Tuesday, September 24, 2024

Trump says women won’t be ‘thinking about abortion’ if he’s elected, casting himself as their ‘protector’


OLDE FASHIONED CHAUVINISM AND SEXISM

Kate Sullivan and Eric Bradner, CNN
Tue, September 24, 2024 


Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump cast himself as a “protector” of women at a Pennslyvania rally Monday evening and claimed that American women won’t be “thinking about abortion” if he’s elected.

The plea to ignore Trump’s own role in undoing national abortion rights protections is a clear signal that the former president is keenly aware of what polls show: His Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, has a clear advantage among women voters, nationally and in key swing states. Trump has kept the race close by countering with a lead among men.

Harris’ edge with women is driven in part by the Supreme Court’s conservative majority, with three members appointed by Trump, in 2022 overturning Roe v. Wade and leading to a patchwork of state-level abortion regulations — including restrictive laws in several of the battleground states that could decide the 2024 election. Democrats have performed strongly in elections where abortion has taken center stage since that 2022 Supreme Court decision, and abortion rights supporters have won a series of statewide referendums on the issue, even in deep-red states.

“I always thought women liked me. I never thought I had a problem. But the fake news keeps saying women don’t like me,” Trump said in Indiana, Pennsylvania. “I don’t believe it.”

The former president claimed women are “less safe,” “much poorer” and are “less healthy” now compared to when he was president and vowed to end what he described as their “national nightmare.”

“Because I am your protector. I want to be your protector. As president, I have to be your protector. I hope you don’t make too much of it. I hope the fake news doesn’t go, ‘Oh he wants to be their protector.’ Well, I am. As president, I have to be your protector,” Trump said.

Women, he added, “will be happy, healthy, confident and free. You will no longer be thinking about abortion.”

Polls also show likely voters give Harris the edge on handling abortion. Polls also show likely voters give Harris the edge on handling abortion. A CNN poll conducted by SSRS released Tuesday found likely voters nationally favor Harris’ approach to abortion (52%) to Trump’s (31%). That advantage was in line with several other national surveys released this month.

Even in polls that indicate Trump has a lead — such as a New York Times/Siena College poll of Arizona likely voters released Monday, which found Trump leading with 48% support to Harris’ 43% — it’s clear Trump faces political headwinds on the issue of abortion rights. A broad majority (58%) of voters said they would vote to back a ballot measure seeking to establish a right to abortion in the state, while 35% oppose it.

Americans remain broadly opposed to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe, according to CNN polling, and it has proven to be thorny campaign issue for Republicans in down-ballot races.

Bernie Moreno, the GOP candidate for US Senate in Ohio, said at a town hall Friday that abortion is the only issue many suburban women vote on, and questioned why women over 50 would care about the issue, according to video obtained by WCMH-TV in Columbus, Ohio.

A spokesperson for Moreno later sought to call his remarks “a tongue-in-cheek joke,” though his opponent, incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown, has already seized on the comments.

Trump appeared to be referring to Democrats later in his speech Monday when he said, “all they can talk about is abortion.”

“The country is falling apart. We’re going to end up in World War III, and all they can talk about is abortion. That’s all they talk about, and it really no longer pertains, because we’ve done something on abortion that nobody thought was possible,” he said in reference to the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision.

Trump had previewed his Monday evening appeal to female women voters with a post on his Truth Social platform last week. American women, he wrote in all-caps, “are more depressed and unhappy than they were four years ago” before vowing to “fix all of that.”

Harris, in a Wisconsin Public Radio interview on Tuesday, reiterated her support for eliminating the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold to restore Roe v. Wade to codify abortion rights and protect women’s reproductive freedom.

“I think we should eliminate the filibuster for Roe,” Harris said.

Doing so, she said, would “get us to the point where 51 votes would be what we need to actually put back into law the protections for reproductive freedom and for the ability of every person, every woman to make decisions about their own body and not have their government tell them what to do.”

CNN’s Ebony Davis and Jenn Agiesta contributed to this report.

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Trump ignores the First Amendment and says those who criticize the Supreme Court should be tossed in jail

TRUMP ONLY BELIEVES IN THE SECOND AMENDMENT

Ariana Baio
Tue, September 24, 2024 

Donald Trump scolded those who critique the Supreme Court at a rally on Monday, saying people should be jailed for “the way they talk about our judges and our justices” – despite the First Amendment allowing people to criticize the government.

The former president, who has invoked his First Amendment right to launch a bevy of attacks against federal and state judges, suggested it should be “illegal” to rebuke judicial decisions or try and advocate in favor of a certain decision.

“It should be illegal, what happens,” Trump told a crowd in Pennslyvania. “You know, you have these guys like playing the ref, like the great Bobby Knight. These people should be put in jail the way they talk about our judges and our justices, trying to get them to sway their vote, sway their decision.”

The former president was referring to the backlash the Supreme Court received after overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2022. He called the court “very brave” for making a decision that “everybody wanted” – an unfounded claim.

Former president Donald Trump condemned those that criticize the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, saying it should be ‘illegal’ to make that kind of rhetoric (AP)

Under the First Amendment, people have the right to complain about government officials and decisions.

