CBC checked in with House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota over the weekend, and well, it was about as trite and saccharine as one might expect from Rota, particularly given the current era of hybrid sittings. Everything’s under control. Situation normal. We’re all fine now here, thank you.

It’s not fine. They haven’t solved the problem where the interpreters are suffering extremely high rates of injuries (and I have spoken to one interpreter who says part of the problem is the House of Commons’ system itself, not just the Zoom platform), but they are extremely concerned about the possibility of permanent hearing loss from these injuries. I haven’t seen Rota or any of the House leaders aware or even speak to the problem. Meanwhile, Peter Julian thinks the solution is just to hire more interpreters—but there aren’t any more. This year’s class at the University of Ottawa will graduate four new interpreters, which isn’t even enough to replace those who are retiring. There is a looming crisis coming that will have a very detrimental effect on our Parliament, particularly if we want to continue operating in a bilingual capacity. Hybrid sittings are only making it worse because the existing interpreters are burning out at a rapid rate, they’re not adequately compensating the limited number of freelancers who are filling in, and if they decide that the possibility of permanent hearing loss from these injuries isn’t enough to bother continuing, well, Parliament is going to be screwed for a decade to come, because they were too self-absorbed to take the adequate precautions to meet in person, while patting themselves on the back for “setting a good example” of meeting remotely. Never mind the human cost of that “good example.”

I have said it before, and I will keep saying it—there is no moral justification for hybrid sittings given the human cost this is taking. And it would be great if the gods damned Speaker could actually speak up on behalf of the interpreters and make that case rather than simply grinning and gently chiding the MPs who keep making their lives difficult.

Good reads:

• Justin Trudeau’s year-ender with Rosemary Barton rehashes the same arguments about Bill 21, as well as on inflation and health transfers.
• The federal government is still considering a ban on non-essential travellers as omicron cases continue to spike.
• The electric vehicle tax credit in the US may be dead as Democratic Senator Joe Manchin has put his foot down and won’t support the bill that contains it.
• The Post finds six more things in Trudeau’s ministerial mandate letters that one might have missed at first glance.
• Mark Miller is pointing the finger at Bernard Valcourt for dropping an appeal against the Catholic Church for Indigenous compensation.
• Lt-Gen Jennie Carignan says that the Canadian military is targeting the culture at the heart of the sexual misconduct crisis, which is “existential.”
• Erin O’Toole has told his caucus to stop criticising Quebec’s Bill 21, but even his own closest advisors aren’t listening to him.
• Stephen Saideman preaches the need for more regular defence policy review.
• Supriya Dwivedi calls out the delays and basic innumeracy that have caused the pandemic to be so much worse than it needed to be.
• Chantal Hébert takes stock of Trudeau’s position vis-à-vis his rivals, and makes it clear that his strength is only relative to their weaknesses.
• Althia Raj notes that the willingness between parties to cooperate in the House of Commons is not met in committees, where the usual gamesmanship still rules.
• Susan Delacourt’s interview with Justin Trudeau continues with talk of his upcoming 50^th birthday, and his contemplation of how politics has changed.

Odds and ends:

Newsweek fact-checks the story of Jimmy Carter helping to stop a nuclear meltdown at Chalk River—and it’s true.

Want more Routine Proceedings? Become a patron and get exclusive new content.