Roundup: A few notes on the Gallery feud

Posted on by

I didn’t really want to wade into this, but I think it bears saying that much of this dispute between Press Gallery members over proposed changes to the constitution is nonsense. There was apparently an incident of harassment against another gallery member, and since it’s not being handled by an employer, it means it was likely allegedly done by a freelancer. Certain paranoid individuals with a grudge against the gallery executive spent the weekend stoking fears that these changes would allow government staffers and MPs to lodge baseless “harassment” complaints against journalists in order to silence or intimidate them – despite the fact that such a supposition would mean that the Gallery’s Board of Directors would be complicit in such actions of silence or intimidation, which defies credulity. Add to all of that, concern trolls over the Twitter Machine fuelled the flames into a full-blown fight, and some of those responsible for fanning the flames are marginal members of the Gallery at best, while members of the general public who’ve decided to weigh in with conspiracy theories that the PMO is trying to manipulate us are just turning this into a gong show. Everyone needs to calm down and trust that the Gallery Directors aren’t out to screw with them, and the concern trolls and Harper haters should probably mind their own business and let the members of the Gallery have their own discussions in a calm and rational manner. I’m sure the AGM on Friday will be interesting, but not if everyone comes into it with it all blown out of proportion in their own minds.

Good reads:

  • Emmett Macfarlane writes about the accusations of “judicial activism,” and what it really means beyond just sour grapes by those who disagree with decisions.
  • The Parliamentary Budget Officer talks about why he needs more power to compel the release of information.
  • Just a reminder that members of SIRC themselves say that they’re a review body and not oversight.
  • It looks like the Conservatives are unlikely to support the bill to make the national anthem more gender neutral.
  • CBSA’s attempt to train dogs to sniff out contraband tobacco turned out to be a big flop.

Odds and ends:

If you missed it, here’s the “Plane Talk” interview with Michelle Rempel from The West Block.

Sore loser David Bertschi is launching a lawsuit against three members of the top Liberal campaign team.

The Conservatives are going to reject today’s Liberal supply day motion about setting up a special committee to study doctor-assisted dying legislation, saying they’ll “consult” instead. Because that worked so well on the prostitution bill.