The Royal Tour has begun, which means we’re already being inundated with a bunch of ridiculous stories about “is it worth the price,” or treating the Canadian Royal Family as foreign curiosities when the Canadian Crown is a separate and distinct legal entity from the British Crown (well, unless you happen to follow the logic of the previous government, whose changes to the Royal Succession Act without going the constitutional amendment route put us on par with Tuvalu in terms of making our relationship with the Crown a subordinate one, but we’ll see if that survives the court challenges). Suffice to say, yes it’s entirely worth it because it’s a very small amount of money, and their touring for a week costs us less than it does for Obama to visit for an afternoon, they draw a lot of attention to a number of worthwhile causes that the Governor General never could, and hey, we’re a constitutional monarchy so it pays for us to act like one from time to time. And to all of those pundits who insist that it’s time that we “grow up” as a nation and “leave the Queen’s basement,” how’s that republic to the south of us doing when it comes to selecting a head of state? Yeah, I thought so.

Meanwhile, here are some photos from the arrival, along with a look at the symbolism of what Kate was wearing. The tour promises to focus on social issues like the environment, young families, and mental health issues. Sunday, they met with young mothers in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side battling addiction issues, before visiting the re-opened Coast Guard base at Kitsilano (which isn’t a dig at the previous government that closed the base at all). Later this week, they’ll visit the town of Bella Bella, which has managed to basically solve its suicide crisis.

https://twitter.com/adamscotti/status/779825920093728769

Good reads:

• Somehow, people continue to be confused by Stéphane Dion clarifying that there’s no negotiation for an extradition treaty with China, only a high-level dialogue.
• Here’s a look at the tough choices Trudeau faces ahead with pipelines and LNG projects as First Nations mount opposition.
• The government has only committed to building 300 new housing units on First Nations reserves this year, when the backlog is more like 20,000.
• Jane Philpott say she’s not upping the health funding escalator ahead of negotiations. Kathleen Wynne says she’s fine with new money with strings attached.
• The Canadian Forces are getting lots of new sexual misconduct reports, but have trouble tracking convictions.
• The government received their Supreme Court nominee short-list on Friday.
• There are rumblings about the government in Atlantic Canada over their Supreme Court seat and carbon pricing.
• After a week of pearl-clutching over legitimate expenses, here’s a look at actual theft and fraud by civil servants.
• More actually questionable spending, this time with internal surveys and focus groups at the NFB over their office relocation.
• Kellie Leitch tells her supporters that “elites” are upset that she’s carrying the Canadian flag on the cover of Maclean’s. And that’s not why they’re upset.
• Adam Radwanski looks at the government’s big-picture plans on China, or whether they exist at all yet.
• Jaime Watt would have us remember that the life of an MP is pretty unglamorous.
• Paul Wells wonders if we’ll see any pipelines built in the face of mounting opposition.

Odds and ends:

Here’s a look at the “orientation” offered to new diplomats and their staff posted in Ottawa.

Canada is one of the donor nations losing patience with the constant delayed elections in Haiti after the previous (clean) election was invalidated.