The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada responded to the government’s media releases and included a timeline of events to show that there was no undue influence in the Nadon appointment. One could question if it was appropriate to flag the issue on July 31, but it certainly doesn’t appear to have unfolded the way that the PMO has insinuated. Harper and company continued to make some baffling assertions, like Harper saying that he discounted any advice about potential problems with nominating a Federal Court judge in Quebec because coming from McLachlin, it would have been improper – it simply makes no sense. So is insinuating that McLachlin should have known that the case would come before her, since she’s not clairvoyant and wouldn’t know that Harper would appoint a judge in such a manner, or that a legal challenge would come. Former Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, who appointed two Supreme Court justices under his watch, confirms that the Chief Justice would have been one of the people consulted in the process because she knows what kinds of expertise the Court needs at the time. Aaron Wherry rounds up more reaction to the dispute here.

AFN National Chief Shawn Atleo abruptly stepped down from his position yesterday without explanation, though it was almost certainly because of pushback from some chiefs over his cooperation with the government on the First Nations Control of Education Act. Incidentally, the C.D. Howe Institute has given its support for the bill, in part because it closes the funding gap and because it should have a measurable effect on dropout rates.

Former Chief Electoral Officer Jean-Pierre Kingsley says that he’s still concerned about the amended Fair Elections Act, that the ID requirements will result in self-disenfranchisement, and that he’s still waiting for actual evidence of fraudsters. He also has some criticism of that report that dropped the robocall investigations in all but Guelph, saying he would have actually been more placated if they had compelled testimony and still came up with those answers, but without that power, he is still left with concerns.

Rosemary Barton got a draft copy of the special Commons committee report on violence against Aboriginal women, and it did indeed recommend a public inquiry – something that was left out of the final version. The RCMP confirmed that their figures show that the numbers of missing and murdered Aboriginal women is closer to 1200 over the past thirty years, though some of those names date back to 1952. The government still has zero inclination to call a national inquiry, part of which could look at why the police have been notoriously unresponsive over the years.

It appears that the RCMP didn’t consult the Director of Public Prosecutions when they decided not to lay charges against Nigel Wright. But remember – all will be revealed in due course.

Maclean’s has a bunch of charts about the aging workforce in the federal civil service.

John Baird is calling for the ouster of the head of VIA Rail after a series of signal malfunctions at rail crossings (though I wonder if this is solely a VIA problem, as I would think that VIA is probably not the only rail company that uses those rails).

A NATO briefing with top commander, US General Philip Breedlove for Canadian journalists was cancelled and replaced with a media event with the Canadian Chief of Defence Staff along with Breedlove. Why? Message control. Of course.

Canada is sending 50 soldiers to Poland as part of the NATO training exercises taking place there, also to do with shoring up forces in the area because of Russian actions in Ukraine. The Dutch foreign minister was in town yesterday and NATO’s pushback against Russia was a topic of discussion.

The Conservative riding association in Ottawa South says that David McGuinty is a part-time MP – but have produced false numbers to support their claims given that, well, the House doesn’t make attendance records public, and the voting record is an entirely flawed document, as is number of entries in Hansard without counting committee work. But hey, false attendance numbers apparently worked during the last election, so I see that this is going to be a tactic once again.

In case you were wondering, Eve Adams has been given the go-ahead to run for the nomination in Oakville North–Burlington, and that vote should be taking place shortly as the membership sales cut-off has now passed.

As it happens, part of the nomination questionnaire that parties ask prospective candidates to fill out for geenlighting includes an agreement not to run against the party, either for someone else or as an independent, if they lose the nomination. Just in case anyone was wondered about Rob Anders or Christine Innes.

In Ontario politics, after NDP leader Andrea Horwath announced that she would not be supporting the budget, Premier Kathleen Wynne went directly to the lieutenant governor and advised him to dissolve the legislative assembly and call an election. The vote will be held June 12.

And in an interview with CBC’s Wendy Mesley, Tom Flanagan savaged Stephen Harper yet again. It’s quite the conversation.