Trudeau plays his all-out
Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, flanked by Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, and Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, in Ottawa on Tuesday
After appointing a first woman, Chrystia Freeland, at the helm of the Department of Finance, Justin Trudeau announced the prorogation of Parliament and a Speech from the Throne on September 23. The prorogation, which causes the work of parliamentary committees investigating the WE Charity scandal to be halted, has aroused the ire of the opposition.
A prorogation, a Speech from the Throne ... and criticism
In front of the opposition parties who are demanding his resignation because of his role in the WE Charity scandal, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has decided to play his game. After slightly reshuffling his cabinet to appoint a first woman, Chrystia Freeland, to the prestigious post of finance minister, Mr. Trudeau announced the prorogation of Parliament and the presentation of a Speech from the Throne on September 23, in which his government will announce its main priorities for a post-COVID-19 “green recovery”.
Suddenly, the Prime Minister will put the survival of his minority government at stake, since a speech from the throne is the subject of a vote of confidence in the House of Commons, like the budgets tabled by the Minister of Finance. .
In front of the opposition parties who are demanding his resignation because of his role in the WE Charity scandal, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has decided to play his game. After slightly reshuffling his cabinet to appoint a first woman, Chrystia Freeland, to the prestigious post of finance minister, Mr. Trudeau announced the prorogation of Parliament and the presentation of a Speech from the Throne on September 23, in which his government will announce its main priorities for a post-COVID-19 “green recovery”.
Suddenly, the Prime Minister will put the survival of his minority government at stake, since a speech from the throne is the subject of a vote of confidence in the House of Commons, like the budgets tabled by the Minister of Finance. .
Mr. Trudeau thus challenges his main detractors, the Conservative Party and the Bloc Québécois, to call for a general election when the effects of the pandemic are far from being a thing of the past. He is also trying to pull the rug out from under the Bloc Québécois, which promised to table a motion of censure in October if Mr. Trudeau, his chief of staff Katie Telford and Bill Morneau did not leave their positions because of the recent controversies. raising ethical issues.
Claiming that Canada "is at a crossroads" and that the country "is far from being out of the woods," Trudeau said he did not want a hasty election this fall. But he is putting the fate of his Liberal government in the hands of the opposition parties, which in its Speech from the Throne will propose a "bold" way to use very low borrowing costs to stimulate the recovery in order to tackle it. to social inequalities, to increase the greening of the Canadian economy and to help citizens get through the crisis.
“No, I don't want an election,” the Prime Minister said at a press conference in the Commons foyer, after two ministers, Chrystia Freeland for Finance and Dominic LeBlanc for Intergovernmental Affairs, were sworn in at Rideau Hall, the official residence of the Governor General, before assuming their new duties.
“But the Speech from the Throne that was presented just eight months ago is not at all aligned with the reality people are living now. So I think it's only fitting that we have to present a new vision on the work our government wants to do to build a better Canada for all Canadians. Parliament will therefore have a chance to vote on this […]. "
But I hope members will understand that what Canadians want now is for all the different parties and all the different levels of government to work together to respond to this historic crisis.
Immediate effect
The prorogation of Parliament had an immediate effect: the cessation of the work of the four parliamentary committees which were investigating the ins and outs of the WE Charity scandal (UNIS in French). The gesture aroused the ire of the opposition parties.
“Earlier this year, Justin Trudeau shamefully shut down Parliament in an attempt to avoid accountability. And now he is blocking opposition members who were working hard to correct his government's programs during the pandemic, to help Canadians and to shed light on his corruption scandal, ”said the leader. Conservative Party Acting Andrew Scheer.
Claiming that Canada "is at a crossroads" and that the country "is far from being out of the woods," Trudeau said he did not want a hasty election this fall. But he is putting the fate of his Liberal government in the hands of the opposition parties, which in its Speech from the Throne will propose a "bold" way to use very low borrowing costs to stimulate the recovery in order to tackle it. to social inequalities, to increase the greening of the Canadian economy and to help citizens get through the crisis.
