Slugs for Nenshi, hugs for rivals at NDP leadership's Calgary debate

CBC
Sat, May 11, 2024

Alberta NDP leadership candidate Naheed Nenshi, centre, makes his closing statement at a Calgary forum as fellow candidates, left to right, Gil McGowan, Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse, Sarah Hoffman, and Kathleen Ganley look on. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press - image credit)


When there are reports of physical contact among participants at a political debate, it's typically because something ugly has happened.

Unless, that is, it's an NDP leadership debate.

At the Alberta party's candidate forum on Saturday, rivals Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse and Gil McGowan weren't sure which one was supposed to speak first, nervously giggling about it. Once the confusion was resolved, they hugged, before profusely agreeing with each other about raising Alberta's minimum wage and the importance of unions.


These are, as Calahoo Stonehouse explained afterwards, all members of the same party, who broadly share the same progressive values.

They all oppose most of what the Danielle Smith-led UCP does, and after a successor to longtime NDP Leader Rachel Notley is chosen, they'll all remain prominent senior members of the same team — barring the sort of major party fracture that pundits often speculate about in the wake of a new leader's selection, but seldom materializes.

The niceties and touchy-touchy good vibes can go away when there's disagreement over who really belongs in the party or is well-suited to lead it. Take, for example, one testy exchange between former health minister Sarah Hoffman and Naheed Nenshi about the ex-mayor's past.

The battle of Midfield

Hoffman reached back more than six years to hit Nenshi over the closure of the city-owned Midfield Mobile Home Park last decade, to make way for a larger residential community.

"What I need to know from you Naheed: why you closed that park, why you evicted those folks," Hoffman said. She added that she'd spoken to some former residents, and they're still dealing with mortgages and one former mobile home-owner had to move in with his in-laws.

It was a departure from the question about expanding the party while remaining true to its values. Or was it?

Nenshi replied by calling them "so-called affordable homes," and said the residents were prioritized for Calgary Housing Company affordable rentals. He said Hoffman was "fear mongering."

"As the minister of health, Sarah, you should know that sometimes the easy answers are not the easy answers," he said.

NDP leadership candidate Sarah Hoffman criticized Nenshi for the closure of a city-owned mobile home park that occurred when he was Calgary mayor last decade.

NDP leadership candidate Sarah Hoffman criticized Naheed Nenshi for the closure of a city-owned mobile home park that occurred when he was Calgary mayor last decade. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)

The sense Nenshi is the front-runner gets amplified when nobody is dredging up controversial decisions from Hoffman's past, or former justice minister Kathleen Ganley's, or McGowan's as a labour leader. (Calahoo Stonehouse is a first-term MLA.)

McGowan used one of his debate segments to bring up the 2019 letter Nenshi sent the UCP government about altering the city union's collective agreement, which several candidates used to attack the ex-mayor as anti-union earlier in the week. Nenshi bid to be more genial in this defence, saying that he was only bringing forth the position of what he called a "super-right-wing council" five years ago, and that he's a strong supporter of organized labour.

A question bubbling underneath this leadership race: how passionate about organized labour is the NDP base in 2024, newly enlarged by the race itself?

On Sunday, the party will reveal the number of members eligible to vote for leader, and sources have told CBC that it surpasses 85,000 — several times greater than what it was at the point Notley announced her resignation in January.

Insiders also say that the lion's share of members are Calgarians, the town of Nenshi and Ganley. That's a massively new orbit for the Alberta NDP, which had its core in Edmonton in the Notley years and in the decades before it.

"You have two camps actively selling memberships in Calgary, and they are doing a very good job of that — and I think it means something phenomenal for our party," Ganley told reporters after the debate.

She tried to differentiate herself from her fellow Calgarian by saying the party needs a leader who does more than hurl insults at Smith's party. (Nenshi drew UCPire Saturday for calling them the "monkeys on the other side" during a discussion about question period in the legislature.)

More than 1,000 people attended the debate at Stampede Park, and Nenshi consistently garnered the most applause.

McGowan, who's led the labour movement for more than two decades, said he's not sure the newly enlarged NDP membership will be as passionate about organized labour rights as it used to be.

Gil McGowan took aim at a past letter Nenshi wrote as Calgary mayor about weakening the city unions' rights. After the debate, the longtime Alberta Federation of Labour president said he's not sure if the new membership of the party is as ardent on labour rights as it traditionally has been.

Gil McGowan took aim at a letter Naheed Nenshi wrote as Calgary mayor about weakening the city unions' rights. After the debate, the longtime Alberta Federation of Labour president said he's not sure if the new membership of the party is as ardent on labour rights as it traditionally has been. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)

In past Alberta NDP eras, the slightest whiff of union-busting posturing would be fatal to the party's card-holders, especially for a leadership hopeful.

McGowan also wonders, he said, how well this party will do with the province's blue-collar and non-university-educated voters, a group that the UCP has won over.

At the outset of the forum, he asked attendees to stand if they had university degrees. The vast majority did — leading him to stress the uphill battle the NDP has with people who aren't like that crowd.

In the last election, 44 per cent of voters gave the New Democrats a proverbial hug, more than voted for them in their 2015 victory. But they fell 8.5 percentage points and 11 seats behind Smith's UCP.

It's undeniable that the next NDP leader's key task will be to make up that gap in the 2027 election. It's not clear at this point how easily the contest's victor will become part of the party's hugging brigade, but that may depend on which priorities this party's membership is keen to wrap their arms around.

Alberta NDP debate marked by agreement, until it came to Nenshi's record

The Canadian Press
Sat, May 11, 2024 




EDMONTON — The second official Alberta NDP leadership debate saw five candidates eagerly agreeing with each other, until Naheed Nenshi was forced to defend against more attacks on his record as the mayor of Calgary.

Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan, who is among the candidates vying for the helm of Rachel Notley's Opposition party, asked why the former mayor signed a letter in 2019 asking the United Conservative Government to sidestep union agreements.

The unearthed letter drew fire this week from Nenshi's rivals who suggested it signalled the presumed frontrunner was anti-union.

"How is this not a trust-buster?" McGowan asked during the event at BMO Centre in Calgary on Saturday.

Nenshi, who served as Calgary's mayor from 2010 until 2021 when he announced he would not seek another term, reiterated that he was at odds with a right-wing council at the time and his efforts actually subverted the privatization of city services.

"I would never rip up a collective agreement. Collective bargaining is sacrosanct," he told the crowd.

Calgary MLA Kathleen Ganley, Edmonton MLAs Sarah Hoffman and Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse round out the list of candidates seeking to replace Notley, who announced in January she would step aside when a new leader is chosen.

Nenshi's status as the newcomer to the party, and relatively vague platform promises, have opened the door to questions about where he stands on key issues.

Meanwhile, the former mayor has been presenting a case to broaden the party's appeal to beat Premier Danielle Smith's United Conservatives in the 2027 election.

Shortly after Nenshi threw his hat in the ring, former candidate Rakhi Pancholi said she saw the memberships Nenshi had attracted, and dropped out of the race to join his team.

Hoffman, the former health minister and deputy premier during Notley's government, has appealed to the party's roots, and trumpeted herself as an “unapologetic" New Democrat.

On Saturday, Hoffman asked Nenshi why people were "evicted" without proper compensation from affordable housing units in Calgary during his tenure in 2017.

Nenshi said Hoffman didn't know the details, and suggested she was fearmongering.

"We ensured that every single tenant who was there had the opportunity to move into a Calgary Housing home with priority and every single one of them who needed to be rehoused in a better place got that better place," he said.

"Sometimes you've got to sit with people and find solutions for each individual rather than relying only on your ideology," he said.

