Politics Briefing newsletter: Scheer, Trudeau and Morneau continue scuffle in the House

Share

Good morning,

It used to be common to hear the Opposition call for the resignation of a cabinet minister over the issue of the day. Then, the practice seemed to slow down for a while.

Now it is back on, with Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer demanding that Finance Minister Bill Morneau leave or be kicked out of cabinet because of how he sold shares in his family business when he came into office.

Here is how it went down in Question Period.

Mr. Scheer: "Mr. Speaker, not only is the Minister of Finance not following the rules, but he also has a very poor track record. Despite what he and the Prime Minister claim, the deficit is double the $10 billion that he promised; the wealthiest Canadians pay less tax, not more; and middle-class families are paying 80 per cent more tax, not less. This Minister cannot count and cannot follow the rules. Why, then, is he still the Minister of Finance?"

Mr. Trudeau: "Mr. Speaker, I continue to have full confidence in the Minister of Finance. One only has to look at the half a million new jobs to understand why. The Minister has lowered taxes for the middle class and increased taxes on the wealthiest 1 per cent. He created the Canada child benefit, which helps nine out of 10 families and which will lower child poverty by 40 per cent across the country. He is giving more money to the most vulnerable seniors. He is lowering taxes for small business. He is managing the G7's best-performing economy. We continue to have confidence in—"

(Mr. Trudeau is cut off for time.)

Mr. Scheer: "Mr. Speaker, inconveniently for the Prime Minister, that is simply not true. Not only is the Finance Minister failing to follow the rules, he is also not very good at his job. He promised to run a deficit of only $10-billion, and of course he has blown right past that. He promised that wealthy Canadians would pay more, but after his measures came in, the top 1 per cent ended up paying less, all the while 80 per cent of working Canadians are paying more. The Finance Minister is not competent and he cannot follow the rules. Why is he still in cabinet?"

Mr. Trudeau: "Mr. Speaker, I have full confidence in the Minister of Finance, and one only has to look at the half a million new jobs to understand why. However, it is interesting. We have created Prime Minister's question period on Wednesdays to give an opportunity to backbench MPs to ask questions of the Prime Minister directly. If the member opposite wants to see how much confidence I have in the Minister of Finance, he just needs to keep asking these questions."

Mr. Scheer: "Mr. Speaker, we are happy to keep asking—"

(At this point, Members of Parliament are too rowdy – or, in Hansard tradition, there's too much "oh, oh!" – and the Speaker of the House steps in.)

Speaker of the House Geoff Regan: "We were hearing nice things about peace earlier. I liked that. Let us try to have a little quiet when we hear the questions and the answers."

(Mr. Scheer finishes his question, and Mr. Morneau stands up to respond. Again, the Speaker steps in because of the noise. After a couple of back-and-forths, Mr. Scheer asks the Finance Minister for a final time.)

Mr. Scheer: "Mr. Speaker, the Minister still will not answer that specific question. On November 30, 680,000 shares in Morneau Shepell were sold. Was it the Finance Minister who sold those shares?"

Mr. Morneau: "Mr. Speaker, again, there are no secrets here. If the member opposite has an allegation, if he wants to say something, he should say what he means. He should say it here and he should say it now. He should stand and say it, and then he should go out in the foyer and say it again."

(And, once more…)

Some hon. Members: "Oh, oh!"

This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Chris Hannay in Ottawa, Mayaz Alam in Toronto and James Keller in Vancouver. If you're reading this on the web or someone forwarded this email newsletter to you, you can sign up for Politics Briefing and all Globe newsletters here. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.

NEW - We've launched a new Top Business: Evening Edition newsletter providing a summary of the biggest business headlines of the day. Sign up for it and more than a dozen other Globe newsletters here.

CANADIAN HEADLINES

David Mulroney, a former ambassador to China, is warning that Canadians who do business in the country can be detained if there are commercial disputes. "The warning should be 'You may be caught up in a business dispute that morphs into a criminal dispute and you will be imprisoned or your passport will be taken away. And our consular ability to help you will be limited or none,'" he said.

Canada's spy agencies are increasingly getting the data of regular citizens when they cast out their investigatory nets, a parliamentary analysis says.

Two-thirds of Canadians support the legalization of marijuana, according to a new Angus Reid Institute poll.

Sheilah Martin, an Alberta-based judge who was born and raised in Montreal, is Mr. Trudeau's next pick for the Supreme Court of Canada. From a regional perspective, she replaces Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, who is from B.C. and is retiring in December. Justice Martin served on the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta in Calgary until June, 2016, when she was appointed as a judge of the Courts of Appeal of Alberta, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Alberta's latest fiscal update has prompted DBRS Ltd. to downgrade the province's credit rating, citing a continued reliance on the energy sector and slow progress reducing the provincial deficit. Alberta's DBRS credit rating — double-A, down from double-A (high) — is still among the highest in the country, but the agency says the province's current economic course is not sustainable.

Alberta is the latest province to target "bots" that quickly scoop up concert tickets before human consumers — only to resell them at inflated prices. Alberta's proposed rules would force vendors such as Ticketmaster to identify and cancel purchases made by bots.

A report out of B.C. paints a scathing picture of the province's system of mental-health detentions, arguing patients' rights are being violated by subjecting them to forced treatment and solitary confinement while not providing access to legal help. The Community Legal Assistance Society also says B.C. does not produce regular reports assessing the system, as other provinces already do.

