Trudeau to push ahead with pot plan and tax hikes

But the prime minister shrugged off repeated questions about his unfulfilled pledge to deploy Canadian troops to UN peacekeeping operations.

Thestar.com
Sept. 13, 2017
By Tonda Maccharles

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will push ahead with controversial plans to legalize pot over the objection of police chiefs and some premiers and with tax hikes on "wealthy" Canadians over the objection of small businesses and some Liberal caucus members, saying he promised to do so in the election campaign.

But the Liberal leader shrugged off repeated questions about his unfulfilled pledge to deploy Canadian troops to UN peacekeeping operations, saying Canada's allies, military and citizens know he's serious about "stepping up" and understand the delay in order to get it "right."

"We will take the time necessary to do it properly," he told reporters.

Pressed hard after the Star revealed the government has not yet decided on a mission and won't before the UN Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial Forum in Vancouver on Nov. 14 and 15, Trudeau stuck to the same talking points the government has cited over the past year, since announcing it would contribute 600 soldiers and 150 police officers to an African peace operation.

However, at the United Nations, the expectation that Canada will announce its intentions at that summit is equally firm.

Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, told the Star in an email, "We are very pleased that Canada has announced its willingness to contribute to UN peacekeeping, and we look forward to Canada's announcement of its decision at the Vancouver summit. This is something that the defence minister indicated would happen when he spoke at a press conference at the UN a few months ago."

And the Canadian government is running out of sympathy for its delay in many quarters.

"In my view, it's an embarrassment, because we're either in, or we're out," said lawyer Stuart Hendin, a consultant with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research who just finished working with U.S. troops to train African troops in Cameroon.

"It's obvious in any number of these countries where there are UN missions there's a very real need for disciplined, capable forces. We have that capacity and we're shirking that responsibility."

He said Canada's bid for a Security Council seat will be hurt because it will rely on a large number of uncommitted votes, many from African states. "They're probably going to look at that and say 'where was Canada?'"

Hendin said there's need for competent trainers "but more importantly there's a need for peacekeepers, peacemakers with competent skills" in Central African Republic, Mali and Darfur.

Trudeau heads to the UN general assembly on Tuesday. He is to make a speech to the assembly on Thursday.

Trudeau was on the defensive as he wrapped up a two-day cabinet retreat, facing questions on a range of controversial files that are sure to dog his government as Parliament resumes next week.

Those included questions about the government's slow response to Canadian Hurricane Irma victims - Trudeau was unapologetic, saying only that "better is always possible" - questions about proposed changes to restrict the ability of incorporated small businesses and professionals to shift income to lower their taxes, the public cost of his Christmas holiday on the Aga Khan's private island in the Bahamas, and about his government's recent difficulties communicating its message.

Trudeau danced around most questions, and said he was unfazed by dissent over the tax changes within the Liberal caucus.

"I encourage a broad range of voices speaking up within the Liberal party," he told reporters.

The Liberal leader said his government's focus during the retreat was on the economy, the Canada-U.S. relationship and the legislative agenda ahead this fall.

Trudeau and his senior government ministers stood firm on the plan to legalize pot by next July 1, 2018, sweeping aside growing police concerns over the timeline, saying the deadline is "reasonable" and can be met.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale told reporters Wednesday the government has put "very significant" money - up to $274 million - into supporting the ability of police and border guards to enforce new rules, outlined under two bills now being studied in parliament.

But Canadian police chiefs believe their forces are not ready nor is the Canadian public.

On Tuesday, officials from the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, the OPP and Saskatoon police testified at a health committee studying the bill to legalize pot that they need more time to properly train officers, to more than double the number of officers who are certified to do roadside testing for drug impaired drivers, and to raise public awareness about the impairment effects of smoking marijuana. They want a delay of another six months to a year.

Goodale, and Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, who meet provincial justice and public safety ministers later this week, said they will discuss those concerns but disagreed that the government was moving too fast.

"This is a large transformative initiative. When you bring forward that kind of measure obviously it challenges people to meet the objectives but the timeline is a solid one. The deadline is 10 or 11 months away so there's time there to move forward," said Goodale.

"We believe that the time frame we've set out is reasonable," he said and when reporters asked if delay was an option, Goodale replied: "Look, we've set the objective in July of next year and we're anxious to achieve that objective."

Wilson-Raybould said the downside of a delay "is the status quo" adding she had concerns about leaving criminal laws in place that have negative impacts on young people and allow a black market run by organized crime to flourish.