
FIRST READING: Here's why three Senators crossed the floor to the Conservatives
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The Senate, not normally a hub of political intrigue, has recently witnessed a sudden tide of defections to the Conservative caucus. So far this month, three Senators — two of whom were appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — have announced that they will henceforth be sitting as Conservatives.
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It's been an unexpected reprieve for a caucus that was increasingly lurching towards extinction. As of this writing, 85 of 105 Canadian Senators were appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Before the recent floor-crossings, one third of the 11 remaining Tories were set to reach mandatory retirement age within the next two years.
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As to why this is happening, the new Tory senators all cited different reasons, ranging from a generalized horror with regards to the state of the country, to a desire to 'build bridges' on Indigenous reconciliation.
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Mary Jane McCallum, a veteran dentist and member of the Barren Lands First Nation in Manitoba, is the only member of the Senate to have been sent to an Indian residential school. From age 5 to 16, she attended Guy Hill Residential School. In Senate testimony, she has described her main emotions during that period as 'overwhelming loneliness' and a 'bewildering feeling of abandonment.'
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Indigenous issues and reconciliation have come up often in her Senate work. In just the last couple of weeks, McCallum tabled legislation that would bind the RCMP to follow 'First Nations laws,' and another bill that would allow the prosecution of First Nations laws by Crown lawyers. On June 3, she said she would be asking for a Senate probe into whether Canada's treatment of Indigenous people constituted 'a crime against humanity and a genocide.'
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As to why McCallum decided to join the Conservative caucus, in a Tuesday statement she framed it as a way towards 'building bridges.'
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'Our communities have long sought opportunities for greater collaboration and mutual understanding,' she said. 'By joining the Senate Conservative Caucus I hope to help broaden the conversation and ensure Indigenous perspectives are reflected across the full political spectrum.'
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BREAKING 🚨 DERNIÈRE HEURE
Senator Mary Jane McCallum Joins Senate Conservative Caucus
La sénatrice Mary Jane McCallum rejoint le caucus conservateur au Sénat pic.twitter.com/N7VnKLixlg
— Senator Leo Housakos (@SenatorHousakos) June 10, 2025
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David Richards
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A novelist and playwright before he was appointed to the Senate by Trudeau in 2017, David Richards has been a vocal critic of the Liberal government for some time now.
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This was most notable in 2023, when Richards delivered a scathing critique of the Online Streaming Act, the bill that gave broad powers to the CRTC to impose content quotas on streaming platforms such as YouTube and Netflix.
'I think it's censorship passing as national inclusion,' he said in a Senate soliloquy that mentioned George Orwell, Cicero, the East German Stasi and the censorship regime of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.
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'I think, overall, we have lately become a land of scapegoaters and finger pointers, offering accusations and shame while believing we are a woke society,' he said, concluding 'this law will be one of scapegoating all those who do not fit into what our bureaucrats think Canada should be.'
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Richards' first Senate statements since the reopening of Parliament have stuck to the same general themes. On June 5, he asked Marc Gold, the government's representative in the Senate, if he could 'admit that much of the policy that the former government promoted in this chamber has bled in many ways into the horrible calamities that this country finds itself in today?'
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CTV News
22 minutes ago
- CTV News
Canada still working toward Aug. 1 trade deal deadline, LeBlanc says, as U.S. senator casts doubt
President of the King's Privy Council for Canada Dominic LeBlanc speaks at a press conference while Prime Minister Mark Carney listens, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Thursday, June 19, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Patrick Doyle WASHINGTON — Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Thursday he's feeling "encouraged" after meeting with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and American lawmakers in Washington, D.C., ahead of next week's tariff deadline. LeBlanc, however, indicated a new economic and security arrangement may not materialize by U.S. President Donald Trump's latest deadline. "Canadians expect us to take the time necessary to get the best deal we can in the interest of Canadian workers," LeBlanc said outside the Dirksen Senate Office Building. "So we are only going to be in a position to accept a deal when the prime minister decides that it is the best deal we can get in the interest of Canadian workers and the Canadian economy." U.S. President Donald Trump has sent letters to multiple nations, including Canada, saying that if no deal is made by Aug. 1, he will impose high tariffs on imports to the United States. Trump's letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney threatened Canada with 35 per cent tariffs but the White House has said the levies will not be applied to imports compliant with the Canada-U.S-Mexico Agreement on trade. Canada is also being hit with Trump's tariffs on steel, aluminum and automobiles, and will be impacted by copper duties that are also expected to kick in on Aug. 1. Only a handful of frameworks of trade deals have been announced since Trump first threatened his so-called "Liberation Day" tariffs in April. The president this week said his administration made deals with Japan and the Philippines, adding to previous agreements with Indonesia, Vietnam and