There’s a nonsense e-petition circulating on the Parliamentary website about the PM’s groping allegation, and essentially calls for him to be removed from caucus because that’s what happened to other Liberals who faced allegations (not true), and then goes on about how he’s lost the confidence of citizens. It’s pure mischief, and the fact that Michelle Rempel is sponsoring it is pretty much proof of that, but that aside, I’m mystified how this passed the vetting that these kinds of petitions are supposed to get because it has nothing to do with a government issue but rather it’s phrased entirely about caucus management. It should be disqualified as such.

This having been established, I have to say that I’m getting mighty tired of e-petition stories, because they’re not actually news. The fact that they’re hosted on the Parliament of Canada website makes them easy to search, so it’s cheap and easy filler content, but the fact that the story here didn’t contextualize the petition as not having anything to do with government business, and instead ginned it up with a headline that it was trying to force a “government response” to the allegation when it has nothing to do with government business, is actually on the irresponsible side. Yes, it’s salacious because it keeps the “groping” allegation story going, but there’s nothing actually there. It’s the equivalent of empty calories in news form. We should be doing better.

Good reads:

• Justin Trudeau announced that Cabinet would be meeting in Nanaimo, BC, next week, and PMO dropped hints that there won’t be an upcoming Throne Speech.
• Bill Morneau is consulting with the steel industry about how to best keep foreign steel from being dumped in the Canadian market thanks to US tariffs.
• Morneau is also said to be consulting with his American counterparts on their tax measures that are impacting Canadians adversely.
• Jonathan Wilkinson said the decision to cancel the artic surf clam licence came from LeBlanc before the shuffle because of interactions with the company.
• Civil society groups are calling on the government to declare housing to be a “human right.” (That won’t alleviate scarcity, and turns it into an unnecessary court fight).
• Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami is holding their annual general meeting this week, which includes an election for the organization’s president.
• Former Conservative-turned-Liberal MP Eve Adams is making a run for Hamilton city council.
• Terry Glavin says that Canada has the opportunity to show moral leadership in the Saudi spat where other countries won’t.
• Susan Delacourt looks at the sheer political calculations lining up for a snap federal election this autumn (not that anyone is seriously contemplating one).
• My column delves further into the Conservatives’ Twitter strategy that is a marked departure from the days of message discipline.

Odds and ends:

Following their loss at the Supreme Court of Canada, Trinity Western University has decided their community “covenant” will no longer be mandatory.

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