Canadian Crossing

Canadian politics notebook: Russell Brown steps down as Supreme Court justice

We noted last month that Supreme Court Justice Russell Brown had been on leave from the court over misconduct allegations in a Scottsdale (AZ) area resort in late January.

Russell Brown has resigned from the court. The resignation means a halt to the Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) investigation into the matter since the council can only investigate complaints against federally appointed judges.

Brown's resignation came just before the CJC could have launched an inquiry. In a statement, Brown said the CJC probe "may continue well into 2024." That would be a delay in "nobody's interests — the Court's, the public's, my family's or my own."

"I have therefore decided that the common good is best served by my retirement, so that a replacement judge can join the court in time for its busy fall term," Brown said.

Justin Trudeau will pick his replacement, who must be from Western Canada. That definition could include British Columbia.

Brown had been a controversial pick by Stephen Harper in 2015 close to election time. He served on the high court from August 31, 2015 until June 12, 2023.

Once Brown's successor is picked, Justin Trudeau will have 6 out of 9 appointees to the bench. Stephen Harper ended up with 8 appointees before losing the 2015 election. Andromache Karakatsanis (retirement date: October 3, 2030) and Suzanne Côté (retirement date: September 21, 2033) are the only Harper appointees remaining as puisine justices, though Trudeau promoted Richard Wagner, a Harper appointee, to chief justice in 2017. Harper appointed Wagner to the court in 2012.

2023 Victoria Day notebook: Alberta wildfires starting early

Blaine Higgs wins a majority government for Progressive Conservatives in New Brunswick

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New Brunswick had one of those pandemic elections where the party in power got a larger majority. Blaine Higgs of the Progressive Conservatives (PC) called a snap election that was held on September 14, 2020.

We figured things were rather quiet in a normally sleepy (sorry) New Brunswick. Well, that changed quickly.

Policy 713, designed to protect LGBTQ students, allows for students to be called by names and pronouns that they choose. Premier Blaine Higgs wants to change that policy to require students under 16 to ask parents permission to make those changes.

Higgs has said if students are fearful or object to informing their parents of their change in preferred name and pronouns, they can work with guidance counsellors or school social workers and psychologists.

4 PC ministers and 2 PC backbenchers voted with the opposition for a Liberal motion for more consultations. The motion passed 26-20. Afterward, Dorothy Shephard, minister of healthy and inclusive communities, resigned from cabinet. Shephard got up and left the chamber after the premier said in the legislature that gender dysphoria has become "trendy." She noted his leadership issues in her resignation, not just with Policy 713.

Shephard is the third minister to resign from cabinet: former education minister Dominic Cardy resigned in October 2022 and is now an independent, and former deputy premier Robert Gauvin resigned in February 2020 and now sits as a Liberal.

The current Policy 713 is effective and protects children in those circumstances. We can't imagine New Brunswick has a setup where guidance counsellors, school social workers, and psychologists have that many billable hours to spend with kids on this concern.

We watched the interview (above) with Higgs and Rosemary Barton on Rosemary Barton Live. Barton talks about how Higgs is talking about his personal beliefs as policy. While Higgs denies this, the interview tells us something else entirely.

2023 Canadian politics preview

The Liberals and Conservatives retained 2 seats each in 4 byelections Monday night.

The Conservatives did retain the seat in the Oxford riding in Ontario. The path to get there was a bit unusual. Arpan Khanna won the seat to replace Dave MacKenzie. MacKenzie's daughter Deb Tait ran and lost the nomination to Khanna. There were allegations of wrongdoing and being a "parachute candidate" against Khanna.

MacKenzie and Tait endorsed Liberal candidate David Hilderley in the byelection. Hilderley got a lot more votes than Liberals usually do in the riding.

Anna Gainey kept the seat Liberal in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce–Westmount riding in the Montréal area. Gainey replaces the retired Marc Garneau, who was minister of transport from November 2015 to January 2021 and then shifted to the minister of foreign affairs from January to October 2021.

Gainey defeated federal Green Party co-leader Jonathan Pedneault in the byelection.

Conservative Branden Leslie won the byelection in the Portage-Lisgar riding in Manitoba. Leslie succeeds Candice Bergen, who had been the MP from the riding since 2008. Bergen served as the interim opposition leader in 2022.

People's Party leader Maxime Bernier ran in that riding, hoping to get enough far right-wing votes.

Ben Carr will take over for his father, the late Jim Carr, as the MP from the Winnipeg South Centre riding. Jim Carr died of cancer in December.

Dennis King, PCs get strong majority in Prince Edward Island election

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Peter Bevan-Baker has been the greatest provincial Green Party leader ever. The party formed the Official Opposition in the 2019 election. Now the Prince Edward Island Green Party needs a new leader.

Bevan-Baker will stay on as leader until a new leader is selected and will remain a MLA. Bevan-Baker said his decision to retire was largely due to personal reasons, how his life has been very unbalanced in recent years.

"This party has a really bright future if we don't panic," Bevan-Baker told Island Morning (CBC Radio) host Mitch Cormier.

I remember the night Bevan-Baker became the first Green to be elected to the assembly in 2015. He was a dentist before becoming a politician. Bevan-Baker ran in 7 federal or provincial elections before being elected to an office. Peter Bevan-Baker will be missed among the party leaders in Prince Edward Island.

