Roundup: Buh-bye, Pauline Marois

It was akin to a massacre. The results are in, and it’s certainly a majority and almost a landslide for the Quebec Liberals considering the predictions going in, while Pauline Marois lost her own seat, and the Charter of Quebec Values is being consigned to the dustbin of history. And yes, Marois is stepping down as leader, while Pierre Karl Péladeau all-but declared his leadership intentions. Mark Kennedy looks at what Couillard’s win means for federalist forces in the country, which might mean an effort to rebuild some bridges, and remember that Couillard has even mused about getting Quebec’s signature on the constitution at long last. Andrew Coyne says that after this many elections were a referendum has been resoundingly rejected that in essence, Quebeckers have not only accepted the constitutional status quo but have pretty much signed the constitution. Paul Wells writes that the PQ is stuck between an electorate that won’t buy their policies, a party base that won’t retreat, and the looming threat that they will become the Tea Party of Quebec. Here’s the At Issue panel’s reading of the election results.

The Board of Internal Economy has ordered the NDP to stop funding their “branch offices” using parliamentary resources, and will clarify the existing rules to ensure that there are no loopholes for this kind of activity in the future. The NDP continue to insist that they’ve done nothing wrong, and that the Conservatives and the Liberals are “changing the rules” on them.

The NDP are trying to move some procedural magic to expand the scope of the elections bill in order to strengthen Elections Canada. Apparently they don’t plan to move the motion at this point, but at least let it be known that the option is on the table unless the government decides to start being a little more cooperative.

Peter MacKay is promising a new bill to reform our prostitution laws before summer, and all of his talk about protecting the victims has me thinking that we’re going to basically see the Nordic Model (which will head directly back to the Supreme Court for having the very same failings as our previous laws did).

Here’s a look at Michael Chong’s second draft of his Reform Act.

In very curious news, the former co-manager of Attawapiskat – and partner of Chief Teresa Spence – is facing fraud and theft charges.

A McDonald’s franchisee in Victoria may be facing charges for abusing the temporary foreign workers programme, while Jason Kenney threatens to rain fire and brimstone down upon them.

A Russian diplomat is being expelled from the country, but we’re not exactly sure why.

Access to Information documents show that the Communications Security Establishment feared for the safety of its employees post-Edward Snowden leaks, and wanted them to be extra careful in casual conversations.

Aaron Wherry looks at how both the Conservatives and NDP have been trying to make Justin Trudeau’s personal wealth as a tactic against him, and notes the logical extension to this criticism. Liberal partisans also spent the day on the Twitter Machine pointing out that if being the privileged son of a former politician excluded someone from identifying with the middle class, then it would certainly have excluded Jack Layton as well.

Here’s the breakdown of sponsored travel by MPs. And remember, if we don’t want MPs to take trips on the dime of these kinds of interests, we need to provide them with travel budgets that we can hold to account.

Michael Petrou writes about the victory that successful elections in Afghanistan represents.

And former Press Gallery journalist Alice Musabende writes about her experiences as a 13-year-old survivor of the Rwandan genocide. It’s a harrowing read for the 20th anniversary of the genocide.