The News Rundown

Maxime Bernier forms the People’s Party of Canada

Bernier began by saying, “A new era begins in Canadian politics…” as he announced his new party’s name, The People’s Party of Canada
“Why this name? Because it is time that the government put the Canadian people first when they make decisions and policies. It is time to put power back into the people’s hands. For too long, Canadian politics has been hijacked by interest groups, cartels, lobbies, international organisations, corporate or union interests, and the interests of politicians and bureaucrats in Ottawa who are disconnected from ordinary citizens.”
The values of the party were put on display right away in the press conference: individual freedom, personal responsibility, fairness, and respect.
The knives for the new party and Bernier came out quickly:
CBC showcased a Facebook post from Bernier’s own personal page showing a comment by a random Facebook user (who may or may not even become associated with the People’s Party) that was saying defamatory things about immigrants. Guilt by association.
The Globe and Mail went with the headline: Maxime Bernier taps into immigration controversy as he launches People’s Party of Canada
Immigration will be an issue of course but as we’ve long been saying, before Bernier even, immigration was going to be a 2019 issue regardless of whether or not Bernier touched it and the media has already been painting those with legitimate concerns as racist.
Maclean’s is out with a piece that immediately says, “There’s a lot about Maxime Bernier’s new People’s Party of Canada that’s hard to take seriously”
The article makes the point that parties like the Liberals of the 1990s eventually embraced free trade and worked towards balanced budgets, not true of the Trudeau Liberals, but this means that’s one fewer difference between the Liberal Party of Canada generally and the Conservative Party of Canada.
This leads the author to assume that the new People’s Party of Canada will focus on identity politics. I.e. Migrants and Canadian Values and appealing to those who feel strongly on the subject.
The left on identity politics
The article ends with, “the messages [Bernier] tested in launching the People’s Party can only leave us hoping that next year’s federal election isn’t waged over the size of government or, far worse, the values of Canadians. Against those dispiriting possibilities, the prospect of an old-fashioned, superficial contest about the contrasting personas of the Tory and Liberal leaders looks positively reassuring.”
All we know at this point policy wise is that Bernier is deeply committed to doing away with supply management. Other policy points will be developed as the membership base grows.
Supply management/NAFTA failure good for Bernier. Trudeau wants to battle against Trump and a failed NAFTA would do let him do that through next year’s campaign. The Conservatives are behind in this race if they do not prevent Bernier from gaining the advantage on this file. Those who blame Trudeau for any failure of NAFTA if a deal is not reached will go to whoever has the most compelling anti-Trudeau platform. That could very well be Bernier.
Brian Mulroney spoke on the creation of this party saying, “At least in my time, I needed every vote that I could get, and I scurried for every vote that I could convince. And unless it’s changed, it’s probably still the same way. And so I’m not big on these splits.” He later added that Stephen Harper and Preston Manning’s involvement in the Reform Party in the 1990s was “all it took to elect the Liberals for 13 years.”
Canada’s hung parliament: CPC/PPC vs. LPC/NDP
Social Media Bernier vs. Scheer
The creation of this party shows a split within the Conservatives. It shows that Andrew Scheer’s leadership has not been able to deal with someone who had almost as many votes as him and perhaps that Bernier’s ideas were brushed aside too quickly within the party. Only time will tell if the People’s Party of Canada sees its membership grow.

