Roundup: Supplies, spin, and rent

Posted on by

Prime minister Justin Trudeau’s daily presser was on the theme of medical supplies – signing agreements with three major medical suppliers in the country, MOUs signed with five other companies, and some 3000 other companies who have volunteered to help the government with those supplies in whatever way they can. Trudeau also noted that they have allocated an additional $2 billion for new personal protective equipment, largely by way of bulk-purchasing, and that more supplies would be arriving within days. As well, the government is tasking its next-generation manufacturing supercluster with scaling-up these kinds of producers to meet the domestic and global demand. Why this became a somewhat fraught issue is because there are places in the country where PPEs are being rationed, and Quebec stating that they were days away from running out – though Trudeau said that in some cases, it may be the medical providers who were rationing because they were trying to preserve supplies for an anticipated surge of cases.

[Here is another Q&A with infectious diseases specialist, Dr. Isaac Bogoch, and a discussion on the current debate about masks.]

Meanwhile, the National Post hears from a bunch of government insiders who claim that the attempt to get the power of taxation without parliamentary approval was about trying to hold leverage of the big banks who have been reluctant to loosen lending requirements, which is an explanation that makes absolutely no sense, and makes me again repeat that there appears to be a cadre of jackasses in Morneau’s office who have been responsible for many of this government’s missteps and woes, and we shouldn’t trust them.

And while I’m on the subject of jackasses, I spent much of yesterday on the Twitter Machine trying to remind people that rent is provincial jurisdiction, so constantly hounding the federal government is a waste of time. This was met with numerous people who insisted that the federal government could invoke the Emergencies Act to claim that power. The mind boggles. Why in the hell would the federal government invoke the tool of last resort to intrude into landlord/tenant legislation when the provinces are perfectly capable of doing so on their own. It makes zero sense. Add to that the people crying out that the federal government should immediately give money to renters, as though there were a mechanism to do so. It’s taking the CRA three weeks to retool their systems to deliver the CERB, which is a pretty breakneck speed to ensure that the system can do what’s being asked of it and hopefully not fail doing it (because their computers are not magic, and you can’t just type “give everyone $2000” and expect it to happen. It’s impossible). And no, there is no analogous funding arrangement to healthcare or post-secondary, as others were trying to claim – those are funding envelopes to provincial governments that come with agreements. They don’t go to individuals, and they are not spending in provincial jurisdiction over the objection of any province. The number of people who seem to think otherwise is astounding.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau appointed Ralph Goodale as a special advisor on the ongoing situation with Iran and Flight PS752.
  • The explanation on the wage subsidy programme was delayed until today, while the Conservatives say the emergency legislation doesn’t cover the details we’ve heard.
  • Bill Blair says he is consulting with Correctional Services and the Parole Board about trying to get low-risk offenders out of prisons to help prevent COVID-19 infections.
  • Government documents suggest that they are modelling a best case scenario that emergency measures will be in place until July.
  • The pandemic has delayed the implementation of the New NAFTA.
  • The Americans have officially withdrawn the proposal to station troops near the Canada-US border.
  • Voices in the market are hoping that Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz will stay on for a few more months as a sign of stability.
  • Amidst the pandemic, companies dealing in health technology are surging and seeing approvals that normally take months get cleared in hours.
  • The pandemic is forcing technological adoption in some courts, but is also creating the looming spectre of a massive backlog of cases when it’s over.
  • Two remote First Nations are asking the military to establish field hospitals in their regions even though they haven’t yet had any cases of COVID-19.
  • The pandemic is not giving anyone pause on either side of the environmental issue, which should surprise absolutely nobody.
  • After laying off 20,000 education workers, Jason Kenney bought a $1.1 billion stake in the Keystone XL pipeline and offered it another $6 billion loan guarantee.
  • Kady O’Malley’s Process Nerd column takes a trip through Hansard to what Parliament was concerned with on March 31st in years past.
  • Paul Daly looks at the emergency powers granted to the finance minister to nationalize businesses or create new Crown Corporations.
  • Heather Scoffield is looking for an estimate about how much the government’s emergency measures are costing the treasury.
  • My column looks at why the attempt to get COVID-19 oversight in the Senate failed, and why it’s a symptom of the bigger failings of the attempt to reform the Chamber.

Odds and ends:

Want more Routine Proceedings? Become a patron and get exclusive new content.

3 thoughts on “Roundup: Supplies, spin, and rent”

  2. The orange Berniecons don’t want a so-called “power grab” until they want a power grab. Respect democracy! Except when we want to seize the means of production! Pick a lane.

  3. Dale,

    Here is a story on The Guardian/Australia website in regards to the question that the Parliament of Australia should be meeting; and the Australian Labor Party had referred to Anne Twomey’s article on The Conversation/Australia in their arguments:

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/apr/01/labor-says-parliament-should-sit-to-scrutinise-governments-coronavirus-emergency-powers

    I think that the Parliaments should be meeting as much as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, and the Executive Government should be held accountable.

    Stay safe and keep up the great work,

    Ronald A. McCallum

Comments are closed.