The issue that dominated Question Period and the headlines yesterday – that the PMO was trying to direct the Senate’s Internal Economy Committee to protect Duffy from internal audits – is one that needs a bit of a deep breath before we freak out about it. For starters, we need to be aware that Duffy and his lawyer are deliberately stoking this in order to direct the attention toward Harper and the PMO as their way of exculpating Duffy. Number two, that any “conspiracy” within the Senate to protect Duffy has largely been limited to a couple of players and not the chamber as a whole. In this case, it seems to be largely three key players – then-leader Marjory LeBreton, Harper loyalist Carolyn Stewart Olsen, and David Tkachuk. That Stewart Olsen might be doing Harper’s bidding is no surprise, and while Tkachuk should have known better than to take PMO direction, he has been playing his own power games within the Senate (including a few nasty leaks to the media designed to undermine people). The other thing that should be pointed out is that Senate administration – the Clerk and a senior staffer conducting an internal audit – were trying to point to the nebulous rules around residency and were getting pushback from Stewart Olsen and Tkachuk, and in Stewart Olsen’s case, the motives were likely self-interested given her own problematic residency situation at the time. That internal audit was not killed, in part because of legal action threatened by the Clerk, but it does point to the fact that while rules could be nebulous, the staff was trying to ensure that there was some due diligence, and Duffy would have been caught up in that exercise. That the PMO was trying to take the heat off of Duffy with a later external audit is concerning, but should be for the rest of the Senate. They have institutional independence for a reason, and they are betraying their role when they take that kind of direction. Of course, Harper created the situation where a number of senators would take direction by flooding the chamber with so many pliable rookies at once who wouldn’t hesitate to take orders. It’s one of the things that the late Speaker Nolin was trying to change – getting senators, particularly those in his own caucus, to take their roles more seriously. None of this should detract from the fact that Duffy still bears responsibility for his own actions, and that senators themselves should be telling the PMO to shove off. We shouldn’t let Duffy and his lawyer play us to confirm those facts.

Good reads:

• The Duffy trial heard about his partisan travel activities, and about the Wikipedia vandalism he was subjected to.
• Omar Khadr got bail, and spoke to the media for the first time ever, asking Canadians to give him a chance.
• Contrary to what the government said, their propagandists got briefings on operational security and those videos shot in Iraq were not vetted by DND.
• The government under-spent their budgets on social services by some $97 million last year, $30 million of which in youth unemployment.
• Mike Moffatt shows how the Liberals’ childcare plan can help reduce child poverty, while others fear it could cause a new “brain drain” in Canada.
• Thanks to the Fair Elections Act, the spending caps in the three by-elections (to be cancelled by the general election) will be huge.
• The Canadian Press’ Baloney Meter™ fact-checks Pierre Poilievre’s insistence that the opposition will cancel income splitting for seniors. (Hint: Total baloney).
• Colby Cosh’s tale of the decline and fall of the PC dynasty in Alberta is a fantastic read.

Odds and ends:

Former cabinet minister Peter Penashue’s official agent is now facing charges for the last election.

Philippe Lagassé keeps up the fight against the incorrect term “Premier-Elect.”

Here’s a look at some of the aspects of the new omnibus budget bill.