Roundup: The safety of being in fourth place

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Ah, the safety of being the third and fourth parties in the House of Commons, where nothing you say really matters! Case in point with both Yves-François Blanchet and Jagmeet Singh, who spent yesterday lambasting prime minister Justin Trudeau for not badmouthing Donald Trump in public – Blanchet calling Trudeau “spineless,” and Singh condemning Trudeau’s silence. Because there’s nothing like demanding that the leader of our country insult the thin-skinned and erratic leader of our closest neighbour and trading partner, whom we rely on for economic security and military protection. Yeah, poking that bear will have no consequences whatsoever! One expects this kind of thing from Blanchet, who never has to worry about ever being in power, but for Singh, it seems to further prove that he has no interest in even pretending like he has a shot at forming a government, so he’s going to simply grandstand (badly) and look as unserious as he possibly can. And it’s more than just these kinds of declarations – it’s the demands that pretend that massive systemic change can happen with the snap of a finger, or that the federal government can just reach into provincial jurisdiction willy-nilly and using the incantation Canada Health Act as though it’s a justification or a blueprint for a federal role that accidentally forgot the part where you need to negotiate with the provinces first, and assumes that they’ll gladly sign onto whatever programme is being offered to them with all of the strings attached. Real life doesn’t work like that – but apparently you don’t need to worry about real life when you’re the fourth party.

Shameless self-promotion alert:

I’ll be appearing (virtually) before the Procedure and House Affairs committee this morning to talk about “hybrid” sittings and remote voting for MPs. (Spoiler: I’m against them). The fun starts at 11 AM Eastern.

Good reads:

  • Prime minister Justin Trudeau will be part of a pledging conference to raise money to ensure that vaccines will be distributed to less-developed countries.
  • Chrystia Freeland has offered a reminder that the 300,000 Canadian citizens in Hong Kong are welcome to return to Canada at any point.
  • Here is a look at Ahmed Hussen’s plans to help combat systemic racism in Canada.
  • Unsurprisingly, Indigenous women’s organizations are criticizing the government for not acting fast enough on the MMIW Inquiry recommendations.
  • Recovery operations for the downed Canadian Forces Cyclone helicopter off the coast of Greece have concluded, and the remains will soon head back to Canada.
  • Thanks to media attention on public servants editing Wikipedia pages, a resource-intensive witch hunt was conducted that wasted even more time and money.
  • The man responsible for sending those contaminated containers of recycling to the Philippines says that he was acting within the rules and wants an apology.
  • The Supreme Court of Canada will begin hearing cases over Zoom next week.
  • Suddenly MPs are concerned that the disclosure rules around designated travellers opens them up to partisan attack. You don’t say!
  • Senator Massicotte is defending the Canada-China Legislative Association, because its critics seem to think that diplomacy is the cookie you get for good behaviour.
  • Senator Dennis Patterson of Nunavut says in-person sittings are needed to get proper representation for his region (and he’s not wrong).
  • Three of the Conservative leadership candidates are offering ideas on long-term care solutions, and unsurprisingly, it’s a mixture of tough-on-crime and tax credits.
  • Derek Sloan has come out with more bizarre and offensive statements about conversion therapy and the bill that would seek to ban it.
  • Jason Kenney is striking a new firearms advisory council and plans to expand firearms testing in the province as a pushback against the assault rifle ban.
  • Kady O’Malley’s Process Nerd column looks at a possible solution to remote voting in a hybrid House (which I’m still very uncomfortable with).
  • Kevin Carmichael parses the latest Bank of Canada statement, which says the worst outcome was avoided, and that the worst part of the shock should be behind us.
  • Matt Gurney details how Sweden has now admitted that their approach of avoiding lockdowns in the face of a pandemic has failed – more deaths, no economic benefit.
  • Colby Cosh recounts the Australian High Court decision around access to the letters to the Queen during the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis.

Odds and ends:

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2 thoughts on “Roundup: The safety of being in fourth place”

  1. NDP are dead as doornails. The next election will see them wiped out. The Greens are dead. They never proposed an economic plan for Canada.
    The Bloc will unfortunately not die the death they deserve. The Conservatives are chained to an irrelevant past with shoe worn leadership.
    Interesting times yes!

  2. Someone needs to tell Blanchet and Singh, and a lot of MSM bobbleheads from the pundit shows and the PPG, to go watch “Canadian Bacon.” Plot: An unpopular president declares war on Canada to secure reelection and get terrific ratings. They were looking for a Hugh Grant in “Love Actually” moment but this is real life, and Trudeau doesn’t want to risk Billy-Bob Trump going full “Dr. Strangelove” and riding the eh-bomb over Ottawa. This weekend it’s movie night in Canada, everybody grab your popcorn.

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