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The Toronto mayor race will be June 26. There are too many people to mention, except that Doug Ford has a candidate (Mark Saunders) and Olivia Chow, widow of Jack Layton, is one of the top contenders. The winner replaces John Tory, who resigned over an affair with a staffer. If we don't get a write-up next week, we will include this in our Canada Day notebook on July 1.

photo and video credit: CBC News

Canadian film review: Beerocracy

Samantha Bee loved taking potshots at the Beer Store and LCBO in Ontario, and the whole concept of government-run outlets to buy alcohol on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Beerocracy puts us in the middle of the battle between craft beers and New Brunswick, a province that gets buried in terms of knowledge and news.

The documentary tells the stories of these craft brewers and how they want more opportunities to get the beer to people in New Brunswick. The story is told in a low-key fashion. It's not quite at the ASMR level but still a subtle presentation.

This is a hobby and yet they also want to make money off this hobby.

Writers/directors Alex Vietinghoff and Shauna Chase spend their time on those fighting to get more space in those stores for craft beers. The enemy is the the New Brunswick Liquor Corporation, aka Alcool NB Liquor.

The filmmakers note that New Brunswick has the highest adult illiteracy rates and obesity rates in Canada. Young people are moving out of the province to find work. The 750,000 or so population in the province: not all of them will go into craft beer.

Building jobs and businesses in New Brunswick isn't easy, so why not help out the people by allowing them to sell craft beer.

New Brunswick switches out one newspaper monopoly for another one

CanadianCrossing.com New Brunswick coverage

We learn a bit about New Brunswick in the 2017 film. The province gets very little news coverage, especially since the English language newspaper monopoly isn't friendly for sharing stories. This film gives a rare window into the province, especially for English language speakers.

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Beerocracy is a good watch if you like beer, have an odd hobby, hate government bureaucracy, live in Maine and are curious about your neighbours to the east, or otherwise interested in Canada's only officially bilingual province.

Beerocracy is available in the United States via Amazon Prime Video.

New Brunswick switches out one newspaper monopoly for another one

Journalism in Canada is very dominant by Postmedia, especially Ontario-West. The chain, owned by U.S. hedge funds, own both major newspapers in several major cities: Ottawa, Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver. Postmedia also owns the National Post.

New Brunswick has had its own English-language virtual monopoly, not by Postmedia but by Irving.

Now meet New Brunswick's new monopoly owner: Postmedia.

Postmedia will buy 3 dailies and six weeklies from Brunswick News (Irving). The dailies are in the 3 largest cities in the province: Fredericton (capital), Moncton, and Saint John: Telegraph-Journal (Saint John), the Fredericton Daily Gleaner and the Moncton Times & Transcript.

The 6 weeklies are Miramichi Leader, Woodstock Bugle-Observer, Bathurst Northern Light, Kings County Record, Campbellton Tribune, and Victoria Star (Grand Falls).

As bad as the news situation is in English in New Brunswick, there are fears that Postmedia will make them worse.

"Postmedia would be wise to maintain at least the façade of local news for those three operations," Michael Camp told CBC News, noting as well that "there's nothing to be gained from changing them all to one name." Camp is a professor of journalism at St. Thomas University who once worked for the Irving papers.

What is interesting about this observation is Postmedia maintains the appearance of separate journalism in Ottawa, Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver. The company owns both newspapers in those markets even though they control both papers.

Irving was the devil New Brunswickers knew. Postmedia may (likely) make things worse. Running poor papers from New Brunswick versus running New Brunswick papers from Toronto.

There is a track record of Postmedia buying up local weeklies and then closing them. Is is better to have a poor newspaper or not one at all.

CanadianCrossing.com New Brunswick coverage

Before the acquisition, Brunswick News announced in January that they would stop publishing a Monday edition for its 3 dailies: Telegraph-Journal, the Fredericton Daily Gleaner and the Moncton Times & Transcript. The announcement noted a Monday "replica" edition Telegraph-Journal online.

L'Acadie Nouvelle, the French-language New Brunswick daily, will stop printing on Mondays beginning this summer.

Postmedia's National Post hasn't had a Monday paper since the summer of 2017.

The story of Tilbury, ON getting its newspaper back

CBC News needs to bring back local news in wake of the COVID-19 coronavirus

Even though New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are neighbouring provinces, the gap in literacy is about as wide as the Bay of Fundy with Nova Scotia scoring so much better.

New Brunswick does have independent French language newspapers. While the province is officially bilingual, this shuts out anglophones from independent news.

The CBC and Radio-Canada do operate in the province as an alternative. As good as these outlets are, they can't crawl into local communities in a mostly rural province to provide small town news.

CanadianCrossing.com journalism coverage

Jesse Brown of Canadaland thought of one advantage to the Postmedia acquisition. The Irving newspapers were notoriously known for making things difficult for non-subscribers to read stories in those newspapers. 

The Globe and Mail is getting so bad that you need to be a subscriber, even for Canadian Press stories, to read most stories. Toronto Star is getting rather bad as well in limiting access.

Postmedia lets anyone read their stories. Anyone. Most of them are crap (they are). You never have an issue using a link for a tweet on Twitter or posting on Facebook.

