1) (Updated) Poilievre Barried From Speaking In House Tuesday Unless He Withdraws Remark About Joly

Courtesy Barrie360.com  Canadian Press

By Mia Rabson and Alessia Passafiume, October 8, 2024

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre was not allowed to speak in the House of Commons Tuesday as his public feud with Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly spilled into a second day.

House Speaker Greg Fergus delivered the penalty to Poilievre in the morning, a day after he asked the leader of the opposition to withdraw a remark accusing Joly of pandering to supporters of the terrorist organization Hamas.

Poilievre made the comment during question period Monday, the one year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, after he asked the Liberals to condemn “genocidal chants from hateful mobs on our streets.”

“Our Jewish friends and neighbours have been doubly victimized as antisemitic mobs take to the streets shouting, ‘from Palestine to Lebanon, Israel will soon be gone’ and ‘there is only one solution: intifada, revolution,'” Poilievre said.

Joly responded by naming the seven Canadians killed in the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 and saying the government stands with the Jewish people.

Poilievre said she hadn’t actually condemned antisemitism in Canada in her response and accused her of refusing to do to in a bid to score political points for what he called her desire to run for the Liberal leadership.

“She continues to pander to Hamas supporters and the Liberal party as part of her leadership campaign rather than doing her job,” he said.

Joly accused Poilievre of “gaslighting” and playing politics on a day that was meant to respect the victims of Oct. 7.

“Clearly, the guy’s unfit to become a prime minister because Canadians deserve way better,” she said, asking him to apologize.

All MPs, including the Liberals, supported a Conservative motion in the House Monday condemning Hamas and antisemitism in Canada.

At the end of question period Fergus asked Poilievre to withdraw his comment about Joly, noting he had asked another MP to withdraw after he made a similar comment about Poilievre “pandering to a regime I think most of us would find odious.”

That MP, Yvan Baker, has not withdrawn the remark and hasn’t been allowed to speak in the House since March.

Fergus initially denied the Liberal request to keep Poilievre from speaking until he withdrew, but changed his mind Tuesday and issued the one-day ban. Fergus noted this is not Poilievre’s first offence nor is he new to the rules of the decorum in the House.

“Over the last few months, the member refused to heed decisions by the chair on non-parliamentary remarks during question periods on two occasions,” Fergus said. 

Poilievre received a warning the first time; the second time the Conservatives had questions removed from their daily allotment.

“Yesterday’s events represent a third occasion,” Fergus said. “The opposition (leader) should withdraw his comments made yesterday during question period … if he is not willing to do so, the chair will not recognize him for the remainder of today.”

Fergus also said Tuesday that Baker’s punishment would end Wednesday.

Poilievre has not withdrawn the remark and did not appear in the House of Commons on Tuesday.

He held a news conference in the foyer outside the House of Commons before question period, accusing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberals of being at fault for the rise in antisemitism in Canada in the last year. 

Poilievre said antisemitism began to increase in Canada before Oct. 7, 2023, and that there have been previous conflicts in the Middle East that did not lead to similar problems in Canada.

Joly appeared in the foyer shortly after Poilievre, saying he is hypocritical and unfit to govern the country.

In a statement, Conservative spokesperson Sebastian Skamski said the Speaker is showing “partisan bias” by trying to censor questions from his party.

Tensions in the House of Commons remained during question period, with members from all parties heckling each other at various points throughout as the Speaker tried to restore order.

The Conservatives asked the Liberals multiple times if they would add Samidoun as a listed terrorist entity. 

That group organized a pro-Palestinian rally in Vancouver Monday night, where a masked woman led the crowd to chant “death to Canada, death to the United States and death to Israel,” while others burned Canadian flags.

Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman asked “what the hell it is going to take” for the Liberals to ban the organization. 

The Speaker asked her to withdraw “hell” as it is unparliamentary, and she did.

Jennifer O’Connell, parliamentary secretary to the public safety minister, said the government would not follow the Conservatives and “play politics” with the issue.

“When it comes to listing of terrorist entities, the members opposite know full well it is not a political decision,” O’Connell said. “It is based on the national security services of this country.”

“But it’s precisely why the minister had already sent it for an urgent review, understanding that this hate is unacceptable in Canada.”

While O’Connell was answering the question, Lantsman shouted from across the aisle that she should be “ashamed” of herself.

