Top news
- Minister Leblanc announced on Thursday that, after months of discussions, the government and opposition parties have agreed on the terms of reference for a public inquiry into foreign interference which will be led by Justice Marie-Josée Hogue as Commissioner. She has been asked to provide an interim report by February 29, 2024, and a final report by December 2024. She will examine allegations of election interference in the 2019 and 2021 elections, the response of the government to these allegations, and make recommendations about how to strengthen Canada’s electoral system to prevent future incidents.
- Prime Minister Trudeau attended the ASEAN summit in Indonesia where he signed the ASEAN-Canada Strategic Partnership agreement that will elevate the relationship between Canada and ASEAN to that of a strategic partnership. The government also announced that Canada’s new Indo-Pacific Trade Representative will be based in Jakarta. He is currently attending the G20 Summit in New Delhi.
- Chris Forbes has been appointed as the new Deputy Minister for Finance taking on the role held by Michael Sabia before his resignation to take on leadership of Hydro-Quebec. Forbes has been serving as the Deputy Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
- The Conservative Party’s National Convention opened in Quebec City yesterday. Delegates will be meeting through Saturday to discuss several policy resolutions and hear from speakers including Leader Pierre Poilievre who will address delegates at 5:30 PM today.
Government announcements
- The government has awarded Sun Life an Early Work Agreement to enable the company to start work on the development of the Canadian Dental Plan which the government hopes will be launched by the end of the year.
- The federal government has released a discussion paper on tobacco use in Canada as it launches the second review of the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act. The review will be accepting submissions up until November 3rd.
- The government has made changes to the Judicial Advisory Committee process to extend the terms of each committee member from two to three years and the time an assessment of a judicial candidate remains valid to three years as it tries to speed up the appointment process for new judges.
- Minister Freeland issued a statement in response to the Bank of Canada’s September rate decision where it decided to maintain the existing rate.
Economic numbers of the week
- 40,000: The August Labour Force Survey found that there were 40,00 net new jobs created last month. The unemployment rate stayed at 5.5% after three months of increasing.
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