Hoffman also took aim at Nenshi's stance in 2015 when he warned then-NDP premier Notley's move to bump wages could impact non-profit agencies and small businesses.

"There was at least one candidate on this stage who actually fought against the increased minimum wage, and that breaks my heart," Hoffman told the crowd.

Because of the debate format, Nenshi was unable to immediately respond.

Ganley, the former justice minister, focused on the importance of winning the next election with better economic policy platforms than the ruling UCP.

"Without them, all we are left with is anger and big personalities -- and we know that won't be enough," said Ganley.

Calahoo Stonehouse has been focusing her campaign on strengthening water protection, and said the province needs to renegotiate its oil and gas royalties.

McGowan capped his debate performance off in his closing statement with a plea for donations.

"If I don't raise another $50,000 soon, I'm toast."

The party counted just over 16,000 members as of Dec. 31, but sources have told The Canadian Press the total number could now be more than 85,000.

Another debate is scheduled for Edmonton next month, and the party will announce the new leader June 22.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 11, 2024.

Lisa Johnson, The Canadian Press

Alberta NDP leadership candidates accuse Naheed Nenshi of anti-union statements

CBC
Thu, May 9, 2024

Former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi, the presumed front-runner in the race for the leadership of the Alberta NDP, is facing questions about a five-year-old letter his opponents say signals he is anti-union. (CBC News - image credit)


A letter written five years ago by Naheed Nenshi, the presumed front-runner in the race to lead the Alberta NDP, is being held up by some of his opponents as evidence the former Calgary mayor is anti-union.

The letter was written on Dec. 20, 2019, and addressed to Jason Copping, the province's labour and immigration minister at the time.

In it, then-mayor Nenshi cites the hollowing-out of Calgary's downtown core driven by a severe downturn in the oil sector, and the resultant loss of property-tax revenue. He asks the province to consider changing city union contracts and freezing wages, to help the city's efforts to "do more with less."


"Many of the city's employees covered by collective agreements will see a 1.5 per cent wage increase in 2020. This represents an approximately $31 million increase to the base operational budget," the letter says.

"Against this backdrop, I am asking your government to consider and review what actions, if any, could allow for the altering of existing and pending collective agreements that would enable council to consider a 2020 wage freeze."

The letter goes on to acknowledge the request would be "an extraordinary measure," but says it can be "demonstrably justified given the current economic crisis facing the city and the potential impacts on homeowners and small businesses."

'It's about basic fairness'

Nenshi's rivals for the NDP leadership were quick to take to social media to condemn the candidate's apparent willingness to tear up collective agreements with city workers.

Leadership candidate and Calgary MLA Kathleen Ganleyposted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that she believes everyone "should respect the deals they've made and the rights of others. It's about basic fairness."

"I am deeply disturbed by the letter from former Mayor Nenshi that attempts to squirm out of a deal that he made with city workers," Ganley wrote.

Gil McGowan, a candidate for the NDP leadership and the president of the Alberta Federation of Labour,wrote on X, "No New Democrat I know would have ever signed a letter like that. This is serious."

"At the least, this raises red flags about Naheed's judgment. At worst, it suggests that when push comes to shove, he can't be counted on to take the side of workers," McGowan wrote.

"That's a pretty serious concern to be raised about someone who is running to lead what is, or at least was, the workers' party."

In a statement issued on Thursday, Nenshi described the letter as political gamesmanship.

"Some members of city council were advocating to unilaterally tear up city contracts and roll back wages — something I could never support. In the end, I got them back to doing some more analysis and asking the province if they would ever even consider these changes. I knew full well that the province wouldn't," reads Nenshi's post to X.

He says that even if the provincial government considered the amendments, city council would not have acted upon it automatically.

"There would have been another series of battles around the council table, which I was confident of winning after we passed our budget."

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Nenshi said he never believed in the letter, and did it "because council asked me to do it."

In a later section of the letter, the then-mayor asks the minister to exempt municipalities from the "successor rights" provisions of the province's Labour Relations Code. Successor rights are intended to protect certified union workers from being decertified if the business they work for is sold.

"It may be that some services currently delivered by municipalities could be more efficiently delivered by the private sector, creating savings that could be passed on to citizens. However the successorship rights of municipal unions can impede these efforts," reads the letter.

His Thursday statement posted to social media also addressed the issue of successorship, saying that it "was about a desire for some members of council to privatize city golf courses and waste collection — issues I strenuously objected to and eventually turned back their efforts on."

Nenshi also told CP that he didn't undermine labour laws as mayor and "won't do it as premier."

Accusation 'laughable'

Jeromy Farkas, a former Calgary city councillor who ran in the race to succeed Nenshi as mayor, calls any accusation that his former council colleague is anti-union "laughable."

"FACT: He and [Calgary city council] took a 2.5 per cent pay cut at the same time as employees received a 4 per cent increase," Farkas wrote inan X post.

"Love or hate him, this is a guy who unrelentingly supported unionized city workers."

One of Nenshi's competitors in the NDP leadership race says the membership will ultimately decide what the political impact of this action is when they vote for a new party leader.

In an interview with CBC News, Sarah Hoffman — NDP leadership candidate and MLA for Edmonton-Glenora since 2015 — says that Nenshi "asking to break a deal that was negotiated in good faith" is problematic.

"I think this is a question of integrity," said Hoffman. "Saying that you only signed something because somebody told you to … if you're going to put your signature on something, you should stand by it."

Provincial NDP north of 85,000 members, sources say

CBC News has learned that the total Alberta NDP membership has reached over 85,000 members, according to NDP sources.

That's more than five times the size of the membership earlier this year, which was around 16,500 members.

Some say the resurfacing of the letter is an effort to pile on the front-runner.

Keith McLaughlin, partner at New West Public Affairs and former chief of staff to various NDP ministers when Rachel Notley was premier, doesn't believe this situation will greatly impact the leadership race.

"This leadership race is not about who is the most pro-union candidate," he told CBC News.

"If we want to be litigating things that people were doing from 2018 or 2017 or 2016, there's decisions that others made in this leadership race that could be brought up, too."

Alberta NDP leadership candidates, from left, Sarah Hoffman, Kathleen Ganley, Naheed Nenshi, Gil McGowan and Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse take part in the party's first leaders' debate in Lethbridge on April 25.

Alberta NDP leadership candidates, from left, Sarah Hoffman, Kathleen Ganley, Naheed Nenshi, Gil McGowan and Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse take part in the party's first leaders' debate in Lethbridge on April 25. (Ose Irete/CBC)

However, while McLaughlin characterizes this as a "don't throw stones when you live in a glass house" issue, he also believes Nenshi's competitors offer fair criticisms.

"That letter goes into a level of detail that is more than, say, what was maybe necessary if you were just following council directions."

The political strategist says Nenshi's response in the coming days of the leadership race will be an important part of how this 2019 letter is litigated in the court of public opinion.

"I don't believe that it should just be hand-waved away.… But I also don't believe that this is an indictment of Naheed Nenshi's true character, either, or true belief on this matter."

"It could just get this leadership race to be a little bit muddier."

The dispute turns up the temperature in a race that has been relatively quiet. A second official party leadership debate is scheduled for Saturday in Calgary.

NDP members are able to vote starting June 3, and the party is to announce its new leader June 22.

Pierre Poilievre called lobbyists 'utterly useless,' but they're still attending his fundraisers

CBC
Tue, May 7, 2024 

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks during a rally in Ottawa, on Sunday, March 24, 2024. A CBC News analysis shows Poilievre has headlined roughly 50 fundraisers at private venues since becoming Conservative leader in 2022. A party spokesperson says Poilievre is available at events across the country and there's no need to attend a fundraiser to get access to him. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press - image credit)More


As Pierre Poilievre presents himself as both a prime minister in waiting and a champion of "the working-class people," he's headlined roughly 50 fundraisers at private venues since becoming Conservative leader in 2022 — some of them in Canada's wealthiest neighbourhoods and most exclusive clubs.

