Roundup: An apology for Zoom—but not for why you think

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It’s now on or about day one-hundred-and-thirteen of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and it looks like Severodonetsk has not fallen, and lo, the promised humanitarian corridor did not happen. (This is my surprised face). Russians did shell a weapons depot near Lviv in the western part of the country, where Western munitions were allegedly stored. Meanwhile, civilians in areas where Russian forces were repelled are being faced with mines, which are killing and maiming people. Canada will be sending $9 million worth of barrel replacements for the howitzers we shipped to Ukraine earlier in the year, while Anita Anand is calling on the defence industry to be more responsive.

Closer to home, there was an interesting apology in the Senate on Tuesday, which was when Senator Rosa Galvez apologised for having attended a committee meeting over Zoom from out of the country. You see, the Senate adopted rules around their hybrid sittings where they must be at a designated office or residence, and that’s it. There is a sad history in the Senate of abuse going back decades were certain senators basically lived in Mexico and showed up for one day a year, and collected their base salary, and it was a scandal. Since then attendance records are made public and they essentially couldn’t get away with it any longer. (I remember after an earthquake, I went to the Hill just after it happened, and while senators were gathered on the lawn, they were keen to ensure that the person who recorded their attendance saw that yes indeed, they were present even though they were out of the Chamber at the moment it happened and the building was evacuated, because they take it seriously). Regardless, this senator says she was caught up in wanting to do her committee work while she was at the Summit of the Americas, which is commendable in a way, but also shows some of the dangers of this reliance on hybrid sittings in that it creates a new obligation of presenteeism.

Meanwhile, over in the West Block, voting was suspended for a few minutes yesterday afternoon because there was a problem with the voting app that MPs use, and once again, this is a problem with how hybrid sittings are operating. I’ve already written about how this creates a new standard of perfect attendance which is a problem for all involved, but we’re already seeing a greater move for MPs and ministers who are in town not sticking around in the Chamber, but taking off and voting by app, and this is going to have profound consequences the longer it goes on. Votes were one of the few times when ministers could reliably be found in the Chamber, and backbenchers and opposition members could buttonhole them about pressing issues. If they take off as soon as votes are about to start because they think it’s easier to press a button (and have their faces recognised), then we’re straying dangerously far from one of the core symbolic elements of our parliamentary democracy. This should be killed with fire, along with the hybrid sittings, as soon as possible.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau will be heading to meetings next week in Rwanda, Germany, and Spain, so yesterday was likely his last QP appearance of the session.
  • Dominic LeBlanc says they won’t reimburse civil servants suspended without pay for not vaccinating. Public sector unions plan to fight his, because of course.
  • It sounds like the biggest barrier to getting people out of Afghanistan are anti-terrorism financing laws, as there is a problem of the Taliban taking a “cut” of funds.
  • The court-appointed firm overseeing the settlement deal with military sexual assault survivors suffered a data breach of over 100 claimants’ information.
  • The Governor General also wants more information on the context-less cheap outrage stories about the catering bill from her trip to the Middle East.
  • A group of senators has released a report showing that Correctional Services has not meaningfully worked to end solitary confinement as required by law.
  • The House of Commons passed the bill to remove most mandatory minimum sentences as a way of fighting Black and Indigenous overrepresentation in prisons.
  • The heritage committee had to rush through over 150 amendments with no debate, because this is what happens when you waste time with procedural warfare.
  • The Poilievre camp is claiming that Patrick Brown offered payment for membership sales, and around and around we go.
  • Michelle Rempel Garner is “seriously considering” a run for the UCP leadership, and is pulling back from working on Patrick Brown’s campaign as a result.
  • A three-year investigation into money laundering at BC casinos has found no links to political corruption, but governments were aware of suspicious funds.
  • Stephen Saideman offers the second part of his read through the Arbour Report.
  • Stephanie Carvin points out that banning Huawei and ZTE will only be the beginning of the work the government needs to do in protecting our cyber-infrastructure.
  • Senator Paula Simons denounces the provisions in the budget implementation bill to ban holocaust denial, citing that it will give those facing charges a bigger platform.
  • Andrew Coyne deduces the mindset behind that senior bureaucrat who attended the party at the Russian Embassy, and calls out why it’s a problem.

Odds and ends:

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One thought on “Roundup: An apology for Zoom—but not for why you think”

  1. Thanks for your video on the Reform Act. It filled in a lot of blanks.

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