CTVN - Sunday, May 26, 2024 - 12:00 a.m. (ET) - Segment #36

( ) >> Vassy: welcome to question period on this sunday, may 26, I'm vassy kapelos. Today, called out. >> To be able to assure those concernedsentors that canada will be ready and capable ally. >> Vassy: a bipartisan group of U.S. senators is publicly calling out canada for failing to have had a plan to meet nato's defence spending target. Why now and what does the white house think? We'll speak exclusively to the U.S. ambassador to nato, julianne smith, in moments, and I'll ask her. >>> Skyrocketing auto thefts. >> All too many people are acquainted with there issue. >> Vassy: the feds have just outlined a national plan to tackle spiking auto theft across the country. Will that plan work? We'll go one-on-one with public safety minister dominic leblanc. >>> Plus coming home. >> You're bringing home one of your own. >> It's great to have something like this. >> Vassy: the remains of an unknown soldier from newfoundland who fought in world war I are back home after being repatriated from france. Seamus o'regan will join us from there to reflect on the journey home and the sacrifices those soldiers made. >>> Let's start with the newest public call for canada to meet its defence spending commitments. This time the criticism is coming from a bipartisan group of notable U.S. senators that issued a public letter to prime minister justin trudeau. In the letter the senators say, quote, we are concerned and profoundly disappointed that canada's most recent projection indicated that it will not reach its 2% commitment this decade. And the senators go on to write canada will fail to meet its obligations to the alliance to the detriment of all nato allies and the freer world without need and meaningful action to increase defence spending. The federal government just released a defence policy review that does chart a path to reach 1.76% of gdp on defence spending by 2030 with no target date to hit nato's 2% goal. >> Canada is on an very strong, upward trajectory in defence spending. We know we have work to do. We acknowledged that from did I juan there's more we need to do. We clearly indicated it in our budget. The path to getting that done. >> Vassy: why is this call being made now and how significant is it? With me to talk about that is U.S. ambassador to nato julianne smith. Welcome back to the program. Thank you for making the time. >> Happy to do so. >> Vassy: do you agree with the sentiment expressed in there letter? >> By and large the position of the united states is pretty clear and by the united states, I mean the biden administration. We certainly salute all of the efforts that canada has undertaken here across the alliance, particularly in its support to ukraine. But I will say on the wills investment pledge, which was the moment when allies came together ten years ago to commit to spend 2% of their gdp on defence by 2024, we were hoping that if allies couldn't meet that target, they would have a plan in place to get to 2% within the flex few years -- next few years. We were pleased to see that canada is making a pledge to get to 1.7 betters by the end of the decade, but what we need is for the canadian government to issue some sort of plan to get to 2% in the years ahead. Every member of this alliance is either already at 2%, about two-thirds of the alliance are going to hit that target by the summit in july, or they have a plan to get to 2% in three to five years. And so we want a situation where we can announce at the summit that every member of the alliance has a plan to get there if they're not there already. >> Vassy: has it ever been conveyed to you behind the scenes that canada does not plan to ever do that or have there been specific attacks behind the scenes in conveying to you of the fact that it might happen? >> Certainly the canadian delegation here and the canadian government has indicated that they take the pledge very seriously. They signed on to it. I think they had, when they signed on to it, every intention obviously of eventually meeting the commitment. The question, though, again, across 9 9 alliance is when will we see an actual plan to reach that 2% target and have clarity on how canada is going to get there. I have not had any instance where any canadian official has told me they will not get there, but I don't have any sign that there is a plan in place to get to that 2% mark. >> Vassy: canada plotted this chart now, you know, of definitely an increase in defence spending historically speaking in this country at 1.7. why does the extra point 3

matter so much to nato? >> Well, I'll tell you, the alliance last year at its summit in lithuania rolled out a new set of regional plans, and what those plans mean is that every ally now has clarity on what they need to have in hand and what level of readiness their forces need to have to ensure that we can defend nato territory against russian aggression, against any kind of aggression. And even some hybrid threats that exist out there, things like cyberattacks, for example. So in order to realize those regional plans and execute them as they are designed, we need -- we have calculated that we need every member of the alliance to do its fair share. We need every ally to spend the 2% of their own gdp and invest in their own national defence because those investments pay dividends for the alliance in enhancing our deterrence in defence. And I do want to acknowledge that canada has made significant increases over the last couple of years, and