Critics of this blog might wonder why we post mostly CBC News links. Unless The Tyee and other similar Canadian journalism has a relevant link, very difficult to find reasonably neutral journalism links in Canada.

Right-wing news tends to open its doors for people to read. Centrist publications tend to hide their content. Ultimately, the right-wing content gets to more people. While this is bad in the United States, this is way worse in Canada. Worse in Canada but even worse in New Brunswick.

photo credit: Telegraph-Journal

Blaine Higgs wins a majority government for Progressive Conservatives in New Brunswick

Blaine Higgs and the Progressive Conservatives wanted stability for the government. The New Brunswick voters gave the party a majority government last night. After 2 years of the first minority government in about 100 years, Higgs called a snap election during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

The PCs got 27 seats in the 49-seat assembly. The party won 22 seats in 2018, down to 20 before the 2020 election. The Liberals fell from 20 seats to 17 seats. The Green Party stayed at 3 seats while the right-wing People's Alliance fell from 3 seats to 2 seats.

Higgs is the first premier to win a second term since Bernard Lord (Progressive Conservatives) in 2003.

Canada is a safer place for abortion though access should be improved

Hospital cuts — threatened and then taken back by Higgs — will be a top concern. Access to abortion — a long-standing issue — is another concern. The government only reimburses for abortions at 3 hospitals in the province, two in Moncton and one in Bathurst. The PCs won't reimburse abortions at Clinic 554, a family practice in Fredericton.

The Liberals generally do well in the Francophone areas to the north. The PCs picked up some urban seats in the 3 major cities: Fredericton (the capital), Moncton, and Saint John.

The PCs elected a single francophone in Daniel Allain (Moncton East). Higgs hasn't proven to be empathic to the cultural circumstances in francophone ridings in the north of the province.

Colbert Report shows love for Kevin Vickers

Reflections on the Ottawa shooting

You might know Kevin Vickers for his actions as sergeant-at-arms at the House of Commons when he shot a gunman who stormed Parliament Hill in 2014. Vickers then served as the Canadian ambassador to Ireland.

Vickers had never run in an election and his first election was as Liberal Party leader in this election.

Michelle Conroy (People's Alliance) was the incumbent in the Miramichi riding where Vickers ran. Conroy won again.

Vickers announced on CBC New Brunswick that he would step down as Liberal Party leader. He didn't give a speech, which was a bit of a surprise.

Despite all of Vickers heroics throughout his life, he might have been in over his head. The ground game politicians want to do was more difficult in a pandemic. Vickers has national name recognition but needed to build up local name recognition.

New Brunswick is calling a provincial election in a pandemic

Green Party leader David Coon won re-election as did his 2 other fellow Green Party MLAs.

People's Alliance leader Kris Austin and Michelle Conroy were re-elected. Rick DeSaulniers lost his re-election bid. Austin was the only one to give a speech that had no French.

Canadian politics notebook: Upcoming elections in a pandemic

The successful reaction to managing the COVID-19 pandemic was considered a significant factor in the PCs getting a majority government. There was a new COVID-19 case in New Brunswick yesterday. NB Public Health said the person who tested positive is travel-related and the individual is self-isolating. The person is in their 20s in Zone 1, the Moncton region.

The number of active cases is now 3. New Brunswick has had 194 cases, and 189 people have recovered and 2 deaths. Not in a day or a month but since the pandemic started.

New Brunswick will have a minority government

2018 New Brunswick election preview

Canadian travel bubbles could boost tourism within Canada

New Brunswick cartoonist dismissal symptom of larger Canadian media concern

The U.S. has specific age requirements for federal offices: 25 for the House, 30 for the Senate, and 35 for president and vice president. Canada requires a person to be 18.

Rowan Miller, 24, ran for the Green Party in the 2019 federal election and ran for the Green Party in the Carleton-Victoria riding. Meriet Miller, 19, is Rowan's younger brother. NDP provincial leader Mackenzie Thomason went to university with Rowan. Thomason recruited Meriet to run against Rowan as a NDP candidate.

How did the brothers do? Which brother got more votes?

Andrew Harvey (Liberal) was the incumbent in the riding but finished in second to Margaret Johnson (Progressive Conservatives). Terry Leigh Sisson (People's Alliance) came in third.

Rowan got 5.1% of the vote, 372 votes. Meriet had 1.5%, or 113 votes. Rowan got more than 3x as many votes as his younger brother. Combined, they had fewer votes than Sisson.

The brothers are still rather young. They have many more elections to engage each other and the voters.

Today Monday, September 7 at 12:00pm there will be a special #LabourDay2020 address in front of St. Josephs Hospital 130 Bayard Dr, Saint John. Everyone is encouraged to attend. pic.twitter.com/gep92IcoHB

— New Brunswick NDP / NPD du Nouveau-Brunswick (@NBNDP_NPDNB) September 7, 2020

This tweet from the NDP was significant since this was the first tweet issued by the party in almost 2 years. The previous tweet ran on September 24, 2018. We know that the NDP was in turmoil, now running with interim leader Mackenzie Thomason. The election was called in mid August but the party didn't send out a tweet until a week before the election.

