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PM Justin Trudeau's Canada

Aline Chrétien, wife of former PM Jean Chrétien, has died at age 84

From link.

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By all accounts, Aline Chrétien was the quiet strength behind her husband, Jean.

An astute political partner whom former prime minister Jean Chrétien called his most trusted adviser and his "rock of Gibraltar," Aline Chrétien died peacefully Saturday morning at the age of 84.

The two met on a bus in the summer of 1951, when Jean Chrétien was 17 and Aline was 15. The two married in 1957 in a ceremony that was squeezed in between Jean's shifts working at the local mill and his university classes.

From the very beginning, Aline Chrétien said she knew the man who would go on to serve as prime minister for a decade was the one for her. The couple had three children together.

Aline dropped out of school at 16 to help support her family through secretarial work, but her dreams were much grander. She longed to travel overseas and learn multiple languages.

Those aspirations became possible in part because of her husband's political success — but Aline never felt entirely comfortable in the spotlight.

"If I hadn't married Jean, no one would have seen me, ever," she told Maclean's magazine in 1994. "I like people, but I don't like to be out in front."

Aline wanted to keep her family life private and out of the public eye, especially when her children were young.

In Jean Chrétien's best-selling 1985 memoir, Straight from the Heart, their daughter France was mentioned only briefly and their son Hubert and adopted son Michel were not mentioned at all.

Frequent adviser to former PM

Throughout his time in office, Aline remained close to her husband's work and frequently offered him advice.

"We are always talking, when I have lunch, breakfast, at night, sometimes I sit in his office and he says, 'You know what, today I have a cabinet meeting to do,'" she said. "It's like I'm a part of the team too and sometimes the team is there and I'm there so he will say, 'Well what do you think about that?' And I give him my advice. But since a long time it's always been like that."

Less than a week after the referendum on the Charlottetown constitutional accord in 1992, André Dallaire — who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and was upset over the referendum result — broke into the prime minister's official residence at 24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa and came face to face with Aline just outside her bedroom.

Aline went back into the bedroom, locked the door and woke her husband, who grabbed an Inuit carving of a loon to defend the couple as they waited behind the locked door for the RCMP to respond.
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Known for treating staffers and volunteers like family

Aline dedicated herself to both women's causes and the arts, especially music. A pianist, Aline enjoyed playing for herself as much as she did for family and friends.

Known for her kind and welcoming nature, she treated Liberal staffers and volunteers as members of her own family and supported her husband through difficult times.
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After internecine squabbling in the Liberal Party between supporters of Chrétien and his finance minister, Paul Martin, culminated in Chrétien stepping down sooner than he had planned, Aline told the CBC's Peter Mansbridge in 2003 how she approaches conflict.
"If somebody has a chip on their shoulder, who has something against somebody, it shows," she told Mansbridge. "Life is too short and I forgive, and in politics there's a lot to forgive so I would be very miserable. I see people who don't forgive and it's not nice.

"Jean is the guy (who) forgives easily and I like him for that too, because in life, if you are just a thing about the past, it's no good. You just go forward and you're happy."

As much as Jean Chrétien was gregarious and hot-tempered, Aline was the calm and collected political partner who was happy to stick to the sidelines. But she took great pride in what they accomplished together in public life and believed Canadians would come to miss her husband and value his legacy when he left office.

"I would be just happy if they say he was working hard for his people and he was a good prime minister," she told Mansbridge in 2003.

The success of their political partnership was surpassed only by their personal one. Aline and Jean Chretien celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary on Sept. 10.
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Guaranteed basic income tops policy priorities for Liberal caucus at upcoming convention

Sept 12, 2020

A guaranteed basic income for all Canadians has emerged as the top policy choice of Liberal MPs, just as the Trudeau government is crafting its plan to help people weather the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and rebuild the ravaged economy.

The Liberal caucus is calling on the government to adopt the idea in a priority policy resolution for consideration at the party's upcoming national convention.

And MPs consider it so important that they've designated it their top resolution, guaranteeing that it will go directly to the Nov. 12-15 convention for debate and a vote.