Man charged with the murder of Marissa Shen

In the middle of a warm summer's evening in July 2017, BC residents were shocked to learn of the murder of Marrisa Shen, a 13 year old girl who was found in Burnaby Central Park near her home. RCMP searched and investigated "over 2000 persons of interest", and a breakthrough was found when on Monday September 10th this week, they arrested Ibrahim Ali, a Syrian national staying in Canada as a permanent resident, as a prime suspect in the case. Ali had arrived in Canada as a Syrian refugee given permanent residency just months before Shen's murder. While not proven in court (yet), it appears the evidence is against him. He appeared in court on Friday and his trial is set for October 12th, and while we don't know the outcome of that appearance, we do know that the media is up to their usual tricks of making assumptions and running with false facts to suit a narrative.
As is the case with a lot of high profile cases, the media has been trying to figure out the case itself, and try to figure out what exactly is to blame for this callous cold blooded murder. Since the breakthrough, we've seen numerous headlines almost making excuses or apologizing for the murderer, which is grotesquely inappropriate. CTV News ran with the headline "Accused killer of BC teen described as new Canadian, "normal guy". Aside from the fact that murdering anyone is not normal, this so called "normal guy" is not a new Canadian, he is still a Syrian national. After criticism, they changed it so that Ali was "new to Canada" as if that somehow excuses him from following our laws.
CTV also talked to a family friend, who was who "says he is shocked and shaken by the arrest. That friend described Ali as a “calm” and “respectful” man, adding that the suspect is a “normal guy. He doesn’t act weird. He doesn’t act like somebody who’s done something.”" However in that same article, we don't get family friends of Marrisa Shen to tell us about her. Instead the media has been talking to the Bowen Island community group and the Vancouver church who sponsored the Ali family to arrive in Canada, who released a statement saying "Our hearts go out to the Shen family who have no doubt been devastated by Marrisa’s death. Our prayers also to the Ali family. We know that like many refugee families, they have endured their own suffering and loss and that this tragedy is made all the more complex by the trials they have faced.”
CBC was little better, and ran with the headline "Man charged with murder of Marrisa Shen, 13, had no criminal record and was new to Canada". No, in a country as war torn as Syria, it would likely be very difficult to keep track of criminal records, and as he had just arrived in Canada, obviously he wouldn't have had a criminal record here! Notice how in both the CTV and CBC articles, as in other mainstream outlets, the accused Syrian refugee murderer is referred to as simply a "man" or a "normal guy" or simply by name. No mention of the fact that he was a Syrian refugee until you dig deeper into different articles.
Amid Ali's court appearance on Friday, there were protests outside the Vancouver courthouse, with most decrying Trudeau's immigration and refugee program. Signs were held such as "Law and Order", "Justice for All" and "All Canadians Are Equal" along with others slamming Trudeau such as "Where is Justin Trudeau's heart?" and "To Justin Trudeau: You are destroying Canada, Resign Now! We need a new leader to protect us". After the government's abysmal handling of the refugee and immigration and border crosser file, and the media's manipulative language describing the case, it's no wonder that people are upset and want change.
Supplementals:

“I inherited 27 guys and two women, which is ridiculous. We don’t believe in quotas but, by gosh, we need to do a better job of reflecting diversity by merit. I’ve been a bit obsessive about this, to be honest.” — National Post
After the leadership race ended last October a meeting was set between Chestermere-Rocky View MLA Leela Aheer and Jason Kenney. Her job was to recruit capable female candidates into the party.
The article says the UCP doesn’t see it this way but it’s “impossible to not see this as a reaction to the Alberta NDP and Justin Trudeau’s federal Liberals” Notley caucus features 25 women and 9 female cabinet members. Trudeau made news in 2015 offering up the reason for his balanced cabinet as “Because it’s 2015.”
When commenting on the article, NDP Status of Women Minister Danielle Larivee brought up the recent government bill that would create a 50m no protest zone around abortion clinics.
The NDP and Liberals do things for the sake of optics. We don’t know how many women the UCP will elect in 2019 and based on the history, their cabinet portfolios will probably chosen based on merit rather than quota.
Andrew Scheer’s House of Common Seating Plan

Candace Bergen
Lisa Raitt
Shannon Stubbs
Rachael Harder
Karen Vecchio
Alice Wong
Cathay Wagantall
Cathy Macleod

The party also has the support about the group “She Leads” which is an organization that supports conservative women in politics. It was started by former MP and interim leader of the Conservative Party, Rona Ambrose and Laureen Harper.
Examining the UCP nomination races that have concluded we see a number of prominent women who have won nominations:

Tracy Allard - Grand Prairie, a Tim Hortons franchise owner.
Tanya Fir - Calgary-Peigan, HR professional in the oil industry.
Sonya Savage - Calgary-North West, also from the oil industry.
Michaela Glasgow - Brooks-Medicine Hat, age 25, worked on Jason Kenney’s leadership campaign and for Conservative MP Rachael Harder.

Contrast this with the heavy union and public sector representation in the NDP
A good news story, focusing on what’s happening inside the UCP.
Media spin

The Firing Line

Premier Doug Ford to use notwithstanding clause to cut size of Toronto city council

