HALIFAX –
Housing and immigration will take centre stage immediately because the federal cupboard retreat in Halifax strikes into its first full day of conferences.
The annual end-of-summer cupboard gathering is meant to set the agenda for the autumn sitting of Parliament which begins three weeks from immediately.
The Liberals are in a make-it-or-break-it second, following greater than a yr of slumping polling numbers and at most a yr left earlier than the following federal election.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is scheduled to take questions from the media early this morning, one thing he has accomplished far much less regularly because the Liberals misplaced a important byelection in a Toronto stronghold on the finish of June.
Ministers are additionally anticipated to supply updates on the federal government’s ongoing revamp of the momentary overseas staff program, in addition to nationwide youngster care and electrical car tariffs.
The cupboard will even be pressured to cope with the nonetheless unsettled labour strife inside the two nationwide railways, with Teamsters planning a protest on the assembly immediately.
The federal government final week requested the Canada Industrial Relations Board to start binding arbitration to finish a piece stoppage that started when each Canadian Nationwide Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas Metropolis (CPKC) locked out staff on Thursday at midnight.
The board agreed Saturday to the binding arbitration request however Teamsters President Paul Boucher has vowed to combat it in court docket and can lead a protest in Halifax immediately.
However for the Liberals, affordability and the housing provide crunch will stay the primary priorities.
The explosion of immigration below their watch has grow to be a major downside, contributing to hovering housing prices and driving anti-immigration sentiment in lots of elements of the nation.
Final summer time’s cupboard retreat started to handle the explosion of worldwide pupil visas and in January, Immigration Minister Marc Miller introduced the federal government would approve 35 per cent fewer pupil visas this yr than it had in 2023.
He has now turned his consideration extra closely to momentary overseas staff, lots of whom are paid low wages to do work that is tough to search out Canadians to do. The variety of low-wage overseas staff grew 5 fold between 2016 and 2024, a lot of that progress throughout the post-COVID-19 labour shortages skilled in 2022.
Miller has stated the circumstances have modified and so should this system. The federal government just lately accredited a six-month freeze on new low-wage momentary overseas staff in Montreal.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland can also be anticipated to debate along with her cupboard colleagues the summer time session that studied whether or not to hitch the U.S. and Europe and impose new tariffs on electrical autos made in China.
The cupboard heard Sunday night time from U.S. nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan throughout a working dinner that launched the cupboard retreat, who warned about China’s financial insurance policies, together with overproduction and state subsidies that result in unfair pricing and competitors.
U.S. President Joe Biden introduced in Might he would quadruple the import taxes on Chinese language-made EVs to 100 per cent and Canada is predicted to observe the U.S. lead with new tariffs of its personal.
Freeland spent July holding the required session to take action, however has hasn’t but stated when tariffs would occur or what they are going to be.
The European Union is planning to vote in October on introducing new tariffs in its member states as nicely.
Conservative Chief Pierre Poilievre is pressuring the federal government to impose tariffs, promising he would achieve this if he wins the following election.
Talking to reporters on his method into the cupboard assembly Sunday night time, Sullivan stated the U.S. will not inform Canada what to do however that there are vital points about financial equity and knowledge safety associated to Chinese language-made vehicles.
“The U.S. does imagine a united entrance, a co-ordinated strategy on these points, advantages all of us,” he stated.
This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed Aug. 26, 2024.