we are deeply appreciative of those increases, particularly because they are challenging in the current political climate that we all find ourselves in. There are competing priorities, no doubt. But given the state of the global security environment, the challenges and the very real threat that the alliance faces today, the threat stemming from russia and again other corners around the world, it is imperative that every member meet the 2% pledge, and I would note that last year at the summit we said that 2% should be seen as a floor, not a ceiling. >> Vassy: you made sop some references to the threat russia poses and what's happening in the ukraine. I think the response from the federal government would be along the lines much on a per capita basis canada is one of the largest contributors to aid writ large for ukraine, that we are leading the nato mission in latvia, and that our presence there is set to increase substantially. That canada is very aware of the threat that you describe and has offered in their view, I think, a disproportionate number and amount of aid in order to address that threat. Is that argument not [indiscernible] it? >> Look, canada has provided critical assistance, humanitarian, economic, security assistance to our friends in ukraine, and like I said at the very top we do salute those efforts. But every member of the alliance is providing critical assistance to ukraine. It's a collective effort. And we appreciate canada's leadership and we hope we will continue to see it and we hope all allies will continue their very important assistance to ukraine. In terms of the leadership role that canada is playing in latvia, that is also widely applauded across the alliance. We want to ensure, though, that that multinational battalion that canada has committed to leading is scalable to a brigade. And in order to ensure that that battalion is scalable to a brigade, every country that's contributing to that battalion does need to invest in its armed forces to make sure that they have the necessary capabilities and that those forces are planted at the -- maintained at the right level of readiness. >> Vassy: this letter reference that had meeting coming up between nato allies in washington, dc, at the beginning of the summer, and I wanted to ask -- I think you've outlined what the geopolitical stakes are if nato members including canada do not set a path out to 2% r there specific consequences for canada if our government does not come to the table at that meeting with a path to 2%? >> Well, ultimately it affects the way in which we're messaging burden sharing across the alliance. It would be wonderful to come to the summit in july and have all 32 heads of state announce that we now have a situation where 20 or say 22 allies have met the 2% pledge and that every member of the alliance has a plan to get to 2% in the next few years. That would be the best message to any sort of potential aggressor or certainly to moscow to be able to relay that message. But would there be any sort of penalty? Absolutely not. But I think the fundamental goal here is for all 32 nations to lock arms and stand together on this pledge that we made ten years ago. We want canada to be part of that message, we want to have canada there locking arms with us, making that commitment to the 2%. >> Vassy: I'll leave it on that note. Appreciate your time. Thank you. U.S. ambassador to nato julianne smith.

>>> Coming up on "question period", we are going to turn to the issue of auto theft and in particular the degree to which they're skyrocketing in this country. What is the federal government planning to do about it? Public safety minister dominic leblanc is my guest after a short break. (Sniffling) Feeling Claritin Clear is like... ( ) Is she...? Claritin Clear? Yeah. Get fast, non-drowsy allergy symptom relief. Live Claritin Clear. (Keys jingling, click of light switch) Your boss' name is Heather And she made you have an awful day Let me sing all your problems away Get started for free on eharmony. Must be 18 or older to join. Get who gets you. eharmony. Find a great deal foryour ideal hotel.Open trivago, type inwhere you want t select your check-in andcheck-out dates and search. Compare prices forthe same hotel and save up to $50 a night. Hotel? trivago. If you don't have group health benefits at work, are self-employed, freelancing or retiring soon how can you protect yourself from continually rising health care costs not covered by your government health insurance? With SureHealth from Green Shield Canada. Working freelance, I love knowing that my SureHealth plan helps to protect me and my family from a lot of routine medical expenses. Host: Like prescription drugs, dental care and vision care. And many unexpected expenses I could face, being self-employed, if I have an accident or get a serious illness. Like physiotherapists, chiropractors, home care, emergency medical travel expenses, and more. All SureHealth plans also include online digital mental health services from Inkblot. Plus, with SureHealth, you can submit your claims online, and have the payments deposited directly to your bank account. And I really appreciate that my SureHealth plan is affordable. Host: While some plans require answering a few health questions, for most, your acceptance is guaranteed, with no health exam and no medical questions when you apply. Health care costs are rising. Why not protect yourself and your family from many routine and unexpected health care costs not covered by your government