Roundup: Not expecting many budget surprises

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It’s Budget Day – err, I mean Economic Action Plan 2015™ Day, and all of the big stuff has pretty much leaked already – because apparently there are no penalties for this kind of thing anymore when that it used to be a serious issue that was investigated by the RCMP. Suffice to say, Joe Oliver promises it’ll be balanced (and got some New Balance shoes as the most dad joke of Budget Day gimmicks ever), and we hear there will be things like some more money for security agencies, and more compassionate caregiver leave (but that’s coming out of the EI fund, which is already artificially high and being used to pay down the deficit), and they keep hinting about raising the limit on TFSA, and finally giving that adult fitness tax credit. And then there’s the fact that the government has been putting out all kinds of advertising to ensure that people don’t forget to sign up for the new child benefits – after all, they want to ensure that they’re in people’s bank accounts before the election so that they can warn that those awful Liberals (and NDP) will take them away. So there’s that. I guess I’ll see you after the lock-up with the rest of the details.

Good reads:

  • Week three of the Duffy trial began with more testimony from people who got paid from that alleged slush fund, plus here’s the Nicholas Köhler take.
  • A naval reservist whose vision was permanently destroyed by a misdiagnosis by military doctors is being denied further benefits, while they wash their hands of responsibility.
  • The Senate Speaker is vowing to continue the overhaul of that chamber’s expenses reporting.
  • The head of CSIS says the “foreign fighter” phenomenon is 50 percent worse than before – but in context, 50 percent more of a tiny number is still a tiny number.
  • While the government continues the fire sale of our diplomatic residences, they’re planning a “prestigious” new embassy in Tel Aviv.
  • There seems to be a significant number of deaths among the Canadian Rangers in the North.
  • Kate Heartfield mercilessly mocks the notion that America may not be “ready” for a female president.

Odds and ends:

Senator Marie Charette-Poulin, who was co-chair of the Joint Committee on the Library of Parliament, is stepping down for health reasons.

The former Clerk of the Privy Council is headed to a law firm as a “strategic and policy advisor,” since he can’t lobby for five years.

The government is finally issuing a new passport to Mohamed Fahmy.

Programming note: Because I will be trapped in the budget lock-up, I’ll miss the first QP recap in over five years. You have no idea how much this pains me.