Today: February 3, 2022

Today: February 3, 2022

By Andrew Thomson | UPDATED 4:51pmET

In the House

Watch question period -- the first for Candice Bergen as interim Conservative leader -- and scrums with cabinet ministers and MPs:

Today marks the 106th anniversary of the great fire the destroyed the original Centre Block -- aside from the Library of Parliament. 

The library was saved thanks to the quick-thinking of employee Michael C. MacCormac, who closed the steel doors separating the facility from the rest of the building:

The temporary wooden mace used after the fire, when MPs met at the Victoria Memorial Museum (now the Canadian Museum of Nature), will again be on display today:

Debate continues on the bill to implement measures from the December economic and fiscal update.

C-8 includes:

  • $1.7 billion to the provinces and territories for rapid testing
  • a Small Businesses Air Quality Improvement Tax Credit for ventilation and air filtration upgrades
  • expansion of the School Supplies Tax Credit 
  • a tax credit to return fuel charge proceeds to farmers in provinces subject to the federal carbon backstop
  • the Liberal pledge to impose a 1% annual tax on the value of "vacant or underused residential property directly or indirectly owned by non-resident non-Canadians."

Outside the Parliament Buildings, protest leaders vow to remain in place "for as long as it takes" until all COVID-19 mandates are ended across Canada -- despite the continuing disruption to life and business in downtown Ottawa and tension with residents.

Watch their news conference:

Following the Leaders

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is not scheduled to virtually attend question period -- but is holding a news conference on child care with Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson.

Trudeau repeated his desire for protesters to leave Ottawa, including those "harassing people who dare wear masks" or "showing hateful symbols."

Watch the full news conference:

And NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh speaks to reporters on an upcoming private member’s bill to decriminalize opioid possession:

Bergen to serve as interim Conservative leader after MPs vote to remove O'Toole

Candice Bergen will serve as Conservative deputy leader after she emerged above eight other candidates on last night's ballot.

Erin O’Toole’s leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada ended earlier in the day when more than 60 per cent of MPs voted him out by secret ballot during a virtual caucus meeting.

The 73 to 45 vote via the Reform Act means a new interim leader will be selected later today to serve until the Conservative Party of Canada holds its third leadership race in five years.

"I pledge my support and unwavering loyalty to our next leader," O'Toole said yesterday afternoon in brief remarks via Facebook, adding Canada is in a "dire moment" and requires its leaders to hear all voices and not just "echoes from your own tribe."

"This country needs a Conservative party that is both an intellectual force and a governing force," O'Toole said. "Ideology without power is vanity. Seeking power without ideology is hubris."

O'Toole also said he would continue as Member of Parliament for Durham, Ont.  

Watch Erin O'Toole deliver's video statement on Facebook:

Watch reaction from Conservative MPs:

O’Toole had been under internal fire for months, accused of ignoring party members on policy, flip-flopping on carbon pricing and gun control, and using a heavy-handed approach with dissidents.

The 49-year-old had said the vote represented a "time for a reckoning" on the future of his leadership and the direction of the party itself, after a number of MPs sought to force a leadership review within caucus.

O'Toole wrote on Twitter that the Conservative party faces two options. One is "angry, negative and extreme," a "dead-end" that would leave Conservatives shut out of government. The other, he said, is a message of "inclusion, optimism, ideas and hope" that reflects modern Canada. 

Calgary Heritage MP Bob Benzen accused O'Toole of "flip-flops and questionable judgment" in publicly calling for a caucus review, saying a vote was necessary to avoid a potentially irreparable split within the Conservative party.

Meanwhile, Edmonton-area MP Garnett Genuis accused O'Toole and his staff of divisive leadership -- and confirmed about one-third of Conservative MPs want a leadership vote. 

"Mr. O'Toole should recognize that his position is untenable, rather than using lies to publicly attack members of his own team," Genuis wrote Monday night. 

Although the Conservatives won the 2021 popular vote under O’Toole (33.7%), the party failed to increase its seat count or make gains in riding-rich urban regions, notably the Greater Toronto Area and B.C.’s Lower Mainland.

In Committee

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos and top officials from the Public Health Agency of Canada face questions at the Commons ethics committee on the collection and use of mobile data to analyze the movement of Caadians during the pandemic. 3:30pm ET / 12:30pm PT

Senior officials and Maj. Gen. Paul Prévost (Strategic Joint Staff) brief the foreign affairs committee on Canada’s response to the Ukraine crisis and the situation at the Ukraine-Russia border. 3:30pm ET / 12:30pm PT

Today in Politics: Mark Sutcliffe and Kristy Kirkup

The Conservative party is launched into its third leadership contest in just over six years. A Liberal MP denounces the white supremacists in an Ottawa protest. And Ottawa police say there are risks involved in trying to end the protest.

Here's your morning update with Mark Sutcliffe: