Roundup: Deciding on a witness list

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We have our preliminary witness list for the C-51 hearings, and lo and behold, none of those four former prime ministers who signed that open letter are on it – and it’s just as well, because if there’s one thing the country doesn’t need, it’s former prime ministers to be arm-chair governing and telling people what to do. Yes, they raised concerns, which is fine, but bringing them to a Commons committee would be little more than an exercise in opposition MPs trying to get them to say how awful the current government is, while the governing party MPs would be doing their best to discount those former prime ministers because of previous scandals, etcetera, etcetera. The only real purpose in having them testify would be for the media circus value, which I’m not sure helps anyone in this situation, and would probably detract from the seriousness of the issues at hand. The same goes for former Supreme Court justices, despite the fact that Justices Arbour and Major are possibilities on the list, though you could maybe convince me about Justice O’Connor – a former Associate Chief Justice of Ontario – to talk about his conclusions from the Arar inquiry, which haven’t yet been addressed. Arar himself is also on the list, as are some former members of SIRC and a few different activists who have concerns of their own, which does the balance the list out so that it’s not just security experts but also those who have civil society concerns. It should be interesting nevertheless, but hopefully they won’t all be crammed onto overstuffed panels where nobody really gets a chance to speak – though that does seem to be the way things go these days.

Good reads:

  • As his term as Chief of Defence Staff nears its end, General Lawson has asked not to be extended, meaning the search for his replacement is on.
  • Canada’s first female Major-General will be in charge of coming up with a new sexual harassment policy once the report from former Supreme Court Justice Marie Deschamps is completed.
  • The government says that making marijuana possession a ticketing offence is still a possibility, but with time running out, one wonders if this won’t be an election issue to counter the Liberal legalisation position.
  • A joint First Nations/federal government working group report says that resource revenues sharing needs to be a priority, as does greater consultation with First Nations.
  • Kady O’Malley looks at the consequences of the Conservatives overturning a ruling of the chair at Public Safety committee, and what that could mean going forward.

Odds and ends:

The country’s planning professionals add their voices to the complaints about the Victims of Communism Memorial site.

Here’s a look at what it’s like aboard the submarine HMCS Victoria.

https://twitter.com/ashleycsanady/status/572756526319837185

https://twitter.com/davidakin/status/572920493147332609