When its release was announced, I approached it with trepidation – based on the discussions to date, it was bound to be a horror show. Surprisingly, however, the report on how to make the House of Commons more “family friendly” was less ambitious than it could have been – so far, at least. There were many issues left unresolved for the future, and I’m sure that they plan to address some of those issues in a future report, which could indeed be that report that I’m dreading. Overall, however, they decided against the four-day workweek, and haven’t done anything particularly ridiculous like electronic voting or Skyping into committee meetings. Recommendations did include:

• Maintaining the motion to keep most votes after QP, but not changing the Standing Orders so as to keep flexibility in the system
• Not holding votes after Thursday QP so as to let MPs be flexible with travel arrangements
• Moving the date up for deciding on next year’s calendar for better planning
• Having House Administration provide flexible childcare options at the Members’ own hourly cost
• Letting MPs’ families have access to their calendars
• Better flexibility with the shuttle bus service on the Hill
• Looking at amending the travel point system with regard to families.

While the worst of the previously discussed options were not recommended going forward, and some of the more nonsensical issues like decorum in the Chamber (which has to do with family friendliness how?) had no recommendations, I still think that some of these recommendations have problems. In particular, demanding that House Administration provide childcare options is an issue because uncertainty of usage is costly – do you have childcare workers essentially on standby? How does that work for them, exactly? As well, I find the demand that the Commons provide this service to be a bit rich because these MPs should be able to find solutions on their own. After all, they make $170,000 base salary per year – they can afford to find their own childcare options, whether it’s a nanny or whatnot. The recommendation around travel points is also a little unsettling because it amounts to reducing the transparency around travel so as not to discourage family members from travelling to Ottawa by opening themselves up to criticism. While I do think that we have a problem with petty, cheap outrage when it comes to reporting on MPs’ expenses, I also think that we should use the opportunity to have a discussion with Canadians about the effect of travel on MPs and their families rather than just shaming them without any pushback. After all, we should address these issues rather than just letting the cheap outrage narrative carry the day.

Good reads:

• The amended Bill C-14 passed the Senate 64-12, and now heads back to the Commons. We’ll see how many of those amendments will be adopted.
• Youth voter participation was officially way up in the last election (as was Indigenous voting). BuzzFeed’s take is here, and thoughts from Samara Canada here.
• The bill to establish a parliamentary oversight committee for national security will include additional criminal sanctions for those MPs who leak secrets.
• Building on entry-exit commitments with the Americans, a bill was tabled to enable CBSA to collect basic biographic information on those leaving the country.
• That federal lawsuit related to injured veterans has revived the notion that the government doesn’t owe a duty of care, despite the Liberals saying otherwise.
• Here’s a look at the potential pitfalls with the town hall process for electoral reform, given that we’ve already had one riding association in the headlines.
• Despite Mauril Bélanger’s national anthem bill passing the Commons, it doesn’t look like it will pass the Senate until the fall thanks to Conservative recalcitrance.
• Senators’ concern about the disruption caused by work on the East Block while they’re still in it could cause delays in the overall Parliament Hill plan.
• The Senate Liberals’ “open caucus” heard about the problems of mental health in prisons.
• Economist Trevor Tombe approves of the Senate’s report on interprovincial trade barriers. The Commons voted down a motion to force the issue in the courts.
• Stephanie Carvin and Jez Littlewood look at the problem of domestic terrorism.

Odds and ends:

Here’s an interview with the Clerk of the Privy Council on his job with modernising the civil service.

The CRTC is mandating local programming rules and creating a fund for said programming, provided broadcasters keep those local stations open.