the most—and we mean the most—to appear as a feminist government and the saviour of women all over the globe. From presenting Justin Trudeau as the feminist prime minister worthy of international praise to devel-oping the gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) framework for policy

development, this government’s been making moves for the past five years. Yet the COVID-19 pandemic continues to show us that one-time investments in the gender equality sector or hosting international feminist conferenc-es will not do the necessary work of addressing the intersecting problems that Black, Indigenous, and racialized women dispropor-tionately face.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, community leaders have been highlighting the role of COVID-19 in exacerbating the in-tersecting inequities that threaten the limited progress that’s been made toward gender-equality over the past few years. From widening the gender wage gap to increasing women’s safe housing and shelter needs, this pandemic has highlighted the urgency for meaningful long-term commit-ments to advancing gender equal-ity in Canada.

The latest numbers from Statistics Canada show that there has been a 17 per cent dip in employment among women, and that drop is even greater, 38 per cent, for women between the ages of 15 and 24, contributing to an impending increase in the gender wage gap. This gap will be even wider for Black, Indige-nous, and racialized women who already worked under precarious conditions and whose work is systematically undervalued with-in our workplaces. In addition to the fall in employment rates,

Black, Indigenous, and racialized women are more likely to per-form unpaid care work compared to white women, which also con-tributes to an income gap that will exasperate their financial independence and lead to greater gender and racial inequity in the aftermath of the pandemic. This fall in employment resulted in women accounting for three-fifths of new applicants for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit since late June.

For a government that cham-pions gender equality, it sure doesn’t take the concerns of one gender as seriously as another.

According to a survey by Oxfam Canada, around half of In-digenous women and 55 per cent of Black women are currently struggling financially because of unpaid care work. This is the re-sult of a lack of childcare options due to the public-health measures aimed at containing COVID-19 that are expected to last well into the new year if women can’t find affordable and accessible options as workplaces start to open up. This means that if our “feminist” government (though whether or not it’s intersectional is another matter altogether) doesn’t fund affordable and/or universal childcare by the time workplaces start to open up, the needle will start moving backwards for many women, especially Black and Indigenous women, who remain the primary caregivers in their families.

Combine this widening income gap with women’s increasing need for safe and affordable housing and shelter and you’ll get a good view of why this is disas-trous. These issues aren’t siloed, rather they are very intercon-nected.

Across Canada,women and gender-diverse people continue to face some of the harshest barriers in finding shelter and housing. From full-capacity shelters to unaffordable rental prices, the housing needs of women are chronically underfunded and neglected; the situation is even worse for transgender women and non-binary people as many existing shelters and rape crisis centres refuse to accept trans-gender individuals or perpetrate further violence against them.

This chronic underfunding is partly due to the hidden nature of women’s homelessness and housing precarity. According to a report published in June, women are less likely to appear in mainstream shelters, drop-in spaces, public spaces, or access other homeless-specific services. This is partly to avoid the stigma surrounding homelessness and results in relying on relational, precarious, and dangerous sup-ports to survive, such as sleeping on friends’ couches or trading sex for housing, an experience that has escalated amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Even when women attempt to access emer-gency housing and shelter needs,

many of them are turned away, meaning that many women and children are forced to return to violent and unsafe spaces as a result. In fact, an average of 620 women and children a day were turned away from domestic vio-lence shelters across Canada in November 2019.

This is incel feminism. Or WE feminism, take your pick.

Homelessness and housing precarity are even more com-mon and violent for Black and Indigenous women and gender diverse people. As a result of intersecting racism, poverty, and violence, Indigenous women and gender-diverse peoples experi-ence the worst housing conditions throughout Canada and remain the most underserved in both the violence against women (VAW) and homelessness sectors.

Earlier this year, the federal government made a one-time investment in women’s shelters and sexual violence centres across the country, but this government needs to pull up and come up with specific strategies like universal childcare, housing, and basic income plans that will address the needs of marginal-ized women holistically. It’s not like there isn’t a template. What is required is leadership from our prime minister that seems to be absent from his administration.

By the way, it’s been nearly two months since the murder of George Floyd and we’re still waiting for this transformational change that Trudeau promised us. If his commitment to women is any indication, we won’t see much.

Arezoo Najibzadeh and Erica Ifill are co-hosts of the Bad+Bitchy podcast.

The Hill Times

Comment

Sports need to get back in the game to help boost Canada’s post-COVID recovery

Trudeau government is getting a failing grade on supposed feminist bona fides

The bigger challenge for the Trudeau government and the provinces on the sports front is not going to have been saying ‘no’ to baseball and ‘yes’ to hockey—it is the state of our national sports structure.

For a government that champions gender equality, it sure doesn’t take the concerns of one gender as seriously as another.

THE HILL TIMES | WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020

Arezoo Najibzadeh & Erica Ifill

Bad+Bitchy

Not permitting the Toronto Blue Jays to play their home games in Canada during the shortened Major League Baseball season was the right call, from both a public health perspective and a public optics one, writes Tim Powers. Flickr photograph by Grid Engine

Tim Powers

Plain Speak

6

In 2019, the RCMP responded to 149,986 mental health and well-being checks, up from 92,492 in 2015, according to RCMP data disclosed July 15. Because it’s pulled from three records man-agement systems, each with dif-ferent codes for calls, the RCMP said it’s difficult to offer consis-tent information on the nature of these wellness checks. Early 2020 numbers, pulled from these systems between mid-June and July 6, show that trend continu-ing apace with 94,285 recorded halfway through the year.

That echoes June 23 testimony by RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki, who told MPs on the House Public Safety Committee that the number of calls the force responds to on mental health “are growing exponentially.”

The numbers were prepared in response to questions from The Hill Times at the end of June call-ing for data related to mental well-ness checks, and for information about their outcomes, including the number that resulted in deaths. Police forces across Canada, including the RCMP, are under scrutiny following high-profile cases of Canadians being killed during police wellness checks where officers were responding to a person in crisis or believed to be in need of immediate help.

There could be a number of reasons for the increase, includ-ing population growth, or more awareness and understanding of mental health illnesses among Ca-nadians and officers, said RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Caroline Duval by email, who cautioned against drawing conclusions based on the raw data alone.

Though the marked increase has some parliamentary crit-ics concerned, the data is “very incomplete” and at best raises more questions, said Independent Senator Stan Kutcher.

“Bad data is worse than no data because it doesn’t tell us what we need to know, but it can fool us into thinking we know

what we don’t know,” said the Nova Scotian Senator, who didn’t go as far to label these numbers as such, but said he was surprised the RCMP doesn’t seem to have “a consistent and coherent defini-tion” of the term “wellness check.”

The RCMP doesn’t have one code or definition across its systems for “wellness checks” and it’s not able to separate how many are related to mental health. And, it was only in January of this year when a “well-being check” was added in B.C.’s records management system, the RCMP’s largest division. Plus, these checks may not all be related to mental health, the RCMP explained in an extensive “important caveats” section that accompanied that data.

For example, this data doesn’t represent all interactions with people suffering from mental illness, as some interac-tions might be filed as an assault or suspicious occur-rence or noise com-plaint, for example, and it also includes well-being checks that aren’t mental-health related. Well-being checks could include requests to physically confirm the well-being of a loved one who is not responding or unreachable, the RCMP explained.

Green MPs, Sen. Pate call for inquiry

Still, to Independent Senator Kim Pate (Ontario), it’s a clear trend that speaks to the “eviscera-tion” of social and health-care programs that help keep people mentally well, particularly for those most on the margins.

“It’s not a big surprise that the last system, the only system that cannot refuse the calls, really, are the police and prison system,” and it makes sense to see the numbers increasing here as they are in the prison system, noted Sen. Pate, who has advocated for prisoner rights for decades.

Last Parliament, Sen. Pate was part of the Senate Human Rights Committee that studied prisoner experiences, and the subsequent 2019 report noted an estimated 30 per cent of men in Canada’s prisons need psychological or psychiatric services, with witnesses suggesting a significant number of inmates also suffer from undiag-nosed conditions. Up to two-thirds of all women in the correctional system, meanwhile, have identified mental health needs. Inmates over the age of 50, a growing population at federal institutions, have some of the highest rates of mental illness, the Senate report said.

On July 8, she joined Green MPs Elizabeth May and Jenica Atwin (Fredericton, N.B.) calling for an in-quiry into the deadly checks. If the government doesn’t act to launch the effort, a Senate study may be the next quickest forum with the ability to call witnesses, said Ms. May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, B.C.).

The Green parliamentary leader also said former Liberal MP and public safety minister Ralph Goo-dale has offered good advice. He said amendments could be added to Bill C-3, which was tabled in the House before the pandemic started, to improve RCMP oversight, though he told The Hill Times it might be more efficient to introduce a new bill that he said should set deadlines for the RCMP commissioner to respond to recommendations from

a renamed complaints commission; create an appeal mechanism; and create panels of experts from mi-nority communities in Canada that would be involved in complaints reviews from members of that minority group.

As she’s been raising the issue, Ms. May added she’s concerned by anecdotal reports where some accuse the police of using mental health legislation to gain access and search homes when there’s suspi-cion of unrelated criminal activity.

“One thing that might be hap-pening here, and I’m not alleging it is happening, but I want to make sure provincial mental health legis-lation is not used as a way to further harass or over-police marginalized people,” said Ms. May, who said Ca-nadians are “very disturbed” by the number of deaths and need to know it’s safe to call police for help.

“If I dial 911 because I have a relative in distress, am I signing their death warrant? Is it safe? What does it mean that a wellness check results in death?”

Evidence ‘screaming’ for structural review: Davies

NDP MP Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway, B.C.) said the data shows

a clear six-year upward trend in RCMP responses related to mental health and wellness checks, creating “no question” in his mind that the government must better train RCMP officers, calling for a “root and branch review” of existing methods.

More statistics aren’t necessary to demonstrate there’s already a need to have mental health profes-sionals responding with police officers, said Mr. Davies, his party’s health critic. These integrated, often mobile, teams that pair plainclothes officers with psychiatric nurses or mental health officials should be “baked in” to all wellness checks. The RCMP said data about these teams and their numbers isn’t tracked nationally, as mental health is a provincial jurisdiction. Mr. Da-vies said he’s also concerned that in some remote areas, only one officer might respond to a call, when at least two should be present.

