Roundup: Talking over criticism

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We saw more testimony on C-51 yesterday, pretty much all of it scathing in one way or another – not that the Conservatives on the committee were really open to hearing such criticism, and went so far as to mischaracterise some of the comments on the evening political shows, and talking over those witnesses while in committee to attempt to make their points for them. One of the witnesses yesterday was AFN national chief Perry Bellegarde, who wants the bill withdrawn for not having consulted with First Nations, because he sees it as an assault on their rights, saying that they have been labelled as terrorists for standing up for their rights and lands. (I can’t recall this government ever having done that, for the record, and I think his argument is a bit of a stretch, but maybe that’s just me). A former head of SIRC – and former Progressive Conservative cabinet minister at that – called the bill a constitutional mess, which is a pretty good indication that the criticism on the bill is coming from all sides – not just the environmentalists and civil libertarians. The Conservatives, meanwhile, have blocked the Privacy Commissioner from appearing at committee, but they insist that he was “consulted” on the bill. The problem there is that he didn’t see the bill before it was tabled, which is really tough to call it consultation since he couldn’t see the language of what he was supposed to be consulted on. John Geddes profiles the two law professors who have taken the lead in pointing out the many flaws in the bill, who also appeared yesterday.

Good reads:

  • The Provost Marshal of the Canadian Forces acknowledges lapses in the Cpl. Stuart Langridge investigation, but says the whole Military Police shouldn’t be tarred with the same brush.
  • The government has curtailed debate on their “zero tolerance for barbaric cultural practices bill” for no reason. Here’s a reminder from Senator Jaffer why this is a bad bill.
  • Peter Mansbridge has a lot more details about that friendly fire incident in Iraq.
  • Benjamin Oliphant writes some more about the supposedly “activist” Supreme Court.

Odds and ends:

The government will finally start offering benefits to injured reservists, a move possibly motivated by the death of Nathan Cirillo.

Stephen Blaney wouldn’t comment on the allegations that Canadian intelligence was involved in those three British schoolgirls crossing into Syria to join ISIS.

The CRTC plans to virtually do away with CanCon requirements in favour of investment requirements, which may be the death knell of our film and television industry.