Roundup: A strained partisan detente

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There is a strange partisan cold war settling over the nation’s capital, as both government and opposition try to put up a united front against the Trumpocalypse, while at the same time not looking to give up too much advantage, and so they probe areas where their opponents may be weak, but that they won’t look too crassly partisan in exploiting it, kind of like Erin O’Toole did last week when the steel and aluminium tariffs were first announced. The Conservatives and NDP are trying to probe the previous statements about Supply Management “flexibility,” while the Liberals are essentially calling Maxime Bernier a traitor as he starts speaking about his opposition to the system once again. It’s not pretty on either side, and yet here we are.

While Trump has threatened auto tariffs, I’m not sure that’s even remotely feasible given how integrated the whole North American industry is, and those tariffs would not only devastate supply chains, but it would have as many adverse effects on the American industry as it would the Canadian one. Of course, we’re dealing with an uncertainty engine, so we have no idea what he’ll actually do, but hey, the government is working on contingency plans that include further retaliatory measures if these auto tariffs come to pass. As for Trump’s focus on dairy, here’s a look at the size of subsidies that the American dairy industry is awash in. Brian Mulroney, incidentally, thinks this is all a passing storm, for what it’s worth.

Because there are so many more hot takes about developments, Andrew Coyne thinks that there should be debate on how to best retaliate to American threats rather than just rally around the PM. Chantal Hébert notes that Trump has essentially boxed Trudeau in with regards to how he can respond to the threats. Martin Patriquin counsels patience with the Trumpocalypse, so that we don’t go overboard thanks to a few intemperate tweets. Chris Selley notes the sudden burst of solidarity and hopes that they don’t return to bickering over small differences once this crisis passes. Jen Gerson, meanwhile, notes that Trump’s attack are those of a bully trying to pick on a weaker target, but forgets that Canada isn’t weak – we’re just passive aggressive. Gerson was also on Power & Politics(at 1:08:35 in the full broadcast) to say that her genuine fear out of all of this is that it’s all a sideshow designed to turn Canada into some comic enemy for Trump to run against in the upcoming midterms, and I suspect that she’s onto something, and we may be playing into Trump’s hands when if we get self-righteous in our response.

Good reads:

  • Yesterday was the tenth anniversary of the government’s apology for residential schools, the text of which has been translated into seven Indigenous languages.
  • The national security bill has cleared committee, despite the objections of both opposition parties.
  • As expected, the government announced changes to its homelessness strategy to make it easier for some communities to use funds in more targeted ways.
  • The CPP Investment Board has approached Kinder Morgan about the Trans Mountain pipeline, and not at Bill Morneau’s behest, apparently.
  • There are questions as to why DND is hiring an American firm to advise it on enhancing security at its installations, rather than Canadian firms at half the cost.
  • The military is looking to severely restrict the use of cannabis by personnel, but not ban it outright (except in certain cases like pilots).
  • UK and US subs are conducting exercises under Canadian Arctic ice, because our submarines can’t operate under it effectively.
  • Civil service executives are grousing that the Auditor General’s report on the Phoenix debacle has unfairly tarred them all as being incompetent.
  • Here’s a lengthy recap of the saga to legalise cannabis, as we await the final amendments to the bill.
  • Perry Bellegarde is running again for Grand Chief of the AFN, looking to capitalise on momentum gained. His opponents are criticizing the Indigenous rights framework.
  • Conservative MP Glen Motz is blitzing rural Alberta media to decry Liberal MPs’ attempts to further strengthen the gun control bill.
  • Four former Conservative MPs, and six former staffers, all won seats in the Ontrio election last week.
  • The late MP Gord Brown’s nephew is looking to run to replace him, while Conservative brass want to run former senator Bob Runciman instead.
  • Kady O’Malley’s Process Nerd column looks at what can happen to someone who has been found to have intentionally lied to a parliamentary committee.

Odds and ends:

In this week’s Law Times, I look at the discipline received by one lawyer who violated the Law Society’s advertising rules.

Here’s a look at the constitutional loophole, thanks to lazy federal government interpretation, that means we could declare Prince Harry to be King of Canada.

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