Stephen Harper to reveal ISIS combat mission plan today

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will tell Canadians today how Canada will further contribute to a combat mission against Islamic jihadists in the Middle East, the Prime Minister's Office confirmed in a statement last evening.

A motion will be tabled in the House, a day before the current 30-day mission ends, with a debate and vote expected to follow Monday.

"Prime Minister Stephen Harper will rise in the House of Commons and deliver a minister's statement outlining Canada's additional support for counter-terrorism efforts against ISIL," Harper spokesman Jason MacDonald said in a written statement, referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria by one of its several acronyms.

MacDonald said the opposition parties were informed Thursday evening of Harper's plan to table the motion Friday.

Under House rules, each recognized opposition party can give a brief reply.

Although there are no strict time limits, both the prime minister's statement and the opposition replies are expected to be between eight and 10 minutes long.

The prime minister will speak shortly after question period —which he is not expected to attend —wraps up at noon.

Both the New Democrats and the Liberals have reportedly been told that they will receive copies of the prime minister's statement in advance, although no such offer has been made to Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, who will also get the chance to respond.

Government House leader Peter Van Loan will likely need to secure the unanimous consent of the House to proceed to a vote on Monday evening.

As CBC News reported Wednesday, Harper will make the case for sending CF-18s, along with CC-150 refuelling jets, to join the U.S.-led combat mission.​

"The prime minister's statement will clearly outline how Canada will continue to contribute, along with dozens of other countries, to the fight against these terrorists. 

"Specifically, his statement will outline Canada's military contribution to the counter-terrorism operation, as well as our ongoing humanitarian support," MacDonald said.

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair was critical of Harper for not outlining his plan sooner, while Liberal leader Justin Trudeau said the prime minister's unwillingness to offer Canadians details of the combat mission was "troubling."

Harper said in the Commons this week that the ISIS Islamic militants represent a direct threat not only to both the Middle East and Canada.

An audio recording from ISIS last month urged Muslims to kill "disbelievers" in countries, including Canada, supporting the U.S.-led combat mission.

While Harper has authorized the deployment of 69 special forces soldiers for a 30-day mission to Iraq that ends Saturday, he revealed Wednesday that only 26 Canadian soldiers are currently on the ground.

21.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Fredericton MP Keith Ashfield's cancer returns

Fredericton Conservative MP Keith Ashfield said in a statement to constituents that he has been diagnosed again with Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

Fredericton Conservative MP Keith Ashfield says doctors have found the reoccurrence of Hodgkin's lymphoma.

The 62-year-old MP said he began feeling ill in mid-September and that is when he sought medical attention.

"After undergoing tests, my doctor discovered that I have had a reoccurrence of Hodgkin's lymphoma," Ashfield said in an open letter to constituents.

"I have begun treatments once again, and have decided to remain in Fredericton for the present time in order to spend more time with my family and focus my energy on serving the people who elected me."

The former provincial and federal cabinet minister said in the statement that he intends to run again in the 2015 federal election.

Ashfield was first diagnosed with cancer in 2013, when he was serving as Prime Minister Stephen Harper's fisheries minister.

The MP's letter thanked Harper and his colleagues for their support. He also said it was important for him to be up front about his medical condition with his constituents.

"I believe that it is important for me to be open and transparent with you all about my health, and with your support, I hope to encourage those facing cancer and others diseases to seek help and to feel comfortable discussing their own personal challenges," he said.

Ashfield also suffered a heart attack in 2012.

21.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Kellie Leitch announces $1.1M to prevent cyberviolence against women, girls

By Susana Mas, CBC News Posted: Oct 03, 2014 8:55 AM ET Last Updated: Oct 03, 2014 8:55 AM ET

The federal government is spending $1.1 million to fund eight new projects to combat violence against women and girls online, Status of Women Minister Kellie Leitch announced today.

"Our government is committed to ending violence against women and girls in all its forms," Leitch said in a statement Friday.

"We proudly support community-based projects across the country that help victims and provide services that prevent cyberviolence. By targeting such violence, these projects strengthen our communities and make a positive difference in the lives of women and girls," Leitch said in the statement.

The projects announced Friday received funding under a call for proposals to tackle cyber and sexual violence.

