Politics This Morning: Trudeau faces calls from Conservatives to let top aide go over handling of military misconduct probe

Good Tuesday morning, Opposition Conservatives have set their sights on a new target, calling for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to fire his chief aide Katie Telford over his office's handling of an allegation against now-retired chief of defence staff Gen. Jonathan Vance. Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole said his party will be devoting its opposition day in the House today on a motion that pushes for her dismissal, arguing that Mr. Trudeau needs to "take responsibility for the actions within his own office." Mr. O'Toole accused Ms. Telford of setting up a "system to hide this from the prime minister and to make sure nothing was done." An effort to haul Ms. Telford in to testify before the Defence Committee over the steps the PMO took to ensure the allegation was investigated was a no-go after the meeting yesterday was cancelled abruptly, not long after Mr. O'Toole's presser. Even the motion does pass with opposition parties' support, it's non-binding. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh signalled that his party isn't looking to back the motion, saying Mr. Trudeau is ultimately responsible, per The Canadian Press. Canada's vaccine advisory committee—also known as NACI—issued fresh guidance on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, giving the OK to have the vaccine administered to adults 30 years and older. At the same time, the advice came with some caveats. The committee said it's up to Canadians to assess the risks in taking the vaccine, which has been linked to rare blood clots, and potentially contracting a severe form of COVID-19. It also added that the option of getting the one-dose vaccine is open to individuals who don't want to wait for an mRNA vaccine. That advice falls in line with what it's said about the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has also been connected to a condition known as vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia. But it's somewhat at odds with the message Mr. Trudeau and public health officials have been hammering for weeks, as they call on Canadians to take the first vaccine available to them. Still, it's unclear when the J&J doses will be distributed. Health Canada hit pause on a plan to expand inoculation to that vaccine Friday, pending further checks to ensure that the batch sent meets the regulator's "high standards for quality, safety and efficacy." The production facility, Emergent BioSolutions, they came from has been cited in the past for cross-contamination issues; vaccine doses had to be tossed out. Dr. Timothy Evans, who heads the feds’ COVID-19 Immunity Task Force, told the House Health Committee that Canada is still far from reaching herd immunity, pegging the figure to be in the ballpark of 60 to 65 per cent. Dr. Supriya Sharma of Health Canada previously said that with the introduction of more contagious variants, Canada's goal could climb up to 90 per cent. As of Monday, more than 33 per cent of Canadians had gotten their first shot of the vaccine. In other news, a new rapid-testing program for Centre Block rehabilitation-project workers has been set up, as of April 29, after a 10-person outbreak on site earlier that month. And, according to Public Services and Procurement Canada, no more construction workers on the parliamentary precinct have tested positive since the 71-person unit was sent home for testing and self-isolation that same day in April. There are 13 House committees scheduled to meet. Assistant auditor general Martin Dompierre is due to appear before the Public Accounts Committee to field questions on the office's audit of the Canada Child Benefit, which found that the Canada Revenue Agency was sending payments using "outdated" information and that it operated on the assumption that the primary caregiver in a given household is a woman. The Indigenous Affairs Committee, meanwhile, is scheduled to hold a hearing on food security in northern communities at 11 a.m. The lineup of witnesses includes reps from Arctic Co-operatives Limited and Qajuqturvik Community Food Centre. At 6:30 p.m., the Subcommittee on International Human Rights is set to hear from a handful of witnesses, including reps from Alliance Canada Hong Kong and Hong Kong Watch for a briefing on the situation in Hong Kong. The second half of the meeting is slated to focus on the human rights situation in the Philippines, with witnesses to include a representative from Mining Watch Canada and journalist Maria Ressa, who has was retroactively convicted of "cyber libel,"a charge that she and other critics of the Duterte government argue is politically motivated. The PM's itinerary includes an 11:30 a.m. presser alongside Dr. Theresa Tam, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Procurement Minister Anita Anand, among others. Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly attributed the statement that Canada's herd immunity goal could climb as high as 90 per cent due to variants to Dr. Evans. In fact, it was Health Canada's Supriya Sharma. The Hill Times

Politics This Morning

Politics This Morning: Trudeau faces calls from Conservatives to let top aide go over handling of military misconduct probe

Plus, NACI gives the OK to have the Johnson and Johnson vaccine administered to adults 30 years and older.

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Politics This Morning

Politics This Morning: Trudeau faces calls from Conservatives to let top aide go over handling of military misconduct probe

Plus, NACI gives the OK to have the Johnson and Johnson vaccine administered to adults 30 years and older.

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