Roundup: Senators get their funds

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In case you missed the news, the new Independent Senators Group got core funding to hire staff to help coordinate independent senators’ activities and logistics. This came around the same time that they managed to strike a deal when it comes to getting more independents on committees without waiting for a prorogation to hit the reset button as the rules would otherwise dictate. Why this matters is because it allows the ISG to effectively organise their own members, to help them hire staff and do things like that – efforts which Government Leader – err, “representative” Senator Peter Harder has been attempting to bigfoot with his own offers to help these senators get staffed up and offering briefings and assisting in legislative coordination and so on. The fact that he represents the government and has been sworn into the Privy Council – regardless of his protestations that he’s independent because he’s actually not (you can’t be both an independent and represent the government – it’s like being half-pregnant) – makes this a blow to actual independence that these senators are supposed to be exercising. Giving the ISG the funds to do that on their own is an important step. Of course, the same piece mentions that Harder plans to move motions in the Senate in the spring related to his ability to restyle his title as he wishes, and that I have a problem with. This particular semantic game that he and the Trudeau government are playing around his role is a very big problem when it comes to how the chamber operates in our Westminster system, and Harder playing silly buggers with what he calls himself in order to cloak his role with the government is a problem. He and this government need to drop the charade and just come clean – Harder should be a cabinet minister in keeping with the role, and be the point of contact for accountability in the Senate. Playing games around it weakens accountability and the duty of the Senate in that role.

Meanwhile, with the appointment process for six upcoming vacancies having been announced, we also got the release of the report on the statistics from the previous round (highlights here). Maybe this time we’ll see an appointment from Southwestern Ontario, a new LGBT senator or even someone from outside of the social sciences!

Finally, Senator Denise Batters appears to have broken the rules to record a video in the Senate Chamber, accusing Trudeau of authoritarian tendencies in trying to destroy opposition in the Senate. While her basic premise – that there is a movement to shut down the position of Official Opposition in the Senate – is correct and concerning, Batters cranked it up to eleven in being completely overwrought about it, and does more harm than good to the issue. I’m not sure how much the move to weaken Official Opposition in the Senate comes from Trudeau or from Harder and his particular vision of Senate “independence” where he can co-opt the independents to his causes, but that remains a concern that I’ve heard from not only the Liberals and Conservatives in the Senate, but a couple of the independents as well. But this kind of stunt doesn’t help.

Good reads:

  • In Calgary, Justin Trudeau said that Canadian firms will capitalise if Trump pulls back on climate change measures.
  • Trudeau also said that national security agencies must obey both the letter and the spirit of the law when it comes to surveillance of people like journalists.
  • Here’s a recap of Trudeau’s editorial board meeting with the Vancouver Sun talking about pipeline protests and party fundraising.
  • Surprising absolutely no one, the Ethics Commissioner found that there was no wrongdoing (or even overcharging) with Jane Philpott’s car service.
  • Most ministers didn’t need to move offices so they had low renovation costs. Those who were new ministries needed offices. Imagine that!
  • Sound the cheap outrage klaxon! It cost money to put the PM’s RCMP contingent while he was on a 10-day vacation, and cabinet ministers have to rent apartments!
  • The Liberal MP who opposed Kinder Morgan along with his constituent says he respects Cabinet’s decision, and points to things like carbon pricing.
  • The CRTC has listed broadband Internet as a basic service like telephone.
  • Senior public servants got big bonuses before the election for reaching their deficit reduction targets.
  • What’s that? The ion scanners that the Conservatives spent tonnes of money installing in prisons are notoriously unreliable? You don’t say!
  • Andrew Scheer has over 50 endorsements now (but 20 of those are Saskatchewan MLAs), while Stephen Blaney is trying to fundraise on the German terrorist attack.
  • Stephen Gordon writes about the problems of economy and geography, and how Canada does a better job of bridging the two with equalisation payments.

Odds and ends:

The nomination race in Ottawa Vanier is starting to heat up, with 3000 registered Liberal supporters and 10 nomination candidates.

https://twitter.com/alisoncrawford5/status/811721598097125376

https://twitter.com/journo_dale/status/811648381005271040