Free speech, free trade and failure: how federal politics touched us this week

By Heather Scoffield, The Canadian Press

OTTAWA – The winner of the first week back from summer on Parliament Hill? A banner-dragging aircraft-for-rent.

On Monday, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation hired one to welcome MPs back to Ottawa for the fall session, pulling a giant banner that denounced Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s tax proposals as too anti-business.

Not to be outdone, opponents of investor provisions in the North American Free Trade Agreement welcomed incoming trade negotiators from Mexico and the United States with a hired blimp urging an end to the business-friendly protections.

Officials on all sides would undoubtedly argue that neither the tax proposals nor the NAFTA talks lend themselves to two or three words on an airborne headline, but they are at pains to explain their own ideas so succinctly.

At ground level, the MPs’ first week back to Ottawa was notable for developments on Canada’s international reputation, on freedom of speech, and on the free-trade talks. Here’s how federal politics touched Canadians this week:

FREE TRADE

The NAFTA machine and all its parts are gearing up for several days of intense discussions to overhaul the aging trade agreement by the end of the year.

Hundreds of U.S. negotiators and officials descended on downtown Ottawa at the end of the week, even as Canadian ministers on the NAFTA file spread out to consult with their own advisers and some of the 28 working groups on how to handle Round 3 of the high-stakes talks to renew the trade agreement.

The three NAFTA countries see eye-to-eye on energy, but there is little common ground on other matters. Canada is meeting stiff resistance to its proposals to bolster the flow of labour back and forth across the border. The United States and Mexico are gunning for Canada’s dairy sector, and talk is heating up on that front.

And the auto sector, which drives a huge part of Central Canada’s economy, is on tenterhooks waiting for the United States to explain exactly what it wants in terms of redefined rules of origin. Canada’s auto sector is designed around the existing NAFTA rules, and the rumoured U.S. demands would severely disrupt supply chains — driving away investment and the jobs that go with it.

FREE SPEECH

How far does Andrew Scheer’s devotion to free speech extend? The new Conservative leader made a virtue of his defence of free speech during his leadership campaign, and put it front and centre in his speeches following his victory.

But recent remarks from two caucus members have tested his limits.

Sen. Lynn Beyak has been under fire for comments she made about First Nations people, writing in an open letter earlier this month that they should trade in their status cards and become Canadian citizens, among other things.

Eventually, she was removed from all Senate committees although continues to be a member of the Conservative caucus.

MP Gerry Ritz, who is just days away from retirement, grabbed headlines this week for referring to Environment Minister Catherine McKenna as “climate Barbie” in a tweet.

Ritz apologized on Twitter, and Scheer condemned the comment but resisted calls to make a public apology. He eventually called McKenna to personally apologize.

The Liberals have jumped all over the remarks with zeal, fundraising on the McKenna ordeal.

FAILURE

Even as the MPs flooded back to Ottawa for the fall session of Parliament, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spent most of his week elsewhere — New York, for the annual meeting of the United Nations, and then Toronto, where he met the Ukrainian president and helped open the Invictus Games with Prince Harry.

The main theme of his speech to the UN? Canada’s abject and ongoing failure to properly respect Indigenous Peoples. He vividly described for the world the anguish some families go through in dealing with poverty, violence, suicide and addiction. And he discussed what his government wants to do to change that dynamic.

Most speeches to the General Assembly have leaders making strong points on international affairs and boasting of their own prowess. So Trudeau’s tale of Canadian shame stood out, especially as Canada makes a pitch for a seat on the Security Council.

The Conservatives say he lost an opportunity to highlight Canada’s views on international matters.

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