Trump himself has been safeguarded by this rule when during his New York criminal trial, Trump called Justice Juan Merchan “highly conflicted.” When a gag order was placed on him, Trump violated it at least 10 times and then utilized his allies to launch more attacks against the judge.

In his federal election interference trial, the former president claimed District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan was “highly partisan” and “VERY BIASED & UNFAIR” because she warned him not to make inflammatory statements about the case.

Trump has also criticized federal appeals courts, he once called the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals “a complete & total disaster” with a “horrible reputation” and claimed the judges were “making our Country unsafe.”


A protestor holds a sign saying ‘abort the court’ after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Those statements, made in 2018, were in response to Chief Justice John Roberts rebuking Trump’s assertion that an “Obama judge” ruled against his asylum policy.

Yet, the former president stood in front of a crowd of supporters on Monday evening to insinuate it is not appropriate to criticize the Supreme Court – which is comprised of lifetime appointed, not elected, justices.

Trump also criticized Democrats’ desire to “pack the court”, or appoint more judges, to balance the conservative-to-liberal ratio. He claimed Vice President Kamala Harris wants to make the court 25 justices – it is unclear where that figure originated.

Harris supports President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court reform proposal which would authorize a president to appoint a new justice every two years to serve for 18 years. However, given Congress would need to approve the addition of justices, it is unlikely to happen.



Trump Says People Who Criticize Supreme Court Justices Should Be Jailed

Charisma Madarang
Mon, September 23, 2024 


Donald Trump, who earlier this month threatened to jail his political opponents, upped his authoritarian rhetoric during a campaign rally at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

When speaking to supporters from the swing state, where both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have doubled efforts to capture the election count in November, Trump lamented the criticism aimed at the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority and said it should be “illegal.”

“They were very brave, the Supreme Court. Very brave. And they take a lot of hits because of it,” said the former president. “It should be illegal, what happens. You know, you have these guys like playing the ref, like the great Bobby Knight. These people should be put in jail the way they talk about our judges and our justices, trying to … sway their vote, sway their decision”

Trump, who appointed three of the Supreme Court’s six conservative justices, specifically praised the Supreme Court for overturning Roe v. Wade and allowing states to ban abortion, saying it “took a lot of courage.” He said abortion will forever remain a state issue, not a federal one, and complained that Democrats are upset about it. “All they can talk about is abortion. That’s all they talk about, and it really no longer pertains,” he said.

“The issue of reproductive freedom certainly ‘pertains’ to women all across this country, especially as we learn women are losing their lives under Donald Trump’s extreme abortion bans,” Harris campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said in statement after his speech.

The former president also slammed Harris’ support for Supreme Court reform and baselessly claimed her efforts were an attempt to “rig the system.” The push for reform arrived after a series of ethics scandals involving some of the justices’ failure to disclose luxury gifts — private jet flights, superyacht trips, and more — from conservative donors. Trump claimed Harris “wants to pack the Supreme Court,” and add up to 16 seats; the vice president has not endorsed such a policy.

Trump’s remarks about jailing those criticizing judges and justices align with his previous sentiments that he would be a dictator if re-elected but only on “Day One” in office. His desire to squash any hint of opposition if he were to return to the White House was again on full display in a Truth Social post made in early September, during which he threatened to jail people “involved in unscrupulous behavior” this election.

“WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again,” Trump raged on his social media platform. “We cannot let our Country further devolve into a Third World Nation, AND WE WON’T!” Since losing the 2020 election to President Joe Biden, Trump has blamed his demise on false claims of widespread election fraud — dangerous rhetoric that he has ramped up as election day approaches.

In July, the high court granted Trump broad immunity from prosecution stemming from his federal criminal charges involving his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the former president cannot be prosecuted for official acts committed during his time as president. Although its three liberal members dissented, the six conservative justices, three of whom were appointed by Trump, were in the majority.

Along with providing Donald Trump sweeping immunity from prosecution and eliminating federal protections for abortion rights, in recent years the nation’s highest court has rolled back climate protections, limited protections for LGBTQ+ Americans, ended college affirmative action policies, and allowed companies to provide thank-you payments to corrupt politicians.




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Activists protest US support for Israel as risks rise of wider Middle East war







Washington Protesters Rally Against Israel’s Attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon


By Kanishka Singh

Tue, September 24, 2024


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Protesters in some U.S. cities demonstrated on Tuesday against American military support for Israel as risks have risen of a full-fledged conflict in the Middle East, with anti-war activists demanding an arms embargo against the U.S. ally.

Dozens of protesters gathered in Herald Square in New York City on Tuesday evening and carried banners that read "Hands off Lebanon now" and "no U.S.-Israeli war on Lebanon," according to the ANSWER coalition group, which stands for "Act Now to Stop War and End Racism."

Protesters chanted "Hands off the Middle East," "Free Palestine" and "Biden, Harris, Trump and Bibi; none are welcome in our city," referring to U.S. President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A smaller protest with similar slogans and banners was also seen near the White House in Washington on a rainy Tuesday evening.

