Politics Briefing: Cabinet ministers convened to review options to end the

Hello,

The federal government’s deputy secretary on emergency preparedness says cabinet was presented with an ever-expanding menu of options to help resolve the growing protests blockading Ottawa streets and border crossings across the country last winter.

Jacqueline Bogden is testifying on Friday at the Public Order Emergency Commission, which is scrutinizing the events and advice that led to the Liberals’ mid-February decision to invoke the Emergencies Act.

The Canadian Press reports that Ms. Bogden says once it became clear protesters did not plan to leave downtown Ottawa, several cabinet ministers convened to review what the federal government could contribute to end the blockades.

She says as time went on and disruptions got worse, deputy ministers across the country were tasked with brainstorming options within the federal jurisdiction to stop the protests.

Also, involving the commission, the federal government used a broader definition of a national-security threat than what is outlined in the Emergencies Act when it invoked the sweeping legislation in response to last winter’s convoy protests. Senior political reporter Marieke Walsh reports here.

And, on Thursday, the Finance Department’s most senior public servant said the federal government was in a race against time to stop the escalating economic damage created by the February border blockades. Story here. Reporter Shannon Proudfoot writes here about how the testimony of Michael Sabia, the Deputy Minister of Finance, showed how the blockades represented existential threat to economy and U.S.-Canada relationship.

Meanwhile, Eric Stubbs, newly installed as chief of the Ottawa Police Service said, on arrival in his new job, that the service is “not broken” as he vowed to listen and learn while building a strategic plan to carry the service beyond its current troubles. Story here from The Ottawa Citizen.

BREAKING FRIDAY – David Eby, British Columbia’s former attorney-general, is being sworn in Friday as the province’s new premier, replacing John Horgan. Please check The Globe and Mail this afternoon for coverage of Mr. Eby’s first news conference as premier.

This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Ian Bailey. It is available exclusively to our digital subscribers. If you’re reading this on the web, subscribers can sign up for the Politics newsletter and more than 20 others on our newsletter signup page. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.

TODAY’S HEADLINES

END OF THE LINE FOR 24 SUSSEX DRIVE – The prime minister’s official residence, 24 Sussex Drive, is to be cleared out and closed because of the declining state of the decades-old property, the commission that manages official residences in the Ottawa region says. Story here.

BOOST IN CHILDREN’S PAIN MEDICATION COMING – Health Canada officials say a large foreign supply of children’s ibuprofen and acetaminophen is expected to start showing up on pharmacy and retail shelves next week. Story here.

STRONGER ROLE FOR ARMED FORCES IN INDO-PACIFIC: PM – The Liberal government’s long-promised Indo-Pacific strategy will include new investments to strengthen the role the Canadian Armed Forces…