We got our first glimpse at the court documents related to the challenge of the House of Commons’ order demanding the production of secret documents related to the firing of the two scientists from the National Microbiology Lab. The Speaker, Anthony Rota, put in his submission that the case should be tossed because of Parliamentary privilege, and there was no explicit waiving of parliamentary privilege under the Canada Evidence Act, which is what the Public Health Agency is following in refusing to turn over unsecured documents. As a reminder, they have turned over the documents, both in redacted form to the committee that requested them, and in unredacted form to NSICOP, which has appropriate security clearances and safeguards, so it’s not like this is a blanket refusal to defy Parliament – it’s that they have their own obligations to follow. It’s also somewhat problematic that the committee wants the Commons’ Law Clerk to then redact the documents on his own, without appropriate training or context, so they ultimately claim they’re not looking for unredacted documents – only for someone else to do the redacting, at which point this is just becoming absurd.

The way this is being spun is also somewhat irritating – because this was a Canadian Press wire story, outlets who ran the piece sometimes did so with altered headlines that stated that it was the Liberals interfering with the “exclusive jurisdiction” of the Commons rather than the government, which is not really true. This isn’t a partisan issue – it’s different parts of the government acting according to the laws that Parliament passed. When the demands were made, PHAC was bound in legislation to inform the Attorney General, and while it is the same physical person as the minister of justice, under his Attorney General hat, he had obligations to follow the law and test these demands in Court.

The other commentary that is somewhat maddening is people pointing out that the Speaker is somehow going against his party in doing his job as Speaker in defending the Commons’ privileges. Again, this isn’t actually a partisan issue on either side (well, the Conservatives making these demands for the documents, with the support of the other opposition parties, are behaving in an extremely partisan manner and trying to embarrass the government, but that’s neither here nor there for the purpose of what we’re discussing). Trying to make it a partisan issue when everyone is doing their jobs is just degrading the discourse and muddying the understanding of what is going on (which is what certain parties would like to happen because it makes it easier for them to lie about the state of play). We shouldn’t be doing their dirty work for them.

Programming Note: I’m taking the next week off (as much as I am able), because it’s probably my only opportunity in advance of the possible election, and I really don’t want to have to deal with election coverage while battling burnout. Take care, and I’ll see you on the far side of the long weekend.

Good reads:

• The summit on Islamophobia went ahead yesterday with some cautious optimism, while Justin Trudeau called out the CRA for allegations of targeting Muslim charities.
• It looks like Harjit Sajjan directed the military to create an assistant position for him in Vancouver – whom they then filled by someone with a record of misconduct.
• Newly released documents show that CSIS did actively counter foreign threats during the 2019 election.
• CSIS also released a document that warns that foreign actors may try to influence the next election with tactics like bribery or blackmail aimed at voters.
• The justice department says that it will take six years to process Charlie Angus’ request for documents related to the new online exploitative material regulator.
• The Royal Canadian Mint is the latest organization facing accusations of racism and sexual harassment in the workplace.
• The Pembina Institute’s latest report finds that Canada will miss its carbon-reduction targets because provinces haven’t signed onto meeting them.
• While Erin O’Toole has been trying to accuse Trudeau of giving taxpayer-funded contracts to insiders, he’s been doing just that and his caucus is not happy about it.
• The Conservatives want the Auditor General to look into the implementation of Bill C-208, which is ridiculous and an invitation for her to tell them it was a sloppy bill.
• Annamie Paul downplayed the moves against her by her federal council and party fund, while she opened her Toronto Centre campaign office.
• Paul Wells indulges in a hypothetical poll of how the election might go if Stephen Harper returned from the political grave.

Odds and ends:

A culture in which ministers can lie with impunity, while MPs are punished for calling them out, is manifestly absurd. If the House will not punish dishonesty – which would be the best solution – it must stop pretending it never happens.

— Robert Saunders (@redhistorian) July 22, 2021

And yes, letting MPs call each other liars will coarsen our politics. But to pretend a moral code that no longer exists is itself a form of lying; & to punish those who break the pretence makes Parlt complicit in the lie. If we can't punish falsehood, let's not penalise the truth

— Robert Saunders (@redhistorian) July 22, 2021

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