Advice to Fundraising Conservative leadership PSAC on #CPCldr: Phoenix 5 things Don’t give up moral Third-party campaigns high ground in rush Mexico we learned to look powerful Envoy says adiós from Q1 endorse candidates Brian Dijkema p. 12 Diplomatic Circles p. 22 Chelsea Nash p. 5 Peter Mazereeuw p. 3 TWENTY-EIGHTH YEAR, NO. 1431 CANADA’S POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT NEWSPAPER WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 2017 $5.00 News Extreme weather News Legislation MPs don hip waders, grab ‘This is a hill I’m prepared to die on’; government sandbags amid historic flooding aims to pass transgender rights bill before summer BY PETER MAZEREEUW have been put to rest, and the bill’s sponsor, who is also the gov- he path forward for legislation ernment’s whip in the chamber, Tto explicitly bar discrimina- says it has widespread support. tion over gender identity and ex- C-16 would change the afore- pression finally seems clear, with mentioned laws to add gender the government warning it will do identity and gender expression as whatever it takes to get it through prohibited grounds of discrimi- the Senate before summer, and nation. Several attempts to pass one of the bill’s chief critics con- similar legislation through private ceding it will likely pass. members’ bills have failed in Bill C-16, An Act to amend the years past, including, most recent- Canadian Human Rights Act and ly, NDP MP Randall Garrison’s the Criminal Code, was examined (Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke, B.C.) for the first time by the Senate C-279, which died in the Senate in Legal and Constitutional Affairs the summer of 2015 after the elec- Committee on May 4, more than tion was called. five months after it arrived in the This time, the government in Senate. A kerfuffle over whether the Senate will make sure the the opposition Conservatives were stalling the bill seems to Continued on page 4 News NDP leadership race Niki Ashton gains support of Manitoba NDP leader, Charlie Angus woos Yukon leader BY CHELSEA NASH She said any of the candidates currently in the race “will make rovincial and territorial NDP a superb leader.” But, Ms. Ashton Pleaders are beginning to play a has her first ballot. role in the ongoing leadership race, Leader of the Yukon NDP Eliz- abeth Hanson has decided to put Liberal MP Frank Baylis, left, who represents one of the hardest-hit sections in the Montreal region, and his entire staff the latest fundraising numbers show. Niki Ashton (Churchill-Kee- her support behind Charlie Angus joined countless volunteers helping out with sandbagging and other support initiatives during the flooding this week. (Timmins-James Bay, Ont.). Photograph courtesy of Frank Baylis watinook Aski, Man.) has earned the support of the interim provin- Ms. Hanson made a donation Publications Mail Agreement #40068926 of $500 to Mr. Angus’ campaign Unprecedented flooding along “There’s some amazing com- cial leader in her home province, BY MARCO VIGLIOTTI Flor Marcelino. on March 3. the Ottawa River watershed, and munity spirit, tremendous volun- She told The Hill Times in an elsewhere in Eastern Canada, has teer efforts going on across the Ms. Marcelino made a $200 Along every swollen water- contribution to Ms. Ashton’s cam- interview Monday that the Yukon way, every eroded riverbank, caused untold property dam- affected regions,” said Liberal MP NDP have had the chance to meet age and heartache, but has also Will Amos (Pontiac, Que.), who paign on March 11. every washed out road, the “She’s a Manitoban, I’m a four of the five candidates over plot lines remained identical: sparked a remarkable display represents a riding in the hard- the last few years, as the four MPs of generous selflessness from hit Outaouais region across the Manitoban, I’m supporting Niki hundreds of neighbours, friends, because I believe she’s highly running have made their way up and even strangers to lend a neighbours and strangers alike, provincial border from Ottawa. to the territory for the local con- who have come out in droves to “The community efforts are tre- qualified, and she’s a woman too, hand to beleaguered residents like myself,” Ms. Marcelino said, vention at some point or another. confronted with surging water help out fellow residents, say MPs mendous, it’s really quite inspiring.” representing affected areas. when asked what led to her deci- levels. Continued on page 6 sion to support Ms. Ashton. Continued on page 17 2 wednesday, may 10, 2017 | THE HILL TIMES She also previously served as the Montreal outfit as a principal, Earnscliffe announced bureau chief for the now-defunct Financial on Thursday. Times of Canada. A high-profile political commentator, Meanwhile, Sen. Munson is a former Mr. Anderson has enjoyed a varied career broadcast journalist who worked as a cor- in politics and business. Heard on the Hill respondent in Ottawa, London, and