"Israel's attacks in Lebanon and the ongoing siege and genocide in Gaza are made possible by the huge amount of bombs, missiles and warplanes provided by the U.S. government," the ANSWER coalition group said in a statement. It said protests were also being organized on Tuesday in other cities like San Francisco, Seattle, San Antonio and Phoenix, among others.

Israel says its actions are an act of self-defense against militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah that it considers hostile. The United States has maintained support for its ally during this war despite domestic and international criticism.

In May, Biden said U.S. support for Israel was "ironclad", while also calling for an immediate ceasefire. "What's happening in Gaza is not genocide. We reject that," Biden said at a Jewish American Heritage Month event at the White House.

The United States has seen months of protests over Israel's war in Gaza that has killed over 41,000, according to the local health ministry, caused a hunger crisis, displaced the entire 2.3 million population of the enclave and led to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israeli denies.

Israel's military assault on Hamas-governed Gaza followed a deadly attack by the Palestinian Islamist group on Oct. 7 that killed around 1,200 people and in which about 250 were taken as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's offensive in Lebanon since Monday morning has killed over 560 people, including 50 children, and wounded 1,800. Israel says it has struck targets of Lebanese Hezbollah militants who are supported by Iran while Hezbollah has also said it fired rockets at Israeli military posts.

The situation has raised concerns of a widened regional war that could destabilize the Middle East. Leaders of different United Nations member states met this week in the United States with the situation in the Middle East being top of the agenda.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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Alberta doctors association says delayed pay deal will hurt health-care system

WE ARE NOT IN A RECESSION UCP ARE AUSTERITY NUTS

Lisa Johnson
Mon, September 23, 2024 at 3:26 p.m. MDT·4 min read




EDMONTON — An Alberta doctors' group says even though a new pay deal with the province is ready to be implemented, the government isn't putting its money where its mouth is.

Dr. Shelley Duggan, the Alberta Medical Association's new president, says doctors are worried the province's health-care system is on the verge of flatlining, and the pay deal is still waiting on approval from the province's Treasury Board.

"We are deeply, sincerely afraid that the health-care system in Alberta is ready to collapse past the point of repair any time soon. And because we must advocate for our patients, our patience has come to an end," she told reporters at a virtual news conference Monday.

In April, the province announced a plan to change how family doctors are paid, but it has yet to finalize a new model that would move away from the current fee-for-service system.

Former medical association president Dr. Paul Parks said Premier Danielle Smith promised the deal by September and the delay will only hurt the struggling health-care system.

He called on Albertans to pressure the government into action as they're forced to wait longer and longer in emergency departments and to see specialists.

"The impact of indecision and inaction is that Albertans' health-care access will deteriorate and many will suffer and some will sadly and needlessly die," he said.

Smith has promised to ensure every Albertan has a primary health provider by the next provincial election in 2027. Her government also introduced in April a new salary deal to increase access to nurse practitioners.

Parks said Monday doctors only have promises.

"You can't sign a lease, you can't hire staff and you can't run a clinic based on hope," Parks said.

Late last year, it was announced that $200 million in federal funding over two years would help Alberta physicians keep their practices open and, for its part, the province has put in another $57 million.

Health Minister Adriana LaGrange's office did not respond Monday to questions about whether the Treasury Board is delaying the deal, but she promised to continue to work with the medical association to finalize the details as soon as possible.

The ministry said it's asked the association to help find ways to stabilize expenditures that are growing faster than population growth and inflation, after physician compensation hit a record of $6.7 billion in 2024.

However, Parks said the province's physician services budget hasn't kept up with population growth since 2019 and is currently about $731 million short.

The United Conservative Party government estimated earlier this year that more than 700,000 Albertans don't have a family doctor, while the Opposition NDP estimates it's closer to 800,000.

Duggan said of those doctors practising comprehensive care in the province, just over one in ten are accepting new patients and nearly seven in 10 of all physicians are eyeing an exit from their practice by 2029.

"We're in a worldwide competition for physicians. It's absolutely essential that we retain the ones we have," she said.

In the meantime, Smith’s government has been working to dismantle the provincial health authority, Alberta Health Services, and replace it with four new governing bodies.

The first, Recovery Alberta, launched in early September, shifting thousands of workers from under AHS to the new addiction recovery and mental health agency.

Both Parks and Duggan said the government's reorganization is sparking chaos across the board, and that creating multiple administrative layers could stifle co-ordination between sectors, including hospital care and continuing care.

"Patients shouldn't have to wait because the department staff are too busy working with consultants trying to figure out how to break the health-care system into four pieces," said Duggan, adding that the acute care system is in a worse state than it was during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

NDP health critic Sarah Hoffman said Monday in a news release that without access to a family physician, many patients end up in emergency rooms with medical conditions that could have been prevented or treated earlier.

"It doesn’t need to be this way. Instead of causing more chaos, the government should prioritize patients and health-care workers. They should sit down at the table and sign an agreement to create a stable and reliable health-care system that we can all be proud of."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 23, 2024.

Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press
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CRAZY 
Premier Danielle Smith announces plan to change Alberta Bill of Rights

TRYING TO MAKE ANTI VAXXERS A PROTECTED CATAGORY LIKE LGBTQ+

Lisa Johnson
Tue, September 24, 2024



EDMONTON — Premier Danielle Smith says she plans to reinforce the right to decide whether to receive a vaccination or other medical procedure in changes to the Alberta Bill of Rights.

In an online video posted Tuesday, Smith said her government aims to amend the document in a few weeks to ensure people have the right to make informed decisions without fear of undue pressure or interference by the government.

"It is my firm conviction that no Albertan should ever be subjected (to) or pressured into accepting a medical treatment without their full consent," she said.


The changes outlined by Smith would also ensure the province respects "the right of individuals to legally acquire, keep and safely use firearms."

Smith says she believes law-abiding gun owners have been targeted by the federal government, and she hopes the changes will better protect farmers, ranchers, hunters and sports enthusiasts.

The legislation would also declare that Albertans can't be deprived of their property without due process of law and fair compensation.

"This is a reaffirmation of your right to own and enjoy the property that you've worked so hard for," said Smith.

United Conservative Party members have been pushing Smith for the recognition of rights that go well beyond the Canadian Constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, including around guns, parental rights and taxes.

Smith's announcement comes as she faces a party leadership review in early November.

Alberta conservatives have been known to boot their own leaders from the top job, including former UCP premier Jason Kenney.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Sept. 24, 2024.

Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press
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NDP sees 'opportunity' to push Liberal government on Palestinian statehood

Dylan Robertson
Mon, September 23, 2024 


OTTAWA — The NDP is urging the Liberals to recognize Palestinian statehood, warning that a Conservative government would not protect international law in the Middle East.

"If we go to an election within weeks or months, and if there is a Conservative government, this will not happen," NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson said Monday.

In response Monday afternoon, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said now is not the right time for Canada to take such a step.


But McPherson accused the Liberals of lacking "moral courage and political will" to do more to promote the Trudeau government's stated goal of advancing a two-state solution, where Israel and a Palestinian country exist peacefully.

McPherson says Canada ought to recognize Palestinian statehood before any snap election. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been leading in the polls for months, and the Tories are putting forward a non-confidence motion this week in an effort to bring down the minority government. McPherson argued the Conservatives have been uncritically supportive of Israel.

"We have heard from Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives that they have no interest in international law, they have no interest in protecting the rights of Palestinians," she said.

Tory foreign affairs critic Michael Chong wrote in a statement that Israel is defending itself against terrorism by Hamas and Hezbollah.

"Conservatives recognize that Israel is a democratic state defending itself in a fight between democracy and rising authoritarianism," he wrote. "There is no question which side Canada should be on."

When asked Monday what conditions Canada needs in order to recognize Palestinian statehood, Joly said that is still being defined.

"We need to make sure that we recognize the Palestinian state at the right time," she said, noting that Hamas still rules Gaza and is holding Israeli hostages, while the Netanyahu government opposes a two-state solution.

"We are working with our like-minded countries to make sure that we identify what are the conditions for (the) right time," she told reporters on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The NDP is also seeking a two-way arms embargo, where Canada would go beyond barring new arms permits and actually block all military trade, including goods arriving from Israel.

The Liberals have restricted weapons sales by halting new permits and pausing some that were already in place. But the U.S. government has proposed buying Canadian arms and sending them to Israel, which Joly has said she is looking into.

The NDP also wants Canada to go beyond sanctioning certain settlers in the West Bank and impose a ban on at least far-right ministers in the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. McPherson said two had uttered "genocidal language against the Palestinian people."

Ottawa condemned Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich last month for suggesting it would be justified to starve Palestinians, and he previously said the Palestinian village of Huwara should be erased.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is part of a Jewish supremacist party, has called on Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip and have Israelis settle the territory, which has prompted accusations of ethnic cleansing.

McPherson noted the government could act on her three proposals without a vote in Parliament or a parliamentary study.

Canada's ambassador to the UN said Ottawa is trying to help end the conflict in Gaza while preventing more violence in Lebanon.

Israeli strikes on Monday killed more than 270 people in Lebanon and wounded a thousand others as part of a campaign the Israeli government says is meant to stop Hezbollah militants from ongoing rocket attacks that have caused the evacuation of large swaths of northern Israel.

"This escalation is deplorable," Bob Rae told reporters in New York. "We have a humanitarian disaster going on in Gaza and we don't want another one."

Canada recognized Hezbollah as a terrorist group, and McPherson said the rocket attacks need to stop.

She also says international law is being violated, including in pager explosions that killed Hezbollah militants as well as civilians and children. The attacks are widely believed to have been done by Israel.

McPherson would not say whether she believes the "indiscriminate" pager attack is an act of terrorism when asked twice on Monday.

"We know that Hezbollah is a listed terrorist entity, but the (Israeli) government is breaking international law when they are using indiscriminate weapons and the people of Lebanon are suffering," she said.

Rae, when asked whether he agrees with those calling the incident terrorism, said he would not "get into the business of name-calling."