A CBC News analysis of fundraising reports the Conservatives submitted to Elections Canada show these fundraisers have attracted dozens of registered federal lobbyists who paid up to $1,725 each to attend events featuring Poilievre.

Business executives — including a billionaire oil tycoon, an airline executive and a vice president at AtkinsRéalis, formerly known as SNC-Lavalin — are on the lists of attendees.

These fundraisers are legal and have a long history in Canadian politics. In a statement issued to CBC News, a Conservative Party spokesperson said Poilievre makes himself available at events across the country and there's no need to attend a fundraiser to get access to him.

But such fundraisers have led to media scrutiny and opposition criticism in the past — some of it coming from Poilievre.

Poilievre has criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over his fundraising events in the past. He described one event in 2019 as a "$1,500 ticket fundraiser where he was speaking to a bunch of well-connected Liberal lobbyists and wealthy donors."

Last Friday, Poilievre published an opinion piece in the National Post calling on corporate Canada to fire its lobbyists, describing them as "useless and overpaid."

Poilievre criticized lobbyists in the article, saying the only way "any business lobby has born fruit" has been through "undue handouts, privileges and protections" that "Justin Trudeau has been all too willing to grant." He said businesses will "get nothing from me unless they convince the people first."

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre addresses the national Conservative caucus on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. The Conservative Party of Canada raised more than $35 million during Pierre Poilievre's first full year as leader — and the federal Liberals brought in less than half that amount.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre addresses the national Conservative caucus on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. The Conservative Party of Canada raised more than $35 million during Pierre Poilievre's first full year as leader — and the federal Liberals brought in less than half that amount. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

The Liberal Party's fundraising practices came under scrutiny in 2016 when the Globe and Mail revealed Prime Minister Trudeau attended a fundraiser with a Chinese businessman who went on to donate $200,000 to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation.

To ward off claims the Liberals were giving wealthy donors preferential access to Trudeau and his cabinet, the party changed its policy in 2017 to limit these events to publicly available spaces and to allow journalists access.

The government also changed the law in 2018 to require that parties make these fundraisers more transparent by posting online notices in advance and reporting details, including lists of attendees, to Elections Canada.

The Conservatives said they were "concerned" about the bill earlier that year and later voted against it. Then-finance critic Gérard Deltell said these fundraisers were "unethical" and would legalize what he called "cash-for-access, or paying to get access to decision-makers."

Poilievre calls lobbyists 'utterly useless'

The National Post article is not the first instance of Poilievre accusing business leaders of trying to cozy up to the governing Liberal Party.

In December, Poilievre expressed disdain for Bay Street executives, saying he "almost never" speaks to crowds in downtown Toronto or "anywhere close to Bay Street."

Fundraising records show Poilievre has headlined three fundraisers for the Conservative Party on Bay Street and at least four others in downtown Toronto since 2023.

In March, Poilievre told the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade that, rather than speaking to business associations like it, he's appeared at "110 shop floors and five union local facilities." He said his experience with corporate lobbyists in Ottawa has "been that they have been utterly useless in advancing any common sense interests for the people on the ground."

Poilievre said these lobbyists are focused on getting lunches with ministers at the elite Rideau Club atop a downtown Ottawa office tower.

"When I'm prime minister, my obsession — my daily obsession — will be about what is good for the working class people of this country," Polievre said during his speech on March 8.

CBC News examined the lists of attendees on the Conservatives' fundraising reports filed with Elections Canada since Poilievre became leader in September 2022. CBC cross-referenced those lists with names in the federal lobbyist registry, then verified the names of lobbyists directly or through cross-referencing publicly available information.

CBC News found that more than 25 active federal lobbyists have attended these fundraisers since Poilievre became leader in 2022. The names of more than 100 inactive (but still registered) federal lobbyists matched those of listed attendees at these fundraisers during that time frame.

The Breach conducted an analysis in March and reported that out of the 35 Poilievre fundraising events it examined, 29 were attended by at least one lobbyist active in the past several years.

NDP ethics critic Matthew Green said his problem is with the "hypocrisy of Pierre Poilievre." Green accused Poilievre of "cosplaying as a working class guy" while privately attending fundraisers in exclusive clubs "most Canadians would have never heard of."

"This is a guy who is not who he says he is," Green told CBC News. "This is somebody who is the 'elites' that he rails against."

CBC News contacted the Conservative Party and Poilievre's office with questions about the fundraisers.

In an email, the Conservatives accused CBC News of "exposing its bias by investigating Canadians, who are supporting common sense Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and his promise to defund the CBC."

Sarah Fischer, a spokesperson for the Conservative Party, told CBC News in an email that Poilievre makes "himself available across the country at rallies, visiting small businesses, lumber yards and factory floors.

"There's no need to attend a fundraiser to get access to Pierre Poilievre."

Big pharma, an oil 'tycoon' and top Canadian executives

Active lobbyists representing the oil and natural gas company Cenovus, Pharmascience Inc. and the Pembina Pipeline Corporation are among those listed as having attended Poilievre fundraisers.

Other lobbyists from the shipbuilding, energy and pharmaceutical industries confirmed their attendance to CBC News.

Adam Waterous, recently described in a media report as an "investment banker turned oil tycoon," is listed as having attended a Poilievre event with his wife Jan and son Connor, who lobbies, in April 2023 in Banff, Alta., where he owns a ski resort.

Waterous has not yet responded to CBC's request for comment.

Robert Deluce, the founding president and former CEO of Porter Airlines, attended a fundraiser in January 2023, co-organized by Mark Mulroney, the son of former prime minister Brian Mulroney. Deluce now serves as the company's executive chairman.

A spokesperson for the airline told CBC News Deluce contributed to the fundraiser "in a personal capacity" and spoke briefly to Poilievre but not about Porter.

Poilievre supports a runway expansion to bring jets to the Billy Bishop airport in Toronto — something Porter has long sought.

Erik Ryan, a vice president at AtkinsRéalis, formerly known as SNC-Lavalin, attended a reception in January with Poilievre and told CBC News he gave a personal contribution. Ryan was involved in a lobbying effort to get a deferred prosecution agreement for SNC-Lavalin from the federal government.

Ian Stedman, an associate professor of public law and governance at York University, said the "public should care about these events and who's there."

"It tells you something about who has privileged access to a politician who might have the ability to affect change or advance policy initiatives," Stedman said.

York University professor Ian Stedman said lobbying is not inherently bad, but exclusive fundraisers create a mechanism for people with more money to get "preferential" access to politicians.

York University professor Ian Stedman said lobbying is not inherently bad, but exclusive fundraisers create a mechanism for people with more money to get "preferential" access to politicians. (Hugo Levesque/CBC)

Stedman said "lobbying is not bad" but "the problem here is that some people get better access and more preferential access than others, and it seems to be because of the money they have."

But Fred DeLorey, the national Conservative campaign manager during the 2021 election, said lobbying at these fundraisers is "unheard of."

DeLorey, who is a lobbyist himself, said it "would be very poor form to try to bend the ear of a leader at a place like that."

Asked whether those attending these fundraisers would get increased access to political leaders, Delorey said no.

There's a strict limit on how much individual Canadians are allowed to give to a federal political party each year. In 2024, the limit is $1,725.

"There's no political influence on cutting a check at that amount to a leader that's trying to govern a G7 country," said DeLorey, who is a partner at NorthStar Public Relations and Government Relations. "It's just not a thing."

