Opposition Pressing Liberals to Address Inflation Ahead of Fiscal Update

Politics Insider for Dec 10, 2021: The War for Bill 21; fiscal update predictions; and Ottawa backs off on South Africa’s COVID testing

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The Canada Revenue Agency and the Quebec government shut down websites as a preventive measure after receiving a cyberattack threat, The Globe reports.

Canada’s Revenue Agency said Sunday that it learned of a security vulnerability on Friday: “As a precautionary measure, we decided to proactively disconnect our online services while we work to protect our systems from potential threats.”

Quebec closed 4,000 sites.

At a press conference, Quebec’s minister of digital transformation said the province became aware of the threat on Friday and has since been working to identify which websites are at risk, one by one, before bringing them back online. . “We are looking for a needle in a haystack,” said Eric Caire, in Quebec City, “without knowing which websites use the [affected] software, we decided to close them all. “

On Monday morning, the Tax Agency of Canada he said on twitter most [its] digital services are now available. “

Ottawa undoes the trial snub: Ottawa removed a travel rule that had rejected South Africa’s COVID-19 testing over the weekend, the Balloon reports.

No reason was provided for the policy change, which was communicated by email to Canadian citizens in South Africa and in an amendment to the online version of Canadian border rules. Canadians from the other nine African countries subject to the travel ban will be required to follow the third country rule, although they will now have the option of taking the test in South Africa.

The rule had been denounced by the director of the World Health Organization and was seen as an unfair and irrational slight.

Pressure on Freeland: Opposition politicians are pushing liberals to tackle inflation and the cost of living ahead of tomorrow’s fiscal update, CBC reports.

Conservatives are calling on Liberals to freeze tax increases and introduce a plan to phase out deficit spending. “Our demands are very simple: less taxes, less deficits, less inflation,” he said. Pierre Poilievre on Sunday. At the beginning of the week, Jagmeet Singh He said he wants liberals to tackle inflation by targeting real estate speculation and investing in affordable housing.

Do not expect much: Economists are not expecting a lot of new spending to be announced on Tuesday, they say CP.

It is not a budget: At Star, Heather scoffield write that With a looming political fight with conservatives over economic policy, liberals are unlikely to want to spend freely.

All signs point to the extra money being spent primarily on Omicron prevention, prudential measures, pandemic benefits, and perhaps British Columbia.

Don’t blame the politicians: former Governor of the Bank of Canada (BoC) said Global Sunday what politicians deserve no blame for inflation. Stephen poloz He said Canada’s pandemic spending was wise: “Aren’t we lucky that policies are working well to prevent the second Great Depression, which is what many economists were concerned about when we first encountered the impact of COVID-19? “

Rates going up: The CEO of CD Howe Institute has an opinion piece on the Globe predicting that interest rates are going to rise.

Prepare for the worst: Minister of International Trade Mary Ng told CTV Canadians on Sunday should “prepare for the worst” if US lawmakers pass President Joe Biden’s protectionist Build Back Better Act with an electric vehicle tax credit.

Ng spoke about a letter that he co-signed with Chrystia freeland Threatening retaliatory tariffs: “My hope is that we don’t have to do this at all, but the really important thing is that Canada braces for the worst. “

The Biden tax credit would give consumers up to $ 12,500 if they buy an electric vehicle made by a US union. The letter was sent to the leadership of the US Senate on Friday night, as another means to change the position of the Biden administration in favor of the Canadian automotive sector.

Avoiding a fight: At Star, Chantal hebert considers either Justin trudeau Y Erin O’Toole will seek to challenge Francois legault getting involved in the battle over Bill 21, which has been making headlines since a Chelsea teacher wearing hijab was pulled from the classroom. Hebert isn’t sure either of them will quarrel with prime ministers, but thinks Trudeau is more likely to get involved than O’Toole.

But in an election year, (Legault) he would probably enjoy presenting himself as a champion of the consensus of Quebec secularism against a meddling federal government. Ultimately, the Trudeau caucus in Quebec is much more likely to follow suit and take a more combative stance on Bill 21 than O’Toole’s.

An unpleasant debate: In Maclean’s Paul wells notes that debate on this law is not welcomed by party leaders, noting that O’Toole caucus members who have spoken may do so in part because of leadership dynamics.

When four Tory MPs tweeted within minutes about their renewed love of freedom, it was hard to escape the suspicion that something else was going on. Perhaps this: those conservatives are not, generally, conspicuous fans of Erin O’Toole, and many come from districts where much of the conservative voter base is spitting angrily at O’Toole over perceived softness on vaccine mandates.

Strong CAQ: In Maclean’s, Philippe J. Fournier writes about a recent Quebec poll showing CAQ sitting pretty and the provincial liberals in a “distant second place, well behind the CAQ, with only 20 percent of voting intentions, five points below their historically disastrous result of 2018.”

– Stephen Maher