 
AlbertC said:
Guaranteed basic income tops policy priorities for Liberal caucus at upcoming convention

Sept 12, 2020

A guaranteed basic income for all Canadians has emerged as the top policy choice of Liberal MPs, just as the Trudeau government is crafting its plan to help people weather the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and rebuild the ravaged economy.

The Liberal caucus is calling on the government to adopt the idea in a priority policy resolution for consideration at the party's upcoming national convention.

And MPs consider it so important that they've designated it their top resolution, guaranteeing that it will go directly to the Nov. 12-15 convention for debate and a vote.

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I'm not opposed to a BI; but I question whether the politics are there to create a useful one; and one that will be sustained into the future.

I'd like to see a focus on pharmacare and other initiatives to reduce coverage gaps in our healthcare system, investments to create new, affordable rental housing, more, affordable childcare, and strategic investments in infrastructure such as public transit, HFR/HSR, and a national smart grid.

Strictly on cash-transfers, I think a move to boost the EI/Parental Leave/Short-term disability income replacement rate; and to make said programs more accessible to part-timers and to gig-economy workers would be the easiest to accomplish.

Though, an increased Canada Social Transfer, specifically tied to higher social assistance rates and higher clawbacks would also be welcome.
 
JasonParis said:
It's so Canadian really.
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Not really, the problem is that maintaining old buildings (esp those with both public and private uses) is VERY expensive and no politician wants to (be seen) spending $$ on themselves. Ideally the final decisions on maintaining 24 Sussex, Rideau Hall, Stornaway etc would be made by an impartial and arms-length group. The National Capital Commission is trying to set this up. This group should decide if 24 Sussex - which really is in bad shape - s worth saving or whether Canada should invest in bulding a ew 21st century "official residence".
 
DSC said:
Not really, the problem is that maintaining old buildings (esp those with both public and private uses) is VERY expensive and no politician wants to (be seen) spending $$ on themselves. Ideally the final decisions on maintaining 24 Sussex, Rideau Hall, Stornaway etc would be made by an impartial and arms-length group. The National Capital Commission is trying to set this up. This group should decide if 24 Sussex - which really is in bad shape - s worth saving or whether Canada should invest in bulding a ew 21st century "official residence".
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I guess I don't know enough about the process. At first blush I would have thought the Commission itself would serve as the 'impartial, arms-length group.

I wonder if they go through this type of perennial angst about the White House (admittedly different role) or 10 Downing?
 
lenaitch said:
I guess I don't know enough about the process. At first blush I would have thought the Commission itself would serve as the 'impartial, arms-length group.

I wonder if they go through this type of perennial angst about the White House (admittedly different role) or 10 Downing?
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1949 they gutted the White House and rebuilt it. Congress created a commision that had the powers to rebuild it as they sought fit.
Every new occupant does some minor renos to suit their styles, but it doesn't seem like a political issue.
They just did $3.4 million in renovations without much hassle.
 
lenaitch said:
I wonder if they go through this type of perennial angst about the White House (admittedly different role) or 10 Downing?
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No. Those are the seats of current and former global empires. Canada is still shockingly provincial.
 
U.S. abruptly reverses course, lifts tariffs on Canadian aluminum

From link.

The United States is standing down in its tariff dispute with Canada and lifting a 10 per cent levy on aluminum imported from north of the border.

The office of the U.S. Trade Representative says it will lift the tariffs retroactive to Sept. 1 because it expects Canadian exports to “normalize” over the remainder of the year.
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The sudden about-face comes just hours before the federal Liberal government was expected to announce a suite of countermeasures in retaliation for the tariffs.

The government had already issued a list of possible products on the target list, including beverage cans, washing machines and golf clubs.

The U.S. imposed the tariffs last month at the request of two American manufacturers, prompting an outcry from Canadian producers.
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This is just such a predictable thing; highly-paid industry lobbyists schmooze and hustle and get Cabinet or Executive fiats that ultimately don't survive scrutiny.
 
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