Three of the eight groups are based in Ottawa, the others projects are in Saskatchewan, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador and Mississauga, Ont.

The announcement comes a day before the annual Oct. 4 rally to remember missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

Leitch tabled a $25 million over five years action plan last month to address violence against aboriginal women and girls.

The federal government says it has provided more than $70 million through Status of Women Canada since 2007 to support projects to prevent violence against women and girls.

Comments on this story are moderated according to our Submission Guidelines. Comments are welcome while open. We reserve the right to close comments at any time.

Submission Policy

Note: The CBC does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comments, you acknowledge that CBC has the right to reproduce, broadcast and publicize those comments or any part thereof in any manner whatsoever. Please note that comments are moderated and published according to our submission guidelines.

Stay Connected with CBC News

Latest Politics News Headlines

21.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Jason Kenney says no to easing new temporary foreign worker rules

Employment Minister Jason Kenney says he has no intention of easing new, stricter rules for employers who hire temporary foreign workers.

"No, we will not be making fundamental changes to the reforms that were implemented in June partly because there is already a regional dimension built into the system," Kenney said during a conference organized by Canada2020, a policy think-tank, in Ottawa today.

The new rules include barring employers from hiring low-wage temporary foreign workers in regions where the unemployment rate is above six per cent, and will require employers to cap the number of foreign workers they hire at 10 per cent by 2016.

Kenney, who is the MP for Calgary Southeast, said the program has been "overused" in his home province of Alberta, where wages in the fast-food services sector have not kept up with the rate of inflation.

"In my view, this is very clear evidence of a labour market distortion," he told the conference.

Kenney's answer came in response to a question from Randy Boissonnault, the Liberal candidate for Edmonton Centre, who was in attendance at the conference.

Boissonnault said businesses in Alberta and Saskatchewan have been particularly hit hard because of the government's "blanket approach" to the new rules.

Following Kenney's answer, Boissonnault posted a message on Twitter accusing Stephen Harper's Conservatives of hurting Alberta's economy. "Harper Govt continues to penalize Alberta," Boissonnault said.

Alberta Premier Jim Prentice, Kenney's former cabinet colleague, has said the new temporary foreign worker rules are making it difficult for employers to fill jobs.

Prentice has said he hopes to work with the prime minister on a solution during his first meeting with him.

Kenney's speech was followed by a panel on labour skills with Perrin Beatty of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce Monte Solberg, a former Conservative cabinet minister who now works for a public affairs firm, Sean McGarvey and Rosemary Sparks who represented the trades.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne also addressed the conference earlier Thursday.

21.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

How ISIS and Syria drove a stake through the Arab Spring: Nahlah Ayed

It's been a thousand years since the Arab Spring.

Whole generations separate the young men and women who peacefully clamoured for change in their countries, and the young men (mostly) and women who claim to have founded an entirely new one in the so-called Islamic State.

Continents stand between the countries the former had hoped for, and what the latter promises to deliver.

Watching, bewildered, is the rest of the Arab world.

There should have been no surprise that the upheaval that spread across the region three years ago would at first yield an Islamist political experiment.

Islamists were the unofficial opposition in several countries. The demise of the autocrats would be their dawn.

But few would have imagined the radical experiment that is ISIS. Nor what a setback its sudden infamy and its leaders' atavistic desires for the Arab world would mean for the region.

Long before the rest of the world heard of them, the Arabic nickname for ISIS — Da'esh — came to symbolize aberration.

Even in the context of Syria's murderous civil war, the widely shared videos of ISIS beheadings and crucifixions (of "apostates" and of Syrian regime loyalists among others) shocked the region.

The images of ISIS fighters burning mountains of cigarettes alone would have sent nervous shivers throughout the Arab world.

And as livid and concerned as so many in the region were about the wholesale slaughter of tens of thousands of Syrians, they were especially alarmed as its fighters threatened to expand. Particularly, when they bulldozed their way across the Syrian-Iraq border.

Syrian Kurds escaping ISIS fighters wait behind border fences to cross into Turkey near the southeastern town of Suruc late last month. The unrest has created a huge refugee problem that will also likely take a long time to sort out. (Reuters)

Meanwhile, those young Arabs who had agitated for change across the region were already demoralized by the gradual but certain end of their uprisings, by the fierce comeback of the old regimes or their facsimiles.

