Hello,
The Liberal government introduced legislation Tuesday requiring major tech giants, such as Facebook and Google, to compensate Canadian media outlets for the news content that appears on the global platforms.
Bill C-18, tabled by Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez in the House of Commons Tuesday, would create a framework for news outlets to collectively negotiate deals with tech companies to share online advertising revenues in the case that the parties cannot reach a privately-negotiated agreement. The bill, known as the Online News Act, aims to compel tech giants, which dominate the online advertising market, to contribute to the sustainability of Canada’s struggling news sector.
Reporter Michelle Carbert covers the introduction of the legislation here.
This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Ian Bailey. It is available exclusively to our digital subscribers. If you’re reading this on the web, subscribers can sign up for the Politics newsletter and more than 20 others on our newsletter signup page. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.
TODAY'S HEADLINES
ADDITIONAL FEDERAL FUNDING FOR IBM WORK ON PHOENIX - The federal government will pay IBM an additional $106-million for a one-year extension to the company’s contract work on the troubled Phoenix pay system, bringing the total cost of Ottawa’s Phoenix-related outsourcing with the U.S.-based tech giant to more than $650-million. Story here.
NORTHERN PREMIERS TALK SECURITY WITH PM - Yukon’s premier says he and the other two premiers of Canada’s northern territories met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the national Defence Minister on Monday to discuss Arctic sovereignty and security in light of the war in Ukraine. Story here.
JOLY ACCUSES MOSCOW OF WAR CRIMES - Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly accused Moscow of committing war crimes by murdering civilians in Ukraine and is urging International Criminal Court investigators to travel to locations of alleged atrocities as soon as possible. Story here.
FEDS CONSIDER BOOSTER SHOT PLAN IN WORKERS VACCINE MANDATE - The federal government will consider whether to include booster shots in the next version of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for its workers, the Treasury Board said as it reviews the rules. Story here.
MANITOBA’S FIRST MUSLIM MLA - Tory Obby Khan has been sworn in as Manitoba’s first Muslim member of the legislative assembly after he won a by-election in a Winnipeg riding last month. Story here from CBC.
MAN FACING CHARGES IN FIRE AT MP’S OFFICE - A Mississauga man is facing multiple charges in connection with a fire at a Liberal MP’s constituency office that Peel Regional Police say was targeted. Story here from CBC.
CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RACE
LEWIS APPROVED AS LEADERSHIP CANDIDATE - Leslyn Lewis is the first Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidate to officially make her way to the final ballot. Story here from the National Post.
RUNCIMAN BACKS CHAREST - Former Tory senator Bob Runciman says he supports Jean Charest’s bid to become the next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. “I think he’s far and away the best candidate,” the former member of provincial parliament and provincial cabinet minister said this week. More here from The Belleville Intelligencer.
THE FEDERAL BUDGET
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will table the federal budget – the first since the 2021 federal election – on Thursday at 4 p.m. ET. There’s a Globe and Mail preview here on what to expect.
DEFENCE SPENDING LOOMS AS ISSUE IN THIS WEEK’S BUDGET - Canada could overcome middling defence spending with plans to fulfill NATO promises and protect Arctic sovereignty. Story here.
THIS AND THAT
TODAY IN THE COMMONS – Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, April. 4, 2022, accessible here.
FEDERAL POST FOR CADIEUX - Stephanie Cadieux, who announced her departure this week as B.C. Liberal member of the legislature, has a new job. Employment and Social Development Canada has announced Ms. Cadieux is the first chief accessibility officer for a four-year term. Ms. Cadieux will, in her new role, serve as a special adviser to the federal minister of employment, work force development and disability inclusion, provide advice on accessibility issues, and monitor and report on progress made under the Accessible Canada Act. The statement on Ms. Cadieux’s appointment is here. Ms. Cadieux has been a member of the B.C. legislature since 2009, served in cabinet posts including labour and was the first woman using a wheelchair elected to the legislature.