“No, I don't want an election,” the Prime Minister said at a press conference in the Commons foyer, after two ministers, Chrystia Freeland for Finance and Dominic LeBlanc for Intergovernmental Affairs, were sworn in at Rideau Hall, the official residence of the Governor General, before assuming their new duties.
“But the Speech from the Throne that was presented just eight months ago is not at all aligned with the reality people are living now. So I think it's only fitting that we have to present a new vision on the work our government wants to do to build a better Canada for all Canadians. Parliament will therefore have a chance to vote on this […]. "
But I hope members will understand that what Canadians want now is for all the different parties and all the different levels of government to work together to respond to this historic crisis.
Immediate effect
The prorogation of Parliament had an immediate effect: the cessation of the work of the four parliamentary committees which were investigating the ins and outs of the WE Charity scandal (UNIS in French). The gesture aroused the ire of the opposition parties.
“Earlier this year, Justin Trudeau shamefully shut down Parliament in an attempt to avoid accountability. And now he is blocking opposition members who were working hard to correct his government's programs during the pandemic, to help Canadians and to shed light on his corruption scandal, ”said the leader. Conservative Party Acting Andrew Scheer.
Justin Trudeau is dropping Canadians in the midst of a major health and economic crisis
in a disgusting attempt to put his corruption aside.
Andrew Scheer, interim leader of the Conservative Party
“If the purpose of the prorogation announced by the Prime Minister is first to put the lid on the WE Charity scandal, it will not work. If its will is really to put in place a crisis management and exit plan that meets the needs of Quebecers, the Bloc Québécois will listen, ”reacted the leader of the Bloc Québécois, Yves-François Blanchet. .
in a disgusting attempt to put his corruption aside.
Andrew Scheer, interim leader of the Conservative Party
“If the purpose of the prorogation announced by the Prime Minister is first to put the lid on the WE Charity scandal, it will not work. If its will is really to put in place a crisis management and exit plan that meets the needs of Quebecers, the Bloc Québécois will listen, ”reacted the leader of the Bloc Québécois, Yves-François Blanchet. .
The Bloc leader also announced his conditions for supporting the Speech from the Throne: additional support for seniors, payment of compensation to farmers under supply management, transfer to the Quebec government of the Quebec share of the student grant previously awarded to WE Charity, as well as adjustments to the Canada Emergency Benefit to support return to work, among other things.
For its part, the NDP, which could be the Liberals' lifeline during a vote of confidence,
said it was outraged by the Prime Minister's decision to prorogue Parliament.
For its part, the NDP, which could be the Liberals' lifeline during a vote of confidence,
said it was outraged by the Prime Minister's decision to prorogue Parliament.
Shutting down Parliament in the midst of a pandemic and economic crisis, with a meeting next week and committees working hard to get answers and solutions for Canadians, is a mistake. People should not be forced to pay the price for Mr. Trudeau's scandals, ”said NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, accusing the Liberals of using the same tactics as former Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
The Prime Minister has defended himself from wanting to muzzle the opposition parties by arguing that the Commons will resume work only two days later than planned according to the parliamentary calendar. He also authorized the disclosure of some 5,000 pages of documents related to the WE Charity affair, as demanded by the opposition parties, proof of his good faith.
The Prime Minister has defended himself from wanting to muzzle the opposition parties by arguing that the Commons will resume work only two days later than planned according to the parliamentary calendar. He also authorized the disclosure of some 5,000 pages of documents related to the WE Charity affair, as demanded by the opposition parties, proof of his good faith.
Passage of the torch
During his press conference, Mr. Trudeau once again thanked his former Minister of Finance Bill Morneau, who resigned from his post Monday evening, for his service over the past five years. But he did not want to elaborate on the causes of his departure, taking up the reasons enumerated by Mr. Morneau, in particular that it was preferable to pass the torch since he did not want to run for votes. in the next elections.
