At long last, the Senate has responded to Senator Mike Duffy’s lawsuit against it, and is asking the Ontario courts to remove it from the suit because of parliamentary privilege. This was to be expected, and I’m surprised it took this long, but here we are. Duffy’s lawyer says that he’ll fight it, of course, but he’s going to have an uphill battle because this is very much a live issue.

For a refresher as to why this matters as an issue of privilege is because it’s about the ability of the Senate to discipline one of its own members. This is especially important because the Senate is a self-governing body of Parliament, and because it’s appointed with institutional independence and security of tenure in order to ensure that there is that independence. In other words, the Senate has to be able to police its own because there’s no one else who can while still giving it the ability to be self-governing (as we explored in great detail over the Auditor General’s desire to have an external audit body oversee the chamber’s activities). And indeed, UOttawa law professor Carissima Mathen agrees that it would be odd for the Senate not to have the power to suspend its own members, and raises questions about whether it’s appropriate for the judiciary to interfere in this kind of parliamentary activity. (It’s really not).

The even bigger complicating factor in this, of course, is that NDP court case trying to fight the House of Commons’ Board of Internal Economy decision around their satellite offices. The Federal Court ruled there that it’s not a case of privilege (which is being appealed), and Duffy’s former lawyer, Donald Bayne, said that this is a precedent in their favour while on Power & Politics yesterday. And he might have a point, except that the Commons’ internal economy board is a separate legislative creature, whereas the Senate’s internal economy committee is a committee of parliament and not a legislative creation. This is a Very Big Difference (and one which does complicate the NDP case, to the point that MPs may have actually waived their own ability to claim privilege when they structured their Board in such a fashion – something that we should probably retroactively smack a few MPs upside the head for). I don’t expect that Duffy will win this particular round, meaning that his lawsuit will be restricted to the RCMP for negligent investigation, but even that’s a tough hill to climb in and of itself. He may not have much luck with this lawsuit in the long run.

Good reads:

• Justin Trudeau says that he’s aware of the challenges facing the MMIW inquiry, but he is a long way off from scrapping or resetting it.
• Trudeau also said that his discussions with John Kerry on the Aga Khan’s private island were mostly about the incoming Trump administration.
• Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion wants to press ahead with reforms to the Conflict of Interest Act around gifts and penalties, as well as the “friends” rules.
• Navdeep Bains says it’s “bullshit” when companies say they don’t have enough talented women to promote to leadership positions.
• There are grumblings that the government may be looking to “tweak” their progressive trade agenda after facing resistance from China and Japan.
• The government says it’s reaching out to faith-based groups to allay their concerns over the attestation required for summer jobs funding.
• The government announced $20 million in funds to help combat sexual violence against vulnerable populations including Indigenous and LGBT Canadians.
• The Bank of Canada raised interest rates another 25 basis points, which means more expensive mortgages. Future hikes could depend on NAFTA uncertainty.
• While Canada pledged more to assist with enforcing sanctions at the summit on North Korea, there’s not much else we can do, apparently.
• A rounding error cost dozens of veterans $600/month in payments, but apparently “the system worked” in terms of an ombudsman complaint getting results.
• The case of Hassan Diab could mean a push to overhaul our extradition laws.
• The BC Supreme Court has struck down the current system of administrative segregation in prisons. The bill to amend the system won’t meet this new test.
• A UOttawa student wants to sue the government because Elections Canada don’t provide “none of the above” on ballots. (I have a big problem with this).
• While some, like Elizabeth May, wants MPs’ covered legal fees published to reduce harassment, there are warnings that this will simply increase partisan warfare.
• Kady O’Malley takes a look at what resolutions are on offer at the upcoming Liberal policy convention.
• Andrew Scheer has managed not to badmouth the government while in Washington.
• Brad Trost is entering into a protracted legal fight with the Conservative Party over the allegations that he leaked the membership list during the leadership contest.
• Here’s a reality check on the Conservatives’ claim that federal “tax hikes” cost families an added $2200 a year. (Spoiler: CPP hikes are not taxes).

Odds and ends:

It turns out that some of the most iconic images we have about WWI were staged from a propaganda film.