Can't blame this on a lack of technology connected with age since Thomason is 23. Better late than never but social media can fit within the budget of a struggling party with 0 seats in Fredericton.

The NDP won 0 seats in the 2020 election. Thomason came in 5th in the Fredericton North riding with 100 votes.

2020 Canadian politics preview

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The 2020 New Brunswick election turnout was 65.9%, down slightly from 67.1% in 2018. Not quite Prince Edward Island numbers; the U.S. would drool over that kind of a turnout.

More than 63,000 New Brunswick residents headed to the polls on the first of two days of advance voting, according to Elections New Brunswick. In 2018, just over 43,500 electors voted on the first day of advance polls.

The campaign was more about door hangers and not knocking on doors. Incumbent MLAs benefited from name recognition in their ridings where learning the opponents was a challenge. This isn't too much TV advertising in New Brunswick with the bilingual situation and very few TV stations.

The new assembly has 14 of 49 seats for women with 9 for the PCs, a new party record. New Brunswick has no current female party leaders, though the Liberals and the NDP have openings.

CBAT Channel 4, CBC in Fredericton carried the election coverage instead of the NHL Stanley Cup playoff game. The coverage ended at 11 pm Atlantic, 10 pm Eastern, about 2 hours after the game started. Fans could catch the overtime of the final game in that series. The hockey was also on Rogers Sportsnet plus Canadians could stream the election coverage and the game on CBCSports.ca. Yes, there is only CBC station in New Brunswick.

photo credits: CBC News New Brunswick

New Brunswick is calling a provincial election in a pandemic

We talk about scheduled provincial elections in Canada since elections can spring up, especially from a minority government. Canada has several of them now, including the federal government. If we thought one might break, well, New Brunswick wasn't at the bottom of the list.

New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs (Progressive Conservative) is calling an election for September 14.

Premier Higgs proposed that his government stay in power until October 2022 or until the end of the pandemic. The Liberal opposition pulled out of the negotiations. The other 3 parties asked Higgs not to call an election during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Saskatchewan has been preparing for months for its scheduled election on October 26. Leadership races in Newfoundland and Labrador as well as Nova Scotia (and the federal Conservatives) have fewer safety issues than a provincial election. New Brunswick will have slightly less than a month.

Canadian politics notebook: Upcoming elections in a pandemic

Higgs (above) and the Progressive Conservatives have 20 seats, down from 22 at the 2018 election. Kevin Vickers is the new Liberal Party leader since April 24, 2019. The Liberals also have 20 seats in the assembly. David Coon (Green Party) and Kris Austin (People's Alliance) may be on opposite extremes yet each have 3 seats. There is an independent (Robert Gauvin, a former PC member) and 2 vacant seats. 25 of the 49 seats are needed for a majority.

The NDP is active in New Brunswick but has no seats in the assembly. Mackenzie Thomason was just 21 when he took over as interim leader for Jennifer McKenzie, who was the leader in the 2018 election.

Gauvin, the MLA who became an independent, left the PCs over hospital closures in the province. The intriguing element of Higgs calling the election is he could have held onto power for a few months but gambled to do an election now.

New Brunswick is in its first minority government since 1920. No premier has won re-election since Bernard Lord in 2003.

New Brunswick will have a minority government

2018 New Brunswick election preview

New Brunswick has done relatively well with COVID-19. The biggest story from the province was about Dr. Jean Robert Ngola, suspected of triggering an outbreak in northern New Brunswick after traveling from Campbellton to Quebec to pick up his 4-year-old daughter.

The province reported no new cases of COVID-19 yesterday. New Brunswick has 15 active cases: 12 in the Moncton region and 3 in the Fredericton region.

Canadian travel bubbles could boost tourism within Canada

New Brunswick cartoonist dismissal symptom of larger Canadian media concern

Saskatchewan's progress on tools to help run the election might inspire New Brunswick in its efforts to run the election. Most of the province is rural and very spread out. We are keen to learn any procedures that New Brunswick might use in an election in a pandemic as well as issues the province experiences, especially without being able to plan for this before the writ was dropped.

Canvassing door to door is how a lot of how candidates talk to the voters. Most of that is out the window. As we noted in the past, English language newspaper coverage is a virtual monopoly in New Brunswick. TV stations are limited in English and French: most signals are satellite versions of other stations. CBC Radio and Radio-Canada are quite helpful.

Higgs didn't seem to know yesterday about how an election could be stopped if COVID-19 cases got worse during the election.

Politics aside, can't imagine an election would go well for a party that forces an election during a pandemic. We will find out on September 14 how the people of New Brunswick feel about the matter.

2020 Canadian politics preview

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British Columbia has had a minority government since 2017. New Brunswick got a minority government in 2018. Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, and the federal government joined the club in 2019. Nova Scotia as well as Newfoundland and Labrador are dealing with leadership transitions.

Minority governments are traditionally unstable. We had hope that some of them would last the 4 years. New Brunswick might have done so as well but COVID-19 pressures do make a difference. If the PCs lose, other governments might not be as likely to call a snap election in a pandemic.

photo credit: CBC New Brunswick

Canadian travel bubbles could boost tourism within Canada

The Maritime provinces as well as Newfoundland and Labrador are looking into a travel bubble. Nunavut and Northwest Territories are planning a travel bubble for themselves.

