Roundup: Leaking an MP’s private conversation

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There were plenty of tongues wagging yesterday as a private phone conversation that parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs Rob Oliphant had with a constituent about the situation in the Middle East was leaked to the media, showing how he disagreed with some of the positions the government has taken for political reasons, and how they have badly communicated on some of the particulars. It’s a little bit grubby to have leaked the conversation, because it makes it harder for more MPs to be frank in their interactions for fear of this exact thing happening, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the leaders of other caucuses in particular used this as an object lesson in message discipline and never straying from it. (And before anyone says anything, the NDP tend to be worse than the Conservatives about this sort of thing).

When asked about the leaked comments, prime minister Justin Trudeau didn’t go off, and talked about how it’s great how much diversity of opinion there is in the Liberal caucus, so it sounds like Oliphant’s job is safe, but then again it’s also possible Trudeau was saying this and that Oliphant will be dropped in a week or two, once the spotlight isn’t directly on him, because he broke message discipline, even if this was supposed to be a private conversation.

Regardless, Oliphant says he sticks by his words and says there’s nothing he wouldn’t say publicly, and if anything, he’s probably conveying the delicate tightrope that the government is being forced to walk on this better than the government is doing, in particular because he has a deep knowledge of the region, and can express it better. If Trudeau and his inner circle have any brains, they would get him to do a better job of crafting their messaging for them, but we all know that the communications geniuses in this PMO are allergic to taking any lessons, so I have my doubts that they’ll turn to Oliphant to up their game.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russia launched new missile and drone attacks against several Ukrainian cities, air defences taking out half of them. At least three civilians were killed in an airstrike on the Kharkiv region; in spite of the constant attacks, the people of Kharkiv keep on. Ukraine is withdrawing some of its forces from Avdiivka in order to get them to more defensible positions while one of their special forces heading to the region. France will be signing a security assurances agreement with Ukraine in Paris today.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1758143268313870473

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau was in Winnipeg to announce a $633 million healthcare deal with the province based on the last year’s strings-attached deal.
  • Bill Blair announced a $273 million plan to acquire short-range air defence capabilities for our forces in Latvia, to be acquired on an “urgent basis.”
  • Dominic LeBlanc says he is “obviously worried” by the arrest of an RCMP officer for accessing information on behalf of Rwanda.
  • François-Philippe Champagne was defending the cyber-security legislation from criticism by the privacy commissioner over how broad some of its powers are.
  • The RCMP has set up a national team to coordinate investigations about extortion schemes targeting South Asian businesses in BC, Alberta and Ontario.
  • A CSIS report warns that the so-called “anti-gender movement” poses a threat of extreme violence, particularly directed to drag queens and trans people.
  • The Privacy Commissioner says that inadequate protections led to cyber-security breaches at CRA and ESDC in 2020.
  • The Privacy Commissioner also called out the RCMP for using commercial surveillance and monitoring services without adequate privacy protections.
  • The Financial Post profiles Mike Moffatt and his housing policy challenge.
  • The Commons finance committee voted to reduce the coming alcohol tax escalator, but the Conservatives wanted it repealed entirely.
  • Pierre Poilievre says he would cut “wasteful” foreign aid to “dictators, terrorists” (which is already illegal) and “multinational bureaucracies.”
  • Melissa Lantsman and Jagmeet Singh are two MPs who have recently started getting police protection because of threats against them.
  • Wab Kinew says he is “confident” they will begin the landfill search this year.
  • A group of law professors and legal experts wrote an open letter to Danielle Smith to say that her announced trans policies are unconstitutional.
  • Philippe Lagassé gives us a remedial lesson on just what a constitutional convention is after that poorly reasoned Federal Court decision on judicial appointments.
  • My Xtra column looks at just what the federal government can and cannot do when it comes to opposing Danielle Smith’s trans policies.

Odds and Ends:

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