The Double-Hyphen Affair took a bit of a breather yesterday, but will be back in full gear today as Gerald Butts and Michael Wernick testify at the justice committee. It will be interesting to see how they try to refute (or at least nuance) Jody Wilson-Raybould’s testimony last week, without trying to cast her as the villain or the problem. Meanwhile, Justin Trudeau cancelled an appearance in Regina yesterday and returned to Ottawa to hunker down, and his office is floating the news that he’s going to try for a more conciliatory tone – with some new lines that he tested out at the Toronto audience on Monday night. Elsewhere, Liberal MP Steve MacKinnon had to walk back his comments that SNC-Lavalin was “entitled “ to a deferred prosecution as a poor choice of words (no kidding), but said that they remain a candidate for one. More Cabinet ministers are giving their reassurances to the media, such as Chrystia Freeland did yesterday, including the assurance that yes, Trudeau is still a feminist leader. Also making the rounds was former Liberal deputy prime minister Sheila Copps, who took the aggressive line that Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott were unused to the rough and tumble of government because they hadn’t spent any time in opposition, and she urged Trudeau to kick them out of the party (which I think would be an even bigger mistake, but what do I know?) We also learned that David Lametti has asked for outside legal advice on “issues raised” by the current Affair – but not the question of the deferred prosecution agreement itself, in case anyone thinks this is him buckling to the kind of pressure that Wilson-Raybould was alleging.

For context, Tristin Hopper talks to a number of legal and constitutional experts about what has transpired in the Affair, and lo, this is largely a political issue that will have a political solution. Imagine that. Here’s an examination of how the playing field remains tilted against Wilson-Raybould because of her status as an Indigenous woman in what has been a field dominated by white men. Here’s a look at how the Liberals could turf Trudeau (but seriously, if you want a better discussion on this, read my book).

In pundit reaction, Susan Delacourt wonders why Trudeau keeps finding himself surprised by these recent events, particularly the resignations. Jason Markusoff warns that the Liberals appear to be gearing up to use “the other guys suck” as their campaign platform. While there is no hint of a backbench revolt (no, seriously), Kady O’Malley nevertheless games out how such a revolt could bring down the government. Philippe Lagassé expands on his previous post to talk about how this whole Affair proves that our system of parliamentary accountability is actually working. My column assesses the state of play for Trudeau, and how his way out of this Affair is going to be extremely tough to achieve.

Good reads:

• Google has opted to ban political ads for the upcoming election, as it’s too much headache with the new rules, which could leave parties scrambling.
• An Oxfam report says that the government is making progress on its feminist agenda, but that it needs more money to make a real difference.
• China has halted Canadian canola shipments, because this is a tactic they keep using to try and force concessions.
• The civil servant also charged with leaking documents along with VADM Mark Norman has pleaded not guilty.
• Maverick Liberal MP Wayne Long continues to have confidence in the government. Because it’s the media’s job to enforce caucus discipline.
• Liberal MP Bill Casey is calling on Ralph Goodale to order an external risk assessment of the RCMP’s planned relocation of a call centre from Truro.
• David Moscrop notes that Trudeau’s pledge of doing things differently may have been more than a little naïve given the realities of governing this country.

Odds and ends:

Tristin Hopper goes through why the Trans Mountain expansion can’t be the danger to the southern resident killer whales that opponents claim it to be.

Programming note: No post tomorrow as I’ll be travelling all day to give a guest lecture at Trent University about my book. Have fun with the Butts testimony!

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