Roundup: Blustering through a climbdown

Posted on by

It was a day full of bravado, as Erin O’Toole began the day with a bit of a climbdown, saying they would change the name of their proposed special committee from the blatantly inflammatory “anti-corruption committee” to the “special committee on allegations of misuse of public funds by the government during the COVID-19 pandemic,” which is exactly the same thing (and whose first four letters – which committees abbreviate to – would be SCAM, which is yet another one of their childish tactics). Government House leader Pablo Rodriguez was not mollified, quipping “If you write a book about Frankenstein and call it ‘Cinderella,’ it’s still a book about Frankenstein.” O’Toole then tried to say they would amend their motion to insist that a vote for it was not a vote for an election, to which the government said no dice – you’re saying you don’t have confidence in us, so you get to put your money where your mouth is as this is going to be a confidence vote. And then O’Toole tried to say that he doesn’t have confidence in the government, but doesn’t want an election, and sorry, that’s not how this works. You’re accusing them of corruption and misusing public funds – which is a loss of confidence in a system like ours – and then saying you don’t want an election? Yeah, no. You have confidence and the government governs, or you don’t, in which case the government falls and you go to an election.

There is going to be a monumental amount of chest-thumping and testosterone being hosed across the carpet between the aisles in the Commons today as this comes to a head, but frankly, the government is calling O’Toole out for his bluster and tough talk. The Bloc are also blustering about being in favour of an election, leaving the NDP holding the bag. Jagmeet Singh insisted that this was a “farce” and “stupid” to trigger an election in a pandemic over creating a committee – omitting that the title of the committee implied corruption, which should be a de facto loss of confidence, and the fact that said committee’s terms of reference would give it priority over all other government business, including having ministers, the prime minister, and civil servants being expected to drop everything and appear or produce documents at the committee’s beck-and-call, in the middle of a pandemic where everyone is already stretched. (There was also Conservative sniping that Singh didn’t seem to have a problem with John Horgan calling an early election in the middle of a pandemic). I know the NDP want to play the grown-ups in the room (somewhat ironic after Charlie Angus’ histrionics and theatrics on the WE Imbroglio file), but at least represent the situation for what it is.

Meanwhile, Kady O’Malley’s Process Nerd column explains just how the motion on creating that special committee can be considered a confidence matter. Paul Wells offers some intense snark over the current confidence showdown, and how Trudeau may not be gambling if he’s likely to win another election. Heather Scoffield sees utility in the government’s proposed pandemic spending oversight committee – assuming that it is set up as advertised.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau warned against COVID misinformation, like rumours of “internment camps” that are being spread by the likes of certain Ontario MPPs.
  • Trudeau also said he’s not trick-or-treating with his kids this year, and encouraged Canadians to follow local health guidelines for their own Halloween celebrations.
  • More warnings that the government might be making judicial appointments with a partisan lens, that completely ignores that the PM is politically accountable for them.
  • The government is appealing a Federal Court decision that called out CSIS’ breaching their duty of candour when it comes to getting warrants.
  • The Canadian Statistics Advisory Committee warns of “data gaps” as a result of inconsistencies in provincial data and a lack of timeliness in turning them over.
  • The PBO “costed” the bill on reforming the medically assisted dying legislation, and I have questions, starting with why he would touch this ghoulish request.
  • A class action lawsuit has been filed against Veterans Affairs, claiming the department fails to inform veterans of the benefits they are entitled to.
  • The Commissioner of Elections found that NDP MP Brian Masse violated elections laws around billboards he put up in advance of the last election.
  • My column points to how certain political actors, federally and provincially, are deliberately obfuscating jurisdictional issues in order to score points.

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

2 thoughts on “Roundup: Blustering through a climbdown”

  1. Its too bad that if an election were forced it would take at least two months to get parliament back up and running. O’Toole will wear that along with his unfortunate foray into brinkmanship. No policies, no care for the Canadian people, true hall marks of our unique brand of conservatism.

  2. Histrionics is an understatement. Angus abused Margaret Trudeau. He should be forced to make a public apology to her, in a letter of resignation. He already quit Twitter because he couldn’t handle being called out for it. As for the Cons’ childish acronym antics, does anyone remember their own “Frankenstein” amalgamation of the Conservative Reform Alliance Party being called “CRAP”? Probably the only time the party ever demonstrated anything resembling honesty. The NDP really should just change their name to the New Deplorable Party after having jumped right on the bandwagon with the Cons’ GOP antics. As I’ve said numerous times, their shade of orange is no different from Trump.

Comments are closed.