Now that the Ethics Commissioner’s report is out in the open, the Conservatives are doing their best to try and capitalise on it – both with the coming Ethics Committee meeting (that is going to be shut down), and in Scheer trying to look tough on the issue. After calling on Liberals to essentially turn on Trudeau – something that would be far more effective if this were the era of caucus selection of leadership so that they could hold him to account – he also decided to take matters into his own hands at the National Acadian Day festivities in Dieppe, New Brunswick, earlier this week. When Trudeau spotted Scheer in the crowd, he came over to shake his hand, and, camera rolling, Scheer told him “You have to stop lying to Canadians. You need to come clean.” Trudeau, true to form, responded with a nonchalant “Oh, this is a good day today,” and went back to glad-handing with the crowd. Scheer has been trying to make the video go viral, but…he looks kind of awkward in it, like his attempt at being tough and in Trudeau’s face were essentially laughed off. I’m not sure how this bolsters Scheer’s case, but, well, he’s trying to convince his online audience of it.

There were also tongues waving and actual salivation over the revelation that the RCMP had been in touch with Jody Wilson-Raybould after the allegations first surfaced in the Globe and Mail back in February, but nothing has come of it since, and PMO assured the CBC that they had not been contacted by the RCMP. (I find it hard to believe anything will come of that either, given that there’s nothing they could charge them with – and no, this can’t possibly be obstruction of justice because a DPA is not getting off scot-free).

Meanwhile, a bunch of people are trying to be clever about Trudeau’s refusal to apologise for this situation by contrasting it with all of the various official apologies he’s made for historical injustices, as though there can be a actual equation of the two. Worth reading, however, is this thread from a legal analysis of the Ethics Commissioner’s report, and it pokes a number of holes in it, rendering it all the more problematic (which isn’t to say to say that there wasn’t any wrongdoing).

Good reads:

• Marie-Claude Bibeau unveiled details of the government’s compensation for dairy farmers affected by the recent trade deals.
• National Defence has signed a sole-source contract with General Dynamics, which is the company making LAVs for Saudi Arabia (but won’t be for the same model).
• Randy Boissoneault says the government is still exploring ways of criminalising “conversion therapy.”
• Transport Canada has flagged problems with the rail line running through Lac Mégantic, and it sounds like the company that owns the line just papered over it.
• Here’s a look at Andrew Scheer’s campaign team.
• NDP MP Pierre Nantel was booted from caucus when it was discovered he was in talks with the Green Parties to jump ship and run for them.
• Kevin Carmichael puts some context to Canada’s economic figures as there are fears of a looming global recession, and what the Bank of Canada might do.
• Colby Cosh parses Anne McLellan’s report on whether to split the roles of Attorney General and Minister of Justice.
• My weekend column wonders if all of the heightened ethics rules around political staffers has resulted in a poor quality of decision-making in politics.

Odds and ends:

Here’s a look at the curious incident of the Ontario Court of Appeal, and the decision that was released “in error” when the wrong judge signed off on it.

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