Conservative Leader Stephen Harper smiles as he arrives in Toronto, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015. Former prime minister Harper has landed himself a job with an international law firm.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan HaywardThe Canadian Press
POLITICS BRIEFING
By Chris Hannay (@channay) and Rob Gilroy (@rgilroy)
The Globe Politics is pleased to include a roundup of news and opinion on U.S. politics, through until this year's election in November. As always, let us know what you think of the newsletter. Sign up here to get it by e-mail each morning.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW IN OTTAWA
> The race to replace Stephen Harper is over, in at least one respect. Yes, there is no shortage of candidates looking to take over the helm of the Conservative party, but a candidate has been chosen to succeed him as the party's nominee in Mr. Harper's former Calgary riding. Bob Benzen, a local businessman and conservative activist, will run as the Conservative in a by-election to be called some time in the next few months. But the real nomination upset was in a race this weekend in Ontario, where a 19-year-old won the nomination to succeed former provincial leader Tim Hudak as the nominee in his Niagara riding. Sam Oosterhoff, a Brock University student, beat two opponents, including Rick Dykstra, a former MP and current president of the Ontario Progressive Conservative party.
> A developer and director on the Halifax Port Authority board appears to have breached ethics rules by attending a $1,500-a-ticket fundraiser for Finance Minister Bill Morneau.
> Meanwhile, Mr. Morneau said on the weekend that Canadians should expect more "job churn" and precarious employment in the years ahead.
> Today will feature the first of two public committee meetings about Justin Trudeau's first pick to the Supreme Court. This afternoon Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and former prime minister Kim Campbell – who headed up the advisory group that came up with names for Mr. Trudeau – will appear at committee. Malcolm Rowe, the new top-court judge, will face a public questioning tomorrow.
> Belgium's Wallonia region seems unlikely to meet European demands to agree to the Canada-EU trade deal today.
> The RCMP has created a new counter-terrorism centre for police, immigration, border and spy officials to work side-by-side.
> A look at the challenges facing the new president of the National Research Council, Iain Stewart, as he begins a short two-year term.
> A year on, Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay – from PEI – says it hasn't been a big deal that Mr. Trudeau didn't appoint any regional ministers, as had been custom.
> The Liberals quietly scaled back the push from the previous Conservative government to sell off diplomatic properties abroad.
> And inside the Liberal government's efforts to craft a national food strategy. Canada has "an enormous economic opportunity … but also almost a moral obligation for the country to produce and trade and sell food to the rest of the world when we're one of the few countries who can do so," said Greg Meredith, a senior public servant for the agriculture department.
U.S. ELECTION 2016
> Clinton smells blood: With 15 days to go in the U.S. presidential campaign, a confident Hillary Clinton – buoyed by recent poll numbers – smells blood in her fight with Donald Trump. The Globe and Mail's John Ibbitson notes that her campaign is now "redirecting its ample resources to House and Senate races, in an effort to break the gridlock that bedevilled most of Barack Obama's two terms as president."
> Lord of the Whinge: In The Globe and Mail, Tabatha Southey on Donald Trump's 'Lord of The Whinge' debate strategy against Hillary Clinton: "The debates were a three-part epic tale of a struggle involving a short person menaced by the landlord of some largely vacant tower real estate and his cadre of henchman. Most of these were once living souls, some previously powerful men among them, now reduced to a shadow of their former selves in his service."
> What Trump really wants: Also in The Globe, Stephen Metcalf looks at the prospects of a Trump media empire, which would almost certainly pander to the most paranoid of Americans, whose roots, he says, were sown by the Calvinist settlers of New England. "In the name of civilization, the most spiritually unmoored among us claim that they are defending civilization. It is something out of the most terrifying jeremiad. It is enough to make a Puritan smile."
> The degree gap: Also in The Globe (subscribers), David Shribman says gender is not the only big divide in this election. It's also one of education. "The sudden flood of college-educated voters into the Democrat camp – and the resulting Degree Disparity – is one of the more curious aspects of the American presidential campaign."
> The Dangers of Clinton: Ross Douthat of The New York Times says Hillary Clinton's main weakness is her embrace of an elite Washington consensus that pushed the U.S. to support a "let's try crazy" candidate. "They're the dangers of elite groupthink, of Beltway power worship, of a cult of presidential action in the service of dubious ideals. They're the dangers of a recklessness and radicalism that doesn't recognize itself as either."
> The two faces of Clinton: Jonathan Rauch in The Times says no one should be surprised that 'WikiLeaks' Hillary Clinton sounds a lot different from campaign Clinton. "An experienced political negotiator and former chief diplomat, she understands that hypocrisy and two-facedness, when prudently harnessed to advance negotiations or avert conflicts, are a public good and a political necessity."
> The many Tweets of The Donald: Have you been insulted by Donald Trump on social media? If you want to check, The New York Times has compiled a complete list of the 281 people, places or things the Republican candidate has Tweeted negatively about during the campaign.
WHAT EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT
Campbell Clark (Globe and Mail): "The Liberals cannot just be selling $1,500 tickets for private conversations and cocktails with Bill Morneau. But look: An upcoming event at the Calgary home of Shaw Communications president Jay Mehr is titled Conversations and Cocktails with Special Guest the Hon. Bill Morneau. The Liberals might as well have an arrow-shaped neon sign lighting up the word 'access.' A well-to-do person with 15 friends paying $1,500 can buy a chat with the Finance Minister. Of course, there are guidelines that say ministers cannot talk about government business at fundraisers – no wait, those are the same guidelines that have just been chucked in the dumpster."
Doug Saunders (Globe and Mail): "CETA [the Canada-EU trade deal] has been stopped in its tracks, for the moment at least, by the most rural of the three regions in Belgium's own awkward federal system. It's a disconcerting reminder of the political fragility of our time: As angry forces calling for isolationism and closed borders rise from the fringes, the liberal ambitions of entire continents can be unseated by the roar of a mouse."
Michael Den Tandt (Postmedia): "Trudeau and his cabinet, for all they've taken on too much, dithered on some files and botched others (as noted in many recent commentaries including mine, I hasten to add) have had some big, important successes in the past twelve months."
Alvin Fiddler (Toronto Star): "Through two intense performances Gord [Downie] has restored the dignity and innocence of a little boy who only wanted to go home. I am humbled by his determination to share Chanie [Wenjack]'s story and the stories of all our youth who never made it home. Like Gord, I believe we have a challenge ahead of us. But if we walk together and work together, our task is less daunting."