Roundup: The ouster of the dissidents

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After a day of bated breath, and rumours of regional caucus meetings, Justin Trudeau decided to pull the plug and expel Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott from Liberal caucus, ostensibly saying that trust had been lost. While Wilson-Raybould would not say that she had confidence in the prime minister, Philpott went on camera that morning to say that she did, that her loss of confidence was solely in the handling of that one issue but otherwise she was still a good Liberal, but that wasn’t enough. For her part, Wilson-Raybould sent a letter to her caucus mates to plead her case, that she felt she was standing up for the values they shared and was trying to protect the prime minister from a “horrible mess,” but it didn’t sway any minds it seems. In the intervening hours, the texts and notes that Gerald Butts submitted to the Commons justice committee were released, and it mostly focused on the Cabinet shuffle, with the assurances that she was not being shuffled because of the SNC-Lavalin file, but because they needed someone with high profile for one of the highest-spending departments and she refused Indigenous Services. (Wilson-Raybould was also convinced that they were planning to replace her chief of staff with one of two PMO staffers she accused of trying to pressure her, which Butts said was not the plan, and which has not happened, for what it’s worth). I did find that Wilson-Raybould’s concern about the timing of the shuffle was suspicious, considering that the SNC-Lavalin file was on nobody’s radar until the Globe and Mail article, and her warnings of Indigenous anger if she was shuffled is also a bit odd considering that her record on addressing those issues while she was in the portfolio were…not exactly stellar.

When the “emergency” caucus meeting happened, Trudeau had just informed the pair that they were expelled, and he gave a lofty speech about trying to do politics differently, and sometimes that was hard and they didn’t always get it right, but he called recording the conversation with the Clerk of the Privy Council to be “unconscionable” (though it bears reminding that Philpott did not partake in this), and that they needed to be united because Liberals lose when they fight among themselves – and then he went into campaign mode. Because of course he did.

In the aftermath, Philpott put out a message that described her disappointment, and noted that she never got the chance to plead her case to caucus – though one imagines that for most of the caucus, the interview with Maclean’s, the hints of more to come, and what appeared to be a deliberate media strategy was her undoing, and her last-minute declaration of loyalty wasn’t enough to save her. She does, however, appear to want to stay in politics, so that remains interesting. Wilson-Raybould tweeted out a message that was unapologetic, rationalised her actions, and talked about transcending party, so perhaps that’s a hint of her future options. Andrew Scheer put out a message saying that there’s a home for anyone who speaks truth to power among the Conservatives, which is frankly hilarious given how much they crushed dissent when they were in power. (Also note that the NDP won’t take floor-crossers who don’t run in a by-election under their banner, and if they “make an exception” in this case, that will speak to their own principles. As well, if anyone thinks that they’re a party that brooks dissent, well, they have another thing coming). Liberals, meanwhile, made a valiant effort at trying to show how this was doing things differently – because they let it drag on instead of instantly putting their heads on (metaphorical) spikes. And maybe Trudeau was trying to give them a chance – he stated for weeks that they allow dissenting voices in the caucus – but the end result was the same.

In hot takes, Andrew Coyne says the expulsions serve no purpose other than vindictiveness, and that it’s a betrayal of the role of backbenchers to hold government to account. Susan Delacourt marvels at how long this has dragged out, and whether it’s a signal of dysfunction in the centre of Trudeau’s government that it’s carried out as it has. Robert Hiltz zeroes in on the lines in Trudeau’s speech where he conflates the national interest with that of the Liberal Party, which has the side-effect of keeping our oligarchical overlords in their comfortable places.

Good reads:

  • Jim Carr says the government is actively trying to not escalate the situation with China over canola, which is why they haven’t drafted retaliatory measures.
  • The Environment Commissioner says the government is failing in their obligations to meet climate targets, and is dragging their feet on oil and gas subsidies.
  • Veterans Affairs issued shorter questionnaires for doctors to complete for patients, but it sounds like the new forms miss key PTSD indicators.
  • Some fresh warnings that clicking the links from political text messages could put cookies on your browser to collect information, and there’s no regulation. Whee!
  • It looks like Liberal MPs voted down delaying the cutting down of the hundred-year-old elm tree near Centre Block.
  • Here’s an interview with former CSIS director Richard Fadden on a range of national security issues, including foreign fighters returning to Canada and Huawei.
  • The president of Israel cut short his visit to Canada because of his wife’s poor health.
  • The Senate bill to end the captivity of whales and dolphins passed the Commons committee with no amendments, and can go for third reading in a few weeks.
  • In the Senate, Senator Harder decided to go with the nuclear option of an unprecedented programming motion for 11 bills. My column here.
  • Conservative senators accused Catherine McKenna of planting friendly questions with senators on the committee examining Bill C-69.
  • The NDP unveiled a national pharmacare policy this week that hand-waved through implementation – so Kevin Milligan explained why that’s a Big Deal here.
  • Tony Clement has decided not to seek re-election this fall.
  • In the Alberta election, the “centrist” Alberta Party went full-on lunatic with this policy proposal of crazy. (Thread from Kevin Milligan).
  • My column looks at what’s happened in the Double-Hyphen Affair through the lens of “doing politics differently,” and the balance with cynicism and realism.

Odds and ends:

Royal Dutch Shell is ending their association with oil and gas lobby groups because they support a carbon tax and the lobby groups don’t.

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