Politics This Morning: Transport Minister in B.C. for cruise ship industry announcement; BoC adjusts QE program

Good Thursday morning, With Parliament wrapped for the summer, public health restrictions loosening as more and more Canadians receive their shots, and ongoing election speculation, ministers, MPs, and party leaders continue a busy week of public spending and policy announcements. Transport Minister Omar Alghabra is scheduled to make a 10:30 a.m. announcement related to Canada’s cruise ship industry in Victoria, B.C., at the Ogden Point Deep-Water Terminal. He’ll be joined by the province’s Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, Rob Fleming, who will also be making remarks. At 11 a.m., NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh will hold a media availability in London, Ont. to discuss his party’s jobs plan. At a press conference in Windsor, Ont. yesterday, Mr. Singh said the NDP is committed to creating one million jobs, as well improving worker benefits and investing in infrastructure to build more affordable housing and retrofit buildings, according to the CBC. Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet will be continuing his summer tour of Québec, and will be in the Capitale-Nationale region for one more day today capping off a three-day visit. Slightly more than half of Canadians say the Liberal government has done an effective job at managing the COVID-19 pandemic, according to The Globe and Mail, citing a Nanos Research poll conducted for the newspaper that also found 42 per cent of respondents saying the government has done a good job at managing the economy. On the government's relationship with the White House south of the border, 54 per cent of Canadians said the Liberals have done a good job, with 23 per cent saying the government has done a poor job. The Bank of Canada adjusted its quantitative easing program yesterday to a target pace of $2-billion per week—down from $3-billion—reflecting the Bank's confidence in Canada’s economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bank now expects GDP growth of around six per cent in 2021, slightly down from its previous forecast of 6.5 per cent. https://twitter.com/bankofcanada/status/1415371006957469698 Following the largest anti-government protests seen in decades in Cuba that saw thousands take to the streets on July 11 amid an ongoing economic crisis and a resurgence of COVID-19 cases, authorities have now restricted access to social media and messaging platforms, including Facebook and WhatsApp, according to CBC. In a July 14 statement, the NDP’s foreign affairs critic Jack Harris said his party affirmed their support for the fundamental rights of freedom of expression and assembly in Cuba, and renewed the NDP’s call to end the U.S. embargo of the Caribbean nation. “As a friend of both the U.S. and Cuba, Canada can and must play a more active role in putting the necessary pressure on the U.S. to finally end their sanctions on Cuba,” said Mr. Harris, who noted that he wrote a letter to Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne calling on the government to call on the U.S. to ease their embargo on Cuba and allow all medical supplies and humanitarian assistance into the country.” In other scheduled events, at 9 a.m. in Halifax, Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan will attend a public transit infrastructure event. Ms. Jordan will be joined by Nova Scotia Premier Iain Rankin, Halifax Mayor Mike Savage, as well as parliamentary secretary to the infrastructure minister Andy Fillmore, who is the MP for Halifax. Later today, at 1 p.m., Mr. Fillmore is scheduled to attend a virtual announcement on infrastructure in the Okanagan-Kootenay Region in B.C., and will be joined by the province’s Municipal Affairs Minister Josie Osborne, parliamentary secretary for rural development Roly Russell, Councillor of the Upper Similkameen Indian Band Mike Allison, Kaslo Mayor Suzan Hewat, and Kamloops city councillor Sadie Hunter. The Parliamentary Budget Officer will post a new report on its website at 9 a.m. entitled “Revenue Estimates of M-68: One-time Tax on Extreme Wealth.” According to the PBO, the report is in response to a request from Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith to estimate the revenues from implementing a one-time tax on extreme wealth outlined in Motion M-68, which was placed on notice on Feb. 11. In a March 29 contribution to the Toronto Star, Mr. Erskine-Smith wrote that the pandemic has stretched our fiscal capacity, and that a one-time tax on extreme wealth would be “fair, efficient and find broad public support.” Noting that the PBO, in a June 2020 report, found the top one per cent of families own 25.6 per cent of Canada’s wealth, or almost as much as the bottom 80 per cent combined, Mr. Erskine-Smith wrote the one-time tax would not be a permanent solution, and that a closer look at new tax measures on extreme wealth transfers and changes in the tax treatment of investment income would be needed for “more lasting action.” Also today, at 9 a.m. local time in Kamloops, B.C., Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc will present a report on the preliminary findings on the remains of 215 children on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. mlapointe@hilltimes.com The Hill Times

Politics This Morning

Politics This Morning: Transport Minister in B.C. for cruise ship industry announcement; BoC adjusts QE program

Plus, Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan will attend a public transit infrastructure event in Halifax and will be joined by Nova Scotia Premier Iain Rankin, Halifax Mayor Mike Savage, as well as Liberal MP Andy Fillmore.

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Politics This Morning

Politics This Morning: Transport Minister in B.C. for cruise ship industry announcement; BoC adjusts QE program

Plus, Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan will attend a public transit infrastructure event in Halifax and will be joined by Nova Scotia Premier Iain Rankin, Halifax Mayor Mike Savage, as well as Liberal MP Andy Fillmore.

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