Category: World

As Chris Hipkins moves in the Beehive’s ninth floor, he will be relying on several lieutenants already known to him.

Here are some of the people already in his inner circle – and some new faces who may be moving up the ranks.

Grant Robertson

Assuming Hipkins doesn’t get sick of hearing how he was the next best pick after the finance minister ruled himself out, Robertson will be the new PM’s right (or should we say left) hand man.

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He’ll remain in control of economic policy and steer through May’s do-or-die Budget, a key milestone in Labour’s election year calendar as it seeks to remind voters it can maintain stability in times of crisis.

Their friendship dates back to Victoria University student politics, and they entered Parliament together (with Jacinda Ardern and Carmel Sepuloni) following the 2008 defeat of Helen Clark’s government.

The power balance has now shifted to Hipkins, who felt no sentimental compulsion to keep Robertson as deputy prime minister.

It was interesting to note during Sunday’s press conference that Hipkins was yet to inform Robertson of his additional new duties (Leader of the House and State Services Minister) suggesting they are not as close as Ardern and Robertson.

Both men are remarkably similar in their outlook and understand each other well. They share a similar, almost contradictory, outlook: blue-collar leftist ideals (both men also love beer, pies and sport) forged in their upbringing, but who came of age in the Wellington political bubble, where realpolitik trumps dogma.

You can expect capital gains tax to remain off the table: both men are too pragmatic to re-open that can of worms. But one bump in the road might be Robertson’s $3.5b income insurance scheme – a hot potato Hipkins may want to toss.

Carmel Sepuloni

Another of the class of ‘08, Sepuloni is perfect deputy material: low-key and trusted.

The social development minister is a solid performer – a good number two can’t afford to be troubled with distractions in their portfolios.

She grew up in Waitara, the daughter of a Tongan-Samoan freezing worker, and Pākehā mother who worked in the Swanndri factory. Her background and Auckland base appeases most factions.

Her colleagues see her as forceful, but someone who offers a sympathetic ear.

Although they were on opposite sides of the 2014 leadership contest (Hipkins backed Robertson, Sepuloni was Team Andrew Little) they joined forces as chief and junior whip.

Their bond is endearing – Sepuloni joked about distracting Hipkins in the house, and he said she has tried (and) failed to give sartorial advice.

Sources say that Hipkins is likely to largely retain Ardern’s kitchen cabinet, to which Sepuloni will now be admitted.

Kelvin Davis, as deputy leader and the senior Māori MP (and also an ‘08 alumnus) will still have a close ear and a key role in building bridges with fellow Northlanders Winston Peters and Shane Jones.

Megan Woods

There’s that saying: if you want something done give it to a busy woman. Not only does Woods currently hold some of the trickiest portfolios (housing, energy, and building and construction) but she is also masterminding the election campaign.

Hipkins could ease her of some of those ministerial duties in order to promote fresh talent in next week’s reshuffle.

In the countdown to October 14, Hipkins will be leaning heavily on Woods and campaign manager Hayden Munro (both from Christchurch and tutored in grassroots campaigning by the late Jim Anderton).

Both are no strangers to upsets in a crunch year.

Munro’s first campaign was the 2010 Christchurch mayoral race when Anderton, then 20 points ahead, made an unfortunately-timed comment about an “earthquake seismic shift”.

He lost to Bob Parker.

The pair joined forces for Labour’s 2020 landslide victory – when health restrictions twice shut down operations.

Although they have lost their best asset in Ardern, the duo’s other secret weapon is Munro’s perennially upbeat nature. None of the MPs will step out of line for fear of disappointing the political operative-turned lobbyist-turned operative, possibly the nicest man in New Zealand politics.

The backroom

Insiders anticipate sagacious chief of staff Raj Nahna to spend a few weeks steering Hipkins’ transition, before stepping down.

Filling his shoes in an election year will be a chore, although there are some able contenders: Alex Tarrant, a former business journalist and savvy adviser to Robertson, or Craig Renney, director of policy at the CTU, who worked for Labour in opposition and served as Robertson’s economic adviser until 2020.

