This wailing and gnashing of teeth going on about whether or not the Conservatives may have damaged NAFTA renegotiations by going to the American media to bellyache about the Omar Khadr settlement is kind of tiresome, but I have to wonder if some of the angst or even analysis on this isn’t misplaced. While sure, there are points to be made about how going there is a bit of hypocrisy going on, where Andrew Scheer insists that it’s totally different for the Conservatives to go down about Khadr while at the same time saying it was “treasonous” for Thomas Mulcair to go to Washington to decry pipelines doesn’t pass the credibility test, I also don’t think that Scheer can credibly claim that If the Khadr payment hurts NAFTA that it’s Trudeau’s fault because it comes off as petulant.

Roland Paris gave some additional thoughts here:

https://twitter.com/rolandparis/status/888034179056840705

https://twitter.com/rolandparis/status/888037607019610113

https://twitter.com/rolandparis/status/888038959632314369

https://twitter.com/rolandparis/status/888043257300738048

There was an additional comment (that I can’t find to cite) that what’s more suspicious is the fact that the Conservatives had to go to the States to drum up outrage over Khadr because they weren’t getting much traction on it in Canada, as they were already preaching to the converted. I think that’s a fairly trenchant observation, and I have to wonder if it’s also because they chose particular American outlets that won’t offer pushback to their points that are factually wrong, which they wouldn’t get in Canada. Certainly Rosemary Barton wouldn’t abet the same kind of disingenuous commentary that Michelle Rempel pushed, and I think that’s also part of what we should take away from the exercise, beyond the fact that this performative outrage could backfire and cause problems with NAFTA in the age of the Uncertainty Engine taking more cues from Fox & Friends than he does with his officials.

Meanwhile, Paul Wells sees little trouble for Liberals in the polls post-Khadr settlement, so it seems like there’s little backlash (as those who were against Khadr seem unlikely to change their votes). Kady O’Malley meanwhile wonders if dragging the Americans into the Khadr file isn’t going too far.

Good reads:

• Justin Trudeau continues to insist that they fully vetted Julie Payette and nothing they found disqualifies her from serving as GG.
• The Conservatives, incidentally, aren’t making hay of this.
• Kelly Knight Craft had her confirmation hearing at the US Senate regarding her nomination as Ambassador to Canada.
• Canada may have to face the task of repatriating ISIS fighters captured in Iraq before they are mistreated, lest we face another Khadr situation.
• Here’s a look at phrases from the budget that didn’t pass focus group testing.
• Davie Shipyard unveiled our leased, converted new supply ship, the MV Asterix, which will fill the stopgap until new Joint Supply Ships can be built.
• 225 more military personnel are joining the 150 already assisting with the BC forest fires.
• Apparently, Canada’s coolest PM is not Justin Trudeau, but Kim Campbell.
• Andrew Scheer unveiled his revamped House leadership team, with Lisa Raitt as deputy leader, and Mark Strahl as the new Whip, but Bergan still as House leader.
• Robert Hiltz has some good insight into Quebec’s privileged quasi-secularization and the denial of permission to build a Muslim cemetery there.

Odds and ends:

Here is a look at the bureaucratic approvals needed for Transport Canada to make their AT-AT recall tweet/webpost on May the 4^th.