But the ascendance of ISIS is undisputed proof of the failure of their project, at least for the foreseeable future.

The Arab version of the Taliban

That's because ISIS sets the reformist cause back by decades. The war against it ensures not an inch of forward movement.

The reform minded must again stand aside as another "existential" battle between their respective states and Islamists once again trumps the desire for change.

This is a battle that is not only led by the U.S., but widely supported by governments from Israel to Damascus to Riyadh.

In fact rarely in the recent history of the fractious Middle East have so many nations lined up behind a single cause.

Many reformists might well agree with this fight, too, now that ISIS has morphed into the threat it is today. But they stand aside knowing there was a way to prevent all this.

For years, in a variety of studies, Arab states were reminded time and again of how far behind they had fallen. How dissatisfied their youth had become. How desperately their nations needed political and economic reform.

How even extremist Islamists derived more legitimacy with every injustice dealt by the state.

But instead of change, they delivered harsher crackdowns. Instead of providing hope they sowed anger and distrust.

Unsanctioned opposition groups, Islamist or otherwise, were consistently marginalized and discredited, their members often imprisoned and tortured into silence.

Economic development — the very idea of creating jobs for millions of idle youth — was made secondary to providing "stability."

The resulting uprisings proved just how obstinate those regimes could be. The chaos that resulted when those regimes fought back also made it possible for radicals to coalesce and grow.

So resistant to reform, the Syrian leadership chose civil war, gambling that even from the ashes of the nation it would emerge victorious.

Instead, from those ashes has emerged a new threat — the Arab version of the Taliban.

Here comes the U.S.

Sure, ISIS had its roots in the chaos of the post-U.S. invasion of Iraq. But it could not have flourished again without the chaos of Syria.

Like the authoritarian regimes that long provided the conditions for ISIS to emerge, the state it claims to run is also authoritarian: disinterested in freedom of opinion, or freedom of association. Never mind freedom of religion.

All can be — and are — punished with death.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (right), shown here meeting Ali Shamkhani, Iran's Supreme National Security Council Director, earlier this week in Damascus. Assad is no doubt happy that the U.S. is waging air strikes on his enemies. (SANA / REUTERS)

That extremism is the stated rationale for the U.S.-led effort to excise them, an effort President Barack Obama has said will take years. Arab reformists watch in despair.

The young men and women of the Arab uprisings and those of ISIS couldn't be more different. And yet somehow their fates have become conflated.

The advancement that reformers seek cannot proceed while ISIS thrives.

Those who want change watch as the old arguments against it prevail yet again.

In Syria's case, ISIS's surge has bolstered Bashar al-Assad's claim that Damascus has been fighting foreign Islamists extremists all along, not Syrians on a quest for freedom.

Damascus is quite pleased it has its own Sunni Muslim enemies in the region and that the U.S. is now doing the fighting for it.

So once again, change is delayed. Postponed for the greater good.

And scholars wonder why the Arab region is so stunted. Why there is so much discontent. Why thousands keep risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean in rickety boats.

And why reformists never seem to be able to win.

Once again in the Mideast, war is on the agenda. Reform is not. Much of the world doesn't seem to have a problem with that.

21.16 | 0 komentar | Read More

Harper readying groundwork for Canada's turn in Iraq: Chris Hall

Tom Mulcair rose to his feet in Question Period on Wednesday, his question so curt he barely had time to button his jacket before the words were gone.

"How many Canadian soldiers are now in Iraq,'' the NDP leader demanded of Stephen Harper.

The answer wasn't so brief. "Twenty-six today," the prime minister said. But there could be more later based on operational needs, though never more than the 69 soldiers the government agreed to send in the first place, he said, rambling on for a bit.

By Harper's standards the answer was unusually convoluted. But nothing about the government's response so far to the ISIS threat has been bathed in the pure light of clarity: from whether Canada offered or was asked by the Washington to do more in Iraq to how many soldiers are actually there.

The opposition parties, of course, are trying their best to exploit that ambiguity.