health plan? Host: Like prescription drugs, dental care, vision care, physiotherapists, chiropractors, emergency medical travel expenses and more. And remember, this is lifetime protection that won't be cancelled, regardless of your age or health, as long as payments are made. If you're self-employed, don't have health coverage at work, are recently retired or retiring soon, get SureHealth now and protect yourself and your family from rising health care costs not covered by your government health plan. Don't delay. Visit SureHealth.ca now or call the numberon your screen for your free, personalized SureHealth info package. Depend offers all day protection. So you can say "yes" to alll-most anything. Yes! Yes! Yes! No! Depend. The only thing stronger than us, is you. [ ] >> Vassy: welcome back. With just four weeks left before the house of commons rises for the summer, the feds announce plans to put the brakes on dramatic increases in auto theft. The measures include increased collaboration with international law enforcement agencies and new penalties for auto thefts connected to organized crime. The latest data shows insurance claims for stolen cars have gone through the roof. The insurance bureau of canada just released numbers that show it paid out a record $1.54 billion in claims last year. That's up 20% from 2022. The four-year average between 2018 and 2021 was just $556 million. The problem is most pronounced in ontario where the minister of transport recently said a car is stolen there every 14 minutes. >> Dominic: is the minister of publicminister ofpublic safety. Good to see you. Thanks for taking the time. >> Good morning. >> Vassy: I know as we referenced in the introduction that you did announce this week the full suite of measures in your government's plan to combat auto theft but when you first told the summit back in february on the issue you announced $28 million of of funding to tackle the export of stolen vehicles. How much has actually been sent out the door? >> Most of that money has already been committed. The border services agency is in the process of procuring a number of scanners. We've funded some local police forces for increased intelligence capacity. We've paid border services officers to work overtime. Some of the ports where we have intelligence information around containers that may contain stolen vehicles, and we're working of course with the rail

companies, principally cn and cp, at intermodal yards. I was in brampton last week and there's an intermodal yard in brampton where we think and gel intense indicates a lot of -- intelligence indicates a lot of these stolen vehicles transit. We thought it was important to update people on what we've done just over the last finance of months but we're obviously prepared to do more with our partners to deal with this problem. >> Vassy: can you be more specific about when you say the money is committed that there are people working overtime. I'm going to ask you very specifically about the port of malbecause that's where we've seen the majority of this problem take place and in particular the criticism levied against your government was that there were not enough personnel looking through or trying to determine whether stolen vehicles were in cargo ships or cargo boxes and that there weren't enough of those x-ray machines. Has there since february been any more staff added and x-ray machines? >> The number of staff has absolutely increased. At any one time I was told there can be between 50 and 60 officers in the port of montréal focused on this particular effort. What we said on monday, and I think this is important, is as we get intelligence from local police, provincial police in ontario, or québec or policing partners, we continue to add border services officers to go to the containers where the intelligence indicates there may be stolen vehicles. It is operationally impossible to look into or scan every single container that would leave a port as busy as montréal. No other country does that. So the most effective and efficient way is to get this intelligence information from police partners, the ontario provincialontarioprovincial police are a terrific partner, the toronto city police, the sûreté du québec. So every time we have intelligence information, the border services officers are assigned to the port of montréal to follow up on every single one of those leads. So at one time there may be 120 people in the port because we got a treasure trove of intelligence around certain transport carriers bringing in potentially stolen vehicles. So the numbers go up and down, but there has been a massive increase overall in terms of the border services officers. And in terms of scanners, we're in the process of redeploying many cases these are giant scanners that trucks can drive under quite quickly. I hadn't understood the complexity. I was told you literally need the nuclear safety commission permission to move a scanner from one part of ontario to an intermodal terminal because of the potential t you can imagine radiation involved in some of the pieces in these scanners. So that work is it underway. We're going to do everything we can at every step of the transit process to try and stop these vehicles from being sold. >> Vassy: the spike didn't just happen overnight. If you look at the data from statscan you can see a particularly punctuated increase from 2021 to 2022, initially the increase at that point was 26.6%. Why were you not convinced the situation was urgent until february of