Roundup: Fergus at the NDP’s mercy

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It looks like Speaker Greg Fergus may last another day, as the word from the NDP is that they’re going to demand a fine and another apology to the House of Commons for his lapse in judgment over that video he recorded, though I have to wonder what they think a fine is going to accomplish. That report from the Procedure and House Affairs Committee will be tabled in the Commons by Thursday, so we’ll see if there’s any kind of vote or concurrence debate at that point. And there may yet be, as Andrew Scheer is promising that he’s going to move a vote of non-confidence in the Speaker, possibly in the hopes that he can shake enough NDP MPs loose to oust Fergus. As for the Bloc, Yves-François Blanchet said that perhaps it’s time for a woman in the position, as though Alexandra Mendès hasn’t been there as Assistant Deputy Speaker the whole time, and has twice now run for the position and not gotten enough votes for it.

On the subject of the Speaker, Carleton University’s Philippe Lagassé made some comments to the Hill Times about the fact that we do treat the neutrality of the Speaker in Canada as much more of an illusion than Westminster does. He also suggests we start adopting more Westminster practices like the Speaker running for re-election as an independent, and that past Speakers be appointed to the Lords/Senate where they can continue to serve in less partisan roles, rather than having them rejoin the party ranks (and absolutely not have them run for party leader, Andrew Scheer).

Ukraine Dispatch:

An overnight missile attack on Kyiv has resulted in 45 injuries, while nearly 600 shells and rockets rained down on the southern part of the country amidst a major cyberattack on the country’s largest telecom provider. A US intelligence report estimates that Russia has suffered 315,000 casualties, which is about 90 percent of the forces it began the conflict with. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Washington DC doesn’t appear to have swayed too many Republicans, while he continued to insist that asking to give Russia land concessions was insane because it meant abandoning families and children to terrorists.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau put out a nuance position on Gaza with Australia and New Zealand in advance of a UN ceasefire vote, and Jewish community groups are now outraged.
  • In his year-ender with The Canadian Press, Trudeau says that President Biden hasn’t brought up the proposed digital services tax in their conversations.
  • In the same interview, Trudeau also said that the revelations about India’s possible involvement in an assassination on our soil put a chill in relations.
  • Sean Fraser officially confirmed that the government will be creating a catalogue of pre-approved housing designs to speed approvals and productivity.
  • Mark Holland is shrugging off the notion that a pharmacare bill won’t be tabled before the end of the year, calling the NDP’s deadline “arbitrary.”
  • Carla Qualtrough says a public registry of abusive coaches is going coming in March.
  • Pascale St-Onge won’t say if she has confidence in CBC president Catherine Tait.
  • At industry committee, a “whistleblower” who was not identified testified about the concerns about what has been happening at SDTC.
  • Carolyn Bennett has announced she is retiring early (which is not a huge surprise considering how hard Leslie Church has been campaigning to replace her).
  • My column takes a look at the situation that Speaker Fergus is in now that his fate is about to be decided by the NDP.

Odds and ends:

https://twitter.com/dgardner/status/1734723480757617072

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