The issue Wednesday wasn't really about how many Canadian soldiers are advising Kurdish forces in Iraq. The point Mulcair and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau are determined to make is that the Conservatives are hiding their real plans from Canadians — even as their own positions evolve on a near daily basis.

Reporters asked Mulcair Wednesday for how the NDP felt about sending Canadian fighter jets to Iraq only to be told "there's no proposal on the table right now to do that.''

The NDP, he said, believes the focus should be on humanitarian aid.

The Liberals stance has also been fluid, from supporting air strikes last week to Trudeau's statement this week that his party wants to see what the government proposes before making a decision.

It's all about trust, you see.

"The prime minister is intent on going to war in Iraq,'' Trudeau accused Harper on Wednesday. "It's up to him to make that case to Canadians. He hasn't even begun."

"How much are Canadians going to pay for the prime minister's war in Iraq,'' Mulcair followed.

And so it went, back and forth, Mulcair and Trudeau.

'National security of this country'

Is the Harper government prepared to send CF-18 fighter jets to the region?

How long would Canada's commitment be, whatever it is? What is the exit strategy once there? Would Canada take part in air strikes inside Syria.

Will NDP leader Thomas Mulcair oppose a Canadian mission in Iraq? He's playing his cards carefully, too. (Reuters)

To that last one the answer was no.

But Harper didn't duck any of the other questions. Though his responses were all framed around the same basic points: no decision on any additional commitment has been made, when it is there will be a debate in the Commons and there will be a vote.

But no one, he said, should underestimate the gravity of the threat posed by the Islamic State fighters.

"The government and most Canadians have judged that the situation in that part of the world is very serious,'' Harper finally said, his exasperation with the barrage of questions evident.

"And if it's allowed to continue and to fester it represents a very serious danger to the national security of this country. We will work with our partners around the world to minimize those threats to Canadians."

CBC News has learned Harper will announce the government's intentions Friday, one day before the end of the initial 30-day deployment of advisers.

Government sources insist the cabinet has yet to sign off on a specific commitment, though sending CF-18s — as Canada did in the 2011 military intervention in Libya — is one option.

Conservative MPs say Harper told them the same thing at the weekly, closed-door caucus meeting Wednesday morning.

A number of MPs confirmed that the prime minister led off caucus by saying the government is weighing further military action in Iraq, but has ruled out ground troops.

He then told his caucus that the decision will be based on the most effective contribution Canada can make to the U.S.-led effort to stop ISIS.

Harper also said that once the decision is made, Conservative MP will be expected to vote for it in the House.

MPs said no one in the room objected to an expanded military room, though some pushed for an even more aggressive stand.

The price to pay

Conservative MP Laurie Hawn, a former lieutenant colonel in the RCAF, is in favour of Canadian air strikes.

"ISIS won't be stopped with humanitarian aid. ISIS will be stopped by force,'' he said in an interview. "Victory is defined when we stop ISIS from doing what it's doing."

Great Britain, France and Australia have already signed on to the effort. Belgium and the Netherlands have, too.

It will be expensive. A U.S. think tank pegged the cost of the American military efforts so far at nearly $1 billion, a figure that could rise to as much as $3.8 billion per year if air and ground support operations continue at the current pace.

How much Canada has spent, or will spend, hasn't been disclosed.

Conservatives argue that whatever the cost might be it's far less than the cost of doing nothing to stop ISIS and its relentless campaign of beheadings and religious extremism.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird along with Iraqi Deputy Minister Rowsch Nouri Sharways look at the ISIS positions from a front line bunker in Kalak, Iraq, on Sept. 4, 2014 (Ryan Remiorz / Canadian Press)

But there could also be a political price to pay if the government gets too far ahead of public support for an expanded role in Iraq.

That explains, in part, why Harper is going slowly — building the narrative for a greater Canadian commitment while ruling out ground troops, and arguing that Canada has a moral duty to stand with its allies.

He is also pointing out that Liberals and Social Democrats in other countries support the cause in Iraq, suggesting that Trudeau and Mulcair put their own partisan interests aside.

Harper would no doubt accept a bipartisan approach in Canada. But really, he's just as happy to go it alone. After all, he's done that so many times before.

