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    • Don Martin: Teflon Trudeau dodges trouble with a gift from the Greens

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    Faced with a scathing headline-grabbing committee report into Justin Trudeau鈥檚 biggest second-term scandal, a gift floated down from the political heavens where, as a wag noted long ago, God is clearly a Liberal.

    An all-opposition savage but salient analysis of the WE controversy -- that the prime minister and his finance minister tried to give a half-billion-dollar government contract to friends of their families, some of them having been paid -- had been released just as news broke of a Green Party defection to the Liberal side.

    Now, having Fredericton MP Jenica Atwin quit the Greens over Middle East political differences is weird, but it鈥檚 not going to change the dynamics in the House of Commons.

    Still, it helped change the channel on a bad news day for the government and, in the longer-term, it delivers a demoralizing blow to a three-seat Green Party rival which grabbed 1.2 million votes which might鈥檝e leaned Liberal in 2019.

    So, on balance, it was a pretty good day for Trudeau as the prime minister jetted off to London for a G7 summit where he鈥檚 set to become the elder statesmen of the summit this fall when Germany鈥檚 Angela Merkel steps down as chancellor.

    But I digress.

    The point is that opposition MPs were entirely justified in blasting Trudeau鈥檚 office for delaying, denying, ignoring, obstructing and generally behaving very badly as the ethics committee probed his conflicted family affair with the Kielburger brothers.

    But the Liberal lapdogs countered with a watery see-no-evil minority report to suggest some tightening up of ethics and lobbying rules. And that will be that. The public will yawn. Another scandal averted.

    Having covered politics for four decades, I can鈥檛 recall a prime minister or premier who has broken or deferred so many pledges, endured so many controversies, and morphed into the polar opposite of their promised fresh-face start only to retain decent levels of popularity.

    For his 2,040 days as prime minister, questionable conduct, bad decisions and scandals have slid off Trudeau with a slipperiness that makes Teflon work like Superglue.

    And now he鈥檚 clearly starting to angle for a fall election by arguing his agenda is thwarted by a parliamentary paralysis that can only be unblocked by a majority mandate.

    Trudeau鈥檚 survivability is particularly impressive given that he has turned into a leader he wouldn鈥檛 have recognized in 2015.

    His feminist credentials should be in tatters after groping allegations, and wilfully ignoring the allegations of sexual impropriety against chief of defence staff Jonathan Vance.

    His pledge to work constructively with Parliament has produced a prime minister rarely answering direct questions whose office ignores motions for documents or staff appearances which borders on contempt.

    His sunshine-as-the-best-disinfectant pledge of openness and transparency has morphed into a secretive-to-the-point-of-paranoid government.

    His mediocre cabinet is filled with ministers of borderline competence who are most prized for their willingness to obey orders from above while backbenchers find themselves PMO-scripted to the comma.

    He has bloated the size of government to the point of internal paralysis where, one veteran lobbyist noted incredulously, there are now assistant deputy ministers, senior assistant deputy ministers, associate assistant deputy ministers, acting assistant deputy ministers and expensive layers of support staff for each position.

    And, as columnist Susan Delacourt points out, Trudeau has acquired an interesting ability to talk out of both sides of his mouth without hearing the contradiction. He condemns the murder of four Muslims in London as terrorism and yet stays mute on a new Quebec law which prohibits them from wearing religious clothing if they want to work in public professions.

    And yet, if the polls are any indication, Trudeau鈥檚 Liberals are very close to majority territory even before the Green Party under interesting new leader Annamie Paul started its implosion.

    As a prime minister of shape-shifting, ethics-bending, controlling, secretive, highly-partisan conduct, Justin Trudeau deserves a serious challenge in the upcoming election.

    He鈥檚 one big win away from proving God is definitely a Liberal.

    That鈥檚 the bottom line.

    IN DEPTH

    Opinion

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    When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.

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    Police have confirmed the body of an employee who died at a Walmart in Halifax over the weekend was found in a walk-in oven.

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    • British Columbia's highest court has weighed in on a dispute over an inflatable hot tub a couple set up on their condo's patio 鈥 potentially bringing a close to the years-long conflict.

    • A father and his two children who suffered severe burns in a Springfield, Ont. house fire have undergone surgery.

    • Mounties in British Columbia say a second person has been found dead after two vehicles ended up in a river on Vancouver Island when a road washed out amid torrential rains over the weekend.