“A person with an illness should not end up with a bullet in them,” he said, and it’s clear it’s less a matter of how individual officers are responding, and more about the systems in place. “The evidence is screaming out for a structural review and systemic change.”

After reviewing the RCMP’s response and data, Mr. Davies said he’s concerned that key information is missing.

“It’s not enough to know how many times [RCMP are] responding, we want to know what the outcomes of those responses are. I don’t know if that speaks to lack of data collection, or a lack of data organization, or a reluctance to reveal the data.”

As for how many involved use of force or led to death, the RCMP couldn’t provide data specific to these checks. Of an average annual 2.8-million calls for service, RCMP said use-of-force

interventions account for about 1,064 incidents, or 0.1 per cent.

In a manual review of member-involved shooting and in-custody death reports between 2008 and 2016, spokeswomen Catherine Fortin said there were no shoot-ings, but in 2015 there was one in-custody death report that began as a wellness check. In that incident, on Sept. 28 in Cold Lake, Alta., a woman called fearing her ex-boyfriend was suicidal and when officers found him, the man had a firearm pointed at himself and later died by a self-inflicted gunshot.

Over the past five years, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission said in a statement July 21 that it has issued 14 reports deal-ing with cases where the RCMP’s ac-tions concerning a wellness check or person in crisis were unreasonable. The commissioner said repeated findings have raised concerns about police adopting a “command and control” approach when responding to people who aren’t compliant.

The RCMP said data pulled from its three systems included violation codes flagged under the Mental Health Act as “offences” and “other activities” in the Police Reporting and Occurrence System (PROS) used by all divisions except B.C.

and Halifax; occurrences labelled “mental health related” or with the relevant violation code in the Police Records Information Management Environment (PRIME) in B.C.; and files identified as mental health-re-lated in Halifax District’s Versadex.

Data may not be comparable between each, the RCMP cautioned, and Halifax’s Versadex, with data only available since 2018, does not have a wellness check occurrence category, therefore a search was based on the term “wellness.”

Northern territories among highest rise in cases

Although cases have increased across jurisdictions, the jump in proportion shifts dramatically by region, which Mr. Davies said raises questions about what’s happening in places that have seen the most dramatic upticks, like in the North.

Yukon RCMP reported the larg-est increase in such checks, at 212 per cent from 2015’s 613 recorded, to 2019’s 1,914. More than 1,100 cases have already been reported halfway through 2020. Nunavut, meanwhile, reported an 148 per cent increase be-tween 2015 to a high of 3,774 in 2019 and the Northwest Territories cases rose nearly 109 per cent in that same time frame, with 2,523 incidents reported last year.

In Prince Edward Island, 2015’s 464 cases have almost tripled, mark-ing a 178 per cent increase in 2019. And in Ontario and Quebec, the numbers are lower as the only two provinces where it doesn’t provide frontline policing services, though it has a federal policing mandate in the National Capital Region.

“To be frank, I don’t think the government has a handle on this,” Mr. Davies said. “I don’t think they understand why there’s been a rapid increase in wellness checks and I absolutely think it’s clear we don’t have the tools to deal with this in a modern way.”

Sen. Kutcher said it’s impossi-ble to get a clear picture of what is happening from the data provided, especially given the number of in-formation systems it’s pulled from and the changing definitions.

“We don’t know when we’re looking by province and terri-tory, whether or not what is being called a wellness check in one place is called a wellness check in another,” he said. “I can’t make any sense out of this.”

It’d be critical to know if the five years involved consistent defini-tions and consistent reporting of the same types of occurrences. If terms have broadened, then that could explain the increase. And, if police calls across the board have in-creased, then the increase in mental health occurrences might be less notable, or as Sen. Kutcher puts it: “If it’s proportional to all police ser-vice calls, then that tells us nothing.” The RCMP did not respond with this clarification by deadline.

All that’s clear, said Sen. Kutcher, is that more questions must be answered, and the issue requires in-depth critical study.

“What this tells me at this point is the RCMP database, as it relates to this particular issue, needs to have a critical review and overhaul to make sure that it is defining the variables clearly, that the same in-formation is used across the country and that the content in the variables lets us do a more nuanced look.”

swallen@hilltimes.com The Hill Times

RCMP report 62 per cent uptick in mental health, wellness call response as critics demand better data The RCMP doesn’t have one definition for ‘wellness checks’ to track its interactions with the population and their outcomes—data that critics say is sorely needed to understand deadly police encounters.

News

WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020 | THE HILL TIMES

Continued from page 1

RCMP commissioner Brenda Lucki told MPs at committee last month that the number of calls the force responds to on mental health ‘are growing exponentially,’ and new data supports that claim. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

7

BY NEIL MOSS

As Canada is stuck between two feuding superpowers, its looming decision on

whether to grant Huawei access to provide Canadian 5G equipment is no longer a decision that can be made chiefly based on domestic interests, say experts.

The Canadian government is expected to restrict Huawei from its 5G network, as the U.S. has placed strong pressure on its Five Eyes allies to ban Huawei. That pres-sure has led the United Kingdom to reverse a decision on allowing Huawei limited access to its telecommunications infra-structure. Now, the U.K. government has said that Huawei’s 5G technology must be removed from its network by 2027.

“It was always going to be, at least in part, a geopolitical situation. I think what’s changed is that any attempt to balance geopolitical considerations with real secu-rity calculations about the potential risk posed by Huawei in providing equipment for non-federal 5G networks—I think that very question is irrelevant now,” said Uni-versity of Ottawa professor Wesley Wark, an expert on intelligence and national security.

The Communications Security Estab-lishment (CSE) is believed to be of the opinion that the potential risks of Huawei can be controlled through monitoring, The Globe and Mail reported last November.

“Whatever CSE thought or continues to think about Huawei as a security risk no longer matters,” said Prof. Wark, who served on the prime minister’s advisory council on national security for two terms from 2005 to 2009. “Everybody’s hand has been forced by the U.S. trade sanctions.”

In May, the U.S. government placed sanc-tions barring the use of American microchips to manufacture Huawei technology. The U.K. cited the sanctions as a reason why Huawei was banned, as new chips haven’t been tested

and could be prone to increased “security and reliability problems,” but said U.S. President Donald Trump didn’t personally influence the decision.

The U.S. has alleged that Huawei is a national security risk due to the Chinese gov-ernment’s control over the company. Experts told The Hill Times that those allegations have not been backed by evidence that Beijing has used the firm for spying in foreign countries.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair (Scar-borough Southwest, Ont.) told reporters on July 16 that the decision on Huawei will be one that is made based on the interests and security of Canadians.

He said the Canadian government has had “extensive conversations” with its Five Eyes allies about the decision.

The United States and Australia have both banned Huawei. New Zealand has not barred the telecommunications firm, as de-cisions are made on a case-by-case basis, but it has not allowed domestic networks to use Huawei 5G equipment.

“We have an obligation to ensure that the technical environment that Canadi-ans work in and enjoy in this country will always be safe,” Mr. Blair said. “I would acknowledge that it is a significant threat environment that informs the decision we will make. We are working hard to make sure we do what is right for Canadians and

I want to assure Canadians that’s a deci-sion that will be made by Canada for Cana-dians and not on anyone else’s schedule but ours.”

The Canadian government has not indicated a timeline on when the nearly two-year-long review of 5G in Canada will be completed.

Prof. Wark said the initial U.K. decision to give Huawei limited access gave Canada some flexibility to make its own decision on Huawei, but the sanctions changed British decision-making, which he said is a realization that Canadian officials likely have had as well, despite not publicly stat-ing so.

He said he didn’t expect a government announcement about the security to review to come before 2021.

Former diplomat Hugh Stephens, who served in various Asia-Pacific postings and is now the vice-chair of the Cana-dian Committee on Pacific Economic Co-operation, said Canada has been “painted into a corner” and has “very little flexibility and very little room to manoeuvre.”

“I would expect that it is all but inevi-table that Canada will come out with a response that may not actually name Hua-wei as being ineligible,” said Mr. Stephens, adding that the Canadian government may instead list a security standard that Huawei won’t be able to meet.

Three-time Canadian ambassador Ran-dolph Mank, who later was Blackberry’s vice-president, said the decision on Huawei becomes very easy for Canada in face of the U.S. pressure.

“It goes without saying what our deci-sion should be,” he said, citing the Five Eyes partnership.

The U.S. has said it will reassess its intelligence-sharing relationship with Canada if Huawei is not banned, according to a CBC report.

Looming question of Beijing retaliation over Huawei ban

As the federal government makes a de-cision on Huawei, it has to brace for poten-tial retaliation from a Chinese government that has aggressively defended its interests around the world.

Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains (Mississauga-Malton, Ont.) told CTV in

June that China is “applying pressure” on Canada to include Huawei in its 5G network.

Mr. Stephens said China is very good at threatening retaliation, but whether it fol-lows through on it is another question.

“I think China would like to convey the perception that there would be conse-quences, but I think if we make a decision based on the fact that we are worried about Chinese consequences then we’re not mak-ing a decision based on the overall Cana-dian interest,” he said.

Although the Canadian government has maintained that the debate over ban-ning Huawei is unrelated to the issue of the extradition of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou and the Chinese detention of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor in ap-parent retaliation, Mr. Mank said the issues are “obviously” linked.

He added that Canada doesn’t want to inflame an already tense relationship with its Huawei decision, especially when it’s something that can be delayed.

Bell, Telus decision gives Canadian government more ‘breathing room’

When Bell and Telus chose to partner with Ericsson and Nokia for their 5G networks in June, it gave the government some “breathing room,” Prof. Wark said.

But the companies haven’t ruled out using Huawei equipment, according to The Wire Report.

Prof. Wark said the decision was a re-sponse to the fact that the companies were not getting an answer from the federal government and they were anxious to get started on their 5G rollout.

Mr. Mank said from a business perspec-tive, the decision for the telecommunica-tion firms was easy.

