There is a certain level of obtuseness that eventually has one seeing conspiracies where none exist. I am forced to conclude that Conservative MP Scott Reid has reached said level in his QP performance yesterday, with regards to the Senate appointment process, and in particular how it applied to future senator André Pratte, and his holding property in the designated Quebec senatorial district that he is due to represent. Pratte has not yet purchased property in that district, and thus, his swearing-in will be delayed until it happens. Reid, however, sees collusion and conspiracy in this. In QP, he phrased it as such:

If Mr. Pratte was on the list, the Quebec board has broken its requirements to only nominate qualified persons. If any of the seven was not on the lists, then the prime minister has broken his promise to rely upon independent advice. And if there was any communications between the prime minister and the advisory board to smooth out these wrinkles, then talk of the advisory board being independent is a farce. One of these three scenarios is what actually happened. Which one is it?

It’s not surprising that Maryam Monsef evaded in her answer, because the question is wholly unreasonable. The qualifications for appointment mirrored the constitutional requirement, but because Pratte has not been sworn in yet, the district question is not yet triggered – he has time to hold the property in that district until he is sworn in. The independent board very likely identified him as otherwise qualified, and asked him about his ability to purchase property in the identified district when he was contacted as part of the process. Pratte himself told the media that he was contacted by the committee and submitted a kind of form to say why he felt he was qualified to them. There is no indication that the Prime Minister had any part in that, and if Pratte says that he was contacted by the Board, it’s quite obvious that he would have been on their short list submitted to the PM. And if the Board recommended him and said “He’s working on the property requirement in the district we’re slotting him into,” that is not collusion or making a farce of their independence – it’s being reasonable with regards to the Quebec requirements. If the Board had to limit their search to qualified candidates who already owned property in said district, it would have needlessly limited them for something that has been common practice for Quebec senators for over a century. That Reid is trying to make a conspiracy out of this is galling, particularly when you consider the issues of other Senators that Harper appointed who had residency issues upon appointment – Mike Duffy, Carolyn Stewart Olsen, Dennis Patterson, and possibly even Pamela Wallin. They were sworn in before they had their own residency issues sorted, Pratte has not been. One shouldn’t be surprised, considering that Reid has been similarly obtuse in his reading of the Supreme Court reference decision on Senate reform, and his demands that short lists be made public (despite the fact that they are not for any other Governor-in-Council appointment). It would be one thing if Reid were simply doing is duty in holding government to account, except that this isn’t it. This is inventing accusations out of whole cloth, and he should know better.

Good reads:

• Bill Morneau has rejected the idea of keeping EI funds in a separate account instead of general revenue.
• While the budget doesn’t list new home care funds, the health minister says that will be part of their new agreement with the provinces.
• Here’s more about what the budget has for students and youth.
• CBC found a report that Shared Services Canada commissioned about using outsourcing to save money. In QP, Judy Foote rejected its conclusions.
• Here’s a look at the budget’s reliance on recovering tax revenues from foreign shelters and uncollected debts.
• BuzzFeed takes a look at which MPs took sponsored trips last year.
• The government won’t appeal the court ruling around letting some people grow their own medical marijuana, and promise new regulations by August.
• Senator Bob Runciman, a former Ontario solicitor general, is calling for a new head of Corrections Canada after the latest Correctional Investigator report.

Odds and ends:

Elizabeth May spent more than any other leader to hold onto her seat in the election.

Senator Elaine McCoy has been named the first “facilitator” of the Independent Working Group, to help get that ball rolling.

11 years ago today, #Indp @SenElaineMcCoy became a Senator. #SenCa #CdnPoli. Now she's 1st Facilitator for the Indp Working Group.

— Elaine McCoy (@SenElaineMcCoy) March 24, 2016