Roundup: Johnston carries on with the job

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As expected, all of the opposition parties voted for the NDP’s motion to call on David Johnston to step aside and for the government to call a public inquiry, and it passed. It’s a non-binding motion, and so it doesn’t have much weight, and Johnston put out a reply shortly thereafter saying that his mandate comes from government and not Parliament, so he’s going to keep doing his job. (Of note, only government and not Parliament can call a public inquiry as well, so the notion that Johnston is “not independent” because his mandate comes from government is stupid, illogical, and made in bad faith). The NDP motion also ignores one other crucial bit of reality, which is that there is almost zero chance that there would be a suitable replacement who would actually want to subject themselves to ongoing character assassination and harassment, whom every party leader can also agree to because they have no conflicts of interest, real or invented (and there are a hell of a lot of invented ones at play).

I will note that David Cochrane put these questions to Jagmeet Singh on Power & Politics last night, and Singh just flailed and kept repeating his talking points about the “appearance of bias,” and accusing Johnston’s lawyer of being biased because she has been a Liberal donor (never mind that she doesn’t actually make any decisions here), and kept saying that he wasn’t casting aspersions on Johnston when he obviously was by repeating the false accusations of bias.

Meanwhile, here’s Jessica Davis on how untenable this situation has become, which is why Johnston unfortunately remains the best-placed person to finish the job (click through for the whole thread).

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russians have kept up their air attacks on Kyiv, and at least three people were killed overnight as a result. Russians are claiming that Ukrainians shelled one of their towns, and that their drones struck two oil refineries (the veracity of said claims remains untested).

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau has tasked Dominic LeBlanc with looking at the question of whether Han Dong has a path back to caucus or not.
  • Stellantis’ blackmail appears to have worked, as they have apparently reached an agreement with Ottawa and Ontario that exceeds what Volkswagen got.
  • Anita Anand says that military contractors will be required to undergo mandatory cybersecurity certification by the end of February.
  • Marco Mendicino has named a retired judge to oversee progress on implementation of the Mass Casualty Commission recommendations.
  • Ahmed Hussen is being sent to the swearing-in of Nigeria’s new president, even though the government has called out the ruling party there for terrorist acts.
  • The government is looking to increase RCMP supports to provide protection for more ministers, some MPs and some senior public officials.
  • Canada will be the first country to require printed labels on each cigarette.
  • Bombardier is threatening to throw a temper tantrum because the government chose Boeing planes for military patrol aircraft.
  • The Federal Court of Appeal has overturned the decision to order the repatriation of four Canadians suspected of joining ISIS who are currently in detention in Syria.
  • Mark Holland says we can expect midnight sittings until they rise for the summer in just over three weeks because of ongoing obstruction.
  • Because Pierre Poilievre resurrected the vile smear about an alleged sex scandal involving Trudeau when he was a teacher, here’s a fact-check on it being bullshit.
  • The proponent of the proposed Bay du Nord project is postponing it indefinitely because of uncertain market conditions and rising costs.
  • Hydro-Québec has confirmed that deputy minister of finance, Michael Sabia, will be their new CEO. A replacement for Sabia has not been decided yet.
  • Jen Gerson has some thoughts about Danielle Smith’s possible futures.
  • Susan Delacourt sees a lesson in Danielle Smith campaigning from a calm and almost centrist persona as a lesson for federal politics. (I am dubious).
  • Artur Wilczynski has some ideas about how to better the government’s culture around security and intelligence, particularly in how to consume intelligence.
  • Philippe Lagassé points out that the current issue over foreign interference is an opportunity to transition NSICOP into a fully parliamentary oversight body.

Odds and ends:

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One thought on “Roundup: Johnston carries on with the job”

  1. David Johnston will by the fall expose Marcel Poilievre as the ignorant charlatan that he is because when the final report is written It will contain the many invitations to the CPC leader to examine the secret information. Anything said about the report will be noted that he speaks from pure ignorance. Canadians will see this idiot for what he is…a liar and a character assassin.

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