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With the next EU elections only one year away, ALDE Party and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom hosted an event on 21 March to take stock of the current situation for liberals and how they plan to address key challenges for Europe in the upcoming months.

The event was moderated by ALDE Party Vice-President Svenja Hahn MEP, and included Karin Karlsbro MEP and Member of the German Parliament & Coordinator of Transatlantic Cooperation at the German Federal Foreign Office Michael Link as speakers. The discussion focused on the EUs role in the world, trade relations, enlargement, security and rule of law.

In her remarks, Hahn said:

The EU is struggling to position itself in the fast-changing world. The autocrats of the world are supporting each other. The EU should ask itself, what are we doing?

Speaking on the importance of trade, Karlsbro added:

Its more important than ever that democracies stand together. If we really wanted, we could cooperate and exchange in a way that benefits the climate, the economy and people. If we compete in state subsidies and try to follow the road that Biden has now started, I dont know how we will end up. Liberals have to address this in the next election.

When it comes to European security, Link addressed the efficiency of sanctions imposed on Russia since Putins invasion of Ukraine:

My biggest concern is that we can do 11, 12, 14 sanction packages, that would not be enough. Too many important countries are sitting on their heads. We need to find ways to convince other countries to participate in these sanctions. Its not enough to go and lecture others on sanctions. We need to find ways for these states to understand whats in it for them. We need them to understand that it is in the interest of India and Brazil and to win them over by getting them more share in cooperating with the EU. Russia has a capacity to circumvent the sanctions and unless we get more countries to join us, they will continue to do so.

Hahn concluded the discussion by reflecting on the upcoming European Elections in 2024:

We have a very important election next year and we clearly have a lot of challenges ahead of us, but we are liberals and we are working to find the solutions by getting close to the people.

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Liberals discuss a stronger EU in the world - ALDE Party

Published March 26, 2023 8:00 a.m. ET

Updated March 26, 2023 2:51 p.m. ET

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NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says hes not satisfied with his partys confidence-and-supply agreement with the Liberals signed a year ago this week because its shown him he could do a better job running the country than the current government.

And so it's led me to not be satisfied with the position I'm in, he said. I want to be the prime minister, but I'm proud of the work we've done.

The deal sees the NDP support the Liberals and keep them in power until 2025 in exchange for progress on certain policy priorities.

In an interview with CTVs Question Period host Vassy Kapelos, airing Sunday, Singh said hes really, really proud of the commitments hes secured through his agreement with the Liberals, citing the first phase of a national dental care program as an example.

That's something I'm really proud of, but I'm not satisfied with it, he said. Maybe that's a better way to put it.

I'm not satisfied, because I don't want to just push government, he added. I want to be the one making the decisions for the interests of people, and having been in a position where I can actually influence decisions, I've seen how much better we would do if we were the ones calling the shots.

Meanwhile the confidence-and-supply deal has some key line items that are expected to be in this Tuesdays federal budget, such as expanding the dental care program. But to avoid worsening inflation, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has pointed to plans for fiscal restraint in the budget, while promising targeted measures to help struggling Canadians.

Singh said while he agrees targeted spending is whats needed to help people weather the high cost of living, he also thinks the dental care program, and expanding the GST rebate, are the ways to do that.

Since the confidence-and-supply agreement was struck, Singh has yet to name a deal breaker. The NDP sided with the Liberals in invoking the Emergencies Act to dismantle the trucker protests last year and have declined to pull their support for the government amid ongoing calls to hold a public inquiry into foreign interference.

"We always have the right, if the government breaks any conditions of the agreement, if they don't follow through with what we forced them to agree to, we have then the power or the option of withdrawing our support," Singh told his caucus in January.

With files from CTVNews.cas Senior Digital Parliamentary Reporter Rachel Aiello

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Singh 'not satisfied' with agreement with Liberals - CTV News

OTTAWA The political fallout of the latest allegations of foreign influence involving a Toronto MP dominated debate on Parliament Hill Thursday. But it wasnt enough to get the Liberal government to agree to opposition demands for a public inquiry into alleged Chinese interference in Canadian democracy.