the United Kingdom. Many details within the agreements remain vague but all include some level of a tariff, and it's unclear whether the deals would shield countries from Trump's plan to implement further sectoral duties on things like semiconductors and lumber. LeBlanc said "complex negotiations" are continuing between Canada and the United States and he will be returning to Washington next week. LeBlanc described his meeting with Lutnick as productive and cordial. The minister, who was joined by Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman, also had meetings with Republican senators Kevin Cramer, Roger Marshall, Shelley Moore Capito, Todd Young and Tim Scott. LeBlanc said they discussed border security and defence issues and the American lawmakers shared a "desire to see more stability and predictability in the relationship with the United States." "My conversations have focused on how we share so many priorities of President Trump's administration that we should be able to figure out together a deal that's in the best interest of Canadian workers, and obviously they are going to do their side of the table in terms of the American economy and American workers," LeBlanc said. Federal officials have remained tightlipped about what Trump's team has said it wants from Canada. After this week's trade deals were announced, Trump boasted on social media, saying he will only consider lowering tariff rates if countries open their markets to the United States. The president also said Japan would invest $550 billion in the U.S. 'at my direction." When Trump first browbeat Canada over tariffs, saying it was linked to the flow of deadly fentanyl, Ottawa responded with a boosted border plan and named a "Fentanyl Czar." Last month, Ottawa walked back its digital services tax after Trump threatened to halt all trade talks. Carney last week announced measures to stop Chinese steel dumping in Canada. Hillman said those efforts help Canada in its ongoing negotiations. "In our discussion with the American senators this week, the American administration, the measures that Canada has taken on steel in particular... are some of the strongest in the world," she said. "And that has been recognized and very much appreciated. So we are making some positive progress." Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski joined a bipartisan group of American lawmakers in Ottawa last week. The Republican said on Thursday that "we would all like to get to a better place with our trade relationship with Canada" but remained skeptical it would happen ahead of Aug. 1. Canada cannot be treated "as yet one more country that we need to reconcile tariffs on" because of shared economic and national security issues, she said. "I wish that I could say, 'It feels good,' that this is all going to be taken care of before the first of August, but I'm not sensing that," she said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 24, 2025. Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press

22 minutes ago
Pierre Poilievre puts spotlight on Alberta riding ahead of federal byelection
The upcoming federal byelection in Battle River-Crowfoot has Jennifer Fossen in unknown territory. Fossen is the president of the Camrose & District Chamber of Commerce. In the April federal election, it held a candidate forum. Only one nominee showed up to speak to a half empty room. Three months later, Fossen is hosting another candidate forum, this time in a byelection race featuring Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, and the response is, well, off the hook. Fossen said phones at her office have been ringing constantly with people inquiring about the July 29 candidate debate. But all seats are booked and 10 candidates have signed up to speak. [It] has definitely taken everything to the next level, Fossen said this week in an interview. It's fantastic to see the voter engagement and just the interest in the democratic process. Poilievre is a vying to win the Aug. 18 vote in Battle River-Crowfoot, a sprawling rural riding that takes up the entire eastern side of Alberta from Edmonton to Calgary. The writ was dropped last month after Conservative Damien Kurek, who overwhelmingly won the seat in the April general election, stepped down to allow Poilievre to run. Poilievre lost his long-held Ottawa seat of Carleton in the April vote. WATCH | Over 100 candidates face off in rural Alta. federal by-election: Poilievre's signs can be seen scattered on lawns and the farm gates along a highway leading into the city of Camrose, the riding's largest city. His party said he has opened his campaign office in Camrose and he has attended town halls, rodeos, parades and a car show in the riding in recent weeks. He said in a statement he's coming home ready to take the voices of the riding to Ottawa. I am a born and bred Albertan, with strong Alberta values, he said. As leader, I can take the fight for farmers, oil and gas workers, firearms owners, soldiers, for Albertans to the national stage. That means strong, forceful, representation for the people of Battle River-Crowfoot. The riding is rock-solid Conservative territory. Kurek won in April with about 83 per cent of the vote. But Poilievre is facing challengers who question not only him, but the idea of parachuting a candidate in from afar. Alongside the Poilievre signs are some for Independent Bonnie Critchley, a 44-year-old military veteran who spent time in Afghanistan. Critchley said she stepped out of retirement and threw her cowboy hat in the race because she cares about the issues concerning the people in the riding. She criticized Poilievre for running just to advance his political career. I didn't think it was right that the guy we overwhelmingly voted for is now gone, said Critchley, who lives in Tofield, a town in the riding's north end. I am running to be the voice for Battle River-Crowfoot in Ottawa. What this means is it will be my voice, but my neighbours' words. I want to take us back to a proper, true, representative democracy. She told the constituents who met her at their doors that it was important to vote for a representative, not a party. Critchley said she is registered to attend the forum and Poilievre will be there too. Other candidates running in the byelection say criticism that Poilievre is a parachute candidate has dominated the conversations they've been having while door-knocking. Poilievre was born in Calgary and has lived in Ottawa for the past two decades. It comes