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After a year of considering the sweeping recommendations called for in the Emergencies Act inquiry, the government says it needs more time to decide whether to make the suggested changes to the powerful and controversial legislation.
On Wednesday, Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc released the government’s response to the 56 recommendations made by inquiry commissioner, Justice Paul Rouleau. But he stayed mum on whether the government would act on many of the key recommendations.
LeBlanc said his government will first consult with the provinces and territories, Indigenous groups, stakeholders, civil society and others. A press release from his office said more details on when that process will start will be released in “due time.”
“We do need more time because it’s complicated,” LeBlanc told reporters.
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TODAY'S HEADLINES
Bank of Canada keeps key interest rate at 5% for fifth consecutive time: The central bank offered few hints about the timing of future rate cuts. Bank of Canada officials say that further rate increases are unlikely, but they’re not yet willing to contemplate rate cuts until core inflation measures decline further.
A blocked exit and barrage of bullets: Video shows B.C. Sikh leader’s final moments: Surveillance footage shows the fatal ambush of Hardeep Singh Nijjar last June was over in less than two minutes. Steven Chase and Robert Fife report on the ambush that began in a Surrey, B.C., parking lot with a barrage of bullets. Ottawa has blamed the killing on India.
More small towns in Canada will be able to choose which immigrants can settle, minister says: Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced plans to make permanent a pilot program that allows local people in small towns and rural areas to have a say in who can settle there. Marie Woolf reports.
Ukraine holds the line with little hope and less ammo: The Feb. 17 fall of Avdiivka – a city Ukrainian troops proudly referred to as a “fortress” – has been followed by a slow but steady Russian advance west. Several nearby villages have fallen over the past three weeks, as Russian forces slowly push down the artillery-scarred road from Avdiivka to Pokrovsk, a city that has been a key Ukrainian supply and transit hub since the start of the war. Mark MacKinnon reports from Ukraine.
Nikki Haley ends presidential bid, leaving Trump unopposed for Republican nomination: In a speech to her staff and volunteers in Charleston, S.C., Haley refused to endorse rival Donald Trump and reprised her central campaign argument that he is too divisive to win the general election. Her exit sets up a general election rematch between Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden. Adrian Morrow reports.
THIS AND THAT
Today in the Commons: The House is on a two-week break. The public accounts committee, however, is meeting again on Wednesday to continue its study of the ArriveCan scandal.
THE DECIBEL
Measles cases have been popping up all over the world, including in Canada. This highly contagious virus can be devastating – and even deadly – to people who haven’t been vaccinated against it. The Globe and Mail’s health columnist André Picard explains why we’re seeing this sudden rise and what can be done about it. Listen here.
PRIME MINISTER'S DAY
Justin Trudeau is in the capital region, but has no public events.
LEADERS
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is in the Greater Toronto Area for two fundraisers: one in the afternoon in Woodbridge, Ont., and the other later Wednesday in Toronto.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh continued his tour of Vancouver Island on Wednesday before going to nearby Denman Island. He held a media availability and met with his local MPs Rachel Blaney and Gord Johns for a meet and greet in Comox, B.C.
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet is completing his three-day trip to Washington, D.C., where he is talking softwood lumber tariffs and French-language regulations in Quebec.
OPINION
How to take the politics out of judicial appointments
“In Canada, judges’ independence is protected by three pillars: security of tenure; financial security; and administrative independence. Governments can’t fire a judge or cut their pay, and they can’t assign a judge to a case. There needs to be a fourth pillar: the legislated impartiality of the system for selecting judicial candidates, as Quebec has done.” – Editorial Board, The Globe and Mail
When governments got things done: Mulroney, Chrétien and a lost age of capacity
“We are in mourning at present for Brian Mulroney, a flawed man with a remarkable record. By “remarkable record” I mean mostly two things: free trade and the GST. But if you do two big things in your time in office, you have been a success as a prime minister. Most don’t manage one.” – Andrew Coyne, The Globe and Mail
Can Chrystia Freeland write a Liberal budget that announces nothing?
“Liberal budgets are about spending announcements. Can Ms. Freeland resist the urge the scratch the Liberal itch to spend? Can she avoid announcing a shiny new program? Or offering benefits or breaks to hard-hit and/or politically important constituencies?” – Campbell Clark, The Globe and Mail
As Biden-Trump rematch becomes more certain, Super Tuesday raises other questions
“How could a country of 335 million people settle on Mr. Trump and President Joe Biden as its general-election finalists? How could a country where half the population is under the age of 40 put forward two men essentially twice that age? How could a country that styles itself as a democracy, where the people rule, wind up with two nominees the people clearly do not want?” – David Shribman, The Globe and Mail
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