Roundup: A display of arrogance and entitlement from McDonald

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In what is quite possibly an admission of arrogance and entitlement, the ostensible current Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Art McDonald, says that he’s going to return to the job now that he’s been “cleared” by the investigation into previous sexual misconduct – but that’s not his decision to make. The fact that he seemed to publicly indicate that this was a fait-accompli may have in fact been a faux pas, as the Minister of Defence actually showed a modicum of spine and said that no, McDonald is remaining on paid leave until they can decide what they’re going to do.

Remember, CDS is a Governor-in-Council appointment, meaning that the prime minister and Cabinet can appoint who they want to the position, and remove the current occupant at any point for any reason, and the fact that McDonald has both lost the moral authority to hold the job, coupled with this stunning bit of entitlement, may in fact prove that is should no longer be considered to be qualified to hold the position.

Meanwhile, here is former national security lawyer (and former armored officer) Leah West to put this into perspective:

https://twitter.com/leahwest_nsl/status/1425547465051279361

https://twitter.com/leahwest_nsl/status/1425547467471429634

https://twitter.com/leahwest_nsl/status/1425549147118125069

Good reads:

  • The federal government condemned China for giving Michael Spavor an eleven-year prison sentence and continue to work to repatriate him.
  • The federal government signed a deal with PEI to implement the first stages of the national pharmacare programme, in the hopes of accelerating it.
  • The federal government says that progress is ongoing on vaccine certificates for travel abroad, but they are still negotiating with provinces for data.
  • The price tag for the three used “interim” icebreakers being bought from the Davie shipyard just went up by another third, approaching $1 billion.
  • Erin O’Toole outlined an innovation tax policy that is pretty much a round of tax credits instead of subsidies.
  • While O’Toole says people should get vaccinated (but waffles on mandatory vaccines), his MP David Yurdiga says mandatory vaccines are “tyrannical.”
  • Jagmeet Singh will be unveiling his party’s key campaign messages today, and spoiler alert, it’s about taxing the “ultra-rich.”

Odds and ends:

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