Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 7, 2021, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A10 A 10 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2021 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COMNEWS I CANADA SEAN KILPATRICK / THE CANADIAN PRESS Justin Trudeau acknowledged Wednesday that the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was an important moment for all people, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to reflect. O TTAWA — Prime Minister Jus-tin Trudeau says he regrets the mistake of travelling to British Columbia to join his vacationing family on a day meant to honour Indigenous survivors of Canada’s residential school system. Trudeau’s presence in Tofino, B.C., last Thursday came as a shock after his itinerary initially said he was in Ot- tawa. Global News filmed the prime min- ister walking along a beach and the resulting video shows him declining to offer any comment. Reports of his activities on that day sparked widespread backlash from Indigenous leaders, who felt it was disrespectful of him not to join other politicians in attending events held to honour the children who never came home. Trudeau acknowledged Wednesday that the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was an important moment for all people, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to reflect. “Travelling on Sept. 30 was a mis- take, and I regret it,” he said during a news conference held to announce man- datory vaccination rules for federal workers and travellers. Trudeau’s office said Sunday the prime minister spoke with Tk’emlups te Secwepemc Nation Chief Rosanne Casi- mir on Saturday and apologized for fail- ing to accept invitations to mark Sept. 30 in the community where more than 200 unmarked graves were located at the site of a former residential school. “I want to thank Chief Casimir of Tk’emlups for the conversation we had over the weekend in which I apologized for not being there with her and her community for this important day,” Trudeau said. “I committed to going to visit the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc community in the coming weeks. There’s a lot of work for us all to do. And I’m committed to doing it.” The prime minister’s itinerary for Sept. 30 originally said he was in pri- vate meetings in Ottawa. But spokes- woman Ann-Clara Vaillancourt later confirmed that Trudeau had in fact flown to B.C. to be with his family for a few days. She pointed out that he had participat- ed in a ceremony on Parliament Hill on Sept. 29, the eve of Canada’s inaugural Truth and Reconciliation Day. Trudeau rejected a suggestion Wed- nesday his published schedule for Sept. 30 was untruthful. “There was no lie. The itinerary said that I had private meetings. And I had calls for a number of hours that day with survivors of Indian residential schools.” Trudeau noted that during the Par- liament Hill ceremony he spoke of the need for all people to focus on what hap- pened in the schools and to understand the truths of the past, but also to be present for healing and to build better for the future. “That’s also what I heard from sur- vivors, who I spoke to throughout the day. We all have work to do and I as- sume my responsibility to do better in the future.” Trudeau’s government created the National Day for Truth and Reconcilia- tion to commemorate the estimated 150,000 Indigenous children forced to attend residential schools. Many children suffered physical and sexual abuse, malnutrition and neglect and more than 4,000 are believed to have died. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Wednesday that Trudeau’s actions last week were careless and “really hurt a lot of people.” Lynne Groulx, chief executive of the Native Women’s Association of Canada, thanked Trudeau for the apology, but added: “Please do better in the future. Sadly, we recognize that this moment of contrition comes after much public pressure, not necessarily because you have suddenly seen the light. It will now be up to you to rebuild trust with our communities.” Trudeau could start by implementing the recommendations of the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, Groulx added. — The Canadian Press Trudeau says he ‘regrets’ travelling to Tofino on Reconciliation Day PM rejects suggestion his published schedule for Sept. 30 was untruthful OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took direct aim at military commanders on Wednesday, declaring they “don’t get it” following a whirlwind 48 hours involving a senior officer who provided a reference for a convicted sex offender. Speaking at a news conference where he was announcing mandatory vaccine rules for federal public servants as well as train and plane passengers, Trudeau said he was “stunned and dismayed” at recent revelations about Maj.-Gen. Peter Dawe. “It is obvious that despite the work that the military has done, despite the work that we’ve done, the military still doesn’t get that survivors need to be at the centre... of everything in regards to sexual misconduct and harassment in the military,” the prime minister said. “And this shows they simply still don’t get it.” Yet despite repeated calls from sur- vivors and experts for more oversight and accountability of the military, Tru- deau stood by his decision to have a re- tired Supreme Court justice conduct a review of military sexual misconduct and find ways to fix it. “We have an awful lot of work to do, we know that,” he said. “Which is why we’ve brought in people like justice Louise Arbour to look at how we com- pletely transform the military’s cul- ture and the way our Canadian Armed Forces operate.” Dawe was removed as commander of Canada’s special forces in April fol- lowing revelations he provided a char- acter reference four years ago during the sentencing of a soldier who was convicted of sexually assaulting a com- rade’s wife. Acting defence chief Gen. Wayne Eyre at the time said Dawe’s actions had caused “division and pain,” and that he would take his time deciding the sen- ior officer’s next posting. While the Department of National Defence had said as recently as July that Dawe remained in limbo, and that it would announce any decision on his future, the Ottawa Citizen revealed this week that he had been quietly tasked with a new job. That new position involved working with the military’s second in command, vice-chief of the defence staff Lt.-Gen. Frances Allen, in co-ordinating the dif- ferent efforts currently underway to change the military’s culture, including on sexual misconduct. Following an uproar from survivors and experts on military sexual mis- conduct, and despite Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan having stood by the ap- pointment, Allen announced in a state- ment late Tuesday that Dawe was being removed from his new position. “Following an honest discussion with members of the survivor community, I have decided that for now, Maj.