At the time I’m writing this, it’s not looking too good for Rachel Notley and her NDP in the Alberta election (and sorry I couldn’t stay up late to track results, but StatsCan waits for no journalist). With that in mind, I wanted to just post a couple of thoughts about what this could bode – not just the immediate nonsense of Jason Kenney theatrically tabling a bill to repeal the province’s carbon tax (and immediately subjecting him to the federal backstop), or his threat to “turn off the taps” to BC when it comes to oil — something a court would strike down immediately because it’s utterly unconstitutional. Rather, I suspect that this will provide additional encouragement to Andrew Scheer to emulate Kenney’s tactics — fomenting anger, and selling people a steady diet of lies and snake oil, and hoping that he can find someone to blame when he’s unable to deliver on any of it should he get into power. Scheer’s problem will be that he doesn’t have another level of government he can cast too much blame upon, but that won’t dissuade him from the other tactics.

I also suspect that we’re going to get a renewed round of wailing and gnashing of teeth from “progressives” about how they couldn’t coalesce their votes around Notley and the NDP, and there will be all manner of blame being cast at the Alberta Party and the Alberta Liberals for splitting their vote (which is nonsense, of course, but we’ll hear it anyway).

Meanwhile, my column offers my personal loathing and dread about the way the election happened, and the problem with stoking anger and promising magic wands and snake oil.

Good reads: 

• While in Waterloo, Justin Trudeau said that the Ford government hasn’t approved any joint infrastructure project funding, which means money isn’t flowing to municipalities. 
• A pernicious bit of fake news is circulating that claims that Trudeau asked Nigeria for a million immigrants, which is of course completely false, but Trudeau haters want to believe it’s true.
• The Federal Court has ordered the Lobbying Commissioner to take another look at Trudeau’s vacation with the Aga Khan, and the ruling could have major impacts on unpaid lobbyists.
• Housing advocates want amendments to the budget bill in order to beef up the right to housing that is contained therein.  
• A new report by the Canadian Forces says that the spike in suicides from those who served in Afghanistan may be subsiding.
• Service Canada’s call centres are failing to meet their service standards in part because their systems are being overloaded by high call volumes.
• In the VADM Mark Norman trial, the Crown has stopped contesting the release of some documents, while Norman’s lawyers demand unredacted access to certain PMO memos.
• The plan for the Royal Canadian Mint to release a coin to commemorate the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1969 has some critics in the LGBT community.
• Parks Canada and the Inuit Heritage Trust have come to an agreement over the how the Franklin Expedition shipwrecks and artefacts will be studied and preserved.
• The writs are expected to be drawn up in Newfoundland and Labrador today for a May 15th election.
• Day two of the carbon tax reference case in Ontario saw the federal government make its case, and called Ontario’s position about jurisdictional creep to be alarmist.
• Kady O’Malley parses the Elections Canada guidance document on political donations via cryptocurrency (and the Marijuana Party’s existential rumination as part of it).
• Kevin Carmichael looks at the “two economies” in Canada that are facing the Bank of Canada, and the worries about external slowdowns. 
• Carmichael also points out that Canada endorsing the unqualified Trump pick to head the World Bank puts our credibility on defending multilateral institutions in jeopardy. 
• Heather Scoffield notes that the political class is falling behind on the climate change conversation, and that oil companies are looking to “transition-linked bonds” to go green.
• Susan Delacourt walks through what’s happening in PMO as Trudeau has opted not to name a new principal secretary to replace Gerald Butts.

Odds and ends:

The magnetic North Pole is migrating from Canada to Siberia. 

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