Politics This Morning: Seal deals

Good Friday morning, Here's what's ahead in today's Politics This Morning: The House Health Committee’s got a deadline to meet today. The immigration minister headlines a fundraising breakfast in a Montreal borough. The government will sing the praises of a company that reuses plastic. But also, it makes new plastic. But, it calls it "virgin resin" instead. Senate to feds: Kill more seals! We’ve had a war on drugs, and a war on terror. It’s past time for a war on seals. Don’t let their big, adorable eyes, or dog-like behaviours fool you: seals are killers, always lurking, ready to devour fish that could instead be heading to a supermarket near you. So says the Senate Fisheries and Oceans Committee, anyway. It issued a report yesterday entitled (yes, really) Sealing the Future: A Call to Action. The report is the product of what surely must be one of the most exhaustive studies in the history of Senate committees. The group devoted no fewer than 27 meetings over 18 months to the topic of troublesome seals. No stone was left unturned. The committee didn’t limit its investigation to the impact that swarms of seals were having on Canada’s fisheries. They heard about how the Russians were using the seal hunt to “disparage Canada’s environmental reputation and divide our society.” How Senators really ought to feel free to wear sealskin ties to public events. That killing seals was “necessary to protect our oceans,” and the prey species within them. (They also heard that the benefits of seals and other pinnipeds to ecosystem health “appear to outweigh their perceived harm,” and that seals are not the “root of the problem” plaguing Canada’s fisheries.) The war on seals should be a total war, according to the committee. That means more than just killing loads of seals—the government must also go after charities that “produce or promote misinformation” about the seal hunt; launch a “national education campaign” about the dangers of seals, and the benefits of hunting them; and pressure other countries to drop their ban on importing Canadian seal products. It also recommended that the government establish a “Seal Studies Centre of Excellence.” There is more than a whiff of absurdity about all of this, which may be why the committee chose to work puns into both the title of its report and the press release announcing its publication (which called on the feds to “seal deals” for new pelt markets). Yet, there is a reason that Senators devoted so much time to this issue, as did their counterpart committee in the House, and then-fisheries minister JOYCE MURRAY when she held a national Seal Summit in 2022. It is a bedeviling political and policy problem: depleted fish stocks on which fishermen depend just won’t recover, and a once-vibrant seal product export market is hemmed in by trade blockades. Meanwhile, seal colonies are thriving, and the government is—the Senate report says— “unable or unwilling to make any conclusions about the effects of seals on fisheries,” in effect telling fishermen (and women) on the coasts to disbelieve their eyes. The Hill Times has covered this issue before, including in Politics This Morning (here and here) and on an episode of our weekly podcast, The Hot Room. Will the government heed the Senate’s advice, and start a crack down (club down) on seals and their animal-welfare allies? Time will tell: the committee has requested an update from the government on its progress implementing the report in six months time. PBO reports on Pate’s prison bill Speaking of Senators, one of them will find out this morning how much her bill might cost the government. KIM PATE is behind Bill S-230, which proposes a series of changes to the way that prisons and courts handle inmates. That includes limiting incarceration in “structured intervention units”—previously known as solitary confinement cells—to 48 hours absent a court order, and requiring that inmates with serious mental health disorders be transferred to a hospital, among other things. Parliamentary Budget Officer YVES GIROUX will issue a report this morning that will estimate how much implementing the conditions in that bill might cost the federal government, which of course runs federal prisons. You’ll be able to find that report here at 9 a.m. In the news The Conservatives want the Liberals to release details of purchasing contracts the government says it doesn't actually have. IREM KOCA explains. Meanwhile, the Conservatives successfully rallied the House Government Operations and Estimates Committee to recall Canada's chief technology officer MINH DOAN to testify for a third time on the ArriveCan app. Sorry—the Conservatives might not understand that sentence unless we write "ArriveScam." Koca has that story, too. IAN CAMPBELL reports on the varied responses to the B.C. ruling that federal political parties should be held to the province's more stringent