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Exactly 37 days after a 36-day snap election that gave his government a second round in a minority government, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will finally unveil its new range of front benches.
But with two days until the official reveal at Rideau Hall, there are surprisingly few insider predictions of this lineup.
“This Prime Minister is doing his best, in terms of mixing, when he adapts to big events beyond the control of his government,” said Susan Delacourt of the Star. observed over the weekend. “The results are more mixed, say, when he tries to realign the forces within it.
“So it’s worth looking at where Trudeau set his goals with his new post-election team of ministers – outward or inward. Will it be a cabinet designed to tackle big things like climate change, Indigenous reconciliation and the shape of the post-pandemic future? Or will it be primarily a human resource exercise of promotions, demotions and lateral moves? “
There are, of course, a few points of general consensus among those who engage in the age-old tradition of pre-reshuffle speculation.
For starters, it seems it’s time (or well past, many would say) to move Harjit sajjan outside Defense, given how poorly he has handled the ongoing controversy over sexual misconduct in the military, particularly complaints against high-ranking officers.
Trudeau’s self-proclaimed gender parity rule also means he will have to replace the four female ministers who are no longer in his cabinet.
Beyond that, we’ll likely have to wait until Tuesday – or at least Monday night – to get the full Trudeau 3.0 team rundown.
Mandatory vaccination of MPs puts O’Toole on the defensive
Meanwhile, despite his constant demand for regular parliamentary programming to resume early, it is still unclear whether Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole and his party are ready to comply with the mandatory vaccination order issued by the multi-party Board of Internal Economy (BOIE) earlier this month.
More recently, O’Toole sent Trudeau a letter which, like the Globe reports, “Lists the supports related to the pandemic, the recent trend of high inflation, concerns related to the global supply chain and the government’s approach to the budget deficit as issues that should be urgently discussed by MPs in Ottawa â€.
Two days after O’Toole Recount TV Ontario host Steve Paikin, his party will ‘respect’ the ruling – which would require anyone entering the House of Commons to be ‘fully vaccinated’ except those with medical exemption – his office publish a statement affirming that, although they “respect that the (BOIE) has the competence to manage the parliamentary precinct, (they) do not accept that he (she) has the competence to infringe on the right of a member to take (his) seat) “.
As world news reported last week, it’s not even clear whether O’Toole or his team “know exactly which MPs have chosen not to be vaccinated, or precisely how many have not been vaccinated.” Indeed, “some MPs categorically refused to tell the party leadership one way or another during the recent federal election campaign,” while the party “refused – both during the election and after – to publicly disclose how many candidates and MPs refuse to be vaccinated. “
This policy “does (of the Conservative Party) something aberrant in the Canadian political sphere”, according to the Canadian Press.
“Most federal and provincial parties are open about the immunization status of their members, even though not all legislatures have adopted a rule requiring members to be fully immunized,†said CP.
“The most recent analysis by The Canadian Press found that at least 80 Conservative MPs are fully vaccinated, while two said they could not be vaccinated for medical reasons. Two others refused to disclose their status on principle, and the others did not respond.
To further complicate the debate for O’Toole, his party remains adamantly opposed to any return to the hybrid sitting protocols developed during the pandemic, which allowed MPs to participate in most House deliberations via video, and even vote. using a personalized phone application. .
Barring another wave of lockdowns, the House is unlikely to have to revert to virtual meetings, but allowing Members to exercise their privilege via webcam would seem like a reasonable workaround for those unwilling or unable to not get vaccinated. Yet the Conservatives – the only caucus opposed to the mandate – have repeatedly rejected such a model.
Given this confusion, O’Toole and his staff might be quietly relieved to have a few more weeks to take a stance on mandatory vaccines that doesn’t threaten to put them out of the game with their caucuses or colleagues in the House of Commons. – or, just as crucially, Canadians in general, who polls strongly support such measures.
Also on the capital’s calendar this week:
For a second consecutive week, NDP MP Charlie Angus go back to the police station. This time, it highlights what the opinion calls “further evidence of a massive miscarriage of justice” in the ongoing legal battles of former students of Sainte-Anne Indian Residential School in Fort Albany, Ontario. The great deputy chiefs of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation and Mushkegowuk Council, along with the survivors of St. Anne, will join Angus in the West Block press room, the advisory said. (Monday AM)
Even though the inflation rate hit 4.4 percent last month in what The Canadian Press Remarks was “the fastest annual pace since February 2003”, there is still no sign that the Bank of Canada will raise interest rates when it releases its decision on the overnight rate later this week.
Just last week Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem called the latest trends “transient” and suggested that “rate adjustments would only be stimulated by longer-term pressures,” as CP pointed out. Even so, it is safe to assume he will be asked whether the freeze imposed by the pandemic should be lifted before the start of mid-2022 (Wednesday morning).
Ultimately, Governor General Mary May Simon receives the “first symbolic poppy†of the National Poppy Campaign on Monday. Dominion President of the Royal Canadian Legion, Bruce Julian will present it to her at a morning ceremony at Rideau Hall, while her husband, Whit Grant Fraser, gets his own poppy from Larry Murray, Grand President of the Royal Canadian Legion. (Monday AM)
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