Roundup: Countdown to an announcement

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Word has it that on Friday, Stephen Harper will announce our combat role in the fight against ISIS in Iraq. It also sounds like two of our refuelling jets are being readied for the mission. That will mean that Parliament will become seized with the debate and eventual vote (never mind that it’s a trap) early next week. There’s also no indication where he’ll make that announcement, but it’s unlikely to be in the Commons, because, well, it’s a Friday and Harper never, ever darkens the door of the Commons on a Friday (let alone makes a major announcement there, but that’s another story). Andrew Coyne gives his thoughts on a deployment here. That said, I think this talk about decisions to put soldiers into harm’s way needing some kind of special consent and the knowledge that our parliamentarians have our soldiers’ backs is a bit overblown, while pressing for a vote can simply curtail debate and damage accountability.

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In case you missed it, Harper confirmed today that there are only 26 Special Forces personnel on the ground in Iraq, and not the 69 figure that we were given earlier, though they keep insisting that number was an “up to” figure (though it’s a strangely specific number to be “up to”). Meanwhile, the Canadian Forces slashed their ammunition procurement orders this year, leaving questions about their preparedness for any kind of mission to Iraq.

If you were wondering why the Commons committees haven’t resumed sitting yet, it’s because the report that lists their revised membership hasn’t been adopted. Why? Because the NDP is blocking it, and we’re not exactly sure why. But there is a lot of work for said committees to do, and time on the parliamentary calendar is short, so it’s remains a mystery why they’re denying the ability for them to meet, after they’ve already blocked their ability to do any travel. And really, do they think these kinds of tactics won’t come around to bite them? Note that this shutting down of committees comes after their constant attempts at Twitter-shaming Conservatives who “don’t show up for work” (when they were actually not putting any more speakers forward in order to hasten the collapse of debate), and it would look particularly worse that they are blocking everyone from doing committee work.

Not surprisingly, the federal government has opted to appeal the Federal Court decision which overturned refugee healthcare cuts as being “cruel and unusual.”

Health Canada is banning drug ingredients from three factories in India because of quality problems. One generic drug manufacturer in Canada refused to pull the products from the shelves containing these ingredients, and they currently don’t have the power to compel them, forcing them to take these further actions.

It looks like the government is going to be tinkering with the New Veterans Charter once more, because of the volume of complaints of angry veterans who are not better off under the new system.

What’s that? Merging CIDA into Foreign Affairs turned into a major human resources headache, complete with attempts to play around with job classifications? You don’t say!

It was been announced that the Franklin expedition wreck discovered was HMS Erebus, meaning that HMS Terror remains to be found.

Former dominatrix Terri-Jean Bedford is consulting with sex workers across the country about her threat to out politicians who employ sex workers, and as expected, the results are varied, from those who don’t want to ruin their livelihoods to those who only want to out those politicians who are advocating in favour of Bill C-36.

Randall Garrison’s transgender rights bill is finally going back before a Senate committee, where there will be amendments proposed. Garrison meanwhile grouses that the Senate sat on it (except their rules don’t allow private members’ business to be expedited, and the legal and constitutional affairs committee has been busy with a number of government tough-on-crime bills that must take precedence), but it should also be said that standing back and complaining about the Senate isn’t the best policy when it comes to bringing senators onside to move your bill forward.

Saskatchewan regional chief Perry Bellegarde is going to run for AFN National Chief in December. He ran previously against Shawn Atleo.

Maclean’s interviews the premier of the Northwest Territories about his “Arctic Gateway” proposal.

And James Munson has a longform piece on the problems with violence and mining companies in Guatemala, and the Canadian connection to those problems.