For the past few days, one of the same questions keeps being raised in light of everything that has gone on – with all of the resignations in light of sexual misconduct allegations, why is Kent Hehr still in caucus? I have to say that the policing of who is and is not in caucus by the pundit class is getting a bit crass, to say the least, the concern trolling over a lack of consistent practice is something that the commentariat should be trying to come to grips with, rather than exacerbating the situation with some blatant concern trolling.

Prior to this parliament, there was no process when it came to sexual harassment allegations against MPs. The process was explicitly that there was no process – MPs don’t fit under a workplace framework when dealing with one another, so the lack of process was to ensure that there was room for mediation between the parties involved, and things were dealt with quietly behind the scenes, so that there wouldn’t be partisan advantage taken of it. I can’t say how well it did or did not work, but things changed in 2014 with the Scott Andrews and Massimo Pacetti allegations. What changed was that Thomas Mulcair fully intended to make a partisan issue out of the allegation and had booked a press conference to denounce the MPs and Trudeau for not doing anything about the allegations that had been made directly to him. When Trudeau beat Mulcair to the punch and suspended the two MPs (who were later formally expelled), Mulcair had to instead shift tactics and accuse Trudeau of re-victimising the complainants, but those involved knew that Mulcair has readying his salvo and swift action needed to be taken. When the allegations about Darshan Kang surfaced (plus the allegation he offered to pay the complainant to keep it quiet), and were corroborated by those who had worked for him in provincial politics, Kang removed himself from caucus (and went on medical leave), but there’s been no indication that he was expelled by Trudeau.

When pressed about Hehr’s status, Trudeau noted yesterday that the party is trying to deal with things on a case-by-case basis, and there is a process in place now that didn’t exist before, and an investigation has been launched into Hehr’s activities. That Trudeau would try to respect the process put into place since the Andrews/Pacetti incident is likely a good thing, but this being politics, there is already partisan hay being made of this, with Erin O’Toole trying to paint this as Trudeau having changed his own rules. Because you know, why resist the urge to take partisan shots? And if Trudeau went around the process, you know that the question would be why he didn’t wait for the investigation – because damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

Good reads:

• In an interview, Justin Trudeau said that he doesn’t think there are any incidents in his past that could bring allegations of sexual misconduct.
• The Federal Court rejected an application for injunction from anti-abortion groups to stop the new attestation around summer job grants.
• The Liberals are moving a motion to have the Procedure and House Affairs committee review the harassment code of conduct for MPs.
• The House of Commons will be spending $50,000 on in-person sexual harassment training for all MPs, and all parties say it will be mandatory.
• Carolyn Bennett says that MPs and staffers should be careful about alcohol consumption on the Hill and the cocktail circuit.
• Some Conservatives are denouncing their own party’s inaction on letting Rick Dykstra run in 2015 when they knew he faced a sexual assault complaint.
• What? Alcohol gets consumed on the PM’s plane during international trips? *fans self*
• Statistics Canada is (anonymously) crowdsourcing pricing data on marijuana to help fill in their economic models.
• A legal challenge of the Conservatives’ cuts to prisoners pay has failed.
• The military says that privacy concerns are slowing down its review of sexual assault complaints previously deemed “unfounded.”
• There are questions as to why CRA’s executives are topping out performance pay bonuses given how much fire the agency is under.
• Brian Mulroney appeared before an American congressional committee to talk NAFTA yesterday.
• Here’s a conversation with Liberal Senator Claudette Tardif, who is retiring early.
• Defence lawyer Michael Spratt looks at the distinction between presumption of innocence in a legal context, and in a public setting like politics.
• Colby Cosh looks at the issue of the “right to be forgotten” and the effects on both privacy and libel law.
• Susan Delacourt writes about the constant conversations around harassment and sexism in politics that she’s been having for 30 years.
• My column looks at how certain parties *coughs*NDP*coughs* are trying to use the current harassment debate to push their electoral reform agenda.

Odds and ends:

Maclean’s has a photo essay of new MP Jean Yip’s first day on the Hill.

Kent Hehr was hospitalized after a seizure last weekend, while Todd Doherty was hospitalized for gall bladder surgery when his lungs collapsed. He is recovering.