New incumbent Chrystia Freeland, who over the years has become Trudeau's right-hand man on complex government issues such as the renegotiation of NAFTA with the Trump administration and Mexico, expressed her great joy at being the very first woman to hold the post of chief treasurer of the country.
"It was time we broke that glass ceiling," she said, also expressing the wish that this would inspire other women to enter politics.
The resignation of Mr. Morneau came Monday evening a few hours after a meeting with the Prime Minister, which was to serve to resolve the differences between the two men. These disagreements over the budgetary effort required to get the Canadian economy back on track have been exposed in the media for a week.
Chrystia Freeland, the ambitious
After years of working for the most prestigious financial media on the planet, Chrystia Freeland will have to navigate under their keen eyes as the first woman appointed Minister of Finance of Canada.
The MP for University – Rosedale, in downtown Toronto, jumped into politics in 2013 after a successful media career.
During his press conference, Mr. Trudeau once again thanked his former Minister of Finance Bill Morneau, who resigned from his post Monday evening, for his service over the past five years. But he did not want to elaborate on the causes of his departure, taking up the reasons enumerated by Mr. Morneau, in particular that it was preferable to pass the torch since he did not want to run for votes. in the next elections.
New incumbent Chrystia Freeland, who over the years has become Trudeau's right-hand man on complex government issues such as the renegotiation of NAFTA with the Trump administration and Mexico, expressed her great joy at being the very first woman to hold the post of chief treasurer of the country.
"It was time we broke that glass ceiling," she said, also expressing the wish that this would inspire other women to enter politics.
The resignation of Mr. Morneau came Monday evening a few hours after a meeting with the Prime Minister, which was to serve to resolve the differences between the two men. These disagreements over the budgetary effort required to get the Canadian economy back on track have been exposed in the media for a week.
Chrystia Freeland, the ambitious
After years of working for the most prestigious financial media on the planet, Chrystia Freeland will have to navigate under their keen eyes as the first woman appointed Minister of Finance of Canada.
The MP for University – Rosedale, in downtown Toronto, jumped into politics in 2013 after a successful media career.
Graduated in Slavic Studies from Harvard and Oxford - thanks to a Rhodes scholarship - she moved to Ukraine and Russia in the mid-1990s, from where she wrote texts to major Western newspapers. The region, where her maternal family came from,
was rapidly changing in the wake of the death of the Soviet Union.
In the following years, Ms. Freeland moved from Financial Times to The Globe and Mail to Thomson Reuters, quickly climbing the ranks of these organizations. Seven years ago, that's where brand new Liberal leader Justin Trudeau
and his team recruited her and convinced her to return to Canada.
According to the Toronto Star , it was after reading a book by Ms. Freeland on the extreme concentration of planetary wealth in the hands of a handful of extremely wealthy individuals that the future prime minister would have been won over.
Ascending
Since then, the ex-journalist's ascent has continued within the Canadian government: she participated in the finalization of the Canada-Europe Free Trade Agreement as Minister of International Trade from 2015 to 2017, before rising in rank. and to replace Stéphane Dion as Minister of Foreign Affairs. M me Freeland was no stranger to international politics: she had already emerged
as a major critic of the Russian regime, as to be inadmissibility in 2014.
Described as energetic and efficient, she became deputy prime minister of Canada after the fall 2019 election and formalized her role as first lieutenant in the Trudeau cabinet. By adding the role of Minister of Finance to her wallet, she becomes the
most powerful Canadian politician since Kim Campbell's reign in 1993.
She is from Peace River, a farming community in northern Alberta.
was rapidly changing in the wake of the death of the Soviet Union.
In the following years, Ms. Freeland moved from Financial Times to The Globe and Mail to Thomson Reuters, quickly climbing the ranks of these organizations. Seven years ago, that's where brand new Liberal leader Justin Trudeau
and his team recruited her and convinced her to return to Canada.
According to the Toronto Star , it was after reading a book by Ms. Freeland on the extreme concentration of planetary wealth in the hands of a handful of extremely wealthy individuals that the future prime minister would have been won over.
