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The office of David Johnston, Canada’s special rapporteur on foreign interference, said it will no longer retain the services of Navigator, a firm known for work in crisis communications.
Spokesperson Valérie Gervais informed The Globe and Mail Thursday. She was responding to questions from The Globe about whether Navigator had also worked for Toronto MP Han Dong earlier this year.
A source had told The Globe that Mr. Dong had retained Navigator for a short period of time.
The Globe reached out to Navigator and Mr. Dong for confirmation of this hire but received no immediate response.
Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife and Senior Parliamentary Reporter Steven Chase report here.
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TODAY'S HEADLINES
UKRAINE FAILS TO RENEW MEDIA CREDENTIALS FOR PHOTOGRAPHER WORKING FOR GLOBE – The Ukrainian government has failed to renew the media accreditation for a photojournalist who has worked with The Globe and Mail since 2014. The country’s security services demanded a lie-detector test, accusing him of holding a Russian passport and questioning whether his work is aligned with the country’s “national interests.” Story here.
MAKE HYBRID PARLIAMENT PERMANENT: HOLLAND – The federal Liberal government wants MPs to make their option to virtually participate in House business, including committees, a permanent fixture. Story here.
ONLINE NEWS BILL DRAWS GLOBAL ATTENTION TO CANADA: RODRIGUEZ – Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez says the “world is watching Canada” because of its federal online news bill as he urged senators to stand up to the tech giants’ threats to withdraw access to news on their platforms. Story here.
MPS APPROVE CITIZENSHIP ACT CHANGES – A committee of MPs has approved Citizenship Act changes that allow some born abroad to adopt their Canadian parent’s citizenship, despite objections from Conservatives about a lack of due process. Story here.
HATRED OF LGBTQ PEOPLE ON RISE IN CANADA: TRUDEAU – In a speech at a Pride flag-raising ceremony on Parliament Hill Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that hatred of LGBTQ people is on the rise in Canada. Story here from CBC. Meanwhile, in New Brunswick, Premier Blaine Higgs said he was willing to call an election over changes to a policy to protect LGBTQ students, as he faced a rebellion from several top cabinet ministers. Story here from CBC.
FEDERAL BUDGET NEEDS TO BE REWRITTEN: POILIEVRE – Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says his party is willing to work through the summer to drastically change the Liberal government’s budget bill and is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to revoke the budget and table a new one. Story here.
GG WEIGHS IN ON STATUES ISSUE – People on both sides of the debate over the destruction of statues linked to colonization can come together and learn to respect each other, Governor-General Mary Simon said Wednesday. Story here.
AMERICAN FIREFIGHTERS DEPLOYED TO CANADA – U.S. President Joe Biden has ordered all of his country’s federal firefighting personnel to be ready to deploy to Canada as raging wildfires north of the border blanket northeastern U.S. cities in a thick, smoky haze. The development is covered here in an update on the wildfires in Canada.
CODERRE ON LIFE AFTER A STROKE – Former federal cabinet minister Denis Coderre, also the former mayor of Montreal, opens up here about life after a stroke in April. Interview from CJAD 800.
THIS AND THAT
TODAY IN THE COMMONS – Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, June 8, accessible here.
DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER’S DAY – In Toronto, Chrystia Freeland held private meetings, and hosted a round table discussion on artificial intelligence with industry leaders.
MINISTERS ON THE ROAD – Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, in Mississauga, and on behalf of Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough, announced three new projects focused on addressing labour shortages in the health-care sector.
IN OTTAWA – Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly testified before the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee for its study on the Canadian foreign service and elements of the foreign-policy machinery within Global Affairs Canada.
QUOTE OF THE DAY – “He’s probably the Prime Minister most in love with vacations of any Prime Minister we have ever had. In fact, I am going to be making contact with the Guinness Book of World Records to find out if there is any other politician in the history of the world who has vacationed as much as him.” – Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to cancel any summer vacation plans in order to join the Conservatives to rewrite the federal budget.
PRIME MINISTER'S DAY
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in Ottawa, held private meetings, and attended the Pride flag-raising ceremony on Parliament Hill. In the evening, in Toronto, Mr. Trudeau was scheduled to meet with youth at the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee ACTION Party, and deliver remarks at the Rainbow Railroad Freedom Party.
LEADERS
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre held a news conference on Parliament Hill.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, on Parliament Hill, attended the all-party parliamentary interfaith caucus breakfast event. Later, with fellow Green MP Mike Morrice, Ms. May held a news conference on climate action and the continuing wildfires.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in Ottawa, attended the raising of a Pride flag on the front lawn of Parliament. Later, in Mississauga, Mr. Singh met with students threatened with deportation and spoke to a virtual meeting of the chiefs council of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs.
No schedules released for other party leaders.
THE DECIBEL
On Thursday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, Eric Reguly, The Globe’s European bureau chief, explains what has gone wrong with Greece and how it is turning things around after a period of economic instability that saw unemployment hit 28 per cent, and the need for three hefty bailouts from the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund, which totalled almost €300-billion. Mr. Reguly also talks about what other countries can learn from Europe’s surprising comeback kid. The Decibel is here.
PUBLIC OPINION
PUBLIC INQUIRY – A majority of Canadians would like the Liberal government to call a public inquiry into Chinese state meddling in this country’s democracy and respond more forcefully to alleged election interference by Beijing, according to a poll. Story here.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on how Canada’s economy can’t rely on temporary workers and study permits forever: “Canada has big, enduring demographic challenges ahead. So why are we trying to paper them over with ever-larger temporary band-aids? This approach provides wasteful subsidies to low-wage employers, distorting labour and housing markets, and sets up promising newcomers for exploitation.”
Kelly Cryderman (The Globe and Mail) on how Alberta Premier Danielle Smith will name a mostly rural cabinet while presenting an image of moderate conservatism: “The new cabinet that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is set to present Friday is expected to be rural-heavy, reflecting the makeup of the United Conservative Party caucus itself. But Ms. Smith will also try to present an image of moderate conservatism rather than a collective lurch to the political right.”
John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail) on how the far right’s persecution of the trans community risks all the gains made in securing LGBTQ rights: “This Friday, anti-trans activist Chris Elston (“Billboard Chris”) will demonstrate in front of an Ottawa school, accompanied by supporters. “We have children who are being indoctrinated ... to believe that it is stereotypes that determine their sex or their gender” he says in a video online. Mr. Elson carries around a sign that reads, “Children are never born in the wrong body.” This is vile. Unable to force women to surrender control over their bodies, unable to force gay men and women back into the closet, unable to force their perversion of Christianity onto the rest of us, the far right has decided to go after trans people.”
David Parkinson (The Globe and Mail) on the Bank of Canada rediscovering good old-fashioned ‘excess demand’: “We don’t have a lot to go on, yet, to explain why the Bank of Canada pushed aside its short-lived pause and raised interest rates again. But based solely on the text of Wednesday’s rate announcement, it might have been simple arithmetic. The central bank appears to have done some math around the stronger-than-expected, first-quarter economic growth data, and abandoned its wait-and-see stand in favour of resuming rate hikes. In the five-paragraph statement that served as the day’s only supporting document for the policy shift, the phrase “excess demand” – absent from rate-decision statements during the bank’s three-month pause in rate hikes – returned with conspicuous prominence.”
Mary W. Rowe (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on why all Canadians should care about who becomes Toronto’s next mayor: “It’s a common perception that Canadians love to trash talk Toronto, and most outside the city borders couldn’t care less about who wins the mayoral by-election on June 26. But if Canadian cities are to find a path to economic recovery in this global world, cities should care a lot about who becomes the next mayor of Toronto.”
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