TWENTY-EIGHTH YEAR, NO. 1397 CANADA’S POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT NEWSPAPER MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 2017 $5.00 Defence Time to House Expect Trudeau walk away Electoral to deploy a charm Policy from Shared Reform off ensive to win Briefi ng Services Committee over Trump’s Defence Minister Harjit Canada did fail us Texas-sized ego Sajjan, James Bezan, pp. 17-21 Wayne Smith, p. 10 Jean T. Fournier, p. 6 Warren Kinsella, p. 2 NEWS TRADE NEWS CALGARY-HERITAGE Liberals aiming to win Harper’s ‘I think 2017 will be former Calgary Heritage riding BY ABBAS RANA minister Stephen Harper’s riding, one of the safest and symbolically Bolstered by a breakthrough in most important Conservative Party Alberta in the last federal election, seats in the country. her true test as a the Liberals are now going for the jugular and targeting former prime Continued on page 31 minister,’ Freeland NEWS TORONTO-DANFORTH Several Toronto-Danforth Liberal riding association executive in the spotlight members threatening to resign, won’t seek another term Donald Trump’s team may have a few things in common with ‘progressive’ BY ABBAS RANA Dabrusin’s offi ce staff, Liberal politicians, says International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland. sources told The Hill Times. Several members of the “The president of the riding federal Toronto-Danforth Lib- association [Lianne Doucet], who eral riding association execu- we have a deep admiration for, tive are threatening to resign was put in a position where she or won’t seek another term thought she had to resign. She because of how they’re being treated by rookie Grit MP Julie Continued on page 29 NEWS CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP Scheer’s Conservative caucus support gives him advantage, but leadership win not in the bag BY CHELSEA NASH The member for Regina- Qu’Appelle, Sask. has 19 endorse- Conservative MP and leader- ments, according to his website, ship candidate Andrew Scheer followed by MP Erin O’Toole may have the most endorsements (Durham, Ont.) with the backing from his caucus colleagues on the of 13 MPs. Hill, but that doesn’t mean he’s got the leadership in the bag. Continued on page 27 FEATURE SENATOR NANCY RUTH Publications Mail Agreement #40068926 International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland pictured with departing U.S. counterpart Michael Froman during the Three Amigos summit in Ottawa in June. Mr. Froman will soon be replaced by Robert Lighthizer, a veteran of the Senate reform ‘an interesting Reagan administration. The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright experiment,’ says Sen. Nancy Ruth on BY PETER MAZEREEUW Canada’s defence against the on- with Canada and Mexico, and her way out the door slaught of trade reforms promised to punish companies that send You can expect to see a lot by U.S. president-elect Donald jobs out of the country. Canada BY RACHEL AIELLO Justin Trudeau are an experiment more Chrystia Freeland in 2017. Trump in the coming year. escaped most of Mr. Trump’s cam- in progress, but because poli- Barring a cabinet shuffl e, the Mr. Trump campaigned on paign trail barbs, but ongoing Newly retired Senator Nancy tics thrives on power, she says the 48-year-old trade minister and MP promises to renegotiate the North Ruth says the Senate reforms for University-Rosedale will lead American Free Trade Agreement Continued on page 25 being made by Prime Minister Continued on page 24 2 THE HILL TIMES, MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 2017 THE WAR ROOM TRUDEAU & TRUMP IMPOLITIC CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP Expect Trudeau Conservative to deploy a charm leadership race offensive to win portends a over Trump’s return to ugly Texas-sized ego As she never tires of reminding everyone, Does Kellie Leitch approve Leitch is a paediatric orthopaedic surgeon. of making up allegations That means she is smart. You would expect The Trump War Room, out of whole cloth like she would be ethical, too. Why, then, is she however, is one good running such a shallow and tendentious this—not just spinning, or campaign? We can only surmise that she idea that should not be believes winning is all that matters and that distorting, or exaggerating, the Conservative party base, which she must forgotten in the crazy but deliberately woo, is mostly xenophobic and vengeful. times that lie ahead. In this, she resembles Harper—except misleading? Is she running that his cascading hostilities (towards the media, the Liberals, the Supreme Court, her campaign or is Nick etc. etc.) and his tendency to pander to Kouvalis? social divisions rather than alleviate them, was less crude—except in the desperate last months of his losing campaign. In the end, his hyper-partisanship did him in. WARREN KINSELLA Interim Leader Rona Ambrose, and others, have been trying ever since to reintroduce humanity to the party that Harper—and Justin Trudeau, however different he is from ORONTO—The diplomat didn’t hesi- Leitch, with the barbaric practices tip- Donald Trump, is uniquely suited to deal with tate. line—ultimately led off the cliff. T Donald Trump. The things that drive Trudeau’s SUSAN RILEY “Set up a war room, now,” he said, tap- Those “others” include some of Leitch’s Canadian critics bonkers—the unremitting ping the table for emphasis. “It’s useless competitors in what is becoming an media focus, the glam and glitter—are writing memos trying to guess what this ATINEAU, QUE.