this year? >> Vassy, in february we decided to have a national summit and bring automotive manufacturers, the insurance industry, senior police leaders from various parts of the country, to try and see what we could do more collaboratively, but we have very much been, and the border services agency and the rcmp and more importantly local police and provincial police have been working on this spike for a number of years. So it wouldn't be [Speaking simultaneously] >> Vassy: why does it keep increasing? >> Because organize crime is increasingly finding what they think is an easy source of revenue for -- to finance a number of, in some cases, more violent criminal activity. This is a global problem, but we certainly accept our responsibility with the province of ontario, the province of quebec, municipalities to lean in. I'm encouraged, the rcmp commissioner told me last week that major automotive manufacturers are going to meet the rcmp to discuss new technologies that might prevent thieves from not only copying the electronic key but actually sort of hacking into the on board computer in a vehicle and therefore being able to start or steal a vehicle that way. So everybody's leaning in and have been leaning in for some period of time, but we acknowledge that the increase in this criminal activity is absolutely unacceptable. >> Vassy: respectfully you referred to it as a global problem and certainly organized crime is. When it comes to the rise in auto thefts it has been more pronounced in canada than elsewhere particularly even when you compare it to the united states just south of the border. For some reason organized crime or car thieves or whomever we're referencing here seem to think canada is a much easier target. In 2022 the increase was as I

noted about 27% n canada it was only 11%. In the united states. What responsibility does your government bear for not recognizing the urgency of that sooner? >> We recognize the urgency of this for a long time, vassy -- >> Vassy: since february. >> Since february we had a national summit but as I said we were working on this problem with police partners for a long time. You'll understand that it's not the rcmp that are patrolling the streets of cities in ontario and québec. This is a local police, provincial police, and rcmp joint effort. The border services agency has been in joint taskforces for over two years trying to work with local police partners to get this intelligence. Some we recognize that canadians are understandably frustrated. So we're moving on a whole series of fronts to deal with what we acknowledge is a worrisome situation. >> Vassy: to quickly note before I let you go that the rcmp and the cbsa were asking for more resources prior to that summit in february in order to deal with the issues that as you point out were within their jurisdiction. They were asking your government very specifically the first new package of money that you announced was in february. How will canadians be able to judge whether what you have announced is effective? Are you looking to reduce the number of thefts, stabilize them? What is the objective and how can they judge whether your plan is successful? >> Obviously we want to reduce massively the number of vehicles being stolen. We want to reduce the number of violent incidents that canadians are potentially facing as people attempt to steal these vehicles. So we're leaning into with partners in every jurisdiction to do that, and we'll continue -- we'll add more resources if we need to, vassy, to do what we can to really bring the number down. Everybody would like zero vehicles stolen. So we're doing everything we can to bring that number down. So I'm hoping and believe that we'll see a significant reduction quickly and will continue to push to bring that number down and down and down. >> Vassy: I'll leave it on that note. Appreciate your time as always. Thank you so much. >> Have a great weekend, vassy, thank you. >> Vassy: public safety minister dominic leblanc. After a quick break, taking aim. The liberals amp up criticism of conservative leader pierre poilievre arguing he's going to get rid of policies like child care and dental care and women's reproductive rights. The strategy has been effective with previous tory leaders. -Ahh... this thing isn't getting any better... -And it won't get better on its own. -On top of that, it looks gross! -It's a nail fungus infection. -Really gross! -and it can spread to other people. It's contagious. -i think I need to see a doctor. -It's a good thing you came to see me. -It's an infection; you need a prescription. Ok. Nail fungus should be taken seriously. At the first signs, show it to your doctor or foot care practitioner and ask about prescription treatments that can be applied to the nail. Isn't it absolutely bonkers that you can walk into a store... hand someone a piece of plastic... and they will willingly hand over Reese's cups? Forget flying cars— this is it. We're at the pinnacle. Need to find your pet fast?It's easy with theTractive gps pet tracker. Set virtual fences to get alerts if your escapeartist goes too far. And track yourpet's live location from anywhere in the world. Tractive. Keeping yourpet safe and healthy. Nutri-Lawn has been nourishingthe lawns and livesof Canadians for over 35 y With our ecology-friendly lawncare, we eliminate weeds and prevent destructive insectsfrom feeding on your grass. Improve the overallhealth of your lawn. Visit Nutrilawn.com The elements of a completeoutdoor kitchen system. Grills, cabinetry,countertops, appliances. Individually exceptional. Extraordinary when combined. Design your completeoutdoor kitchen with NewAge Products. You shall live with mosquitoesand ticks no more...Contact mosquito.buzz and of your summer outisde. mosquito.buzz will spray all theareas where mosquitoes and ticks live, rest and hide. Trees, shrubs, under the deck,behind the shed. Anywhere you need protectionfrom harmful mosquitoes and ticks. We come back on arepeated schedule so you're bug freeall season long. Safe, effective,incredible results. Contact us today atmosquito.buzz Inside every Splenda product is a mission. To make it easier for people to cut sugar from their diet. From our factory to our stevia farm, Splenda's team of over two-thousand individuals are dedicated to helping

