The Senate’s Energy and Environment committee is slated to begin their examination of Bill C-69 today, which promises to be a right gong show as the Conservatives have been pledging to do everything they can to kill the bill, which could mean attempting to delay things as long as possible – which is one reason why they have been aggressively pushing for the committee to hold cross-country hearings. This is being pushed back against by the government whip – err, “liaison,” and the leader of the Independent Senators Group, but that hasn’t stopped the agitation. Conservative Senator Michael MacDonald went so far as to pen an op-ed in the National Post that says the prime minister is trying to “keep the Senate from the people,” which is absurd on its face considering that Trudeau’s hands-off policy on the Senate is one reason why the Chamber is in a bit of disarray at the moment.

Meanwhile, there will be an effort from non-Conservative senators to see amendments to the bill, which could create its own delays as the debates and votes on those amendments could get drawn out for weeks, while the parliamentary calendar ticks down. (For reference, I wrote this piece last week, talking to lawyers on both the environmental and proponent sides of the issue about the kinds of amendments they would like to see). The bill has its issues, no doubt, but the rhetoric around it has reached hyperbolic proportions, and much of the opposition we hear has become based on myth rather than fact or analysis. That’s going to make the Senate’s deliberations more difficult in the weeks ahead, as people will be howling about non-existent segments of the bill, and we’ll hear the daily demands in QP that the bill be withdrawn, never mind that the current system isn’t working and has been the subject of numerous court challenges. I suspect this will become a very nasty fight before the end of spring.

Good reads:

• The Lima Group meeting in Ottawa saw a pledge of $53 million to aid Venezuelan refugees, and Trudeau hosted a call from the declared interim president.
• The Group’s communiqué called on the Venezuelan military to ally itself with the interim president, and to let foreign aid through unmolested, which was welcomed.
• While several Canadian unions went to Venezuela to praise its most recent (illegitimate) elections, here is a look at the current constitutional situation there.
• “Ethical hackers” told the Commons public safety committee that they want government to encourage businesses to work with them to enhance cyber-security.
• Some pearls are being clutched that IBM is allowed to bid for the Phoenix replacement. (Note: IBM did what was asked of them – its flaws are not their fault).
• The CBSA has no mechanism to investigate complaints against it, but the Liberals keep saying they’re committed to (eventually) tabling legislation. Tick tock…
• Senator Mobina Jaffer may be the tie-breaker when it comes to amendments to the gun control bill at the Senate’s National Security committee.
• Anonymous “senior Liberals” are grousing that they’re not getting plum appointments, or face time with Cabinet ministers when they’re in town. Awww…
• The Conservatives now pledged not to use Heritage Minutes branding for future ads, and renounced their own ad that lied about the UN taking control over the border.
• Here is further fact-checking on their claims about border security being in danger from refugees and asylum seekers.
• Liberal-turned-Independent MP Raj Grewal has issued “corrected” figures from that fundraiser, saying it netted less than $300K, not the $600K initially reported.
• Kady O’Malley’s Process Nerd column explains why we don’t have State of the Union addresses in Canada (and here’s some bonus history).
• Chantal Hébert says that Thomas Mulcair shouldn’t be blamed for pointing out the hard truths about his party’s vulnerabilities, particularly to the Green vote.
• Martin Patriquin notes that since the Conservatives tend to be the beneficiaries of fake-news trolling in Canada, they are less keen to combat it.
• Andrew Coyne is dubious about the government’s plans to combat fake news in an election because it’s a demand-side problem.
• Colby Cosh looks at the civil rights implications at play with the coming sentencing to mosque shooter Alexandre Bissonnette.
• Jen Gerson pens a longread about the history of Alberta, and dismantles many of the myths that the province has built for itself, particularly about its conservatism.

Odds and ends:

This longread from Maclean’s is the definitive narrative account of the Meng Wanzhou affair.

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