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Hello, Happy International Women’s Day.

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.

The federal government has ruled out a budget in March or early April.

Bill Curry reports exclusively in The Globe and Mail that the Trudeau government is seeking more time to assess the impact of the pandemic, meaning the budget will not be released in March or early April. Late March is commonly when the federal budget is released.

Mr. Curry’s story is here.

Former finance minister Bill Morneau had scheduled a 2020 budget for March 30, but shelved that plan amid the escalating COVID-19 pandemic.

A Nov. 30 update by Mr. Morneau’s successor, Chrystia Freeland provided the first detailed costing of Ottawa’s unprecedented pandemic measures and said the federal deficit for 2020-21 could approach $400-billion. It also promised that Ottawa would spend up to $100-billion over three years on pandemic recovery stimulus measures, with details to be announced in the 2021 budget.

Reporters’ comment, Mr. Curry: “Next Friday will mark the two year anniversary since the Liberal government last tabled a budget on March 19, 2019. That means this government has not tabled a budget since it was re-elected in October, 2019. Opposition parties in the minority Parliament have been increasingly critical of the lack of an announced date for the 2021 budget. A look at the House of Commons sitting schedule suggests the most likely window for a budget at this point will be during the five consecutive weeks of sittings between April 12 and May 14.”

Also today: The House of Commons ethics committee has unanimously agreed to issue a summons to compel Marc and Craig Kielburger, co-founders of the WE Charity, to appear for at least three hours of testimony. The committee is giving the brothers until Friday to appear. A lawyer for the brothers has previously ruled out such an appearance. The ethics committee and the procedure and house affairs committee have sought the brothers’ testimony amidst scrutiny of plans by the federal government, now scrapped, to have WE operate a $912-million student volunteer program despite ties to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family.

TODAY’S HEADLINES

The Correctional Service of Canada does not keep track of whether its employees have been accused of sexual assault, or whether criminal charges have been laid, a data gap that survivors and experts say is allowing a culture of abuse to flourish inside women’s prisons.

Reporters’ comment, Kristy Kirkup: “In the course of my reporting, I was surprised to find out that the Correctional Service of Canada does not have specific data related to misconduct involving allegations of sexual assault. Criminal charges that have been laid or pursued are also not captured in the data, according to a CSC spokesperson. This lack of data has also been highlighted by the federal Correctional Investigator, who says that the CSC treats the lack of evidence as evidence of the lack of a problem.”

Alberta is asking Ottawa to commit to $30-billion in spending or tax incentives over the next decade to spur the building of large-scale industrial carbon capture projects.

Canada is set to receive 910,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses this week as pharmaceutical companies ramp up deliveries to make good on their contractual obligations by the end of the month.

The federal Conservatives plan to summon two senior Liberal aides to testify on when they first learned of sexual misconduct allegations surrounding the military’s former top soldier – and account for what they did about the accusations.

From The National Post: The Conservatives are firing back at allegations they’re holding up legislation by accusing the Liberals of using their own tactics to engineer an election this spring.

THE BILL FOR CANADA’S UNSUCCESSFUL BID FOR A UN SEAT

When Canada fell short last June in its bid for a United Nations’ Security Council seat, the bill reportedly came in at $2.45-million for the effort.

Now, some details of the cost of the campaign for what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau deemed a key foreign-policy priority have been released.

According to a Global Affairs document, the cost of the campaign included $1.2-million for travel, $330,390 for hospitality and $869,603 for “other” – a category not explained in the departmental material.

Details of the bill came through an answer to an order-paper question. The document was released by the office of Senator Don Plett, leader of the opposition in the Senate.

Up to 14 full-time positions were assigned to the United Nations Security Council campaign, with costs associated with staff salaries paid from existing resources.

Between November, 2019 and June, 2020, the Foreign Affairs Minister held over 100 bilaterial meetings and phone calls with counterparts, raising the candidacy.

Norway and Ireland won the two available seats in the secret ballot vote. It was the second time in a decade that Canada failed to secure a seat on the most powerful branch of the United Nations.

We have reached out to Global Affairs Canada for more details.

POLLING:

According to a poll by Nanos Research for The Globe and Mail, a strong majority of Canadians both approve of Parliament’s declaration that China is carrying out genocide against its Uyghur Muslim minority and favour a harder line toward the country, including economic sanctions and moving the 2022 Winter Olympics out of Beijing. The survey also found 59 per cent disapprove of the decision by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet to abstain in the Feb. 22 vote, while 30 per cent approved of the action.

From Maclean’s: “Two federal polls were released in the past week, and both indicate there could be trouble on the horizon for the Conservatives – especially for CPC leader Erin O’Toole.”

From the Angus Reid Institute: For the first time, fewer than half of Canadians now say Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has done “a good job” in dealing with the continuing pandemic.

PRIME MINISTER’S ITINERARY

The day includes chairing the cabinet meeting and speaking to Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven. Other commitments include remarks at the online Equal Voice Virtual Seating of Daughters of the Vote, a virtual discussion with representatives of SheEO Ventures, and a virtual event with a group of Vancouver Girl Guides.

OPINION

Ivona Hideg (The Globe and Mail) on why men have to be included in the discussion about gender equality: “For too long, discussions about gender equality have ignored or excluded men. It’s time we accepted that men need to be part of the solution – and that true gender equality entails enabling men to have equal access to caregiving and family time.

The Globe and Mail Editorial Board on the need for President Joe Biden to get involved in the Line 5 dispute: “All that’s certain is that another pipeline important to Canada is on the verge of being blocked by American politics. It was bad enough for the U.S. to kill the unfinished Keystone XL; shutting down a key Canadian link that has operated safely for decades would be far worse. Line 5 choked dry would be a blow to Canada-U.S. relations worse than anything from Mr. Trump.”

Campbell Clark (The Globe and Mail) on Erin O’Toole’s fight to keep control of a party bent on fighting itself: “When Gump Worsley was goalie for the New York Rangers back in the 1950s, a reporter asked him which team gave him the most trouble. “The New York Rangers,” he replied. Now Erin O’Toole knows what that’s like. There is no doubt which team gives the Conservative Leader the most grief. It’s the Conservative Party.”

Pinchas Gutter and Edit Kuper (The Times of Israel) on the NDP and antisemitism: “Apart from keeping up-to-date on current debates and voting, we are not active in Canadian politics. But we are very involved in making sure that the lessons of the past are not forgotten. And that antisemitism is confronted and combated wherever it emerges.”

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