It’s been a rough start to Justin Trudeau’s hopes for a majority in Canada’s snap election. With his poll lead falling and criticisms rife over his handling of the pandemic and the evacuation of Afghanistan, the liberal golden boy really needed a boost this week to re-energise his campaign. Unfortunately for him, his Minister for Women and Gender Equality Maryam Monsef opened her mouth this afternoon:
“I want to take this opportunity to speak to our brothers, the Taliban. We call on you to ensure the safe and secure passage of any individual in Afghanistan out of the country.”
This is the same Maryam Monsef who was proudly touted as Canada’s first Afghanistan-born minister, only to later concede she was actually born in Iran. Just under a month ’till election day…
In response to today’s doomsday climate report, Boris claims that “the UK is leading the way, decarbonising our economy faster than any country in the G20 over the last two decades.” The UK now has the second-lowest CO2 emissions per capita in the G7. Only nuclear energy powered France has lower emissions. Britain’s doing far better than most when it comes to tackling climate change and reducing carbon emissions:
Canada, on the other hand, has the highest levels of carbon dioxide emissions per capita out of the entire G20 – pumping out more than triple that of the UK. Liberal golden boy Trudeau’s halo is tarnished by emissions…
China makes up the largest share of world’s carbon emissions at 29.1% followed by the US and then India – shares which are primarily a function of their population sizes. However, is it any wonder that developing country India is reluctant to commit to net zero, especially when its emissions are one tenth per capita that of Canada’s…
While jittery wifi and accidental mutings have been the worst Pandemic problems most MPs have dealt with, one member recently made much more of an appearance than intended during a recent question time session. Wandering onto screen totally starkers after a supposed jog, the Tory whip raised a point of order, reminding everyone that suits and ties are compulsory. Sadly for the Westminster press gagging for a transgression like this, the embarrassing scenes went down in Canada…
Responding to the point of order, the Speaker claimed he’d “missed that” though technicians confirmed the event had happened. The MP responsible, Will Amos, subsequently tweeted an apology:
I made a really unfortunate mistake today & obviously I’m embarrassed by it. My camera was accidentally left on as I changed into work clothes after going for a jog. I sincerely apologize to all my colleagues in the House. It was an honest mistake + it won’t happen again.
— William Amos (@WillAAmos) April 14, 2021
When elected, Trudeau promised his government would improve “openness and transparency” – this may be too far…
There’s uproar in Canada over British independent MP Jeremy Corbyn being invited to speak to the country’s New Democratic Party. Two prominent Jewish advocacy groups have made headlines across the pond, condemning the event, which would see NDP MP Niki Ashton in conversation with Corbyn. Shimon Fogel, who heads Canada’s Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs has accused a small group within the New Democrats of undermining party leadership:
“Jeremy Corbyn is toxic… It is staggering that given the litany of catastrophic, consequential issues before us, including the pandemic, that this is where some in the NDP want to spend the party’s capital.”
Meanwhile the Director of the Broadbent Institute – a progressive think tank which shares links with the New Democratic Party – shared the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s report on Corbyn’s party’s handling of anti-Semitism earlier this week, saying:
“This is not the sort of person that should headline a progressive fundraiser or occupy the time of Canadian progressive leaders”
Toxic toxic…
A week ago, Remainers were performatively gleeful over reports from the Independent and others that Justin Trudeau had poured cold water over a UK-Canada trade deal ahead of December 31st, suggesting “London doesn’t have “the bandwidth” to get it done on time.” They’ll be crestfallen, therefore, to read the news on Bloomberg today that the UK and Canada are, in fact, on the “brink of signing a new trade agreement to replace the existing deal Britain has through European Union membership.” Remainers may have preferred the gloomy news – unfortunately it just wasn’t true-deau…
Steve Baker raised the good news during questions in the Commons this morning, in which Liz Truss said she hopes that “in the future, as Canada is a member of the TPP… we will be able to go much further, and build a much deeper relationship with Canada” than the EU has. More project fear claims falling away…
The Canadian Conservative party concluded their post-election leadership race this morning with the victory of right-winger Erin O’Toole. With Trudeau failing to secure a majority in the 2019 Canadian Federal Election, and coming behind the Tories in terms of vote share, O’Toole could be mere months off forming the next majority should Trudeau’s precarious position falter. The news exciting Tories across the pond this morning is Erin O’Toole’s long-standing support for a CANZUK trade, military and security deal between Canada, the UK, New Zealand and Australia, “allowing free trade amongst our allies, amongst free countries”. Bring it on, Justin…