Ontario Premier Doug Ford will invoke the constitutional notwithstanding clause to override a judge's decision that blocks his government from slashing the size of Toronto city council nearly in half. In an unprecedented and scathing decision, Ontario Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba ruled Monday that Ford's Progressive Conservative government "clearly crossed the line" with its Better Local Government Act, which aligns municipal ward boundaries with provincial ridings, cutting the potential number of councillors from 47 to 25 after the Oct. 22 election.
Justice Belobaba was also in the news last year when he quickly refused to freeze the $10.5-million federal government payout to Omar Khadr, at the request of the widow of the U.S. soldier Khadr is accused of killing in Afghanistan. He said there had been no evidence before him that Khadr intended to conceal his assets to avoid paying a massive award ordered against him by an American court.
Ford announced Monday that he would take the rare step of invoking Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Section 33 — known as the notwithstanding clause — allows premiers or prime ministers to override for a five-year period rulings on legislation that judges have determined would violate sections of the Charter.
But what exactly is the notwithstanding clause? The section reads as follows:
Section 33.
(1) Parliament or the legislature of a province may expressly declare in an Act of Parliament or of the legislature, as the case may be, that the Act or a provision thereof shall operate notwithstanding a provision included in section 2 or sections 7 to 15.
(2) An Act or a provision of an Act in respect of which a declaration made under this section is in effect shall have such operation as it would have but for the provision of this Charter referred to in the declaration.
(3) A declaration made under subsection (1) shall cease to have effect five years after it comes into force or on such earlier date as may be specified in the declaration.
(4) Parliament or the legislature of a province may re-enact a declaration made under subsection (1).
(5) Subsection (3) applies in respect of a re-enactment made under subsection (4).
So why do we have it? Well it all comes down to the patriation of the Canadian constitution in the early 1980s. The idea for the clause was proposed by then Alberta premier Peter Lougheed. The clause was a compromise reached during the debate over the new constitution in the early 1980s. Among the provinces' major complaints with the Charter was its effect of shifting power from elected officials to the judiciary, giving the courts the final word. Section 33 was intended to give provincial legislators more leverage to pass law. Then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau at first strongly objected to the clause, but eventually consented to its inclusion under pressure from the provincial premiers.
Then Justice Minister and later Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chrétien agreed to the notwithstanding clause in what was known as the Kitchen Accord. At the end of a conference on the constitution that was poised to end in deadlock, Jean Chrétien, the federal justice minister, as well as Roy McMurtry and Roy Romanow, both provincial ministers, met in a kitchen in the Government Conference Centre in Ottawa and sowed the seeds for a deal. This compromise ultimately caused two major changes to the constitution package: the first was that the Charter would include the "notwithstanding clause", and the second was an agreed-upon amending formula. They then worked through the night with consultations from different premiers, and agreement from almost everybody. However, they notably excluded René Lévesque, the premier of Quebec, in the negotiations. At any rate, he refused to agree to the deal, and ultimately the Quebec government declined to endorse the constitutional amendment. Chrétien would later say on the notwithstanding clause, "Canada probably wouldn't have had any Charter without it."
According to Chrétien, in 1992, Trudeau blamed him for the notwithstanding clause, saying "you gave them that". Chrétien replied, "Sorry, Pierre. I recommended it. You gave it."
It's interesting to note that despite its history, the creators of the clause, Chretien, Romanow, and McMurtry have hypocritically denounced Ford's usage of the notwithstanding clause.
There has also been an outcry against Ford's decision from people who don't fully understand what the notwithstanding clause is, what it's to be used for, or why it exists. Lots of people have asked the federal government to step in, but it's clearly not something that they can easily interfere with. Prime Minister Trudeau, speaking in Winnipeg Tuesday, declined to weigh in on the question of how big Toronto's city council should be. But he spoke of the important role the courts play in defending Canadians' rights. "I will trust that Ontarians will reflect on whether or not the provincial government made the right decision on overriding the Charter of Rights and Freedoms on this issue," he said.
"I think he did the right thing," said former B.C. premier Christy Clark in a panel segment on CBC News Network's Power & Politics. "I think it was an appropriate use of the power and I actually think it's a good thing for Canada because we are in a moment where Canadians are looking around and saying, 'Hey, why can't anything get done?' Well, Premier Ford has shown there is a way ... to get things done in spectacular fashion."
Former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall also agreed with Clark's assessment. "This is an important tool for premiers," said Wall. "Let's be very clear. Section 33 is part of the Constitution. And so, the availability of the notwithstanding clause to premiers is very much a part of the rule of law. It's also a part of a check-and-balance we have in terms of the judiciary and the elected legislatures and the Parliament of Canada."
Ontario NDP members were booted one by one out of the Ontario Legislature – starting with Leader Andrea Horwath – as the official opposition protested the government’s use of the notwithstanding clause in the Charter. Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark was drowned out by the desk-banging NDPers as he introduced Bill 31 Wednesday afternoon, the Efficient Local Government Act, to replace Bill 5 which was thrown out by the courts earlier this week.
So as we can see, using the notwithstanding clause is a politically expensive process, but it's a legal and entrenched part of our constitution, and it's perfectly acceptable to use. However, the media has twisted the facts and the history around to help the opposition demonize Ford's decision. I'm sure this isn't the end of this story, and we will have to keep a close eye on Canada's most populous province for more.
Supplementals:

Word of the Week

Permanent Resident - “Permanent residency in Canada is a status granting someone who is not a Canadian citizen the right to live and work in Canada without any time limit on their stay.”

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Show Data

Episode Title: Asking The Hard Questions

Teaser: Bernier’s new party is formed, a Syrian refugee is arrested for a Burnaby teenager’s murder, Jason Kenney strives for merit-based appointments, and the media has a narrative on all these stories. Also, we look at the history of the notwithstanding clause.

Recorded Date: September 15, 2018

Release Date: September 16, 2018

Duration: 1:00:45

Edit Notes: None

Podcast Summary Notes

Duration: XX:XX