up almost every single time that people are kind of angry that the previous representative got switched on them, said Liberal candidate Darcy Spady, who is from Three Hills. They're not happy with a drop-in from out of town with a background that's more national in focus. Kurek's exit also encouraged Independent Sarah Spanier to run. I share that frustration, said Spanier. "We overwhelmingly voted to support Damien, only to have that choice ripped away on a whim because Pierre got fired and feels the need to use us as some type of political pawn because he assumes this going to be a guaranteed win. I find that insulting. The byelection has become contentious in other ways in recent days. Spanier said she has stopped door-knocking due to death threats, and RCMP have put out notices reminding people to be kind and respect the democratic process. The byelection has also been in the spotlight due to the Longest Ballot Committee, which as of Thursday, had registered more than 190 candidates under its banner to bring attention to the issue of electoral reform. Critchley, Spady and Spanier said they prefer staying focused on the issues in the riding. Critchley said she wants to make life more affordable for constituents by, for example, advocating for the federal government to invest in seed research for the farmers affected by drought. Spanier said she wants address food insecurity in the House of Commons. Libertarian Party of Canada candidate Michael Harris said he wants Poilievre to lose so a referendum on whether Alberta should separate from the rest of Canada can make headway if he wins. University of Calgary political scientist Lisa Young says although riding has historically voted conservative in provincial and federal elections, the byelection has become interesting because vocal Independent candidates have tapped into sentiment that only a leader who is rooted in the life of that riding and concerns should be elected. It's going to be tricky for a lot of people in the riding because they are loyal conservatives, she said. You've got a leader who lost his seat and now is looking for another seat but his future as party leader isn't assured. He faces a leadership review in January, she added. This sets this kind of a contest between that notion of what a member of Parliament should be and should do versus the party loyalty. Fakiha Baig (new window) · The Canadian Press


Vancouver Sun
22 minutes ago
- Vancouver Sun
Opinion: B.C.'s North Coast tanker ban is a line we should never cross
The people of B.C. live in a place where the ocean feeds us, where coastal jobs sustain entire communities, and where the laws we fought for reflect the values we share. The oil tanker moratorium on B.C.'s North Coast — which prohibits oil tankers carrying more than 12,500 metric tons of crude from stopping, loading or unloading at ports or marine installations — isn't just a policy, it's a promise. A promise to protect what we love, to honour Indigenous leadership, and to choose a thriving future over reckless risk. This week, alarm bells are ringing in B.C. as Prime Minister Mark Carney spent the first half of the week meeting privately with provincial premiers. The fear is that these talks will pave the way for a new oil pipeline and with it, the repeal of the hard-won moratorium that keeps oil tankers out of some of the most treacherous waters in the world. A daily roundup of Opinion pieces from the Sun and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Informed Opinion will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has said a new project could be announced 'any day now.' Ontario Premier Doug Ford has called the tanker ban the craziest idea he's ever heard. But here's the thing: When politicians in other provinces talk about our coast, they forget something important. It's not theirs to give away. Premier David Eby might be outnumbered at the table — but he's not alone. He speaks for the people of B.C., and we've already made ourselves clear: no oil tankers here, not ever. The movement that made the tanker ban law didn't disappear after the ink dried. We're still here. And we're still ready to defend the North Coast. The coast hasn't changed. Hecate Strait remains one of the most dangerous waterways on Earth, where waves reach 20 meters high. An oil spill there wouldn't just poison marine life — it would shatter economies, wipe out jobs, and destroy a way of life. We don't need to imagine the cost. We've seen it play out in other places, like when the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling 11 million gallons of oil. We refuse to let that happen here. The Great Bear Sea — ten million hectares of thriving cold-water ecosystems — is not a sacrifice zone. It's a lifeline. It sustains all five species of Pacific salmon, provides food security for the region, and supports thousands of jobs. It is sacred to the many First Nations who've stewarded this coast since time immemorial. That doesn't change because a couple of premiers want to score political points. Let's be honest: fossil fuel executives want to make a buck at our expense. But British Columbians know better. We chose a different path when we pressured Ottawa to pass the North Coast Tanker Ban in 2019 — a future powered by clean energy, not oil spills. And that future is arriving fast. Renewable power is now the cheapest energy source on Earth. It creates jobs, lowers bills, and gives us control over our economic destiny. Why would we throw that away? We only get one shot at building what comes next. If we squander our skilled workers and public investment on another oil pipeline, we don't just risk the coast — we risk the best opportunity we've had in a generation to be leaders when it comes to clean energy and building real economic security. Our ability to withstand President Donald Trump's economic shocks depends on developing new industries like solar, wind, and a cross-country grid so that we can, as Carney so often likes to say, 'stand on our own two feet.' We must not trade a prosperous future with clean, cheap energy and a healthy coastal economy for pollution and profit for oil company shareholders. This is the moment to say it plainly: We won't trade our coast, our jobs, or our children's future for more profits for oil companies. Not now. Not ever. We drew the line for a reason. Let's hold it — and build what comes next. Shelley Luce is the associate director and campaigns director at Sierra Club B.C. She is based in North Vancouver.