LIBERAL GUEST ON O’TOOLE PODCAST - As leader of the federal Conservative party, Erin O’Toole went after the federal Liberal record. But the former Tory leader welcomed a Liberal MP as guest on the latest edition of his Blue Skies podcast. Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith (Beaches-East York) and Mr. O’Toole dwelled on an interesting topic for two partisans: the informal Liberal-NDP deal that will see the NDP support the Liberals to stay in power until 2025 in exchange for a pledge to act on dental care, pharmacare and other key issues advocated by New Democrats. Despite the ominous episode title “Coalition or Collaboration,” the conversation is cheerful. Mr. Erskine-Smith has his own podcast – details here – and Mr. O’Toole commits to appearing on it in return – the fourth Conservative – ”all reasonable Conservatives,” says Mr. Erskine-Smith –to do so. Among other points, Mr. Erskine-Smith says he doubts the NDP will go easy on the Liberals despite the agreement. “I think [NDP MP] Charlie Angus is still going to go to town on us at committee where he sees fit, where there are opportunities...This idea that you’re going to have [NDP MP] Matthew Green or Charlie Angus not hold us to account is a bit silly.” The latest Blue Skies is here.
THE DECIBEL
On Tuesday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast: With PCR tests not as widely available as they once were, scientists and public health officials have found another way to track COVID-19: wastewater, or sewage. Dr. Lawrence Goodridge is a professor of food microbiology at the University of Guelph who is leading a team of people testing wastewater. He’s part of Ontario’s wastewater Surveillance Initiative which samples 170 locations across the province accounting for more than 75 per cent of the population. He tells us what the samples are telling him right now, and why this tool is an important one for this pandemic and for the future. The Decibel is here.
PRIME MINISTER'S DAY
Following private meetings, the Prime Minister spoke with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the United Arab Emirates, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The Prime Minister also spoke with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and was scheduled to attend question period.
LEADERS
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet attends question period.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh holds a media availability on Parliament Hill, is scheduled to participate in Question Period and to meet, in person, with firefighters from Burnaby, B.C., visiting Ottawa.
No schedules released for other party leaders.
OPINION
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on why Doug Ford (and Jason Kenney, Scott Moe and John Horgan) should hit the brakes on taxpayer money to subsidize drivers: “Several other provinces have done likewise in recent weeks – responding to higher pump prices by giving money to drivers. Saskatchewan will issue a rebate of $100 for each vehicle registered to a provincial resident. British Columbia plans a refund of public insurance fees worth $110 for individuals and $165 for commercial drivers. Alberta is temporarily suspending its 13 cents-a-litre gasoline-excise tax. The problem with these policies? For starters, you have to own a car to get the benefit. In Alberta and Ontario, the more gasoline you use, the bigger your tax break. In Saskatchewan, the more vehicles you own, the bigger your break.”
Wesley Wark (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on why it’s time for Russian diplomats in Canada to go home: “Canada must now close the Russian embassy to protest the country’s war crimes and invasion, offering selected asylum to any Russians courageous enough (and with an unblemished record) who want to defect. We should also recall our ambassador from Moscow and voluntarily reduce our staff there to a small consular establishment that can take care of Canadians in distress. It is repugnant that we pretend to any normalcy in diplomatic relations with Russia. Not while the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, and his servants at the United Nations claim that evidence of war crimes is fake news, staged by the Ukrainians with the U.S. pulling the strings. As Bob Rae, Canada’s ambassador to the UN said: “The Russians have a credibility problem. We know they’re lying because their lips are moving.”
Margaret Zeidler (Contributed to The Globe and Mail) on why Ontario Place should be renamed Any Place: “Imagine there was an urban park on the waterfront in Montreal called Quebec Place. Do you think for one second there would be a single thing at Quebec Place that wasn’t created, sourced, grown or invented in Quebec? Not on your life. Yet Ontario Place, which opened 51 years ago this summer as a shining beacon for Ontario and its people, has not only fallen into sad disrepair, the new one in its place has nothing to do with Ontario. It could be Any Place, and in many ways, its rebirth is worse than its death.”
Vaughn Palmer (Vancouver Sun) on how B.C. Premier John Horgan will be very tough to beat if he chooses to run again: “The premier’s comments came as an opinion poll again showed his remarkably favourable rapport with British Columbians. An Angus Reid poll found Horgan with an approval rating of 55 per cent, second highest in Canada and in territory he has occupied for most of his almost five years in office. I’ve covered 10 B.C. premiers in close to 40 years on the provincial political beat. None of the others had this favourable an approval rating for this long. Then again, six of the 10 didn’t even survive five years in office. As a measure of the sustainability of Horgan’s approval rating, 88 per cent of those interviewed in the same survey said the New Democrats were doing a poor job dealing with housing affordability. Improving housing affordability was one of the NDP’s main promises in the 2017 and 2020 elections. Most everyone told the pollster that the New Democrats were doing a poor job, yet it didn’t seriously dent Horgan’s approval rating.”
Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com. Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop.