The world, the kids and the watchdogs: how federal politics touched us this week

OTTAWA — When Justin Trudeau grabbed a bite with Barack Obama in Montreal this week, it was far more than a couple of friends catching up over crab cakes.

Beyond the frame of the immaculately staged and cheery photo that the prime minister tweeted out Tuesday night, the world order was in convulsions.

Trudeau was knitting together a network of G7 countries who could pressure the United States to stick with the plan on climate. His foreign affairs minister was declaring Canada’s newfound love for “hard power” and insisting Canada would not become a “client state” of the U.S.

Even as politicos wondered aloud whether Trudeau’s meal with Obama was a deliberate provocation to President Donald Trump, they quickly became transfixed by the bewildering tragicomedy fuelled by the dramatic revelations of former FBI director James Comey.

The week ended in confusion around what British Conservative leader Theresa May’s failed bid to win a bigger majority says about Brexit, populism and the surprising directions of democracy.

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In Canada, the week was notable for some clarity around the government’s approach to the rest of the world, some details on its national plan for child care, and its wrestling with government oversight. Here’s how federal politics touched us over the past few days:

THE WORLD

It was a feast for foreign policy buffs this week as the government first unveiled its vision for Canada in the Trump era, followed up with a 20-year plan to overhaul defence policy, and then rolled out its “feminist” approach to international development — all while strategizing behind the scenes on how to keep global climate change efforts on track.

On vision, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland redirected Canada’s eyes away from the United States and toward the rest of the world, where the country will seek company in numbers in its quest to promote trade, defend borders, help the poor and boost respect for women, girls and human rights.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan detailed how he would spend $62 billion over the next two decades to better equip the military with fighter jets and ships, bolster its ranks and develop new capacity to deal with changing technology and cyberwarfare. The plan elicited a small cheer from the Trump administration, notwithstanding Freeland’s speech the day before and Trudeau’s supping with Obama.

International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau shuffled $150 million of five-year funding over to women’s organizations, and announced a new financing agency that would bring in private-sector dollars to complement $300-million of seed money from Ottawa.

Freeland’s vision rhetoric was undoubtedly a change in direction. But critics wondered whether the funding for defence and development was an exercise in mirage.

THE KIDS

Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos has spent the past year talking to provinces about a national child care framework, with some broad details to come Monday.

Documents published in Manitoba this week offered a sneak peek, showing Ottawa wants to attach strings to the $7 billion it plans to spend over the coming decade. Provinces will need to add to their existing daycare systems — not simply use federal funding to replace provincial dollars. And the money needs to be focused on providing child care for families in need and kids under six.

The plan is a contrast to the former Conservative government’s approach to child care, which focused on providing a cheque to every family.

THE WATCHDOGS

When former Ontario cabinet minister Madeleine Meilleur, a Liberal, withdrew this week as the federal government’s nominee for official languages commissioner, the kerfuffle highlighted the many watchdog positions that have not been filled.

The governing Liberals promised to make the appointments process more transparent, less partisan, more diverse and gender-balanced. The watchdogs are meant to allow independent scrutiny of government matters like ethics, lobbying, access to information, spending, election fairness and bilingualism.

But Meilleur’s appointment was quickly branded a partisan exercise by the opposition parties, prompting her to step away. Now, the government has had to extend the terms of several other officers of Parliament because the Liberals did not find replacements in time.

At the same time, two of those officers — the ethics commissioner and the lobbying commissioner — are investigating activities involving Trudeau himself.

Heather Scoffield, Ottawa Bureau Chief, The Canadian Press