Roundup: One last beclowning before summer

Posted on by

On the final sitting day before summer break, our deeply unserious MPs decided to beclown themselves once again. No, I’m not talking about the absolutely shameful display after Question Period with the litany of points order and unanimous consent motions, but rather the decision by Conservative MP Matt Jeneroux to write to the Speaker to file an “official grievance” that Taylor Swift didn’t announce any Canadian dates on her Eras Tour, and that two other MPs, one Liberal, one Conservative, seconded it.

I wish that this was Beaverton-level satire, but no, it happened—hours after the Beaverton joked about it.

As has been pointed out, this isn’t even original beclownery, because it’s just copying something an Australian MP did. I’m also not sure what they think they’re going to accomplish, other than making themselves look like absolute fools. Do they want the Speaker to write a strongly-worded letter to Swift? Summon her to the bar of the Chamber to explain herself? I’m sure if they had planned a little further in advance, they could have arranged for a unanimous consent motion to express their “profound sadness” in her decision. This used to be a serious institution populated mostly by serious people. It is no longer that, and the denizens of the Chamber should reflect on this over the next couple of months. What a gods damned embarrassment.

Ukraine Dispatch:

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is admitting that the counter-offensive is happening slower than anyone would like, but reminds everyone that this is not a Hollywood movie, and that it takes as long as it does because there are lives on the line. Russia is claiming they shot down two drones near Moscow and are blaming the Ukrainians for it.

https://twitter.com/zelenskyyua/status/1671589133003759628

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau raised the Survivors’ Flag on Parliament Hill with residential school survivors for Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
  • There is some talk that an agreement on a public inquiry into foreign interference could be “close” (but I’ll believe it when I see it).
  • The two missing crew from the crashed Chinook helicopter have been found dead.
  • The federal government released their Action Plan™ on meeting their UNDRIP obligations, following more stakeholder engagement this spring.
  • Marco Mendicino says that the Commissioner of Corrections never alerted him to the Bernardo transfer in any of their conversations.
  • Following meetings with his provincial counterparts, Dominic LeBlanc says that a new federal infrastructure programme will be unveiled this autumn.
  • Joyce Murray dismissed the costs associated with search and rescue for that missing submersible as being “irrelevant.”
  • CSE is warning that Russian-aligned hackers could be targeting the energy sector.
  • The Competition Bureau has fined Canada Bread Co. $50 million after they plead guilty to four counts of price fixing on the cost of bread.
  • Police across eight provinces conducted simultaneous raids of manufacturers of 3D-printed “ghost guns,” resulting in 45 arrests.
  • Here is the tale of a gay Ugandan who found refuge in Canada, as well as a bisexual man from Afghanistan.
  • At a speech to the CBA, Chief Justice Richard Wagner warned that the global rise in misinformation is a threat to democracy and the rule of law.
  • Here is a profile of House of Commons security guard Nora Daigle, a former female boxer, who is retiring after twenty years on the job.
  • Conservatives are claiming the Liberal campaign in Oxford was racist because they said that the Conservative candidate came from…Brampton. Okay, then.
  • The NDP are calling on the government to boost the tax credit for volunteer firefighters from $3000 to $10,000 per year (which would cost some $30 million).
  • In New Brunswick, momentum is building within the PC Party to oust Blaine Higgs as leader (and premier) for his autocratic, micro-managerial style.
  • Paul Wells roasts the Conservatives, and to a lesser extent the Liberals, on some of their messaging in the recent by-elections.

Odds and ends:

Want more Routine Proceedings? Become a patron and get exclusive new content.