The Transportation Safety Board’s final report into the Lac-Mégantic disaster was released yesterday, and it was pretty damning when it comes to the responsibility that Transport Canada bears for not doing their audits or following up on it with a rail line that was found to be deficient in its compliance several times. (Video recreation of the disaster here). In the end, they came up with 18 different reasons for the disaster, that had one of them been addressed properly, things could have wound up differently. Part of the problem remains the lack of a proper safety culture, which has been criticized by no less than the Auditor General and a Senate committee report, and yet we’re not really seeing movement on it quickly enough. Paul Wells notes the government’s weak response, and asks about just what kind of responsibility they are going to take.

Surprising absolutely no one, the Conservatives have turned down any attempt to get a committee study into CRA audits of charities.

At the Liberal caucus retreat in Edmonton, Laura Payton talks to people who note that the party’s fortunes are the best they’ve been in at least a generation, while Mark Kennedy recounts that the party is getting ready for the election in the event that it happens earlier than the fixed date, and that they’ll have a fully costed platform ready when it happens. Prior to Trudeau’s press conference, the PMO sent out a rush press release full of a dog’s breakfast of talking points and vague (and in some cases disproven) allegations about Trudeau in the hopes that they would get journalists to ask those questions. It was a nice try, and they got roundly mocked for it.

Speaking of Trudeau, here’s an awkward little piece about politicians who need protection details, but the headline, that the break-in at Trudeau’s residence is the “price of political prominence” seems entirely dismissive of what it represents. Ujjal Dosanjh’s situation was not at all analogous, and there is a bit difference between bricks through a window and someone lining up butcher knives and warning someone to lock their doors.

Justin Trudeau wants to give your kids pot! Meanwhile, Peter MacKay is still looking at making pot possession a ticketing offence rather than jail time.

No matter that the bill to create it is in the early stages, the RCMP is already seeking public input on the website that will contain a high-risk sex offender registry. No word from the government yet on how this kind of a site won’t lead to a rise in vigilantism, which public registries in the States have led to, including one incident where someone came down from Canada and murdered at least one – the worst part being that the person was on the registry because of a close-in-age violation.

Ruh-roh! According to the veterans ombudsman, more than half of severely injured veterans aren’t receiving government cheques like they’re supposed to, and that most who are receiving a benefit are only receiving the lowest grade they are entitled to because bureaucrats are evaluating the guidelines too strictly. Julian Fantino’s response is to ask his department to consider the recommendations of the report.

It should be no surprise, but the topic of end-of-life care came up during the Canadian Medical Association meeting this week.

Here’s an interesting map about the international and US contracts relating to the F-35 fighter construction.

Former Prime Minister Joe Clark has registered to lobby on behalf of a French private equity firm that wants to bid on the replacement for the Champlain Bridge in Montreal.

Michael Den Tandt writes about Harper’s trip to the North, the promises of the past going nowhere, and wondering if Harper’s message will change along with the changing Arctic reality.

And Christina Spencer tries to get an answer from the government as to why they blocked that media briefing on Arctic sea ice levels, and aside from the answer that the information was on the website so no further briefing needed, they gave a bunch of bumf about how many responses they’ve given to journalists and interview requests granted – but amidst the quantity is a distinct lack of quantity, since most of those responses from departments these days are just emailed talking points or press releases, which don’t actually answer our questions, none of which are actually helpful.