Riding high in the polls, the Conservative Party of Canada continues to out-fundraise other parties and broke its own record in the most recent quarter. The party raised more than $10.6 million from more than 51,000 donors between January and March.

About 700 of those donors attended fundraising events with Poilievre — fundraisers which could have collected up to $1 million during that time period. Fischer did not answer when asked how much money the party collected in 2023 and over the first quarter of this year at fundraisers Poilievre headlined.

She said that out of 200,000 contributions, the average donation to the Conservatives was $175.

"Hundreds of thousands of Canadians are choosing to put their hard-earned dollars behind Pierre Poilievre and his mission to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime," she said in an email.

Private clubs

Poilievre has headlined fundraisers at Canada's oldest private club — the Toronto Club — at the members-only Terminal City Club in Vancouver and at the Royal Glenora Club in Edmonton, where the fee for a membership is more than $20,000.

Poilievre has headlined more than 16 fundraisers in private homes since becoming leader, including in one of Montreal's wealthiest neighbourhood — Westmount — and affluent neighbourhoods in the greater Toronto area. Another one is booked for later this week in North York.

One of these "Evenings with Pierre Poilievre in support of the Conservative Party'' took place at a home in Forest Hill South in Toronto, the records show. Two homes are for sale in the same postal code with asking prices of $7.5 million and $16.9 million.

Poilievre also has been touring the country holding public events and fundraisers in local businesses and restaurants.

'Like a town hall meeting'

Yaroslav Baran, co-founder of Pendulum Group and former Conservative director of war room communications under prime minister Stephen Harper, said there's a "mythology" around these fundraisers that doesn't reflect reality.

"People picture cigars, brandy snifters and mahogany furniture," said Baran who ran communications for the Conservative Party during the 2022 leadership race.

"It's really a lot like a town hall meeting … except it's a closed event. You need to buy a ticket to get in. It usually consists of a mini speech, a stump speech by the featured speaker."

Baran said what follows after that is "an endless stream of grip-and-grin" photos, where the headlining politician shakes hands, smiles for the camera and then moves on to the next person with about two or three seconds to exchange a few words.

"The idea of being able to have any kind of a prolonged, deep policy conversation to, you know, sway somebody, it's just laughable," he said.

Yaroslav Baran, a former director of war room communications under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said there's an inaccurate "mythology" to private fundraising events, but that they typically involve shaking hands with the guest of honour and listening to a stump speech.

Yaroslav Baran, a former director of war room communications under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said there's an inaccurate "mythology" to private fundraising events, but that they typically involve shaking hands with the guest of honour and listening to a stump speech. (Pierre-Paul Couture/CBC)

Lobbyists go to these events to build relationships and be seen, Baran said. But he cautions that if they're looking to lobby someone directly, they shouldn't go to their party fundraisers.

Trudeau attended 14 of these events to raise money for the Liberal Party in 2023 and one so far in 2024, held at convention centres, hotels and the Canadian War Museum. Last year, the Investigative Journalism Foundation reported that 166 lobbyists have attended Liberal fundraisers since 2019.

Liberal Party spokesperson Parker Lund said the party is "committed to the strongest standards in federal politics for openness and transparency with political fundraising events." The party also posts its fundraising reports on its website.

In 2021, Lobbying Commissioner Nancy Bélanger made preliminary recommendations to strengthen the lobbying regime, calling for expanding the amount of contextual information required in communication reports to include things like political donations.

Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein has described the current reporting requirements for these fundraisers as "perfectly good." He said that if the government wants to, it could go further and legislate its existing fundraising and lobbying best practices for ministers and parliamentary secretaries to cover opposition critics.

Just how far is Pierre Poilievre willing to take the notwithstanding clause?

CBC
Tue, May 7, 2024 

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre rises during Question Period on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, May 6, 2024. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press - image credit)


In January, the Federal Court found that the Trudeau government's use of the Emergencies Act to respond to the protests of the self-styled freedom convoy in 2022 was not properly justified — a decision the federal government is now appealing.

At the time, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre celebrated that ruling.

"Today, in a landmark victory for the freedoms of Canadians, the Federal Court ruled that Trudeau broke the highest law in the land," he said in a prepared statement, apparently referring to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.


"Common-sense Conservatives will protect the Charter rights of Canadians, and as prime minister I will unite our country and our people for hope and freedom."

A few months later, Poilievre's support for the Charter rights of Canadians seems less than absolute.

Last week, the Conservative leader appeared before a meeting of the Canadian Police Association and outlined — or at least hinted at — his plans to use the notwithstanding clause to safeguard his government's laws from being overturned by the courts.

"All of my proposals are constitutional. And we will make sure — we will make them constitutional, using whatever tools the Constitution allows me to use to make them constitutional," he said. "I think you know exactly what I mean."

Poilievre went on to explain his own theory of how the use of the notwithstanding clause could be justified.

"I will be the democratically elected prime minister — democratically accountable to the people, and they can then make the judgments themselves on whether they think my laws are constitutional, because they will be," he said.

Unloved and controversial, the notwithstanding clause is an unavoidable feature of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms — part of the negotiated agreement that created the Charter in the first place. There are also reasonable, if theoretical, arguments to be made for its necessity — judges are not infallible and a mechanism to overrule egregious decisions could be better than the alternatives.

The question, then, is what circumstances justify its use.

How would Poilievre use the notwithstanding clause?

Poilievre's office insists a Conservative government would use the notwithstanding clause only to deal with "matters of criminal justice." But that could cover a number of things.

Would a Poilievre government use the clause to save mandatory-minimum sentences that the Supreme Court has found constitute cruel and unusual punishment? What if the court ultimately rules against the bail restrictions that Poilievre has said he would implement?

In 2011, the Supreme Court ruled that the previous Conservative government's attempts to block a supervised drug consumption site in Vancovuer — Insite — violated the Charter right to life, liberty and security of the person. Would the Poilievre government use the notwithstanding clause to implement elements of its response to the opioid epidemic?

In his remarks to the Canadian Police Association, Poilievre said he would prioritize the right of Canadians to live free of crime.

"Those are the constitutional rights that we have to start to focus on in this country — the rights of the victims and the law-abiding people," he said.

But that necessitates another question — would any of his proposed changes actually reduce crime? Would using the notwithstanding clause actually make Canadians safer, or would it merely satisfy a desire to get "tough" on crime?

Alexandre Bissonnette, a suspect in a shooting at a Quebec City mosque, arrives at the court house in Quebec City on Tuesday, February 21, 2017. The accused in Quebec City's deadly mosque shooting formally changed lawyers on Thursday during a brief court hearing. Alexandre Bissonnette, 27, appeared briefly before Quebec court Judge Jean-Louis Lemay and acknowledged he was bringing in a new attorney.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mathieu Belanger - POOLMore


At the moment, the Conservatives like to point to the case of Alexandre Bissonnette, who killed six men inside a Quebec City mosque in 2017. The Supreme Court later ruled that forcing Bissonnette to serve his sentences consecutively — effectively eliminating his chance of ever being eligible for parole — "shakes the very foundations of Canadian law."

During his campaign for the Conservative leadership in 2022, Poilievre said he would use the notwithstanding clause to revive consecutive sentences (a law originally passed by Stephen Harper's Conservative government).

Lisa Kerr, a law professor at Queen's University, noted in an op-ed this week that being eligible for parole does not mean you necessarily receive it.

Using the notwithstanding clause to "stack life sentences to infinity would add nothing to public safety," she wrote.

The politics of Poilievre's position are obvious — probably no politician is eager to be seen defending the rights of an individual such as Bissonnette. But if or when Parliament crosses the Rubicon (the federal Parliament has never before used the notwithstanding clause), it will be impossible to guarantee the ramifications will be felt only by society's least sympathetic members.