21.17 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ebola preparedness plan ready, Canada's health officials say

The patient in the U.S. with Ebola had no symptoms during travel and was therefore not contagious during travel, Canadian health officials said Wednesday.

Health Minister Rona Ambrose and Dr. Gregory Taylor, Canada's chief public health officer, discussed the Ebola outbreak in West Africa today at the meeting of federal, provincial and territorial health ministers in Banff, Alta.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the first case of the deadly virus was diagnosed in the United States. A traveller from Liberia is under treatment in hospital in Dallas.

The individual did not travel through Canada and was not contagious, Ambrose said.

"Canada is very well prepared," for infectious diseases like Ebola, she said.

Ebola is spread through direct contact with an individual with symptoms, not casual contact as the cold and flu viruses do, Taylor said.

"I want to reassure everyone that the risk to Canadians remains very low," Taylor said.

WHO officials told Canada that face shields are needed immediately in West Africa, but Ottawa is having difficulty shipping 350,000 of them. (Public Health Agency of Canada)

Also on Wednesday, B.C.'s provincial health officer said it would not be surprising to see cases of the Ebola virus appear, but that there is no reason for alarm.

"We likely think over the next six months [we'll] probably import a case or two, or maybe even three," Dr. Perry Kendall told CBC News.

The province is prepared to deal with such cases, should they arise, he said.

Canadian and U.S. health officials stressed that the risk to the public is low, given that health systems in North America include clean water, protective equipment such as masks, gowns and gloves that are in short supply in West Africa.

Federal health officials said Canada is well prepared in several ways:

• To identify and prevent the spread of infections, such as at borders.
• The National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg and provincial laboratories are ready to detect the virus and respond quickly. Experts at Quebec's lab are able to diagnose Ebola and labs in B.C., Alberta, Ontario and Nova Scotia will be next, Taylor said.
• Canadian hospitals have infection control systems to limit the spread of infection and protect health-care workers.

So far, about 20 suspected cases of Ebola virus have been tested in Canada, which shows the system is working, Taylor said.

Dr. Allison McGeer, director of infection control at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital, said Canadians can be confident that our hospitals are ready and on alert. The level of care available in North America differs markedly from West Africa.

"West Africans desperately need our help," McGeer said in an interview on Wednesday. "The best way to protect ourselves in Canada, honestly, is not to have disease in West Africa."

Challenges in delivering aid

Taylor said Canada is trying to get 350,000 face shields to West Africa but is having difficulty with shipping as commercial airlines pull out. WHO officials told Canada that the face shields are needed immediately to cover the faces of health-care workers to prevent splashes from getting into their eyes or on their skin, Taylor said.

The rest of Canada's donations will be shipped by sea.

Taylor said that under the Quarantine Act, travellers are obligated to report to border agents if they feel sick or if they've been in contact with somebody who is sick or infectious. The quarantine officers who make decisions about whether assessments are needed right away are highly trained nurses, Taylor told CBC's Evan Solomon on Power & Politics.

Canada Border Service agents also have a reminder on their computer screens to ask travellers if they are sick, and if the answer is yes to immediately refer the person to quarantine officers for assessment.

Taylor said the step is new and specific to anyone coming from the affected area who could possibly be ill.

It can take up to 21 days after someone is exposed to the Ebola virus to show symptoms and be infectious.

Taylor also reminded health practitioners to be aware of the Ebola outbreak and to ask patients if they've had any recent travel to West Africa.

Honesty from patients is also needed, said Michael Gardam, an infectious disease specialist with Toronto's University Health Network

"You're very reliant on an individual who has been exposed to one of these viruses to be aware of it and if they develop symptoms, to quickly show up at an emergency room and state their travel history," Gardam said.

Taylor said Canada "pre-shipped" some vaccine to Geneva, but that its donation to the World Health Organization of 800 to 1,000 doses remains in a Canadian government lab.

Some vaccine set aside for Canada

Taylor later said on Power & Politics that Canada has set aside some of the experimental vaccine aside for clinical trials and is also keeping some in Canada "just in case somebody gets into the country who has Ebola."

He said health officials are considering keeping some of the doses in selected hospitals. 

