Canadian troops heading to Eastern Europe
It will be Canada's largest sustained military presence in Europe in more than a decade.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed Friday that Canada will send a battle group of approximately 450 soldiers to Latvia as part of a NATO plan to counter fears of Russian aggression in eastern Europe.
- Canadian-led battle group will deploy to Latvia, part of NATO move to deter Russia
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Canadian troops are expected in Latvia by early 2017, in a commitment that is being described as "open-ended."
"We are taking a much more substantial, a much bigger role, leading by example in this, just as we did in Iraq, and we have a commitment for about three years, and then we will still be committed. How committed? That will be determined at that time," Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan told CBC's The House.
But speculation that NATO and Russia are on the brink of a new Cold War is false, the Minister added.
"This is about showing our cohesion as an organization. If this was a new Cold War, there would be a much greater presence (of troops)," said the Minister about Canada's participation in the multi-national combat battalion.
Renewed focus on controversial practice of solitary confinement
The death this week of a female inmate at a women's prison in Kitchener, Ontario, is once again drawing attention to the controversial practice of solitary confinement.
"Frankly, at this point, it shouldn't be used at all," former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour told CBC's The House.
Terry Baker was found unresponsive in her cell Monday evening with "a ligature around her neck." She had attempted suicide that evening, and had recently been in segregation and had been on suicide watch at some point over weeks beforehand, says Kim Pate of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies.
Arbour led a 1996 commission of inquiry into illegal uses of force and solitary confinement at the country's then only prison for women.
Baker's death has similarities to that of Ashley Smith, whose death in the same institution in 2007 was ruled a homicide.
"I am outraged that we are still, case after case after case, seeing examples of mismanagement of issues of mental illness, isolation and segregation. It's just not acceptable," she said
Canada's de minimis annoys you... even if you don't know what it is
If you've ever spent hours browsing online for a cheap pair of shoes or laptop, only to find out that item is considerably more expensive once you pay the fees and duties to have it shipped to Canada, consider this: Canada spends close to $170-million to collect roughly $40-million in those duties and fees.
Canada's de minimis - the threshold for taxing and applying duties to imports - sits at a mere $20.
It's the lowest in the developed world and a protectionist move that Ottawa says encourages Canadians to shop local. But critics say the decision to keep that threshold low discourages small-and-medium sized businesses from innovating and competing internationally.
"We find ourselves completely out of step, with the lowest threshold among industrial countries. In fact, we are in the same range as countries like Jordan and Uganda," eBay Canada's managing director Andrea Stairs told The House.
Fears that removing the de minimis is a threat to small businesses in Canada is a red herring, Stairs added.
"90 percent of what Canadians buy happens in stores, and we don't see that changing. It makes sense that Canadians want to touch and feel what they are buying. It's really about allowing Canadian consumers participate in e-commerce in the same way their peers around the world do," she said
First Nations-Ottawa relations getting better, but more needs to be done
Ahead of next week's summer gathering of the Assembly of First Nations, AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde spoke to The House about the state of the relationship with the new federal government.
"More needs to be done, no question, and by working together with us, in collaboration, we can do it," he said.
Bellegarde added that there are concrete things that he can point to in order to show that things are looking up.
"We can point to 8.4 billion dollars (in the last federal budget). When was the last time we had 8.4 billion on aboriginal issues? NEVER."
In House panel - Mr. Kenney goes to Alberta
On this week's In House Panel, Toronto Star and iPolitics columnist Susan Delacourt joined CBC Senior Political Reporter Terry Milewski to discuss Jason Kenney's quest to restore conservatism in Alberta.
Kenney announced this week that he is leaving federal politics to run a campaign with the goal of uniting the right in his home province of Alberta.
"It's a big risk he's taking, and I don't like making predictions, but if anyone can do it, he can do it," said Delacourt.
With Kenney opting out of the race to replace Stephen Harper as the leader of the federal Conservative party, there may be renewed pressure on Peter Mackay to throw his name into the race, said Milewski.
"To my mind, (Kenney) would have been a frontrunner - by contrast if you ask a lot of people about Maxime Bernier, Kellie Leitch or Michael Chong, they would say, bluntly, who are they?"
"I think the pressure has been building on Mackay," Delacourt added. "I imagine now the pressure is on him intensely."
