There was an interesting revelation in the Hill Timesyesterday in that the government is sitting on more than 100 vetted Senate candidates while twelve seats remain vacant, and yet put out a call for yet more applications while the advisory committees are all empty, which would be the people who are supposed to vet all of those incoming applications. But that number amazes me – 100 names that are vetted and ready to go for those twelve vacancies, and the government isn’t moving on them, adding one or two names every couple of months at random intervals. And don’t get me wrong – I’m firmly opposed to mass appointments, but that also means that the Chamber should be in full operation and that vacancies should be filled as they happen, which are one or two at a time. Add to that the fact that because these are all being named as Independents, the kinds of mentoring that should happen isn’t, so at this point it almost doesn’t matter if we get all twelve in one fell swoop because the result would be the same either way.

The other thing that is very interesting is that in the interview with former appointment committee member Indira Samarasekera, she mentioned that they identified key skill areas that the Senate is in need of and that their names have reflected that, but these aren’t necessarily the people that Trudeau is naming in the long run. Which isn’t to say that Trudeau has simply been naming ideological Liberals and calling them Independents (despite what the Conservatives in the Senate are claiming), but it is hard to deny that there isn’t a similarity to most of the candidates in the fact that they tend to be activists from the social sciences as opposed to some of the business, foreign affairs, and trade experts that Samarasekera noted that they recommended. Despite this all, the piece provides an interesting window on just what seems to be the bottleneck in appointments that this government has a problem with making, and which continues to be a slow-moving crisis of their credibility.

In more Trans Mountain drama:

• Justin Trudeau continues to say the pipeline will get built and they are exploring all options. No doubt that’s what today’s Cabinet meeting will be about.
• Rachel Notley is proffering provincial legislation to cut off gas supplies to BC, which would be clearly unconstitutional.
• Notley is also talking about the province investing in the pipeline financially, and Jason Kenney says he’s onboard. (What free market conservatism?)
• Here is an explainer about the federal government’s options.
• A BC provincial court judge says that Elizabeth May, Kennedy Stewart and other protesters arrested at the Kinder Morgan site should be charged criminally.
• Trevor Tombe compares the 1956 pipeline debate that felled that Liberal government with the current Trans Mountain drama.
• Colby Cosh notes that Alberta (or the federal government) becoming an investor won’t actually deal with the “unquantifiable risk” issue.
• Andrew Coyne thinks the best solution may be for Ottawa to let Alberta take retaliatory measures against BC without getting involved. (I’m not convinced).

Good reads:

• The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians will look into the Atwal Affair™ and release an unclassified report to Parliament.
• Mexican officials are saying a NAFTA deal by early May is about 80 percent likely at this point.
• Amid questions about the Mali mission, Harjit Sajjan says Canada has already been helping with the counter-terrorism mission there with capacity building.
• Sajjan also has outlined plans for the military to spend $1.6 billion over 20 years to get outside help on issues like PTSD and increasing female recruitment.
• Public Safety tried a Facebook chatbot as part of its “Don’t Drive High” campaign.
• The government has spent $38 million in legal disputes with veterans! Err, except most of this is with the appeal tribunal and legal aid for it, so the figure is torqued.
• Shockingly, the Privacy Commissioner doesn’t think that subjecting political parties to privacy legislation will impact their constituent outreach.
• Here’s a look at the ongoing fight over the Canada Food Guide.
• VADM Mark Norman’s first court date is this morning on the breach of trust charges alleging leaked shipbuilding plans.
• Here’s a look at a study that shows that your last name can affect your results on a ballot, especially in municipal elections. (And random ballots wouldn’t help).
• Some Conservative senators are grousing they won’t have time to properly study the cannabis bill at committee. Except they agreed to this time table.
• Kevin Carmichael notes that the country’s labour market is maxing out, which will force companies to either invest to grow it, or stall and embrace mediocrity.

Odds and ends:

Some more photos of the new House of Commons in the West Block have been revealed.

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