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May 29 2025

The Roundup: First Questions. Spending review. Manitoba emergency.

THU MAY 29 2024
David Akin's Roundup
First Questions. Spending review. Manitoba emergency.
Canada
Carney faces first question period since election win
The 45th Parliament is now open, part of which means Prime Minister Mark Carney is participating in his very first question period. Mackenzie Gray looks at the reaction to Carney's newest test as a rookie politician, and the long-term concerns about how he'll handle future question periods.
 
Carney government tables $486B spending plan
Prime Minister Mark Carney has previously said his government will not present a federal budget until the fall, but it's already spending money. David Akin looks at how the Liberals have tabled $468 billion in spending plans, and what's missing from the proposal.
 
What will Canada's defence spending look like?
The federal government is vowing to expedite its plan to rebuild Canada's military. Mercedes Stephenson explains what Defence Minister David McGuinty is promising, and how Canada will need to cooperate with Europe and the U.S. to make it happen. [Global National]

The government's spending plan for the current fiscal year does not yet include $24 billion in spending commitments the Liberals promised during the election campaign. [Global]
The federal government will take "immediate and decisive action" to rebuild Canada's military, Defence Minister David McGuinty told an audience of military contractors in Ottawa. [Global]
 ... given the pressure to increase defence spending, we should investigate the economic impact of that form of government spending. The bottom line: if spent wisely, the economic multiplier of defence spending can be larger than perceived, with multiple short-and-long-term positive spinoffs. In other words, defence spending does not crowd-out activity, it crowds it in. [CIBC Capital Markets]
Instead of following the standard practice of divvying up the estimates and assigning specific sections to the relevant standing committee, the entire package would be reviewed on the floor of the chamber itself, with MPs sitting as a committee of the whole. [iPolitics]
Canada does not know what it would cost to join U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed missile defence program, Defence Minister David McGuinty said Wednesday. [Global]

Un député libéral croit que le Canada devrait retirer l’invitation du président américain au G7, prévu à la mi-juin en Alberta. [TVA]
Bob Rae, Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations in New York, criticized Trump’s latest Golden Dome comments. [Globe and Mail] (🎁 link)
“The whole world is in awe of what you’ve done. Thank you for getting together, putting all your politics aside and not electing a populist. Competence turns out to be the rarest thing on the planet these days. A numerous, thoughtful, intelligent leadership. So, thank you,” he said. [Global]

15 MPs had trips to Taiwan covered by the island's government last year, with the cost ranging from $7,815 for NDP MPs Leah Gazan and Blake Desjarlais, the latter of whom lost his re-election bid last month, to $17,172 for Liberal MP Judy Sgro. [iPolitics]
On Wednesday, Canada’s NDP Interim Leader Don Davies announced critic portfolios for the NDP caucus as a new Parliament kicks off this week. [Canada's NDP]
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The Provinces
Manitoba declares provincewide state of emergency over wildfires
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said the "significant step" will involve the evacuation of about 17,000 people as fires continued to intensify throughout Wednesday. "This is the largest evacuation Manitoba will have seen in most people's living memory." [CBC]
Premier Doug Ford’s government is set to capitulate to some First Nation demands on a controversial mining bill, though it will not kill the proposed law outright despite the growing backlash. [Sudbury Star]
Aurora
Elsewhere
Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada, world blocked by U.S. trade court
The U.S. Court of International Trade on Wednesday ruled President Donald Trump exceeded his authority under an emergency-powers law to impose tariffs on Canada. [Global]
Elon Musk raised concerns about President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending cuts package, saying in a video released Tuesday that he believes it would raise the US budget deficit and undercut efforts by the Department of Government Efficiency. [CNN]
Media
Science and Technology

A trove of breached data, which has now been taken down, includes user logins for platforms including Apple, Google, and Meta. Among the exposed accounts are ones linked to dozens of governments. [WIRED]
There were two types of discs. Rewritable ones for personal recording, and pre-recorded ones for commercial music. Sony licensed the format widely, hoping it would become a global standard. It succeeded in Japan, but elsewhere, CD-Rs and MP3 players quickly took over. Still, the technology behind MiniDisc was ahead of its time in almost every way. [ObsoleteSony]
The Calendar
  • 0930 : 135B West Block -  NGO representatives speak to reporters about aid to Gaza.
  • 1000 : HoC Foyer - BQ Leader Yves-François Blanchet and BQ MPs Yves Perron and Christine Normandin speak to reporters.
  • 1045 : Ottawa - Industry Min Melanie Joly speaks to reporters.
  • 1230 : 135B West Block -  Representatives of Vapers for a Smoke-Free Canada speak to reporters.
  • 1300 : 135B West Block -  Representatives of Rights4Vapers speak to reporters.
  • 1400 : Senate of Canada -  A swearing-in ceremony will take place for Senators Nany Karetak-Lindell and Todd Lewis.
Issued this day ...
… in 2014: Sc 2745. RMS Empress of Ireland. Design: Isabelle Toussaint. 
Canada Post’s notes at the time of the stamp’s release: “The Empress had cast off from Québec the previous afternoon with 1,477 passengers and crew on board. It was bound for Liverpool, England, on a routine sailing – the first of the 1914 season. It was Captain Henry George Kendall’s first voyage in command of the Empress, but the vessel had been making the trip regularly since its launch in 1906.
The ship had just made a mail stop in Rimouski, Quebec, dispatched its navigator and was nearing Pointe-au-Père when the fog engulfed it. The gloom also descended on the SS Storstad, a heavy Norwegian collier, which was closer to the Empress than anyone realized. When each ship’s crew could again see the other ship’s lights, it was too late: they were on a collision course. The coal ship ripped open the hull of the Empress and frigid water poured in. Soon the Empress was over on its side, and then it slipped beneath the surface, taking all of 14 minutes to sink. More than 1,000 people lost their lives.

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