Roundup: No need to consult and launder accountability

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NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson tweeted her outrage at the US/UK air strikes against the Houthis yesterday, and Canada’s participation therein (solely in a planning capacity and not contributing any assets), but in her outrage, she decried that Parliament was not consulted before Canadian participation.

This is wrong. Parliament shouldn’t be consulted because it’s not Parliament’s decision.

This kind of decision is a Crown prerogative, and that’s actually a good thing for accountability, because that is the role that the House of Commons should be playing on these decisions—holding the government to account. That’s the whole point of Parliament. MPs don’t govern—they hold to account those who do. And it’s important that we don’t have MPs voting on these kinds of decisions because that launders the accountability. In other words, if the House of Commons votes on military actions, then if things go wrong, they can’t hold the government to account for them because the government can turn around and say “You voted for this, it’s your responsibility, not ours.” That’s how our Parliament is structured, and why it works the way it does.

Oh, but you’ll say. There have been votes in the past! There have been, and they have largely been done for crass political calculations, particularly to divide opposition parties. Case in point was the extension of the Afghanistan mission, which Stephen Harper put to a vote specifically for the purpose of dividing the Liberals in opposition. It’s not how things are supposed to work. The government may announce a deployment or a mission in the House of Commons, and there might be a take-note debate on it, but there shouldn’t be a vote. If the opposition tries to force on as part of a Supply Day motion, as is their right, then it’s non-binding and is explicitly a political ploy, which makes it more transparent than a government’s attempt to launder accountability. And in this particular case, the fact that two or three Canadians are assisting in planning is hardly something that requires debate in the Commons.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Ukraine’s ground forces commander says they need more aircraft to make a difference in pushing back Russian forces. UK prime minister Rishi Sunak was in Kyiv to announce a new tranche of aid, and to address Ukraine’s parliament. A Ukrainian presidential aide says that the amended mobilization bill is expected to pass within days.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau was in Guelph to make a Housing Accelerator Fund announcement.
  • Trudeau and Mélanie Joly came out with their position on the ICJ genocide case against Israel, saying they support the Court but aren’t convinced by this case.
  • Joly had a call with her Chinese counterpart, pledging to find says to find common ground and maintaining communications in spite of tensions.
  • Sean Fraser and Mark Miller say they are stabilising immigration levels in light of the housing crisis, and point to the counter-factual if the levels were not maintained.
  • Miller says that they are putting into place layers of security screenings for Gazans who plan to come to Canada, to ensure they aren’t Hamas fighters.
  • There is finally more clarity as to what happened with the air defence system for Ukraine we paid for, and why there has been a delay in American approval.
  • Chief of Defence Staff General Wayne Eyre has announced he will retire this summer, while the selection process for his successor gets underway.
  • Former justice deputy minister Nathalie Drouin has been named the new National Security and Intelligence Advisor to the Prime Minister.
  • The government is proposing regulations for a pilot project that would allow CBSA officers to be on American soil for pre-clearance activities.
  • Elections Canada has launched a tool to combat election disinformation around the process and things like special ballots.
  • The Logic has a deeper dive into the deal between Entropy and the Canada Growth Fund around carbon sequestration and emissions credits.
  • The Globe and Mail has their 2024 Chart-a-palooza, where economists and analysts from around the country make their economic predictions for the year to come.
  • Kathryn May looks at the appointment of the former Chief Information Officer to a senior post in the Privy Council Office around digital transformation.
  • Dan Gardner points out the deeply unserious position Canada is in on both the ICJ issue, and the “genocide” finding from the MMIW inquiry that was not acted on.
  • My weekend column looks to the counter-factual in those pinning all the blame for housing shortages on immigration, and why things could have been even worse.

Odds and Ends:

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