Like a high school drama queen, Maxime Bernier made his move yesterday, removing himself from the Conservative caucus just as the party was about to begin their convention in Halifax. And not a moment too soon, apparently, as apparently the caucus was prepared to “belittle” him regarding his recent shitposting over Twitter, in an apparent attempt to Mean Girl him into falling in line. Well, that didn’t apparently work, and Bernier went out with a bang, calling the Conservatives a party that was “too intellectually and morally corrupt to be reformed,” and which only speaks in platitudes, and that he plans to launch his own party within the coming weeks. Good luck with that.

Minutes later, Andrew Scheer held his own press conference in Halifax and said good riddance, that Bernier was only in it for himself, but, curiously, stuck to platitudes. And notably, he didn’t refute anything that Bernier has been saying over the past couple of weeks, and in particular his winking to white nationalists. (Note to Conservatives: simply listing how many ethnocultural firsts your party has had is not refuting the aforementioned winking to white nationalists). And then Scheer said that Bernier evidently decided to help Trudeau, and then immediately started backpedalling to insist that no, this wasn’t going to split the party, and they’re united, and Bernier is a nobody, and you get the drift. So score one for Scheer there.

And then started up the tweets, many of them angry or belittling from fellow MPs, and a bunch of bizarre rumours started being floated to journalists like that Bernier used to sleep through Cabinet meetings under Harper (seriously? You actually expect us to believe that?) while other party stalwarts rallied around Scheer (and Bernier currently seems to have zero supporters, for what it’s worth). The Liberals, justifiably, are remaining cautious and are not openly popping any champagne bottles because who knows where this will go.

Meanwhile, Paul Wells has grave doubts that Bernier has what it takes to lead a new political movement, while Jen Gerson angrily writes about Bernier’s supposed defence of “Canadian values” and that he doesn’t seem to have a clue what he’s tweeting about. Scott Gilmore seems to think that Bernier’s fundraising record shows he may have the momentum to pull this off – but Stephen Maher has his doubts. John Ivison casts aspersions on all sides of the split, Martin Patriquin wonders about the effect that it will have with the ground ripe for messages of populist xenophobia like Bernier has been employing. Don Martin suspects this departure will rally the party around Scheer, while Robyn Urback takes Bernier to task in the most scathing, sarcastic way possible. (My own column on Bernier’s future will be up later today).

Good reads:

• Justin Trudeau called on the Conservatives to do better after the revelation of the robocalls targeting Salma Zahid during her cancer treatment.
• The Cabinet retreat heard more about the digital threats facing the next federal election, which will likely mean amendments to Bill C-76.
• Treasury Board is starting the process of looking for a Phoenix replacement, using a new procurement process they hope will achieve better results.
• The Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed leave to appeal by the City of Burnaby in their attempt to block the Trans Mountain expansion.
• The CRA has been ordered to pay almost $5 million in damages after an overzealous (and indeed “bullying”) overseas audit to a group of Quebec taxpayers.
•  At the Conservative convention, Doug Ford called for the party to rally behind Scheer.
• The Quebec and New Brunswick provincial elections are both now officially started.
• The Canadian Press’ Baloney Meter™ weighs in on the Liberal claims that they created more full-time jobs than the Conservatives did.
• Colby Cosh gives a thoughtful defence of the concept of tolerance.

Odds and ends:

Here is the fascinating tale of an Australian granted refugee status in Canada, and why he’s suing CBSA for their handling of his case.

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