"That vaccine would be used for health-care workers who would be potentially exposed to a patient who has Ebola," Taylor said.

"It's not useful at all for somebody who is sick with Ebola," he said of the experimental vaccine. "But the animal models are suggesting that it's good immediately post-exposure."

Taylor noted that the producer is making more of the vaccine, which is still experimental and has only been given to a few people thus far.

Canada also shipped some vaccine to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

The World Health Organization said Wednesday that a significant number of doses of Ebola virus vaccine won't be available until March 2015 even under the best conditions.

The UN health agency reiterated that Canada has donated 800 vials, which could be good for up to 2,000 doses, depending on the results of dosing data from early stage clinical trials.

WHO is considering the use of two experimental vaccines that have never been used on humans:

• A vaccine developed at the National Microbiology Laboratory uses a weakened version of a livestock pathogen.
• Another developed by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and GlaxoSmithKline uses a chimpanzee-derived virus.

In West Africa, there are few signs that the Ebola epidemic is being brought under control, WHO said.

As of Sept. 28, the virus is thought to have made 7,178 people sick, mainly in in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, WHO said Wednesday. Of these, 3,338 have died.

Health-care workers are a particular concern — as of Sept. 28, 377 have been infected and 216 have died.

21.17 | 0 komentar | Read More

Conservatives to overhaul veterans' benefits again to placate angry ex-soldiers

The Harper government plans further changes to its oft-maligned veterans charter, hoping to take the political sting out of complaints by ex-soldiers threatening to campaign against them in the next election.

Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino tabled the government's response to a House of Commons committee review, which earlier this year recommended 14 specific changes to the support and benefits regime.

Speaking late Wednesday, Fantino pledged to "leave no stone unturned" in the latest reform of the system. The Conservatives last rewrote the legislation covering veterans in 2011.

"We are building on our record and the investments we made, (but) it is by no means the end to how we improve our support to Canadian veterans and their families," Fantino said.

The department plans immediate revisions that don't require spending or parliamentary approvals, to be followed — perhaps early in the new year — by changes requiring new money and co-ordination with other departments.

It remains unclear how much of the second phase will make it into next spring's federal budget, the last before a federal election scheduled for October 2015.

The Commons committee complained, among other things, that the pain and suffering awards given to severely injured soldiers don't match what the courts or provincial compensation systems provide.

The government says it is studying how to address the problem, but a source with knowledge of the file said Wednesday that a one-time $70,000 top-up payment could be added to whatever lump sum is given to a soldier.

The source was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and so spoke only on condition of anonymity.

Other fiscal issues, such as ensuring badly wounded soldiers receive financial benefits for life and the disparity in benefits between regular and reserve soldiers, will require "further due diligence," the government response said.

Window dressing?

The response was a bitter disappointment to NDP veterans critic Peter Stoffer, who said he endorsed the all-party committee's recommendation in good faith and in the hope the government would take decisive action.

"To say I am disappointed is understatement," said Stoffer, who questioned the need for more study. "They just want to further delay and deny."

The Royal Canadian Legion expressed similar frustration.

"The government has had more than enough time, and certainly enough input from subject experts, to be able to take solid action," said Tom Eagles, dominion president.

Liberal veterans critic Frank Valeriote said the least the government could do would be to give veterans an idea of how much longer they'll wait for changes.

More symbolically, a rewrite to the preamble of the veterans charter will explicitly spell out Canada's obligation to its veterans — a politically toxic issue that's at the heart of a lawsuit by veterans of the war in Afghanistan.

In their statement of defence, government lawyers argued the country has no special obligation to its servicemen and women and that the current government can't be bound by the political promises of its predecessors.

The Conservatives propose to remedy that by using language in the old Pension Act, which used to govern veterans, saying the law should be liberally construed to the benefit of former soldiers and federal police officers.

Mike Blais, president of Canadian Veterans Advocacy, dismissed the plan as window-dressing.

Training for veterans' spouses

Fantino was involved in a testy, public exchange with veterans last winter over office closures and was accused of ignoring pleas for a meeting with a military spouse in a separate incident last spring.

Both incidents were black eyes for a government that has staked much on defending those in uniform.

