Roundup: M-103’s ongoing morass

Posted on by

Some of the nonsense around M-103 and the Conservatives’ competing supply day motion that “all lives matters” the Islamophobia debate, continues to churn, with the Peel Regional Police announcing that they have added patrols and additional protection to MP Iqra Khalid following the revelation of the level of threats and harassment that she’s received over tabling the motion – basically proving her own point about the problem of Islamophobia that needs to be addressed before we have a repeat of the Quebec City shooting. But adding to the morass is when one of her Liberal colleagues, Chandra Arya, said that what happened with the Quebec City shooting was a “direct result” of the kind of dog whistle politics that the Conservatives and the Parti Québécois have been engaging in, with talks of niqab bans and barbaric cultural practices tip lines. That, obviously, has yet more people up in arms over the whole debate – a debate which prompted a “protest” outside of a Toronto mosque yesterday where people demonstrated that they were totally concerned about the vague language of “Islamophobia” and were really concerned with free speech rights, as they held up signs calling for Muslims to be banned from Canada – once again, proving the whole point of M-103.

https://twitter.com/Lazin_Ryder/status/832720205457395712

https://twitter.com/lazin_ryder/status/832721482241368066

Susan Delacourt contrasts the Conservatives’ two faces, cooperative on trade, but feeding demagoguery when it suits their needs. Paul Wells notes the Liberals’ ability to force Conservatives to deal with dilemmas like the one of M-103. Adam Radwanski chronicles the party’s collapsing big tent in the face of the rise in populist demagoguery. Andrew MacDougall warns the Conservatives about the dangers of peddling cynicism instead of building trust. Andrew Coyne writes about the importance of free speech and the problems with government-sponsored chills on it – which M-103 is not, by the way.

Good reads:

  • From Hamburg, Justin Trudeau warned a black tie crowd that they need to get real about the anxieties that workers feel, especially around trade agreements.
  • BC has signed onto the federal healthcare deal, and got some additional funds to help tackle the opioid crisis.
  • Canada’s NATO deployment to Latvia is rolling out slowly, in part because of preparations for cyberattacks.
  • General Vance says that relieving Vice Admiral Norman was the hardest thing he’s had to do, but still won’t say why.
  • Vance also says he’ll be reviewing the policy for tax-free status for troops abroad, and wants the forces to do better in fitting kit for women.
  • Experts warn that Trump’s fight with intelligence agencies could slow the flow of needed information sharing with Canadian agencies.
  • While senior RCMP officers are getting performance bonuses, understaffed frontline members’ pay remains stagnant.
  • Thomas Mulcair is demanding an accounting for allegations that Canada was spying on France’s 2012 election.
  • The NDP have announced that their leadership contest will have weeks of voting, and showcases for candidates to challenge one another.
  • Kellie Leitch says that Nick Kouvalis is still volunteering on her campaign.
  • Kevin O’Leary was campaigning by hawking wine on QVC in the States.
  • Brad Trost got no love for his CBC privatization bill yesterday. Awww.
  • Kady O’Malley sees procedural problems when opposition parties use their supply day motions to bigfoot the private members’ motions of MPs.
  • Chris Selley examines the legalities of the situation with those refugees crossing the border at non-designated points.

Odds and ends:

There’s a connection between Highclere Castle (the location of the fictional Downton Abbey) and the birth of Canada.

Scott Feschcuk satirically parses that Trump press conference from Thursday, and it all goes off the rails.

One thought on “Roundup: M-103’s ongoing morass”

  1. What M-103 shows is how much work has to be done in Canada to change attitudes and educate a largely intellectually lazy public. That is the difficult part, the Motion will soon be forgotten.

Comments are closed.