—The least edifying increasingly fractious race. Lisa Raitt, paradoxically the very things that will assist guy will do next. You have to see what he moment in an eventful week in the for example, warned last week at a news Trudeau in handling Trump. Trudeau knows G does, and then respond, quickly. That’s Conservative leadership campaign came conference, that “negative and divisive Trump’s type, writes Warren Kinsella. The Hill what Trudeau needs to do.” in the form of a shame-free lie from Kellie politics” would drive the party “right into Times photograph by Jake Wright and Gage Skidmore It was a few days before Christmas, Leitch’s campaign manager, Nick Kouvalis. the ground.” and I was catching up with old friends. The Kouvalis—a political organizer for hire, Her main target was the unilingual diplomat was back in Canada to see family book and throw it out with this guy. Every- who has also worked for Rob Ford and Kevin O’Leary, who does not plan to join over the holidays, and I’d just asked him thing you used to know? It doesn’t apply John Tory—accused the Trudeau Liberals the race until the Jan. 17 French debate is what the government of Justin Trudeau anymore.” last week of sending international aid to safely over. O’Leary is an attention-seeking should do about Donald Trump. When you think about it—and we of terrorist organizations and dictators, and blabbermouth with a few hoary right-wing The diplomat had strong opinions. They course must—the anonymous diplomat is tweeted a long list of alleged recipients, economic ideas and no experience in poli- all made sense, too. He explained that he had of course correct. Donald Trump is a rac- including the designated-terrorist group, tics. Plus he lives in Boston. But he is more spoken with many corporate and political ist, a demagogue, a groper with fascistic Hamas. Except the list was not only false, lively and spontaneous than Leitch and leaders across the United States—before, tendencies—but, in eleven days, he is also it was lifted from a U.S. anti-big-govern- naturally, rather than strategically, outra- during, and after the historic 2016 presiden- going to be President of the United States. ment group that used the identical cooked- geous. He is also, clearly, making the 13 tial race. The advice he’d gotten from Repub- The approaches Canada favoured with up numbers to try to discredit Barack declared candidates nervous. licans was the most noteworthy, he said. the 27 presidents who have ruled America Obama in 2013. His lack of fl uency in French has been “They don’t know what he’ll do next, during Canada’s 150-year history—from Confronted with evidence, Kouvalis challenged by Andrew Scheer, his remark either,” the diplomat said. “They turn on Andrew Johnson to Barack Obama—no scoffed, claiming he wanted to “make the that “there is nothing proud about being a Twitter every morning like everybody longer apply. left go nuts.” So, just another strategy. And, warrior” has been deplored by Erin O’Toole else, to see what Trump has said the night Justin Trudeau, however different he is it worked—if his goal was generating more and Michael Chong. And, Raitt has taken before. They say they—and Trump’s own from Donald Trump, is uniquely suited to publicity for a policy-light, mean-spirited issue with O’Leary’s promise to make staff—don’t ever know what is going to deal with Donald Trump. The things that campaign. Trouble is, it isn’t only, or even, unions illegal within 15 minutes of becom- come out of his mouth, or come out on drive Trudeau’s Canadian critics bonkers— “the left” that disapproves of making things ing prime minister. (Exhibiting the moral- Twitter. They fi nd him just as unpredictable the unremitting media focus, the glam and up to discredit an opponent. It is anyone ly-untethered ambition that has become as everybody else.” glitter, the (alleged) inattention to policy, with a moral compass. his calling card, Chris Alexander said he Therefore, the diplomat said, it’s a the (again, alleged) superfi ciality and ego— In the end, the tactic may not have would make O’Leary his fi nance minister.) waste of time for offi cials at the Privy are paradoxically the very things that will generated as much attention as Kouvalis Meanwhile, with Trump-like audacious- Council Offi ce or Global Affairs to type assist Trudeau in handling Trump.