Ottawa Observations: Monday, August 16, 2021

Our compilation of some of the stories of note from the day, reviewing the political developments from the Federal scene for  Monday, August 16, 2021

 

Election Campaign 2021

Trudeau vows to extend COVID 19 business supports to March, as OToole proposes scrapping Liberal child-care plan in platform release 

Erin O'Toole's Conservatives target suburban voters in election platform of thoughtful populism

Trudeau sets out to win the day but leaves the future of Canada for another time 

Tax credits underpin Conservative plan to spur hiring, growth

PBO report projects smaller deficits as parties cost campaign pledges

Green Party postpones national convention as federal election gets underway

Mayors, chief in BC's Interior say they're disappointed at Federal election call amid raging wildfires 

Conservatives release full platform promising billions of dollars in new pandemic aid

Erin O'Toole opposes mandatory vaccination for federal public servants, travellers

Elections matter - and this one may matter more than most

Here's where federal parties stand on firearms control as cities like Montreal suffer a summer of gun violence 

Where the party leaders are on Day 2 of the federal election campaign

Federal leaders' debates set for September 8, 9 

Doug Ford was Justin Trudeau's punching bag in 2019. For this campaign, insiders say, the leaders will keep the peace 

Green Leader will skip the campaign trail to focus on winning her own seat in Toronto 

Green Leader Annamie Paul calls for 'emergency recall' of Parliament, which experts say is not possible

Justin Trudeau and Erin O'Toole clash over child care as the federal election campaign gets underway

Conservatives pledge to replace the Liberals' child-care program with cash for parents

The best way for Doug Ford to help Erin O'Toole is to disappear

Here's what Erin O'Toole doesn't understand about daycare

Justin Trudeau has traded in flashy for low-key. Will it win him a majority?

Chrystia Freeland defends election call as BC Burns 

Tourism. the arts would get more aid from Liberals, Trudeau promises

Trudeau, Ford likely to be civil, unless there's a COVID-19 surge: experts

Mandatory vaccinations emerge as first big wedge issue in pandemic election race 

First full day of Canada's election campaign begins with economic pledges

Will this election be a new beginning - or the end - of Erin O'Toole's political career?

Is an election even needed right now?

Trudeau's vaccine policy isn't mandatory, it's actually the same as O'Toole's

O'Toole puts out platform, promises to lower family bills

The truth about the Liberals' mandatory vaccine policy

O'Toole and Trudeau both promise hiring incentives to get people back to work

Harper vs. Trudeau: This election will be a confidence vote on Liberal-style crisis fighting 

Conservative platform is substantial, in parts inventive, and occasionally frivolous

Erin O'Toole still unknown, but that's an opportunity for the Conservatives

This election is an opportunity for the opposition parties to shine

Even Trudeau's overblown rhetoric can't justify September election

Erin O'Toole has a chance to se the political agenda at a crucial moment for Conservatives

Erin O'Toole fills in blanks

Where might Trudeau be most vulnerable? And other big questions

O'Toole's blind side, Trudeau's big gamble and other keys to the campaign

Mandatory COVID-19 vaccines a hot-button issue as election race kicks off

Erin O'Toole released a platform today. What promises could hit your pocket book?

Federal poll workers won't be required to be vaccinated: Elections Canada

Leaders debates set for September 8, 9 

Conservatives unveil election promises in pandemic-focused platform

Could Doug Ford and Ontario's PCs impact federal party standings in 2021?

Erin O'Toole doubles down on opposition to mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations of federal public servants

What's this election about?

Trudeau streaks for the gold

Afghanistan

Canada working 'closely' with allies on evacuation from Kabul amid 'extremely fluid' situation

Merkel warns Western countries must offer aid to Afghans fleeing Taliban or risk refugee crisis

Biden stands 'squarely behind' withdrawal from Afghanistan after Taliban's swift takeover

The strategy for Afghanistan went off course long before the US exit

In defending botched US exit from Afghanistan, Biden argues that the unacceptable was unavoidable

Seven killed in evacuation chaos at Kabul airport as Taliban declare war over in Afghanistan

A fearful silence descends on Afghanistan

Canada owes the Afghans who helped us a debt of gratitude - and their lives 

Canada ready to continue evacuating Afghans over the coming weeks: Trudeau

Trudeau says Canada has evacuated 807 Afghans as crisis overshadows election campaign

As Taliban take over Afghanistan, many women 'have real reason to be terrified'