people live their best lives, taking pride that every day millions say I Use Splenda. With a delicious, sweet taste, and quality you can trust, Splenda is the easiest way to cut sugar. It's odd how in an instant things can transform. Slipping out of balance into freefall. I'm glad I found stability amidst it all. Gold. Standing the test of time. (Dramatic music) I am Paul Atreides! Duke of Arrakis! Let me fight beside you. I'll show you the way. To find a food star gordon faces his biggest rival ever. Who wants to be on team Vanderpump? It's team lisa vs team gordon She can Vanderpump off. We're done on ctv >> These women want to know whether the leader of the opposition will ensure that his caucus does not put forward legislation that in any way impinges on women's rights and freedom in particular bodily autonomy. >> We should be frustrated but not at all surprised by the conservatives coming out against dental care. >> It's unbelievable that they will on one hand say they support canadians and on the other hand vote against those supports every single time. >> Vassy: you heard it there, the liberals are amping up their critique of what a pierre poilievre government would do. According to them poilievre would take pay way dental and child care programs and women's reproductive rights. The tories say the liberals are fearmongering because of how far back the grits are in the pollings. Kathleen monk is former ndp strategist and director of communications to the late jack layton. Kory teneycke was ontario premier doug ford's campaign manager and former director of communications for prime minister stephen harper. And scott reid, ctv commentator former communications director to prime minister paul martin. This is kind of picking up on, scott, a buoyant that you made last week where your advice was to kind of pick one thing to go hard at poilievre on. I think they took the second half of that to heart in that they went very hard this week. We picked those clips because they're a real sampling of every single press conference that took place and how it all turned into here's what the conservatives would do. Do you think the strategy will be effective in either the short or long term? >> I think it's broadly the right move, but I have a [indiscernible] first of all, yes, I would hammer like I said last week on cuts and chaos. Just try to brand those [Inaudible] force him into the public arena, force him to deny [indiscernible] [Poor audio quality] play defence for a change but there's two things. One, it's really, really, really important [indiscernible] pick things that people care about, that are driving their vote, that affect their thinking of politics. So I'm not convinced that child care and dental care are the biggest items that I would bang on. I would go after a woman's right to choose, I would say that he wants to cut access to choice. I would definitely say he wants to cut health care, and I would talk about he wants to cut a bunch of the investments we're making to draw plants, draw jobs, draw manufacturing here. Most importantly. Hammer on those things. Jobs, health care. A woman's right to choose. Dental care, child care, I get that these are important programs. I don't think they're vote changers. I don't think that they're things people have come to cherish just yet. They feel more like liberal promises, part of the liberal agenda, they've got to get over themselves, go to what the voters are saying they prioritize and focus on that. >> Vassy: I was watching with interest this week the way the conservatives were or weren't responding, kory. I thought they, you know, there wasn't a lot of opportunity for media for example to ask what the liberals are putting in the window. But I wonder if going forward you think that the conservatives are okay to kind of leave it like we're going to give you these details closer to the election or whether the heightened scrutiny on them because of where they sit in the polls will force them to maybe have to answer those questions earlier. >> I don't think there are going to be -- I don't think they are going to be forced to answer those questions and I think they should ignoring the attacks from the liberals. How I would sum up the liberal attacks, and I agree with scott they need to be more aggressive and more on topics of greater concern to canadians, but I would say that they're, you know, the old saying a day late and a dollar short. I'd say they're a year late and about $10 million short in terms of actually framing this

Copyright protected and owned by broadcaster. Your licence is limited to private, internal, non-commercial use. All reproduction, broadcast, transmission or other use of this work is strictly prohibited.

Transcripts