Beijing, He has worked on a multitude of promi- and elsewhere. He also covered the Gulf nent political campaigns, including the War in the early 1990s. federal Liberals’ 1979 election campaign, by Marco Vigliotti After leaving journalism, he became where the party was led by then-prime then-prime minister Jean Chrétien’s direc- minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau. tor of communications. In 2003, he was He also worked on leadership cam- appointed by Mr. Chrétien to the Senate. paigns for one-time Liberal prime min- “Some fine ex-journalists aboard,” Mr. isters John Turner and Paul Martin, and N ew media and press Diotte wrote on Twitter of the caucus. directed national campaigns for the now- For decades, Mr. Diotte worked as a defunct Reform Party under the leadership journalist for the Edmonton Sun, where he of Preston Manning. served in a variety roles, including as the He was also an adviser to the United freedom caucus holds paper’s provincial legislature reporter. Nations International Mission for Iraqi Mr. Diotte was at the centre of a free- Elections. dom of the press scandal in 2004, after In the private sector, Mr. Anderson Edmonton police targeted Mr. Diotte, then participated in the founding of Zip.ca, a inaugural meeting a columnist with the Sun, and Martin now-defunct online video rental service, Ignasiak, chairman of the Edmonton Police spending four years as its president and Commission, in an unsuccessful sting CEO, and has worked for several high-pro- operation intended to nab them for drunk file communications and lobbying firms. driving—though neither men drove drunk Mr. Anderson has frequently appeared that night. Police radio transcripts from on political panel shows, most notably on that night, published by the Edmonton CTV and CBC. Journal, show that the officers hoped to catch Mr. Diotte as payback for columns he had written that were critical of the police Liberal MP raises force. Both the Edmonton Police Commis- complaint about absence sion and Alberta solicitor-general were harshly critical of the attempted sting, and of indigenous language police chief Fred Rayner was later fired, the Globe and Mail reported. translation in Parliament Mr. Diotte unsuccessfully sought elec- tion as mayor of Edmonton in 2013 before Liberal MP Robert-Falcon Ouellette winning the nomination for the federal (Winnipeg Centre, Man.) was greeted with Conservatives in the new riding of Edmon- cheers from his colleagues after he rose to ton Griesbach for the 2015 election. He speak in the House on Thursday. won the general election in a close race. But chances are, most didn’t even un- Liberal MP John McKay (Scarborough- derstand what he had just said. Guildwood, Ont.) was also in attendance at That’s because Mr. Ouellette, an outspo- the founding meeting of the caucus. ken first-term MP, recited his short mem- ber’s statement in Cree, and the House doesn’t provide translation services for lan- Senator Meredith quitting guages other than French and English. An English translation he provided amid controversy later to the House revealed the statement MPs, Senators, and advocates attending the founding meeting of the new media and press touched upon two recent violent events in caucus. Pictured, from left to right, Liberal Senator Joan Fraser, Conservative MP Peter Kent, Embattled Independent Senator Don the Canadian Prairies in which Mr. Ouel- Non-affiliated Senator André Pratte, activist Arnold Amber, ex-journalist turned advocate Gord Meredith has decided to resign his seat in lette said young indigenous women were McIntosh, Liberal Senator Jim Munson, Conservative Senator Linda Frum, Conservative MP the Upper Chamber. killed or severely hurt, and called for ad- Kerry Diotte, Liberal MP John McKay, Liberal Senator Terry Mercer, cartoonist Guy Badeaux, and He announced his departure in a letter to ditional legal protections to thwart similar his Senate colleagues released Tuesday after- journalist Susan Korah. Photo courtesy of the Twitter account of Kerry Diotte occurrences. noon, though it has yet to be made formal. “These events occurred while people arliamentarians from different parties, Conservative Senator Claude Cari- The move comes a week after the Sen- stood by and recorded these incidents,” he Pincluding several former journalists, gnan (Mille Isles, Que.) tabled a Senate ate Ethics Committee recommended his ex- said, according to the English translation. gathered on Thursday for the inaugural public bill last fall that seeks to protect pulsion from the Upper Chamber because “The freedom of the violence calls into meeting of a new caucus focusing on me- journalistic sources, which has passed of an inappropriate relationship with a question our own humanity.” dia and press freedom issues. the Senate and is at second reading in the teenaged girl. Shortly after he delivered his state- Conservative MP Kerry Diotte (Edmon- House.