Roundup: The trial begins

Posted on by

The day has finally arrived, and the Mike Duffy trial can begin – and let me say, if you were sick of hearing about it before it began, well, the wall-to-wall coverage is going to be insufferable, especially over the next two weeks until the Commons resumes its sitting, and we’ll get a budget. And you’ll forgive me if I’m not one of the people who is expecting this to be a litany of fireworks and bombshells that will damage the PMO. If anything, I would presume that the judge would take a dim view of any attempt to make this a trial of Stephen Harper’s government rather than of Duffy’s culpability in his own affairs. After all, he signed off on all of those expenses, and he bears responsibility for everything, up to and including accepting that cheque from Nigel Wright. The rest – trying to pry open the inner workings of the PMO, as much as Duffy’s lawyer may try to bring this up to portray Duffy as the victim or a pawn in these machinations, I doubt will hold much water. In fact, even the most recent “shocking” revelation has nothing to do with the PMO, but rather with Duffy’s own hand in things. So no, I really don’t think this is going to be cause for Harper to sweat or lay awake at night – one doubts that Duffy has too much dirt left that can damage him at this point. (Incidentally, the Maclean’s Duffy trial page is pretty sweet, particularly the Scott Feschuk humour pieces.)

Good reads:

  • The Parliamentary Budget Officer gets a new tactic to counter stonewalling – going to committee chairs to use their power to compel papers and records.
  • The military has struggled to recruit mental health workers in part because they can’t compete on pay scale in some parts of the country.
  • Stephen Harper heads to the Summit of the Americas in Panama on Friday, despite the frosty relations with Mexico and the US.
  • The Information Commissioner says that when journalists don’t bother asking for information that may be a cabinet confidence, she can’t review if it should be confidential or not.
  • With the US looking to get back into the peacekeeping game, here’s a look at whether Canada can retool our forces to get back to it as well.
  • Here’s a look at Lt-Gen. Jonathan Vance, our likely next Chief of Defence Staff.

Odds and ends:

NDP MP Isabelle Morin is being questioned about using her parliamentary email to recruit volunteers for electioneering purposes.

The federal government is unloading their GM shares, which looks like how they’re going to balance the budget.

PEI has called an election for May 4th, while Alberta is expected to drop their writs today.