-Gen. Dawe will be undertaking the import- ant task of engaging with that commun- ity, as other members have done, to bet- ter understand how he can contribute to meaningful culture change,” she said. Allen also apologized for the lack of transparency around Dawe’s appoint- ment, but underscored both the need for accountability and the allowance for people to learn and grow from their mistakes. “Maj.-Gen. Dawe’s willingness then and now to engage with stakeholders and affected persons, to continue his personal and our institutional growth, is I believe, an act of accountability and a commitment to change,” she said. The sudden about-face from top com- manders, and the accompanying tough words from the prime minister, repre- sent the latest chapter in a months-long reckoning over sexual misconduct in Canada’s military. The Liberal government has been ac- cused of not having done enough to ad- dress sexual misconduct in the ranks, with much of that criticism centring around its handling of an allegation against then-defence chief Jonathan Vance. Global News first reported the al- legation’s existence in February, and the fact it was first flagged to Sajjan three years earlier, setting off a chain of events that saw the actions of other senior officers — as well as the govern- ment — come under the microscope. The government tapped Arbour in April to review the issue over the next year or so and provide recommenda- tions on how to fix it, while the military created a new section devoted specific- ally to the issue of culture change. However, survivors and experts have criticized the launch of another review and instead called for the government to act on recommendations already made by two other retired Supreme Court justices, Marie Deschamps and Morris Fish, including creating an ex- ternal oversight body over the military. Many have also called for Sajjan to be replaced as defence minister, saying he has lost all credibility on the file. Trudeau, who has yet to reveal his new cabinet, refused to say Wednesday whether Sajjan would return to the pos- ition he has held for the past six years. “The reflection that goes into every single job in cabinet is: Who is the right person to serve Canadians?” he said. “And I can assure you that there is ser- ious reflection going into every single role in cabinet.” — The Canadian Press PM blasts military over general’s appointment LEE BERTHIAUME OTTAWA — Newly released documents show the Liberals were told earlier this year that the government’s bid to lock in low interest rates on federal debt could run into problems unless the Bank of Canada stepped in. The low rates have been a key eco- nomic rationale for why the govern- ment can afford the elevated spending and deep deficits needed to put a finan- cial floor under businesses and workers impacted by COVID-19. Although longer term bonds carry higher rates of interest than short-term options, they lock in debt at what are still rock-bottom rates. Documents provided to Finance Min- ister Chrystia Freeland ahead of the April budget say the Finance Depart- ment and Bank of Canada were told to avoid issuing any new, super-long-term bonds because of limited appetite from investors. The documents released to The Can- adian Press under the access-to-infor- mation law say any such bonds could affect yields unless the central bank sopped up debt through its purchasing program, known as quantitative easing. “Demand for more long-term bonds is limited and there is little room to issue more without impacting yields, unless the Bank of Canada continues to buy most of the higher debt issuance through its quantitative easing (QE) program,” reads part of the documents. The government did offer up 50-year bonds once this year and the sale ap- pears to have gone well, even as the Bank of Canada has eased the pace of its bond purchases. As the bank pulls back from purchas- es, demand for federal bonds would drop and rates would rise, which could affect the cost for the federal govern- ment to refinance billions in debt com- ing due. “There are a few red flags, but the government can afford to be running these deficits because their debt ser- vicing costs are incredibly low,” said Steve Ambler, an economist with the University of Quebec in Montreal. “We’ve seen real interest rates around the world gradually dropping and they’re at very, very low levels right now.” The expectations of interest rate in- creases on the near horizon may be causing buyers to be reluctant to buy bonds that mature in 30 years or more because they would take a financial hit on their resale value, said Ambler, who is also the David Dodge Chair in Mon- etary Policy at the C.D. Howe Institute. Bond yields recently rose after the Bank of Canada’s counterpart south of the border, the U.S. Federal Reserve, indicated last month it was ready to roll back its quantitative easing program. “Regardless of how you forecast, it might become more expensive to bor- row, but I don’t think the yield curve being a little more steep... says that you should change your strategy,” said aid Dominique Lapointe, senior economist at Laurentian Bank Securities. The March briefing note to Freeland said rates would be low to 2023 then gradually rise, before adding that “rates have been trending down for quite some time” alongside a graph showing their path staying below economists’ expectations for years. The path for interest rates is one un- certainty facing the government as it goes about its budgeting process, said Christopher Ragan, director of the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University. The other, he said, is how long relief programs will last. “There is no doubt that budgets these days are facing more uncertainty than normal budgets and that’s just the na- ture of the beast,” Ragan said. “There’s nothing you can do about that, but I think you do have to recog- nize the uncertainties.” The Liberals have been asked to ex- tend the wage and rent supplements for businesses, and recovery benefit for unemployed workers, beyond their cur- rent end date of Oct. 23. Freeland said Wednesday the govern- ment was considering the request, and that the government would have more to say soon. “While some sectors of the economy are recovering very robustly, and that is great, there are some sectors that have been, and continue to be, particu- larly hard hit,” she said during a news conference. “We are working on ways to ensure that support is there for them.” — The Canadian Press Documents detail BoC’s impact on debt strategy PATRICK DOYLE / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Maj.-Gen. Peter Dawe was removed as commander of Canada’s special forces in April. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland A_10_Oct-07-21_FP_01.indd A10 10/6/21 9:21 PM ;