“You would think that there is quite a bit of risk around taking a multi-million-dollar bet or multi-billion-dollar bet on Huawei at this point,” he said. “You could be stuck holding the bag, and if the govern-ment did order you to pull out [Huawei equipment], it would be quite expensive and your shareholders wouldn’t be very happy with you.”

Prof. Wark said even in the case of Huawei being banned, it doesn’t resolve the complications with the 5G review, as it always had a broader focus than just Huawei.

“The broader remit was to think about security and privacy standards for all pro-viders of 5G next-generation telecommuni-cations equipment,” Prof. Wark said, adding that the length of the review isn’t just based on the complications with Huawei, but also on the difficulty of establishing ap-propriate controls in a sector that has been “lightly regulated.”

nmoss@hilltimes.com The Hill Times

News

THE HILL TIMES | WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020

Geopolitics, not national security, to be guiding factor in Huawei decision, say experts ‘Whatever CSE thought or continues to think about Huawei as a security risk no longer matters,’ says national security expert Wesley Wark.

356 Preston St. • 613-749-7490lafavoritapreston.com

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Public Safety Minister Bill Blair says Canada's decision on Huawei will be based on the interests and security of Canadians. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

U.S. President Donald Trump claimed credit for the U.K.’s decision to ban Huawei from its 5G network. Photograph courtesy of Flickr/White House

8

The performance of Liberal mem-bers of the House Ethics Committee

on July 17 could win an award. Not an Academy Award, but perhaps a Razzie, because there wasn’t a lot of talent on display, but it was definitely quite the performance.

Opposition members of the commit-tee—which meets again on July 22—are pushing to get their hands on the records outlining the Trudeau family’s speaking engagements for the WE organization and related fees. There is also a request to have the committee “review the safe-guards which are in place to avoid and prevent conflicts of interest in federal government procurement, contracting, granting, contribution and other expen-diture policies.”

Instead of dealing with the matter at hand, and potentially accepting defeat due to having a minority of seats and votes, Liberal MPs proceeded to waste everyone’s time on a Friday afternoon, by running out the clock instead of addressing and voting on whether to approve a study into the potential ethi-cal failings behind the since-reversed decision to give the operation of the Canada Student Service Grant to WE Charity.

Instead of making cogent arguments about why they’d want to protect their party leader from further embarrass-ment and scrutiny, MPs such as Greg Fergus and Élisabeth Brière rambled at length, including at one point in Latin, about various and sundry topics, like how great Sherbrooke is, or history lessons on ancient Greece.

They eventually managed to get the meeting adjourned to deliberate an amendment at this week’s meeting from New Democrat MP Charlie Angus about sharing information with Ethics Com-missioner Mario Dion and having Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called to testify.

Though he may have had a good rea-son, Mr. Trudeau’s decision to have an un-explained personal day on July 20 when it was his party’s choice to recall Parlia-ment to pass more COVID-19 legislation looks like he’s attempting to avoid the questions he knows will be asked of him in the House about this entire imbroglio (tip of the hat to Dale Smith for bringing that word back).

“I believe in openness and transpar-ency. We’ve been open and transparent with Canadians as I take questions, as I respond to questions in the House from Parliamentarians, and as I said, we’re still making determinations around what fur-ther openness we can show,” Mr. Trudeau told reporters on June 16, without com-mitting to accept the invitation to appear before the House Finance Committee that’s already on his desk.

In a minority Parliament, the Liberals are going to at times be on the backfoot and playing defence. But it’s unac-ceptable for their strategy to be one of obfuscation and avoidance. The govern-ment has to co-operate, compromise, col-laborate, and sometimes make conces-sions. Running out the clock and wasting everyone’s time until the next election is not going to win it any fans, or more importantly, votes.

The Hill Times

Madam Speaker, I would like to highlight an issue that many Canadians, including

all Palestinian Canadians, are concerned with. Israel has said it is preparing to annex signifi-cant Palestinian territory in the West Bank.

This will be a devastating blow to Palestinian human rights. This unilateral annexation would be damaging to peace negotiations and international law. We are also concerned that this could lead to further insecurity for Israelis and Palestinians at a

difficult time for peace and stability in the region. We have long maintained that peace can only be achieved through direct negotia-tions between the parties.

I call upon our government to take concrete, visible and decisive action on our firm commitment to the goal of achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace both for Israel and Palestine.

Liberal MP Chandra Arya Nepean, Ont.

Madam Speaker, on July 1, Air Canada announced its decision to drop 30

regional routes and close eight stations at regional airports, including many in east-ern Quebec. This was a devastating blow for my entire region, and especially for the Mont-Joli airport, which will lose over 30 per cent of its revenues without the Air Canada counter.

Local players quickly joined forces to try to come up with a new model for reli-able, sustainable regional air service. Vari-ous project proponents saw this news as an opportunity to transform the regional transportation model by proposing an

alternative to private companies, since we are talking about providing a service, not a product. Air transportation is a service that should help revitalize a region.

The federal government must commit to supporting the Quebec initiatives rather than continue to stubbornly subsidize private airlines that abandon Quebec’s regions over-night. The government needs to wake up and recognize that an air transportation model should serve the interests of the people, not the shareholders of private corporations.

Bloc Québécois MP Kristina Michaud Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia,

Que.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this moment to pay tribute to two young

girls, Norah and Romy Carpentier, whom we lost too soon. This tragedy has left our hearts bruised, and there are no words powerful enough to express our shared sadness.

I also want to acknowledge their mother, Amélie Lemieux, for her unwav-ering courage. She is a model of resil-

ience and strength in the face of life’s unexpected challenges.

As Member of Parliament for Lévis—Lotbinière, and as a father and a grandfa-ther, I hope from the bottom of my heart, Ms. Lemieux, that your wish comes true and that your two stars, your two princesses, Norah and Romy, guide you in the days ahead.

Conservative MP Jacques Gourde Lévis—Lotbinière, Que.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recog-nize two communities in northwest

Saskatchewan. On April 15, the first case of COVID-19 was identified in the town of La Loche. This quickly escalated into 220 cases, with another 62 cases in the neigh-bouring Clearwater River Dene Nation. La Loche and Clearwater were considered the hot spots of Indigenous communities in all of Canada at the time. Of the 15 deaths in Saskatchewan from COVID, five were resi-dents of La Loche, bringing further pain to an already difficult situation.

I am happy to say that as of Wednes-day, La Loche and the Clearwater River

Dene Nation had zero active cases. Mayor Robert St. Pierre and Chief Teddy Clark have shown incredible leadership in guid-ing the people through this very real crisis. The Saskatchewan Health Authority and the Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority initiated an unprecedented door-to-door testing and contact-tracing campaign that contributed to managing this outbreak. This situation is a great example of people in northern Saskatchewan working to-gether for the common good.

Conservative MP Gary Vidal Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River,

Sask.

Mr. Speaker, 2020 has been a very difficult year right around the globe

and here at home as well. So many of our fellow citizens are already dealing with loss and sorrow, and then this past weekend an accident in Jasper National Park claimed more lives, causing more pain and grief.

I count my blessings, being Canadian, as I feel that most Canadians react to sor-row and grief with compassion, empathy and a heartfelt wish to console. We know

that it is togetherness that will help us make it through the suffering that might come our way. As long as we are looking after each other, as long as we are willing to share that burden of pain and sorrow, we can face whatever comes our way.

We stand with you.They are in our hearts. I thank all who

have reached out to help, friends and strangers alike. They are an inspiration.

Liberal MP Karen McCrimmon Kanata–Carleton, Ont.

Liberal antics running out the clock on voters’ patience

MPs sound off Editorial SO 31 Statements

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On July 20, Members of Parliament from across the country returned to the House of Commons to debate new government legislation aimed at providing economic relief for

segments of the population in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s what some of them had to say in their rare-in-these-times Members’ Statements:

9

John Lewis, whose scarred, un-breakable skull was a luminous

monument to the “good trouble” he so passionately advocated, did not

die on Mandela Day. But by the time the world heard about his death, tributes to a man whose journey had stretched from his origins as the son of an Alabama sharecropper to his time as a young lieutenant to Martin Luther King Jr. to his 17 terms in Congress were fittingly intertwining with the 102nd birthday commemorations of his fellow civil rights icon.

Lewis and Nelson Mandela followed very different paths to the same beliefs about nonviolent resistance. In June 1964, when Mandela was in Pretoria being sentenced to life in prison for conspiracy to violently overthrow South Africa’s apartheid gov-ernment, Lewis, as head of the Student Nonviolent Co-ordinating Committee (SNCC), was launch-ing “Freedom Summer” to regis-ter African-American voters in Mississippi, then ground zero of the terror and intimidation tactics used to disenfranchise Black voters.

Both men loved the poem In-victus by William Ernest Henley:

Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul.

When Mandela delivered his Rivonia trial speech—“I have cherished the ideal of a demo-cratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony and with equal oppor-tunities. It is an ideal for which I hope to live and to see realized. But, My Lord, if it needs to be, it is an ideal for which I am pre-pared to die”—Lewis, as a found-ing Freedom Rider, had already been beaten multiple times, spent 40 days in the Mississippi State Penitentiary for using a “whites only” restroom, and delivered his national debut speech at the March on Washington. He had not yet been billy clubbed for march-ing peacefully across Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge toward Montgomery in March 1965.

In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Mandela converted to nonvio-lent resistance during his 28 years in prison. Both men displayed su-perhuman levels of restraint in the

face of physical violence in Lewis’ case and psychological warfare in Mandela’s. Mandela, whose body was so long a possession of the state, espoused Gandhi’s concept of Satyagraha, “holding fast to truth,” to protect his soul. Both men used logic to expose the absurdity of systems designed to maintain a status quo whose inherent insanity was protected by fear, denial, and leveraged hatred.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds and shall find me unafraid.

Lewis famously deployed his body as a lightning rod for rac-ism and a receptacle of irrational white rage while he firewalled his mind in an impenetrable fortress of faith and love. It’s why the clip of him crowd-surfing, at 76, across Stephen Colbert’s stu-dio audience is such a beautiful bookend to the indelible images of him sustaining the blows of a

police truncheon; people propel-ling aloft the same body whose sacrificial depredations changed their history.

