Roundup: An unsuccessful distraction attempt

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Erin O’Toole emerged from hiding yesterday, and tried to set the narrative of the day about a supposed scary coalition between the Liberals and the NDP – which isn’t happening. A coalition government means that both parties have Cabinet ministers at the table, and given that we just had the dog and pony show of a Cabinet shuffle not two weeks ago, and there was nary an NDP MP among them, we can be reasonably assured that there will be no coalition government. Nevertheless, even a supply and confidence agreement, or some other arrangement, remains unlikely in the extreme because the Liberals know the NDP are in a vulnerable position, broke an unable to afford another election, so they will ensure the government survives regardless – there is no need to give them any leverage or excuse to try and take credit for the government’s actions (not that anything has stopped them thus far).

But while O’Toole tried to make big noises about the “coalition” that isn’t and never will be, he was trying to deflect from the ongoing problem in his party around MPs like Marilyn Gladu and Leslyn Lewis, who have been stoking vaccine hesitancy (while insisting otherwise), conceding that they have “caused confusion,” which is just more soft-peddling and mealy-mouthed refusal to take leadership or to put his foot down. Indeed, when asked about whether there would be any discipline for these remarks, O’Toole stated that they would deal with it “as a team,” which basically means that no, he’s not going to do anything about it.

While my upcoming column will delve further into just why O’Toole refuses to put his foot down, Gladu can insist all she wants that this isn’t a challenge of O’Toole’s leadership, the simple fact is that she continues to undermine it at every opportunity, and that is going to eventually erode what little trust or credibility O’Toole has left.

Good reads:

  • Federal leaders all marked Indigenous Veterans Day with their own separate remembrance events in Ottawa yesterday.
  • Unsurprisingly, talk of any kind of agreement between the Liberals and NPD are being downplayed by all sides (because seriously, get a grip).
  • Chrystia Freeland wrote to Air Canada’s board to press them on the issue of the CEO’s comments around learning French.
  • François-Philippe Champagne says Canada only wants to deal with “trusted partners” on future AI ventures, which seems to leave out Huawei.
  • Statistics Canada estimates there were approximately 19,488 “excess deaths” between March 2020 and July 2021, many of which are attributable to COVID.
  • Susan Delacourt marks the return of the Liberal caucus by pointing out that Trudeau owes them his thanks for keeping him in power after a tough election.

Odds and ends:

https://twitter.com/ChiefRoseAnne/status/1457772314334941194

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One thought on “Roundup: An unsuccessful distraction attempt”

  1. I guess if O’Toole ends up splitting the party or gets forced out in favour of a certifiable Q crank like Marjorie Taylor Gladu, Candace Owens Lewis or Ted “Great Reset” Poilievre Cruz, there’s a possibility Trudeau may get his three years (at least?) after all. No need to give away the farm to the Narcissistic Desperation Party.

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