Ardern’s chief spin doctor Andrew Campbell is expected to remain in place. The pair worked well together on Covid-19 communications and Campbell is a master of the role, maintaining good relationships with journalists through a turbulent two terms.

Richard Trow, Hipkins’ senior press secretary, could also find a place in the comms strategy. The affable Welshman has worked for Labour on-and-off since the Clark years. He knows where the bodies are buried and has done a good job of hiding them while remaining popular with the media.

Who’s up and who’s down?

With the exception of Sepuloni, there are likely to be few changes to the inner circle. But this is politics so egos will be both plumped and pricked.

The momentum that swept in behind Justice Minister Kiri Allan can lead her to expect a more prominent role.

That would be a salve to the Māori caucus who will flinch over the expected dumping of Three Waters and the state media merger, shepherded by Nanaia Mahuta and Willie Jackson.

Mahuta is also expected to lose her local government portfolio to rising star Kieran McAnulty, another ‘salt of the earth’ selling point in Labour’s bid to become more relatable.

Don’t hold your breath for a promotion for Michael Wood, however.

Despite sacrificing his leadership ambitions for the sake of party unity, one source said it would be “a surprise” should he be admitted into the kitchen cabinet. He’s got too many problems in his transport and immigration ministries.

That Jan Tinetti is to be promoted was long expected – but in handing her his cherished education portfolio, Hipkins has paid the gambling minister a huge compliment.

Even before Ardern’s resignation, Mana MP Barbara Edmunds was being talked about for a bump up the greasy pole, likely Revenue and/or Pacific Peoples Minister.

Sometimes tipped as a future leader, the former parliamentary adviser to Stuart Nash, is seen as representing a vital link between the top tier and the class of 2020, who risk getting fractious as they stare down the barrel of unemployment.

There will be jostling for the nomination for Ardern’s Mount Albert electorate, because of its historic connotations (held by Clark, David Shearer and Ardern).

List MP Camilla Belich is the favourite, but sources say Helen White, who last stood in Auckland Central, would also like a crack at the safe seat.

Hipkins will have to make some tough calls this week if he wants to present a genuine break from the past – bookies should suspend bets on Damien O’Connor, Phil Twyford, and David Parker returning after the election.

A shadow over his leadership is health, likely to become even more of a liability for Labour over a difficult winter.

Some insiders say Ayesha Verrall doesn’t yet have the experience – and leans too much on official advice rather than her political instincts – and it may be wiser to leave Andrew Little, another pal from the student politics days, in the role.

Nash is a trickier proposition. Labour needs Nash if it has even a fighting chance of retaining Napier – and a good ministerial portfolio might persuade him to stay another term.

That Hipkins made him caretaker of the police portfolio (rather than hand it back to Poto Williams) is a nod and a wink that he understands this.

Some Iranian Canadians say they are taking efforts into their own hands to investigate and track down Iranian regime members and affiliates who are now in Canada — saying the Canadian government is not doing enough. 

One group even made the extraordinary move of publicly shaming a recent arrival at Toronto’s Pearson airport, who they claimed was a regime affiliate, asking how she got a visa.

The issue has ramped up since protests erupted across Iran last fall after the in-custody death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by morality police in Tehran for allegedly violating Iran’s strict rules requiring women to cover their hair with a hijab, or headscarf.

As demonstrations have continued against the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran within the country and around the world, dissidents fear supporters of the regime may be leaving for safer harbours — like Canada.

“They’re terrorists,” said Mojdeh Shahriari, a human rights lawyer in Vancouver. “Do you want these people to roam around in Canada unchecked? Are you OK with that? I don’t think so.”

Shahriari is a member of an organization called StopIRGC, a group of volunteers who are dedicating time and money to follow leads on regime members and affiliates here in Canada.

She says they have received more than 200 reports and are looking into the strongest leads, sometimes with the help of a private investigator. Once a solid file is built, they will turn over the evidence to authorities to take further action.

