Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has been badly shaken by a conflict-of-interest controversy about his Minister of Finance, but the Liberal government’s upcoming fiscal update offers an opportunity to reset the public focus on Canada’s strong economy, political observers said.
The government has been plagued all week about questions about the Canadian Minister of Finance Bill Morneau, the multimillionaire former chief executive officer of human resources management firm Morneau Shepell.
Some have questioned whether Morneau would be forced to resign.
Photo: Reuters
The focus has been a rare stumble for Trudeau’s government, which marked two years in office this month and has mostly maneuvered its way out of political trouble partly because of Trudeau’s personal popularity and the youthful momentum of the Liberals after 10 years of Conservative rule.
“They’re politically very astute in a whole bunch of areas, but in issues management and parliamentary management they seem to be ham-fisted,” Queen’s University school of policy studies professor Andrew Graham said.
With Trudeau’s strong defense of Morneau, and the finance minister likely to unveil a smaller budget deficit in Tuesday’s fall fiscal update, Liberals have a temporary chance to refocus on good news.
“Economic conditions are a bedrock of whether people feel good or bad about how politicians are performing and the economy is doing very well for most people,” Abacus Data pollster Bruce Anderson said.
Morneau said on Thursday he would put his assets in a blind trust and divest stock in a publicly traded family business. That comes after weeks of backlash over tax reform that has become a major obstacle for Trudeau’s government.
Opposition parties from both the political left and right have seized on the ethics scandal, trying to tie Trudeau’s team to what they say is an entitled Liberal Party that has previously faced corruption charges.
“The opposition has changed the focus from substance to ethics, and they won’t let that go that easily,” University of Ottawa political professor Genevieve Tellier said.
However, Tellier said Trudeau’s decision to fill his cabinet with political rookies — including Morneau — rather than turning to the old Liberal guard, could limit the ability of the opposition to land many ethical punches.
Moreover, Morneau is respected by markets.
“I think the prime minister would be very cautious about changing his finance minister... [Morneau] presents a reassuring image, he doesn’t scare the markets,” Tellier said.
“They really don’t have a choice but to tough it out and hope some event will transpire to distract the hyenas,” Ipsos Public Affairs pollster Darrell Bricker said.
The expected budget improvement in Tuesday’s fall fiscal update could also give Morneau the leeway to woo voters with more spending or debt reduction.
“The way the numbers are playing out, they are in a fairly favorable fiscal position,” Royal Bank of Canada assistant chief economist Paul Ferley said.
Morneau spokesman Dan Lauzon said the finance minister has no plans to change his strategy and would keep focus on fiscal stimulus matters: “He is in this for the long run and he won’t let distractions get in the way.”
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not