Roundup: An abuse of parliamentary privilege

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I’m going to start off with the caveat that I don’t know a lot of what is happening in Nova Scotia politics, but I came across this story yesterday that is pretty concerning for the practice of parliamentary democracy across Canada. During debate on a bill around use of non-disclosure agreements in sexual assault cases, an independent MLA (formerly a Progressive Conservative but was ejected from caucus in 2021) tabled a document that she claimed was a non-disclosure agreement that a former female staffer had been coerced into signing with the PC Party. (To make things more interesting, said staffer died last year, and was working for this MLA at the time, and she says the document was found in the staffer’s effects—and, the party’s former leader was forced out over inappropriate behaviour toward a female staffer, so I’m not sure how many of these factors actually connect).

A government minister has since moved a motion to force her to retract her comments about the incident, and if she doesn’t, that she should be ejected from the Chamber until she does. And that’s a capital-P Problem. Said independent MLA has since complained to the province’s justice department that the move is unconstitutional…but the justice department can’t do anything about it, because this is clearly a matter that is within parliamentary privilege. But it absolutely violates all of our constitutional norms, and should be a warning sign about the lengths to which parties will abuse their majorities in legislatures to silence or bully opposition members. It sounds like the provincial Liberals and NDP will be opposing this motion, but the PCs do have a majority, so they may not be able to do much in the long run. I would not be surprised if the Speaker finds that the motion is out of order, but this is genuinely frightening about how much they are willing to abuse process and parliamentary privilege like this.

Don’t get me wrong—parliament or the legislatures do have the power to eject members, but it needs to be for very serious wrongdoing, such as being convicted of a serious crime, and if the member refuses to resign gracefully, then they can order the seat vacated. But those are extreme circumstances that have yet to be actually tested (because in virtually every case, sanity prevails and they resign with a shred of dignity still intact). But this is an unconscionable abuse of that power, an abuse of a parliamentary majority, and sets a very dangerous precedent for the future, and the PC members who thought this was at all appropriate should not only be ashamed, but should probably consider tendering their resignations for this debacle.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Ukrainian forces say they repelled 45 Russian attacks around Bakhmut over a twenty-four-hour period, continuing to grind down the Russian forces while they await more arms from allies like the US in order to begin the spring counter-offensive.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1643326962226585604

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau formally announced that the Davie Shipyard was now “officially” part of the National Shipbuilding Strategy (even though it has de facto been for years).
  • Mélanie Joly was in Brussels for Finland’s accession to NATO membership.
  • The federal government seems to have come to an agreement with Quebec over use of French by federally-regulated businesses; Anglo-Quebeckers are nervous.
  • The federal government is making overdue investments into protecting freshwater, which includes the Great Lakes, but we are seen as laggards compared to the US.
  • The Americans have prodded the Canadian government into purchasing a private hangar at the Inuvik airport after Chinese buyers were interested in it.
  • The Royal Canadian Navy is looking at options for replacing our submarine fleet and is hoping to include it in the Defence Policy Update.
  • A number of outside observers don’t seem to believe the government when they say that the military is excluded from the plan to find savings in departments.
  • About 17 percent of steel used in the new slushbreakers has come from China, and questions are being asked about getting new suppliers as a result.
  • The federal Privacy Commissioner is launching an investigation into OpenAI and ChatGPT for the collection and use of personal information without consent.
  • As part of their agreement to the revised settlement agreement for First Nations children in care, the AFN wants a “formal and meaningful” apology from Trudeau.
  • Danielle Smith says her party is paying the legal bills for her possible defamation suit against the CBC (for reporting what she said on tape).
  • It appears the Alberta government didn’t declare an emergency around the tailings pond leaks until after the local First Nations went public a month later.
  • Andrew Coyne reiterates that no, the PBO did not conclude that most Canadians are worse-off under the federal carbon price and you should stop lying about it.
  • My column calls for MPs to rethink the legislation governing the Ethics Commissioner considering they’re unlikely to get anyone matching the criteria.

Odds and ends:

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