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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is rejecting calls for his embattled Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister to resign over a social-media comment to former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould.
During a news conference on Friday, Mr. Trudeau said Carolyn Bennett’s inappropriate actions will create more work for her, but that she is committed to her files.
“What Minister Bennett did was wrong. It was hurtful and, of course, I am deeply disappointed,” the Prime Minister told a news conference, pressed on the issue, amidst news that 751 unmarked graves have been discovered in Saskatchewan near the site of a former residential school on the Cowessess First Nation.
Parliamentary reporter Kristy Kirkup reports on the controversy about Ms. Bennett here.
Feature writer Jana. G Pruden, Ms. Kirkup, B.C. bureau reporter Mike Hager and Calgary bureau reporter Carrie Tait report here on the situation at the Cowessess First Nation.
On Wednesday, Ms. Wilson-Raybould made a post on Twitter in which she commented on an announcement that a search with ground-penetrating radar had located the unmarked gravesites.
In it, she criticized “selfish jockeying for an election” by Mr. Trudeau, who is widely expected to precipitate a vote by the fall. On Thursday, Ms. Wilson-Raybould, now an Independent MP, made another Twitter post, this one containing a screenshot. The screenshot shows two text messages from Ms. Bennett to Ms. Wilson-Raybould. One message is a link to Ms. Wilson-Raybould’s earlier tweet, about the Saskatchewan discovery. The other is a single word: “Pension ?”
An MP with six years of service is eligible for their pension. Ms. Wilson-Raybould first became an MP for the Liberal party in 2015 and would have six years of service in October. If an election were held before then and she were to lose her seat, she would be unable to collect.
The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs has called for Ms. Bennett’s resignation, declaring in an open letter to the Minister that they are “deeply disturbed and disgusted by the extreme callousness, spite, and ignorance you have shown through the racist message” of the letter to Ms. Wilson-Raybould
“With a single word – “pension” – you not only decided to perpetuate a damaging racial stereotype, that Indigenous peoples are lazy and only financially motivated- but dismissed the pressing, overarching issue of residential schools, missing and murdered children, and Indigenous rights,” they wrote.
Of Ms. Bennett’s action, Mr. Trudeau said Friday that, “Mistakes like this are hurtful and nudge us in the wrong direction.”
He said the government and Canadians need to focus on the work required to end drinking water advisories, build more Indigenous housing, protect Indigenous kids, focus on economic opportunities for Indigenous communities, and settle land claims and treaties.
Mr. Trudeau said he had spoken to Ms. Bennett on Friday.
“I know how hard she has worked, and continues to work on this important file. I know her heart. I know the effort she has put in over years on this, and we both understand there is now even more work for her to do, and I know we will do it together.”
TODAY’S HEADLINES
It’s worth noting that the House of Commons is not now sitting. It is adjourned until Sept. 20, 2021 at 11 a.m. ET. That said, a widely expected federal election is likely to affect that scheduling. Although the Commons is not sitting, the Senate is. Senators are at work next Monday and Tuesday to work through legislation sent their way by the Commons.
MORE CANADA DAY CANCELLATIONS - Several New Brunswick communities are cancelling Canada Day celebrations this year in light of the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves at former residential schools in Saskatchewan and British Columbia. Meanwhile, in Manitoba, Premier Brian Pallister says, “We should celebrate [Canada] with its warts too” Details here, from Global News.
During his news conference in Ottawa, Mr. Trudeau said he expected Canadians to reflect on reconciliation during Canada Day, and how it needs to evolve rapidly. “I think this Canada Day, it will be a time of reflection on what we have achieved as a country, but what more we have to do,” he said. “Canada didn’t happen by accident and it won’t continue without effort.”
HATE LEGISLATION FALLS SHORT, ACTIVISTS SAY - New legislation on hate speech and hate crimes should make major online companies accountable for their role in the dissemination of illegal or unsavory material on their platforms, activists say.
PRIVACY COMMISSIONERS MAY PROBE FACIAL TECH - Facial recognition technology used by the governing Liberals to verify the identities of people voting in the party’s candidate nomination elections may be investigated by privacy commissioners at the federal and provincial levels.
N.S. TORY NO MORE - A prominent member of the Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative party has been dropped from the caucus after she posted an angry video on Facebook supporting a protest that closed the border between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
TROST WORKING ON POLITICAL COMEBACK - Former Conservative MP Brad Trost, who sought the party leadership in 2017, is seeking a return to elected politics, vying for the party nomination in a Saskatchewan riding. Details here. From CBC.
FORMER NEWFOUNDLAND POLITICIAN DIES - Andy Wells, a longtime politician in St. John’s who was known across Canada for his bombastic and sometimes caustic jousting with opponents, has died. Details here. From CBC.
PRIME MINISTER'S DAY
Private meetings. The Prime Minister addresses Canadians on the COVID-19 situation, followed by a media availability. Later, he participates with stakeholders from across the country in a roundtable on the Canada Disability Benefit.
LEADERS
Conservative Party Leader Erin O’Toole delivers remarks to events held by the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce and. separately, at a Mississauga Board of Trade event.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on how the Trudeau government appears to be mistaking itself for a U.S. presidential administration: “On June 2, the House of Commons ordered the Trudeau government to hand over unredacted documents related to those two scientists. The Trudeau government declined. So the House last week voted it in contempt of Parliament. Then, it ordered Public Health Agency of Canada president Iain Stewart to appear, with the records. He appeared, but without the documents, so Parliament found him in contempt. And on Wednesday, it was revealed that the Trudeau government is suing Speaker Anthony Rota, asking a court to block his order for the production of the documents. Politicians sniping at one another, and using whatever is at hand, is nothing new. But this is, at least in part, something different, and something more.”
John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail) on how Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s loyalties may be undercutting his bid for a majority government: “The Leger survey reports that 56 per cent of Canadians are satisfied with how the federal government has responded to the pandemic. So how can Canadians approve of the Liberals’ handling of the biggest crisis to hit this country in generations, while being lukewarm to the government over all? Perhaps it is because of things that happened outside the pandemic. For example: Mr. Trudeau was an ardent feminist, until the complaints of women in the military jeopardized his Defence Minister. Then the party rallied round Harjit Sajjan.”
Elizabeth Renzetti (The Globe and Mail) on how a cleanup of the military might facilitate more women joining: “And at this point it is a boys’ club. Only 16 per cent of CAF members are women, and it looks like the military is going to fail at achieving its stated goal of bringing that number to 25 per cent by 2026. The number of women in the military has grown by only 1.3 per cent in five years. I can’t say I blame women for not wanting to join this particular institution. Who’d want to be hired by a company when its headquarters were on fire? But if we accept for the moment that we need a military, then we need one that reflects the country it serves.) "
Konrad Yakabuski (The Globe and Mail) on U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris’s political growing pains: “There may be no way for Ms. Harris to come out of either of her big assignments looking good. Progressives want open borders; most Americans do not. Progressives want to lift all limits on voting; most Americans do not. But Ms. Harris’s dilemma has been compounded by what many experts boil down to her surprisingly poor communication skills.”
Randall Denley (The Ottawa Citizen) on Ontario Premier Doug Ford moving into election mode while the province remains in pandemic mode: “For Ford, a summer of spending promises and self-promotion is a return to normalcy. It’s what every incumbent government traditionally does in the year-long run-up to an election. Ford is moving past the pandemic. Too bad Ontarians aren’t being allowed to do the same.”
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