The next time a cartoon auto-crat drops a ludicrous bombshell or pulls a tyrannical stunt to prove his dominance, try imagining them in the shoes of Lewis, being beaten by a mob at the Montgomery bus terminal or Mandela, being humili-ated by jailers determined to break his spirit. Try to imagine them defining leadership as forgiveness and grace as strength.

It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.

Rest in good power.Lisa Van Dusen is associate

editor of Policy Magazine and was a Washington and New York-based editor at UPI, AP, and ABC. She writes a weekly column for The Hill Times.

The Hill Times

OTTAWA—In the wake of the high-profile Black Lives

Matter movement, there has been a lot of soul searching into a North American history riddled with racism and the institutional

glorification of colonialism. In the U.S., we have seen protes-tors topple statues of Confeder-ate generals and Christopher Columbus.

Closer to home, around June 21, a monument was vandalized at a cemetery in Oakville, Ont. When first reported, it was stated that the Halton-Regional Police Service was treating this as a “hate-motivated offence due to the nature of the graffiti.” At the time, police said they would not release images of the graffiti so as not to spread the suspect’s mes-sage. So far, so good.

However, social media has a habit of leaping firewalls and it did not take long for those missing details to come to light. It turns out that the defaced monument is actually a tribute to the 14th SS Division (Galizien) and the offending message spray painted on it read “Nazi war monument.”

That’s right folks, as hard as it is to fathom, there is actually a monument on Canadian soil that pays tribute to Hitler’s SS troops. For the suspect to have labelled this a Nazi war monument may constitute vandalism, but it is an

accurate statement. Which there-fore begs the question as to why the Halton-Regional police would be treating this as a hate crime? How can hating Nazis be a crime, let alone a hate crime?

My colleague David Pugliese of the Ottawa Citizen posed that question to the Halton-Regional police and their spokesman Const. Steve Elms replied by email. “This incident occurred to a monument and the graffiti appeared to target an identifiable group.”

That “identifiable group” would be the members of the 14th SS Division (Galizien), all of whom took an oath of allegiance to Adolf Hitler and who were com-manded by Heinrich Himmler, one of the main architects of the Holocaust.

For those of you still in disbe-lief that a monument to these Na-zis would exist in Canada let me provide some historical context.

The 14th SS Division (Galizien) was initially comprised of Ukrai-nian volunteers. It was estab-lished in 1943, when the fortunes of war had begun to turn against Hitler and the German war machine needed to increase its

manpower to counter that of the Allies. The 14th SS Division fought against the Soviet Union on the eastern front but surrendered to the U.S. forces in Austria in 1945. After being interned at camps in Italy, eventually many of these SS troops immigrated to Canada. Hence, the subsequent erection of a memorial to their fallen comrades in the St. Volodymyr’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church cem-etery in Oakville.

Apologists for the Ukrainian SS claim they were in fact heroes who were striving to establish an independent state. Others make the weak excuse that many of these SS troopers were forcibly and illegally conscripted by the Germans.

While I’m sure there were such conscripts, I’m equally sure that if they were forced against their will to fight for a cause they did not believe in, they would not erect a glorious monument to the unit in which they were forced to serve.

One would presume that as their commander, SS leader Him-mler would understand the nature of the Ukrainian SS members. In a speech to this division in May 1944 Himmler told the assembled 14th

Division SS members, “Your home-land has become more beautiful since you have lost—on our initia-tives, I must say—the residents who were so often a dirty blemish on Galicia’s good name—namely the Jews, I know if I ordered you to liquidate the Poles, I would be giving you permission to do what you are eager to do anyway.” Him-mler’s comments were reportedly greeted with cheers.

For the record, it must be re-membered that some 40,000 eth-nic Ukrainian-Canadians fought against the Nazis in the Second World War wearing a Canadian uniform.

Which makes the Halton-Regional Police comment about the message on the monument targeting an identifiable group even more puzzling as it is clearly aimed specifically at Nazis. (The police force later clarified, on July 17, that “initial information collected by investigators indi-cated the graffiti may have been hate-motivated, targeting the identifiable group of Ukrainians in general, or Ukrainian members of this cultural centre” and that at “no time” did the police “consider that the identifiable group tar-geted by the graffiti was Nazis.”)

This was vandalism of private property—not a hate crime against Nazis.

Scott Taylor is the editor and publisher of Esprit de Corps magazine.

The Hill Times

Comment

Good trouble: Lewis, Mandela, and authentic power

Vandalism of private property was not a hate crime against Nazis

John Lewis embodied a form of resistance that changed history, and a relationship to power that makes today’s so-called ‘strongmen’ look weak.

That’s right folks, as hard as it is to fathom, there is actually a monument on Canadian soil that pays tribute to Hitler’s SS troops.

THE HILL TIMES | WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020

The late U.S. Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis, pictured in June 2017, followed a different path to the same beliefs about nonviolent resistance than fellow icon Nelson Mandela, but their legacies are fittingly intertwined, writes Lisa Van Dusen. Flickr photograph by Mobilus In Mobili

Lisa Van Dusen

What Fresh Hell

Scott Taylor

Inside Defence

10

OTTAWA—Maybe it’s because of the COVID-19 emergency or summertime

or the lack of information supplied by the RCMP, but the magnitude of the Corey Hurren episode on July 2 appears to have been overlooked.

Hurren, a heavily armed 46-year-old Canadian Armed Forces reservist from Manitoba, was arrested by police after crashing through the Rideau Hall gate and allegedly seeking to force a confron-tation while armed with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. What we know about the incident comes mostly from journal-ists, not the RCMP. Obviously, the RCMP doesn’t want to call attention to the fact that it allowed an armed intruder to run around the Rideau Hall grounds (home to the prime minister and the Governor General) on the loose. Never mind that this lack of official information after such an incident would not be tolerated in any other so-called advanced country; here we live with it.

Hurren is now in custody awaiting a bail hearing. In addition to 21 alleged firearms offences, the charge sheet alleges the suspect “did knowingly utter a threat […] or convey a threat […] or cause Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to receive a threat to cause death or bodily harm to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.” The gravity of that charge seems to have been obscured in all the talk about what a decent guy Hur-ren is, his COVID-related trauma, and his concerns about losing the vehicle he needs as a northern Canadian Ranger.

But Hurren’s actions should be setting off alarm bells about the growing menace of Internet-fed conspiracy mongering and right-wing extremism in Canada. The Canadian army reservist clearly dabbled in this inflammatory sort of agit-prop. Shortly before entering the Rideau Hall grounds, Hurren posted a reference to Event 201, a link to the baseless belief that Bill Gates created the current pan-demic to take over the world. Hurren’s earlier posts showed his familiarity with QAnon, the prominent U.S. Internet cult promulgating wild conspiratorial non-sense about President Donald Trump’s

supposed struggles with America’s “deep state.”

Among the QAnon lies referenced by Hurren is its most infamous, Pizza-gate—based on the ridiculous, but widely accepted, notion that Democratic elites are running a child sex ring out of a pizza parlour in Washington, D.C. One might wonder how that sort of insane idea could lead to potentially violent acts, but it can. In 2016, a North Carolina man named Edgar Welch armed himself with an AR-15 rifle and stormed the pizza par-lour in search of the non-existent pedo-philes. Afterwards he, too, was described as a useful member of the community by his surprised neighbours. Welch got four years in prison.

Largely because of social media, there has been a huge increase in right-wing terrorism worldwide. “Globally, in recent years, we have seen a surge in activity by right-wing extremists, in terms of violent mobilization, protests, but also the use of disinformation and co-ordinated hate online. Unfortunately, Canada hasn’t es-caped that trend,” researcher Jacob Davey explained to the CBC.

A two-year study by ISD, “An Online En-vironmental Scan of Right-Wing Extrem-ism in Canada,” found a definite spike in right-wing extremist activity on social me-dia platforms in Canada linked to Trudeau and the October 2019 federal election. “Anti-Muslim and anti-Trudeau rhetoric are the most salient topics of conversation among (right-wing extremist) actors in Canada,” the report said.

Nothing has been proven in court in Hurren’s case. But according to reporting by Global News, officials are not ruling out the possibility that he was intent on a violent attack or a confrontation with the police that would lead to his death. According to this reporting, Hurren was carrying a two-page letter in which he apologized to his family and friends for his planned action but said he had no choice but to act. Hurren reportedly wrote that he was worried for the future of the country and feared Trudeau was transforming Canada into a communist dictatorship. And, according to Global News, Hurren said he hoped his children would understand his actions. Presum-ably, all this will become clear when the case goes to court. But to date, beyond the promise to look at tightening security at Rideau Hall, the event has produced little in the way of official reaction by the government, the official opposition, or the police.

The offence of uttering threats is punishable by up to five years in prison. If what the media has reported about why Hurren allegedly acted is true, some might wonder why the charges didn’t include the more serious charge of terrorism. The key factor with regard to a terrorism charge is motivation (as in, for instance, political motivation). The RCMP, which spent nearly two hours talking Hurren into surrender-ing, says, not surprisingly, that it is aware of his motivation. But the RCMP isn’t revealing it so far.

Les Whittington is a regular columnist for The Hill Times.

The Hill Times

With warmer weather sweeping across much of our country, Canadians are

venturing outside and looking for safe ways to spend time with family and friends. Out-door recreation—be it getting on a boat and fishing, hiking through a provincial park, camping in your RV, or motoring along a wooded trail—is the perfect prescription for a lockdown-weary nation.

As Canadians embrace the outdoors and plan “staycations,” policymakers are looking for ways to give businesses a shot in the arm while investing in projects that will position our country to emerge from this crisis economically stronger and more resilient. This is where we, as members of the Cana-dian Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (CORR), see a historic win-dow to renew and expand Canada’s outdoor recreation economy and the cher-ished year-round outdoor infrastructure our industry depends on.