Bedlam of US withdrawal from Afghanistan a far cry from orderly Soviet exit

Ottawa must not give up in face of Afghan disaster

Afghan woman in Toronto fears for her family in Kabul

PMO, Global Affairs holding off deploying CAF Kabul evacuation team: sources

Campaigning Trudeau and the Liberals failed our Afghan allies

A moral failure as Canada leaves Afghan allies stranded

Afghanistan falls into darkness and admit it or not this is what the west wanted

Canada evacuated 34 diplomats, 807 Afghans: Trudeau

Trudeau fiddles with flippant election as Afghanistan burns

'Life is in danger' Afghan-Canadians fearful for families under Taliban rule

Afghan interpreter says some feel 'ashamed' for helping Canada as officials flee Kabul 

When Kandahar breathed optimism 

Canadians held in China / China tensions                 

Government arguing unprecedented application of fraud law in Meng case: lawyer

Meng Wanzhou's lawyers to resume defence as extradition hearing continues 

The Global Coronavirus (COVID-19)

To protect our kids from COVID-19, we have to be grown ups

The troubling Nazi-fication of COVID-19 discourse

Kids turning 12 this year in Ontario must keep waiting for the COVID vaccine, despite moves by other provinces 

Ontario tells school boards to set up clinics to boost, student, teacher vaccinations

BC records almost 1,450 new cases of COVID-19 over the weekend

Western Hockey League adopts mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy

Almost 1,500 new cases and over 5,000 active cases

Globe and Mail

British Columbia wildfires force evacuations in Kamloops, Vernon 

Canada's universities and colleges have broken their students' trust

Ontario to require school-based COVID-19 vaccine clinics as academic year begins 

One simple principle: No vaccine, no go

Ontario open to child care deal with federal Liberals, with some flexibility, says Stephen Lecce

Canada, US vow stronger protection against 'greater and more complex' missile threat 

CBC

Sipekne'katik Chief Mike Sack arrested, traps seized as treaty fishery begins its season in Nova Scotia

Former defence minister Paul Hellyer remembered for his love of country 

'Horrifying' number of syphilis infections in Alberta reaching pre-antibiotic levels

History students hungry for a broader, more inclusive portrait of the past

'Let the firefighters do their job' says BC official after evacuees stay behind, putting lives at risk

Climate risk scores could reshape Canadian real estate markets, some experts say

Here's how a rebrand of Ryerson University could pay off for the school

Toronto/Vancouver Star

 

'The numbers are staggering': You need $1 million to buy a detached house across 97% of the GTA - even in areas far from downtown

Premier Doug Ford warns municipal leaders that COVID-19 'will be something we live with for a while longer'

Montreal Haitian group urges Ottawa to speed up immigration files for quake victims 

Quebec premier promises $100 million for affordable housing in province's north 

'It's a circle of fires': In BC's Interior, fires are moving so quickly that people are now evacuating the places they'd fled to

Property insurers update risk modelling as Canada braces for climate impacts

Toronto Sun

Why the government secrecy behind the Winnipeg lab firings?

Four suspects identified in toppling Sir John A. Macdonald statue in Hamilton

Stock market casino can be like a Moderna shot in the arm

Preston Manning on the broken state of Canadian Politics

National Post

First Nation chief detained in Nova Scotia after launching out of season lobsters fishery 

Trudeau's vaccine mandate for workers an unnecessary attack on personal liberty

Under the Liberals Canada's foreign policy has been AWOL

Historical association's genocide statement 'brazenly unscholarly' 

Maclean's

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Global

'The highway through hell': BC motorist describes driving the Coquihala amid the wildfires

Structures lost, strong winds and falling ash: Crews battle huge wildfires across BC

Surreal, apocalyptic images posted as wildfires darken skies across BC

Coquihalla Highway remains closed; officials say to avoid non-essential travel

50 to 60 structures damaged or destroyed on west side of Okanagan Lake due to White Rock Lake fire

'Fighting fires in the backyards of homes:' Fire chief on Mount Law fire in West Kelowna

Rain falling in Merritt brings hope to a city on evacuation alert

Crews assess damage caused by White Rock Lake fire on the west side of Okanagan Lake

Okanagan SPCA shelters provide emergency housing for animals displaced by wildfires  

Rain to help fight wildfires in Okanagan, but possible lightning could start more

Some structural damage reported after wildfire in West Kelowna, grows 800 hectares overnight

Ontario open to child care deal with Federal liberals, with some flexibility: Lecce

Miscellaneous            

 

Vancouver police say a man's throat was slashed by a stranger in Mount Pleasant

Hell's Angels legal bills and disbursements topped $3.3 million in 12 year fight against forfeiture of clubhouses

TransLink announces added service to bus, SeaBus and West Coast Express routes starting September 6

Canada Real Estate Association reports 'extremely unbalanced' market amid low supply of homes for sale

Off duty fire fighters fundraise at SkyTrain stations August 19

BC Wildfires lead to state of emergency in West Kelowna and terror for motorists on Coquihalla Highway

A judge rebuked Illegal RCMP tactics at Fairy Creek. They Continue

RCMP have spent almost $20 Million policing Wet'suwe'ten Territory