Canadian rock legend Neil Young has resumed his attack against the oilsands and the government, but along the way has decided that he’d make up a bunch of facts about the place. Things like the air quality there, which is supposed to be this burning toxic smog. Except that it’s not. My father works in the area, and has yet to say anything about the air quality, and he lived in China for several years and knows what poor air quality is really like. Or Young’s assertion that all of the oil sands product is headed to China. Really? How exactly is it getting to the coast? You know that whole issue about the Northern Gateway pipeline, or the possibility of rail transporting oil to Kitimat, which isn’t actually accepting those shipments because tankers aren’t coming into that inlet just yet? Yeah, that. It’s too bad that Young couldn’t inject a little bit of fact into his argument because while there are plenty of reasons to argue against the development of the oilsands, one might think that reality might be a good place to start.

New regulations were Gazetted over the weekend to ensure that all future rail tank cars are built to a tougher standard. It remains to be seen what will happen with the existing fleet of cars.

The fledging union for federal justice department lawyers is set to begin contract negotiations, and it looks like they may have more sympathetic ears among the Conservatives, not only because they’re the people who are drafting the bills and prosecuting cases, but because lawyers in the Conservative caucus have noted how underpaid federal Crown prosecutors really are compared to less experienced lawyers in private practice.

John Baird wants you to know that while we have our difference with Russia – like the anti-gay laws and the whole business of what’s going on in the Ukraine – our two countries actually work quite well together, especially with regards to the Arctic. Good to know.

Here’s a look at the Auditor General’s ongoing audit of the Senate, and how some are afraid that this is far beyond the “gentle” performance audit that they had believed that it would be.

The Bloc Québécois will hold their next leadership contest at the end of May. Two of their four caucus members have expressed interest in the job.

Here’s an interesting piece about the prostitution laws in Germany, and the debate there, where decriminalisation is seen by advocates as only the first part of the solution while abolitionists use a lack of data to their advantage as they call for an outright ban on prostitution.

Susan Delacourt writes about Republican consultant Frank Luntz’s disenchantment with the state of American politics, and wonders if that same “dark place” is headed up here to Canadian politics.

And Saturday was the 199^th birthday of Sir John A Macdonald, and Maclean’s headed to Glasgow to find his birthplace and legacy, to find that he is virtually unknown there, despite having founded Canada. The believed site of his birth is under the threat of the wrecking ball, but there are plans to fine some way to commemorate the site, and possibly preserve it. Saturday was also Jean Chrétien’s 80^th birthday, for the record.