He said Israel must think "more consequentially about what's happening, less impulsively" but that militants must stop firing rockets at Israel.

"We need to get to a situation where Iran stops playing footsie with Hamas and Hezbollah, pushing them to do things that need to stop," he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 23, 2024.

— With files from Kelly Geraldine Malone in New York and Nojoud Al Mallees.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press


Commons committee to debate motion on quickest path to Palestinian statehood

CBC
Tue, September 24, 2024

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations Headquarters in New York City on September 22, 2024. Members of his caucus are presenting a motion to study the quickest path for the Canadian government to recognize Palestinian statehood. (REUTERS - image credit)

MPs on the House of Commons foreign affairs committee are expected to resume a contentious debate later this morning on the quickest path for Canada to recognize a Palestinian state.

The text of the motion — first presented to a closed-doors session of the committee last Thursday by Liberal MPs — asks committee members to dedicate four sessions to studying the matter, sources told CBC News last week.

CBC News agreed not to identify the sources as they were not authorized to comment publicly on the matter.

The sources said last week that the Liberal MPs had secured support for the motion from the committee's NDP and Bloc Québécois members, but were prevented from putting the matter to a vote by Conservative MPs.

CBC News sought comment from committee members from multiple parties. They refused, citing the confidentiality of in-camera sessions.

NDP says no time left for debate

The NDP has been urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government to immediately recognize a Palestinian state.

"We are at a very dangerous moment in time for this. This is not a time when we need to have a study, this is not a time where we need to have further discussions," NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson told journalists at a news conference on Monday.

Deputy Whip of the NDP, Heather McPherson, speaks to reporters in the Foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Monday, March 18, 2024. Her party is urging the federal government to immediately recognize a Palestinian state.

NDP MP Heather McPherson is urging the federal government to immediately recognize a Palestinian state. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press)

She said the Liberals could lose their chance to recognize a state of Palestine if they wait too long and are defeated in the next election by the Opposition Conservatives.

The House of Commons did pass a watered-down NDP motion last March that called on the government to work for "the establishment of the State of Palestine as part of a negotiated two-state solution." The motion was supported by almost the entire Liberal caucus, while the Conservatives voted against it.

McPherson initiated that motion, which in its original form called on Canada to immediately recognize a Palestinian state. She has another motion on notice in the House of Commons that also calls for immediate recognition.

As a member of the foreign affairs committee, McPherson was privy to the in-camera discussions that took place last Thursday. She told reporters she would not answer questions about those discussions.

"Hopefully, there will be a vote that is public coming soon, but I can't comment on anything that's happened in camera and no members of that committee should have," she said.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel's military since war erupted in October 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing around 1,139 people and taking hundreds hostage.

A Palestinian man inspects the damage to a school sheltering displaced people after it was hit by an Israeli strike, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, at Beach refugee camp in Gaza City, September 22, 2024. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

A Palestinian man inspects the damage to a school sheltering displaced people after it was hit by an Israeli strike in Gaza City on September 22, 2024. (REUTERS)

Shimon Koffler Fogel, president and CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, called the motion going before the committee this morning "ill-advised."

"I fear that it is more about politics and political theatre than it is about offering a meaningful contribution that is going to advance peace in the region," he said.

Fogel argued immediate recognition of a Palestinian state by Canada would reward Hamas and its allies "for an unconscionable attack on Israelis, unprovoked, almost a year ago on October 7. And it sends a message to all of those who would opt for terrorism, as opposed to negotiation, as the route towards achieving their political aims."

Stephen Brown, president and CEO of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, disagreed. He said Canada should move toward recognition of statehood as quickly as possible in the interests of peace.

"There are millions of people that have the right to self-determination, that want to be able to live in peace," he said. "And if we believe as Canadians that the best way to achieve peace in the Middle East is a two-state solution ... what we should be doing is prioritizing peace, and doing whatever we can to move toward peace."

The Canadian government was one of 25 countries to abstain from a United Nations General Assembly vote last May granting new "rights and privileges" to Palestinian representatives, and calling on the Security Council to reconsider their request to have a Palestinian state recognized by the UN.

That vote marked a shift in Canada's posture at the UN; it has tended simply to vote against similar UN motions.

Prime Minister Trudeau said back in May that he disagreed with Israel shutting the door on a two-state solution, and also criticized Hamas for putting civilian lives in danger.

Melanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, speaks to reporters at the United Nations headquarters on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. Joly says the Canadian government no longer believes a negotiated two-state solution is possible.

Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly speaks to reporters at the United Nations headquarters on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

"There is no possibility of a negotiated outcome," Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly told journalists at a news conference on Monday.

"So we reserve the right to make sure that we can recognize a Palestinian state at the right time, and that is why we're working with our like-minded countries to make sure that we can identify what are the conditions for this right time."
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Poilievre makes case for taking down the government to restore 'promise of Canada'

Laura Osman
Tue, September 24, 2024



OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre urged MPs to defeat the Liberal government on Tuesday, but opposition parties are turning the debate on his non-confidence motion into a referendum on the Conservative party's policies instead.

