The Supreme Court of Canada heard the arguments in the assisted suicide case yesterday, where the BC Civil Liberties Association’s disabled lawyer smashed the arguments of disability groups warning of a “slippery slope,” where the government put forward arguments in favour of a blanket ban that the Justices could scarcely believe, and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada’s lawyer made specious comparisons to capital punishment. In all, it was a fascinating day at the Court, and we’ll see what decision comes down in a few months’ time. Carissima Mathen gives her recap and analysis to Power Play here.
Never mind that the government is three months behind on meeting their targets with respect to introducing some kind of information sharing system with the US for tracking suspecting jihadis as they leave the country. Stephen Blaney says it’s good enough that we’re moving in the right direction. Okay then.
That Canadian Forces member quarantined in Belleville tested negative for Ebola, in case you were worried. Meanwhile, the government is promising an additional $30 million in aid to help combat the outbreak. The NDP are asking for more details on the government’s plans to deal with any cases in Canada.
A review conducted by the Department of National Defence is warning that the Royal Canadian Navy is facing some serious challenges in meeting is basic readiness requirements, what with more boats tied up, some of them rusting out, supply ships and most of our destroyers being retired ahead of schedule with no replacements, and not enough of an operational budget to keep the ships we do have in the water and crewed up. How many times have we heard tales of the government scrambling to find enough money to send ships out on basic patrols? And the minister’s response? To proclaim how great the fleet modernisation programme is going to be, once they finally cut steel several years hence. And then there’s this very practical concern for the RCN’s future:
https://twitter.com/pmlagasse/status/522539869332307968
That final move of retired General Andrew Leslie, that everyone has piled on about? Well, he was about one of 300 of such same-city moves in the past few years. Which really makes it look like the pile-on was indeed a political smear, especially after they changed the eligibility of the programme to make an example of his case, thus depriving future retiring members of any fairness in its application. Also, the fact that the department was preparing a defence of the programme before Nicholson stepped in, catching his own officials off-guard, adds fuel to the speculation that it really was a politically motivated smear.
The government has formally named the new headquarters for the Department of Finance and Treasury Board as the Jim Flaherty building. This is unfortunate because it effaces the name of the building it replaced, the Lorne building, which has a great deal of significance to the Crown in Canada. The Marquis of Lorne was our fourth (and youngest) Governor General, and husband of Princess Louise. It was during his tenure, and Louise’s residency in Canada, that helped shape much of the way in which the Canadian Crown evolved. One would imagine that Lorne has a more meaningful impact on our development as a country than one finance minister, no matter that he was beloved and passed away suddenly.
Economists are warning that the government may want to hold off on tax cuts if we’re going to start seeing falling oil prices, which will affect government revenues. Andrew Leach writes about the problem that Alberta may be facing if oil prices stay as low as they’re falling to now.
Professor Jennifer Robinson points out that the NDP’s $15/day childcare plan advantages wealthier parents – after a day of people taking to the Twitter Machine to assert that reasoned economic analysis of that universal plan was somehow “mansplaining.” Andrew Coyne offers his own analysis of the politics versus the policy that Mulcair is offering.
Leona Aglukkaq claims that she denied NDP MP Dennis Bevington’s request to speak at the Arctic Council meeting last March was because the schedule was just so packed that there wouldn’t have been time. Bevington says that he knows many of the sessions ended early and there would have been time. This government? Actively silence voices that disagree with them? Perish the thought!
A report in the journal of Nature warns that natural gas may not just be a “bridge” to a greener economy – it could delay de-carbonization because said natural gas is cheaper than many renewable alternatives at this point, and it may reduce some GHG emissions, but increased use – because it’s cheap – could actually increase said emissions.
And the government has embarked on a $4 million programme to start advertising the sesquicentennial coming up in three years’ time, with ads promoting the Fathers of Confederation and such. The NDP think it’s pre-election advertising by the government, but it’s hard to see any connection that they’re trying to make between the current government and the past. You don’t have to let the Conservatives own history, or the monarchy for that matter (which has been one of the opposition’s most blatant mistakes).