Roundup: Unrest in the ranks

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There appears to be some unrest in the Conservative ranks, we’re starting to hear – both in the caucus and the party machinery itself. While it’s not unthinkable for a party that has just lost an election, they seem to be doing some questionable things. Things like trying to bar defeated candidates from one last caucus gathering that’ll allow them to vent and hug it out behind closed doors. Denied of that, they’ll likely start talking to the media, their muzzles loosed. It’s started, even with some that were not defeated (but more on that in a moment). Behind the scenes, there’s some rancorous finger-pointing going on with Jenni Byrne in the centre of it all. And while this takes place, Diane Finley stepped forward to make it known that she is officially interested in becoming interim leader, as Rob Nicholson has so far unofficially. What was curious was the way in which Finley went onto Power & Politics to make her case about needing to transition from a more “authoritarian” PMO to a “collaborative” OLO, and basically shrugging off her participation in said authoritarianism. She touts her management experience, but what I heard from civil servants during Finley’s first go-around as minister of Human Resources was that she walked into the building and told everyone that they were all Liberals and she was going to fix the joint up. Collaborative! (She later went to Immigration and broke the system, creating massive backlogs by refusing to make appointments to the Immigration and Refugee Board until she had re-jigged the selection process. Management skills!) Word also has it that both Jason Kenney and Kellie Leitch have their leadership teams assembled, so that race could easily kick off right away. Whether they wait to hash out what happened over the election that led to their demise, or they discuss what kind of reorganization the party needs before they get into the leadership process, doesn’t seem to be a concern yet at this point. We’ll see if that’s a problem going forward.

Good reads:

  • The Trudeau family likely won’t be moving into 24 Sussex Drive because of the urgent need for renovations (but it’s not yet guaranteed).
  • Trudeau’s crowd-friendly nature could pose a problem for his RCMP protection.
  • Lindsay Tedds pushes back against Kevin O’Leary’s dire warnings that higher taxes on the wealthy will cause a “brain drain” in Canada.
  • Here’s a look at Kent Hehr, the Liberal who took Calgary Centre.
  • The Liberals didn’t spend anywhere near their spending limit in the campaign, and will likely only have a small campaign debt.
  • Peter Julian will remain House Leader for the NDP. Because that worked out so well the last time.
  • Susan Delacourt writes about what she’s learned about Trudeau over her time covering him.
  • Kate Heartfield and Chris Selley both push back against the notion that the Conservatives need to adopt “Sunny ways” to win.
  • Scott Reid wonders about the merits of Thomas Mulcair staying on as NDP leader.
  • Colby Cosh smashes some romantic notions about “family farms” as Saskatchewan tries to bar investors from buying farmland.
  • Here is Paul Wells’ amazing long-read about the election.
  • Tabatha Southey adds her voice to those who want the world to get over Trudeau’s hotness.

Odds and ends:

Ralph Goodale is the only MP to have served under both Prime Ministers Trudeau.

Here’s a look at the woman who is commanding the Canadian mission in Iraq.