Roundup: New Senate Speaker appointed

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With the retirement of Senate Speaker George Furey this week, the prime minister has named Manitoba Senator Raymonde Gagné to serve as the new Speaker, making her the third woman to do so. (Recall that the House of Commons has only had one female Speaker to date, in the 1980s). Gagné was appointed as an independent but has been operating in the half-pregnant role as a supposedly “non-affiliated” member of the Government Representative Office as the “legislative deputy,” which is newspeak for the role of deputy leader for the government, if it properly had a caucus in that Chamber.

A couple of notes: First of all, this remains a prime ministerial appointment because this position is higher on the Order of Precedence than the Commons Speaker, and plays a much bigger role with parliamentary diplomacy than the Commons Speaker does. There are some senators who are agitating to make this a position elected by the Senate membership as the Commons Speaker is currently, but I’m not sure if this is feasible given the diplomatic weight attached to the position. Regardless, Trudeau was likely looking for a woman in the position, and needed her to be bilingual (Gagné is Franco-Manitoban), and as she was in the GRO, those factors all lined up.

As well, there was some talk about why Senator Pierrette Ringuette, the Speaker pro tempore, was not elevated to full Speaker, but I suspect that politics are at play in this. Ringuette was a former Liberal MP in the Chrétien era, but later left the Senate Liberal caucus to sit as an independent after Justin Trudeau cut them loose. She got the job as Speaker pro tempore through politicking largely within the Independent Senators Group, when there had been consensus that Senator Pat Bovey would get the post (Bovey is also reaching mandatory retirement on Monday, for the record), whereas Ringuette was apparently the choice of then-ISG leader Yuen Pau Woo, and in the power struggles at the time (which was the last straw for Bovey, at which point she left the ISG for the Progressive caucus), Ringuette got the votes for the position. This whole drama may have had an influence on the choice (depending on how closely Trudeau or his Senate-minders paid attention to it).

Ukraine Dispatch:

Ukrainian forces have made a breakthrough south of Bakhmut, recapturing the high ground overlooking the town, as well as one of the key supply lines, in what the head of the Wagner Group mercenaries considered a rout. Ukraine denies that this is the start of their counteroffensive, which they say they are delaying for need of more western weaponry. Russia is claiming that they repelled another attempted Ukrainian advance near Soledar.

Good reads:

  • CSIS had been keeping tabs on that expelled diplomat for three years; They are also briefing more MPs on foreign interference threats, but no threats of physical harm.
  • Mary Ng is planning a trade mission to India by autumn, with the intention of an interim trade agreement to be signed within months.
  • Automaker Stellantis is blackmailing the federal and provincial governments into providing more subsidies post-Volkswagen deal.
  • Thus far, 93 military sexual assault cases have been referred to civilian authorities, but an additional 29 cases were declined by those authorities to investigate.
  • There are complaints that an anti-abortion group has made the shortlist of being eligible for Canada Summer Jobs grants.
  • Here is a look at the challenges that the tidal power sector is facing as they try to set up projects in the Bay of Fundy, and blame federal regulations for delays.
  • Transparency International thinks the proposed financial crimes agency has holes in it, but they seem to have ignored a bunch of Supreme Court jurisprudence.
  • The feasibility study on searching that Winnipeg landfill was made public, and it says it could take three years and cost $184 million to locate the remains.
  • From the archives, a look back at the last round of passport updates when the PMO got involved in changing the art to be more like the American passports.
  • Surprising nobody, Liberal MP John McKay is talking about taking a tougher line on China. (Seriously, I knew it was him when I saw the headline).
  • Maxime Bernier confirmed he plans to run for Candice Bergen’s old seat.
  • Paul Wells remarks on the “century initiative” issue the Bloc has been melting down over, plus updating two other issues from the past week.
  • My weekend column looks into the bizarre subplot of the foreign interference drama and the calls to give the Auditor General expanded powers.

Odds and ends:

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