Outdoor recreation is a big part of Canada’s economy. CORR members repre-sent thousands of businesses that produce vehicles, equipment, gear, apparel, and ser-vices for the millions of Canadians who en-joy our national parks, waterways, byways, trails, and outdoor spaces. The collective outdoor recreation industry is conserva-tively estimated to produce $26-billion in economic activity for Canada each year, generating an estimated 472,713 direct jobs, $7.1-billion in taxes, and $52.1-billion in total revenues.

Making these economic contributions more impressive is the fact that outdoor recreation businesses have been able to not just survive, but thrive, despite the crumbling conditions of the recreation infrastructure our businesses and customers rely on. In

addition to jeopardizing the significant eco-nomic benefits these public areas provide, Canada’s mounting multi-billion-dollar deferred maintenance and repair backlog at national and provincial parks negatively impacts visitor access, enjoyment, and safety on public lands and waters.

From months-long emergency shut-downs to travel restrictions, the outdoor sector has been hit hard by the pandemic. A recent report by Export Development Canada on the impacts of COVID-19 on the Canadian tourism sector found that “more than 40 per cent of businesses in these in-dustries are expecting to see a 50 per cent decline in revenues, the highest proportion amongst all industries.” Another sober-ing statistic: a recent survey of Canada’s recreational fishing industry showed that three-quarters of respondents had seen a decline in sales ranging from 25 per cent to 75 per cent for April and May compared to the same period in 2019. When asked what they would like to see in addition to short-term financial assistance, many respondents listed “better access to public waters and more promotion of outdoor recreational activities” as priorities.

Outdoor recreation businesses are often lifelines for their communities, providing jobs and economic stability. However, they rely on trips and travel bringing a steady stream of visitors to our public and private lands and waters. Other factors that our industry relies on—accessibility to recreation assets, adequate recreation infrastructure, and the certainty of manufacturing and trade—have also been interrupted by COVID-19.

As during the 2008-09 financial crisis, governments are currently earmarking bil-lions in infrastructure funding and calling on communities to launch “shovel-ready” projects. There are many smaller projects—

improving and expanding trails, marinas, campgrounds, and other rec-reational infra-structure—that could be started quickly and done this fiscal year. The jobs and economic im-pact of these investments would be a great boon to all regions of Canada, including rural and remote and Indig-enous commu-nities. Ac-

cording to the U.S. National Park Service, for example, every dollar invested in the national park system returns $10 to the U.S. economy from visitor spending.

As Canadians, we have long prided our-selves on the rugged and pristine beauty of our country. Let’s seize this chance to jump-start the Canadian workforce and make our great outdoors more accessible and enjoy-able for today’s and future generations.

Sara Anghel is the president of the National Marine Manufacturers Associa-tion Canada and a founding member of the Canadian Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (CORR), the country’s leading coalition of 12 outdoor recreation trade associations serving tens of thousands of businesses.

The Hill Times

Opinion

WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020 | THE HILL TIMES

Sara Anghel

Opinion

Where are the alarm bells after the armed incursion at the PM’s residence?

Now is the time to invest in renewing Canada’s outdoor recreation infrastructure

This lack of official information after such an incident would not be tolerated in any other so-called advanced country; here we live with it.

The jobs and economic impact of these investments would be a great boon to all regions of Canada, including rural and remote and Indigenous communities.

When it comes to ‘shovel-ready’ projects, there are many smaller projects—improving and expanding trails, marinas, campgrounds, and other recreational infrastructure—that could be started quickly and done this fiscal year, writes Sara Anghel. Photograph courtesy of Pixabay

Les Whittington

Need to Know

Some internal restructuring has taken place within government, with oversight

of the 16 ministers’ regional offices having been transferred from Public Services and Procurement Minister Anita Anand to the Privy Council Office at the end of June.

“The transfer, which occurred in June 2020, is in keeping with the mandate letter for the Deputy Prime Minister. The CO-VID-19 pandemic only further highlighted the importance of a co-ordinated approach in providing support to ministers in the regions,” explained Pierre-Alain Bujold, media relations for the PCO, in an email to Hill Climbers.

“Having the MROs within the PCO umbrella increases co-ordination and ef-fectiveness in terms of support for secure communications and cabinet committees.”

Mr. Bujold said the PCO has been work-ing closely with ministers’ regional offices (MROs) in “recent years” on implementing “eCabinet support” and integrating “secure communications and audiovisual capabili-ties in MROs across the country.”

“This transfer of responsibilities pro-vides an opportunity for integrated support to cabinet ministers, regardless of their

geographic location. This is especially im-portant in the current environment, where physical distancing requirements have led to an increasing need for virtual meetings for public servants and ministers alike,” he said.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, the MROs have been essential to the continua-tion of cabinet business.”

The transfer was made official through an order-in-council dated June 29. The PCO is the department that supports the prime minister and cabinet, and with the transfer, the MROs have been brought under its intergovernmental affairs umbrella. Oversight of the offices has been given to PCO’s assistant deputy minister of corporate services. Previously, the public services and procurement minister had organi-zational oversight of the MRO “program.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Inter-governmental Affairs Minister Chrys-tia Freeland’s mandate letter includes instructions to work with the minister of public services and procurement to “co-ordinate the work of ministerial regional offices to ensure they support the work of all ministers to engage with all regions of the country.”

MROs, which include a mixture of both political staff and public servants, have been around since 1985 and were started by then-prime minister Brian Mulroney to support his team of regional ministers. Their number increased under former prime minister Stephen Harper, jumping from 11 to 16, with new offices having been opened in Kitchener, Ont., Iqaluit, Nunavut, Yellowknife, N.W.T., Whitehorse, Yukon, and Fredericton, N.B. The other MROs are located in Vancouver, B.C., Edmonton, Alta., Calgary, Alta., Regina, Sask., Win-nipeg, Man., Toronto, Ont., Montreal, Que., Québec City, St. John’s, N.L., Halifax, N.S., and Charlottetown, P.E.I.

According to the 2019 Public Accounts, personnel, transportation and communica-tions, information, and professional and special services costs totalled $1.9-mil-lion for the MROs, the majority of which

($1.8-million) was for personnel. (These are the only spending categories broken down in the accounts, and do not represent the total operating cost of these offices).

McNair returns to Prime Minister’s Office

Michael McNair is back on the Hill as a special adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and team, lending advice related the government’s economic response to COVID-19.

Mr. McNair had been head of policy in the Prime Minister’s Office before his exit last January.

While Hill Climbers understands that he was only officially hired back on as a temporary special adviser in the office a few weeks ago, Mr. McNair has been advis-ing the PMO in a more informal capac-ity since March, when the the COVID-19 pandemic began ramping up in Canada, prompting offices and businesses across the country to shut down.

Mr. McNair previously spent roughly seven years in all leading policy for Mr. Trudeau, starting during his time as the third party Liberal leader in 2013. He helped craft the Liberal Party’s 2015 plat-form, and went on to become director of policy in the PMO. In 2018, he was pro-moted to the title of executive director of policy, cabinet, and legislative affairs.

He’s also a former policy aide to then-Liberal leaders Stéphane Dion and Michael Ignatieff, a former manager of strategy and operations consulting for Deloitte, and a former investment banking analyst with CIBC Capital Markets, among other past jobs.

Marci Surkes is now executive director of policy and cabinet affairs, supported by Rick Theis as director of policy. The PMO’s 11-member policy team also includes senior policy advisers Zoë Caron, Dominic Cormier, Alyx Holland, Laura LeBel, Pat-rick Travers, and Colleen Lamothe; policy advisers Michael Milech and Amy Archer; and Ms. Surkes’ executive assistant, Jen-nifer Swan.

There are also senior advisers Olivier Duchesneau, Ben Chin, and Sarah Good-man.

The government has announced a host of economic measures since March—from the Canada Emergency Response Benefit to a $300 per child boost to the Canada Child Benefit, something which Mr. McNair helped the government usher in during its first mandate. Most recently, on July 16, Mr. Trudeau announced more than $19-bil-lion in funding for provinces and territories to help with the economic recovery and re-opening and to prepare for an anticipated second wave of COVID-19.

Katie Telford continues as chief of staff in the PMO.

Over in Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau’s office, Os-man Naqvi is on board as assistant to the minister’s parliamentary secretary, Liberal MP Neil Ellis.

Mr. Naqvi first joined the minister’s team in April and before then spent a little more than a year, starting in January 2019, as an assistant to the Ontario Liberal MPP for Orléans, which was previously now-Liberal MP Marie-France Lalonde, and currently former Ottawa city councillor Stephen Blais.

Alison Porter is chief of staff to Ms. Bibeau.

lryckewaert@hilltimes.com The Hill Times

Plus, Michael McNair has rejoined the Prime Minister’s office on a temporary basis, serving as a special adviser on the economic response to COVID-19.

THE HILL TIMES | WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020

by Laura Ryckewaert

hill climbers

11

Oversight for ministers’ regional offices changes hands from PSPC to PCO

The government recently moved oversight of its 16 ministers' regional offices to the Privy Council Office, plus, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, pictured speaking to reporters about the government's response to COVID-19 outside Rideau Cottage on June 18, is once again getting advice from former PMO policy head Michael McNair. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Michael McNair is pictured, centre, at an August 2017 cabinet shuffle announcement alongside then-senior PMO staff Gerald Butts; Ryan Dunn, now chief of staff to Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains; Andrée-Lyne Hallé, now director of operations to the deputy prime minister; and Katie Telford, who remains chief of staff to Mr. Trudeau. The Hill Times file photograph

Osman Naqvi is assistant to Ms. Bibeau’s parliamentary secretary. Photograph courtesy of LinkedIn

12

on International Trade after they are tabled.

The new provisions were agreed to between the Liberals and the NDP in February, with the government agreeing in order to cement NDP support for its effort to accelerate the House International Trade Committee’s study of the implementation bill for the new NAFTA. At the time, Canada was the lone country of the pact not to have implemented the trade bill.

That agreement, which was confirmed in a Feb. 19 letter from Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland (University-Rosedale, Ont.) to NDP MP Daniel Blaikie (Elm-wood-Transcona, Man.), his party’s international trade critic, noted the government “will revise” the Policy on Tabling Treaties in Parliament. Five months later, it has yet to do so.

The new framework is in-tended to give Parliamentarians

move oversight over trade nego-tiations, which are controlled by the executive.

