Roundup: The Speaker election shapes up

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With the end of the sitting day last night, Anthony Rota was no longer the Speaker, and Bloc MP Louis Plamondon, the Dean of the House, became Speaker in his place, albeit temporarily. The too-clever-by-half motion that the House passed on Tuesday reads that he was “deemed elected” and is the Speaker to be “styled the Interim Speaker,” which means they’re trying to get around the Constitution for two days in order to run the election on Tuesday instead of today. As is joked, this means that Plamondon is entitled to a portrait (and a Scotch), but it remains mystifying why they couldn’t just swallow the two lost sitting days if they wanted to leave this until Tuesday (Monday is not a sitting day).

There are currently four declared candidates for the position—the Deputy Speaker, Chris d’Entrement, and the two Assistant Deputy Speakers, Alexandra Mendès and Carol Hughes, along with a surprise fourth entrant, Liberal MP Greg Fergus. d’Entrement has been somewhat acquitting himself in QP over the past couple of days, and seems to have been most vocal in the media, with some outlets ignoring Mendès completely, which they shouldn’t, considering that she came very close to defeating Rota last time. Fergus could be the spoiler this time for Mendès changes when it comes to getting enough votes from fellow Liberals, but it is a ranked ballot, so that could make things more interesting as the math works out. I also have it on good authority that Mendès would be interested in having a Speaker’s Port in addition to a Speaker’s Scotch (as she is Portuguese), and I would very much love to see that happen (as I am a port drinker and not a scotch drinker). I’ve also heard from colleagues to do drink scotch that Rota’s choice was a poor one, so his replacement ushers in hopefully a better one.

Meanwhile, the former Chief of Protocol was interviewed on Power & Politics last night, and unequivocally showed that everything Pierre Poilievre has been insisting over the past three days about the government vetting everyone in the building for a diplomatic event has been false. The government doesn’t vet the guests of the Speaker or MPs—only guests of the government, as it should be, because Parliament and the Speaker are independent of government.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Ukrainian officials say they destroyed 34 out of 44 drones launched by Russia overnight, whose main target was Odesa, and there have been no casualties. Meanwhile, they have also seen several hundred Wagner fighters returning to the fight in eastern Ukraine, but they don’t expect them to have much impact.

https://twitter.com/defenceu/status/1707162952929866144

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau delivered an apology on behalf of Parliament for the incident with the former Nazi getting praise, but the Conservatives were not satisfied.
  • In the wake of the Rota incident, Mark Miller sounds willing to start opening the archives about former Nazis who resettled in Canada after the war.
  • Arif Virani told the Senate legal committee that he’s confident the bail reform bill will make Canadians safer, but won’t say exactly how.
  • François-Philippe Champagne unveiled a voluntary code of conduct for generative AI, as an interim measure until the legislation gets passed and comes into force.
  • Pascale St-Onge was in Washington to urge Americans to stand with Canada in regulating web giants and pushing back against Facebook’s bullying tactics.
  • Ahmed Hussen is pledging $14 million to help Pakistan deal with Afghan refugees.
  • Patty Hajdu says she is close to tabling a freshwater protection bill that has been co-developed with First Nations across the country.
  • StatsCan data show that immigration continues to surge in Canada.
  • The Canadian Press has a lengthy look at the state of reconciliation with First Nations across the country.
  • Chatelaine has a deep dive into Canada’s Islamophobia problem.
  • The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that people cannot be deported under security grounds if they don’t actually pose a threat to national security.
  • The NDP and Bloc are calling for sanctions on Azerbaijan over its incursion into the breakaway Nagorno Karabakh region last week.
  • An external report shows the Alberta Energy Regulator acted according to its rules in the Kearl oilsands mine’s release of wastewater, but those rules are insufficient.
  • John Michael McGrath explores the way in which the Ford government has been captured by suburban nostalgia in their largely non-existent housing policy.
  • Dan Gardner gives some more historical context to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which Speaker Rota should have been more aware of before his blunder.
  • Colby Cosh offers a few added remarks on the end of this whole sordid affair.
  • Susan Delacourt reflects on next steps that the government needs to take now that apologies have been made, because it’s not just about assigning blame.

Odds and ends:

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One thought on “Roundup: The Speaker election shapes up”

  1. My day to be a cynic.

    Justin Trudeau delivered an apology on behalf of Parliament for the incident with the former Nazi getting praise, but the Conservatives were not satisfied.

    They will not be satisfied until the the entire cabinet commits ritual suicide on the floor of the House. Even then there will be mutterings.

    The NDP and Bloc are calling for sanctions on Azerbaijan over its incursion into the breakaway Nagorno Karabakh region last week.

    Great idea, it’s worked so well for Cuba and Iran. At last report the IMF says the Russian economy will grow this year.

    What’s that line about “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”?

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