Poor Pamela Wallin – that’s the story she would have us believe, based on her speech in her defence in the Senate today. Only unlike Mike Duffy, who was scorching the earth and taking the Prime Minister down with him, Wallin got personal with other Senators, naming Marjory LeBreton and Carolyn Stewart-Olsen as the architects of some kind of conspiracy against her, and gave the defence that the other Senators resented her because she was an “activist senator” – a bogus and self-aggrandising construct that presupposes that no other senator is also activist. Contrary to the myth of people who do no work and nap all day, most Senators are active in their activism around one cause or another. For most, it’s why they got appointed in the first place. In fact, most of their activism and causes are far more focused than Wallin’s, whose “activism” seemed to be largely about supporting the troops and being a motivational speaker on demand. For her part, LeBreton completely refuted Wallin’s accusations of conspiracy and of the campaign of leaks designed to “discredit” Wallin, and further added that she wasn’t responsible for Wallin’s expense claims. Because yes, those are still at the heart of the issue, and Wallin isn’t exactly offering contrition for anything on her part.

David Tkachuk refutes Mike Duffy’s version of events, pointing out that the Internal Economy Committee wouldn’t have the power to expel him as Duffy claimed, and about any conversations that happened with the PMO during the Duffy audit process (hint: he says he wasn’t coached). Rob Walsh and other legal scholars disagree with Senator Baker that a de facto finding of guilt against any of the embattled Senators would mean jeopardising the current RCMP investigations because of the double jeopardy principle. Any RCMP investigation would likely slow or halt any investigation by either the Senate Ethics Officer or the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner (at least so far as it covers Wright’s actions, which it likely doesn’t). Here’s a look at the completing versions of events from both Duffy and Harper. Andrew Coyne calls out Duffy’s display as someone trying to defend his entitlements even against common sense, and also calls into question the reason why Harper and Wright would go to such lengths to protect Duffy in the first place, as none of the explanations make any sense.

As if all this wasn’t enough, it looks like the RCMP have enough information to charge former Liberal Senator Mac Harb with fraud in his expense claims. One wonders if any other Senators will be next.

The Commons Board of Internal Economy posted new rules around MP expenses, and greater disclosure requirements due to come into place by April. The NDP are patting themselves on the back for these changes, but still want the Board to be replaced with an “independent oversight body” and want expenses tracking handled by a separate bureaucratic process to do away with voluntary disclosure.

The government has been quietly looking at ways to reduce the number of export controls on military-related goods in the hopes of making Canada a player in the global arms trade. Naturally, those associated with the arms industry think this kind of thinning of the red tape and restrictions is a good thing.

Some First Nations leaders are wary of the draft First Nations Education Act, and say that it is in need of major changes before they could support it.

Ruh-roh! The Bank of Canada is cutting its growth outlook for the next three years, as well as any talk of raising interest rates.

After spending millions of dollars on a new party donor database, the Conservative Party has scrapped that new system in favour of retaining the older one. One has to wonder how those party faithful who’ve contributed all this time feel about such a boondoggle.

Paul Wells talks about Stephen Harper and his media strategy.

Apparently Canada’s videogame industry contributes some $2.3 billion annual to the country’s GDP, which is kind of cool to know.

Here’s an official photo of the Princess Royal as the Colonel-in-Chief of the Grey & Simcoe Foresters regiment.

And Andrew Potter writes about the decline of the public intellectual with the rise of professors on the Internet, and what it means to academia and journalism.