In The News for Nov. 9: Who’s up next at the Emergencies Act probe?

Fort Macleod, Alta., councillor Marco Van Huigenbos, who was charged with mischief for his role in the Alberta blockade, told the commission Tuesday he was there to demand representatives from the government talk to protesters about pandemic mandates.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time in Canadian history on Feb. 14, arguing its temporary and extraordinary powers were needed to end blockades in Ottawa and at border crossings.

The Public Order Emergency Commission is examining the Liberal government’s decision to invoke the act and holding hearings in Ottawa until Nov. 25.

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Also this …

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is heading back to the legislature.

Smith defeated four challengers to win a byelection Tuesday night in the constituency of Brooks-Medicine Hat.

She has been absent from the legislature for seven years.

She won a seat in 2012 as leader of the former Wildrose Party, but failed to even gain a nomination in 2015 after she led her caucus on a mass floor crossing to the Progressive Conservatives.

Smith is reconvening the legislature on Nov. 29 and is promising an ambitious agenda that includes help for Albertans dealing with sharp hikes in gasoline and electricity costs.

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

Gretchen Whitmer, the Michigan governor and Joe Biden ally behind the effort to shut down Canada’s cross-border Line 5 pipeline, was re-elected Tuesday in midterm elections that showcased a surprising degree of Democratic resilience.

Whitmer narrowly bested Republican challenger Tudor Dixon, a steel-industry insider turned conservative commentator, in one of the only midterm electoral contests with direct implications for Canada-U.S. relations.

Dixon called Justin Trudeau “the most radical environmentalist in the entire world” as she attacked the Line 5 offensive in a debate last month with Whitmer, whose only defence was that plans to fortify the twin underwater lines were proceeding apace.

The Michigan battle was just one of 506 gubernatorial, House and Senate races that came to fruition Tuesday in a midterm showdown that pollsters and pundits expected to be a bruising indictment of Biden’s administration.

It wasn’t to be — at least not on the scale that Republicans had hoped.

Early on, Democrats managed to hold on to a pair of bellwether House seats in Virginia, a state where Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin cruised to victory last year despite Biden’s convincing 10-point win there in 2020.

Then, Kathy Hochul triumphed in her bid for a first full term as New York governor, despite a robust Republican challenge. Soon, Donald Trump devotee Kari Lake — trailing in her bid to be Arizona governor — was already crying electoral foul.

And in Pennsylvania, Lt.-Gov. John Fetterman, sidelined for much of the summer with a stroke that impacted his speaking style and raised questions about his fitness for office, eked out a narrow but critical win over Dr. Mehmet Oz, another Trump acolyte.

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

The jailed American basketball star Brittney Griner has been moved to a penal colony in Russia, her legal team said Wednesday.

A Russian court rejected her appeal of her nine-year sentence for drug possession last month. “Brittney was transferred from the detention center in Iksha on the 4th November. She is now on her way to a penal colony. We do not have any information on her exact current location or her final destination,” the statement from her legal team said.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “Every minute that Brittney Griner must endure wrongful detention in Russia is a minute too long. As the Administration continues to work tirelessly to secure her release, the President has directed the Administration to prevail on her Russian captors to improve her treatment and the conditions she may be forced to endure in a penal colony. As we have said before, the U.S. Government made a significant offer to the Russians to resolve the current unacceptable and wrongful detentions of American citizens. ”

Griner, an eight-time all-star center with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was convicted Aug. 4 after police said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.

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On this day in 1860 …

John A. Macdonald introduced the first “speaking tour” to Canadian politics.

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In entertainment …

Nintendo hopes to leverage a new Super Mario movie, various merchandising and theme parks to draw more people into playing video games.

Nintendo content, including Donkey Kong and Pokemon, has drawn fans over more than four decades. Parents and grandparents are now playing the games with children.

President Shuntaro Furukawa says the appeal of such intellectual property extends beyond games. Among the key efforts for what he called “building a relationship” with game lovers was “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” set to be released in April next year.

There is also a theme park opening in Hollywood next year.

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Did you see this?

Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos is putting the blame squarely on the premiers after talks with provincial and territorial ministers ended with no funding deal.

Earlier yesterday, the premiers released a statement that Duclos says painted the talks in Vancouver as a failure.

Duclos says he went to the meetings in good faith, but the premiers’ statement forced their ministers to think of one thing and one thing only — money.

B-C Health Minister Adrian Dix called it a disappointing end to the meetings and admitted the outcome wasn’t what he expected.

Duclos said Monday that the federal government was ready to boost health funding transfers, but with conditions.

Dix made it clear that he and the other provincial and territorial health ministers were united behind a request for federal funding to be increased from 22 to 35 per cent.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2022

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

In The News for Nov. 9: Who’s up next at the Emergencies Act probe?

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