While the battle over what’s happening at Veterans Affairs continues to rage, we are continually reassured by both the Prime Minister and the Original Series duotronic computer system known as Julian Fantino that we shouldn’t worry – that any cuts that have been made are all “back office” bureaucrats, and that front-line services haven’t been affected. Really! And while the example of cutting 12 photocopy clerks by moving to digitised medical records may be an example of those “back office” cuts, we should stop kidding ourselves – there is no neat dividing line between what is a front-line service position and a back-office bureaucrat because it’s the job of those bureaucrats to process the work of the front-line providers. If anything, this notion that back-office positions are being eliminated means anything, it’s that it forces more front-line workers to do the processing work themselves, essentially increasing their workload and making them less able to help veterans because they’re the ones busy processing the paperwork rather than focusing on the service aspect. Using the excuse of it being “back office” is largely a fictional distinction made for the sake of optics – but then again, that is the way that this government likes to operate, by photo op and announcement rather than by actual results, so this really should surprise nobody.

Good reads:

• Samara gave the NDP marks for best MP websites, but considering how many of theirs seem to be out of a box – the party has pre-made sites for them – the fact that they’re getting similar high marks shouldn’t be a surprise.
• The NDP are demanding changes to the private members’ bill on removing MP and Senator pensions if they are convicted of wrongdoing to be expanded to capture Dean Del Mastro.
• The government is going to ask the courts to force six First Nations to post their financial information, while another 50 will be denied non-essential funding until they comply. One does wonder what qualifies as “non-essential funding.”
• Christy Clark says the province’s deal with Petronas over LNG terminals is done, but there are still hurdles to overcome – mostly market conditions.
• Australia is going on a military spending spree while Canada’s procurement remains bogged down. Of note is that Australia is getting other countries to build their ships.
• It sounds like we’re going to help train Ukrainian military police. I wonder if James Bezan will join them on the ride over too.
• David Bertschi hints that he’s going to sue the Liberals for defamation in the wake of his failed nomination bid. My column this week looks at some of the factors in soured nominations like this one.

Odds and ends:

Here is Elizabeth May’s “Plane Talk” interview from The West Block.

Here is more about Will & Kate’s visit to America.

https://twitter.com/telegramjames/status/541991115516178432