What message would it send?

"Whatever the use he wants to make of it," Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet said last week, "the fact a federal leader would want to use the notwithstanding clause makes it clear that it's absolutely legit for Quebec or any province to do the same."

That is not an abstract argument.

The original theory of the notwithstanding clause was that "political accountability" would restrain governments from using it. That restraint hasn't been much in evidence in recent years.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks during a funding announcement, Friday, April 5, 2024 in Ottawa. Ontario Premier Doug Ford is one of several premiers to use the notwithstanding clause to protect laws from being overturned for violating a Charter right. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

The Ontario government has invoked the clause to protect a law that limits political advertising by third-party groups. The Saskatchewan government is applying the notwithstanding clause to protect legislation that could affect the rights of transgender children. Quebec's Bill 21 raises major questions about religious freedom.

As Blanchet's response suggests, federal use of the notwithstanding clause would only give these provinces an example to justify their own actions. Poilievre's position on the clause also likely would disqualify him from weighing in as prime minister against any current or future provincial action.

Poilievre's reply to all this seems to be that it's ultimately up to voters — if Canadians don't like how the notwithstanding clause is being used, they can put another government in power.

But elections are rarely fought as single-issue referendums. (Advocates of electoral reform would also note that, under first-past-the-post voting, governments regularly hold power without having won 50 per cent of the popular vote.) And deferring to the will of voters contradicts one of the primary reasons for codifying rights in the first place — to protect individuals and minorities from the whims of the majority.

Former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed gestures during a news conference in Calgary in 2002. Former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed came to believe in the need for guardrails around the notwithstanding clause. (The Canadian Press)

Poilievre's calculus might also offend more than just critics of the notwithstanding clause. Peter Lougheed, the former Alberta premier who played a significant part in getting the notwithstanding clause into the Charter, eventually came to believe that a supermajority vote of 60 per cent of members of a legislature should be required to invoke the clause. (In a 343-member House of Commons, that would mean the support of 206 MPs.)

Between Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe deciding to defy (or unilaterally reinterpret?) federal carbon-pricing legislation and Poilievre's position on the notwithstanding clause, Conservatives seem to be moving toward the view that premiers and prime ministers have wide latitude to decide which laws they must follow.

National chief says she was 'stunned,' calls for change after headdress taken from her on flight
CBC
Fri, April 26, 2024 at 1:34 p.m. MDT·5 min read

National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak speaks about the federal budget during a news conference on Parliament Hill on April 17. Her headdress was briefly taken from her during an Air Canada flight Wednesday. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press - image credit)


Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak says attempts by Air Canada staff to take her headdress from her on Wednesday have created "a pivotal learning moment in history."

Woodhouse Nepinak is calling for change after the sacred item was taken from her on a flight between Montreal and Fredericton, while saluting people who tried to come to her aid in a distressing situation.

"I want to focus on making sure that First Nations can come through our airport and our airlines, all airlines, Air Canada included, in a safe way, in a respectful way," she said Friday morning.


"I've always felt apprehensive about taking [the headdress] on with me, and I don't want to feel like that anymore."

Woodhouse Nepinak had travelled before with the headdress, which she received from the Blackfoot Confederacy of the Piikani Nation in Alberta in a ceremony on Jan. 1, without any problems, she told the CBC's Karen Pauls Friday morning in her first interview about what happened.

She got on a plane in Montreal on Wednesday evening with her headdress in a special carrying case. She usually places the case in the overhead compartment, but this time had carry-on luggage that she put overhead, so she stowed the case under the seat in front of her.

'Something just changed'

Everything seemed fine, but then "something just changed," she said.

"It got really bizarre."

Flight staff told Woodhouse Nepinak the case had to go into the cargo hold and took it from her, she said.

"I was kind of stunned," she said.

"Some of our teachings teach us" a headdress is "like your child, like your baby. It's with you. It's part of you" and should be handled with the respect people might give a Bible, holy oil or hijab, she said.

The interaction "got pretty heated," but flight staff insisted on putting the case in what Woodhouse Nepinak described as garbage bags and taking it away to stow with cargo.

Before they did, she removed the headdress from the case and held it on her lap during the flight.

When flight staff did not return the case to her at the end of the flight, the pilot intervened and it was brought to her, she said.

She was seated near the front of the plane and was embarrassed by what had unfolded in front of all the other passengers.

She said she takes her responsibility as national chief seriously and is careful to represent First Nations well, so didn't want to say anything that could create a negative impression.

"But I have to say, there's Canadians from all walks of life kind of sitting in the plane that were pretty astounded, and I was glad to see that, because it's not like people just sat there and were quiet. People were genuinely trying to help."

'More work to do'

The kindness and caring of her fellow passengers brings her hope, she said.

"I think they were triggered more than I was, and I think that says something for our country, that we are moving in a right way," she said.

"But at the same time, these things continue to happen, and they remind us that we have more work to do."

Air Canada has issued a statement apologizing for what happened.

The airline is following up on the matter internally and will review its policies after the "regrettable incident," the statement said.

The plane in question was a Dash 8 and the case "was difficult to carry in the cabin due to stowage space limitations," the airline said Friday in response to questions.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday the flight crew's actions were unacceptable.

"From my perspective, that is an unfortunate situation that I hope is going to lead to a bit of learning, not just by Air Canada, but a lot of different institutions," he said.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said he saw the national chief at the Montreal airport after the incident and expressed his support for her call to implement policies that ensure such a thing doesn't happen again.

"In a country like Canada, there are far too many examples where Indigenous people are disrespected in this manner," he said.

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs also called for cultural sensitivity training and awareness in the airline industry.

The transfer of a headdress is one of the highest honours within First Nations traditions, Manitoba Grand Chief Cathy Merrick said in an emailed statement.

Woodhouse Nepinak said an Air Canada representative reached out to her directly, but it wasn't a person with decision-making authority. She plans to follow up Friday.

She wants Air Canada to commit to having a First Nations person with ties to a home community on the board of directors, a face-to-face meeting between knowledge keepers and Air Canada's board of directors and senior officials, a circle of Indigenous advisers, a protocol for First Nations people, and cross-cultural training for staff, she said.

She's since heard from other chiefs who have gone through similar issues while flying.

Phil Fontaine, who was the AFN's national chief from 1997-2000 and again from 2003-09, told her he had to deal with similar issues in his time.

"We are tired of dealing with the same things," and there needs to be change, said Woodhouse Nepinak.

"Sometimes Creator gives us things to take on, and sometimes they come through unfortunate situations," she said.

"All that I ask is that we move in a better way with each other."


AFN chief says Air Canada offered a 15% discount after her headdress was mishandled

The Canadian Press
Fri, April 26, 2024 



OTTAWA — After the Assembly of First Nations' national chief complained to Air Canada about how staffers treated her and her ceremonial headdress on a flight this week, she says the airline responded by offering a 15 per cent discount on her next flight.

"It must have been a generic response," Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said in an interview, calling the entire experience "humiliating" and "unbelievable."

Woodhouse Nepinak said in a social media post Thursday that her headdress and its case were taken away and put in a garbage bag.


She clarified Friday the case was removed from the flight, but she was able to hold her headdress throughout the trip after pleading with staff.

Air Canada said in a statement Friday morning that it reached out directly to Woodhouse Nepinak to apologize and "better understand" her experience. It added it is also following up on the matter internally and reviewing its policies.

During the flight from Fredericton to Montreal on Wednesday, the national chief said an Air Canada staff member approached her and said: "You can't have that in here."

Woodhouse Nepinak said she told them she wouldn't part with her headdress.

Still, the crew took it and its case and put garbage bags around them, she said, before she managed to convince them that her headdress should be taken back out.

