It’s starting to become something of a rote exercise – that whenever the Senate does its job and considers large and contentious legislation, it’s accused of moving slowly. Most of the time, they’re actually moving fairly swiftly in the context of how bills get passed, but that’s not the narrative. And every single time, the pundit class will moan about how they’re frustrating the “will of Parliament” (because that’s how they refer to the House of Commons, when it is in fact but a third of what constitutes Parliament – the Senate and the Crown being the other two aspects), and on and on we go. This week’s performative disbelief that the Senate is daring to do the job required of it is around the marijuana bill – but not just that, but the accompanying bill regarding mandatory roadside testing. While the marijuana bill is actually proceeding fairly quickly given the agreed-upon timelines that Senators set for themselves on the bill (though they were slow off the mark because Senator Harder thought it wise to have the Senate rise essentially a week early at Christmas and then not consider the bill again until well after they’d returned so that he could put on the dog and pony show of having three ministers appear in Committee of the Whole before second reading debate even began), the mandatory testing  bill is languishing at committee. Why? While John Ivison may consider the bill “relatively uncontroversial,” it is actually the opposite, and there is a debate raging about the bill’s constitutionality, and many senators – including one who helped to author the Charter of Rights and Freedoms back in 1982 – are unimpressed with the government’s assurances. After all, they went through a decade of the Harper government insisting that their justice bills were Charter-compliant, only for them to be struck down by the courts, one after another.

Of course, this too has led to debates in the Senate about their role and whether they should be challenging the constitutionality of bills. Some of the Independent senators, which Leader of the Government in the Senate – err, “government representative,” Senator Peter Harder has added his voice to, believing that Senators shouldn’t substitute their judgment for that of the courts, citing that because these issues aren’t black and white that the courts should handle them. (In the same breath as Harder says this, he also says that they shouldn’t be rubber stamps, apparently unable to pick a lane). So to say that this is “uncontroversial” means that someone isn’t paying attention to the debate – only what’s being told to him by the government’s mouthpiece (in this case, Bill Blair).

If the Senate passes C-45 before C-46, the sky won’t fall. They can apply existing impaired driving laws, because, newsflash, people already drive high while pot is illegal. Once again, the government isn’t inventing cannabis – they’re legalizing and regulating it. Will it be more difficult without detection devices? Maybe. But it’s not like there’s a legal vacuum. Let’s calm down a little.

Good reads:

• Justin Trudeau announced that there will be an apology on the floor of the House of Commons for Canada turning away a boatload of Jewish refugees in 1939.
• Trudeau has also nominated the acting Chief Electoral Officer to take the position permanently, after nearly a year-and-a-half in the role.
• Chrystia Freeland likened trade talks to giving birth while in Washington, while autos remain a sticking point.
• Freeland also offered support for the Iran nuclear deal after Donald Trump said that the Americans would withdraw from it.
• Jim Carr says that he’s certain that Kinder Morgan will be satisfied that the government will ensure that the Trans Mountain expansion will go ahead.
• The government is being accused of using misleading statistics to discourage Nigerian asylum seekers. The government says the figure includes Haitian migrants.
• In the face of demands by victims of the Quebec mosque shooting to ban assault rifles, Ralph Goodale says he’s open to it – but not in the current gun control bill.
• Catherine McKenna says that Parks Canada needs a “reset” to refocus more efforts on conservation, while still keeping in mind how many tourists visit sites every year.
• The government has settled a court case with environmental groups over protection of caribou habitats.
• Some senators are mulling a budget bill amendment to delay implementation of income sprinkling rules for another year. (Good luck with that).
• Here’s another look at some of the nuances in positions of various First Nations along the Trans Mountain pipeline route.
• The Native Women’s Association of Canada’s grade of the MMIW Inquiry has improved – but they still fail in areas of communication and transparency.
• Rona Ambrose warns Conservatives not to attack the government over NAFTA talks, saying it will look anti-Canadian and that there are no votes to be gained doing it.
• Brad Trost lost his bid to challenge the fine the party levied against him for the leak of the membership list during the leadership. He has to pay court costs as well.
• NDP MP Christine Moore, who launched the accusations against Erin Weir (and two Liberal MPs in 2014), has been accused of inappropriate behaviour and suspended.
• Susan Delacourt tackles the question of whether the centre is disappearing in Canadian (and especially Ontario) politics.
• Colby Cosh takes on Jason Kenney’s admission that he now holds the policy pen for his party, after months of playing up the grassroots nature of his party.
• My column looks at why trying to find easy solutions to the border-crossing issue is a mug’s game, because there are none.

Programming note: There won’t be a Thursday morning roundup due to scheduling issues. QP recap is unaffected.

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