Ascending
Since then, the ex-journalist's ascent has continued within the Canadian government: she participated in the finalization of the Canada-Europe Free Trade Agreement as Minister of International Trade from 2015 to 2017, before rising in rank. and to replace Stéphane Dion as Minister of Foreign Affairs. M me Freeland was no stranger to international politics: she had already emerged
as a major critic of the Russian regime, as to be inadmissibility in 2014.
Described as energetic and efficient, she became deputy prime minister of Canada after the fall 2019 election and formalized her role as first lieutenant in the Trudeau cabinet. By adding the role of Minister of Finance to her wallet, she becomes the
most powerful Canadian politician since Kim Campbell's reign in 1993.
She is from Peace River, a farming community in northern Alberta.
Dominic LeBlanc, childhood friend
In the 1970s in Ottawa, Pierre Elliott Trudeau and Roméo LeBlanc sat side by side in
Cabinet while their sons Justin and Dominic had fun together.
Five decades later, the children have grown up, and it is they who now hold the reins of the federal government.
In the 1970s in Ottawa, Pierre Elliott Trudeau and Roméo LeBlanc sat side by side in
Cabinet while their sons Justin and Dominic had fun together.
Five decades later, the children have grown up, and it is they who now hold the reins of the federal government.
Dominic LeBlanc was born in Ottawa in 1967, a few years before his father was elected Liberal MP. While the latter became a minister, then a senator, then governor general of Canada, his son studied law at the University of Toronto and Harvard.
In 2000, l'Acadien was elected for the first time as a member of Parliament, in the province where his family has its roots. He hasn't lost a single election since. Appointed as parliamentary assistant to various ministers of Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin, he embarked on the race for liberal leadership in 2008, before giving up, then considering it again in 2011-2012 after the departure of Michael Ignatieff. But after two weeks of vacation spent that summer with Justin Trudeau, Mr. LeBlanc gives way to him. “I've known Justin for a very long time. I saw his strength, his work ethic, ”he said at the time, according to the CBC.
Proximity to Trudeau
At the same time, the two men recalled their childhood memories. Their closeness was reflected in other periods of their lives: Dominic LeBlanc carried Pierre Elliott Trudeau's coffin to his funeral, while Justin Trudeau carried that of Roméo LeBlanc to his.
The return to power of the Liberals in 2015 marked the return to business of Dominic LeBlanc: he was appointed Leader of the Government in the Commons, then added Fisheries and Oceans to his portfolio the following year.
But in 2017, following a simple annual medical appointment, a doctor diagnosed him with chronic leukemia. Another setback in 2019, when he received another cancer diagnosis, a year after the end of his treatments for the first. He then retired from public life for a few months, the time to undergo chemotherapy, before returning to Ottawa last January.
In 2000, l'Acadien was elected for the first time as a member of Parliament, in the province where his family has its roots. He hasn't lost a single election since. Appointed as parliamentary assistant to various ministers of Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin, he embarked on the race for liberal leadership in 2008, before giving up, then considering it again in 2011-2012 after the departure of Michael Ignatieff. But after two weeks of vacation spent that summer with Justin Trudeau, Mr. LeBlanc gives way to him. “I've known Justin for a very long time. I saw his strength, his work ethic, ”he said at the time, according to the CBC.
Proximity to Trudeau
At the same time, the two men recalled their childhood memories. Their closeness was reflected in other periods of their lives: Dominic LeBlanc carried Pierre Elliott Trudeau's coffin to his funeral, while Justin Trudeau carried that of Roméo LeBlanc to his.
The return to power of the Liberals in 2015 marked the return to business of Dominic LeBlanc: he was appointed Leader of the Government in the Commons, then added Fisheries and Oceans to his portfolio the following year.
But in 2017, following a simple annual medical appointment, a doctor diagnosed him with chronic leukemia. Another setback in 2019, when he received another cancer diagnosis, a year after the end of his treatments for the first. He then retired from public life for a few months, the time to undergo chemotherapy, before returning to Ottawa last January.
