Roundup: Committing to change – for real!

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A rare bit of public damage control was on display yesterday as CBC obtained a copy of the orders that the Chief of Defence Staff put out two months ago, which told the nascent task force being assembled to deal with the forthcoming report by former Justice Marie Deschamps on sexual assault and harassment in the Forces, to basically set aside some of the coming recommendations. At this point in the timeline, General Lawson would have seen a draft copy of Deschamps’ report, and he would have had a good idea what was in it for recommendations. Within hours of the CBC report going public, Lawson put out a lengthy press release stating that the Forces would act on all ten recommendations, including the creation of an independent centre for reporting assault or harassment. A few minutes later in Question Period, Jason Kenney also said that all ten recommendations would be acted upon as well. It does make one wonder when any change in these orders occurred, and why Lawson changed his mind – though one can imagine that either the final wording of Deschamps’ report, and how it was received by both the government and the general public, may have forced a realisation that there was a real appetite for cultural change out in the wider public, and that the old way of dealing with issues internally, particularly with its culture of misogyny, weren’t going to cut it any longer. Meanwhile, it should also be pointed out that the Canadian Forces appointed a female commander, Brigadier General Lise Bourgon, to head our forces in Iraq, and more women in high-profile commanding roles can only help in driving home the message that it’s not a macho boys’ club any longer.

Good reads:

  • The government is using the latest omnibudget bill to retroactively change the Access to Information Act to protect the RCMP for not turning over any long gun registry information.
  • The government denies that they trying to use the RCMP release of the Ottawa shooter video to bolster the case for C-51.
  • It looks like the PMO won out in the war of wills with the military over giving more information on the mission to Iraq, which of course serves political ends.
  • The Quebec National Assembly unanimously panned the NDP promise to create a ministry of urban affairs, since municipalities are a provincial jurisdiction.
  • Mike Moffatt wonders if there is a problem with Statistics Canada’s job market data.
  • Prince Charles’ correspondence with the government has been made public. He’s been concerned with things like agriculture and badgers. No, seriously.
  • Over on Canadaland, I wrote about the way our evening political shows treated the Elizabeth May speech.

Odds and end:

Patrick Brown has now resigned is federal seat now that he won the provincial PC leadership in Ontario.

Four years after the government made a big deal of their “fairness at the pumps” law, no monetary fines have been collected.

The City of Ottawa is starting the process of formally opposing the Victims of Communism monument placement.