Queen Elizabeth II: From thwarted announcements to subdued retreats, how her death affected Canadian politics
OTTAWA - The death of the Queen, a momentous event that appeared to surprise in the moment despite all of those best-laid plans, cast a pall over the launch of Canada's fall political season.
With the loss of a monarch praised for embodying values of duty, tradition, public service and sacrifice, all parties - in crass political terms - lost peak partisan opportunities.
Saturday's splashy Conservative leadership change - the chance to grab the political spotlight for a new leader - was quickly re-scripted. The confetti guns were cancelled, and speeches rejigged to reflect tributes to the Queen's reign.
Planning retreats by the Liberal cabinet and NDP caucus - ordinarily a chance to trumpet priorities ahead of the Conservatives' big show and Parliament's scheduled Sept. 19 return - were overtaken by the news King Charles III would assume the throne and a nationwide mourning period would begin for his late mother.
In Vancouver, the Liberals ditched an announcement by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to set out new economic measures - pushed by the NDP - to launch a dental care program for low-income youth, double the GST tax credit and top up the Canada Housing Benefit.
The NDP - gathered in Halifax for their first in-person retreat since the pandemic - had cast the expected announcement, months in the making, as a result of their pressure on the government.
But in the end, plans were scuppered, with both Trudeau and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh axing their scheduled news conferences.
And instead of Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland rolling out policies intended to counter criticism they're doing nothing new to tackle cost of living pressures, the prime minister switched gears, and emerged as mourner-in-chief of a queen he'd known for 45 years.
A senior Liberal source said the decision would not affect the implementation of the measures, which will depend on Parliament passing them quickly."
There will be a time to make those announcements again in the future at an appropriate time," Singh told reporters Friday morning.
The rest of the NDP retreat took on a more subdued, closed-door tone, with officials pulling the plug on public events like door-knocking and fundraisers.
A Liberal party caucus retreat scheduled for Sunday to Tuesday in New Brunswick is still expected to proceed.
However, the political calendar is suddenly a lot more fluid.
And the tone of politics has suddenly been forced to shift, at least for now.
A senior government source said the Liberals' plan for the next 10 days is to pay our respects to the Queen while the country is in mourning."
So, announcements and certain government activities will be reigned in," with the prime minister's remarks honouring Queen Elizabeth Thursday setting the government's expected tone for the coming days.
A Conservative party source said of course, it's going to make a difference" to the party's launch of a new leader and a new era.
Whoever the new leader is going to be, they, of course, envisage that their first kind of re-emergence with the public is going to be through that speech. And a lot of care and attention always goes into that kind of thing - what is that first impression that we're going to make? (...) And now it's obviously going to be a very different speech."
In a sheer logistical sense, what happens next in Canadian politics is a matter of both protocol and political calculation.
Does Trudeau seek to bring Parliament back earlier than Sept. 19 to allow a motion of condolences and tribute speeches before the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth takes place?
Do political parties adopt a more respectful tone in this mourning period? Will the Liberals and NDP go all-in to criticize or frame the new Conservative leader - widely expected to be front-runner Pierre Poilievre - or will they hold fire?
Does Trudeau invite Opposition party leaders to go to London?
The protocol - the official rules that determine how things should unfold - offers only partial guidance.
On Saturday in London, an accession council will formally proclaim Charles as King. Canada, as one of the 15 countries or realms" that still has the monarch as head of state, will be represented at that accession council meeting by Canada's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Ralph Goodale.
In Ottawa, shortly after that, a similar accession council meeting of Canada's cabinet will occur at Rideau Hall, at which the cabinet affirms King Charles as Canada's head of state and after which the governor general will formally issue a proclamation acknowledging the transition.
Canadian flags, like British flags, will be raised from half-mast to full-mast until sunset to show respect for the new king (they could be briefly raised for a full 24 hours to let overseas embassies also show the same respect). But the flags will then be lowered again to half-mast for the rest of the official 10-day mourning period.
Other details - like the timing of the Queen's funeral, the arrival of worldwide leaders, or the invitation of any other guests, is largely up to the discretion of Buckingham Palace, said a senior source. Trudeau doesn't determine the guest list for the funeral at Westminster Abbey.
The Queen's funeral would ordinarily be held 10 days after her death; however if, as in this case, that falls on a Sunday, the funeral could be held on Monday, Sept. 19, a source said.
World leaders and spouses are expected to arrive in London a few days in advance of the funeral, in case King Charles wishes to meet with them, or to attend the lying-in-state of Queen Elizabeth.
Beyond that, officials are still scrambling behind the scenes to work out timelines, such as the recall of Parliament.
Details in due course" is all anyone would say on Friday.
With files from Raisa Patel
Tonda MacCharles is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @tondamacc