Roundup: Bernier still hanging on

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Apparently we’re going to talk about Maxime Bernier again, because of course we are. Yesterday’s developments included a couple of new Twitter missives, and Andrew Scheer finally, finally, held a press availability to discuss the situation, in which he basically said nothing. While not condemning Bernier’s remarks yet again (thus tacitly endorsing them), Scheer said that Bernier doesn’t speak for the party, that they value diversity, and no, he won’t talk about “caucus dynamics” when it comes to whether her plans to turf Bernier from the party. But that particular dynamic may be slightly more complicated.

There are a couple of reasons why Scheer is gun-shy when it comes to flexing his leadership muscles when it comes to Bernier’s constant stream of eruptions. One of them is that Bernier has a base within the party that Scheer can’t afford to alienate. Or at least that’s the theory – Éric Grenier teases out the numbers of Bernier’s support a bit more, and he’s not really a top fundraiser, nor may his base be as big as it’s made out to be. Part of this is because a number of supporters flocked to him in the leadership because he looked like a winner, and he got frontrunner momentum. Remember that many of these people also supported Kevin O’Leary, because he looked like a winner. So there’s that. There’s also the theory that because the Conservatives have bound themselves to Michael Chong’s greatly flawed Reform Act that the leader can’t expel a caucus member, that they must do it in a vote. That’s of course more of a theoretical consideration than a realistic one, given that the Act is largely a paper tiger – there is nothing binding in it, there is no enforcement, and it was so watered down in the process of passing it that it’s less than useless (and indeed is actively harmful to how leadership politics works in this country). Not to mention, Scheer has the option of threatening not to sign Bernier’s nomination papers for the next election (something the Reform Act promised to solve then didn’t), so it’s not like Scheer is without actual levers to push Bernier out if he so chose, even if he was bound by the useless Act.

Meanwhile, I will turn your attention to something else that Paul Wells noticed over the past few days when these tweets started.

https://twitter.com/InklessPW/status/1030207649168543744

https://twitter.com/InklessPW/status/1030214242023047169

https://twitter.com/InklessPW/status/1030215199809105920

https://twitter.com/InklessPW/status/1030247683389181952

https://twitter.com/InklessPW/status/1030230923885727744

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau has ruled out a snap election in the fall (not that anyone was seriously contemplating it other than some bored columnists).
  • The widow of one of Fredericton shooting victims had harsh words for Trudeau when he made a condolence call, insulted he didn’t see her personally.
  • With the government mulling over a statutory holiday to mark the legacy of residential schools, the NDP MP sponsor of a similar bill says she wasn’t consulted.
  • The RCMP broke up the protest camp near the Trans Mountain construction site in Burnaby. The NEB also approved construction for more sections of the pipeline.
  • The gong show of the placing the Parliamentary Protective Service under RCMP management continues to roll along with billing disputes between the two services.
  • Here’s a look at the very slow progress the government is making on fixing the problems with the No-Fly List.
  • The first Coast Guard vessel completed by Seaspan Yards in Vancouver needs to have several hull welds re-done because they were defective. Oops.
  • Natan Obed has been re-elected as president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami.
  • Here’s a look at Senator Kim Pate’s bill to essentially eliminate mandatory minimum sentences.
  • The Greens have opted not to run a candidate against Jagmeet Singh in the byelection in Burnaby South.
  • The Canadian Press’ Baloney Meter™ tested the claim that the irregular border crosser situation is a “crisis.” (Michelle Rempel took exception to this).
  • Colby Cosh takes a gander at the Singh-Notley feud, and what it says about Notley.
  • Robert Hiltz previews the coming weirdness of the Quebec election.

Odds and ends:

Conservative MP Tom Kmiec lost his newborn daughter to a genetic disorder.

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