It has begun – Conservative MPs warning that there will be a privilege fight if they don’t get to come to work in the House of Commons unvaccinated. This time it’s Mark Strahl, who was the party whip in the previous session, and he thinks that they should be allowed to attend if they submit to rapid testing, which is not a prophylactic against COVID. And a privilege fight is nonsense, of course – it’ll be the MPs themselves who set the rules that you need to be vaccinated to be in the Chamber (or possibly in the entire Precinct) – and by then, the rules around needing to be vaccinated to board a plane or train should also be in force. And if Conservatives on the Board of Internal Economy want to protest this rule, they’ll be outvoted, and that’ll be it. And if he brings a privilege motion to the House, the majority there can vote it down as well. There is no winning hand for anti-vaxxer MPs here.

https://t.co/PhHfPPhMED pic.twitter.com/OXJn9WzfwJ

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) October 13, 2021

The real question here is whether the other parties will bow to some sort of accommodation scheme, like letting unvaccinated MPs stay home and attend virtually – something I think should be opposed (the Bloc is already opposing it) because Parliament doesn’t work well in a hybrid setting. We tried it, and it was terrible. And frankly, MPs should also insist that those who refuse vaccination should not only have to stay hope – and not participate virtually – but should lose salary as well.

Parliament is an essential service, and they have a lot of work to do, and catering to a small percentage of conspiracy theorists and malcontents is only going to prolong this pandemic, and continue to overburden our healthcare system and create a lost generation of youth who will have missed out on opportunities. MPs are supposed to set an example – that starts with doing the responsible thing and being vaccinated.

Good reads:

• Prime minister Justin Trudeau attended a virtual G20 summit on the situation in Afghanistan, and how to provide humanitarian assistance in the region.
• French president Emmanuel Macron wants some face time with Trudeau – though it sounds like part of it is some Mean Girls-ing of the whole AUKUS pact.
• It looks like Doug Ford hasn’t signed onto the child care agreement because he’s trying to extract more money from the federal government (that he can sit on).
• Canada has agreed to hold off on implementing a digital services tax as the OECD has come to an agreement on a 15 percent minimum global corporate tax.
• The American government has finally signalled that it will re-open the land border to fully vaccinated Canadians by early November.
• A Federal Court judge dismissed Major-General Dany Fortin’s bid to have his old job reinstated, saying he needs to go through the military grievance process first.
• The Federal Court of Appeal has struck down another attempt by an anti-abortion activist to challenge Canada’s abortion policies.
• In the Senate, the Independent Senators Group is voting to possibly kick out one of their members over (exaggerated) concerns about one senator’s activities.
• Kevin Carmichael makes note of Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem’s ambition to take a global lead on getting the IMF to build a framework around currencies.
• Paul Wells talks to former Clerk of the Privy Council, Michael Wernick, about his new book on the tradecraft of political life in Ottawa.
• My column recalls Preston Manning’s theory of populism as a “rogue oil well,” and how Jason Kenney’s upcoming referendum will recklessly make it blow up.

Odds and ends:

My Loonie Politics Quick Take reminds us that the government should be exercising some civilian control over the military, or the culture won’t change.

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