privacy laws. In Parliament The House will pick up debate of Independent Senator RATNA OMIDVAR’s Senate public bill S-216, the Effective and Accountable Charities Act. It’s being sponsored in the House by Conservative MP PHILIP LAWRENCE. The last time the House debated this bill was in May 2022, when MPs from the Conservative Party, the Bloc Québécois, and NDP spoke in support of it. The Liberals, via KEVIN LAMOUREUX, said they were already addressing the issue in their budget bill at the time. Basically, the bill would amend the Income Tax Act to allow for charities to provide funding to their partners, including not for profits, civil society groups, or other social organizations without then requiring the charities to exercise “direction and control” over those groups and the provided funding. In December 2021, when she tabled the bill in the Senate, Omidvar penned a column in The Hill Times explaining more. In committee The government is pushing the House Health Committee to its limits with back-to-back five-hour meetings, the first of which took place yesterday, and the second is happening today at 12:00 p.m. until 5 p.m. (It’s the only committee meeting scheduled for today.) Yesterday during its first marathon meeting, Liberal committee chair SEAN CASEY decried the lack of coffee after only one hour of meeting time. The marathon meetings come as a result of the government’s push to get its pharmacare legislation through before the summer break using time allocation. The government has forced the committee to speed through its review of Bill C-64, imposing a deadline of 4 p.m. today for committee members to submit any amendments. The time allocation motion also stipulates that the committee begin and end its clause-by-clause consideration of the bill on Monday afternoon, though no such meeting is on the agenda just yet. After that, the bill will go back to the House, where debate at report stage will be limited to five hours, and debate at third reading will be limited to one sitting day. Yesterday, Health Minister MARK HOLLAND appeared for more than one hour before the House Health Committee as one of 14 witnesses the group heard from over the course of five hours. Also appearing last night was Parliamentary Budget Officer YVES GIROUX. Things got heated between Holland and Conservative MP STEPHEN ELLIS, his party’s health critic, as the two repeatedly spoke over one another, prompting committee chair Casey to conclude they both were breaking the rules. One exchange went like this: Holland: “You seem to be lost in some kind of partisan, like, weird thing that you’re doing … Do you have a point?” Ellis: “I have lots of points. Let’s start with the first point: you have no idea what you’re talking about.” Health Minister Mark Holland. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade Despite the insults, the general shape of the debate mimicked previous partisan discussions: The NDP are thrilled with the legislation, and make reference to TOMMY DOUGLAS—the founding father of medicare—whenever possible. The Conservatives are not on board, and are concerned this legislation will cause employers to dispose of private insurance plans for their employees, as well as asking the government whether this was something the provinces of Saskatchewan or Alberta actually want. But at one point, Ellis asked Holland why one diabetes drug had been excluded from the list. This question had the unintended effect of Holland responding he'd gladly take suggestions on expanding the list. He also said the list as it currently stands can only be added to, and he expects it will be added to before it passes into law. The Bloc Québécois are upset because Quebec already has its own public drug coverage system, so why should Quebeckers have to pay federal tax for a program they don’t need? For what it’s worth, Holland says private insurance plans being made available to employees won’t be affected by the pharmacare bill, because employers cannot offer coverage to their employees “à la carte.” This does raise the question of what would happen if the plan were to grow into something more comprehensive. As for Quebec, it’s true it already has a public drug plan in place. It’s mandatory for residents of that province to have prescription drug insurance, but residents who do not have access to a private insurance plan, and/or are seniors, must register for the provincial plan, which covers their drug costs. At today’s meeting, the committee will hear from academics, association leaders, and other experts comprising another 14 witnesses. Keep up with all House committees here. There are no Senate committee meetings today. What’s the cabinet up to? Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is in Halifax today, where at 2 p.m. ADT he will make a health-care announcement. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND is at the meeting of the G7 finance ministers and central bank governors in Stresa, Italy, until May 25. For those who aren’t familiar with Stresa: it’s an incredibly picturesque tiny resort town on a lake north of Milan. Perfect fodder for the anti-globalist elite crowd, we’d presume. Immigration Minister MARC MILLER is headlining a $300 breakfast fundraiser this morning at the Punjab Canteen in Lasalle, Que. The breakfast, which runs from 8-9 a.m., is being put on by the Brossard-Saint-Lambert Liberal riding association in support of its MP ALEXANDRA MENDÈS. Immigration Minister Marc Miller. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia Tourism Minister SORAYA MARTINEZ FERRADA is speaking at the Hotel Association of Canada’s annual conference at 8:30 a.m. in Montreal. The Minister for PrairiesCan DAN VANDAL is in Winnipeg, where at 10 a.m. CDT he will highlight federal funding in support of a First Nations-led urban development project. Sport Minister CARLA QUALTROUGH and Indigenous Services Minister PATTY HAJDU are highlighting the government’s pharmacare plan in Surrey, B.C., at 10:45 a.m. PDT. International Development Minister AHMED HUSSEN and Small Business Minister RECHIE VALDEZ are also talking pharmacare in London, Ont., at 11:30 a.m. EDT. Agriculture Minister LAWRENCE MACAULAY is in his home province of P.E.I. to make an infrastructure announcement at 1:30 p.m. ADT. Canadian Heritage Minister PASCALE ST-ONGE is in Bromont, Que., to speak at a 2:30 p.m. EDT press conference about Exxel Polymers Inc., a company that reuses plastic materials and creates “virgin resin,” which just means … new resin? As in, the stuff made from crude oil. For the record, resin is plastic, so the company reuses plastic materials while creating new plastic. Plastic neutral? What else is happening today? NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH is in Winnipeg to attend a Pride flag raising ceremony with the party’s recently nominated candidate for Elmwood-Transcona LEILA DANCE, and the Manitoba Federation of Labour at 10:15 a.m. CDT. At 1 p.m. EDT, Singh will give a virtual speech in the House of Commons about the government’s anti-scab legislation. Green Leader ELIZABETH MAY will attend Parliament before travelling to Toronto for her party’s nomination meeting for the byelection in Toronto-St. Paul’s. The Casa Foundation for International Development is hosting a panel discussion to mark Africa Day 2024, which is taking place on Saturday, May 25. At 9 a.m. EDT, the foundation hosts government officials, diplomats, and industry experts for a panel discussion on “celebrating excellence in the people of African descent.” That’s at the Sir John A. Macdonald building on Wellington Street. Details here. In case you missed it Immigration Minister Miller tabled Bill C-71 yesterday, which would amend the Citizenship Act to provide Canadian citizenship to babies born outside of the country to a Canadian parent. It’s a reversal of a 2009 STEPHEN HARPER government amendment which was responsible for creating what became known as “Lost Canadians”—children who lost the right to citizenship-by-descent. The government bill will also retroactively restore citizenship to those “Lost Canadians.” StatsCan corner Remember CERB? It's becoming a distant memory, but yesterday, Statistics Canada released a report yesterday on how that government pandemic-time program—the Canada Emergency Response Benefit—affected racialized workers. Those $2,000 income replacement payments issued by the feds every two weeks during the worst of the COVID-19 lockdowns "made an important contribution to closing equity gaps" between racialized and white Canadians—especially for women of colour, StatsCan concluded. StatsCan does not include Indigenous people in its definition of "racialized" or "non-racialized" people. According to StatsCan, racialized people were more likely to receive CERB because they are more likely to work the jobs that were most heavily affected by the lockdowns, including the food and tourism sectors. While workers overall still experienced a loss of income during the COVID-19 lockdowns, CERB substituted the lost income of many racialized people. As a result, when income and CERB were added together, the income gap between racialized Canadians and white Canadians was 11 per cent—just one per cent more than the pre-pandemic income gap in 2019. Without CERB, that gap would have increased to 16 per cent. Hey there, regular Politics This Morning reader. We appreciate your feedback. Let us know what you think by emailing us at pmazereeuw@hilltimes.com or cnash@hilltimes.com. The Hill Times

Politics This Morning

Politics This Morning: Seal deals

Plus, the House Health Committee's mandated marathon.

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Politics This Morning

Politics This Morning: Seal deals

Plus, the House Health Committee's mandated marathon.

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