Poilievre introduced a non-confidence motion in the opening minutes of the House of Commons sitting Tuesday, delivering a campaign-style speech laying out his vision for Canada under a Conservative government.

He said his plan is "to bring home the promise of Canada, of a powerful paycheque that earns affordable food, gas and homes and safe neighbourhoods where anyone from anywhere can do anything. The biggest and most open land of opportunity the world has ever seen: that is our vision."


Polls have favoured the Conservatives for more than a year now, and if they were to hold true in the next election it could result in a Conservative majority government.

Poilievre told the House if that happens he would lower taxes and eliminate the price on carbon, instead fighting climate change by approving large-scale green projects and using the revenues to reduce government debt.

"We will cap government spending with a dollar-for-dollar law that requires we find $1 of savings for every new dollar of spending," Poilievre said.

"We will cut bureaucracy, waste and consulting contracts."

Poilievre and his party have not been specific about where exactly those cuts will come from. The NDP's Jagmeet Singh asked Poilievre if his government would dismantle the dental-care program the Liberals instituted in co-ordination with the NDP, but the Conservative leader wouldn't say one way or another.

Those unidentified cuts are the very reason Singh said his party wouldn't vote to bring down the government.

"We are going to fight today against Conservative cuts and against the Conservative motion," Singh told the House.

Debate on the motion will conclude Tuesday with the vote scheduled to take place Wednesday afternoon.

Both the NDP and the Bloc Québécois indicated last week they would not support the non-confidence motion because they don't support the Conservatives. If they vote no, the motion will be defeated and the Liberal government will survive its first test since its supply-and-confidence deal with the NDP ended earlier this month.

If the motion were to pass, the government would be defeated and Canadians very likely would see an immediate election.

The Bloc Québécois said they'd rather use the opportunity presented by the minority Parliament to negotiate with the Liberals, rather than trigger an election that would likely install Poilievre as prime minister.

"We listen to the Conservatives and are not sure that we're so eager to see them take power," the Bloc's House leader Alain Therrien told the House in French on Tuesday.

He said Poilievre has no plan to address the challenges of Quebec's distinct society.

"There are situations in Quebec that are quite different from the rest of Canada," he said.

The Bloc has asked the Liberals to green-light the funding for their private member's bill to raise pension payments for seniors under the age of 75.

The government hasn't committed to doing that. The parliamentary budget officer has estimated the proposed change would cost about $16 billion over five years.

The debate in the House more closely resembled a debate over the Conservative vision for Canada than the government's, Liberal House leader Karina Gould said during question period.

"Today what we are doing is demonstrating that this House doesn't have confidence in the Conservative Party of Canada," she said.

The prime minister was not in Ottawa for the debate, and is instead representing Canada at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

He was asked about the non-confidence motion after U.S. President Joe Biden used his speech at the UN to reflect on his decision to withdraw from his party's ticket in the upcoming election, saying that he chose to think about the people he serves rather than his own power.

"The Conservatives are very much thinking about power right now," Trudeau said in response.

"I'm thinking about how we can best help Canadians. I'm thinking about how to put the best balance sheet in the G7 in service of Canadians, to invest in Canadians. Confident countries invest in their citizens. Right now, Pierre Poilievre is offering cuts."

The Conservatives have another chance to introduce a non-confidence motion on Thursday during a second opposition day in the House of Commons. There are a total of seven opposition days required this fall, of which five will go to the Conservatives.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 24, 2024.

Laura Osman, The Canadian Press





Canada’s Tories target Trudeau as they seek seismic shift in political landscape

Leyland Cecco in Toronto
Tue, September 24, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. MDT·5 min read


Justin Trudeau at a summit at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, on Sunday.Photograph: Caitlin Ochs/Reuters


Canada’s Conservative party will make its first bid to unseat prime minister Justin Trudeau this week, the latest attempt in its decade-long aim of restoring the Tories to power.

Buoyed by favourable polls, a cost of living crisis and an increasingly unpopular prime minister, the Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre, will introduce a motion of non-confidence in the minority government: a long-shot bid to force the government to call an election.

The move, which lawmakers will debate on Wednesday, is doomed to fail, with smaller parties agreeing to temporarily support the incumbent Liberal party.

Related: Justin Trudeau under pressure as his party loses Montreal election

But the attack underscores the fragile state of Canada’s governing party and the raw political calculation leaders are making as they jockey for position before the next federal election, which must occur before the fall of 2025.

One polling aggregator has the Conservatives winning a strong majority, relegating all other parties to “also-ran” status. Another has Poilievre’s Tories at 42% support, with the Liberals at 24%.

When Trudeau eked out an electoral victory in 2021, his party was forced into its second consecutive minority government, meaning the Liberals lacked sufficient representation in parliament to pass legislation on their own. In order to implement their agenda, the Liberals were forced to make a “confidence and supply” pact with the leftwing New Democrats (NDP).

But earlier this month, the NDP withdrew from the agreement, saying the Liberals “don’t deserve another chance”. The move cast the country in political uncertainty and reflected a political landscape that has changed dramatically since the agreement was first made.

