As I was just saying about Canadian political leaders focusing on American issues and culture wars, we are seeing yet another instance in this country – this time over the upcoming riding redistribution hearings. The Conservatives have decided that they want to go all-in on American culture wars and are fundraising to fight these redistributions, citing that they don’t trust the Liberals to run the process fairly – never mind that the process is arm’s length, and the fact that the Speaker of the House is involved in the process is supposed to ensure neutrality. The fact that he was elected as a Liberals should not be a factor – and it’s especially rich from the Conservatives, seeing as it was their votes that ensured that Rota got into the post during Tuesday’s election (and I know enough about where votes were going for certain candidates that the maths work out that the Conservatives were voting for Rota).

We really, really do not want to go down this path of making a partisan issue of riding redistribution, because only madness lies this way. Aside from outright partisan lunacy in thinking that this is an effective way of fundraising never mind the corrosive effect that this has on our political system, it’s also a simple admission of sore loserism. If they think they’ve been losing because of riding redistribution (with “rurban” seats largely being split up into actual rural and urban seats), the most recent redistribution happened under their watch, and frankly, “rurban” seats were pure gerrymandering because they didn’t make sense and were trying to use rural votes to outweigh urban ones and never made sense in terms of “communities” like they are so concerned that ridings encompass. If they think that they won’t get a fair shake this time around, it’s pure projection.

Of course, this isn’t actually about riding redistribution – it’s about throwing another smoke bomb into the mix in order to distract from the party’s internal problems and the challenges to Erin O’Toole’s leadership. The fact that they are trying to discredit a process that is meant to be removed from political considerations and partisan gamesmanship is pretty gross, especially because that is meant to be a pure distraction (and fundraising grab). This process is important to our democracy, and for them to cast doubt for selfish reasons is a sign of the party’s continued moral decline.

Good reads:

• Justin Trudeau says that he brought up the issue of PEI potato exports during his meeting with Joe Biden last week, as the Americans threatened to ban them.
• Chrystia Freeland introduced the government’s bill to implement their more targeted measures as hopefully the last pandemic aid package.
• While Marco Mendicino says he is ready to introduce legislation on a mandatory buyback for assault rifles, but provinces need be involved to ban handguns.
• Mary Ng says the government is disappointed by the US’ decision to increase tariffs on softwood lumber (which will only raise costs for Americans).
• Sean Fraser says he wants an examination into allegations that student visas from francophone African countries are being rejected on a higher basis than others.
• The federal government has opened the new College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants as a stronger way to regulate the profession than in the past.
• MPs held an emergency debate on the floods in BC – because a series of canned speeches is what is going to help the situation.
• The Conservatives and Bloc are opposing hybrid sittings, citing that it allows the government to evade accountability – and they are 100 percent correct.
• Peter Julian is tabling a motion to immediately end construction of the Trans Mountain expansion, even though Jagmeet Singh’s position is different.
• The Green Party has chosen Amita Kuttner – a trans, East-Asian astrophysicist – as their new interim leader, after former MP Paul Manly withdrew from the race.
• Major law firms are telling businesses to register out-of-province because Ontario’s online registry system is hopelessly broken.
• Kady O’Malley’s Process Nerd column walks through all of the privilege motions raised in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
• Althia Raj meanders to the point that Yves-François Blanchet has proven to be Justin Trudeau’s most reliable partner in maintaining confidence.
• Colby Cosh delves into the studies around use of ivermectin, and why it was most effective in areas where roundworms are a problem.

Odds and ends:

Haven’t had a chance to check out #UnbrokenMachine, my book on how Canadian politics works? How about #RoyalProgress, which I also contributed to? Now is your chance to get them for 25% off! https://t.co/dUyHNq3QaI

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) November 7, 2021

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