Politics This Morning: Another new No. 2 at Environment Canada

Good Wednesday morning, Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU should be home safe and sound by the time you read this. Unfortunately he’s heading out of the frying pan of his troubled India trip and into the fire that is the Liberal caucus retreat in London. The Liberals are trailing badly in the polls. Many current Liberal MPs aspire to be future Liberal MPs, and they aren’t happy, as documented by The Hill Times’ ABBAS RANA and the CBC’s OLIVIA STEFANOVICH. Trudeau is positioning himself squarely in front of the problem today. He's scheduled to visit what the PMO is calling an "affordable housing development site" in London shortly after noon, along with Housing Minister SEAN FRASER, then make "a housing announcement." That's on the itinerary before he gets to the caucus retreat; if he hits the right notes, perhaps it will still some of the wagging tongues. At the moment, things are looking up for the opposition Conservatives, who appear ready to cash in on the “time-for-a-change” public atmosphere when the next election is held. Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE is in British Columbia this week. Today he’s scheduled to appear at “meet-and-greet” events for members of the local Jewish and Chinese communities in Vancouver and nearby Richmond. The Conservative Party website also lists a “protect our natural health products” town hall meeting scheduled in the same room of the same building as the Chinese community meet and greet, but a few hours earlier. Poilievre’s office did not respond yesterday when asked whether he would be attending that event. Enthusiasm for natural health products is a sweet spot for Poilievre’s team, and in Richmond in particular. The push and pull over the extent to which these products are legitimate and/or should be subject to strict government supervision has long been a Liberal-Conservative wedge issue: for example, here’s the Harper government bragging about easing barriers to their proliferation in 2013; the Trudeau government clamping down earlier this year; and Poilievre promising to “put an end to Trudeau’s attack on our natural health products” in a video posted online this week. Natural health products are also woven into Chinese culture, and nearly half of Richmond's residents identify as ethnically Chinese. Add in a dash of vaccine hesitancy and some talk about “gatekeepers” and you have the recipe for a successful event. New DM at Environment Canada The government has installed a new top bureaucrat at Environment and Climate Change Canada. The PMO announced yesterday that JEAN-FRANÇOIS TREMBLAY would become the new deputy minister in the department beginning on Sept. 18. Tremblay will become the third top public servant this year to oversee one of the Liberal government’s priority departments. Tremblay is currently the DM at Employment and Social Development. He will replace CHRIS FORBES, who recently left to helm Finance Canada. Forbes had taken over from CHRISTINE HOGAN in February following her retirement. PAUL THOMPSON, currently the DM at Public Services and Procurement, will take Tremblay’s place at ESDC, according to the PMO. Senators talk seals in St. John’s Members of the Senate Fisheries and Oceans Committee will hold back-to-back public meetings at a hotel in St. John’s, N.L., today. The group has been in Newfoundland since the beginning of the week, meeting with businesses and interest groups, presenting to students, and generally plotting the demise of large numbers of seals. Minister Diane Lebouthillier was shuffled into the Fisheries and Oceans portfolio in July. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade The committee has been studying the growing population of seals around parts of Atlantic Canada, and their impact on vulnerable fish populations, for nearly a year now. A House committee has already done likewise. You can get up to speed by perusing some of PTM's and The Hill Times’ previous coverage of the issue here, here, and here. PTM got on the phone with Conservative Senator FABIAN MANNING yesterday. Manning chairs the committee. He said he wants the government to get more involved in sorting out what he sees as a problem for the Atlantic fisheries, including by finding a way to bolster markets abroad and at home for seal products. Many of those international markets, including the U.S. and EU, have been closed in response to public opposition to the seal hunt. “Sometimes you need to see things to really put your finger on the pulse,” said Manning, when asked why the committee travelled to Newfoundland. Some of the decisions about sealing and fisheries are being made by people in government who “haven’t seen a lot of water in their lives,” said Manning, who represents Newfoundland and Labrador in the Senate and previously served as a municipal councilor, MLA, and MP in the province. Manning said that the committee may end up asking the Senate to extend its deadline for the study beyond the end of this year, as it has about 20 more witnesses it would like to interview once the Senate returns for the fall. What’s the cabinet up to? Attending the caucus retreat in London, mostly. But Labour Minister SEAMUS O’REGAN will step out as far as London’s Western University today to visit its Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children and take questions from any attending press. What else is happening today? The Institute of Public Administration of Canada is holding its annual conference at the downtown Delta Hotel in Ottawa today. Housing, artificial intelligence, and immigration are among the topics up for discussion, and U.S. Ambassador DAVID COHEN is on the speaking list of the three-day conference. You can find the details here. NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH is in Moncton, N.B. today, where he'll take part in a series of public and private events and meetings. PTM’s people New Democrat MP RICHARD CANNINGS won’t be running for re-election, he announced on his website yesterday. Cannings’ release said that he “looked forward to sharing his time with the many non-profits he has worked with, opportunities to reconnect with the region full-time, and time with family, including new grandchildren.” NDP MP Richard Cannings, left, pictured with Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and former NDP MP Wayne Stetski. Cannings announced yesterday that he won't run for re-election. The Hill Times photograph by Cynthia Münster Cannings has represented South Okanagan-West Kootenay, a riding in the southern B.C. interior, since 2015. He bested Conservative runner-up HELENA KONANZ in the last election by about 4,000 votes, and six percentage points. In the news NEIL MOSS digs into the downturn in Canada-India relations. Moss also explored how Conservative Party politics square with attempts to change the culture of Canada’s Armed Forces. Abbas Rana and MIKE LAPOINTE took a broader look at where Pierre Poilievre stands after his first year as party leader. You can find their story here. In case you missed it Parliamentary Budget Officer YVES GIROUX issued a report yesterday on the government’s subsidy deals with automakers Stellantis and Volkswagen. The PBO found that it would probably take 20 years for the federal and Ontario governments to be paid back for the subsidies through tax revenue, significantly longer than the five year timeline touted by the feds for the Volkswagen deal. You can read the report here. Commissioner of Canada Elections CAROLINE SIMARD issued her annual report for the year 2022 yesterday. You can find it here. Andrea Colasanti wins Tuesday’s Beautiful Book Give-Away, Terry & Me: The Inside Story of Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope ANDREA COLASANTI is this week’s winner of our Beautiful Book Give-Away, Terry & Me: The Inside Story of Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope, by BILL VIGARS with IAN HARVEY, published by Sutherland House. Colasanti’s name was drawn for correctly answering that Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope run ended in Thunder Bay, Ont., in 1980. A shout-out to everyone else who took part: LORIN MACDONALD, MICHAEL KASZOROWSKI, PAUL LANSBERGEN, ALLAN MURPHY, DON MOORE, ALYSON FAIR, GRAEME STEWART, and RON COLUCCI. Keep an eye peeled for next week’s contest! The Hill Times

Politics This Morning

Politics This Morning: Another new No. 2 at Environment Canada

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Politics This Morning

Politics This Morning: Another new No. 2 at Environment Canada

Plus, Grits gather for the second day of their caucus retreat.

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