“If Canada was doing what it’s supposed to do to keep Canada safe, there would be no need for anything that we are doing,” she said. 

WATCH | A protester confronts a woman from Iran at Toronto’s Pearson airport: 

Protester confronts woman from Iran at Toronto airport

This scene played out at Toronto’s Pearson airport after the arrival of a flight from Iran, drawing the attention of police. CBC News has not confirmed any of the allegations made.

Regime officials in Canada outed before

This is not the first time concerned citizens have outed affiliates of the Iranian regime in Canada.

In 2021, a high-profile former Tehran police chief was spotted running on a treadmill in Richmond Hill, Ont. Morteza Talaei was in charge of Tehran’s police in 2003 when Iranian Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi was beaten to death in custody.

An Iranian dissident spotted and filmed him; those images went viral. Many in the community wanted to know how it was possible he had been allowed to enter Canada.

At the time, Talaei wasn’t on any sanctions list.

Last fall, CBC News and other news outlets sent inquiries to the government and to CSIS about Talaei, and soon after that he was added to the sanctions list, which should prevent him from entering the country again.

At the time, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) would not comment on his case, citing privacy legislation.

On Nov. 14, the federal government designated Iran as a regime that engages in terrorism and systemic human rights violations and banned regime members, including their relatives, from entering Canada. But they have fallen short of designating it as a terrorist organization, something critics say is very concerning.

“We [Canada] have dragged our feet since 2018 and not listed this group as a terrorist group, while we acknowledge that they are engaged in terrorism, so it absolutely makes no sense, I would like an answer,” Shahriari said.

Dozens of Iranian Canadians, including Shahriari, have told CBC they have concerns of regime presence already here.  Some say they have felt watched — at home or while participating in protests. 

“We have had many suspicious people roaming around in the protest, taking pictures, and you can’t accuse anyone without knowing exactly who they are. But it’s that uncomfortable feeling that a lot of people have, their looking over their shoulders,” she said. 

“That uncomfortable feeling is very much a part of life in Canada especially. And so that’s why that is the main concern for me.”

Last October, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed some of those fears to be true.

“We know there are people in Canada now who have benefited from the horrific regime in Iran to live a good life in Canada — well, we say no more,” Trudeau said while at a protest in Ottawa. 

But people like Shahriari say that is not enough.

“Even within the laws that we have, they should not be able to come to Canada. But they keep coming. So I’m as shocked as anyone else. People sometimes ask me, ‘You are a lawyer, how is this happening?’ I really don’t know,” she said. 

‘Immense anger’ at Canadian authorities

While StopIRGC has been investigating and advocating, others are taking more extreme actions — even publicly shaming people they believe to be associated with the regime. 

At Toronto Pearson International airport last December, a small group waited in arrivals for a traveller who they believe is affiliated with the regime. They said they had received tips from dissidents inside Iran.

Footage taken by the group and posted on YouTube shows a small group filming on their phones and yelling at a woman, accusing her of working for the regime. They follow her through the airport; the footage rolls for more than 30 minutes. 

“She just came to Canada, she used to work for the Iranian regime office and we’d like to know who gave her a visa, and we want the Canadian government to investigate that,” one man shouts at police officers who have come to break it up. 

CBC has not confirmed any of the allegations being made in the video.

WATCH | Lawyer Mojdeh Shahriari says government needs to do more: 

Why this lawyer says Canada needs to do more to keep regime supporters out

Lawyer Mojdeh Shahriari says the federal government needs to step up efforts to ensure possible supporters of the Iranian regime don’t enter Canada unchecked.

However, the sentiment motivating these actions, the need for answers on how members of the regime or its affiliates are getting into Canada, is a concern expressed by many in the community. 

“There is the threat of excess, of people going too far, of people being slandered, and I have seen examples of that,” said Kaveh Shahrooz, a human rights activist more discreetly tracking regime members in Canada; he receives tips and carefully researches those leads.

