Roundup: Standing Orders remain unamended

It’s not a big surprise, but the NDP’s motion on amending the Standing Orders to ensure that the relevancy rules include Question Period didn’t pass, but three Conservative MPs – Michael Chong, James Rajotte and Brian Storseth – did vote in favour of it, so read into that what you will. Kady O’Malley, meanwhile, provides three suggestions for how the Speaker could clean up QP, though I am unsure about them. In the first case, there are nominations to consider, especially if we want them to be open. In the second, I do have concerns about the theatricality of it, and in the third, the constant jockeying for future votes could become a continual distraction to the business at hand, and given that the position also has to do with the management of the broader precinct, not to mention diplomatic and ceremonial roles. I’m not sure how the possibility a constant revolving door every couple of years helps matters.

It is expected that Harper will brief his caucus this morning on the likelihood of sending CF-18s to Iraq as part of the effort to combat ISIS there. This would be the first step to bringing the matter before the Commons, where Harper plans to hold a confidence vote on the deployment. The matter was discussed at cabinet yesterday with the appropriate military and defence heads and advisors. Some of those same ISIS fighters were also rebels in Libya whom we were supporting to overthrow Gadhafi, curiously enough. Harper also promised yesterday that he wouldn’t get us into a “quagmire” in Iraq. Good to know.

The CF-18s, incidentally, will be getting life-extension upgrades to keep them flying for longer, given the delays in procuring next generation fighters.

The government’s plan for exit controls are at least three months behind, due to legislative and regulatory changes that need to be made as part of their border arrangements with the Americans.

RCMP headquarters told their personnel in Manitoba not to attend the launch of a counter-radicalization handbook assembled by a national Muslim organization because they disapproved of the adversarial tone therein. The RCMP participated in the creation of the volume by writing one section that explained the roe of law enforcement and national security agencies. Other sections in the handbook included discussions on getting involved with the political process in Canada to help affect change rather than to get involved with extremist organizations outside of the country to fight if one is angered about the state of affairs there.

Speaking of the RCMP, the government has directed them to set aside their decision to stop creating muskrat hats so as not to bow down to the pressure of animal rights groups and to help keep up the fur industry in this country.

The Premier of the Northwest Territories is looking to get American capital to create an “Arctic gateway” pipeline option to transport bitumen from Alberta to existing port terminals there, even though it would only be accessible five months of the year in the first phases.

Moscow is unimpressed that Canada didn’t approve the travel visas for eight members of their delegation to an international astronautical symposium that was entirely politically motivated – particularly because the two visas that were approved were for translators. The head of the Canadian Space Agency was blindsided by said decision as well, for the record.

PEI Senator Elizabeth Hubley was injured and was “almost lost” during a Fisheries committee visit to Norway last week when she fell from the boat into the water and broke her arm.

And my column this week looks at why voting on military deployments ends up being a trap for the opposition in our system of government, as it immunizes the government from future criticism and attempts at holding them to account.