As the debate over the proposed changes to the Parliament of Canada Act continues to roll along, some of us are struck by the fact that the whole framing of the debate continues to be utterly wrong – that the wrong headline on the Canadian Press piece about prime minister Justin Trudeau looking to “cement” the changes in order to make it harder for a future prime minister to roll them back is completely wrong, given that the PCA has nothing to do with the appointment process. And yet, here we are, once again debating the independent appointments commission, when the actual changes to the Act involve salaries for caucus leaders and some organisational issues. Virtually all of these have been extended to the Independent Senators Group, from committee chairs and assignments, to a role on the Internal Economy Committee, budget allocations for their leadership’s office (aka the “secretariat”), and so on. The only thing they can’t get currently, which they need changes to the PCA for is a higher salary for their leadership team. Fair enough, one might say, but considering that they eschew the label of a caucus, and the roles of both government and opposition, preferring to be neither fish nor fowl, it does make it a bit harder to justify that they should be on equal footing to them. In practice, they are very much a caucus, but this is what the changes they are asking for boil down to – it has nothing to do with “cementing” the changes to the institution, and it would be great if the pundits and journalists talking about this issue could grasp that basic fact.

With that in mind, Colby Cosh penned a fairly (deservedly) harsh piece about the changes to the Upper Chamber, and the fact that Trudeau is creating a Frankenstein’s monster that has more to do with his trying to absolve himself of his responsibility for the Chamber than anything. And Cosh is absolutely right – this has been about Trudeau washing his hands of any whiff of scandal in the Upper Chamber since he became leader, consequences be damned. And there have been real consequences – Trudeau centralised power within his caucus because he got rid of the voices with the most experience who could push back against him without consequences (it’s not like he can threaten not to sign their nomination papers), and got rid of the bulk of his party’s institutional memory in one fell swoop. He’s also losing his ability to get his legislation through the Chamber because he named someone inept as his “representative” (who should be a full-fledged Cabinet minister in order to ensure proper lines of accountability) who refuses to negotiate timelines on bills in the manner in which the Senate operates.

https://twitter.com/PhilippeLagasse/status/1074845188210622465

This having been said, I will again reiterate that what we should strive for is for the ISG to become like the crossbenchers in the Lords, but that depends on a strong enough Liberal and Conservative contingent to provide balance, and this prime minister has no interest in that, preferring to continue with this experiment in Frankenstein’s Monster until he gets burned by it. And while I’m sure that there will come a reckoning, that the ISG will fracture, and eventually some of its members will drift to an established caucus, it may be some time before that happens and sanity starts to prevail in the Chamber. I just wouldn’t count on this prime minister to provide any of it.

At some point, yes, but not until there’s a break in the ISG. That may happen sooner than later, but right now they’re all still in the phase of patting themselves on the back for not being whipped.

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) December 18, 2018

Good reads:

• Justin Trudeau says that Bill C-69 needs to pass so that they can avoid future situations like the Trans Mountain expansion delays in the future.
• Here, incidentally, is an in-depth look at the challenges facing the renewed Indigenous consultations on Trans Mountain.
• The government is expected to announce $1.6 billion in job supports for Alberta this morning.
• Chrystia Freeland says there could be no cutting corners to avoid arresting the CFO of Huawei on Canadian soil.
• Carolyn Bennett signed a framework agreement with Alberta’s Métis communities to work toward self-government.
• Harjit Sajjan insists the government is going full steam ahead on the purchase of those used Australian F-18s.
• General Dynamics warns that Canada could be liable for billions of dollars if the government unilaterally cancels the LAV contract with Saudi Arabia.
• The Canadian Transportation Agency is releasing their draft air passenger bill of rights this week. This passenger rights advocate is not impressed.
• The number of irregular border crossers is at its lowest level since June 2017, while the IRB is ramping up staffing and tackling their backlog of cases.
• Here’s a look at the coming legal challenges now that cannabis is legalised.
• At the VADM Mark Norman pre-trail, the Crown is asserting that there is no evidence of political interference in the case.
• Her Excellency Julie Payette, insists there’s not turmoil at Rideau Hall, and that she was surprised by all of the negative media attention this year.
• Lawrence MacAulay, age 72, is planning on running again in the next election.
• Here’s a look at Andrew Scheer’s choice in the upcoming year, whether to stay affable or go angry in the run-up to the election.
• Kady O’Malley’s Process Nerd column recaps the last year from a legislative perspective.
• Andrew Coyne parses Justin Trudeau’s year-end interviews for clues as to how they plan to fight the next election.

Odds and ends:

Now online at Law Times is my look at the implementation date for TPP, and how that will mean a faster reduction of tariffs.

Here’s an ode to Centre Block’s devotion to journalism, as well as politics.

Want more Routine Proceedings? Become a patron and get exclusive new content.