Because the government’s handling of the Double-Hyphen Affair (as I am now dubbing it) needed another bombshell, it came in the form of Treasury Board president Jane Philpott resigning, citing that she had lost confidence in the government over its handling of the Affair, and because she could no longer abide by the principles of Cabinet solidarity throughout it. It’s a rare resignation on principle, and one that causes no end of damage to Trudeau (and more importantly for his electoral chances, his brand). To lose of his most capable ministers is far harder to try and pretend is just a disagreement over semantics than he could with just Jody Wilson-Raybould off-side.

It grieves me to resign from a portfolio where I was at work to deliver an important mandate. I must abide by my core values, my ethical responsibilities, constitutional obligations. There can be a cost to acting on one’s principles, but there is a bigger cost to abandoning them. pic.twitter.com/EwO5dtdgG6

— Jane Philpott (@janephilpott) March 4, 2019

Trudeau, of course, shrugged it off at his event that evening, still showing no contrition, but he did deploy some lines about “encouraging disagreement and debate,” and that there was “important debate” about how the ministry conducts themselves, which could signal that more heads are about to roll. Maybe. But the Liberals continue to hurt themselves, as parliamentary secretary Steve MacKinnon went on the evening politics shows and made the tactical error of saying that SNC-Lavalin was entitled to a deferred prosecution agreement, because otherwise they were at a disadvantage to international competitors who were able to get such agreements form their own governments. The use of “entitled” set off everyone’s alarm bells, and one imagines he’ll be cringing about it for the next few weeks if this whole Affair carries on much longer.

For context, there have only been two – maybe three, depending – resignations on principle in recent history. Here’s a recap of Philpott’s time in politics.

In punditry, and of course there was no shortage of hot takes, Robert Hiltz wonders how much longer this whole Affair can keep going on, particularly if Trudeau keeps on his current path. Matt Gurney wishes the Liberals luck in spinning the departure (indeed, Trudeau basically shrugged it off), while Jen Gerson says that Trudeau’s handling of this Affair has turned it into an existential crisis for his government. Paul Wells takes it a step further, pairing this with the shenanigans going on in Queen’s Park with the firing of the deputy OPP commissioner, and wonders if the culture of respect for the rule of law is being eroded in this country, sacrificed at the altar of political expediency. (This after Wells also accused Trudeau of essentially being a phony, not governing in the way he presents himself to the world). Chantal Hébert ponders whether Trudeau is capable of raising his game after the past three weeks. Susan Delacourt points out that the way this has played out is so different from previous departures that it leaves Trudeau without any kind of guidebook, and makes the added observation that women are changing politics – but not in the way that Trudeau expected.

In advance of this all, however, Andrew Coyne penned another one of his missives about this Affair, decrying that the system hasn’t worked because it was up to one woman to keep the system intact. Philippe Lagassé pushes back against this particular depiction, and I’m Team Phil on this one.

https://twitter.com/PhilippeLagasse/status/1102625840813096960

https://twitter.com/PhilippeLagasse/status/1102627673883332608

https://twitter.com/PhilippeLagasse/status/1102630869481578496

https://twitter.com/PhilippeLagasse/status/1102632514277924865

Good reads:

• Justin Trudeau went to PEI to announce biotechnology investments, where he also said that it was possible for SNC-Lavalin to negotiate a deferred prosecution.
• Trudeau also dismissed the Chinese claims that the two detained Canadians worked in tandem to steal state secrets.
• DND is on course to underspend their budget by about $2 billion for various reasons, which is going to threaten our ability to meet NATO targets.
• Here’s an interview with our ambassador to the US, David MacNaughton, about his time in the job.
• The Liberals are deploying partisan ads (wrapped up in the theme of climate change) in advance of the pre-election restrictions kicking in.
• Charlie Angus is demanding an investigation into the allegations Facebook pressured the previous government in exchange for a promised data centre.
• Jason Kenney is promising corporate tax reductions if elected.
• Kady O’Malley’s Process Nerd column gives a guide of what to expect at Gerald Butts’ committee testimony tomorrow.
• Stephen Maher points to Doug Ford’s firing of the OPP deputy commissioner, and why that should be more alarming than the Double-Hyphen Affair.

Odds and ends:

Here’s a look at how Ontario MPP Amanda Simard is adapting to life as an independent.

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