It really was a little bit embarrassing – or would be, if he had even a millilitre of shame. Pierre Poilievre rushed everyone to a microphone yesterday morning to announce the “next part” of the Trudeau Tax™ that he’s trying to push as a talking point – that Justin Trudeau said that he would impose a new mandatory “payroll tax” for pensions like is happening in Ontario, with a dollar figure attached and everything. Which, of course, is a complete fabrication as Trudeau said no such thing. I know, because I was there sitting in front of him when he talked about CPP enhancement in his Wednesday press conference. And throughout Members’ Statements and Question Period, as many Conservatives as possible tried to make this very same claim – Harper going so far as to call it a “$1000 pay cut” – even repeating it in response to NDP questions. Way to make them feel relevant! Much in the way that Trudeau’s supposed “gaffe” about fairness was a legitimate point of philosophical difference that is being turned into an attack line, this hint at a policy discussion yet-to-come, which would need to be discussed with the provinces in any eventuality, is being morphed into something sinister and being associated with specific dollar figures where no pronouncement has been made – not that facts have ever mattered to the Conservative attack machine. (Witness “budgets balance themselves” which actually followed the phrase “when the economy grows,” which is true and the Conservatives have said so themselves on numerous occasions). So while we again have an area of legitimate philosophical difference – whether Canadians are saving enough, whether a mandatory plan is the best vehicle to fund retirements – it’s being turned into this dumbed-down populist talking point that obliterates nuance or the truth about what was actually said. But apparently veracity doesn’t matter because election. Or something. (But if you want to discuss nuance and policy, Jennifer Robson is glad we’re talking CPP expansion again.)

Good reads:

• Self-employed mothers are taking up the government’s EI benefits at a mere three percent of the numbers they expected when they introduced the programme.
• Graphic postcards showing Justin Trudeau and an aborted foetus continue to be sent out, which is a bit ridiculous because all party leaders are pro-choice.
• As the Truth and Reconciliation Commission draws to a close, Paul Martin says we need to act on funding for First Nations education.
• Nobody can answer if putting the RCMP in charge of Hill security will actually make MPs safer, or will affect parliamentary privilege, but they’ll bulldoze it through anyway.
• Apparently the government will announce a number of new defence procurement contracts – just in time for the election.
• After the debate on doctor-assisted dying, a Conservative MP who has never broken ranks is suddenly concerned about MPs voting their conscience.
• Over at the National Post, I lament the further degradation of Question Period.

Odds and ends:

The government has made the legislative change to remove the GST from feminine hygiene products, effective July 1^st.

Labour Minister Kellie Leitch is in Nepal in her capacity as a surgeon helping earthquake victims there.

The NDP want the Board of Internal Economy to investigate if Patrick Brown used parliamentary resources for his Ontario PC leadership bid. Apparently it’s only a “kangaroo court” if the NDP is in trouble.