Photos Woodhouse Nepinak posted online show the case covered in a clear plastic bag, with staff members hauling it on the tarmac to be loaded under the plane.

"I was kind of stunned at that moment," she recounted.

"There was lots of Canadians trying to help me in that moment and realizing they shouldn't be handling my items like that."

"This was a mistake that I know Air Canada is looking into right now," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said about the incident during an unrelated news conference Friday in Bromont, Que.

"It is an unfortunate situation that I hope is going to lead to a bit of learning — not just by Air Canada, but a lot of different institutions."

Trudeau said the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 94 calls to action should prompt industry and Canadians to be responsible partners who have a sense of understanding about the cultural importance of items such as this.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters in Toronto that he met with Woodhouse Nepinak by chance at an airport in Montreal shortly after the incident, and she shared with him how she felt "disrespected."

He said he supports calls from the national chief for a policy to ensure a situation like this never happens again, and added there are "far too many" examples of Indigenous Peoples being disrespected.

The grand chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, Alvin Fiddler called the ordeal "shameful."

And Cody Thomas, the grand chief of the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations, said he is "deeply concerned and disappointed."

"It is essential that employees are educated about the diverse cultures and traditions of the passengers they serve to ensure that such incidents are never repeated," Thomas said in a statement.

Air Canada said it is looking to learn from the "regrettable incident" and ensure "special items such as this" can consistently remain in the cabin with travellers.

"Air Canada understands the importance of accommodating customers with items and symbols of sacred cultural significance," the statement says.

"In the past the chiefs have been able to travel while transporting their headdress in their cases in the cabin, but this time the case was difficult to carry in the cabin due to stowage space limitations on the Dash-8 aircraft."

Woodhouse Nepinak called her headdress one of the highest honours First Nations peoples can receive, noting it's not something that can just be purchased in a store.

"When I wear it, I'm representing and speaking for our people," she said.

"Taking it out there (on the plane) and having all these different people handling it — that's not the way we handle our items. … It's a respect thing."

Asked why she decided to speak publicly about the incident, Woodhouse Nepinak said this situation isn't one she wants to be in, but "Creator put it on my lap to go through, and I'm walking through it hoping that we come out of this better."

She said she spoke with the president and CEO of the airline on Friday morning and told him they need to do better, including by appointing a First Nations person to their board.

She also wants them to have cross-cultural training for staff.

Woodhouse Nepinak said she expects to meet with Air Canada again about the saga and is inviting the person who made the headdress for her to come along.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 26, 2024.

Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press

CKUA

Canada's 1st public broadcaster needs $3M before October to stay on the air

CBC
Sun, April 21, 2024

CKUA, Canada's first public broadcaster, needs to raise $3 million by Sept. 30 to continue operating. (the needle.ca - image credit)

Alberta's public radio station is relying on donations to stay on the air.

CKUA, the country's first public broadcaster, has relied significantly on crowdfunding for years. But no money was allotted for it in the federal and provincial budgets in 2024 — and the station needs to raise $3 million by Sept. 30, or its reserves will be drained.

"It's a perfect storm," said CEO Marc Carnes. "We're not immune to the same financial realities that a lot of homes and businesses are in right now, with inflation, the cost of borrowing going up and utilities."

CKUA also owns the Alberta Hotel on Jasper Avenue in downtown Edmonton. Half the building is rentable commercial space — and most of it is sitting empty after the primary tenant became insolvent last year, Carnes said.

Ironically, the 96-year-old station is still performing well, he said. The audience is growing, while its revenues have remained steady.

Marc Carnes, CEO of CKUA

Marc Carnes, CEO of CKUA, is pushing for funding to save the radio station that has been on the air since 1927. (Nick Brizuela/CBC)

"The core business pieces are there. It's just things that are happening to everybody right now," he said.

Opposition NDP arts and culture critic Joe Ceci raised the plight of CKUA at the legislature Thursday. During question period, he pressed the United Conservative government about whether it would send money to the station, and how the government would promote it.

In response, Minister of Arts, Culture and Status of Women Tanya Fir noted that the Alberta government gave $5 million to CKUA in 2012 to buy and renovate the Alberta Hotel. Since 2019, the station has received $450,000 in provincial community grants.

Fir acknowledged how significant CKUA is to the province of Alberta in preserving and promoting its culture and history. But she said any provincial dollars would be primarily used to cover the station's debt obligations, which doesn't align with the purpose of government capital grants.

"They're using different measuring sticks for different things," Ceci later told CBC News.

Economic Development, Trade and Tourism Minister Tanya Fir introduced Bill 23 on Tuesday.

Minister of Arts, Culture and Status of Women Tanya Fir responded to the Opposition NDP during Thursday's question period about CKUA. (CBC )

The government is suggesting debt is bad for the arts and culture sector, he said, but it has helped other industries when they need it — namely oil and gas.

Fir's press secretary Garrett Koehler later told CBC News that the government learned of the radio station's financial situation in September and that the minister has met with CKUA to discuss its situation.

Carnes said he is hopeful that dialogue with the provincial government continues.

He is also lobbying for funding from the federal government, but that has been more challenging, he said.

He and Fir each noted that the latest federal budget excluded CKUA from millions of dollars earmarked for CBC — Canada's public broadcaster — and other public interest programming services.

CKUA is hoping to leverage the fact that, when it bought the Alberta Hotel, Ottawa did not match the amount of funding from the City of Edmonton or government of Alberta, Carnes said. The municipal and provincial governments spent $5 million each; the federal government spent $500,000.

'Heartbeat of the Alberta music scene'

On Nov. 21, 1927, after a lot of teamwork and lobbying, radio announcer H.P. Brown spoke into a microphone at the University of Alberta in Edmonton — marking CKUA's inaugural broadcast.

The station started primarily as educational programming featuring university staff, but expanded to inform and entertain Albertans day-to-day for decades. It was the first to cover the legislative assembly as a regular beat as well as air play-by-play broadcasts of football games.

Today, the CKUA music library in Edmonton is renowned, storing recordings that date back 140 years. The station, Carnes said, also airs up-and-coming artists, as well as those who are more established.

"If we go dark, it's a very quiet, sad day in the province," Carnes said.

The CKUA library is renowned, holding 140 years of recordings.

The CKUA library is renowned, holding 140 years of recordings. (Nick Brizuela/CBC)

Trevor Mann, a band member of Scenic Route to Alaska, considers CKUA a "formative part" of raising the band's profile because it was one of the first to play their music.

"We truly feel like, without the support of CKUA, we would be nowhere close to where we are today," he said.

Mann described the station as "the heartbeat of the Alberta music scene," but said it might be taken for granted — and its true impact only realized if it disappears.

CKUA has already started raising the $3 million it needs, launching a 10-day donor drive on Friday. As of 3:30 p.m. MT Saturday, it had raised more than $467,000 toward its goal of $775,000.

LISTEN | CKUA needs $3M before October to stay on the air:

The $3 million would help the station get by, Carnes said. The station already has plans to attract more tenants into its Edmonton building and to cover higher operating costs.

The money would also help CKUA be able to create a separate fundraising campaign in 2027 — its centennial year — to create an endowment, ensuring the station remains sustainable long-term, he said.

AMOUNT RAISED

$835,762

GOAL

$1,000,000

FIRST-TIME DONORS: 944

FIRST-TIME DONOR GOAL: 1000

With your support, we've done something incredible!

We have achieved the first $775,000 (our original Spring Fundraiser goal) within 5 days of our original ask, and just 2 days since the official launch of the Spring Fundraiser. But we still need you to support the station you know and love—and to do so in record numbers.

Let's go for $1 million towards the $3 million we need by September. We can do this, together!