“I think there is immense anger at Canadian authorities. The horrors that were inflicted on us and our families in Iran have been exported here to Canada,” he said.

“I have personally been in many meetings with government officials saying, folks, this is a real threat to this country. And we’ve always been dismissed, politely dismissed,” Shahrooz said.

Shahrooz likens Iranian officials leaving Iran now to Nazi leaders fleeing Germany for Argentina and elsewhere at the end of the Second World War.

“I worry that the same thing is going to happen as the Iranian regime comes under pressure and hopefully collapses. And a lot of them, I suspect, are gonna be coming to Canada,” he said.

CSIS investigating

Canada’s spy agency, CSIS, told CBC News it continues to investigate the threat of the regime in Canada. Last fall, it announced it was following credible “threats to life emanating from the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

The office of the public safety minister responded to CBC News’s request for comment and noted that Canada has already banned thousands of Iranian regime members from entering the country.

“This means that tens of thousands of senior members of the Iranian regime, including many members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, are now inadmissible to Canada,” the statement read. 

“In addition to being banned from entering Canada, current and former senior officials present here may be investigated and removed from the country,” the statement read. 

In the meantime, Shahriari said StopIRGC has never been busier. 

“We are not going to stop doing the work we are doing. We are getting more and more reports and will continue to followup on each one,” she said. 

“It’s a worry about Canada. What does that say about our country?”

Consumer furor over rising food prices has reignited anger over the infamous bread price-fixing scandal, which became public in 2017 and allegedly involved several major grocers colluding to inflate bread prices. 

“It’s time to get answers,” said anti-poverty activist Irene Breckon, 76, of Elliot Lake, Ont. “It’s not right that the poor people are suffering so much more, and the rich people … keep bumping up their prices.”

According to data released Tuesday, grocery prices have climbed by 11 per cent year over year. 

The federal government is working on a grocery code of conduct to help foster competition in the industry. And in response to allegations grocers are raking in excessive profits, both the government and Canada’s Competition Bureau are examining grocery pricing in Canada.

During a parliamentary committee hearing last month, Loblaw Companies Ltd. (which owns Loblaws and Superstore) and Empire Company Ltd. (owners of Sobeys and Safeway), said they’re not profiteering but, instead, are passing on higher costs from suppliers. 

Meanwhile, the Competition Bureau is still investigating the bread price-fixing scheme — almost five-and-a-half years after launching the probe on Aug. 11, 2017. 

No charges have been laid and the competition watchdog says there is no conclusion of wrongdoing at this time. 

“The Bureau must conduct a thorough review of all the facts of a case before reaching any conclusions regarding potential violations of the law,” said spokesperson Marie-Christine Vézina in an email.

She offered no timeline, and said, by law, the bureau must conduct its work confidentially.

8 years since Loblaw tip

Almost eight years ago in March 2015, Loblaw alerted the Competition Bureau to its part in an allegedly industry-wide price-fixing agreement to artificially inflate the price of some packaged bread from 2001 to 2015. 

Loblaw received immunity from prosecution for its co-operation. It then offered customers $25 gift cards to make amends.

In 2017, the bureau began investigating other alleged parties: grocers Sobeys, Walmart, Metro and Giant Tiger, and producer and distributor Canada Bread. According to court records, in 2019, it also targeted Maple Leaf Foods, which was the majority shareholder of Canada Bread until 2014. 

WATCH | Are you being gouged at the grocery store?

Are the grocery giants gouging us?

Sylvain Charlebois, Director of Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, says costs for the big grocery chains have legitimately gone up, but the industry as a whole is taking a lot of heat from consumers for higher food prices right now.

Food distribution expert Sylvain Charlebois claims the investigation is taking too long, and that the lack of results is eroding Canadians’ trust at a time of escalating food prices.

“The grocers’ crisis of confidence has a lot to do with the fact that there’s still unfinished business out there,” said Charlebois, the director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University. “You need to move on this issue.”

But competition law expert Jennifer Quaid said it can take time to gather evidence needed to prove a price-fixing conspiracy.

