Over at Maclean’s, David Moscrop profiled the “new” Senate, and in it was probably the best description of the institution in its present state – the “Island of Unintended Consequences,” as penned by Greg MacEachern of Proof Strategies. And that’s very much true about the state of the Chamber, but unsurprisingly, almost none of those unintended consequences were explored. The bulk of the piece was devoted to the notion that we don’t know how senators will vote anymore and they say they don’t want to defeat bills but who knows *handwavey motion*.

The problem is that it’s not just the uncertainty over how senators will vote – it’s the fact that the people being put in charge in that Chamber don’t really know what they’re doing. The Order Paper is becoming hopelessly behind with bills piling up, and because nobody wants to negotiate and do any of the horse-trading that gets bills passed, it’s getting worse. This has serious implications for the government trying to get their agenda through, but too many senators are busy congratulating themselves on the fact that they’re not whipped that they fail to see the a) that horse-trading is not partisan but rather how things get done; and b) that the pile-up of legislation is going to become a serious problem unless they get their acts together and start getting bills through the system. If you want an unintended consequence, that’s certainly a huge one, and one that Senator Peter Harder seems willing to let happen so that he can get his way with the creation of a “business committee,” which will just fob yet more responsibility off of his desk and onto another small cliques’ plate (but he needs his $1.5 million budget!) and won’t do any of the things he promises when it comes to avoiding the end-of-session legislative pile-up. The fact that the Independents now make up the majority of the chamber, most of them too new to know what they’re doing (and lacking proper mentorship), the Order Paper crisis is happening and they don’t understand that it’s happening. This is a problem, and we need more senators to wake up to it.

Meanwhile, Senator Paula Simons talks about her live-tweeting in the Chamber as a way of de-mystifying its work, thanks to her career as a journalist, and I for one applaud her for it (though I will offer her corrections as she goes along).

Good reads:

• In advance of leaving for the G20 meeting in Argentina, Justin Trudeau said that they were still in discussion with the Americans on the final text of the New NAFTA.
• Trudeau’s meeting with the other party leaders over Francophone rights ended without any concrete actions. Well, except putting Andrew Scheer in a box.
• Trudeau says that are lingering questions around Raj Grewal’s actions leading to his resignation, but he wasn’t under suspicion when reassigned committees.
• Word also has it that Grewal’s gambling debts came up as part of an OPP investigation into a different group.
• Doug Ford says the carbon tax killed the GM plant (untrue), yet says those demanding they fight the closure offer “false hope.” Pick a lane.
• Another losing bidder is challenging the winning surface combatant design at the Federal Trade Tribunal, because we can’t build things in this country.
• Here are the details from the Mark Norman defence filings on their suspicions regarding the bureaucrat who has been named but not charged for leaking.
• In advance of David Saint-Jacques’ mission to the International Space Station, here’s a look at the existential crisis facing the Russian space programme we rely on.
• Apparently Canada was pursuing more business opportunities in Saudi Arabia before the diplomatic spat touched off by that banal tweet.
• Rona Ambrose says that she got death threats from environmentalists when she was minister.
• Rachel Notley says she’s buying rail cars to move oil, with or without federal help, while Sohi says they’re evaluating. (Note: This isn’t a short-term solution).
• Notley also says she’ll consider whether or not to mandate a production cut within days (which Jason Kenney is suddenly in favour of).
• With the Quebec National Assembly back in session, Chantal Hébert previews where the friction points with the federal government will be.
• Chris Selley notes how quickly Doug Ford recanted on his claim to being the enemy of corporate welfare.

Odds and ends:

Colby Cosh offers a look at the latest case of tainted Romaine lettuce, and why outbreaks can be difficult to track to their origins.

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