Roundup: Caucus drama and another vote-a-thon

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Yesterday was another non-stop day of shenanigans and ongoing fallout from the interminable Double-Hyphen Affair, so let’s walk through it. The day began with caucus meetings, and on the way into Liberal caucus, Justin Trudeau stated that he was satisfied that Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott wanted to still work for the Liberal cause, so he would let them stay in caucus – though apparently Philpott got something of a rough ride from her fellow Liberals, according to various sources. Nearby, Andrew Scheer opened the door to the media for a speech about how terrible the budget was, except it was the same kind of jejune talking points that we’ve come to expect, such as how these deficits were terrible, unsustainable, and would lead to future tax increases – all of which are objectively untrue given that the deficit is actually small, sustainable, and with a declining debt-to-GDP ratio, will not require future tax increases. Because remember, a federal budget is nothing like a household budget, and people should be smacked for comparing them. Scheer also told some complete falsehoods about the deficit (detailed in this thread by Josh Wingrove), and it wouldn’t be his first lie of the day – his whole shtick during QP was another complete falsehood about parliamentary procedure.

Just before QP, there were more developments – Liberal MP Celina Caesar-Chavannes decided to quit caucus, and later cited that her tweet and subsequent interview about her tense meetings with the PM around her departure led to unintended consequences “for those she cares about,” and she felt it best to sit as an independent for the remainder of the session. Also, the CEO of SNC-Lavalin said that he never said that 9000 jobs were in danger – but if you also recall the testimony from committee, that seemed to stem from a memo from the department of finance, and there is also a hell of a lot of nuance to this figure of the 9000 jobs and what is at stake for SNC-Lavalin (thread here). And then not long after QP, the Conservatives started their vote-a-thon as a “protest” about the handling of the Double-Hyphen Affair, during which they again made the tactically inept decision to vote against all of them, opening themselves up to all manner of Liberal social media about all the good and necessary funding that they “threatened.” The Liberals, meanwhile, went into full drama queen mode and got cots put into the space behind the House of Commons so that MPs rotating off of votes can nap (which the Conservatives tried to mock in their own tweets). It’s all so very stupid.

In related news, Bill Morneau’s chief of staff, Ben Chin, denies he did anything wrong in talking to Jody Wilson-Raybould’s chief of staff at the time, saying there’s nothing wrong with staffers talking to staffers. Michael Chong is also trying to keep his hot garbage Reform Act in the news by saying that it would be illegal for Justin Trudeau to kick anyone out of caucus without a vote (though that doesn’t appear to be an issue any longer). Kady O’Malley’s Process Nerd column looks at how the procedural shenanigans could play out over the next few days.

Good reads:

  • Bill Blair says the review of firearms that could face bans in Canada will include the same kinds of guns used by the New Zealand shooter.
  • The budget includes provisions to finally create civilian oversight for CBSA – but I fear this will be jammed into the budget implementation bill.
  • Also in the budget is funding for a national dementia strategy.
  • Veterans groups say they’re not happy with the proposed “workaround” in the budget to the so-called “gold digger clause” in Veterans survivor benefits plans.
  • Here’s an in-depth look at the problem of cybersecurity companies in Canada not being able to scale-up without US funds.
  • Conservative MPs are complaining that the rules around household mailouts are too restrictive now because they won’t let them be too partisan.
  • Jagmeet Singh says he’ll publish a memoir in advance of the next federal election, because that’s apparently what political leaders do here. (Is Scheer next?)
  • Both Andrew Potter and Andrew Coyne explain their problems with the government tax credits for media outlets (beyond the concept itself).
  • Chantal Hébert wonders about a possible early federal election, but also games out what is likely to kill the Double-Hyphen Affair in the coming weeks.
  • Chris Selley points out that the sections in the budget on border security repudiate the Liberals’ own talking points for the past three years.
  • Hugh Segal warns the Conservatives that a programme of outrage (and dog whistling) is no substitute for having actual policy ideas in the window.
  • Kevin Milligan has a lengthy thread digging into the budget beyond just the headline items that everyone focused on yesterday.

Odds and ends:

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3 thoughts on “Roundup: Caucus drama and another vote-a-thon”

  1. There are two important stories that I feel you missed today.

    The first is about a topic that you have often covered here: the failure of backbenchers to hold the government to account (and its flip side, the excessive power of the Prime Minister and his staff).

    It’s in Policy Options and well worth the read, particularly given the recent resignations from the Liberal government and caucus.

    The second, related to the first, is Paul Well’s interview with Jane Philpott in Maclean’s where she joins the ranks of those calling for a complete airing of the story and even intimates that she herself has useful information that she cannot share.

    • I will look at the Policy Options piece, but the Philpott interview wasn’t posted when this was written.

  2. Looks like a new case of backstabbing by Philpott et al. Sometimes saying nothing is effective particularly in the game of politics.

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