A look ahead at the week in federal politics.
With exactly one week to go before Albertans are set to collectively make the call on whether to trigger a binding referendum on whether the province should remain in Canada, both Prime Minister Mark Carney and his Conservative counterpart, Pierre Poilievre, are planning to hit the pre-vote hustings in their home province over the next few days.
“Carney is expected to be in Alberta in the coming week, as the days tick down to a crucial referendum vote on Oct. 19,” CBC News reported over the weekend.
Although his office hasn’t yet offered any details on exactly when his next high-stakes visit to the province will take place, Carney addressed the upcoming vote in his pre-taped Thanksgiving message, which he delivered from the Edmonton-area high school he attended, CBC notes.
“This year, Thanksgiving is a bit different,” Carney noted.
“A week from today, Albertans will have the opportunity to make an important decision about their future. Whether to remain part of Canada or begin a long and uncertain process through which Alberta could separate from Canada. I have some perspectives on this choice.”
Noting that he “grew up in Alberta, and went to school right here, at St. Francis Xavier High School in Edmonton,” Carney points out that he’s “back home a lot these days because we are building big things again in Alberta.”
That includes “thousands of new homes, high speed rail (and) a new pipeline to the West Coast that will create lasting opportunity and prosperity for hundreds of thousands of people in this province and across the country,” he contends.
“Canada is working. The truth is, we can’t achieve any of this if we’re divided. You can’t build big things on fault lines. We have to be strong, and we are stronger together. Generations of Albertans helped build this country. It’s yours, it’s ours and it’s worth fighting for.”
For his part, Poilievre is set to hit the main stage at the Canada Strong and Free Conference in Calgary, which aims to offer a “high-impact forum where Canada’s boldest thinkers, builders, and decision-makers confront the barriers holding our country back, and chart a clearer path forward,” as per the programme. (Friday)
Poilievre is booked in for a mid-morning keynote speech that will focus on “reclaiming confidence, abundance and freedom for Alberta” ahead of a midday appearance by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who will share her views on “energy, enterprise and Western leadership” before joining Calgary Herald columnist Rick Bell for an on-stage “fireside chat.”
Before heading back to Alberta, Poilievre is set to make a quick side trip across the Canada – U.S. border to Detroit to “fight for tariff-free trade with the United States to save Canadians money and protect Canadian jobs,” according to the party-issued release. (Tuesday)
“Poilievre plans to meet with American business leaders and speak directly to the American people through media interviews,” it notes.
“He will press for the removal of tariffs and a deal that protects Canadian workers while delivering benefits on both sides of the border. He will also push for his ‘Tariff-Free Auto Pact’ to protect Canadian auto jobs.”
As per his office, before heading to Motor City, Poilievre will hold a morning press conference in Windsor. (Tuesday a.m.)
Meanwhile, Carney has also been keeping close tabs on the latest developments in Ukraine amid reports that Russia has already violated the “energy ceasefire” announced by U.S. President Donald Trump, according to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as a separate deal that would allow Russia to bypass the sweeping international sanctions to deliver a massive quantity of diesel to the U.S. amid the worsening shortfall caused by the ongoing hostilities around the Strait of Hormuz.
The readout of Carney’s latest call with Zelenskyy notes that the prime minister “was clear: the agreement is in direct opposition to the efforts of Ukraine, Canada, and our allies to create peace and stability in Europe, (and) will provide additional revenue for Russia and help finance its illegal, unjustifiable war against Ukraine.”
In a separate call with Trump, however, Carney “thanked the president for his leadership toward securing an energy ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia,” and “expressed Canada’s strong support for this agreement,” although he also “reiterated President Zelenskyy’s call for Russia to uphold it, (as) it is imperative that all attacks on energy infrastructure and civilians cease immediately.”
Elsewhere on the post-Thanksgiving circuit:
- Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson teams up with New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt and area Liberal MP Wayne Long, who also serves as Secretary of State for the Canada Revenue Agency, in Central York, N.B. to share the details of new “clean energy investments” throughout the province. (Tuesday a.m.)
- Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin drops by the Evergreen Brick Works in Toronto’s Don River Valley to promote new measures to “support the protection of lands and conservation of nature” during a morning appearance alongside Secretary of State for Nature Nathalie Provost and representatives of the Nature Conservancy of Canada. (Tuesday a.m.)
- Women and Gender Equality Minister Rechie Valdez starts the week at the Forks Market Hall in Winnipeg, where, according to her office, she’ll highlight her government’s efforts to provide “direct support for women entrepreneurs” via the Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund. (Tuesday a.m.)
- Moving west, Secretary of State for Rural Development Buckley Belanger joins his Saskatchewan ministerial counterpart, Lori Carr, and Yorkton Mayor Aaron Kienle to announce fresh federal funding for “community infrastructure across Saskatchewan” during an afternoon visit to the H.M. Bailey Water Pollution Control Plant. (Tuesday p.m.)
- Later this week, Veterans Affairs Minister Jill McKnight, Canadian Coast Guard Commissioner Kevin Brousseau and newly by-elected local Liberal MP Braeden Caley will “celebrate the keel laying” of the CCG’s new polar icebreaker, Imnaryuaq, which is currently under construction at the Vancouver Seaspan Shipyards. (Wednesday a.m.)
- Rounding out the roster, Health Minister Marjorie Michel will join her provincial and territorial counterparts for a full day of high-level closed-door talks in Winnipeg. (Friday)
Also on the radar: International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu embarks on what his office is billing as “Canada’s largest commercial engagement in India in recent years” — a whirlwind six-day Team Canada Trade Mission with stops in Mumbai and Bengaluru that, as per the notice, will give “nearly 300 delegates” representing “Canada’s aerospace and space, clean technologies and energy transition, information and communication technologies, life sciences and agri-food sectors” the opportunity to “connect with Indian decision makers, key industry players and potential clients to expand commercial relations and build new partnerships that create good-paying jobs at home.” (Monday through Saturday)
Back in the precinct, regular parliamentary proceedings may have powered down for the week, but members of the newly created special legislative committee tasked with going through the fine print of Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon’s omnibus bid to further streamline the project approval process and overhaul the federal labour regime are under a self-imposed deadline to file their respective parties’ proposed witness lists, “ranked in priority order,” by Thursday afternoon.
As flagged by iPolitics’ own Aya Dufour last week, during a lightning-round opening session, committee members agreed to invite a quartet of ministers — MacKinnon, Dabrusin, Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu and Canada – U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc — to “appear before the committee, two ministers at a time, for two two-hour panels,” as per the minutes, with clause-by-clause review “set to begin the week of Nov. 16, after the Bloc Québécois pushed to change the wording so the date wouldn’t be treated as a deadline,” iPolitics notes.