A Global Affairs spokesperson confirmed with The Hill Times that the changes to the Policy on Tabling Treaties in Parliament have yet to be made, citing delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This change will soon be implemented and will apply to all future trade agree-ments,” Sylvain Leclerc said in a statement.

The gov-ernment has promised to comply with the provisions in future trade negotiations with the United Kingdom.

Canada has already begun preliminary talks with the U.K. govern-ment for a potential new trade deal, but have not begun formal negotia-tions.

To date, no notice of intent, objectives, or economic impact assessment for a U.K. trade deal have been tabled.

Ryan Nearing, a spokesperson for International Trade Minister Mary Ng (Markham-Thornhill, Ont.), said “preparations for negotiation of any new agreement with the U.K. would be in accor-dance with recent commitments to inform Parliament ahead of their launch.”

Canada’s top trade negotiating official, Steve Verheul, said during a July 9 meeting of the House Committee on International Trade that an agreement between Canada and the U.K. was “very close … early last year” before the U.K. released its plans for “most favoured nation” tariffs in May, which eliminates tariffs on about

half of the exports to the United Kingdom.

Some trade experts said it is better for Canada to wait to see how Britain’s policy on tariffs evolves before agreeing to a free trade deal, which they expect will involve Can-ada having to make concessions.

Canada and U.K. trade is cur-rently covered under the Com-prehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), but the U.K. will no longer be party to the pact after the Brexit transition period ends at the end of the year.

Asked by Conservative MP Michael Kram (Regina-Wascana, Sask.) about when the 90-day notification for Canada-U.K. trade negotiations would be tabled, Mr. Verhuel said the government will “clearly abide by the commit-ments made under that under-standing [between the Liberals and NDP].”

“We’ll move forward on that basis,” he said, adding that, when it comes to the provision for tabling the objectives of the negotiations, the government’s objectives are already “very clear,” but have yet not been “set out in a formal document as of yet, but that is something that could be clearly be done very quickly.”

Asked by The Hill Times what those objectives are, Global Af-fairs did not answer, referring to Mr. Nearing’s response.

Mr. Nearing said Canada and the U.K. continue to work togeth-er “to build on our strong trading relationship to grow our econo-mies and benefit our people.”

“Over the past few years in preparation for Brexit, our gov-ernment has actively worked with U.K. ministers and government officials to ensure a solid path forward to our two countries. Continuing our trade relationship with the U.K. remains a key prior-ity for our government so that we preserve critical market access for Canadian businesses, produc-ers, and exporters,” he said.

Canada is also in the midst of trade talks with Mercosur mem-bers (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay) and Pacific Alli-ance nations (Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru).

Conservative MP Randy Hoback (Prince Albert, Sask.), his party’s international trade critic, said he is skeptical that the Liber-als will table a notice of intent to enter into formal negotiations with the United Kingdom.

“They should be honouring their agreement with the NDP, but I am not expecting them to honour it,” he said. “If they haven’t given us notice now, what makes you think they ever will give us notice?”

“Unless its embedded in leg-islation they can just ignore it, and it looks like that’s exactly what they are going to do,” Mr. Hoback said.

He said if the government does intend to provide notice, timing now means it likely won’t be entering

into negotiations until 2021, a year after many other countries have started trade talks with the U.K.

“Instead of staying active in proceeding with negotiations when they first started and to keep those talks moving forward, now we’re at the bottom of the list and we’re waiting and waiting for everybody else to be completed before the U.K. has capacity to deal with us,” Mr Hoback said. “That’s disappointing”

He added that when the government tables its objectives,

it should include which sectors are going to gain market access, as well as an assurance that the government is going to protect supply management.

Bloc Québécois MP Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay (Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot, Que.), his party’s international trade critic, questioned whether the new pro-visions will be “fully useful.”

“Because, if the negotiations [with Britain have] started, how come we know so little about it and how come the Parliament—as during the new NAFTA—will surely be called to rubber-stamp the deal and not to study it and to modify it,” Mr. Savard-Tremblay said.

More parliamentary transparency for trade deals needed, says Bloc MP

After experiencing the way the government pushed the new NAFTA implementation bill through Parliament and the International Trade Committee, Mr. Savard-Tremblay told The Hill Times he thinks there should be a larger role for Parliamentarians in the trade negotiation process.

He said, unlike U.S. lawmak-ers, Canadian Parliamentarians weren’t given any ability to influ-ence the final new NAFTA.

“We are elected by the people. We have democratic legitimacy. We should have something to say,” Mr. Savard-Tremblay said.

He said both Parliamentarians and the provinces should be more involved in trade talks, adding that jurisdictional control can be modi-fied. He said that there should be “a lot more consultation” with MPs, civil society, and business groups before Parliamentarians are asked to approve a trade deal.

Former trade negotiator Colin Robertson, vice-president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, said the new provisions will bring Canada closer in line with the United States.

“It’s very much mirrored after what the USTR [U.S. Trade Representative] has to do with Congress,” Mr. Robertson said.

“This makes sense for what-ever government is in power to do so, because inevitably they are going to have to provide that kind of information anyways. This way there are no surprises and there is now some rigour,” he said, adding it is particularly important for the bureaucracy so it knows what to prepare for.

International trade strategist Peter Clark, president of Grey, Clark, Shih and Associates, said Canada has a “long way to go” to match the U.S. system when it comes to trade deals, which in-volves calling for public submis-sions from stakeholders and other non-governmental groups.

In the American system, Mr. Clark said there is a far better understanding of what the issues are in a trade negotiation.

“In Canada, we’re overly se-cretive about these things.”

He said it is “essential” to have the government table an econom-ic assessment at the same time it tables a trade deal’s implementa-tion bill, saying “otherwise, the opposition is buying a pig in a poke.”

nmoss@hilltimes.com The Hill Times

Feds have yet to make agreed-upon changes giving Parliament greater oversight over trade deals Though still not made official, the government says it will comply with new trade policy provisions, including in trade talks with the United Kingdom, which began before the guidelines were agreed to in February.

News

WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020 | THE HILL TIMES

Continued from page 1

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland reached a deal with the NDP on the new trade oversight provisions to accelerate the passage of the new NAFTA implementation bill. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

A spokesperson for International Trade Minister Mary Ng, pictured, says 'preparations for negotiation of any new agreement with the U.K. would be in accordance with recent commitments to inform Parliament ahead of their launch.' The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

13

ment, including the House of Com-mons and Senate. They officially came into effect on June 21.

On the House side, the first new report is expected to land by the end of September, covering House committee spending. On top of new breakdowns of hospi-tality costs to be included in the existing “Activities and Expendi-tures” report, new travel expense reports will be published for each committee with details on each trip undertaken.

By the end of November, new reports on House administra-tion, parliamentary association, and diplomacy spending will be published.

The House administration has, until now, never before made in-formation about its expenses pub-lic. Now, it, along with the Senate, the Library of Parliament, and all other “parliamentary entities,” will disclose any travel or hospitality expenses incurred by its staff—in-cluding the Speakers—each quar-ter, in addition to new quarterly reports on contracts valued at $10,000 or higher, including those entered into by House committees and those related to parliamen-tary diplomacy activities.

Parliamentary associations and other “diplomacy activities” will also now publish breakdowns on the cost of travel, accom-modations, per diems, and other per-participant costs incurred by Parliamentarians and staff after each trip. As well, new quarterly reports on the hosting and operat-ing costs related to meetings and international visitors hosted by parliamentary associations and the House and Senate Speakers will be published.

Finally, by the end of Decem-ber, the first disclosure reports for MPs, presiding officers, and House officers under the new system will be released, cover-ing expenses claimed during the second quarter of 2020-21, from July 1 to Sept. 30.

New detailed travel reports will list the cost of individual trips expensed to each Members’ Office Budget—including those taken by the MP, their staff, designated travellers, or dependants, whether local or through the House points system. Previously only disclosed in aggregate, these reports will include the dates and purpose of each trip, the name of the MP and/or staff travelling (the names

of designated travellers and de-pendents will be not be included, just the associated costs, though the latter can be found on a sepa-rate public registry) and related transportation, accommodation, meals, and incidental costs.

During the Board of Inter-nal Economy’s deliberations, concerns were raised over the disclosure of these new details for trips taken by the children and partners of MPs, both in terms of security and possible “unintended consequences.”

“When we allow our disclosure to put targets on our families, I have real difficulty with that. We saw this during the last election, when Members and their desig-nated travellers were singled out, targeted, and exploited for parti-san gain,” said Conservative whip Mark Strahl (Chilliwack–Hope, B.C.) on June 1.

Responding to concerns, House law clerk Philippe Dufresne said it’ll be up the House Speaker to determine on a “case-by-case” ba-sis if information related to these trips can be withheld on the basis of parliamentary privilege.

For hospitality costs, which were previously only disclosed in ag-gregate, the purpose, date, location, name of any suppliers, and number of attendees related to each claim will now be made public.

Plus, new detailed contract expenditure reports will be published for MPs, presiding of-ficers, and House officers (includ-ing contracts related to caucus research bureaus). These new reports capture and disaggregate spending that would have previ-ously been disclosed across dif-ferent categories, with “contract” in this case defined as “every time a Member or House Officer uses House funds to acquire goods or services from a supplier, whether or not a formal contract is signed,” and will include the MP’s name, a description of the contract, the supplier names, and the contract invoice date and total cost.

Along with these new detailed reports, the Members’ Expen-ditures Report—which were

cumulative, quarterly reports—has been replaced by a quarterly Summary of Expenditures report, which won’t be cumulative, and will present aggregated totals for the cost of salaries, travel, hospitality, and contracts for individual MPs, presiding officers, and House officers. According to Heather Bradley, director of communications for the House Speaker, “there is no plan to have an annual cumulative report.”

The changes are much the same on the Senate side of things—with the same new disclosure requirements for its committees, administration, and Senators imposed through Bill C-58, which became law in June 2019—but its first reports under the new system are expected earlier, by late August, covering expenses incurred during the first quarter of 2020-21.