The Conservatives, Bloc Qubcois and New Democrats all pressed for answers and called for a public inquiry after Don Valley North MP Han Dong tearfully resigned from the Liberal caucus Wednesday night to sit as an Independent.

On Thursday, hours after he left the Liberal caucus, Dong voted against the government to help the opposition parties pass a non-binding motion calling for an inquiry into foreign election interference.

But the government has so far resisted those calls, which emerged with renewed vigour after the latest allegation that Dong has dismissed as a false attack on his reputation that questioned his loyalty to Canada.

Dong was referring to a Global News report, which cited unnamed national security sources who alleged Dong secretly advised a Chinese diplomat in 2021 that Beijing should refrain from releasing two Canadians who were jailed by the authoritarian regime at the time.

The Star has been unable to verify the report, and Dong did not respond to questions from the Star on Thursday.

The imprisonment of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig was denounced widely as retaliation for the 2018 arrest of a Chinese telecom executive in Vancouver at the request of the United States. The Canadian government railed against the jailing of the Two Michaels and rallied international support against hostage diplomacy until their release in September 2021 after more than 1,000 days in Chinese detention.

In the House of Commons on Thursday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre repeatedly demanded to know when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau learned of the allegations against Dong. Conservative MPs suggested it was unlikely that security sources would leak the information to a media outlet without informing the government.

A government official confirmed to the Star that the government only found out about the allegations when Global News asked questions about them.

Describing the report as a startling revelation, Poilievre said it would be a devastating scandal if the allegations were true and Trudeau knew about them.

Foreign Affairs Minister Mlanie Joly fired back that Trudeau made sure the government was standing up to China over the detainment of Spavor and Kovrig.

We will never accept any sort of premise that this government and Canadians didnt work enough to bring them back home, Joly said.

Even alluding to the contrary is absolutely false, she later added.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who was among the first to call for Dong to step down from the Liberal caucus, said he will bring up the prospect of a public inquiry when he meets with David Johnston, the special rapporteur appointed by the government to look into allegations of foreign interference.

Yet Singh whose party is propping up the Liberal minority government in a parliamentary co-operation deal also rejected any suggestion that the issue is worth triggering an election over. The Star reported this week that the Liberals allowed speculation to float about whether they would stage a confidence vote over the matter as a test of their relationship with the NDP.

We dont want an election in the context of a time when people are raising legitimate concerns about foreign interference, said Singh, who stated this week that he still thinks the parliamentary deal is worthy of maintaining.

Meanwhile, some Liberals praised Dongs decision to leave caucus. International Trade Minister Mary Ng told reporters Thursday that Dong made the right decision, given the seriousness of the allegations against him.

Another Liberal MP, who was granted anonymity to speak freely about internal party matters, said Thursday that Dongs departure from caucus was likely inevitable after the latest Global News story, which materially changed the pressure on the government over allegations of foreign interference.

There was some sense of closure after Dong resigned from caucus, the MP said.

Now it would be preferable to call a public inquiry instead of allowing security sources to continue leaking sporadic information that is fuelling the political firestorm over foreign interference, the MP said.

Arguing a public inquiry might not be able to air all information on sensitive national security matters like this, the government has instead appointed Johnston to guide its response, as two closed-door investigations one by a special committee of MPs and senators, the other by an independent national security agency look into the issue.

The Liberals have also agreed to allow Trudeaus chief of staff, Katie Telford, to testify at a parliamentary committee studying foreign interference.

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MP who quit Liberals over China allegations votes with Tories for ... - Toronto Star

Politics

Posted: March 23, 2023

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says next week's federal budget must expand dental care in order to maintain the confidence-and-supply agreement his party has with the Liberals.

He said he also wants to see some action on mental health, financial supports for the vulnerable and a response to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act.

"The dental care program is a health piece that's going to help people with really critical health, but it's also [about] savings," he told CBC News Thursday.

"There's certain things that are outlined in the agreement [and] that dental care pieceis specifically outlined. That has to be there and the expansion has to be there."

When the Liberals and the NDP announced their confidence-and-supply agreement a year ago, the NDP's support in the House of Commons was contingent on the Liberals introducing a national dental care program for low-income Canadians.

