Justice Marc Nadon appeared before MPs yesterday afternoon as part of the meet-and-greet exercise that serves as a not-really-confirmation-hearing as part of the consultation process for judicial nominees that the government put into place. In a series of softball questions – which are all that are allowed – we learned a bit about Nadon, which seemed to be a lot about hockey. Apparently we now need to establish someone’s hockey pedigree before we can appoint them to a major office, if His Excellency David Johnston, Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz and Justice Nadon are anything to go by. Also, Nadon claims to have been “drafted” by the Detroit Red Wings when he was 14, though there is no record of this, and makes one wonder if he chose the wrong word, or if he remembers things a little more glorified than they really were. Regardless, any attempt to get an insight into his judicial thinking was rebuffed, so we were left with another round of questions that would have only been improved if one MP had bothered to ask Nadon which Spice Girl he would be if he could be a Spice Girl. (Incidentally, those demanding that MPs have a more active role in the final decision should also remember that in our system of Responsible Government, the accountability for appointments rests with the PM so that he can be held to account – either at the ballot box or by maintaining the confidence of the House – as giving MPs that power would muddy the accountability). Over at CTV, there is a clip of law professor Carissima Mathen explaining her reservations about the way the government has been making their Supreme Court appointments. Irwin Cotler, who began the process of opening up the Supreme Court nomination process to outside scrutiny, writes about the problems with this particular appointment process – especially the timelines laid out by the government.
Well, this is interesting – BC Premier Christy Clark is calling out the federal government for inadequately resourcing the Coast Guard along the Pacific in the even to of a tanker spill – especially with heavy oil, which they currently don’t have the ability to clean up. While she says that they are moving to address it, it is a bit of a shot across the federal government’s bow, considering some of the ways in which they have cut back on Coast Guard funding (witness the closure of the Kitsilano rescue substation last year). And yes, the government will tout their “world class” tanker monitoring system that they’re putting into place, but monitoring and the resources that can be deployed at the moment of a spill are two very different things.
There doesn’t appear to be any requirement for Quebec senators to prove that they live in the district that they represent – seeing as Quebec is the only province that has districts in place, which dates back to a time when it was to ensure that there was adequate representation from the minorities in those regions. While some Senators can clearly show that yes, they own property in their division per the property qualification to be a Senator, others remain tight-lipped about it. Among them – Senator Patrick Brazeau, who doesn’t appear to own property in the division he is supposed to represent. (And perhaps the PMO should have double-checked this when they made the appointment). Speaking of Brazeau, word has it that he is romantically linked to the woman who owns the house where he was involved in some sort of health-related “intervention” the other night.
The Harper government now insists that no listening devices were found at the Nortel campus, which is being renovated to serve as a new Department of National Defence Headquarters, and that there’s nothing to see here. But they won’t provide any details, so we’re apparently supposed to take them at their word.
New defence minister Rob Nicholson appears to have backed down from an admission that his predecessor, Peter MacKay, made with regards to the death of one airman after his heart condition was improperly diagnosed by military doctors. In other words, Nicholson wants to keep it that the Canadian Forces won’t take the blame for his death. Obviously, the veteran’s widow is shocked and outraged.
It appears that the PMO was ready to bar a CTV cameraman from joining the media pool that would be travelling with Harper to the APEC summit in Malaysia because he shouted out a question to Harper during a “no questions photo op” during the last trip, in New York. It seems that PMO relented in the end, however, and the cameraman will be on the plane. John Geddes talks to the president of the White House Correspondents Association about shouted questions down there – and small surprise, they’re quite common.
Gun advocates in Canada are warning the government not to sign the UN small arms treaty because they feel it would foster an insidious return of the long-gun registry. Um, okay. It should also be noted that everyone who points out that the US signed the treaty that they haven’t ratified it, and likely never will.
PostMedia offers a primer on the debate on various pipeline project proposals across the country, and the issues involved in each.
And over in Policy Magazine, Thomas Mulcair compiles the NDP’s priorities (PDF) were they to write a Throne Speech, and gives an extended screed about the Senate and his desire to see its abolition, without recognising the history and symbolism of why Throne Speeches take place in the Red Chamber in the first place (hint: it’s about democracy!). I’m not sure if it’s ironic, or dishearteningly ignorant.