It was a crazy-pants day on the campaign, so here we go. Justin Trudeau was out the door first today in Kitchener–Waterloo, with a pledge to create more before-and-after school care spaces for children, which will also involve the creation of a secretariat to do the negotiating with the provinces and lay the groundwork for a pan-Canadian childcare system (which won’t need to include Quebec, given that they already have their system). The pledge was also to reduce the fees parents are currently paying for before-and-after school care by ten percent, so we’ll see how that works out logistically and procedurally. There is an argument to be made here that ensuring this kind of care means more parents – and especially women (and Trudeau made this point in his announcement, showcasing that gender-based analysis was part of it) can re-enter and remain in the workforce. Given the state of our labour pool in this country – essentially at full employment – it is incumbent to ensure that we have the maximum rate of participation by women and minorities so that they can fill those labour shortages. (More thoughts on the announcement in this thread from Lindsay Tedds).

Jagmeet Singh’s big announcement in Longueuil, Quebec, was a “star candidate” – very loosely defined – who was a one-time provincial Green leader in Quebec who is now running for the NDP, against Pierre Nantel, the NDP MP who crossed to the Greens (and the riding is that the “star” very badly lost in many years ago). Apparently, there is now a tit-for-tat battle with the Greens as to who crossed the floor to whom, because that’s helpful.

Elizabeth May launched her party’s full platform, which they claim is “fully costed” – err, except that costing won’t be released for several days. Economists are already picking holes in the promises, particularly the promise for a guaranteed livable income (thread here).

Andrew Scheer was in Kelowna, BC, framing the election as the life you want being in reach or getting further out of reach, and after his tirades about Justin Trudeau and his laundry list of mistruths about the state of the deficit and the carbon price and he announced his plan to restore yet more tax credits, this time for children’s sports and arts programmes, and unlike under Harper, these tax credits would be refundable, so that even low-income families who don’t pay taxes will be able to benefit. When asked about how he could afford these plans, he said that his path to balance was over a five-year time period, and then he proffered a fantasy version of Energy East (who cares about economics), and claimed his climate plan was the only “real” one (verifiably untrue). Most unbelievable was that, when pressed about false statements that he and his candidates were making about Liberal plans, he went on a tirade about how Justin Trudeau lied, so it was fair for him to keep promulgating these false statements.

And then, suddenly, Scheer drops an allegation that Justin Trudeau had drinks with Faith Goldy and he wanted answers on that. The Liberals responded shortly thereafter with a blanket denial, but if this election is going to be fought over who was in the same room as Faith Goldy, it’s going to be a long five weeks.

Liberal campaign denies Justin Trudeau had drinks with Faith Goldy, in response to Andrew Scheer raising it earlier today. #elxn43 pic.twitter.com/aVLY3mfP8f

— Glen McGregor (@glen_mcgregor) September 16, 2019

Other election stories:

• The debate commission has decided to let Maxime Bernier participate after all.
• Conservatives will be using phone chatbots with pre-recorded scripts, while the Liberals decided against using them at the last minute.
• Here’s a look at the perceptions of the state of the economy colouring the different electoral pitches.
• CBC has compiled a handy chart of party positions on key issues.
• The Liberals have to re-record the French version of their campaign song because the translation doesn’t make any sense.
• Former Conservative MP and Manitoba PC MLA Steven Fletcher is now running for Maxime Bernier, and reusing his old lawn signs with a bit of paint on them.

Good reads:

• There are a few more details into the arrest of the RCMP intelligence director, including how it stemmed from the takedown of Phantom Secure.
• Said arrested intelligence director had access to allied files, and we also learned of a covert search of his condo. Damage control and mitigation efforts are ongoing.
• Canadian intelligence services are also warning that foreign officials – especially from China and India – have been trying to infiltrate party nomination processes.
• Canadian peacekeepers alleged to have committed sexual misconduct abroad are beyond the reach of Canadian law, which the government says they need to rectify.
• Facebook has an option for advertisers to rewrite headlines in news stories they link to, which is yet another vector for misinformation as people don’t click through.
• Anne Kingston worries that the focus on the “abortion debate” occludes the other social conservative policies that surround it.
• Stephen Maher suggests that while it’s fair enough that Maxime Bernier will be in the commission debates, he doesn’t deserve equal time to the main leaders.
• Andrew Coyne laments that the federal party leaders have capitulated to the Quebec government on Bill 21.

Odds and ends:

For the CBA’s National Magazine, I looked at how increasing climate events are changing how lawyers deal with “reasonably foreseeable” clauses in contracts.

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