Today is the anniversary of the Statute of Westminster, which you should be very excited about. Why is it important? Because in 1931, this is not only the Act of Parliament that gave Canada its sovereignty in terms of setting our own foreign policy – essentially meaning we were now a real country and no longer a glorified colony – but more importantly, it also created the Canadian Crown. In fact, this is where the Crown became divisible, and suddenly the Crown of the United Kingdom split off to become the Crowns of Canada, New Zealand, the Irish Free State, South Africa, Newfoundland, and Australia. The realms have changed since then, but the principle remains – that the King (now Queen) was no longer just the King of the United Kingdom, but that each realm had their own separate legal Crown as well. This is an important milestone in Canadian history, and we should pay much more attention to it than we traditionally do – particularly if you’re a fan of the Canadian monarchy because this is where it all began for us.

With this in mind, here’s Philippe Lagassé explaining the consequences of the Statute with regards to royal succession and the compromises that resulted from it.

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Good reads:

• Because Alberta’s finance minister is spouting a bunch of bullshit about equalization, here’s how it works (with bonus radio from Kevin Milligan).
• Incidentally, Ontario is no longer considered a have-not province, and will no longer receive equalization.
• François-Philippe Champagne is reiterating the government’s assurances that they take national security seriously when it comes to Huawei involved in 5G.
• Speaking of Huawei, Cabinet ministers are repeating the points about the rule of law in Canada in response to threats because of the company’s CFO being detained.
• In what looks to be an attempt at empathy, Seamus O’Regan compared his exit from journalism (and subsequent alcoholism) to veterans leaving the Forces.
• Former justice minister Irwin Cotler is joining with a number of MPs from all parties to call for sanctions against 19 members of the Iranian regime.
• Email dates show that Raj Grewal may have received a copy of the report on that Brampton land deal before he says he did – not that it proves anything.
• CSE says it’s not clear how effective Russian-backed disinformation campaigns have been in Canada, and wants people to read online news with a critical eye.
• CRA is looking to use its powers to freeze or seize assets, usually only used in proceeds of crime cases, against those evading taxes.
• Despite the feel-good news about the Canadian space industry and astronauts lately, the CSA’s funding and capacity are slowly diminishing.
• Omar Khadr is asking the courts for permission to get a passport and visit his sister (who lives out of the country).
• Jagmeet Singh says he wants to focus on housing affordability as he carries on his by-election campaign.
• NDP MP Fin Donnelly has also announced he won’t run again in 2019. (Crisis in the party? What crisis?)
• Saskatchewan’s Court of Appeal has allowed the UCP and Canadian Taxpayers Federation to be intervenors in the carbon tax reference case.
• Kady O’Malley’s Process Nerd Column looks at the burst of activity this week leading up to Parliament rising at the end of the week.
• Chantal Hébert looks back at 2018 when it comes to gains and losses for women in politics.
• Andrew Coyne considers the Huawei arrest and Canada’s response to Chinese threats.
• Colby Cosh looks at the Yellow Vest riots in France, and the Canadian “cosplay revolutionaries” who want to copy them without understanding the issues.

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