Roundup: Say no to a Charter Rights Officer

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The Canadian Civil Liberties Association is leading a push for the creation of an independent Charter Rights Officer for Parliament, and that sound you hear is my head hitting my desk over and over again. Because no. We don’t need yet another officer of parliament. We really, really don’t.

What we need is for MPs – particularly the opposition – to stand up and actually do their jobs, rather than fobbing off their homework onto yet another officer, who is accountable to nobody, whose reports they can then wield like some kind of a cudgel while not actually fulfilling their own responsibilities as parliamentarians (which, I will remind you once again, is to hold the government to account). The proliferation of officers of parliament has so diminished the capacity of the opposition to do their gods damned jobs in this country that it’s embarrassing, and since the inception of the Parliamentary Budget Office, it’s only become so much more egregious because now they can ignore the Estimates cycle entirely (despite controlling the public purse being the inherent definition of what MPs are supposed to do, and how they hold governments to account).

Oh, but it’s hard! Oh, but why not cede this to subject matter experts like lawyers and judges? Oh, why don’t we just start pre-referring all bills to the Supreme Court of Canada while we’re at it and turn the dialogue between the Court and Parliament into a game of “Mother May I?” Honestly, would it kill MPs to actually debate policy, which Charter compliance is a big part of? Parliament has responsibilities to fulfil. Why don’t we actually make them do their jobs rather than finding yet another excuse for them to avoid doing it?

https://twitter.com/emmmacfarlane/status/780387082682458112

https://twitter.com/EmmMacfarlane/status/780387432789401600

https://twitter.com/EmmMacfarlane/status/780396554620469249

https://twitter.com/EmmMacfarlane/status/780400062300090368

Good reads:

  • From the royal tour, Will & Kate went to Bella Bella and joined Great Bear Rainforest conservation to the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy
  • Here’s a bit of an exploration of the complex relationship between the monarchy and First Nations.
  • Bill Morneau said it’s still too soon to tell if their new programmes like the Canada Child Benefit will stimulate the economy.
  • The government may be looking to phase out the Canada Savings Bongs programme.
  • Journalists continue to be mystified why Dion would take exception to the over-reading of a dialogue that includes extradition, which is not a treaty negotiation.
  • Because we’re still talking moving expenses, Butts and Telford were unaware of the full costs, McCallum’s office had a contract employee, and Brad Trost needled Guy Giorno.
  • The former Chief Statistician continues to warn that the gong show known as Shared Services Canada will become a money pit for the government.
  • During his time, said Chief Statistician was also contemplating replacing the short-form census with some kind of digital register.
  • Canadian academic Homa Hoodfar was released from Iranian prison thanks to high-level contacts and the assistance of Italy, Switzerland and Oman.
  • BC Civil Liberties Association is challenging the citizen revocation laws in court, and points to how the Monsef case is an example of its absurdities.
  • Federal public servants are being accused of not taking “lockdown” exercises very seriously.
  • Kady O’Malley previews the return of the Senate, which happens today.
  • Stephen Gordon sees room in the debate where the NDP can take up space, but also tells them what planks they’ll need to abandon to do it.

Odds and ends:

The NDP have tabled a bill to repeal the old C-51, because yay simplistic solutions.