Roundup: Saskatchewan Speaker’s bombshells

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Things took a dramatic turn in the Saskatchewan legislature as the Speaker, Randy Weekes, has had enough of his own party and government. On Wednesday night, he tweeted a photo of his party membership card being cut up, with the phrase “enough is enough.” And then on the last sitting day of the session, in advance of an election this autumn (so likely his last day on the job), he stood up and read out the harassing texts messages he received, instances where government staffers accosted him outside of the Chamber, and his concerns about the Government House Leader of bringing guns into the legislature, and how he wanted to carry a hand gun.

Some of this speaks to a pattern—Weekes pointed to his predecessors who were also subject to harassing text messages or directions from the Government House Leader, and some left the job as a result. Part of this pattern is also because, frankly, the government is long in the tooth, and has become arrogant and complacent, believing themselves to be on the cusp of becoming an Alberta-esque one-party state. A lot of Scott Moe’s actions belie such a belief, particularly as they have started targeting minorities (like trans youth) for political gain with no actual policy reason for doing so. It’s just in-group identification with the increasingly far-right voices in the so-called “conservative movement” (which is frankly, no longer really conservative), especially as it bubbles up from the US, but also takes inspiration from places like Eastern Europe (and there has been a lot of cross-pollination between the American right and places like Hungary in recent years). And that the Saskatchewan Party is willing to violate parliamentary norms like this is part of that same playbook.

Naturally, Scott Moe scoffed at Weekes’ speech, calling it sour grapes because Weekes lost his nomination battle a few months ago, but it also means that Weekes had nothing to lose, which in a way makes him dangerous to someone like Moe, because he can start dropping truth-bombs with no fear of reprisal (like not having his nomination papers signed). One hopes that this will wake a few people up as to the rot within the government, but we’ll see how it plays out over the coming months in advance of the election.

Programming Note: I am going to take the full long weekend off, because we’re heading into the final stretch in the House of Commons, and I need the break. See you Tuesday.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Ukrainian artillery crews near the front lines say they are facing more Russian drone attacks than ever before. Ukrainian forces say that they have halted Russia’s advance in the town of Vovchansk, but Russia says they intend to keep pushing forward to Kharkiv. NATO’s top commander says he doesn’t believe Russia has enough troops to make a strategic breakthrough. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Kharkiv, to boost morale in the region.

Good reads:

  • At a child care re-announcement in New Brunswick, Justin Trudeau said that Poilievre’s call for a “gas tax holiday” means he’d rather watch the country burn.
  • Trudeau also took aim at New Brunswick’s record with funding abortion clinics, and broadened this to a warning about the federal Conservatives’ record on the matter.
  • Trudeau says he still hopes to host a “Three Amigos” summit this year, but hasn’t set a date, as both the US and Mexico have elections scheduled.
  • Months after promising to do so, Mélanie Joly issued sanctions on four Israeli extremist settlers, who were previously sanctioned by the US and UK.
  • Jonathan Wilkinson is touting joint American co-investments in critical mineral developments in Canada.
  • Ahmed Hussen announced another $40 million in aid for Gaza, which includes a new Red Cross field hospital in Rafah.
  • Public safety officials have been warning the government that Canada’s innovation economy is at risk of foreign interference, and making us a “weak link” among allies.
  • The Information Commissioner says that rigid Treasury Board formulas means her office will be taking a five percent budget cut, which will mean staff losses.
  • The federal government is putting steps in place to begin the transition from the Phoenix pay system to a new system.
  • The former president of CBSA told committee that building ArriveCan was still the right thing to do, but he doesn’t know how the contractors got chosen.
  • Pierre Poilievre continues to refuse to say if he would rescind the capital gains tax changes, saying that they don’t exist yet.
  • After the federal government took over the Quebec City Bridge, Tim Houston thinks it’s only fair that they also pay the full cost to upgrade the Chignecto Isthmus.
  • Media companies in Quebec say that a bill to prevent harassment and intimidation of elected officials is too broad and threatens legitimate criticism.
  • Ontario’s health minister warned Toronto’s chief public health officer to drop the city’s drug decriminalisation proposal, or else.
  • Matt Gurney points out the problem of Toronto being unable to keep its infrastructure in a state of good repair, and how that extends provincially.
  • Eric Mathison dismantles the arguments around MAiD being “forced” upon the poor.

Odds and ends:

For National Magazine, I delved into the proposed changes to the Canada Elections Act and the proposals around banning certain kinds of disinformation.

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