The Senate bat-signal is calling me once more, and there’s plenty to discuss, starting with the fact that the Conservatives and Liberals have come to a decision about making space on the committees for “non-aligned” senators to get seats – likely two on each committee. It’s a tacit acknowledgment of the changes happening, and starts living up to a bit more fairness for the growing number of independent senators, but it’s not everything that it’s cracked up to be in part because this was a move made without consulting the Independent Working Group, which is organizing on behalf of seven of those independents (and may grow to include more as the new ones start getting their bearings). There were also 18 vacancies on committees, which this does fill. So it’s a good and welcome change, but there do seem to be a few questions around the process by which this happened.

Conservative and Liberal senators each give up a seat on committees for independent senators. #SenCA #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/G4iI5IieVd

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) April 18, 2016

As for Senator Harder’s budget request, I’m still having a hard time buying it. As he explained, he’s looking to hire a chief of staff (I’m dubious why), a senior policy advisor (okay), a director of communications (sure), three legislative assistants (three sounds like an awful lot), a director of parliamentary affairs (again, a bit dubious), plus an executive assistant and an assistant (I’m not sure why he needs both). It’s not like he has a caucus to manage, even if he is liaising with all parties in the Senate. He went on Power & Politics to insist that this is just like the previous Government Leaders got – but he’s not the Government Leader. They explicitly made this whole distinction so that it was going to be different. He’s not a cabinet minister, so I’m not sure why he needs the same staff as a cabinet minister would. His file management is minimal in comparison, and he has not caucus to manage, legislative agenda of his own to carry out. He’s sheperding the government’s agenda, and possibly answering questions on their behalf in Senate QP, maybe (which we’re not entirely sure about yet, and even then, he still wouldn’t need that much staff for that task). I remain dubious in the face of the task at hand, and the government’s insistence that they’re doing things differently, rather than just putting a new label on the position and being too-cute-by-half about it.

Good reads:

• The Conservatives are trying to make hay about Chrystia Freeland’s trip to LA, which they claim was to be on Bill Maher’s show when she had other legit meetings.
• The other faux scandal was that CRA employees attended Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada receptions with KPMG employees. And? Seriously?
• The Conservatives want to use a supply day motion to flog the dead horse of that legal fundraiser? Because there is nothing else going on in this country…
• Carolyn Bennett visited Attawapiskat with Charlie Angus, and made a promise for a new youth centre with programming.
• Thomas Mulcair says his convention loss may have been because it was in Edmonton, while his loyalists accuse some of organizing against him.
• Peter Kent thinks his party should ditch their membership fee, and criticizes their high convention fee.
• Only 65 percent of DND personnel in the National Capital Region have completed their mandatory security training by the 2015 deadline. Oops.
• Three more senators have repaid their questionable expenses, leaving one sitting senator left to do so.
• Former NDP candidate Jennifer Hollett obliquely writes about the party’s capacity for self-sabotage.
• Stephen Gordon has his own concerns about budget transparency.
• Michael Petrou and Shannon Gormley weigh in on the Saudi LAV situation; neither is impressed.
• Michelle Rempel writes about everyday sexism.

Odds and ends:

Omar Khadr has plans to get married.

Jason Kenney’s riding association doled out money to 44 other candidates during the last election.