Good morning,
As international pressure mounts on the government of Saudi Arabia to explain what, exactly, happened to journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, the story keeps changing. Earlier this month, Saudi authorities insisted Mr. Khashoggi left the consulate alive, even though he was never seen again. Then they admitted he had died, first saying it was an accident during a spontaneous “fistfight,” and now, finally, saying the killing was likely premeditated. (See also this Associated Press timeline on the shifting sands of Saudi statements.)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s position keeps changing this week, too. The Liberal government has long maintained it could do nothing to touch the $15-billion arms deal between Canada and Saudi Arabia, which was brokered by the previous Conservative government but greenlit for export under Mr. Trudeau. The Liberals insist that the terms of the contract mean both that they can’t talk about it and that the consequences for cancelling the deal would be economically dire. (See this tweet from Roland Paris, a former foreign-policy adviser to Mr. Trudeau: “I can’t talk about the contract, but there’s a reason why I went from calling for its cancellation before my stint in the PMO, to saying little about it since then: I learned its contents.”) Mr. Trudeau has hinted the cancellation fee is in the “billions” of dollars. But now he says suspending arms shipments would be better than cancellation anyway: It would give them more leverage in dealing with the Saudis.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who has his own agenda in taking on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is now the latest to urge the Saudis to come clean.
This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Chris Hannay in Ottawa. It is exclusively available only to our digital subscribers. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.
TODAY’S HEADLINES
Finance Minister Bill Morneau is going to unveil the fall fiscal update – a sort of mini-budget – on Wednesday, Nov. 21. One big topic of the financial plan will be addressing the so-called competitiveness gap between the business environments of Canada and the United States. A new Nanos Research poll, conducted for The Globe and Mail, suggests most Canadians don’t want Mr. Morneau to follow Mr. Trump’s lead and slash corporate tax rates.
The French Court of Appeal was set to rule today on whether Ottawa professor Hassan Diab should be brought back to France for a trial on terrorism charges. Instead, his case is once again delayed. Mr. Diab’s long legal ordeal began in 2008, when RCMP officers arrested him – on behalf of French authorities – in connection with a deadly 1980 Paris bombing, an allegation that the professor has long denied. After a years-long, contentious legal battle, Mr. Diab was extradited to France in 2014, where he was held in jail – mostly in solitary confinement – without trial. The case against him finally collapsed and he was brought back to Canada earlier this year. However, the French appeals court could order him to return next year. Newly disclosed documents show Canada’s previous Conservative government directed consular workers in France not to give Mr. Diab any special help or treatment.
Speaking of long timelines: Canada has now ratified the Pacific Rim trade deal. It joined negotiations for what is now the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership in 2012.
A lot of work remains to be done before Canada can commit to a trade deal with China, though, the ambassador to Beijing told CBC.
Chinese telecom giant Huawei is on a lobbying blitz of Canadian Members of Parliament, as national-security concerns are being raised about the company participating in the 5G mobile network. Huawei’s two main lobbyists in Ottawa are former aides for the Liberal and Conservative parties.
Some in the charitable sector are urging the federal government to tighten donation laws after revelations in a Globe investigation about how one network of charities were being used solely to cut down the tax bills of wealthy Canadians.
Two towns in Ontario have elected their first all-female councils.
And Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice Richard Wagner says Canadian judges need to mind their manners and make sure they remain civil in all their comments. “Writing dissents should not be about trading barbs or settling accounts at the risk of abandoning the role of an arbiter and neglecting the common good for which the judge is supposed to work," he told a gathering of lawyers last month, according to an English translation of prepared remarks obtained by Lawyer’s Daily. "It doesn’t suffice to write ‘with respect’ before spewing venom at a colleague. In short, a judge must master the art of respectful dissent.”
The Globe and Mail editorial board on Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer’s positions: “Punching holes in the Liberal government narrative is the role of the Conservative Opposition. But with a year to go to the general election, Mr. Scheer might need to start offering more than what, to date, has amounted to nitpicking in the face of momentous events.”
Allison Hanes (Montreal Gazette) on the CAQ government’s dress code for civil servants: “Banning religious symbols isn’t really about enforcing the neutrality of the state in a secular society; it’s about restricting Muslim women out of discomfort with Islam.”
Scott Hutchison (The Globe and Mail) on the Canadian Judicial Council: “The council – repeating a questionable claim it has made on other occasions – contends that it is immune from judicial review. It seems more than a little ironic that an institution dedicated to fostering judicial independence and integrity would take the position that its decision-making processes should be exempted from the sort of review that is common for such bodies (a claim twice rejected by the Federal Court).”
Rita Trichur (The Globe and Mail) on instant mortgages: “Banks say that artificial intelligence will give them better analytics, but risk models are only as good as their underlying assumptions and data. If you think that Canadians are too honest to lie on loan applications, think again.”
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Chris Hannay