A number of Quebec senators are also shying away from getting involved in the provincial election there, though some are saying that they will play whatever roles they can along the sidelines. The mayors of a number of smaller towns in the rest of Canada are alarmed that their local newspapers are owned by QMI, which in turn is owned by Pierre-Karl Péladeau, especially considering just how concentrated his ownership of that media is. Michael Den Tandt notes that Pauline Marois has been articulating Jacques Parizeau’s vision, where it was “money and the ethnic vote” that lost them the last referendum, and that Marois is sidelining those ethnic minorities with her values charter and trying to bring money on her side with Péladeau. Economist Stephen Gordon writes about the desirability of a monetary union with an independent Quebec, and how Quebec’s debt load would make it a risky proposition for them. Marois tried to insist that it would be “borderless” and would welcome Canadian tourists. No worries, see!
The trade deal with South Korea has been signed in principle, meaning that full implementation could be another year or so, while they iron out all of the details. The government, however, hopes this will be a political win after a string of bad news stories.
James Moore has been named to this year’s World Economic Forum Young Global Leaders programme, along with Samara Canada’s Alison Loat and five other Canadians. Liberal MP Scott Brison was part of the inaugural class of the Young Global Leaders programme.
BC has now signed onto the Canada Job Grant framework agreement.
Security costs for Parliament Hill ramped up from $2.39 million to $8.04 million in the wake of that Greenpeace stunt where they climbed the East Block and hung a banner from it. Much of these costs appear to be for more RCMP officers to patrol the Hill. Balancing security and access remains the pre-eminent challenge for the RCMP when it comes to keeping MPs safe while keeping the Hill open for the public.
A memo from CSIS says that they acted “appropriately” when it came to the investigation into naval spy Jeffrey Delisle, and that the law demands that they carry out a separate investigation from the RCMP rather than pool resources and do the task together. The memo went on to call the investigation a success, for what it’s worth.
Statistics Canada numbers show that many women in shelters have been there several times, pointing to a lack of long-term housing options for women fleeing abusive situations.
In the “secrecy is catching” file, Nunavut’s Information and Privacy Commissioner sees no reason why a report on the Baffin Island Correctional Facility was redacted, as it didn’t fit under any of the exemptions in Access to Information legislation.
A Swedish journalist was gunned down in Kabul, a block away from the Canadian embassy. This is the week that Canadian troops are pulling out entirely.
Suspended senator Patrick Brazeau and former senator Mac Harb – or their lawyers in any case – are due in court next week on the charges of fraud and breach of trust.
And my column this week looks at the Liberals’ “Invite Her to Run” social media campaign, and the history of trying to get more women into politics into Canada.
Up today – Olivia Chow is expected to resign her seat and declare her bid to become mayor of Toronto on Thursday. I expect it to be a fun day of NDP staffers defending why her waiting so long and still earning an MP’s salary was totally different than Denis Coderre (whom they criticised), or how all those ten-percenters she recently sent to the riding were totally legitimate and didn’t break the spirit of the law. Same with all of the committee meetings she missed, I’m sure.