Prorogation in four questions
Proroga… what? Four questions to understand the prorogation of Parliament announced
Tuesday in Ottawa and better understand the consequences.
Proroga… what? Four questions to understand the prorogation of Parliament announced
Tuesday in Ottawa and better understand the consequences.
What did Justin Trudeau announce on Tuesday?
The Prime Minister said he had asked the Governor General of Canada, Julie Payette, to prorogue Parliament until September 23, 2020. She accepted. Prorogation is not just a suspension or an adjournment: it ends a legislature and allows a new one to open on return. Nor is it a dissolution, which would result in a federal election. During prorogation, all activities of Parliament cease. All the bills in the process of being adopted die on the order paper: we will have to table them again if we want them to go ahead. A Prime Minister traditionally asks for the prorogation of Parliament once he believes he has accomplished the projects put forward in a Speech from the Throne.
The Prime Minister said he had asked the Governor General of Canada, Julie Payette, to prorogue Parliament until September 23, 2020. She accepted. Prorogation is not just a suspension or an adjournment: it ends a legislature and allows a new one to open on return. Nor is it a dissolution, which would result in a federal election. During prorogation, all activities of Parliament cease. All the bills in the process of being adopted die on the order paper: we will have to table them again if we want them to go ahead. A Prime Minister traditionally asks for the prorogation of Parliament once he believes he has accomplished the projects put forward in a Speech from the Throne.
How does Justin Trudeau justify his decision?
Trudeau said the last Speech from the Throne, delivered last December, corresponded to the reality of the country before the pandemic, but that it has been completely turned upside down since. According to the Prime Minister, we must therefore launch a new parliamentary session on new foundations, with a new Speech from the Throne. "We must restart the government's approach to recovery,
n order to rebuild optimally," he said.
Why is this decision controversial?
By proroguing Parliament, Justin Trudeau puts an end to the work of the committees that tried to shed light on the WE Charity scandal (UNIS in French). For more than a month, they will no longer be able to meet, they will no longer be able to call witnesses or demand documentary evidence. Stephen Harper's government also called for the prorogation of the federal Parliament in 2008, as it was about to lose a vote of confidence, triggering a major constitutional crisis. The Liberals subsequently promised never to use prorogation
“to get around a difficult political situation”.
Is there a risk for Justin Trudeau?
Beyond the political cost in public opinion, this maneuver poses a direct risk for the Trudeau government. It is because a Speech from the Throne will take place at the end of September and will automatically be followed by a vote of confidence from the Commons in Parliament. The Liberals will need the support of at least one of the three main opposition parties to survive,
but they have spent the last few weeks criticizing them sharply.
Trudeau said the last Speech from the Throne, delivered last December, corresponded to the reality of the country before the pandemic, but that it has been completely turned upside down since. According to the Prime Minister, we must therefore launch a new parliamentary session on new foundations, with a new Speech from the Throne. "We must restart the government's approach to recovery,
n order to rebuild optimally," he said.
Why is this decision controversial?
By proroguing Parliament, Justin Trudeau puts an end to the work of the committees that tried to shed light on the WE Charity scandal (UNIS in French). For more than a month, they will no longer be able to meet, they will no longer be able to call witnesses or demand documentary evidence. Stephen Harper's government also called for the prorogation of the federal Parliament in 2008, as it was about to lose a vote of confidence, triggering a major constitutional crisis. The Liberals subsequently promised never to use prorogation
“to get around a difficult political situation”.
Is there a risk for Justin Trudeau?
Beyond the political cost in public opinion, this maneuver poses a direct risk for the Trudeau government. It is because a Speech from the Throne will take place at the end of September and will automatically be followed by a vote of confidence from the Commons in Parliament. The Liberals will need the support of at least one of the three main opposition parties to survive,
but they have spent the last few weeks criticizing them sharply.