The idea behind a travel bubble is that Canadians in those areas could cross provincial and territorial borders without the need to quarantine from the pandemic.

I haven't been to a Canadian territory but I have visited the Atlantic provinces in the summertime. I have been in Newfoundland and Labrador in late July, Nova Scotia in August, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island in September. So much seafood, driving without obnoxious billboards, a lot of walking, and tons of water.

A lot of Canadians out west haven't been to this area of Canada. Costs are normally prohibitive even before a pandemic: cheaper to fly to Las Vegas to London then to travel to Halifax or St. John's.

A travel bubble, combined with relatively cheaper gas, allows Canadians from that region to enjoy the splendid beauty of the region without as many tourists as normal. The Bay of Fundy, Peggy's Cove, Cape Spear, the red sand PEI beaches, Cape Breton, Hopewell Rocks, and so many more travel destinations./p>

The Atlantic provinces have been doing really well with COVID-19 with Nova Scotia being the slight outlier. This doesn't obscure the fact that people have suffered and died from the COVID-19 coronavirus. Even though the numbers have been good, provincial premiers want to be sure this is done safely.

I loved the Hockey Day in Canada coverage from Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories back in February. Having seen the Iqaluit film made me more excited about seeing the Nunavut capital.   

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Like Americans, Canadians are allowed to travel freely within their own country. Provinces have stepped up during the pandemic to limit travel in their provinces. British Columbia provincial parks are closed to non-residents. There has been some animosity against cars with Alberta licence plates in B.C.

Those in the 6 other provinces could discover the travel jewels in their own province. Those in Alberta can drive the Icefield Parkway with fewer tourist cars around. British Columbians can explore the interior and Vancouver Island.

I've been to Regina and had an amazing Saskatoon berry pie. I would love to visit Saskatoon. Winnipeg is truly more fun than you might expect. Ontario and Quebec offer numerous options for those who live there.

Where to visit Canada in 2020

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We have heard that while land crossings are out for American travelers, some have been able to fly into Canada without issue. They would need to do a 14-day quarantine.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau slightly loosened the U.S.-Canada border last week allowing some family members to cross into Canada, provided they have no sign they might have COVID-19 and no reason to believe they might have caught it. The 14-day quarantine still applies.

Everything we saw last week said the border closing extension will run until the end of July. That could leave August if you want to be hopeful. Don't make plans until the border opens. Even then, you want to be careful. Masks and social distancing are smart, regardless of whether rules are in place.

We had hoped 2020 would bring more Canadian travel adventures from your humble narrator. There is a lot of pain in not being able to see Canada first hand these days.

photo credit: @VisitNovaScotia

Canada election 2019: MacLean's, Citytv big losers in the first debate

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did a huge favour to Rogers, owners of MacLean's and Citytv. By calling the election on Wednesday instead of today, Trudeau added huge legitimacy to a debate that otherwise would have been considered outside of the election season. 

Unfortunately for Rogers and Trudeau, the prime minister was absent from the stage in Toronto Thursday night. Trudeau was there in the talking points of the other participants: Andrew Scheer, Jagmeet Singh, and Elizabeth May.

Let's examine how each of the participants handled the first debate:

Elizabeth May — May had a lot of specific answers on questions. She challenged Scheer when Paul Wells continually dropped the ball. She brought up the Chinese steel for the LNG deal. May gave praise to Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland when she didn't have to do so. She had the honesty to say if you are confident about how to handle China, you weren't being straight with people.

Andrew Scheer — Scheer didn't go after Trudeau for most of the debate. Singh and May (or May and Singh) excelled at going after Scheer and were effective in their attacks. Scheer couldn't answer questions with great regularity. Robot Scheer came through in his closing statement. "Health care" and "education" were the robot mantras for the night. Scheer brought up a return to "ethics." Given the large number of Harper scandals, "ethics" is one of the words Scheer shouldn't mention.

Jagmeet Singh — Singh nodded along with the Greens but offered few specifics unlike May. Singh excelled in personal examples from constituents he met. Singh pushed through the idea of Ford Cuts in Ontario to Scheer. Singh was talking past Wells and the camera straight to seats in the GTA and beyond in Ontario.

Paul Wells — Most debate moderators try to remain neutral. Wells failed massively. Our expectations were not high and Wells still failed. Softball questions to Scheer but not his opponents. Wells would ask questions to try and trip up May (proposal to punish SNC Lavalin with community service) and Singh (LNG deal in BC) but didn't ask similar questions to Scheer. At times, he let May and Singh go on and let Scheer be silent. That helped Scheer because he couldn't respond to the attacks nor answer basic questions. Wells slammed Singh on a Brexit question to not go off-topic. Scheer then went off Brexit to China, but no reproach from Wells. May held Scheer more accountable than Wells did. Wells threw in questions that had nothing to do with the topic and picked awkward questions as if this was his fiefdom.

Citytv — As poor a job as Wells did, Citytv was much worse. The background looked faded and whiter than Scheer. Its economy segment was only business and not one of those concerned workers. Its primary panel and other panels were so rushed that quick answers with little thought were the only options. May had some microphone issues early on; Singh had microphone problems throughout the debate; the Indigenous leaders had huge microphone issues; Scheer had no microphone issues.

