Roundup: Open federalism vs carbon pricing

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With the premiers in town for a Council of the Federation meeting, Justin Trudeau took the opportunity to have a sit-down with Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, and amidst the chiding of the PM for not deigning to make an appearance, one of the things they talked about was carbon pricing. Trudeau is walking a particularly fine line when it comes to the role of the federal government and the provinces in combating climate change, and this is nowhere illustrated better than in the way that different media organisations wrote up the comments. CBC focused on the fact that Trudeau thinks the federal government should leave it up to the provinces, but still have a role to play. The Canadian Press, meanwhile, wrote it up as the federal government needing to take a leadership role, and that the absence of that has forced the provinces to go it alone. Now, the two aren’t mutually exclusive, but it does point to the ways in which attempts to have nuanced policy can lead to misinterpretation and trouble, and it also becomes apparent that Trudeau will need to come out with a much more clarified position as to just what kind of leadership role he thinks that the federal government needs to play on the file while still letting the provinces do their own thing. Open federalism is a real thing, but there will need to be some kind of clarity as to roles, expectations, and of course the important question of who is paying for what, that will need to form part of that discussion going forward.

Good reads:

  • The new anti-terror bill being tabled today is apparently going to give CSIS new powers to “disrupt” but not arrest terror suspects. Oh, and MPs who want a briefing will have to miss QP, which is one more bit of contempt.
  • The government has spent $57 million over the past nine years on outside consultants to help with Access to Information requests. In Health Canada’s case, it may be justified because their records are a mess (and I speak from experience).
  • The Chief of Defence Staff and Minister appeared at a joint committee yesterday to answer questions on the Iraq mission. Philippe Lagassé explains how the PM didn’t really mislead the Commons over the mission.
  • Federal prisoners will now get powdered instead of fresh milk, because there is no end to the number of dickish things this government will do in the name of saving a buck.
  • Senate Liberals, many of them veteran campaigners, are not playing an active role in the coming election, though some may help on local campaigns.
  • Senate Speaker Nolin is trying to put a more non-partisan stamp on his office.
  • That Dean Del Mastro fundraiser that was funnelled through the Peterborough riding association’s books to give people tax receipts was given the a-okay by Elections Canada.
  • Paul Wells writes about Harper’s reluctance to meet with the premiers and the PM’s latest video “exclusive.”

Odds and ends:

The CRTC Commissioner made some bold statements about net neutrality and the value of local news. Oh, yeah, and American Super Bowl commercials.

The Conservatives keep talking about lowering taxes, yet they collected more of them last year. They also keep saying the Liberals and NDP would kill their child tax benefits, which is fact-checked as “full of baloney.”