Roundup: Demanding the Speaker to something he can’t

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The Liberals are no stranger to stunts, and the “poor me” stunts are some of the worst of all. With this in mind, it should be no surprise that MP Ya’ara Saks has written an open letter to the Speaker to demand apologies from Conservatives for sexist remarks, be it Michael Cooper in Committee or Rick Perkins telling Jean Yip that she deserves a participation ribbon. The problem? There’s nothing the Speaker can really do about it.

Saks didn’t cite any Standing Orders that were contravened, and the Speaker is bound to operate within the Standing Orders. Those are the rules by which he is refereeing. And for well over a generation now, the Canadian House of Commons has seen fit to effectively neuter the Speaker so that he (or she) doesn’t have much in the way of leeway in order to enforce, well, anything. Other Speakers in other Westminster parliaments have a lot more authority and latitude—Australia’s Speaker can even demand that governments answer the question when they are seen to be evasive (though this can sometimes stray into Speakers acting in potentially partisan ways). But ours? Nope—because MPs chose to have a ridiculously unempowered Speaker. The result? More of a gong show, more speaking lists, more canned speeches without any flow, and overall, an unserious Parliament, particularly in relation to our comparator countries.

And MPs could change this. But they don’t want to, so they won’t. And that is a problem.

Ukraine Dispatch:

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that his country’s military chiefs are unanimous to keep defending Bakhmut, probably because they are grinding the Russian forces down there at a fairly alarming rate. Meanwhile, the Americans are accusing the Russians of downing one of their drones over the Black Sea, which Russia denies.

https://twitter.com/yermolenko_v/status/1635649300922245120

https://twitter.com/oleksiireznikov/status/1635665484954718208

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau was in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, to announce funds to help expand the existing Michelin plant.
  • Trudeau also said that he expects to name the special rapporteur for election interference allegations “extremely quickly.”
  • Chrystia Freeland met with her provincial counterparts and the Superintendent of Financial Institutions about the failure of Silicon Valley Bank.
  • Omar Alghabra says he will close the loophole that allows airlines to deny compensation for cancelled flights, which he hopes will alleviate the CTA backlog.
  • Alghabra also announced $75.9 million to help the CTA hire new staff so that they can tackle said backlog of passenger complaints.
  • The government needs to start making a decision about replacing our submarine fleet, which is not being helped by AUKUS envy.
  • NSIRA will be conducting a review of the CRA’s review and analysis division after allegations of Islamophobia around the treatment of Muslim charities.
  • Here is a look into the issue of expelling diplomats, both justification (none needed) and the problem of reciprocation (big problem, especially in China).
  • Two Quebec groups alleged to be operating as Chinese “police stations” say they want to cooperate with federal authorities.
  • Oh, look—data that shows private clinics don’t actually save the healthcare system money or reduce waiting lists.
  • Supreme Court Justice Russell Brown says his statement stands as one of his accusers in Arizona now alleges unwanted touching.
  • Liberals on the Procedure and House Affairs committee filibustered for about twelve hours yesterday under the principle that staffers are not to be summoned.
  • Liberal MP Yasir Naqvi has stepped back from his role as a parliamentary secretary, as he prepares his run for the Ontario Liberal leadership.
  • Pierre Poilievre says if he forms government he’ll sue pharmaceutical companies for the opioid epidemic—erm, except the government already reached a settlement.
  • Jagmeet Singh’s budget demands are another GST rebate, expanding dental care, and a national school lunch programme (which is provincial jurisdiction, of course).
  • Alberta will be requiring body cams on all police in the province.
  • The BC government is launching a new framework for oil and gas projects.
  • Kevin Carmichael walks through the collapse of the two American banks and what it means for Canada and future interest rate moves.
  • Paul Wells has a lengthy exit interview with Marc Garneau.
  • My column ponders the pervasive normalcy bias in Canadian government (of all stripes) and how that translates to inaction on foreign interference.

Odds and ends:

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