Apparently we’re still talking about Kellie Leitch and her “anti-Canadian values” screening, because why not? The Canadian Press kicked off the day by putting Leitch’s assertion that it would be akin to “asking some simple questions” to their Baloney Metre™, and lo and behold, the experts they spoke to pretty much laughed it out of the room, earning Leitch’s supposition a rare “full of baloney” rating. It seems that “a few simple questions” just teaches people how to lie to give the “right” answers, and that proper interviews with people trained to know whether people are lying is so prohibitively expensive that it’s never going to happen. So there’s that. Much later in the day, Jason Kenney decided to weigh in from Alberta, and pretty much eviscerated Leitch by saying that this position is a new one for her that she never articulated before in cabinet or caucus, and that she doesn’t understand the nuance around the issue. But then again, we’ve pretty much established that Leitch lacks any real semblance of emotional quotient or self-awareness, so her inability to grasp nuance should not be a surprise to anyone.

Meanwhile, Peter Loewen reminds us that we’re not as perfectly tolerant as we like to believe, and he has the data to prove it, which is why Leitch’s message will find a home in places. Scott Reid looks over the record of Leitch’s campaign manager, who helped Rob Ford get elected, and notes that by this point, Leitch is less of a candidate than a strategy in human form (which is kind of what Jason Kenney is hinting at when noting that this position is all new for Leitch). Paul Wells notes the low ceiling for the kind of rhetoric that Leitch is now taking on, and while he sees the strategic value in such a position, he also offers some ideas for better choices than Leitch. Tabatha Southey offers her particular acid take on the Leitch situation, and her insistence on digging so much that she is in danger of becoming a mole person. And of course, there’s the At Issue panel looking at Leitch as well.

Good reads:

• All of the members of the NEB Energy East review panel have recused themselves, as the chair and vice-chair of the NEB, leaving the whole process in limbo.
• Three days before the election, Stephen Blaney issued a secret directive that would have allowed gun manufacturers to classify their own firearms. No, seriously.
• Apparently CSIS was so concerned about the uproar over C-51 that they started advising their sister agencies as to what they’re up to.
• Canada is going to try to broker an international agreement on airline emissions.
• Tens of thousands of Canadians responded to the consultations on legalizing marijuana. Go figure.
• The gong show that is Shared Services Canada is warning that they are headed for a deficit. Gee, you think?
• Anne Kingston asks if Justin Trudeau is a fake feminist, but for every good point raise there were three specious ones owing to a lack of understanding of our system.
• The court battle over the NDP satellite offices is coming up, and in the meantime, cross-examinations are starting to get underway.
• Remember the Jean-François Party – err, I mean Forces et Democratie, that breakaway Bloc/NDP party? They’ve been de-registered by Elections Canada.
• You can scratch Alexandre Boulerice from the list of would-be NDP leaders (though his separatist leanings would have made him a tough sell anyway).
• Stephen Harper emerges from hiding to write an op-ed praising Wilfrid Laurier, which might be trolling both the Liberals and his own party.
• Kady O’Malley wonders when the more technical electoral changes – stemming from the lamented Fair Elections Act – will end up being legislated.

Odds and ends:

The government is promising new CPP legislation in the coming weeks.