Prime minister Justin Trudeau’s daily presser was shorter than usual – not much news other than the fact that the legislation for student measures would be coming up that afternoon, and oh yeah, the Snowbirds would be doing flyovers across the country as a salute to front-line workers, which immediately got everyone up in arms over how useless it was (but one suspects it’s also about finding a way for them to keep up their flying hours while airshows are grounded pretty much for the rest of the year). During the Q&A, there were yet more questions on trying to goad some kind of federal strong-arming the provinces over re-openings and to have their guidelines include “hard numbers,” whereas Trudeau kept falling back on “foundational elements” and consultations, and of course jurisdictional differences. He also wouldn’t say that he would mandate that meat-packing plants stay open given that there have been outbreaks in several of them (and pre-pandemic, one major plant had been shut down because it couldn’t pass inspection). He also said that there were discussions with the CFL given that they are likely going to have to cancel their season, which again had people grousing about the possibility of a bailout there (though as far as professional sports in this country goes, I would hazard to say that the CFL is one of the least dominated by millionaires).

And then there was the House of Commons. After the “special committee” met in-person in the Chamber for their designated two-and-a-half hours, things shifted to a regular-ish sitting, with the Speaker in robes and in the Big Chair, and the Mace on the table, to discuss the bill on the student measures. This one seems to have been a bit more controversial than other measures, because the Conservatives were demanding that it include measures to ensure that students would still look for jobs (in the middle of a global pandemic, no less) because it’s terrible that they could get paid for staying at home (in the middle of a global pandemic), while the NDP were howling that the measures weren’t as generous as the CERB, forgetting that if students had made more than $5000 last year because they worked enough, they were eligible for the CERB, and this student programme was intended for those who had different circumstances, while also being paired with other enriched benefits. Nevertheless, the government did relent and ensured that a ticky-box would be added to the student application portal to attest that yes, they were looking for a job, while they did increase the benefit levels for students with disabilities or dependants. Crisis averted. The bill heads to the Senate, but not until Friday, for some unknown reason.

I do find the insistence by the Conservatives and the Bloc that these students be forced to work on farms or the like to be problematic because we’ve heard from agricultural producers that this is usually specialized work, and you can’t just send untrained students to do it (which kind of goes to the point about why we should pay the migrant workers with the specialized knowledge more, and ensure that they have pathways to citizenship). As for the pearl-clutching that students might make more on the government wage replacements for the duration of the pandemic instead of taking low-paid jobs that with no guarantee of safety in the course of a pandemic, it does make me wonder if part of that lesson isn’t actually that maybe employers should be offering higher wages rather than demanding that the government enforce their being artificially low. But hey, since when does basic economics enter into the equation?

Good reads:

• Rumour has it that that government plans to ban 11 types of guns by way of Order in Council this week (though I’m not sure by way of what legislative mechanism).
• A Canadian Forces Cyclone helicopter has gone missing off the coast of Greece during a NATO operation, and one body has been recovered.
• Here is a look at how the Canadian Forces are starting to deploy to some twenty long-term care facilities in Quebec.
• Maclean’s has another Q&A with an infectious disease specialist regarding what we know now about COVID-19.
• In the wake of the global pandemic and the crash of oil prices, lobbying of MPs and government nearly doubled, while lobbying of senators nearly halved.
• The National Post evaluates the MPs’ backdrops for yesterday’s virtual committee meeting, and tries to divine what’s on the prime minister’s bookshelf.
• Nova Scotia MPs and Senators talk about the shooting, and the hopes that it can prompt a greater discussion on domestic violence (as touched off the incident).
• Karina Gould has been profiled in British Vogue as a global young leader.
• The Conservative leadership race is un-suspended, and they are looking at a date of August 21^st for the ballots to be mailed in by.
• The Conservatives’ Ontario caucus demanded Derek Sloan apologise to Dr. Tam or face potential expulsion. Sloan released an “explanation” but not an apology.
• Former Winnipeg mayor and Ontario Cabinet minister Glen Murray has decided to now run for the leadership of the federal Green Party.
• Kevin Carmichael makes a pitch for some post-re-opening infrastructure spending, particularly on things like National Trade Corridor initiatives.
• Colby Cosh looks at how Fort McMurray ignored their own flood mitigation plans after the big fire, and oh, look – a predictable flood happened. Imagine that.

Odds and ends:

For the CBA’s National Magazine, I write about the looming flood of custody cases in the courts when they re-open after the pandemic.

Hey tweeps! Want to read #UnbrokenMachine while you’re social distancing? Here’s your chance to get it at 25% off. https://t.co/PpC4ovVe7S

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) March 23, 2020

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