Good morning,
Three million Venezuelans have left the country in recent years, nearly a tenth of Venezuela’s population, because of a deepening economic and humanitarian crisis. In the midst of that, President Nicolas Maduro held a re-election vote last year in which all the major opposition leaders were banned from running against him.
The international community was not impressed. Now 11 democratic countries – including Canada – are calling on Venezuela’s military to pull its support from Mr. Maduro and instead back Juan Guaido, the leader of the country’s National Assembly, as the interim president of the country. The United States and many European countries also support Mr. Guaido, while Mr. Maduro has the backing of Russia, China and Iran.
Within Canada, not everyone has supported the federal government’s position. The New Democratic Party and unions say Canada should not follow the U.S.'s lead in seeking regime change in another country.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
The Liberal government could introduce as soon as today a new bill to protect Indigenous languages.
The Conservative Party says it went too far with an ad it purchased on Google that said the government was letting “a foreign entity” control Canadian borders.
MP Raj Grewal, who left the Liberal caucus in November because of his gambling debts, says a fundraiser he hosted last year raised more a quarter of a million dollars – more money than a candidate would likely be allowed to spend in an election.
The Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of a CP Rail train derailment in the Rocky Mountains that killed the three-person crew.
Experts on cancer say they are concerned about the Ontario government’s plans to dismantle and consolidate a number of health-care agencies in the province.
And the diplomatic tensions between Canada and China over people arrested in each country may have done a lot of harm to the trading and business relations between the two countries, but apparently nothing has hurt the Chinese appetite for good ol' Atlantic lobster. “The only thing people want is to cook up something nice for their dinner tables,” said one restaurant worker in Beijing. "Who would think a clash between China and Canada is a priority?”
Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on Canada’s role in Venezuela: “It is an example of the kind of middle-power initiative Justin Trudeau’s Liberals see as the wave of the future. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland’s big thesis is that the United States, notably since the election of President Donald Trump, seems to be taking a step back from its role as a global leader, so middle powers such as Canada will have to step up and band together to exert influence.”
Denise Balkissoon (The Globe and Mail) on two men killed by Ottawa police: “These fine details are part of a larger picture, one in which this country’s graves are continually being filled with brown-skinned bodies that met violent deaths. Each separate grief leaves those who care in a constant state of mourning. Examined together, they reveal an institutional indifference that makes that burden worse.”
André Picard (The Globe and Mail) on Ontario health care: “There is no perfect health-system structure, but the goal should be to find a balance between streamlined central control and decentralization that allows for specialization and meeting regional needs. Where that sweet spot lies is what we should be debating.”
Crystal Smith, chief councillor of the Haisla Nation council, in the Vancouver Sun on the protests around a pipeline: “I do acknowledge there is conflict between some hereditary chiefs and the elected council of the Wet’suwet’en regarding Coastal GasLink. I empathize with their situation, as Haisla have gone through similar issues in our past. But I urge outside interests to leave this to Wet’suwet’en to resolve on their own.”
Jennifer Ditchburn (Ottawa Citizen) on misinformation in the next election: “Plenty of us feel indignant when we get the calls from the telephone scam artists claiming to work for the bank or Windows or the Canada Revenue Agency. How dare they try to pull one over on me! But we’re not angry or smart enough yet about the foreign and domestic players who are trying to distort our democratic process and just make everything we trust feel wobbly.”
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Chris Hannay