Roundup: Parliament versus itself

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Not unexpectedly, the Speaker of the House of Commons has declared that he’s going to fight “tooth and nail” for Parliament’s right to demand whatever documents they want – as well he should. But this is a very complex issue that becomes parliament fighting against itself, because of the obligations in places like the Canada Evidence Actthat triggered the process that the Attorney General had to undertake around those Public Health Agency documents related to the National Microbiology Lab firings.

With that in mind, here is some context as to what the Canada Evidence Act demands, and why this is not Justin Trudeau personally defying the will of parliament, but the government following its own laws.

For a further breakdown of the legal balancing act involved, and what the court process for this will look like, read through this thread (which was a little too long to simply post, but a couple of highlights are below).

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau says that Canada Day should be “a time of reflection” this year, both in terms of the residential school graves, but also the pandemic.
  • Trudeau continues to say the government will do what is necessary to help find graves at residential schools, while some call for an independent investigation.
  • Trudeau also resisted calls for Carolyn Bennett to resign over her text message.
  • Dr. Theresa Tam says that we could see a resurgence in cases thanks to the delta variant, and offered some preliminary guidance for vaccinated people can do.
  • Bill Blair made some new additions to the terrorist list, and acknowledged concerns of white supremacists infiltrating police forces.
  • The military reservist assigned as an aide to Harjit Sajjan, who had previously been suspended from the Vancouver police for sexual misconduct, has been reassigned.
  • There are calls for the head of the CRTC to resign after he met with major industry representatives numerous times in advance of the decision on wholesale internet.
  • Here is a look at some of the issues involved with an Indigenous Governor General, and why there may be conflicts in how the role is perceived in reconciliation.
  • The Supreme Court of Canada released written reasons on a previous oral judgment that stated that the abolition of peremptory challenges in jury trials is constitutional.
  • The Star has a look at the state of nomination races across the country.
  • Leonid Sirota expounds on the political immorality of Doug Ford invoking the Notwithstanding Clause to silence his critics.
  • Paul Wells delves into some broad new polling numbers, and finds growing strength for the Liberals in several key regions, as they decide whether to call an election.
  • My weekend column wades through some of the issues around the clown show that was the call to the bar, and why this is only in service of a narrative.

Odds and ends:

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2 thoughts on “Roundup: Parliament versus itself”

  1. There has to be some way to deter “Parliament” in whatever composition from abusing their privileges in bad faith. What’s to stop a (god forbid) PM Poilievre from demanding the Trudeau family archives going back to PET’s university days, or records from the family foundation to feed the frothing base’s demand for QAnon/Yellow Peril conspiracy theories and Republican-style Hunter Biden witch hunts? Or having the Sergeant-at-Arms go and arrest Sacha or Margaret Trudeau? We saw what they did with the Kielburger duo, the Pearlmuter couple from Speaker Spotlight, Frank Bayliss… The Cons (and their third-party enablers) are out of control, and sadly I don’t think these antiquated institutions are prepared for an onslaught like this, where “demand for accountability” is driven by how much engagement they get from their unhinged constituents’ replies on FB or Twitter. They shouldn’t have an automatic and unfettered right. There has to be a safety valve, otherwise it’ll be Benghazi ad infinitum until Devin Nunes’ cows come home.

  2. “…this is not Justin Trudeau personally defying the will of parliament, but the government following its own laws.”

    If Justin Trudeau & Entourage had a history of (a) following the rules and (b) respecting Parliament, it would be much easier to swallow this line. Unfortunately, they don’t have such a history. If the House of Commons cannot compel the production of government documents, Members are impeded in their primary job of holding the government to account.

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