The news out of Rideau Hall is rarely good these days, and yesterday, it was about high levels of harassment and job dissatisfaction being reported by the staff there. I’m not entirely surprised by this, given that most of the established and long-time staff abandoned it shortly after Julie Payette was named governor general, because she and her hand-picked secretary (who had no government or Crown-related experience) essentially made everyone’s lives miserable. This after it was revealed that Payette still refuses to move into Rideau Hall because she’s unhappy with the lack of privacy there, while she has decided to decamp to the Citadelle in Québec City – her other official residence – for the summer. (On that note, it’s probably the most use the Citadelle has had continuously in quite a while). All of this makes one wonder if she wasn’t told when she was offered the position that it’s a very public role and that living in an official residence would come with issues like staff being in the building at all hours. It seems odd that she wouldn’t have known this going into the job (and possibly a sign that Justin Trudeau and his office did a terrible job in either selecting her or preparing her).

Meanwhile, I remain concerned that we’ve heard nothing from the PMO about how they’re planning to replace the lieutenant governor of Saskatchewan following his untimely death this week, because the provincial government will be paralyzed until that is filled. If we had a functioning vice-regal appointments commission, there would have been more names from a short-list on record that could be drawn from fairly easily for a replacement, but now it’s an opaque box, and if there is another Judy Foote-like appointment in the works, that could be yet another self-inflicted wound for this government.

Good reads:

• At a transit funding announcement in Montreal, Justin Trudeau said that rallying our allies against China is working.
• Trudeau says he stands behind the judicial appointments in New Brunswick. (Also, stop paying attention to Duff Conacher. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about).
• Another damning report on the impacts of climate change was released yesterday, and it doesn’t paint a good picture about what is happening.
• Bill Blair threw some shade at Ontario, saying that there is enough cannabis supply in the market and that Ontario is just making excuses for their slow roll-out.
• Amarjeet Sohi says they’re not jumping at offers to buy the Trans Mountain pipeline (which makes sense given the purchase was about de-risking the expansion).
• Carolyn Bennett signed a $150 million claim settlement with the Blood Tribe near Calgary after the federal government devastated their cattle industry a century ago.
• An analysis shows that more Canada Summer Jobs grants are going to Liberal ridings than Conservative ones (but there also Conservative groups boycotting it).
• Government bureaucrats have been instructed to stop using “progressive” to describe trade agreements and replace it with “inclusive” instead.
• CSIS says that their new “threat disruption” powers can help to combat foreign interference, including during an election.
• Here are a few more hints about who is behind those “Canada Strong and Proud” text message campaigns, which may be skirting Elections Canada rules.
• Here’s a deeper dive into the various third-party spending pre-election, and where much of it is coming from, particularly on the right of the spectrum.
• The outgoing US Ambassador to Canada didn’t hold a July 4^thparty in Ottawa, but rather held it at the consulate in Calgary.
• The government finally appointed a new Sergeant-at-Arms for the House of Commons, more than four years after the post was vacated by Kevin Vickers.
• Mark Carney is being tipped to replace Christine Lagarde as head of the IMF, so maybe we should call off the Liberal leadership cranks. Again.
• After Liberal MP Geng Tan decided he wouldn’t run again this fall, both his wife and the former provincial MPP for the riding have opted to contest the nomination.
• The Globe and Mail has dug into the numbers and found that most provincial legislatures are sitting fewer days than they did a decade ago.
• Jason Kenney announced a public inquiry to bolster his pet conspiracy theory about foreign funding going to environmentalists in the province.
• Andrew Coyne is more than a little cautious about those who are trying to reinvent post-Trump conservatism.
• Susan Delacourt explores the weird space we’re in without a new US ambassador, a Chinese ambassador, or a Canadian ambassador to China.
• Jen Gerson gives her evaluation of Andrew Scheer’s foreign policy goals.

Odds and ends:

Here’s a guide to spotting misinformation and disinformation online.

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