— With files from Chuck Chiang in Vancouver

2) Poilievre supports mandatory drug, psychiatric treatment for kids, prisoners

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Laura Osman, October 10, 2024

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is in favour of mandatory, involuntary drug and psychiatric treatment for kids and prisoners who are found to be incapable of making decisions for themselves, he said at a press conference Thursday.

The Conservative leader said earlier this summer he was open to the idea, but needed to study the issue more closely.

On Thursday he said he’s made up his mind when it comes to certain groups. 

“I believe for children and for prisoners who are behind bars, there should be mandatory drug treatment when they are found to be incapable of making decisions for themselves,” Poilievre said.

“For adults, again, I’m still doing a lot of research on how that would work.”

Compulsory mental health and addictions care is being contemplated or expanded in several provinces as communities struggle to cope with a countrywide overdose crisis. Concerns have been raised about those proposals by mental health advocates who question whether compulsory treatment is effective, and civil liberties groups who fear for the rights of the patients. 

Poilievre’s new position on the issue appears to have solidified after the parents of 13-year-old Brianna Macdonald testified at a parliamentary committee about her mental-health struggles before her overdose death in an encampment of homeless people in Abbotsford, B.C. 

Her mother, Sarah Macdonald, and her stepfather, Lance Charles, told the health committee Tuesday their daughter had serious mental-health concerns and began experimenting with several types of prescription and illicit drugs when she was only 12.

“Brianna’s father and I would beg doctors to keep her in hospitals,” Charles told the committee. “The doctors would overlook what we said and release her, sending us home with Narcan kits.”

They would ask police to invoke the Mental Health Act and take her to the hospital when she threatened to hurt herself, Charles said, but the officers wouldn’t take her against her will.

“There’s no question in my mind that she should have been in mandatory, involuntary psychiatric and substance abuse treatment, rather than in a homeless encampment in a tent,” Poilievre said on Thursday. 

British Columbia’s NDP premier announced last month that his government would expand involuntary care for people in mental health and addictions crisis, and that the province will open secure facilities for people who have been detained because they’re a danger to themselves or others. B.C. is now in an election campaign.

The B.C. chapter of the Canadian Mental Health Association has expressed misgivings about the plan without better oversight over the mental-health system.

“A movement to detain more people under these current conditions and culture, without addressing significant gaps in the quality and effectiveness of care, will not lead to positive or dignified outcomes for people,” the association said in a statement last month.

In New Brunswick, Progressive Conservative Leader Blaine Higgs has promised legislation that would allow someone with a severe addiction to be forced into treatment as part of his election platform. 

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has similarly asked her mental health minister to develop “ compassionate intervention legislation” that would allow involuntary treatment for people who use drugs if they are a danger to themselves or others.

Poilievre has already promised to stop the flow of federal funding for supervised injection sites and a safer supply of drugs, and instead focus federal support on treatment options. 

3) (Updated) Trudeau touts ‘real progress’ on pharmacare, calls on premiers to start cutting deals

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Sarah Ritchie and Laura Osman, Oct. 11, 2024.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is calling on provinces and territories to start negotiating pharmacare deals as soon as possible, now that the federal legislation to enact the program has become law.

“This is real progress, but now we need the provinces and territories to come to the table and sign agreements with us that supports Canadians and takes pressure off their household budgets as soon as possible,” Trudeau told reporters on Friday as he wrapped a visit to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Laos.

That legislation was central to the now-defunct political pact between the Liberals and the NDP, who pushed hard for the bill to be introduced. On Thursday, NDP health critic Peter Julian pointed out that Canada is the only country with a universal health care system that does not include universal coverage for prescription drugs.

The bill was passed by the Senate without amendments on Thursday evening and received royal assent shortly after.

The legislation will inform the creation of any future universal pharmacare plan.

In the immediate term, it paves the way for the federal government to sign deals with provinces and territories to cover diabetes and birth-control medications as part of the public health system.

Trudeau said the program will help people who are struggling to pay for prescriptions, and said his government “not only (believes) in a woman’s right to choose, we act on it.”

The federal health minister has said he hopes to have all provinces and territories on board by next spring. B.C. has already signed a memorandum of understanding to provide coverage.

The law also calls for the government to convene an expert panel within the next month to investigate the next steps in establishing a full-fledged pharmacare program.

That committee will report its recommendations to the health minister within a year.