‘[It’s] particularly difficult when you’re talking about large, economically powerful entities,” said Quaid, a law professor at the University of Ottawa. “You can’t just sort of snoop on them, right? We don’t have a police state.”

Other grocers respond

In 2004, the Competition Bureau launched what turned out to be a three-year investigation into allegations of price-fixing at gasoline stations in Quebec. By 2008, 13 people and 11 companies faced criminal charges in the case, and by 2009, the majority of them had pleaded guilty.

Quaid suggests that investigation had a speedier outcome because a number of people implicated agreed to assist with the bureau’s investigation. 

“The defining feature there is that because people co-operated and got immunity, they were able to get wiretaps. They were able to catch people calling each other.”

Even though Loblaw is co-operating with the price fixing investigation, Quaid said it may be taking longer than expected because none of the other alleged parties appears to be offering a confession and co-operation in exchange for leniency. 

Sobeys, Walmart and Giant Tiger each told CBC News they have no reason to believe they violated the Competition Act. 

“We have steadfastly fought against these irresponsible allegations,” wrote Sobeys spokesperson Tshani Jaja in an email. 

Metro said it complies with the law and “has never been found to be in breach of the Competition Act.”

Mexican multinational company Grupo Bimbo, which acquired Canada Bread in 2014, declined to comment. Maple Leaf Foods said it was unaware of any wrongdoing at Canada Bread when it was the majority shareholder. 

Quaid said the biggest risk with a lengthy investigation is that, over time, it may be more difficult to secure evidence.

“For example, it might be harder to track down the people who were involved. Maybe they’ve moved on, maybe they work somewhere else, maybe they’ve died.”

Even if no charges are laid as a result of the investigation, it won’t be case closed for the bread price-fixing saga. That’s because two class-action lawsuits, one in Ontario and one in Quebec, have been certified in court, each seeking financial compensation from companies allegedly involved. 

If nothing else, anti-poverty activist Breckon hopes the lawsuits will result in some extra cash for class-action members who may be struggling with high food prices. 

“I know so many people that are having an extremely difficult time,” she said. 

On January 19, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, 42, stunned the world by announcing her resignation. Fighting back tears, she said that February 7 will be her last day in office. She added she wouldn’t seek re-election when the country goes to the polls on October 14.

The only explanation she would offer for her decision was to say, “I am leaving because with such a privileged role, comes responsibility, the responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead and also when you are not… I know what this job takes and I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice. It is that simple.” Understandably, speculation is rife about the ‘real reason’ for her exit.

In the previous general elections of 2020 — New Zealand has a three-year election cycle — Ms. Ardern had been re-elected in a landslide of historic proportions. Her popularity, following her successful handling of the pandemic, was at its peak.

But in the post-pandemic months, it did seem like the law of averages had caught up with her, with a host of domestic issues dogging her second term. Record levels of inflation, a housing affordability crisis, rising crime rates, and a backlash against progressive policy initiatives — a climate tax on agricultural emissions that could affect farmers, empowering indigenous communities, an ambitious plan to overhaul the country’s water infrastructure, legislation to curb hate speech — have seen the centre-right New Zealand National Party overtake Labour in poll ratings. At the same time, although her popularity had dipped, she remained the most preferred politician to lead the country. There was nothing inevitable about her exit. The same, however, cannot be said about her ascent, as she seemed marked out for the country’s top post from an early age.

Born into a working class Mormon family — her father was a police officer and her mother, a school cafeteria worker — Ms. Ardern was labelled “most likely to become Prime Minister” even in high school. She joined the Labour party at the age of 17. After graduating in Communication Studies with majors in politics and public relations, she picked up political experience at the highest level working with the then Prime Minister Helen Clarke, and later in the Cabinet office of British PM Tony Blair.