The Time Is Now.

Make A One-Time Donation - CKUA Radio Foundation

The Trans Mountain saga is nearing its end — the larger debate will go on
CBC
Sat, April 20, 2024

Protesters outside an event Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is attending in Calgary, Alta., Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press - image credit)

In November 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau went to Calgary to speak to the chamber of commerce. A crowd gathered outside the venue and chanted, "Build that pipe."

Trudeau might have responded that he was trying to do just that — at least in regards to one pipeline. Trudeau's government had actually purchased the Trans Mountain pipeline six months earlier, with the stated purpose of ensuring its expansion could be completed.

Five and a half years later, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland used her budget speech to celebrate the fact that the Trans Mountain expansion is nearing completion — an achievement she held out as evidence of what an "activist" federal government can accomplish.


Rising to respond a few minutes later, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre begged to differ. The lesson, he said, was the opposite — if the government had just gotten out of the way, a private company would have built the pipeline.

The pipeline is almost complete. The debate, obviously, is far from over.

Freeland's framing is a stretch. The federal government didn't set out to buy a pipeline — it was just willing to do so when that seemed to be the last remaining option.

But when Poilievre says the government should have gotten out of the way, he's aiming at the wrong government. It was the efforts — however futile — of British Columbia's provincial government to stymie the project that led to Kinder Morgan's decision to walk away.

And though it was suggested at the time that the federal government should have somehow compelled or cajoled the NDP government in B.C. to get out of the way, it's worth remembering that the New Democrats were dependent on a confidence-and-supply agreement with Green MLAs that committed the provincial government to using "every tool available" to block the project.

Ultimately, it was federal ownership that rendered all such tools moot.

Why an 'anti-oil' prime minister built a pipeline

On the day oil begins to flow through the new pipeline, it will finally answer the doubts raised by Poilievre's predecessor in 2019 when the Trudeau government gave the project its final approval.

"I don't believe he actually wants it built," Andrew Scheer said of the prime minister.

It takes some imagination to believe Trudeau would agree to purchase a pipeline for $4.5 billion in public funds — inviting no end of criticism from progressive rivals and environmentalists — without intending to see the expansion completed.

But you can easily understand the cognitive dissonance some were experiencing at the time. This was, after all, the prime minister described by Conservatives as the most "anti-oil" leader in Canadian history.

(Nine years into Trudeau's time as prime minister, Canada's oil production is at record highs.)

Scott McBride, of Nanaimo, B.C., holds a caricature of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a protest against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in Burnaby, B.C., on Saturday, March 10, 2018. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)

Indigenous leaders are calling on people to raise their voices Saturday to stop a $7.4 billion pipeline expansion project that pumps oil from Canada's tar sands to the Pacific Coast. The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion by the Canadian division of Texas-based Kinder Morgan would nearly triple the flow of oil from Alberta's tar sands to the Vancouver area and dramatically increase the number of oil tankers travelling the shared waters between Canada and Washington state.

To fully understand how the Trudeau government ended up buying a pipeline, it might be necessary to review decades of inaction by countless governments against the threat of climate change and their slight efforts to reconcile meaningfully with Indigenous peoples. By the time Trudeau came to office, pipelines had taken on a symbolic value well beyond the practical.

But when Trudeau went to Calgary's Petroleum Club in 2013, he embraced two clear positions. A price on carbon emissions needed to be part of a plan to responsibly develop Canada's resources, he said, but getting Canadian resources to new markets was in the national interest and something for which the federal government should be held responsible.

(He also said that while governments can issue permits, "only communities can grant permission" — a simplistic slogan that did not survive contact with the reality Trudeau faced in 2018.)

There was a straightforward economic argument for building a new pipeline. If more Canadian oil could get to "tidewater," Canadian producers would be less dependent on the American market and would be able to charge a higher price. And by 2019 — after the government had let Northern Gateway die and Energy East had been abandoned — the Trans Mountain expansion was the only pipeline proposal left standing.

Bedford Consulting Group is already projecting that CEO pay will tick higher in 2024. The Trans Mountain expansion project, shown here under construction in Abbotsford, B.C., in May 2023, is expected to add over half a million barrels per day of Canadian oil export capacity. The Trans Mountain expansion project under construction in Abbotsford, B.C., in May 2023. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

But there may also have been a question of national unity. Albertans and their government might not be big fans of the federal government right now. It's fair to ask how much more negative the political climate might be if all efforts to build a pipeline out of the province had been thwarted.

The federal government might not recoup all of its investment when it eventually sells the newly expanded pipeline, but it's hard to put a price on holding a country together.

Politically, the purchase of the pipeline obviously didn't lead to great Liberal gains in Alberta. It also didn't save Rachel Notley's NDP government. And it may have hurt the Liberal Party with progressive voters in other provinces. But the purchase didn't lead to the sort of electoral wipeout in B.C. that Liberals might have feared at the time.

The pipeline's nearly done. Now what?

As Freeland noted in her budget speech, the Bank of Canada now expects that the start of operations for the expansion will have a measurable impact on Canada's national GDP. The Liberal government has estimated the project will generate $500 million in corporate tax revenues. (The government has pledged that all profits will be directed toward clean energy.)

At the same time, the Liberals surely will be criticized if the pipeline is sold at a loss. And they risk taking the heat for any spills or accidents that follow in the years ahead.

While his critics insisted that "climate leaders don't build pipelines" — another simplistic slogan — Trudeau positioned the project within the larger cause of transitioning to a clean economy.

"To those who want sustainable energy and a cleaner environment, know that I want that too. But in order to bridge the gap between where we are and where we're going, we need money to pay for it," he said in 2019. "It is in Canada's national interest to protect our environment and invest in tomorrow while making sure that people can feed their families today."

A prominent Alberta-based environmentalist said oil executives told him building the pipeline would better position them financially to make emissions-reducing investments.

In 2021 — the most recent year for which official data is available — Canada's oil and gas sector accounted for 189 megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, 28 per cent of the national total. The sector's emissions are expected to have risen in 2022. And if, a decade from now, the sector's emissions continue to rise and Canada has missed its emissions targets, Trans Mountain might be framed, fairly or not, as part of a larger failure.

But since buying Trans Mountain, the Trudeau government has proposed new rules to reduce methane emissions for the industry and a cap on total emissions from the sector. The Liberals have also pledged billions of dollars toward subsidizing the development and use of carbon capture technology.

If nothing else, the flow of oil through the newly expanded pipeline might only strengthen the case for getting on with the work of reducing the oil industry's emissions.

 

Manitoba premier says he's considering extending tax holiday on fuel

The Canadian Press

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said Tuesday he is considering extending his government's fuel-tax holiday, which is set to expire at the end of June.

The NDP government fulfilled a campaign promise when it suspended, for six months, the 14-cent-a-litre provincial fuel tax on Jan. 1. The move was aimed at helping people deal with inflation.

The government left the door open to a possible extension at the time, and Kinew said Tuesday he is considering it, although he was not prepared to make an announcement immediately.

He referred to the recent closure of an Imperial Oil pipeline that brings gasoline, diesel and jet fuel to Winnipeg from Gretna, Man. The closure is expected to last three months.

"The situation with the pipeline is something that we're learning to live with over the next few months and we're going to be there to help keep life affordable in Manitoba," Kinew said.

When asked whether he would announce a decision before the budget set for April 2, Kinew was coy.

"Where's the showmanship in telling you that now?" he joked with reporters.

The Opposition Progressive Conservatives called on the government in the legislature to extend the tax holiday, in anticipation of a potential spike in prices caused by the pipeline disruption.

"Any prolonged fuel shortage in Winnipeg over the next three months may lead to increased prices," Tory Greg Nesbitt said.