Training is already available and underway to get MPs and staff up to speed on the new re-quirements, but a video explainer circulated by the House adminis-tration suggests that, aside from local travel by MPs, little has changed in terms of the details of-fices now input into the Members’ financial portal.

MP spending tops $144.7-million in 2019-20, down 4.3 per cent 

In the election year that was 2019-20, MPs collectively spent a total of $144,707,130, an almost 4.3 per cent drop from the $151.1-million spent the year prior, according to the final Mem-bers’ Expenditures Report for the year, published on June 23.

While there are 338 Members of Parliament, the report covers expenses claimed between April 1, 2019, and March 31, 2020, and as a result of the October 2019 election, which saw 98 new MPs replace defeated or retiring MPs, it includes more than 400 individ-ual MP expenditure reports.

Of the $144.7-million spent by MPs, almost $86.5-million was for employee salaries. Service

contracts totalled $3.8-million, and MPs spent almost $13-million on travel (for MPs and their staff, dependants, and designated travel-lers), $364,306 on accommodation expenses, close to $2.1-million on per diems, $5.9-million on MPs’ sec-ondary residences, $1.3-million on hospitality costs, $152,191 for gifts, almost $6.4-million for advertising, close to $4.6-million for printing, and almost $20.6-million in various office costs, from constituency of-fice leases, utilities, and insurance ($12.1-million) to telecommunica-tion services ($3.1-million) to train-ing ($122,853).

Compared to 2018-19, overall MP spending in 2019-20 dropped in all but six of the categories dis-closed: gifts, which jumped 54.5 per cent; travel by dependants, which increased 6.3 per cent to $388,256; office repairs and maintenance, which more than doubled, reaching $1.1-million; materials and sup-plies, which went up 12.2 per cent to total $1.7-million; constituent of-fice leases, insurance, and utilities, which rose by 3.3 per cent to total $12.1-million; and furniture, fur-nishing, and equipment purchases, which almost doubled, at $504,266 for the year.

Unsurprisingly, the top 10 high-est spenders are all re-elected in-cumbent MPs, who filed expenses throughout the entire 2019-20 fiscal year. Though MP spending overall dropped as a result of the election, spending by some MPs nonetheless increased in 2019-20.

Topping this year’s list is Bloc Québécois MP Marilène Gill (Manicouagan, Que.), who expensed a total of $596,939, up $48,029 or 8.7 per cent from 2018-19, when she was the sixth highest-spending MP.

Ms. Gill’s biggest increases were in: MP travel, which tripled to reach $97,685; staff travel, which increased 34 per cent to reach $65,752; and constituency office lease, insurance, and utility costs, which increased by almost $23,000, or 49 per cent, to $69,840 for the fiscal year.

Responding in French on behalf of Ms. Gill, Bloc press secretary Joanie Riopel noted, among other things, that the MP got a new con-stituency office in Sept-Îles, Que., in December 2019, which brought with it moving and other costs, and set up a new service office for con-stituents in Havre-Saint-Pierre (she also has a third pre-existing office in Baie-Comeau, Que.). Ms. Gill’s riding is the 10th largest, geographi-cally, in Canada.

In terms of travel, Ms. Riopel flagged that Ms. Gill has more re-sponsibilities this Parliament, as an MP, deputy whip, and critic for fisheries and oceans and families, children, and social development, and in turn is flying more often to cut down travel time between Ot-tawa and her constituency, which otherwise averages 20 to 24 hours each week by road. She also not-ed travel costs related to constitu-ency staff coming to Ottawa for training offered post-election and to accompany the MP as she got re-established in the first months of the new Parliament.

Conservative MP Bob Zim-mer (Prince George-Peace River, B.C.) jumped to second place on the highest-spender list for 2019-20, up from fifth place the year prior, with a total of $577,676 in expenses, an increase of $6,110, or roughly 1.1 per cent.

Mr. Zimmer’s biggest increas-es were: staff salaries, which in-creased by almost $25,000 or nine per cent, to reach $297,417 for the year; staff travel, which more than doubled to total $24,433; and printing, which jumped $4,148 or 36 per cent to $15,652 for 2019-20. His office did not respond to questions from The Hill Times by filing deadline.

CPC MP Todd Doherty (Cari-boo-Prince George, B.C.) is the third-highest spender this year with $566,758, but that actually represents a roughly 14.4 per cent drop from 2018-19 when he topped the list with $662,466 in expenses.

NDP MP Niki Ashton (Churchill-Keewatinook Aski, Man.), meanwhile, jumped from the seventh highest-spender in 2018-19 to the fourth highest, with $561,851 in expenses claimed—an increase of $19,766 or 3.6 per cent. Her biggest increases were: dependent travel, which jumped from zero in 2018-19 to $39,771; staff travel, which jumped by $15,039 or 42.1 per cent to $50,775; and hospitality expenses, which went up 43.8 per cent to $5,717 for 2019-20.

Geographically, Ms. Ashton represents Canada’s fourth-larg-est riding, a fact she highlighted in response to questions from The Hill Times.

“As an MP, I have a responsibil-ity to represent one of the largest constituencies in the country, north-ern Manitoba. I believe this means going to communities in person by plane, truck, boat, and keeping in touch regularly,” said Ms. Ashton in an emailed statement.

“Like many women in Canada, I am also a caregiver to my young children while doing this work. The lack of childcare on Parlia-ment Hill, something that must be addressed more broadly, has meant that my toddler twins have had to accompany me regularly as well.”

lryckewaert@hilltimes.com The Hill Times

Deeper, detailed look at Parliament’s spending coming as new disclosure rules take effect Spending by Members of Parliament totalled $144.7-million in 2019-20, a roughly 4.3 per cent decrease from 2018-19.

News

THE HILL TIMES | WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020

• Employee Salaries: $86,486,673.59• Service Contracts: $3,845,469.37• Travel (MPs and their staff, dependants, and

designated travellers): $12,997,639.12• MP accommodation expenses: $364,306.82• MP per diem expenses: $2,053,799.76• MP secondary residence expenses:

$5,942,790.73• Hospitality: $1,344,619.88• Gifts: $152,191.79• Advertising: $6,351,595.61• Printing: $4,590,226.49• Offices: $20,577,817.83 (including

$12,099,585.93 in office lease, insurance, and utility costs)

• Total: $144,707,130.99

A closer look at the 2019-20 MP expenditure reports summary

Continued from page 1

Source: Members’ Expenditure Report Summary, graph courtesy of Infogram

14

LONDON, U.K.—If you wanted evidence that reasonably competent govern-

ment—not great, not corruption-free, just not awful—produces good results in the end, here it is.

Back in 1971, when the two countries split apart, Bangladesh had 65 million people and Pakistan had 60 million. By the end of this century, Bangladesh will have around 80 million people—and Pakistan will have 250 million.

Bangladesh is usually seen as a seriously overpopulated country, and it still is today: 160 million people. But its birth rate is dropping so fast that its population will halve by 2100, leav-ing it with no more people per square kilometre of farmland than the United Kingdom.

It has achieved this mainly by educat-ing its girls and young women and mak-ing contraception easily available. That’s what’s driving the global numbers down, too. The latest population predictions, published last week in the British medical journal The Lancet, forecast a global popu-lation in 2100 of only 8.8 billion.

That’s just one billion more than now. True, we will reach a peak in about 40 years’ time of 9.7 billion, but by century’s end we will be sliding down the other side of the population mountain quite fast.

These are “surprise-free” predictions, of course, and the future always brings surprises: wars, pandemics, a new religion or ideology. The forecasts don’t even factor in the impact of foreseeable calamities like climate change. Nevertheless, these num-bers are not just fictions, and they really are good news.

The numbers come from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation of the University of Washington, and they predict an end-of-century world population that is two billion lower than the UN Population Division’s forecast last year of almost 11 billion people. As they say: a billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real numbers.

Even better, the assumption is that the global population will continue to go down after that. Give it another century of gentle decline, and we could hope for a global population of four or five billion by 2200, which would make the task of dealing with the long-term impacts of climate change a lot easier. Meanwhile, there are three other big things going on right now.

The first is that more than two dozen countries will lose around half their popu-lation by the end of this century, includ-ing all the countries of East Asia (China, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan) and most of the countries of central, eastern, and south-ern Europe (e.g. Italy, Poland, Spain, and Greece).

Some will fall even further: Bulgaria from seven million to 2.6 million, Latvia from two million to less than half a million. Russia, however, will only drop from 145 million to 105 million.

The problem for all of these countries will be a huge overhang of elderly people as the younger population shrinks. The “popu-lation pyramid” will be stood on its point, more or less, with each person in the work-ing population having to support at least one retired person (unless retirement ages are raised radically, as they may well be).

The second group are countries, almost all in Africa or the Middle East, where pop-ulation growth is still out of control. These are the only regions where some countries will triple their populations (e.g. Israel and Angola), or quadruple them (Afghanistan and Nigeria).

Many countries in this category have more modest growth rates, but if just these two regions were excluded from the count,

the population of the rest of the world in 2100 would be lower than it is today.

And finally, comes the oddest group: the countries where birth rates are already far below replace-ment level, but the popula-tions will hold steady or even grow somewhat by

the end of the century. They include not only the rich countries of Western Europe, North America, and Australasia, but also many of the Latin American republics.

What’s their secret? Immigration. They almost all have a well-established tradition of accepting immigrants from other conti-nents and cultures, and they’re prosperous enough to be attractive to immigrants.

So Sweden, Norway, France, and the United Kingdom will each add a few mil-lion people by 2100. Canada, Australia, and the United States will each add around 10 million (and New Zealand gets an extra million). The rest, apart from Germany and the Netherlands, will attract at least enough newcomers to plug the holes left by their very low birth rates.

This may seem unfair, but it gets worse. When the researchers factored predicted economic growth into the study, the 10 countries with the biggest GDP 80 years from now were, in order: the U.S., China, India, Japan, Germany, France, U.K., Aus-tralia, Nigeria, and Canada.

Six of those 10 countries use English as their primary national language. To them that hath shall it be given.

Gwynne Dyer’s latest book is The Fu-ture of Work (and Democracy).

