EXCLUSIVE POLITICAL COVERAGE: NEWS, FEATURES, AND ANALYSIS INSIDE NORTHERN TIME TO GET SERIOUS ELBOW PARTY TOUR IS ABOUT INCOME BACK P. 7 INEQUALITY P. 3 GATE P.14 CENTRAL P.23 TWENTY-SEVENTH YEAR, NO. 1342 CANADA’S POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT NEWSWEEKLY WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2016 $5.00 NEWS DEFENCE Liberals, Conservatives NEWS HEALTH Conservative, Parliamentarians NDP critics prep for doozy conventions convene bi-partisan warn of Liberal panel to address cuts to defence Lyme disease procurement BY MARCO V IGLIOTTI Karen Ludwig heard it disturbingly fre- quently on the campaign trail last summer: BY MARCO V IGLIOTTI constituents complaining of an obscure, The Trudeau government will be hard- little-understood illness that left painful pressed to fi nance its ambitious promises and occasionally debilitating symptoms, for the Canadian Armed Forces within the and perplexed local health professionals existing defence budget, and are already struggling to pinpoint the cause. hinting at signifi cant cuts to procurement Lyme disease, the tick-borne illness fi rst spending to make up the difference, op- identifi ed in New England, had migrated position critics say. north and was sinking its teeth into south- “I think we know where [the cuts] western New Brunswick. are coming from, it’s going to be on the “It wasn’t [just] in the endemic areas procurement side, probably on training,” While the Liberals are set to debate a proposed new controversial party constitution at their that have been identifi ed in the province, it Conservative defence critic James Bezan biennial policy convention in Winnipeg this weekend, former prime minister Stephen Harper is was across the riding. Different people that (Selkirk-Interlake-Eastman, Man.) said in expected to address Conservatives in his fi rst public speech since election night at his party’s talked about their experience suffering an interview. convention in Vancouver. For more on what to expect at the Conservative convention, see Tim from Lyme disease, they were looking for He charged that funding cuts, as op- Powers’ primer on Page 11.The Hill Times photographs by Daniel Leon Rodriguez and Jake Wright help,” Ms. Ludwig (New Brunswick South- posed to spending increases, are more likely west, N.B.) said in an interview. because he believes the Liberal government Continued on page 20 does not see defence as a “major priority.” NEWS SENATE Continued on page 21 Independent Senators won’t take NEWS ENVIRONMENT NEWS DEVELOPMENT orders from Harder: new appointees Reports to BY PETER MAZEREEUW However, some in the Senate don’t Foreign-aid appear to be convinced that Independent UN show Independent Senators appointed by Senators are in fact independent of the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau say they have government, said Sen. Lankin and Senator policy review no plan to vote as a group or at the govern- André Pratte, both of whom were among extent Canada ment’s instruction, despite whispers in the the seven independents appointed by Mr. launches, Senate that they are really “closet Liberals.” Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) on the advice of could miss “You should never expect us to vote as an advisory committee earlier this year. a bloc,” said Independent Senator Frances greenhouse outcome Lankin in an interview. Continued on page 4 expected in fall gas targets INSIDE POLITICS ASSISTED DEATH BY T IM NAUMETZ BY CHELSEA NASH The government has a knack Recent reports Canada submitted to the “Women, women, women.” United Nations show the extent by which International Development Minis- Canada could miss targets on greenhouse ter Marie-Claude Bibeau (Compton- for turning allies into opponents gas emissions reductions. Stanstead, Que.) has declared the focus A Canadian report Environment and of her portfolio loud and clear. It will be ONTREAL—Looking back on the de- Climate Change Minister Catherine a highlight of the foreign aid policy re- Mbacle that attended the latest episode McKenna (Ottawa Centre, Ont.) submitted view she’s undertaking over the next two in the assisted-death debate in the House of to the United Nations Framework months, which, after months of anticipa- Commons last week, it is easy to forget that Convention on Climate Change last tion, was fi nally offi cially launched on Justin Trudeau’s government had a parlia- February was the second in a series of May 18. It’s the fi rst policy review to hap- CHANTAL HÉBERT mentary consensus within its grasp when it biennial reports the UN agency and its pen on the fi le since 1995. set out to draft its now-contentious bill. 160-plus participating nations established Continued on page 6 Continued on page 11 Continued on page 5 2 THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2016 FEATUREFEATURE BUZZBUZZ FEATURE PARTIES IICA seminar draws diplomats ON HEARD THE HILL BY MARCO V IGLIOTTI