Roundup: Bad behaviour on committees for clips

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The Commons Access to Information, Ethics and Privacy committee released their report on foreign interference yesterday, and much of it was marked by recommendations to do things like finally implement a foreign agent registry (which the government is working on and has been undertaking consultations), and to fix issues that were the subject of leaks from national security agencies. The Conservatives, however, were not on board with the recommendation for web giants like Google and Meta to be held accountable for the spread of disinformation on their platforms, much in the way that the European Union has been doing. The Conservatives claim they are concerned about free speech and journalistic independence, but I have my doubts about that, because cynically, I suspect it’s in their self-interest to be able to continue spreading their own disinformation over these platforms and they don’t want to be accountable for that. Predictably, the Conservatives also used their dissenting report to demand forensic audits of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, even though there is no avenue for the government do really do this as it’s an independent non-profit corporation, and the initial endowment from the government is not at issue in all of the various conspiracy theories that the Conservative shave been pursing.

As for their concern about journalistic independence, they told on themselves some more as their fight to try and haul CBC management to answer questions on their coverage of Hamas and the use of the word “terrorist” took over the Heritage committee with a heated exchange, and Conservative MP Rachael Thomas vowing to make it “hell” for the chair if she didn’t get her own way. Peter Julian kept trying to tell her that the president of CBC, Catherine Tait, is already scheduled to appear next week on other matters, but Thomas kept up this dog and pony show so that she could get clips of her being “shut down” by the committee. But seriously, it is not up to Parliament to make demands of CBC’s coverage, and for the party to claim they respect journalistic independence while pursuing this vendetta just shows how much they are invested in their bullshit, and how willing they are to erode democratic norms (like the independence of the public broadcaster) in order to score a few points.

This use of committees as clip-gathering for social media was also on full display at Status of Women, as MP Michelle Ferreri staged another such stunt, by demanding a study on violence against women on transit as an “emergency,” while Liberal MP Anita Vandenbeld objected because the study she had been trying to launch for months now on the mental health of women refugees who faced sexual violence would be pushed back yet again. Ferreri claimed that she wasn’t doing this for clips—and then put out a shitpost attacking Vandenbeld. It’s shameful that committees are being used like this.

 

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russian forces continue to pound Avdiivka in the east, while Ukrainians say their defensive line is holding. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that they will continue to put their own pressure on Russian-occupied Crimea, and that increasing strikes have force the Russians to pull out their fleet as they are no longer to safely operate it from there. Elsewhere, Ukraine’s justice minister says he’s willing to go after the country’s oligarchs for embezzlement, fraud, and money laundering.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau says that Canada supports “humanitarian pauses” of the siege in Gaza, which attempts to nuance away from calls for a total ceasefire.
  • Chrystia Freeland, Anita Anand and François-Philippe Champagne took to the microphones to provide assurances as “Team Economy.”
  • Documents show that CSIS is concerned that there aren’t any consequences in the Criminal Code around foreign interference.
  • The acquisition of drones by the Canadian Forces are being delayed by years because of the need to modify them to fly in the far North.
  • Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem warned premiers about their open letters to him as attacking his independence—but then Doug Ford did it again anyway.
  • The Federal Court has approved the $23 billion settlement for First Nations child and family services that weren’t provided for, clearing the way for payments.
  • The Cameron Ortis trial had a day of closed-door testimony followed by public transcripts about RCMP intelligence and how Ortis violated their protocols.
  • Grocery CEOs are being invited back to committee, so expect another dog-and-pony show from everyone involved (most especially from Jagmeet Singh).
  • Liberal MP Peter Fragiskatos’ constituency office was vandalised by pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
  • Alberta’s energy regulator is musing about reducing environmental liabilities on old wells as an incentive to clean up the sites quickly, which is being panned.
  • My column worries about the growing trend of legislatures using censure motions to silence members they don’t like, be it in Ontario, Nova Scotia, or Montana.

Odds and ends:

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1716847811054952883

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