The NDP have lost another MP, but this time the defection is very surprising. Sudbury MP Glenn Thibeault has decided to leave federal politics and run for the provincial Liberals in that riding. Thibeault said that it was a long decision making process, and that he felt the Liberals’ plans for the region were something he felt strongly about, but then he hinted to CBC Sudbury that he was not seeing eye-to-eye with the federal NDP, and that’s when the warning lights go off – especially because Thibeault was caucus chair until a couple of weeks ago. He wouldn’t elaborate on that fact when later asked about it on Power & Politics, but it is still a big klaxon that all is not as it seems in the NDP caucus. Remember this is the caucus that is always united and solidarity in all things. When cracks form below the surface, it’s always a bit of interesting Kremlinology, and while clues may be hard to come by as to what the divisions are, the fact that they are present does add more grains of salt to the constant assurances that the party has never been more united – a phrase they trot out every time they lose another MP.

Good reads:

• Here is Senator Salma Ataullahjan’s statement on the terrorist attack in Peshawar, her hometown.
• The Senate clerk is retiring two years before the end of his term, which leads to plenty of conspiracy theories about how this has something to do with the audit of the Senate.
• The government wants the Supreme Court to review the issue of CSIS requiring warrants for investigations abroad while their bill on CSIS goes through its process.
• The NDP are topping the hospitality expenses lists.
• Murray Brewster has details about options the navy has to fill their capability gap but seem unwilling to entertain.
• Tony Clement says that lapsed spending in federal departments is just good management and not an attempt to balance the books. I’m not so sure.
• My column this week looks at Conservative senators not doing their jobs with fixing flawed bills. The Senate leader’s office called me to say that by pointing out the error and having the government committing to fixing it was doing their jobs, but I’m not convinced.

Odds and ends:

The Foreign Affairs department is posting listicles on BuzzFeed as part of their social media strategy.

New rules are coming to help keep imitation maple syrup off the market.

Here is a fascinating profile of Senator Serge Joyal from 1982, before he began working on constitutional negotiations as then-Secretary of State.