Provincial and Winnipeg city officials have said they are not expecting major disruptions in supply because trucks and trains will be used to replace the pipeline supply while repairs are done.

"Today, I've confirmed that fuel trucks are already on their way to Winnipeg from Gretna," Natural Resources Minister Jamie Moses told the legislature.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 19, 2024.

 

Alberta amending tax rules to offer $5,000 incentive to out-of-province workers

Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press

The Alberta government has introduced legislation that would direct $10 million from this year's budget toward luring more workers to the province.

The funds for the Alberta is Calling Attraction Bonus are aimed at bringing skilled tradespeople from elsewhere in Canada.

During the last election campaign, the United Conservative Party promised to offer at least $1,200 to newcomers who move to the province to work in high-demand jobs such as health care and trades.

Premier Danielle Smith’s government now says instead it will amend the Alberta Personal Income Tax Act to introduce the Alberta is Calling Attraction Bonus to allow for a $5,000 refundable tax credit. 

Matt Jones, the minister for jobs, economy and trade, said the government determined the number should better reflect the true cost of relocation.

"In doing the work behind this program we determined the average moving costs for a Canadian, say from Ontario, to relocate to Alberta was around $5,000,” Jones told a news conference Tuesday.

"To me that (original $1,200) was not enough of a benefit to attract or motivate a moving decision, so we of course moved that benefit up to what is $5,000 tax-free."

The program, first announced by former premier Jason Kenney in 2022, initially targeted Canadians living in Toronto and Vancouver.

Last year, it focused on Atlantic Canada and parts of Ontario to bring in workers, primarily in the staff-starved hotel and restaurant industries.

Jones said Alberta is facing shortages of skilled tradespeople across the board, but said the priorities are electricians, pipefitters, heavy-duty mechanics, welders and crane operators. 

He said he would like to deal with shortages in construction as well.

"Albertans need homes, they need schools, they need hospitals and they need jobs,” he said.

“We've got tens of billions of dollars in capital investment that we have successfully won, and we must be able to deliver.”

Jones defended not using Alberta is Calling to attract health-care workers for now. 

He said all provinces are facing health-care worker shortages and the provinces are trying to collaborate on solutions to benefit everyone.

He noted there are already incentive programs in place to attract doctors and cover the bridging and upgrading of nurses, such as those from the Philippines. 

He said Alberta is Calling is open to revision.

"If this program is a success, we would look at leveraging it to other areas where we're facing labour shortages — and certainly health care and child care are two prime examples,” Jones said.

Opposition NDP heath critic Luanne Metz said the government is taking its eye off the ball and needs to focus on fixing the health-staffing shortages.

“Smith campaigned on recruiting health-care workers and yet, at the first opportunity, the UCP has broken their promise and will not be using this tool to address the staffing shortages in health care and in child care,” said Metz in a statement.

“This province desperately needs health-care workers to ensure Albertans get the surgeries and care they need," she added.

“And child-care operators are struggling to recruit early-learning and child-care workers. 

“Today’s legislation won’t do anything to recruit these staff.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 12, 2024.

EXCLUSIVE: Alberta premier talks book-balancing, says Feds should 'stay in their lane'

Jordan Fleguel, BNN Bloomberg

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says Justin Trudeau’s federal Liberals  “working against” her administration is the biggest impediment to her long-term goals for the province.

In an interview with BNN Bloomberg’s Amanda Lang airing Friday, Smith said Alberta has been able to work collaboratively with the federal government “on some things,” but criticized Ottawa for overstepping with certain environmental policies.

“The policies that keep on coming out of thin air from Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault are not constructive,” she said, pointing to the proposed oil and gas emissions cap and plans to create a net-zero electrical grid by 2035.

“This is not the way that you build a vast country like Canada. This is not the way that you build national unity. I think that there are ways that we can collaborate with the federal government, but they've got to stay in their own lane.”

Smith said that while she’s struggled to find common ground with Guilbeault, she has developed good relationships with other cabinet members, including Innovation, Science and Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne.

“Champagne is such a champion of industry, no matter where they're located, whether it's in Quebec or Ontario or Alberta, and I just wish that more of that attitude was pervasive in all of the departments of government,” she said.

Smith said she’ll continue to oppose any of Guilbeault’s “devastating” policies she believes are aimed at completely phasing out fossil fuels and shutting down the industry’s production.

“We're going to fight back against that,” Smith said, “he's got no constitutional authority to do that.”

Smith said she recognizes the need to reduce emissions and ultimately achieve a net-zero target, but argued it will take more time to successfully reach that goal than the federal government suggests.

“We've aligned around the target of being net zero by 2050; I think that's achievable. Our big companies are working along those lines… but it does take time,” she said.

Smith said she also recognizes that investors across the world are shifting their capital towards credible plans to reduce emissions, and added that Alberta’s big industry players understand that too.

“But we also need a cost-effective supply of energy in order to maintain living standards,” she said. “We can't sacrifice reliability or affordability, we've got to do all three.”

Balancing the books

Smith said one of her biggest long-term goals is to achieve a provincial net debt of zero while running balanced budgets as premier, which she said was the number one promise she made to Albertans when campaigning for the job.

She said that in recent years, Alberta’s government revenues have failed to keep up with inflation and population growth – an issue Smith said will need to be adjusted for in budgets going forward.

An income tax cut promised by Smith in her election campaign was initially set to take effect next year but was pushed back until 2026 by the provincial government last month. Smith cited lower-than-anticipated revenues from the oil and gas sector as the main reason for the delay.

Smith said in a televised address to Albertans on Feb. 21 that the cuts “will have to wait a year and be phased in responsibly.”

The tax measure was officially introduced in Alberta's 2024 budget and will include a new bracket on the first $60,000 of personal income. It will save Albertans an estimated maximum of $760 a year.

Smith said she’s challenging her ministers to find budget savings this year in order to deliver the cut on schedule without going into a deficit to pay for it. The cut is expected to cost the government $1.4 billion annually.

“I'm hoping that Albertans are seeing that we're taking a measured approach because we know that we have to do it all, but you can't necessarily do it all at once,” she said.

“We've got to pace some of the decisions that we're making.”

Reviving the Heritage Savings Trust Fund

Smith said another one of her goals is to revive Alberta’s Heritage Savings Trust Fund, which has seen its founding vision “stall” in recent decades.

The fund was established in 1976 with the goal of saving and investing a portion of the province’s resource revenues in order to strengthen and diversify Alberta’s economy for current and future generations.

Smith said the fund started with around $12 billion worth of deposits, but provincial governments over the years have taken money out of the fund to pay for operating costs and other expenses.

She said her United Conservative Party’s commitment to keeping investment income in the fund has seen it grow to more than $20 billion in assets, and the fund is set to reach $25 billion by the end of this year.

“As it grows, it's really going to be able to sustain its own growth, and I've seen some projections that we could quite easily make it to $200 (billion) to $250 (billion) by 2050 just by keeping the investment income in the fund,” Smith said.

“That decision’s already been made, and if we can also have surpluses and we put a certain portion into savings, it'll just accelerate that growth.”

Smith said that when it comes to growing revenues in the province, Alberta has done well to attract diversified business investment with tax credits and incentives, which has led to significant increases in international and interprovincial migration.

“We want to make sure that it keeps going because as you attract businesses, you also attract the different supply chains to be able to support them, and you attract the workers, which generates additional personal income tax revenue,” she added.

“I think that we're finally beginning to see some important diversification in the economy.”  

Smith’s full interview on Taking Stock with Amanda Lang will air on Friday, March 15 at 6 p.m. on BNN Bloomberg, 9 p.m. on CP24 and 10:30 p.m. on CTV News Channel.