The Weekly Roundup - August 9, 2024
With the August long weekend behind us, the dog days of summer have been replaced by the Doug days of summer, with Ontario Premier Doug Ford garnering a significant amount of attention. This week Ford spoke to reporters is Mississauga, home turf of former mayor-turned-Ontario Liberal Party leader Bonnie Crombie. If you ask the PC’s about Crombie’s home-court advantage in Mississauga, they’ll remind you the party won all six seats in the region in the last provincial election, and they intend to do so again. To bolster those efforts, Premier Ford was out announcing $35 million to expand the G.E. Booth Water Resource Recovery Facility to enable housing construction.
Premier Ford had a lot to say about Kamala Harris’ pick for VP, Tim Walz, telling the press he’s “happy as punch” and that the two of them share a lot in common. Earlier this summer the Premier hosted the Minnesota governor to talk trade and toss the ol’ pigskin around the Premier’s Queen’s Park office. Ford has built relationships with Republicans and Democrats alike, inking trade agreements with Nevada, Michigan, Maryland, Indiana, and Illinois in recent years.
Meanwhile in Alberta, there’s some good news on the wildfire front. As of August 9, the number of out-of-control fires has dropped to 13, down from 50 two weeks ago. In Jasper National Park where crews continue to fight wildfires, smoke and weather conditions have sometimes made aerial operations difficult, according to Alberta Forestry Minister Todd Loewen. Residents and business owners in Jasper have been able to tour the town to survey property damage.
Here are the other stories we’re following this week:
Top Federal Stories
Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault is considering whether to block employers in certain regions and industries from accessing the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. According to a government news release, Boissonnault told business associations that he is considering implementing refusal to process under the low wage stream. The Liberals’ efforts to reduce the share of temporary residents in Canada comes amidst rising unemployment, especially among youth and new job seekers, and despite the fact that employers received approval to hire 25 per cent more people through the low-wage stream of the TFW program, compared to the year before and highest quarterly numbers in government records, according to analysis done by the Globe and Mail.
Conservatives are calling on the government to explain how two men arrested in Richmond Hill on terrorism charges were allowed to immigrate to Canada despite ties to ISIS. Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer wants the House of Commons Public Safety committee recalled to investigate the case, while the party’s public safety critic, Frank Caputo, has written to Public Safety Minister Dominic Leblanc to make details about the alleged terrorist plot public. For his part, Minister Leblanc urged caution in talking about an active criminal case and that internal reviews of the security screening process are ongoing.
The Prime Minister maybe at risk of losing long-time ally and cabinet minister Pablo Rodriguez. Trudeau’s Quebec Lieutenant has reportedly been approached to jump into the Quebec Liberal Party’s leadership race. If Rodriguez chooses to leave, it would be the second high-profile cabinet departure for the federal Liberals in as many months following Seamus O’Regan quitting cabinet three weeks ago. It could be another blow to the Prime Minister’s electoral fortunes in Quebec, one of the few regions where the Liberals still enjoy significant support.
Top Alberta Stories
A major focus of caucus between now and the UCP’s AGM in early November will be shoring up support for the leadership of party leader (and Premier) Danielle Smith. While Smith appears to enjoy the support of her caucus and party faithful, she isn’t taking this vote of attendees at the AGM for granted. To that end, Smith is traversing the province and meeting with party members, with the recognition that the thousands of party faithful that choose to come to Red Deer in a few months’ time will determine whether she stays on as leader. The question put to members at the AGM will be a straightforward: “Do you approve of the current Leader?”. While 50 per cent is the threshold laid out in the UCP’s governance documents, previous leader Jason Kenney stepped down after receiving 51.4 per cent approval and in the legacy PC party, former leader Ralph Klein stepped down after receiving 55.4 per cent in 2006. Smith shared with columnist Rick Bell that “I got 53 per cent the first time they had a chance to vote for me. Anything above 53 per cent I would look at as an improvement.”
This week the federal government announced nearly $12 million to study health impacts in the Athabasca oil sands region. Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said the federal government would partner with the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, the Mikisew Cree First Nation and the Fort Chipewyan Métis Nation for the community-led health study that will examine health and environmental impacts on communities downstream from oil sands activity. Though absent from the funding agreement, if the study were to find health impacts, Guilbeault hopes that the government of Alberta and companies will work with the federal government to “to put in place even more stringent measures from an environmental and health point of point of view.”
The government of Alberta says it’s been forced to suspend the Canada-Alberta jobs grant program as the federal government scales back funding for the Labour Market Transfer Agreement (LMTA). Matt Jones, Alberta’s Minister for Jobs, Economy and Trade said the federal government’s decision was “unexpected and unreasonable,” while a spokesperson for the federal Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages said the decrease in funding was a result of one-year top up funding expiring, which had been announced in the 2023 budget, and that the province would continue to receive base funding through the LMTA.
Top Ontario Stories
In Ottawa, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe is pointing fingers at the federal and provincial governments for what he says is a financial crisis for the city of Ottawa. Mayor Sutcliffe says the federal government is shortchanging the city to the tune of nearly $100 million in payments in lieu of taxes for the federal government’s vast real estate portfolio in the city. The mayor also called on the province to help fund more of the city’s transit costs. The federal and provincial governments had both committed to funding a third of Ottawa’s beleaguered LRT project, but due to delays and cost overruns the city has taken on a larger share of the project’s costs. A spokesman for Ontario’s Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy pointed to the province’s $543 million New Deal with the City of Ottawa that the province signed earlier this year when asked about the mayor’s demands.
Client Spotlight
We’re pleased to highlight New West client Microbix Biosystems Inc. as they participate in the American Diagnostics and Laboratory Medicine Conference in Chicago. Microbix is making a notable impact in the diagnostics and healthcare sectors and their dedication to innovation and quality as an Ontario life sciences company continues to set them apart globally.
Upcoming Events Calendar
August 16, 2024: Ford Fest will take place in Milton
September 16, 2024: House of Commons resumes sitting
September 20-22, 2024: OLP AGM takes place in London, ON
October 21, 2024: Queen’s Park resumes sitting
October 28, 2024: Alberta Legislature resumes sitting
November 1-2, 2024: UCP AGM takes place in Red Deer, AB, including leadership review vote