Top news
- Statistics Canada has announced it will revise how it estimates the number of non-permanent residents living in Canada following a recent report that found evidence the previous methodology was undercounting non-permanent residents by as much as one million people.
- Konrad von Finckenstein has been appointed as Interim Ethics Commissioner. The former federal judge and CRTC Commissioner will hold the position for 6 months while the federal government continues the process of appointing the next Commissioner to the position which has been vacant since Mario Dion resigned in February.
- The Canadian government is expanding its challenge of the US softwood lumber duties with a request that the U.S. Court of International Trade review the duties on top of the CUSMA dispute settlement process it has already launched challenging the US tariffs.
Government announcements
- The government has released draft regulations for the Online News Act. There will be a 30 day consultation period before the final regulations are published allowing the CRTIC to proceed its oversight of a negotiation process. Facebook has responded to the regulations by indicating it intends to continue excluding Canadian news outlets from its platform.
- Minister Leblanc released the six-month progress report on the federal government’s response to the Public Order Emergency Commission. The government is still considering many of the 56 recommendations by Justice Rouleau but has taken interim steps on areas such as security of critical infrastructure such as international border crossings.
- Minister Blair announced he his implementing the recommendation of Justice Arbour, in her review of the Canadian Forces handling of assault and harassment allegations, to repeal the mandatory Duty to Report regulations and replace them with new regulations that a more sensitive to the needs of survivors.
- The Competition Bureau released its report on RBC’s proposed acquisition of HSBC Canada Bank. The report found that merger is “not likely to result in a substantial lessening or prevention of competition”. The Minister of Finance will have the final say on the approval or rejection of the deal.
- The government has issued a Request For Proposals for construction management for the redevelopment of Parliamentary Precinct on the block that faces towards Parliament Hill. The government intends to develop office space in these buildings that can be used while East Block and Confederation Building are refurbished.
Economic numbers of the week
- -0.2%: Statistics Canada reported today that Canada’s GDP declined slightly in second quarter of 2023. The weak economic performance in the last quarter has some economists speculating that the Bank of Canada will hold off on further rate hikes in September.
Coming Up
- Prime Minister Trudeau will travel to Asia next week where he will attend the ASEAN Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia on September 5th-6th, make a bilateral visit Singapore September 7th-8th and participate in the G20 Summit in New Delhi, India on September 9th-10th.
- The Conservative Party of Canada will hold its 2023 National Convention in Quebec City from on September 7th-9th.
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