    • Quebec Premier Francois Legault promised on Tuesday to toughen secularism measures in schools, saying he was 'shocked' by revelations about a Montreal public school where a group of teachers had tried to introduce what the premier described as 'Islamist' beliefs.

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    • With the B.C. election too close to call, Dr. Bonnie Henry was asked Tuesday how she feels about the possibility of a party that has repeatedly called for her firing forming government.

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    Local Spotlight

    Residents of Ottawa's Rideauview neighbourhood say an aggressive wild turkey has become a problem.

    A man who lost his life while trying to rescue people from floodwaters, and a 13-year-old boy who saved his family from a dog attack, are among the Nova Scotians who received a medal for bravery Tuesday.

    A newly minted Winnipegger is hoping a world record attempt will help bring awareness for the need for more pump track facilities in the city.

    A Springfield, Ont. man is being hailed a 'hero' after running into his burning home to save his two infant children.

    Hortense Anglin was the oldest graduate to make her way across the platform at York University's Fall Convocation ceremony this week. At the age of 87, she graduated with an Honours degree in Religious Studies.

    Looking for a scare with good intentions this Halloween season? The ghosts and ghouls of Eganville, Ont. invite families to tour the Haunted Walk at Lekbor Manor.

    The image of a sleepy Saskatchewan small town with 'not a lot going on' is a well-known anecdote. However, one Saskatchewan company is hoping to change that 鈥 and allow communities both on and off the beaten path to share their stories and advertise what they have to offer.

    A Moncton, N.B., home has been donated to the Friends of The Moncton Hospital Foundation and will be transformed into a resource hub for people living with cancer.

    A Nova Scotia man crossing Canada on foot is passing through southwestern Ontario. Trevor Redmond is perhaps better known as the 鈥楩ellow in Yellow.鈥

    • Two Vancouver city councillors are questioning why they鈥檝e been ousted from city appointed roles.

    • The rain has only just stopped pummelling parts of Metro Vancouver, but for the hundreds of residents left with flood-damaged homes, the nightmare is far from over.

    • Cole Mcleod was home with his roommate in their 21st floor apartment on Monday afternoon when the fire alarm went off in the downtown Vancouver building. Then, he smelled smoke.

    • The Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) and opposition leaders at Queen's Park are calling on the government to reduce, or eliminate, parking fees at hospitals for staff, patients and visitors.

    • Taylor Swift fans from far and wide will head to Toronto next month to see the superstar perform a series of six sold out shows at the Rogers Centre.

    • A motorcyclist has been critically injured in a collision on the Queen Elizabeth Way in Oakville, police say.

    • Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she's waiting for NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi to declare where he intends to run for office before she calls a byelection in Lethbridge.

    • Bricks along the pathway at Calgary鈥檚 Olympic Plaza have been removed and it wasn鈥檛 by the city. It appears people are coming to grab bricks with their names, family members鈥 name or a saying ahead of the plaza closing.

    • More than a decade after Colton Crowshoe's death, the case against his killer continues.

    • NEW THIS MORNING

      NEW THIS MORNING

      An Orl茅ans property that once belonged to a religious order is now in the City of Ottawa's hands.

    • Residents of Ottawa's Rideauview neighbourhood say an aggressive wild turkey has become a problem.

    • Passengers on a Via Rail train from Toronto found themselves stuck south of Ottawa for several hours Tuesday because of mechanical issues on the train.

    • Quebec Premier Francois Legault promised on Tuesday to toughen secularism measures in schools, saying he was 'shocked' by revelations about a Montreal public school where a group of teachers had tried to introduce what the premier described as 'Islamist' beliefs.

    • The Quebec government wants to hear Quebecers' thoughts about scrapping the twice-yearly time change, but it isn't promising to act on them.

    • The death of a woman in her 50s in Montreal's Anjou borough is being considered as 'suspicious' by authorities.

    • Police are looking for a man and a woman who robbed an Edmonton jewelry store earlier this month.

    • Edmonton Public Schools (EPS) custodians have voted 97 per cent in favour of going on strike.

    • A new commentary suggests the Government of Alberta purposely pushed false narratives around public safety to scale down safe supply in the province.

    • Police have confirmed the body of an employee who died at a Walmart in Halifax over the weekend was found in a walk-in oven.

    • The president of a popular New Brunswick potato chip company has been arrested for domestic violence in Bangor, Maine.

    • Crews responded to a propane leak in Upper Tantallon, N.S., on Tuesday night.