In its first year, that program was to cover low-income Canadians under age 12. In 2023, the program is set to expand to cover Canadians under 18, seniors and those living with a disability. The program is to be fully implemented by 2025.

In the last federal election, the Liberals promised to establish a new federal transfer separate from the Canada Health Transfer called the Canada Mental Health Transfer (CMHT).

With an initial investment of $4.5 billion over five years, combined with existing bilateral agreements on mental health services signed with the provinces in 2017, mental health services were to get $2.5 billion annually until 2025-26.

"This transfer will help establish standards in each province and territory, so that Canadians are able to expect services that are timely, universaland culturally competent," the Liberal platform said.

Singh said the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, rising interest rates and inflation all contributedto increased mental strain among Canadians and the Liberal government needs to fulfil its commitments on mental health.

"We believe a mental health transfer should happen The fact that mental health is something that's been long underfunded and inaccessible needs to be met with a specific transfer," he said.

Earlier this week, the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH)published a survey of Canadians who have accessed mental health services or resources during the past year.

That survey found only 23 per cent of respondents said that mental health supports were meeting their current needs, while 47 per cent gave the support they received a failing grade.

Earlier this month,mental health advocates told CBC News they've seen little of that promised money despite a rise in the number of reported mood disorders since the start of the pandemic.

"There's no way that increased investment has caught up with the increased level of need," Mary Bartram, policy director at the Mental Health Commission of Canada, told CBC News.

Earlier this week, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said the budget will offer targeted measures to help Canadians squeezed by rising interest rates and inflation.

Freeland said the support will be "narrowly focused and fiscally responsible" but warned that the Liberal government "can't fully compensate every single Canadian for all of the effects of inflation or for elevated interest rates."

Singh told CBC News he wants to see two affordability measures in the budget: a boost to the GST rebate and a school lunches program.

Last year, under pressure from the NDP, the Liberal government doubled the GST tax credit for six months. Singles without children got up to $234 more from the credit, couples with children got up to $467 and seniors got an average boost of $225.

"A lot of people got extra money to help them pay bills. That is huge," Singh said. "When you are struggling, that extra help means the world and I really believe in that."

Singh said the costof last year's GST boost is now "baked into" the government's finances and while he would like the increase to be made permanent, he'sonly expecting to see short-term relief.

He said he wants the federal and provincial governments to sit down and negotiate a school lunches program to help families and ensure children are getting proper nutrition.

"Both these measures are non-inflationary because they are targeted and the way that they are rolled out will not increase overall inflation," he said.

Freeland also said this week that the budget will contain measures to offset the impact of U.S. President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act. Finance Canada officials said last fall that the act amounts to "a gravitational black hole" that will draw capital to the U.S. at the expense of Canada and other countries.

The multi-billion-dollar program earmarks government dollars for developing low-carbon energy in a way that boosts the U.S.'s manufacturing sector while taking aim at China's dominant position in the clean energy tech supply chain.

"We want to see a response to America's Inflation Reduction Act we want to see a plan in Canada to create good jobs and help us to fight the climate crisis we're dealing with as well," Singh said.

Singh said that measures should be crafted to match the impact of the U.S. program and should go towardcreating jobs, rather than directly to companies.

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Jagmeet Singh says Liberals must expand dental care program to maintain deal with NDP - CBC News

Canadians living with a disability expect and deserve accessible, quality services, including transportation. The AGs findings that two-thirds of people with a disability find barriers on planes and trains in Canada is unacceptable. The AG report highlighted that websites for planning and booking trips remained inaccessible to persons living with a disability. This is completely unacceptable.

Just yesterday, there was another story of discriminatory treatment of a family just trying to access a flight with a wheelchair. The Liberal government must step up to fix these issues. In federally regulated sectors, government is expected to do everything possible to lift all barriers that prevent Canadians living with a disability from travelling. This means ensuring that the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, Via Rail and the Canadian Transportation Agency are held accountable for failing to make travel more accessible. The government also has an obligation to ensure that resources are available and staff are trained to deliver the services people living with a disability depend on.

New Democrats call on the Liberals to do whats right to ensure that people living with a disability face no barriers when travelling.

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AG report shows Liberals failed to deliver accessible transportation ... - New Democratic Party