Things brought up in the debate I still want to know:

• May asked Scheer about whether he would revoke the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States. Would he?
• BC wineries might be in trouble over a trade deal, but couldn't tell if that was CUSMA | USMCA or some other trade deal.
• Scheer said 95% of Canadians are already eligible for prescription coverage. Twitter says that isn't close to true. What are the actual numbers?
• Is Canada using Chinese steel in the LNG deal in British Columbia? If so, why?
• Canada is 59th in the world in peacekeeping. Would like to know where Canada was 4 years ago.

The worse that Wells and Citytv did, the better Trudeau looked for not showing up. Trudeau should have been there but he did miss the train wreck of the presentation. The Leaders Commission Debates will eliminate the issue of the lone moderator by using several questioners.

2019 Canada election preview

We mentioned during the election preview on Wednesday about how Elections Canada can impact what environmental groups can do on climate change.

Just Ask is a way for Canadian content creators to talk to politicians

Canadians will feel loss of satirists such as Rick Mercer in the 2019 Canadian election

Hasan Minhaj gets a second round with Justin Trudeau on Patriot Act

Discounts always sound good even when they come with a catch. The Conservative Party set a very low price of $11,500 for the fee to cover party leader Andrew Scheer through the whole campaign.

The New Democratic Party is charging $45,000 to media outlets to travel with party leader Jagmeet Singh.

The 2015 race was almost twice as long: the Conservatives charged $70,000 versus the Liberals and NDP at about $50,000.

A significant discount on the fee could be seen as a party contribution. The few journalists left in Canada to cover the race could be tempted to have that discount influence the coverage. Responsible journalists will not fall for the lure of a discount.

Looking back at 2015 before the 2019 Canadian election

The Green Party technically has 3 federal incumbents as the election starts. Elizabeth May and Paul Manly, who won a by-election in May, were joined by Pierre Nantel, a NDP 2-time incumbent from Quebec.

The NDP dumped Nantel because he was reportedly flirting with another party. Then we found out Nantel is running for re-election in the Longueuil–Saint-Hubert riding, south of Montréal, for the Green Party.

Nantel won his seat by 703 votes in 2015.

The NDP has had strength in Quebec stretching back to the orange wave in the 2011 election. The Green Party threatens that in Quebec and elsewhere in the 2019 election.

Constituents don't normally like their MP or MPP to switch parties in the middle of a term. Nantel is being upfront before the election starts about a party change.

CanadianCrossing.com New Brunswick coverage

New Brunswick doesn't have a federal or provincial member of the NDP in office. That isn't likely to change in the 2019 election.

The announcement of 14 NDP members in New Brunswick switching to the Green Party was a bit of a jaw drop. So was the news that not all 14 are jumping at all.

There are 3 Greens in the New Brunswick legislature.

There was a commotion involving rumours of a merger between the parties and one defector's allegations over people being uncomfortable with Singh's Sikh religion.

Jagmeet comme vous ne l’avez jamais vu.

Il est prêt à se battre pour vous, pour affronter l’urgence climatique et pour que les plus riches paient leur part.

Découvrez-le dans cette toute nouvelle vidéo où il se présente aux https://t.co/OKRCmc5M1g! 🔽 pic.twitter.com/qEVnoQeiGL

— NPD_QG (@NPD_QG) September 3, 2019

The NDP really needs support in Quebec. Bill 21 bans workers of the state (doctors, lawyers, teachers) from wearing representations of their faith (hijabs, turbans, yarmulkes) while on the job.

The party released this ad en Francaise. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is shown briefly not wearing his turban in the ad. Singh points out (in translation) that "like you, my identity is my pride. I understand every injustice and have learned to fight against them — and now, I'm ready to fight for you."

I don't claim to understand the Sikh position on covering the head and I definitely have lots of issues with Bill 21. Singh is rolling the dice presumably by giving up something of importance to him and his faith for the greater good of the party's success in Quebec.

We don't know how many (if any) of the NDP candidates in the province have identifiable religious garments. The leader is the visible entity. We will be highly curious to see if the ad makes an impact to improve the chances of the NDP in Quebec.

2019 Canadian politics preview

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The Calgary Flames preseason at home starts tomorrow but we don't know when (if?) George Canyon will sing O Canada for Flames fans. 

Canyon, the team's anthem singer since 2014, is running for Parliament from the Central Nova riding in Nova Scotia.

Canyon is the second Conservative Party candidate for the riding. Westville, NS Mayor Roger MacKay pulled out of the federal election for "personal reasons."

Canyon considered running for the Conservatives in the Bow River riding in southern Alberta in 2015. He withdrew the nomination due to a health scare.

Former Progressive Conservative leadership race candidate Peter MacKay was in the Central Nova riding before the 2015 election, though MacKay (no obvious relation to Roger MacKay) didn't run for re-election in the last campaign. Peter's father Elmer also represented the riding.

Liberal incumbent Sean Fraser is running for the riding as well as Betsy MacDonald (NDP) and Barry Randle (Green Party).

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May ran in Central Nova in 2008 against Peter MacKay. Brian Mulroney represented the riding to get into Parliament but that was before he was prime minister.