In his ninth year as prime minister, Trudeau is deeply unpopular and facing calls within his party to step down to avoid a deeply embarrassing electoral loss that could push the party to a distant third-place finish.

“I think you are only here for another year,” a steelworker told Trudeau in a recent exchange that captured the fatigue and frustration many Canadians feel towards the prime minister.

Jagmeet Singh, the NDP leader, has failed to convert his own political popularity into electoral success and also faces evergreen questions over the relevance of a party whose legislative aims seem indistinguishable from those of the Liberals.

“They don’t want to run to election anytime soon,” said Lori Turnbull, director of Dalhousie University’s school of public administration. “They still have to prove that they got something out of this deal and he needs to show that party has its own agenda, apart from what they’ve done for the Liberals for the past two and a half years.”

Related: Canada turning away more foreigners amid rise in anti-immigration sentiment

Poilievre, the combative Conservative leader, has found immense success in his laser-focused attack on Trudeau’s handling of a protracted cost-of-living crisis.

The chief target of Poilievre’s attacks has been Canada’s nationwide carbon tax, a levy once heralded as a global model that is now all but doomed by national politics.

Poilievre’s attacks on the tax have landed him unlikely allies: Singh recently backed away from the carbon levy, after supporting it for years, incorrectly suggesting the revenue-neutral tax put an unfair burden on “working people’s shoulders”. Economists and political scientists agree that lower-income Canadians come out ahead under the scheme, with nearly 80% of residents receiving more in quarterly payments than they pay in tax. Poilievre has also targeted Singh for propping up a Liberal government which Singh himself has suggested is captive to corporate interests.

“He is a fake, a phony and a fraud. How can anyone ever believe what this sellout NDP leader says in the future?” Poilievre said to Singh during a sitting of parliament last week.

Singh’s withdrawal of support for the Liberals might have harmed his own electoral prospects, but inadvertently benefited another leader: Yves-François Blanchet of the sovereigntist Bloc Québécois.

Blanchet has stepped in to fill the void left by the NDP’s exit from the confidence and supply agreement, but he has been open about the hardheaded political calculus behind the move.

“It’s not [about] supporting the government. It’s [about] not having them fall, soon,” Blanchet told CBC News. “First, I will let this vote instigated by the Conservatives go through. They will lose it, and by the way lose face, and this is what they deserve presently because they are not doing politics in a clean way … I ask for things and if I don’t get it, [the government] will fall. And that’s the end to it.”

The Bloc’s rise, in tandem with the renewed popularity of Quebec’s sovereigntist movement, has also come at a cost for the Liberals.

In a surprise byelection defeat last week, Trudeau’s party lost the riding of LaSalle–Émard–Verdun, a district that had been held almost exclusively by Liberals for more than 50 years. It followed another defeat in June, when the Liberals lost a safe seat in downtown Toronto.

Related: After nine years in office, is it time for Justin Trudeau to go?

The two losses reflect a souring public opinion of Trudeau’s government: the cost of living has surged alongside a housing shortage and policy failures and mismanagement have eroded strong support for immigration.

Despite such setbacks, Turnbull said that the Liberals were still in a position of comparative strength.

“As much as the Liberals look to be in a very weak position – because of the polling, because of the byelection losses, because ministers are leaving and staffers are leaving – even though it’s a complete mess, they still have a really significant minority in the House of Commons,” she said. “In order for there to be a loss of confidence, all three opposition parties would have to agree. And I don’t think we’re there yet.”

In the news today: MPs set to debate Tory non-confidence motion

The Canadian Press
Tue, September 24, 2024 



Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed...

MPs set to debate Tory non-confidence motion

The House of Commons is set to debate a Conservative non-confidence motion today, as the Tories try to take down Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government.

It's the first test for the minority government since the NDP ended its supply-and-confidence deal with the Liberals earlier this month.

The Bloc Québécois and NDP have already said they will not support the motion, which will be voted on Wednesday.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has been criticizing NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh for his refusal to bring down the Liberals.

That all but eliminates the possibility of a snap election this week.

Here's what else we're watching...

Inquiry to hear parliamentary security officials

A federal inquiry into foreign interference is slated to hear today from parliamentary security officials including House of Commons sergeant-at-arms Patrick McDonell.

The testimony could shed new light on efforts by hostile countries to target parliamentarians via cyberspace and what officials are doing to counter the threats.

The inquiry's latest public hearings are focusing on the capacity of federal agencies to detect, deter and counter foreign meddling.

Chief electoral officer Stéphane Perrault, whose agency has floated several proposals to tighten the security of candidate nominations, is also slated to testify.

Elections Canada has suggested barring non-citizens from helping choose candidates, requiring parties to publish contest rules and explicitly outlawing behaviour such as voting more than once.

Opening arguments expected in Hoggard trial

Opening arguments are expected to get underway today in the sexual assault trial of Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard.

Hoggard is facing a sexual assault charge for an incident alleged to have happened on June 25, 2016, in Kirkland Lake, Ont.

The former Hedley frontman pleaded not guilty to that charge on Monday.