B.C. says Ottawa should stay out of disputes between Kinder Morgan and local governments over permitting required for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. Federal Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr has written to the National Energy Board to say the government supports a process to quickly resolve such disputes. B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman accuses Ottawa of interfering with the province's rights.

And Ellen DeGeneres is a fan of the Prime Minister.

John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail) on the times that Liberals and Conservatives come together: "The latest example: Mr. Trudeau's choice of Sheilah Martin to replace Beverley McLachlin on the Supreme Court will almost certainly prove uncontroversial. The U.S. Supreme Court is so ideologically riven that the ability to choose judges is considered one of an American president's greatest powers. Conservatives and Liberals still disagree on taxation, regulation, deficits and other economic issues. But in this country, social conservatism is largely relegated to fringe websites and truculent comment threads."

Rob Carrick (The Globe and Mail) on the Liberal pension changes: "It's going to be an ugly process because the target benefit pension plans covered by the proposed legislation are a tough sell. Private sector companies haven't shown much interest, and some unions don't like them a bit. A target benefit pension was implemented for New Brunswick public sector workers in 2012, and there are legal challenges still."

Anthony Furey (Sun Media) on Finance Minister Bill Morneau: "The other week, a prominent Bay Street insider told me he couldn't imagine Bill Morneau being the guy to table the next budget in 2018. There's just too much dogging the beleaguered finance minister to have him stand up in the House of Commons and command the confidence of the nation's various sectors that look to his post as a source of stability."

Marius Grinius, former Canadian ambassador to South Korea, writes in The Globe and Mail on North Korea: "This highly complex and dangerous situation may be the opportunity for Canada to show that it is indeed back on the global stage and reburnish its credentials as helpful fixer and bridge-builder committed to the peaceful settlement of disputes. The meeting in early 2018, co-hosted by Canada, may just be the place to start. Having long been missing in action, however, Canada will have to work hard to re-establish its credibility and expertise on North Korean issues, which is an important building block in reasserting Canada's political and security commitment to the Asia-Pacific region. It is in Canada's interest to be there."

Colin Robertson (The Globe and Mail) on ballistic missile defence: "Canada has participated in NORAD's missile warning function for decades. Joining BMD would probably result in NORAD and the U.S. Northern Command taking responsibility for continental BMD defence. Bringing BMD into it would strengthen the binational institution that lies at the heart of the Canada-U.S. defence relationship. Our European allies and Pacific partners employ BMD. It's time for Canada to reconsider it. Even if the shield is imperfect, we need this additional insurance policy should errant missiles come our way."

Parisa Mahboubi (The Globe and Mail) on work in Canada: "The future work force must acquire the highest possible literacy and numeracy skills at each level of education. Therefore, provinces should focus their attention on education quality at all levels – from early childhood through to postsecondary. Postsecondary institutes also need to review their admission and graduation requirements to ensure they meet standards ensuring minimum literacy and numeracy skills in demand in the workplace."

INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES

U.S. President Donald Trump drew condemnation from British Prime Minister Theresa May after tweeting anti-Muslim videos from a far-right British group. He also won praise from former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan David Duke. Presidential historians and other experts say that such behaviour is unprecedented in modern history coming from the White House.

Global Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland called a meeting on North Korea an essential step towards a possible non-military solution to quell the crisis in East Asia. The meeting is expected to take place early next year in Canada. Earlier this year, The Globe's Asia Bureau Chief Nathan VanderKlippe spoke to four negotiators who were at the Six Party Talks in 2005 on whether a diplomatic solution could bring North Korea back from the brink again. Meanwhile, Canada and the U.S. are running simulations about what could happen in the event of a nuclear strike.

Keith Creel, head of Canadian Pacific Railway, says he finds the pace of NAFTA negotiations frustrating but says he's "not losing sleep over it." The comments came at an investors' conference in Florida. Thirty per cent of Canadian Pacific's revenues depend on shipping between the U.S. and Canada.

Slobodan Praljak, a Bosnian Croat military commander in the 20th century, died yesterday. The circumstances surrounding his death were remarkable. He was convicted of war crimes and lost his appeal against a 20-year prison term when he brought a bottle to his lips and drank a liquid. "I just drank poison," the ex-general told the stunned court. "I am not a war criminal. I oppose this conviction." The apparent courtroom suicide was broadcast on a video feed.

The U.S. is threatening new sanctions on North Korea after it tested its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile yet. Some say that the Hwasong-15 could reach the eastern seaboard of North America.

And the U.S. Federal Reserve sees the country's economic outlook improving and inflationary pressure on prices increasing. The report from the central bank suggests that more rate hikes could be on the way in December. Current Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen told lawmakers yesterday that the such interest rate increases would be needed.

The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on Trump's true colours: "Mr. Trump will no doubt continue to insist that he isn't a racist, but the evidence to back that claim has been chipped away to almost nothing. His decision to spread the hatred of a violent anti-Islamic organization, and to share it with his 44-million Twitter followers, makes it extremely difficult to maintain a reasonable doubt about the serious accusation that he is racist, that he is actively courting the support of racists by speaking their language, and that his and their beliefs inform his policies."

Anthony Mouchantaf (The Globe and Mail) on venture capital and government: "As new technologies continue to emerge, they will create new markets, products and companies at an accelerating pace. Economic success in the coming decades will depend on a country's ability to participate in this inevitable tide, and policy makers must be proactive. While tax policy and foreign incentives are important, government has other, seldom explored policy tools at its disposal. An enticing policy opportunity lies in the major positive spillovers that venture capital can have on a national economy."