NDP House Leader Ruth Ellen Brosseau worked in a bar and went on vacation during her initial run in 2011. So Canyon could run and still sing a few anthems.

photos credit: Citytv; Rogers Sportsnet West
Twitter capture: @NPD_QG

CFL once again comes to Moncton for 2019 Touchdown Atlantic

How long has it been since the CFL was in Moncton? Your humble narrator attended the last Touchdown Atlantic in 2013.

The 2013 version struggled to sell out with much speculation that the 2013 version would be the last Touchdown Atlantic ever.

A new commissioner (Randy Ambroisie), decent prospective ownership for an Atlantic Schooners franchise, and a strong desire to have a 10-team league does make a difference.

The CFL folks looked at Halifax, Antigonish, NS, and Saint John before coming back to the Université de Moncton campus.

There isn't a real option in Halifax. We did note last month that the Halifax Wanderers soccer team have a "stadium" in the Commons. The Moncton stadium gives the largest potential capacity of the options.

As we noted in 2013, sitting on the "good side" in Moncton shields you from the sun in the late afternoon, gives you the only concessions, and actual restrooms. Sitting on the "bad side" in Moncton brings you back to watching high school football, no concessions, and a long line for porta-potties.

The ticket prices started out ridiculously high. The price I paid for the worst seat in the house (literally) was much higher than I've paid for much better seats in actual CFL stadiums. The prices came down for the 2019 version; those who bought early literally paid the price.

The other "fun" part of that excursion is that you couldn't see the yard markers until the sun went down far enough.

The original starting time for the 2019 Touchdown Atlantic was 7:30 pm ADT. The kickoff has been moved to 1 pm ADT.

Analysis: Could Moncton host a permanent CFL franchise?

CFL hits Moncton, showcasing New Brunswick, but U.S. can only see the game on ESPN3.com (2011)

The 2013 version featured the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and their well-traveled fans against the Montréal Alouettes, who were supposed to have Anthony Calvillo. I remember running into a lot of Tiger-Cats fans in downtown Moncton. There wasn't a lot in downtown Moncton so the black and gold were easier to spot.

The game itself featured CFL uniforms from coast-to-coast. I remember Ottawa Rough Riders jerseys; the RedBlacks didn't start until 2014. That was a fun experience seeing a rainbow of CFL support.

CFL travels have sent me to every league city

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

This region would support an actual team. Rooting for out-of-region teams is nice but doesn't have the same feel. The Montréal Alouettes are a logical draw for their relative proximity but also for the French-speaking people of New Brunswick who would watch the CFL on RDS. The Alouettes are not as good as they were in 2013 but better than they have been in recent times. Toronto, the team sacrificing a home game, is by all definitions the worst CFL team in 2019.

This is the Argos second game of the CFL season against a fellow East opponent. The Alouettes have been a pleasant surprise.

The temptation would be to make this a regional team similar to the Green Bay Packers playing some of their game in Milwaukee. Halifax needs to justify 10 home dates for a stadium.

Shannon Park would be a great site for a new Halifax stadium that could be used for multiple purposes. The imagery of the ferries crossing from Halifax to the skyline being seen on national TV (and even into the United States) is something people in Halifax should look forward to seeing.

The Touchdown Atlantic is a good way to remind Canadians of this part of their country. The Atlantic Schooners would showcase the sports passion of people in the Maritimes. For the first time, the Touchdown Atlantic game will air on U.S. television.

TSN and RDS will show the 2019 Touchdown Atlantic game. ESPNews will carry the TSN feed in the United States.

photos credit: me; CFL

New Brunswick cartoonist dismissal symptom of larger Canadian media concern

Does it matter if I was fired over one Donald Trump cartoon when every Donald Trump cartoon I submitted in the past year was axed?

— Michael de Adder (@deAdder) July 1, 2019

When you travel even a little bit in New Brunswick, you learn about the far-reaching influence of the Irving family. Brunswick News Inc. (BNI) — owned by James Irving — came up in the international news over the firing of cartoonist Michael de Adder.

Greg Perry, who was to replace de Adder, has walked away from BNI. Perry said the chain "insisted on running the cartoons I'd provided way back on Friday, despite my asking them not to."

The cartoon from de Adder featured Donald Trump trying to play through a round of golf with two migrants lying there dead. He was fired the day after the cartoon ran.

Perry says he was recruited before the Trump cartoon but to work alongside de Adder, not replace him. The two cartoonists worked together until 2 years ago when BNI laid off Perry. de Adder had been with BNI for 17 years. Perry did note that the social media backlash wasn't worth it "over a job that pays the same per month as a job at a grocery chain."

Cartoon for June 26, 2019 on #trump #BorderCrisis #BORDER #TrumpCamps #TrumpConcentrationCamps pic.twitter.com/Gui8DHsebl

— Michael de Adder (@deAdder) June 26, 2019

The concern over the firing of de Adder was linked to the oil-rich Irving family, who might not have wanted the anti-Trump cartoon. A lost detail is that de Adder never submitted the Trump cartoon to BNI, citing his concerns over sending them anti-Trump cartoons. 

Neither de Adder or Perry are based in New Brunswick: de Adder is in Halifax while Perry is in Vancouver. Both cartoonists are featured throughout Canada, just not in New Brunswick. In fact, the Toronto Star agreed to pick up de Adder once a week.

