Stephen Harper has nominated Federal Court Justice Marc Nadon as the newest member of the Supreme Court of Canada. This appointment solidifies the current gender imbalance on the bench, and there are questions as to whether it is really appropriate that Nadon, as a Federal Court justice, really should be a Quebec appointee considering that he is not currently a member of the Quebec Bar. There have been other concerns raised that while Nadon is an expert in maritime law, there is little call for such expertise on the Supreme Court, while there is a need for more expertise in administrative law. Add to that, the ad hoc committee of MPs set to quiz Nadon on his appointment was given a mere 48 hours to prepare (though most of those MPs would have been involved with the short-list selection process, so they would be familiar with his file, but there are yet more concerns that MPs who weren’t involved in that process should be the ones involved). It was also noted that Nadon was a dissenting opinion with regard to the Omar Khadr case with regards to attempts to order the government to have him repatriated, and the Supreme Court later agreed with him – for what it’s worth.
At the Charbonneau Commission in Quebec, they have been very careful to steer clear of talking about federal connections (as it’s out of their mandate), but one of the witnesses did decide to talk to CBC on camera, and named Senator Leo Housakos as a key figure in fundraising for the federal Conservatives by the same questionable means that donations were being funnelled to provincial parties. Housakos denies any involvement.
The Members’ Expenditure Reports are out, and we see that Thomas Mulcair is among the highest spending MPs, while Stephen Harper is among the lowest – which makes sense considering that he has the PMO budget to draw from as opposed to his MP budget. I am curious as to why Mulcair has such high accommodation and expenses per diems considering that he’s got Stornoway, but one supposes it’s because of his travel across the country, though one would assume that leader’s activities would come out of the party budget rather than his MP budget. But since there are no details about what the totals represent, we’re left guessing.
Mark Kennedy previews the First Nations Education Act, which is set to top Harper’s Aboriginal issues agenda in the new session, and updates the various other Aboriginal files that are ongoing.
The Correctional Investigator has released a report that looks at the incidents of self-harm among female inmates, and the need for better training to deal with it rather than just sticking them in solitary.
A study of the New Veterans’ Charter shows that some of the most severely disabled veterans from recent missions like Afghanistan are likely to be the most disadvantaged by the new system.
After the NDP outlined their own tough-on-crime policies last week, they listed their populist “consumer issues” policies yesterday – all of which we’d heard before, such as ATM fees and a “no frills” credit card. Up today – food safety!
Maclean’s has a look at the plight faced by our Pacific Coast fleet given the recent collisions that have severely hampered our operational abilities, and our broken procurement process delaying the badly needed replacements of nearly our entire naval fleet.
The final Ontario riding boundaries report changes are in, and oh look – accusations of gerrymandering. Not that Charlie Angus apologises for the accusations levelled against him either.
Aaron Wherry muses about the failure of the Ignatieff Experiment, and what lessons might be drawn from it for Justin Trudeau.
The drama in the Brandon-Souris by-election continues as the local mayor who said that he planned to run as an independent to protest Conservative shenanigans has instead decided to contest the Liberal nomination, while the sole Liberal running so far admits to being a “bit rattled” by the controversy surrounding his CV and the claim that he was a “senior Facebook executive.”
Independent MP Brent Rathgeber blogs about the country’s broken Access to Information laws, and recalls the days, circa 2006, when the Conservatives were actually interested in fixing them, and how it fits into his own bill that the government gutted, which led to his departure from caucus.
And here are parts four and five of Natalie Stechyson’s series on GLBT parenting looks at the surrogacy industry in Cancun, Mexico, and at the dynamics of transgendered parenting.