Of all of the hopeful and optimistic things that our new cabinet ministers have been talking about, one is already raising alarm bells, which is our new heritage minister, Mélanie Joly. Joly says that her ministry is one about symbols, and she is going to go about changing those symbols to ones of “progressiveness,” saying that those promoted by the previous government weren’t those shared by Canadians. That of course is total nonsense, but it all points to the kinds of revisionism that both parties engage in, even though everyone seemed to think that it was only the Conservatives who did it. While some of this is no doubt in reference to the Conservatives’ fascination – almost to the point of fetishism – with military history and those particularly martial symbols, we shouldn’t pretend that we don’t have these traditions in Canada. Previous Liberal governments indeed liked to do so, with a focus on peacekeeping that may not have reflected reality, or at least the modern reality where the global landscape has changed and those kinds of missions may no longer be feasible the way they once were. The other one that I’m particularly worried about is whether this means that Joly will engage in a purge of monarchical symbols that the Conservatives themselves restored after decades of Liberals trying to push them aside. One of the things that I cannot forgive either the Liberals or NDP for doing in the previous decade was the way in which they allowed the Conservative government to politicise the monarchy by pretending that it only mattered to Conservatives. When they would reintroduce a monarchical symbol, they would complain rather than acknowledge that yes, we are a constitutional monarchy and we should all embrace it and its symbols rather than allowing one party to associate itself with it to the exclusion of all others. Unlike some other Liberals, Trudeau doesn’t appear to be a republican in his sentiments, and has stated that he has no intention of trying to distance Canada from the Crown, but when Joly starts talking about revisionism based on an exclusionary conception of who is and isn’t Canadian (and in this vision, Conservatives apparently aren’t), I worry. Revisionism is going to happen, but it should be called out as much as it was called out under the Conservatives because it’s still distasteful, no matter whose agenda it’s carrying out.

Good reads:

• New environment minister Catherine McKenna is already in Paris for pre-COP21 talks, but it’s already late enough in the process our impact is likely to be modest.
• The new health minister says that she’s going to start talking with her provincial counterparts about a new health accord starting this week.
• Immigration minister John McCallum says that refugee healthcare will likely be restored in a few months.
• Here are some of the machinery of government changes the Liberals put through in their first couple of days.
• If you’re not tired of me talking about it, here’s The Canadian Press on possible consequences of Trudeau’s moves in the Senate.
• Here’s a look at new MP orientation.
• The Liberals seem to be set on reviving the labour-sponsored venture capital funds, which have been demonstrated to be poor policy.
• Thomas Mulcair was at the BC NDP convention, putting lipstick on the pig that was his election losses. Michael Den Tandt wonders how long he can stay on as leader.
• Correctional investigator Howard Sapers wants the Liberals to reappoint him to the job after the Conservative said they wouldn’t.

Odds and ends:

Library and Archives is now in negotiation with Harper for his papers from his time in office.

Scoff Feschuk proposes what should be the first bill of the new parliament, to ensure that the Christmas season doesn’t start until December 6^th. (Minor quibble in that it should be C-2, not C-1).