Last fall, the government was accused of standing idle while the military summarily discharged injured soldiers, many of them with post-traumatic stress disorder, before they were ready to leave.

The Commons committee recommended no soldiers be discharged until they were in a "stable" medical condition; Fantino's department responded that it intends to become involved earlier in the transition process.

It also plans to give spouses access to a suite of services, including a new program to train caregivers to cope with severely injured family members.

That was a key demand of veterans advocate Jenifer Migneault, who chased Fantino from a committee meeting last spring.

21.17 | 0 komentar | Read More

PM to lay out Canadian role in ISIS battle tomorrow

The federal government will announce on Friday the combat role Canada will play in the fight against ISIS, a day before the current 30-day mission ends, CBC News has learned.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is prepared to make the case for sending CF-18s along with CC-150 refuelling jets to join the U.S.-led combat mission.

Multiple sources tell CBC News that the nature of the action was discussed today during the Conservative Party's caucus meeting, with at least two cabinet ministers — Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and Justice Minister Peter MacKay — laying out the reasons for Canada's involvement in the Middle East.

No objections to Canada's participation in the fight were raised during the caucus meeting. In fact, some MPs were heard wondering whether Canada will be going far enough to combat Islamic State jihadists.

Harper told the Commons on Wednesday that Canada only has 26 soldiers in Iraq serving as military advisers, rather than the 69 troops the government had said it was in the process of sending. Their 30-day mission comes to an end on Oct. 4.

CBC News has also learned that two CC-150 refuelling jets are being readied in Mirabel, Que. as part of the new mission.

These aircraft provide air-to-air refuelling for the military's CF-18 Hornets and are capable of extending the fighter jets' range across the Atlantic Ocean.

Behind closed cabinet doors on Tuesday, Harper laid out his reasoning for sending CF-18s into a battle that will put Canadian fighter pilots at risk.

He spoke first during the meeting of cabinet's priority and planning committee before asking each member to weigh in with their thoughts and concerns about a Canadian air mission over some of the most dangerous airspace in the world.

Sources say there was broad consensus about a Canadian role in the fight during the meeting, but some debate about the nature of that role.

The opposition parties have been pressing Harper to make his decision public in Parliament.

Harper has said any combat mission, including airstrikes, would be put to a debate and vote in Parliament.

Canadians learned of a U.S. request for further military contribution to the fight against ISIS during a question and answer session Harper took part in last week before a business audience in New York.

21.17 | 0 komentar | Read More

Justin Trudeau speaks at Canada 2020 conference

Live

Employment Minister Jason Kenney, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne also scheduled to appear

CBC News Posted: Oct 02, 2014 9:41 AM ET Last Updated: Oct 02, 2014 10:06 AM ET

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, Employment Minister Jason Kenney and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne are just three of the speakers slated to take the stage at the Ottawa Convention Centre today as Canada 2020, billed as "Canada's leading independent progressive think-tank," kicks off a two-day policy conference.

Other keynote speakers scheduled to appear over the next two days:

• Jean-Marc-Fournier, MNA, Quebec minister of intergovernmental affairs.
• Hon. Jean Charest, PC, Partner, McCarthy Tetrault.
• Dr. Ian Bremmer, president and founder, Eurasia Group
• Joe Natale, president and CEO, Telus.
•  R. H. David Miliband, International Rescue Committee.

The conference agenda also lists "special guests":

• Frank Graves, president, EKOS Research.
• Diana Carney, Canada 2020 Advisory Board.
• CBC's At Issue and Insiders Panels.
• Hon. Anne McLellan, PC, Bennett Jones LLP
• Hon. Monte Solberg, PC, New West Public Affairs,
• Hon. John Manley, PC, Canadian Council of Chief Executives.
• Hon. Perrin Beatty, PC, Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
• Don Iveson, mayor of Edmonton.
• Jim Watson, mayor of Ottawa.
• Anne Johnson, Generation Progress.
• J. Robert S. Prichard, Metrolinx, BMO and Torys LLP.

Follow along with our live blog, starting at 10 a.m. ET.

Mobile users can read the live blog here

Stay Connected with CBC News

Latest Politics News Headlines

21.17 | 0 komentar | Read More