The Hill Times

A less crowded planet Give it another century of gentle decline, and we could hope for a global population of four or five billion by 2200, which would make the task of dealing with the long-term impacts of climate change a lot easier.

Comment

WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020 | THE HILL TIMES

Gwynne Dyer

Global Affairs

Almost all countries where birth rates are far below replacement level, but where population growth will hold steady or even grow somewhat, have a well-established tradition of accepting immigrants from other continents and cultures, and they’re prosperous enough to be attractive to immigrants. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia

Feature

WEDNESDAY, JULY 22House Sitting—The House has not met regularly

since mid-March, when it was suspended amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The regular summer recess was scheduled to begin on June 24, but MPs agreed to meet as a committee of the whole on July 8, July 22, Aug. 12, and 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 has adjourned until Sept. 22.

20th Alliance Against Trafficking in Persons—The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings is holding this online Zoom platform on ‘Ending Impunity: Delivering Justice Through Prosecuting Trafficking in Human Beings,’ July 20-22. Registration link: https://events.osce.org/2020-aat/registration

THURSDAY, JULY 23Canada, the World and the UN—A webinar with the

new appointed ambassador Bob Rae. Following Cana-da’s loss at getting a seat on the UN Security Council, Canada has a new ambassador at a time when the UN and all multilateral organizations are being widely questioned and under threat. Lester B. Pearson was Canada’s best known multilateralist and the Pearson Centre is examining what Canada can do to re-imagine multilateralism. The moderator will be Andrew Cohen, a Pearson board member, author and analyst. This webinar will take place on Thursday, July 23, at 2 p.m. For more information: www.thepearsoncentre.ca

The Future of Air Travel—The Edmonton Chamber of Commerce hosts a webinar on “The Future of Air Travel,” exploring the future of business travel, managing travel restrictions, recovery plans, and the outlook for Edmon-ton, Western Canada, and tourism. Speakers include Ferio Pugliese, senior vice-president, Air Canada Express and Government Relations; and Tom Ruth, president of Edmonton International Airport. Thursday, July 23, from 10 a.m.-11 a.m. Register online. Please confirm your attendance by Wednesday, July 22, at 4 p.m.

Mastering the Elements of Clear Political Communi-cation—Ryerson University hosts a webinar, “Cutting through the Noise: Mastering the Elements of Clear Political Communication,” featuring Alison Broddle, managing editor of digital content at the CBC; and Elamin Abdelmahmoud, news curation editor with BuzzFeed News and a columnist for CBC Radio’s Q. Thursday, July 23, from 3:30-5 p.m. Register for the Zoom event via Ryerson.

THURSDAY, JULY 23—THURSDAY, JULY 30Green Party Leadership Regional Town Halls—The

Green Party of Canada leadership contest will host six regional online town halls across Canada starting on Monday. The nine contestants seeking the party leader-ship will respond to submitted questions and each event will feature two moderators. Three provincial Green Party leaders and one provincial deputy leader are among the moderators. The nine contestants are (in alphabetical order): Judy N. Green (N.S.), Meryam Haddad (Que.), Courtney Howard (N.W.T.), Amita Kuttner (B.C.), Dimitri Lascaris (Que.), David Merner (B.C.), Glen Murray (Man.), Annamie Paul (Ont.), and Andrew West (Ont.). Atlantic: Thursday, July 23, 7-8:30 p.m. ADT; North: Monday, July 27, 7-8:30 p.m. CDT; British Columbia: Tuesday, July 28, 7-8:30 PDT; Ontario: Thursday, July 30, 7-8:30 p.m. EDT. Register at greenparty.ca.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 29Brian Mulroney Will Discuss To Discuss His ‘Agenda

for Canadian Greatness’—The former prime minister

will discuss his 10 big ideas for the future of Canada that address major social and economic challenges, including combating racism, Indigenous equality and a free trade agreement for the Americas. Hosted by the Pearson Centre, the moderator will be Brian Gallant, a Pearson advisory board member and former premier of New Brunswick. This webinar will take place at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, July 29. For more information: www.thepearsoncentre.ca

CPC Leadership Debate—The four candidates vying to lead the federal Conservative Party will face off in a live debate, hosted by the Independent Press Gallery. The debate will be streamed on independentpress-gallery.ca as well as by Independent Press Gallery members. The debate will be broadcast live from Toronto on Wednesday, July 29, starting at 7 p.m. EDT. Media availabilities for the candidates will follow and will also be carried live. The debate will be moder-ated by Independent Press Gallery member and True North fellow Andrew Lawton with an appearance by Gallery president Candice Malcolm. Questions about the debate or requests for accreditation can be sent to debates@independentpressgallery.ca.

FRIDAY, JULY 31—SATURDAY, AUG. 8#CanadaPerforms at RBC Bluesfest Drive-In—The

National Arts Centre and RBC Bluesfest are pleased to announce they are coming together to present #CanadaPerforms at RBC Bluesfest Drive-In, a sum-mer weekend series of live concerts at the Place des Festivals Zibi site, by the Kitchissippi River (Ottawa River). Concert-goers, as small pods or families, will be encouraged to drive to the site and watch live concerts from their individual dedicated space. In order to safely welcome back audiences to watch live concerts, the Drive-In series will offer a physical distancing

experience that respects reopening measures and protocols. Canadians will also be able to watch online the live-streamed concerts. Concerts will take place on Friday, July 31, Saturday, Aug. 1, Friday, Aug. 7, and Saturday, Aug. 8. Tickets on sale now. For the details, including additional dates and performers, go to: can-adaperforms.ottawabluesfest.ca/

THURSDAY, AUG. 675 Years Since the Nuclear Bombing of Hiroshima

and Nagasaki: We Remember—Aug. 6 and 9 will mark 75 years since atomic bombs were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing more than 200,000 people. The Canadian Network to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (CNANW) will host a virtual event on Thursday, Aug. 6 from 2-3:30 p.m. EDT to honour the victims of this unspeakable act, and to consider new action to help rid the world of nuclear weapons. Featured speakers include: bombing survivor Setsuko Thurlow; Douglas Roche, former senator, Ambassador for Disarmament; Alain Dondainaz, head of mission to Canada of the International Committee of the Red Cross; Peggy Mason, former Ambassador for Disarma-ment and current president of the Rideau Institute; Ray Acheson, director of Reaching Critical Will, the disarmament program of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom; Cesar Jaramillo, executive director of Project Ploughshares; and Michel Duguay, former co-ordinator of the Let’s Move Quebec Out of Nuclear movement. CNANW chair Earl Turcotte will moderate. Register via Eventbrite.

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.

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

editor-in-chief of National Geographic and editorial director of National Geographic Partners, is the latest speaker to be confirmed for the 43rd FIPP World Media Congress, which will take place online from Sept. 2-30. To find out more, www.fippcongress.com and online here.

MONDAY, SEPT. 21 House Sitting—The House is then scheduled to re-

turn 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.

THURSDAY, OCT. 15PPF Testimonial Dinner and Awards—Join us 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 making 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 Parliamen-

tary Press Gallery Dinner happens on Saturday, Oct. 24, in the Sir John A. Macdonald Building on Welling-ton 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-Carl-ton, 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 Gurfinkel at jgurfinkel@cjf-fjc.ca 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: media@liberal.ca, 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 register, visit www.victoriaforum.ca.

The Parliamentary Calendar is a free events listing. Send in your political, cultural, diplomatic, or govern-mental event in a paragraph with all the relevant details under the subject line ‘Parliamentary Calendar’ to news@hilltimes.com by Wednesday 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 definitely do our best. Events can be updated daily online, too.

The Hill Times

15

Events

THE HILL TIMES | WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020

Extra! Extra! Read the full Parliamentary Calendar online

Incoming UN ambassador Bob Rae talks multilateralism at Pearson Centre webinar on July 23

Parliamentary Calendar

Parties of the pastThe Hill Times photographs by Sam Garcia

With COVID-19 putting a pause on diplomatic gatherings in Ottawa, The Hill Times is offering a look back with (some never-before-seen) images of

celebrations and special events that have occurred at this time in years past.

Egypt envoy hosts party

Mongolian national day

Tanzania throws bash

Heba Fahmy and her husband, Mahmoud Al Saeed, then-ambassador of Egypt, laugh with Karel de Beer, then-ambassador of Netherlands, at Egypt’s national day party on July 23, 2007.

Dash Lkhundev, wife of the then-Mongolia ambassador, then-DFAIT Chief of Protocol Margaret Huber, and then-Mongolian ambassador Tundevdorj Zalaa-Uul celebrate their country’s national day with a July 11, 2011, reception at the Château Laurier.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson stops to pose with Esther Nyanzila Zoka, wife of the then-Tanzanian high commissioner, and then-Tanzanian high commissioner Jack Mugendi Zoka at the Tanzanian Day event at Lansdowne Park on July 14, 2017.

Janice Miller, then-high commissioner of Jamaica, and Mr. Zoka.

Tanzanian fashion and dance was on display at the day-long event.

Elizabeth Wilfert, wife of then-Liberal MP Bryon Wilfert, Ms. Lkhundev, and Masako Ishikawa, wife of the then-Japanese ambassador.

Elena Stefoi, then-ambassador of Romania, and Magdalene Teo, then-ambassador of Brunei.

Ms. Fahmy, Mr. Al Saeed, and Jaime Giron Duarte, then-ambassador of Colombia.

Inside Ottawa includes:• Federal riding profiles • MP contact details, both Hill and constituency• House committee clerks and membership• Senators’ contact details and committee membership• Current photos in colour• Prime Minister’s Office and Privy Council Office staff contacts• Ministers’ offices staff contacts• Speaker’s office contacts• Committee charts with current photos• List of shadow cabinet and opposition critics• Key political, government and media contacts• Sitting calendar 2020• Renumeration• Session tip sheet

Inside Canada includes:Contacts for every Province and Territorial Government:• Legislature key contacts• Members of the Legislative Assembly with photos• Cabinet ministers’ executive departments• Party and Government Posts (ministers and critics)• Opposition contacts• Agencies of Parliament• Media contacts• Remuneration• Committees members and clerks• Sitting calendars for 2020• Seat breakdown by province• Next election forecast

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