Liberal MPs throw down wager to international lawmakers, ex-journalist Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture Ms. Barnett with Julio César Arriola Representative Audia Barnett, Peruvian Ambassador Marcela Ramírez, ambassador of Paraguay. López Bravo, and Victor Villalobos at the IICA annual closes out decade as accountability seminar on May 18 at the Sheraton Hotel. The Hill Times photographs languages watchdog by Sam Garcia Tunisia Nobel Prize winners Representatives of Tunisia’s National Dialogue Quartet pose with Tunisian Ambassador Riadh Essid, third from left, his wife Chiraz Saidane Essid, second from right, and NDP foreign affairs critic Hélène Laverdière, far right, at a reception honouring the Quartet, 2015 Nobel Peace Prize winners. Independent Senator Jordanian Ambassador Basheer Zoubi with Mr. and Ms. Essid, and Mr. Zoubi’s Don Meredith with Mr. Essid. wife Dina Khair at the May 17 reception at the Chateau Laurier. MPs with ties to Ukraine gathered to sing a traditional Ukrainian folk song. Photo courtesy of Borys Wrzesnewskyj Twitter account Party-goers celebrate Cameroon’s n impromptu singing session by Furthermore, Mr. Wrzenewskyj said he national day AMPs last week has gone “viral,” lead- was told by the Ukrainian Embassy, as ing to a friendly challenge to lawmakers well as relatives living there, that the video overseas. had been picked up news services in the On Friday, Liberal MP Borys Wrz- country. esnewskyj (Etobicoke Centre, Ont.) up- However, it appears the Toronto loaded two videos to his public Facebook MP may be considering changing the tune page—one in English and the other in of his friendly wager. Ukrainian—showing several MPs, includ- “I would like to see the Ukrainian ing himself, wearing vyshyvankas—a tradi- Parliamentarians sing Canada’s hockey tional Ukrainian garment—and belting out songs,” he said in an interview, with a a Ukrainian folk song the previous day in laugh. Senegalese Ambassador Ousmane Paye, with Centre Block. “If we sing a Ukrainian song, they can Mercy Azoh-Mbi, wife to the high commissioner Solomon Azoh-Mbi, high commissioner of Cameroon, with The Parliamentarians were sporting the sing a traditional Canadian song, and of Cameroon, and Saudi Ambassador Naif Bin former Conservative MP Stockwell Day, Ms. Azoh-Mbi, and traditional embroidered frocks in honour there’s nothing more traditional than a Bandir AlSudairy. Valorie Day at the May 19 reception at the Chateau Laurier. of Vyshyvanka Day, a national holiday in hockey song.” Ukraine celebrating the culturally signifi - Mr. Wrzenewskyj, who also serves cant piece of clothing. as chair of the Canadian-Ukrainian Mr. Wrzesnewskyj then used his video Parliamentary Friendship Group, views the to lay down a wager to federal lawmakers whole episode as a case of “non-traditional” in Ukraine: Put forward your best rendi- diplomacy building solid international tion of the song, and let the public vote goodwill in a “very effective manner.” on who are the superior singers, with the As for the bet? winner to be awarded a case of Canadian It didn’t take long to receive a response. ice wine. Andriy Parubiy, chairman of the He later formalized his offer in a letter Verkhovna Rada, called Mr. Wrzenews- to the Ukrainian Embassy in Canada and kyj Tuesday to accept the wager, saying the chairman (comparable to the role of lawmakers in the Ukraine would also sport Speaker) of the Verkhovna Rada, the coun- their vyshyvankas while singing, according try’s national legislative body. to the Liberal MP. It has since drawn sizeable attention in No timeline, however, was provided cyberspace. for when that will occur, with Mr. Parubiy The Ukrainian language version of the currently in Germany attending a conference. Facebook video had attracted some 12,000 Angolan Ambassador Edgar Martins, Zimbabwean Ambassador Florence Zano Chideya, and Mahamat Ali views as of midday Tuesday, while the Eng- Continued on page 27 Adoum, ambassador of Chad. lish edition drew just shy of 10,000 hits. THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2016 3 NEED TO KNOW FINANCE Time to get serious about income inequality Given the fi scal realities facing the new proaches to national policy-making. $200 billion that well-off Canadians are In Canada, the only group government, the Liberals have made a In the short term, the Liberals need to believed to have hidden away in offshore to increase its share of na- decent start. The reordering of support for re-examine the middle-class tax cut to ad- tax havens. Any success here will of course families under the new Canada Child Benefi t dress the fact that benefi ts are skewed in help offset the cost of programs that will, tional income over the past is an improvement that will help millions of favour of families in the upper range of the in effect, redress income inequality. two decades is the richest 20 people. And the middle-class tax cut, coupled middle class.