Despite the short window of planning, the Day of Honour went off rather well yesterday, and Stephen Harper didn’t commit a gigantic breach of protocol when he turned over the last flag from Kabul – inside of an ornately carved baton carried by a group of soldiers who passed it along in a relay from the base at Trenton – over to the Governor General after it had been passed to him. This was a last-minute addition to the programme, no doubt sparked by the outcry about the planned breach of protocol. Nevertheless, the fact that Harper inserted himself into that handing off of the flag innately politicised the whole affair, and taints the whole separation from the government of the day by which the military operates. It’s why they answer to Her Majesty and the Governor General is the Commander-in-Chief – so that they are not tied to the politics of the day. And yet Harper needed to become part of that, his presidential envy still evident. While the ceremony included soldiers giving thanks for support and the GG and Harper giving thanks to them on behalf of the country, events took place around the country, Thomas Mulcair in Montreal and Justin Trudeau in Calgary. John Geddes has a fantastic recap of events here, with photos from the event here. Kady O’Malley Storifies how MPs marked the day both in Ottawa and across the country. PostMedia talks to soldiers who are proud of their accomplishments in Afghanistan.
As the Royal Canadian Navy cuts civilian staff positions so as not to cut those in uniform, they face a staffing crisis as critical positions are being left vacant, and they’re struggling to maintain even minimum staffing levels. But who needs seasoned, experienced workers who can keep the service going smoothly?
The federal government is proposing new regulations to make it easier to strip search inmates in prisons in an attempt to crack down on drugs. Of course it’s a waste of time, and not only because of a lack of effective drug treatment programme spaces within the prisons themselves, but ask anyone who has done any study of the prison system and they’ll tell you that it’s the guards who do the majority of the smuggling, but nobody is proposing that we strip search them.
Municipalities are extremely unhappy with the federal government after they released the guidelines for Building Canada Fund applications at the very last minute before the programme opened up, leaving the provinces scrambling (as they are part of the approval process). Small surprise that it’s going to cause delays for this year’s infrastructure projects, and nobody is happy about that.
The Canada-EU trade agreement has not been finalized yet because of familiar irritants like intellectual property rights in the pharmaceuticals sector, and financial services, tariff rates, investment protections and other “technical matters” that have proven to take longer to sort out than initially believed.
Oh look – another report, this time from the London School of Economics, that warns about how much of a useless drain that the failed war on drugs is. And what is this government’s response? You guessed it – keep on doing what they’re doing, no matter how much is has been a global failure. Well done, guys!
The NDP oh-so-cleverly tried to show up the Liberal infographic about their leader going on tour, but it’s pretty disingenuous as Thomas Mulcair is barely there more than Trudeau or Harper, unless Mondays don’t count on the political calendar any longer.
A former Filipino diplomat and his wife have been charged with human trafficking offences relating to a nanny that they brought into the country and then seized her documents and had her working in unsuitable conditions. They have since left the country.
Here’s an interesting conversation with UOttawa law professors Carissima Mathen and Adam Dodek about the spat with the Chief Justice and the way the government has handled the aborted Nadon appointment from the beginning, including an interesting conversation about the way the government is using the legal opinion they got from Justice Binnie.
Administrative law professor Paul Daly looks at Justin Trudeau’s Senate appointment plans in relation to the Supreme Court Senate reference, and believes that it wouldn’t require any kind of constitutional change.
Susan Delacourt writes about the revolving door in Stephen Harper’s office, and his tendency not to take advice, but just to “do what’s right.”
And Tabatha Southey struggles to understand Harper’s fight with the Chief Justice, finding it to be little more than a temper tantrum that seeks to have Canadians lose faith in their institutions.