BNI owns the major English-language daily newspapers: Telegraph-Journal (Saint John); Times & Transcript (Moncton); and The Daily Gleaner (Fredericton). The company also owns 14 English-language weeklies and 7 French-language weeklies in New Brunswick.

L'Acadie Nouvelle (Caraquet) is the only independent daily in New Brunswick.

CanadianCrossing.com journalism coverage

The Maritimes have been resistant to the Postmedia block that owns both daily newspapers in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa as well as the only English language paper in Montréal. New Brunswick has a similar conundrum. The SaltWire Network controls Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, as well as Newfoundland and Labrador.

The only major newspaper west of Ontario that isn't controlled by Postmedia is the Winnipeg Free-Press, owned by FP Canadian Newspapers Limited Partnership with local roots.

Postmedia also owns the National Post based in Toronto.

When de Adder was let go by BNI, he didn't lose a newspaper in New Brunswick as a client; he lost New Brunswick as a client.

Newspaper ownership should be local and responsible. A lot of major Canadian newspapers don't provide either.

Twitter captures: @deAdder

Canada is a safer place for abortion though access should be improved

The United States has been under attack with severe anti-abortion state bills designed to practically eliminate legal abortion in those states.

You might come to the conclusion that abortion rights are in way better shape in Canada than the United States.

Having covered American and Canadian politics, there is a yes-and-no answer that is worth having a column to explain and contrast policies in the side-by-side neighbours.

Roe vs. Wade gave the United States the edge in that federal abortion rights have existed since 1973. Canada doesn't get that federal standard until 1988 in what is known as the Morgentaler ruling. The Supreme Court of Canada said the then-abortion law violated women's Section 7 Charter rights to "life, liberty and security of person" and that the law "clearly interferes with a woman’s physical and bodily integrity."

The Conservative Party in Canada, whether in power with Stephen Harper or as the opposition party under Andrew Scheer, has been in the record as not wanting to reopen the abortion debate. There are backbenchers who feel otherwise but they haven't convinced their leadership to change that stance.

Prince Edward Island eases abortion restrictions (2015)

Abortion definitely an issue in New Brunswick election (2014)

In Canada and the United States, the battle is being fought on the state/provincial level. Provinces control health care though they receive money from the federal government for health care.

Prince Edward Island was in a land of its own until 2016. The province had refused to provide that form of health care on its land. The province would reimburse medical costs but not travel costs to places such as Halifax (NS) or Moncton (NB). The province sets medical abortions at 9 weeks and surgical abortions to 12 weeks, 6 days. Those requirements apply to abortions in the province.

Up until February 5, 2018, Nova Scotia required a physician referral to schedule an abortion. That was particular onerous for younger women who might not be able to find a physician that would support an abortion.

In 2014, New Brunswick required a woman to have written certification from 2 doctors that the procedure was medically necessary and the abortion must be done by an obstetrician/gynecologist in approved hospitals (only in Moncton and Bathurst). Currently, the province will only fund abortions at hospitals, not clinics.

Ontario funds abortions at some clinics, but not all of them.

Travel is a consideration for a lot of remote areas in Canada. Even in not so remote areas, travel is a concern. In the entire province of Alberta, there are lone clinics in each of the two largest cities: Edmonton and Calgary.

The anti-abortion crowd in Canada might be quieter but they do exist.

Politically, the difference is that the U.S. law is federal. Those who want to overturn Roe vs. Wade know that large U.S. cities (and their states) will still have abortion access. They want to have the right as individual states to install draconian laws against abortion.

The proposed laws are often drafted to make having an abortion across a state line a significant problem, especially if the female hasn't reached the age of majority.

In Canada, the law is still federal but provinces have a wide range of control from access, limits on number of weeks, and covering costs.

The United States prohibits federal Medicaid funding of abortions thanks to the Hyde Amendment. Canada will generally pay for abortions, an advantage thanks to the single-payer health care system.

Those who have financial means and/or live in large cities won't have to worry about abortions. Those without financial means and/or in rural areas will struggle more.

The abortion pill was supposed to be a benefactor for girls and women where access was limited. Access to the abortion pill is often lacking in the areas where it is most in need.

Canada has a major advantage over the United States: stability of the Supreme Court. Conservatives know that the Supreme Court of Canada will never overturn the 1988 ruling. The appointments of several Supreme Court justices in the United States under controversial circumstances tips the court in a direction where political, not legal, rulings are likely or possible.

Women's rights are better protected in Canada under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The United States is a state short of approving the Equal Rights Amendment.

We saw under the Harper Government that even though Harper appointed the vast majority of justices that the Court ruled unanimously against the Harper Government on key decisions. That lack of bias doesn't exist on the United States Supreme Court.

CanadianCrossing.com Prince Edward Island coverage

CanadianCrossing.com health care coverage

Ireland legalised abortions in a referendum about a year ago. The government later made the procedure free for Irish women. Those women and girls in Northern Ireland have it more like Alabama's new law; those able to travel to England can get an abortion. Poland has one of the most extreme takes on abortion in Europe.

Here is to hoping abortion, birth control, contraception, and women's health care become medical issues, not political footballs.

video and photo credit: Full Frontal with Samantha Bee/TBS