As the fallout from his sexting “scandal” continued, MP Tony Clement was booted from caucus yesterday, which shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone. First thing in the morning, Andrew Scheer said that he was assured that it was a one-off so Clement would be allowed to stay, but by Question Period, Clement was out, meaning that more stuff has come to light (possibly the raft of women over social media describing their creepy encounters with Clement online).
While Cabinet ministers including Ralph Goodale don’t believe that this incident with Clement actually breached national security, the bigger worry by experts in the field is the fact that the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians is still nascent and building trust, and the fact that Clement was a member of that team and obviously ignored the training he was provided about not putting himself in compromising positions could shake the domestic trust of this new committee, especially given that this level of parliamentary oversight of our national security is new and largely untested.
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Susan Delacourt notes the three ways in which Clement has damaged himself, and possibly his party as well. John Ivison ponders the security implications of this whole sordid affair. And on Power Play, Stephanie Carvin explains why this is an issue with national security considerations.
Good reads:
- Justin Trudeau gave the official apology for the MS St. Louis incident to the descendants of German Jews turned away from Canada when they fled Nazis.
- Our ambassador in Washington says we’re not interested in a big signing ceremony for the New NAFTA – at least as long as the steel and aluminium tariffs remain.
- Following the furore surrounding Tori Stafford’s killer being transferred to an Indigenous healing lodge, tougher rules are now in place around transfers.
- John Geddes and Chris Hall each try to parse out what a Democratic-led House of Representatives may mean for the New NAFTA.
- The Royal Canadian Navy is investigating why two of its ships caught fire in the same location, but can’t find a common link between them.
- Canada Post admitted that there was a privacy breach of its delivery tracking tool regarding cannabis deliveries in Ontario.
- The RCMP are (finally) ramping up operations around Indian scammers posing as CRA, and are looking for any Canadian middlemen involved.
- Senators studying the Access to Information reform bill are holding an in camera session with judges to discuss if the bill impacts on judicial independence.
- Here’s an intriguing tale about Senators getting closed-door briefings on Hill security matters after an incident at the vehicle screening area.
- Liberal MP Anthony Housefather says that Donald Trump’s rhetoric is emboldening anti-Semites in Canada.
- Absent Liberal MP Nicola Di Iorio says he’ll return his salary from his final five months on the job when he officially resigns in January.
- Maxime Bernier’s latest attention-getting stunt is to say he doesn’t believe in feminism and that Canada should pull out of the Paris accords.
- Paul Wells looks at the alliance that conservative leaders have built for themselves in opposing the federal carbon price, and what it might signal in an election.
- Philippe Lagassé muses about the patronage roles we give to Governors General, and whether we should rethink it. (I’m keen on returning those roles to royals).
- Colby Cosh offers his thoughts on the US midterms, in typical Cosh fashion.
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