    • Folks making the trek to and from Thompson along Highway 6 are once again without a bathroom break鈥 at least for now.

    • The Manitoba government is restoring the 1:1 apprentice-to-journeyperson ratio.

    • A number of Manitoba communities kicked off the week by breaking decades-old heat records.

    • Saskatchewan's Conflict of Interest Commissioner (COIC) has found that former Saskatchewan Party MLA Gary Grewal violated legislative rules by profiting from hotels while they were party to government contracts.

    • A determined group within Moose Jaw has stepped up to provide assistance to those in need 鈥 following the closure of one of the city's shelters.

    • Saturday's matchup between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Calgary Stampeders could determine if they clinch the West Division title, however the results from Winnipeg's game earlier in the day could make their matchup meaningless.

    • Waterloo Regional Police are investigating a sudden death in Kitchener.

    • No one was hurt after playground equipment went up in flames at a Kitchener, Ont. park.

    • A bloodstain pattern analyst expert testified Tuesday at Erick Buhr鈥檚 second-degree murder trial.

    • A Saskatoon family is voicing concerns after paying twice as much PST as expected on a recently purchased truck.

    • Hundreds of voter information cards have landed in the wrong hands.

    • A city planning document for the Bus Rapid Transit system (BRT) sparked controversy over the weekend, with three civic election candidates alleging Confederation Mall was at risk of being demolished and replaced with dense housing.

    • Now that the jury has begun deliberating in the Sudbury murder trial of Felicity Altiman, here are some of the interesting courtroom moments they didn't get to hear.

    • Greater Sudbury has ended the employment of CAO Ed Archer, Mayor Paul Lefebvre announced suddenly Tuesday evening

    • After operating for 51 years, General Motors has announced it is closing the Kapuskasing Proving Ground, a facility the automaker used to test the durability of its vehicles in cold weather.

    • Police said the house is believed to be empty and abandoned and it's not known yet if the driver of the truck is injured.

    • A father and his two children who suffered severe burns in a Springfield, Ont. house fire have undergone surgery.

    • A collision between a pickup truck and SUV shuttered the intersection of Base Line and New Road for several hours.

    • Emergency crews rushed to the scene of a serious collision in Barrie鈥檚 south end involving a passenger vehicle and a motorcycle.

    • Drivers are asked to be on the lookout for deer and other wildlife crossing our highways.

    • A 35-year-old man from Etobicoke is facing impaired driving charges after a crash involving a Ministry of Transportation vehicle parked along Highway 11 south.

    • One week before Halloween a special trick or treat event is taking place in Windsor; the safety village is holding its annual event on Thursday from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.

    • Residents living in central Windsor are calling for after-hours construction to expand a commercial development to stop.

    • If you live in Windsor, Ont. and get a knock at the door from a political canvasser, it might be surprising since there鈥檚 no election on the horizon at the municipal, provincial or federal level. But across the border, that's not the case.

    • Mounties in British Columbia say a second person has been found dead after two vehicles ended up in a river on Vancouver Island when a road washed out amid torrential rains over the weekend.

    • With the B.C. election too close to call, Dr. Bonnie Henry was asked Tuesday how she feels about the possibility of a party that has repeatedly called for her firing forming government.

    • Premier and NDP Leader David Eby says he's been told by the B.C. Green Party that it's too early to begin talks about a minority government agreement after the weekend's still-undecided provincial election.

    • Dave Lindsey began growing giant pumpkins to bring a bit of magic to his grandkids' Halloween.

    • A U.S. District Court judge in Montana has sentenced a 27-year-old man from Kelowna, B.C., to 18 months in prison for using fake names to buy guns with the aim of selling them in Canada.

    • Nearly two years after a man was stabbed to death in downtown Kelowna, RCMP have made an arrest in the case.

    • Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says she's waiting for NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi to declare where he intends to run for office before she calls a byelection in Lethbridge.

    • The health of honeybees will be the focus of a presentation at the University of Lethbridge on Wednesday evening.

    • Alberta is offering infrastructure funding to help municipalities accommodate recent population growth. The province has added a little over 500,000 people over five years, putting pressure on public services.

    • The union representing the fire rangers with the Ministry of Natural Resources says money won鈥檛 fix the systemic problems in the workplace.

    • Rallies by a group called Voices Against Violence took place across the country on Monday, including Sault Ste. Marie.

    • An Indigenous group in northwestern Ontario shut down the highway for a couple of hours Monday morning in protest after ancestral remains were found at a construction site.

    N.L.

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