At the end of the first week of the Duffy trial, the Crown regained some of the ground that it was appearing to lose – it wasn’t just that the rules were loose, or that there was no definition around residency, but there was an expectation that senators behave honourably, and thanks to the actions of the likes of Duffy, Wallin, and others, that expectation is now being buried under new legalistic guidelines. There was also pushback to the notion that because the Prime Minister appointed Duffy a Senator from PEI, his residency was assumed to be genuine – there are limits, and as I’ve discussed on this blog previously, not only did the PMO not ensure that their ducks were in a row on that front before Duffy was appointed (as previous governments who took appointments seriously and didn’t make them in a panic had done), but they almost practically encouraged the alleged abuses of Duffy and Wallin in particular by that very act of not ensuring residence upon appointment. Duffy himself kept trying to get reassurance as to the residency issue – as his own diaries show – but apparently only enough to ensure that he didn’t need to make the effort of actually ensuring that he was properly moved to the Island as his principle residence. What should be addressed – but isn’t in the trial because it is beyond the ambit – is the fact that when the Queen or GG makes the appointment on the basis of the PM’s advice, it is assume that the advice is sound because of Responsible Government. In the case of Duffy, we can be reasonably assured that the advice was likely not sound – that Duffy was not qualified to be a senator from PEI, or Wallin a Senator from Saskatchewan. What that also means is that under Responsible Government, we get to hold that government to account, and there is an election coming up. Perhaps we need to remind people of that fact. Maclean’s also has commissioned comic strips of the week’s events, while Scott Reid gives us his take on the Duffy Diaries, and the defence to date.

Good reads:

• Thomas Mulcair explains about his childcare policy in more depth, but remains fuzzy on how he’s going to pay for it. (Corporate tax increases won’t net much money). That kind of childcare has mixed results economically and socially.
• Julian Fantino wants you to know that we can hold our own in the Arctic. Stephen Saideman shows why it’s not a big deal.
• The presidents of the four major federal parties took some questions about their readiness.
• The Ontario Superior Court is says the mandatory victim’s surcharge fee isn’t grossly disproportionate. Expect these challenges to escalate.
• The RCMP have confirmed that their statistics show that 70 percent of Aboriginal female homicides were caused by other Aboriginals.
• Susan Delacourt writes about the demise of Duffy and MPs like Scott Andrews as signs of change, and the ending of the old boys’ club in Ottawa.

Odds and ends:

Tyler Dawson writes about the government mythologizing the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

Here’s a look at Mike Duffy’s attendance in the Senate chamber, which was slightly better than on committees.

Ontario is expected to sign a cap-and-trade agreement with Quebec.

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