Over in Alberta, Jason Kenney’s McCarthy-esque Committee on un-Albertan Activities received its terms of reference and will begin taking submissions, and just like the MacKinnon Report, it was gamed to specifically look at anything that was being mean to the oil and gas sector while studiously avoiding any falsehoods used by the oil and gas lobby to state their own case. And it’s all going into feeding their “war room” to “fight back” against those un-Albertan activities. Because this is totally normal for a democratic government in the western world.

They're also really keen on transparency. Just not for themselves. pic.twitter.com/7GacU2UlQA

— Andrew Leach (@andrew_leach) September 9, 2019

This may be my favorite part of the Terms of Reference of the Inquiry into un-Albertan activities. pic.twitter.com/3NPxrYGlIP

— Andrew Leach (@andrew_leach) September 9, 2019

FAQ: What is the relationship between the inquiry into un-Albertan activities and the War Room.

A: Nothing, please go away.

Terms of Reference 2(3)(b) : The inquiry is mandated to help the war room, i.e. "enable GoA to respond effectively to any anti-Alberta energy campaigns " pic.twitter.com/PZImuxtTLF

— Andrew Leach (@andrew_leach) September 9, 2019

Does this mean that if you're trying to frustrate either untimely, inefficient, and/or irresponsible development of oil and gas resources, you're not considered un-Albertan? Seems to me that there's a lot of subjectivity in that clause… 2/2

— Andrew Leach (@andrew_leach) September 9, 2019

Good reads:

• Justin Trudeau has named former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Marie Deschamps to the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency.
• Norad wants the Canadian Forces to review the infrastructure around their bases and surrounding areas to evaluate and mitigate vulnerabilities to cyber-attacks.
• AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde held a press conference to lay out First Nations priorities in the coming election, and wouldn’t endorse any party.
• The spending announcement spree may show some Liberal strategy in terms of targeted ridings (but it’s also because fixed election dates are garbage).
• Here’s a look at the “dark arts” of opposition research, used to try and embarrass parties by candidates’ old utterances and social media posts.
• There are concerns about the use of inauthentic social media accounts in the federal election, much as was demonstrated in the Alberta election.
• Bill Morneau sent a tweet out with a clip of Scheer talking about framing budget cuts, which the Conservatives say is misleading (which is kinda was).
• The Conservatives are officially launching their campaign on Wednesday.
• Here’s a look at how the Conservatives are vying for Bloc votes in Quebec (including using signs with Quebec flags on them).
• Elizabeth May says she wouldn’t whip any Green MP who tried to bring forward abortion bills (o which the party sent assurances that those views are screened out).
• Jason Kenney has ordered that Alberta school districts remove the word “public” from their names, creating fears of blurred lines with private and charter schools.
• Éric Grenier crunches the numbers in Quebec to show why the Liberals are saying yes to the TVA debate.
• Chantal Hébert explains how Maxime Bernier’s exclusion from the TVA debate limits his reach in Quebec for an audience that he is trying to gain.
• Susan Delacourt looks at the role of Facebook ads in elections, and the questions of how they target voters.
• Andrew Coyne laments Trudeau gaming the leaders debates by using the commission to essentially recreate the old consortium.

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