Over the past few days, the NDP have put on a big song and dance about the bill to update the Elections Act, which they had a hand in drafting with the government as a part of the Supply and Confidence Agreement. They now claim that they were blindsided by the provision to move the “fixed” election date by one week so that it doesn’t clash with Dwivali, because the knock-on effect is that it will qualify a number of MPs for their pensions in that extra week because they’ll have had their six years of service then. So they are now moving an amendment to the bill to return the election date to its original schedule, because who cares about Dwivali, right?

This is actually a new low for the NDP, who are trying to play populist politics but are doing it very, very badly. And if the intention is for this to come off as mean-spirited at the expense of Hindus, Jains and Sikhs who are celebrating and can’t vote of campaign on that day, well, who cares? As I believe Emilie Nicholas pointed out on Power & Politics, if the bill is to eliminate barriers to voting, why would the NDP then put up a new barrier for Hindus, Jains and Sikhs, so that they can try and outdo the astroturf charlatans in the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation? Because that’s the only group not actually is going to derive any joy from this. And media framing this as tAxPaYeR dOlLaRs is complicit in this kind of base thinking.

Frankly, we shouldn’t begrudge MPs their pensions because they put their lives on hold for years to serve the public in this way. (Whether they serve effectively is another story). We underpay them for the work they are doing (well, the work they are supposed to be doing—the current crop is not exactly doing themselves any favours), and to make these MPs lose out on the pensions they’ve earned because they are a few days shy of the cutoff is actually kind of cruel, and is the sort of thing that makes people rethink ever wanting to run for office, and to come out of it at the end with nothing for the time they put into public service when they could have made much more money and gotten a pension in the private sector. Instead of being gracious enough, every opposition party now wants to be dickish about it, which is pretty much fitting for the moment we’re in.

Ukraine Dispatch:

A Russian missile attack overnight destroyed a power facility in Kyiv and damaged the electricity grid. Ukraine struck an oil terminal in Kavkaz in Russia thanks to missiles fired from their navy. Both Germany and the US have now said that Ukraine can use their weapons to strike inside of Russian territory, so long as it’s for the defence of Kharkiv. A prisoner swap with Russia took place on Friday, exchanging 75 people on each side. Ukraine has had four thousand prisoners apply to join the army in exchange for parole. And the factory in Ukraine that makes Oreo cookies is back online after two years of rebuilding after being damaged by the Russians.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1796518606832017524

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1796445849683419207

Good reads:

• Justin Trudeau and Mélanie Joly are studiously avoiding saying anything about the Trump criminal verdict.
• The fiscal monitor shows a $50.9 billion deficit in the 2023-24 fiscal year, but those numbers won’t be finalised until autumn, and there will be adjustments.
• Arif Virani wrote to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to pat himself on the back for increasing the pace of judicial appointments.
• Dominic LeBlanc says that the measures to house those in immigration detention in federal penitentiaries is temporary until CBSA can modify their own facilities.
• There has been a huge spike in human smuggling through BC into the US, run by organised criminal groups.
• Economist Trevor Tombe isn’t convinced that the PBO’s error won’t amount to much because of how significant the industrial carbon pricing system is.
• The Supreme Court of Canada ruled 6-1 that if you waive your right to inspect a product before you buy it, you took the risk it’s not what you intended to buy.
• Speaker Fergus dismissed the point of privilege Rachael Thomas raised about her expulsion, saying that she didn’t start by withdrawing her remarks.
• Conservatives are now trying to play gotcha, pointing to a mention of NDP MP Carol Hughes as Assistant Deputy Speaker on a party website nine years ago.
• Doug Ford claims that spending hundreds of millions to speed up beer and wine in corner stores will be a boon for revenues; industry and history suggest otherwise.
• Ford remains unrepentant for his racist assumptions that it’s immigrants who are shooting up or terrorizing Jewish schools and centres.
• BC is offering free air conditioners to certain low-income households as they forecast another long, hot summer (because heat will kill vulnerable people).

Odds and ends:

Aside from the fact that Scheer has taken what Holland said out of context (he was referencing Guilbeault’s answer), inviting his flying monkeys to spam Holland’s replies is exactly the kinds of harassing behaviours that the Conservatives insist they don’t do at PROC yesterday. pic.twitter.com/DGpHXLO5Iu

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) May 31, 2024

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