Notwithstanding her stint under Mr. Blair — she would later question him about the 2003 Iraq war at an event in 2011 — her political views, Ms. Ardern says, were shaped by her exposure to child poverty, homelessness, alcohol and drug-dependency, and general deprivation in her country’s rural communities. She is a self-proclaimed social democrat and feminist with strong progressive principles — principles that she sought to uphold in public life. For instance, in her 20s, long before she became Prime Minister, Ms. Ardern renounced her faith, quitting the Mormon church because she believed in equal rights for LGBT people.

Rise to the top

After becoming the youngest sitting MP in the New Zealand Parliament in 2008, it took Ms. Ardern less than a decade to reach the top. She was elected the leader of Labour 2017, just before the elections. Her elevation triggered an avalanche of donations to the party and catapulted Labour above the New Zealand National Party in ratings for the first time in a decade. Given that her positions were not very different from that of her predecessor, observers attributed the upswing in Labour’s fortunes to Ms. Ardern’s charisma and personal popularity — what came to be known as ‘Jacindamania’.

In August 2017, at the age of 37, Ms. Ardern became one of the world’s youngest Prime Ministers, heading a coalition with the populist New Zealand First party. After taking the reins, Ms. Ardern announced that she wanted her country — although a small one with limited influence — to provide moral leadership on the global stage. On this aspect, there is little doubt Ms. Ardern stands out among world leaders for walking the talk.

She ushered in a fresh brand of gendered leadership marked by sensitivity, empathy, and concern for vulnerable minorities. On the flip side, it also made her a target for misogyny and sexism in a realm dominated by men. She became only the second Prime Minister in history, after Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto, to give birth while in office. Liberals and feminists were delighted when she announced on Twitter that her partner, TV celebrity Clarke Gayford, would become “stay at home dad”. She went on six weeks maternity leave after making her Deputy PM the acting PM — underscoring that even world leaders are human and ought not to pretend otherwise.

The first big test of her premiership came when the pandemic struck. Her exemplary handling of the crisis — she acted fast to close her country’s borders before a single case was detected and made stringent quarantine requirements — helped keep COVID-related death rates in New Zealand one of the lowest in the Western world. In stark contrast to the hectoring press briefings of U.S. President Donald Trump, Ms. Ardern conducted informal Facebook Live chats that provided reliable information as well as reassurance for citizens forced into unprecedented, extended isolation.

But what made her a darling of the global centre-left, and led many to consider her a model antidote to rightwing populism rising around the world was her response to the deadly Christchurch shootings in which a white supremacist attacked two mosques, killing 51 people. Ms. Ardern completely ignored the familiar script that politicians tend to follow in such situations: there was no attempt to present the attack as a ‘war’ on the nation or on ‘our way of life’, no characterising the terrorist act as ‘cowardly’, no attempt to dehumanise the killer, and most importantly, no attempt to construct an ‘us’ vs ‘them’ narrative of rage and retribution. Instead, Ms. Ardern wore a hijab and went to mourn with the grieving families. By keeping the focus on the victims rather than the perpetrator, she brought a healing touch to an otherwise tense, polarising moment. She followed this up by expanding gun control regulations – unthinkable in the U.S. despite dozens of mass shooting incidents every year — and bringing new legislation to curb hate speech.

Leadership election

But after nearly six years on the job, Ms. Ardern seems to have concluded she no longer has what it takes. The Labour party is scheduled to hold a meeting on January 22 to elect a new leader. It is being speculated that the party might go for someone more combative, less ‘soft’ to take on an aggressive Opposition.

Some believe Ms. Ardern’s decision might have been sparked by an urge to prioritise her commitment to her family. She did mention in her resignation speech that her four-year-old daughter would start school this year and she wanted to “finally” get married to her partner. But perhaps there is also something to be said for taking her explanation at face value: maybe, Ms. Ardern resigned because she really believes she can no longer do justice to her job. After all, her biggest legacy is of a politician who made it cool to do the right thing. In a world where politics is synonymous with realpolitik, she demonstrated that politics informed by a moral vision — doing the right thing rather than what best suits one’s interests — is not unthinkable. Maybe, by resigning, she was simply trying to do the right thing — by her family, her party, and her country.