As the pandemic rolls along, I find myself increasingly irritated with news stories that fail to mention jurisdictional issues. Case in point yesterday was a look at how the federal commercial rent subsidy is ending, but nowhere in the story did it mention that rent is actually a provincial jurisdiction. Part of why the federal programme was so problematic and underutilized is because the premiers signed off on the rules while the federal government put up funds by way of the CMHC, because that was pretty much the only lever they had at their disposal. The only time the provinces are mentioned in the story was in relation to that the moratorium on evictions in certain provinces were expiring – which is important, but the fact that this whole mess is really the provinces’ responsibility is not mentioned. The very same thing happened about a week ago around the problems related to the federal government’s disability payments, that again, because this falls under provincial jurisdiction, the only lever the federal government had at their disposal was the federal disability tax credit, which is why everything was not great and complicated.

I’m all for holding the federal government to account, as anyone who reads this blog will know, but we also need to be holding the right feet to the fire, and the provinces have been consistently getting a pass on the rent issue in the media (and the disability issue for that matter as well). Most of the premiers have ballsed up the response to this pandemic, on an epic scale in some provinces, but there seems to be very little appetite to deal with that. Instead, we get pieces (that I won’t link to) about how Doug Ford surpassed everyone’s expectations and how he’s no acting like a partisan bully any longer, and I’m sorry, but he hasn’t done his gods damned job in this pandemic, and just sounding avuncular at press conferences is not cutting it. And the federal government isn’t helping keep accountability where it belongs either because they keep retreating to this refrain that “we don’t want a fight over jurisdiction,” when no, you don’t have jurisdiction, you don’t have policy levers, so why are you being assigned the task of dealing with the issue at all? (And the first person who raises the spectre of emergency legislation as a means of the federal government asserting jurisdiction can leave right now).

So while I get that news organisations are trying to shine a light on these problematic federal programmes, omitting key pieces information like matters of proper jurisdiction, are not actually helping anyone. (And no, it’s not a conspiracy with the Conservatives, so you can stop that right now). Accountability is important, but holding the right people to account is just as important, and unless your article identifies who those right people are, and places it in that context, then you’re just confusing issues and muddying the water, which does the opposite of accountability. I also refuse to bow to this notion that “nobody cares about jurisdiction in a pandemic.” Sorry, but no, we have a federal constitution that clearly defines roles and responsibilities, and the federal government can’t invent levers of power out of thin air. Jurisdiction absolutely matters, and pretending otherwise is actively helping those who’ve ballsed up their responses evade accountability. That seems to me to be the opposite of what is trying to be achieved here.

Good reads:

• The death of First Nations woman Joyce Echaquan, and the racists taunts she endured before her death, was raised by most parties in the Commons yesterday.
• Health Canada has approved a rapid COVID-testing device that will still require professional swabs, but will produce results in about 15 minutes.
• Mi’kmaq parliamentarians are proposing a new body to help East Coast First Nations deal directly with the Crown rather than individual bands with DFO.
• A Canadian Forces search and rescue helicopter was attacked by a polar bear while on the ground in northern Labrador.
• Senators are refusing to fast-track Bill C-4, but worryingly a bunch of them are now demanding hybrid sittings like the Commons is doing (badly).
• In his Address in Reply to the Speech from the Throne, Erin O’Toole trotted out his usual talking points about regional divisions and Communist China!
• Green Party leadership candidate Glen Murray is crying foul after the party didn’t funnel all of his donations to his campaign, which he says disadvantaged him.
• Kady O’Malley’s Process Nerd column aims to dispel three myths about hung parliaments that keep getting circulated around crucial votes.
• Kevin Carmichael contemplates creative destruction and the role that entrepreneurs are playing in the economic recovery, and how government can support them.
• Susan Delacourt makes the case that Canadians need to be actively involved in international election monitoring in the upcoming American election.

Odds and ends:

Here’s the video of @supriyadwivedi schooling the rest of the pundit panel on rapid testing. This is extremely important given the level of rhetoric around “why isn’t the government approving rapid tests” that is floating around. https://t.co/wYeKGQFFju

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) September 30, 2020

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