Andrew Scheer has declared that in October, he and a group of MPs will head to India. While it’s not uncommon for opposition MPs to do a bit of foreign travel, particularly if they’re on some kind of committee or parliamentary friendship group, it’s a little more uncommon for them to go as the Official Opposition in any capacity (Washington DC excepted). But Scheer? He’s decided that his trip to India will be to “repair” the relationship with that country after the “disastrous” trip that Justin Trudeau made earlier this year.

Let’s unpack this a bit more. Scheer has zero diplomatic standing to do absolutely anything on behalf of the government of Canada. Add to that, I’m trying to figure out just what “damage” Scheer hopes to repair, because the only real “disaster” from Trudeau’s visit was related to Jaspal Atwal showing up at that event, which wound up being hugely overblown considering that India had allowed him back into the country and considered him rehabilitated from his former extremist views. The fact that Trudeau wore some expensive Indian clothes? The thing that people continue to underestimate/forget/ignore is that he was doing it to speak to a certain demographic in India which responds to these kinds of gestures – even if the upper-class voices that dominate their international press don’t. Trudeau didn’t lose points with that middle-class voter base in India (or the Indo-Canadian diaspora) – but that message was lost on the white press covering the trip, and given how the Conservatives reacted back in Canada (going so far as to use the insulting term of “costume,” which earned them a stinging rebuke from Liberal backbencher Ruby Sahota), they were tone-deaf to the whole thing. Was Trudeau snubbed my Modi? Not at all, and just because Modi didn’t greet him at the airport is not a snub considering that a) Canada doesn’t rank that high on his list of priorities, and b) we were greeted by an agriculture minister, who does have dealings with Canada. And on that subject, the fact that Trudeau wasn’t able to make progress on the tariffs that India imposed on pulse imports was not a “failure,” given that those tariffs were imposed for domestic political reasons (low prices due to a global supply glut, pandering to rural voters, and the fact that there has been a suicide crisis among Indian farmers for years now), and those tariffs hurt Australia more than they do Canada. But please, tell us again how those were done in retaliation for the trip. Meanwhile, Trudeau made several investment announcements and did have successful meetings with civil society groups in India. So again, I ask – what “damage” is there for Scheer to supposedly repair (for which he has zero authority to do anything about)?

We’ve seen this kind of self-aggrandisement from Scheer before with his trip to the UK to supposedly have talks about post-Brexit trade agreements, never mind that a) he’s not the government and can’t commit to anything, b) Trudeau and Theresa May already agreed to those talks once Brexit happens – because the UK legally can’t hold any talks until then, and c) he totally sold the trip with that photo of him at a red phone booth. So you’ll forgive my scepticism about this planned India trip, because it sounds dubious at best.

Good reads:

• Here’s the translated transcript of the heckling incident last week, which shows that the woman was not asking in good faith (unless you’re completely obtuse).
• Justin Trudeau met with BC premier John Horgan to discuss the wildfire situation, before Trudeau’s Cabinet retreat.
• Jody Wilson-Raybould says she’s considering loosening jury secrecy rules to allow them to get therapy after traumatic trials.
• The government unveiled their new poverty reduction plan, which has no new money, but puts existing funds in a new framework with measurable goals.
• The Americans are imposing new tariffs, this time on certain kinds of wide pipe, but the impact on Canada should be minimal.
• There has been an uptick of Americans immigrating to Canada in the past couple of years, but nothing like the deluge that promised to after the election.
• Elections Canada says that parties can centrally collect donations, but they aren’t officially donations until they have been accepted by candidates/official agents.
• The government sounds like it may be tweaking the warship procurement process, and there are concerns it will rig the bid in favour of one company.
• The government looks like it will scale back pilot inspections, despite the fact that government inspectors have a higher rate of finding errors than industry ones.
• Centre Block renovations may take an extra three years than planned. (Try to look surprised, everyone!)
• Ousted Liberal MP Darshan Kang has lost his appeal of his harassment investigation.
• Jennifer Robson gives her evaluation of the poverty reduction plan, with some additional thoughts by Kevin Milligan here.
• Martin Patriquin looks at how Maxime Bernier’s winking to white nationalists has caught their attention, and they are praising him for it.
• My column looks through the policy proposals the Conservatives are debating at their convention, and wonders if there are any new ideas left in politics.

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