Roundup: The opposition kneecaps itself

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In case you were wondering, yes I’m still upset by the move to keep regular Commons sittings suspended in favour of these showboat “hybrid” committee sittings, while the government continues to pat itself on the back for all of the questions they’re letting the opposition ask as they let the substantive work of Parliament slide. And while this particular piece talks about the “image politics” of Trudeau using his Rideau Cottage briefings, there was little discussion about how these somewhat farcical committee meetings – especially now that they have the gloss of the Chamber in this “hybrid” capacity – can let Trudeau keep crowing about how much he respects Parliament because low-information votes (enabled by low-information journalists who seem incapable of determining the difference) see the gloss of the Chamber and think that the Conservatives are just being big babies about it all.

This particular op-ed by professor Lori Turnbull makes some very salient points about the fact that our opposition was already weak – the Conservatives hobbled by their leadership contest (though I would argue that Andrew Scheer’s particular brand of political ineptness certainly made that situation worse), the NDP having lost their national relevance (again, Turnbull is being polite in not calling out Singh’s particular lack of ability), and the Greens’ irrelevance – and yet they’ve managed to kneecap themselves even further by giving away the tools they had at their disposal, like Supply Days and private members’ legislation. It’s kind of embarrassing, really.

Meanwhile, while this is going on, the Senate opposition leader, Senator Don Plett, is calling for the Senate to return and start sitting two days a week to start doing some parliamentary work including weekly questioning of ministers. Plett is calling for in-person sittings with about 40 senators in the Chamber at a time, and proportions are likely under negotiation right now, but it might allow for the Chamber to finally get some of its housekeeping out of the way like getting committees agreed to (now that the Progressives are a viable force again and aren’t at the mercy of ISG leader, Senator Yuen Pau Woo, as he tried to deny them committee seats), and perhaps the Chamber could give those committees their orders of reference so that they can start doing some work. It would be fitting if the Senate could start showing up the Commons, as they are wont to do – provided that it doesn’t simply devolve into endless back-patting, which is a danger with some of the newer members.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau hosted a virtual UN conference designed to support upholding the international rules-based order, which is necessary for stability in times like these.
  • Canada signed onto a statement with the US, the UK and Australia condemning China’s imposition of a new “national security” law in Hong Kong.
  • Jean-Yves Duclos is once again reminding his Cabinet colleagues that they need to up their game for Access to Information requests.
  • It sounds like the federal government is ready to start signing bilateral agreements with the provinces about childcare programmes.
  • Oh, look – some overwrought concern that there could be a labour shortage because people would rather stay on CERB, ignoring higher wages as a solution.
  • Both Peter MacKay and Erin O’Toole are laying out economic “recovery” platforms – and they’re both kind of handwavey.
  • Jason Kenney is getting increasingly Trumpian in his rhetoric about economic re-opening, downplaying COVID-19 as “an influenza” (which it isn’t).
  • Former journalist Ryan Hicks, who has been volunteering at a long-term care facility in Montreal, recounts his experiences and calls out François Legault to see it himself.
  • Steve Paikin interviews a long-term care home inspector who talks about attempts to fix the system being thwarted by corruption and inadequate resourcing.
  • Aaron Wherry delves into the history of funding long-term care in this country.
  • Susan Delacourt angrily demands immediate action from the federal government on long-term care, but doesn’t specify just what they can do out of their jurisdiction.
  • Heather Scoffield looks at the various support programmes that need to be restructured as the government moves from crisis mode to “safe restart.”

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2 thoughts on “Roundup: The opposition kneecaps itself”

  1. I really think people who are criticizing MPs for not sitting in regular Parliament meetings are dismissing how daunting the thought of getting on a plane is right now. Politicians in the US are spreading it among themselves. Boris Johnson had it. I don’t think the fear that they will bring it back to constituents is specious.

    As Chantal Hebert pointed out, too, a lot of MPs are dealing with child care and homeschooling, as so many are, and those aren’t easily unburdened, without claiming special privileges. As someone who doesn’t live near Ottawa, I think it’s a bit rich to say MPs can either come to Ottawa from far and wide or it doesn’t matter if they’re not all there..

    It’s not ideal, that’s for sure, and I certainly hope it doesn’t become baked in. But a lot of the people complaining seem to be living in the East in pretty comfortable isolation conditions..

    • There are plenty of options for MPs to stay in Ottawa for the duration, and that can include brining families with them. There is no need for them to constantly fly back and forth to their ridings.

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