His trial is taking place in nearby Haileybury, a community within Temiskaming Shores in the northeastern part of the province.

Hoggard had elected at the end of last year to be tried by a jury in the Superior Court of Justice.

Schools figuring out new world of cellphone bans

From cellphone "hotels" to patchwork policies to recalibrating lesson plans, teachers and schools across Canada are learning to navigate a classroom without cellphones.

But some say that despite recent bans and restrictions on the phones, little has changed.

A number of provinces, including Saskatchewan, Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta, introduced plans to limit cellphone usage beginning this school year. There is a mix of restrictions along with outright bans.

The changes come as educators try to get students to log off and stay focused, noting online squabbles have forced their way into classrooms and social interactions among youth have dwindled.

It’s early days, with policies still being crafted, leading to some schools finding creative ways to curb students' itchy cellphone fingers.

Home renovations rising in major markets: report

A new report says a boost in spending on home renovations during the pandemic has helped contribute to higher prices for single-family homes despite downward market pressure.

The report by Re/Max Canada looked at the evolution of housing stock and trends affecting home values in the Toronto and Vancouver areas, Canada's two largest real estate markets.

The report, released Tuesday, said national renovation spending increased by an estimated $300 billion between 2019 and 2023, led by home renewal and revitalization projects in the Toronto and Vancouver markets.

That marked an eight per cent jump from the previous five-year period.

The report said revitalization "remains one of the most underestimated factors behind escalating housing values."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 24, 2024.


Minority governments, major stakes: a look at their role in federal politics

Jim Bronskill
Tue, September 24, 2024 at 2:00 a.m. MDT·4 min read




OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority government is expected to face its first serious test this week since the NDP withdrew from an agreement to support the Liberals.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has put forward a motion stating the House of Commons has no confidence in the prime minister or the government. Members will debate the motion on Tuesday and vote on it Wednesday.

The New Democrats and Bloc Québécois have said they intend to vote against the motion, avoiding a general election.

What is a minority government?

A minority government lacks a majority of the members of the House of Commons, meaning it depends on support from members of other parties to pass legislation, including budgetary measures.

Are minority governments a rarity?

They're actually quite common. Thirteen minority governments have emerged from federal elections. Two others were a result of governments being replaced between elections. (However, Parliament did not meet during one of the two, the government of Alexander Mackenzie, who soon went on to win a majority.)

Justin Trudeau has presided over two minorities, as did his predecessor, Stephen Harper.

How do they work?

There have been no coalition governments arising from a minority scenario at the federal level.

However, until recently the Liberals and NDP had a supply-and-confidence deal that would keep the minority government led by Trudeau in power and ensure progress on some mutually agreeable policies.

In addition, between 1972 and 1974, the NDP had an informal understanding with the Liberals that kept the government of Pierre Trudeau, Justin's father, in place.

More common are minority governments that secure support for key votes on an ad hoc basis.

Minority governments have also been known to act as if they held a majority, notably the Progressive Conservative governments of John Diefenbaker in the 1950s and '60s and Joe Clark in 1979, as well as the early period of Lester B. Pearson's Liberal government in the '60s.

Do minority governments last as long as majority ones?

Generally, no. A minority government could make it to the end of a traditional four-year mandate. However, they are often defeated on an important vote in the House or pull the plug themselves with the aim of securing a stronger mandate at the ballot box.

The length of minority governments varies dramatically, from the brief tenure of Arthur Meighen's Conservatives in 1926 to the stint of more than three years and seven months of William Lyon Mackenzie King's Liberals from 1921-25.

How do minority governments end?

Parliamentary practice and tradition dictate that if the government is defeated in the House on a question of confidence, voters head to the polls.

"What constitutes a question of confidence in the government varies with the circumstances," says the authoritative volume "House of Commons Procedure and Practice."

"Confidence is not a matter of parliamentary procedure, nor is it something on which the Speaker can be asked to rule."

Does that mean losing a vote in the House spells the end of a minority government?

No. Minority governments of Pearson and Pierre Trudeau each lost a number of votes in House without resigning.

A confidence motion may be clearly worded like the one the Conservatives have proposed this week. It could be a motion on a matter the government declares a question of confidence, or it might be related to government budgetary policy or the reply to the Speech from the Throne.

Even so, Pearson lost a vote on a budget matter but survived upon seeking, and winning, on a clear vote of confidence.

Has there been a particularly memorable defeat for a minority government?

Papers were tossed into the air in the House after Clark's government fell in 1979 in a 139-133 vote on its budget.

"Only six months ago, Canadians voted to change the government of Canada because they wanted to change the direction of this country," Clark told a news conference after the vote. "By their action tonight, the opposition parties are saying that Canadians were wrong to make that decision."

However, the defeat set the stage for the early 1980 return of the Liberals led by Pierre Trudeau with a majority mandate.

(Sources: Transition to the 44th Parliament: Questions and Answers by Andre Barnes and Laurence Brosseau of the Library of Parliament; House of Commons Procedure and Practice, third edition; The Canadian Encyclopedia.)

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 24, 2024.

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press
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