Roundup: Temporarily abdicating responsibility to Justice Hogue

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The day in the House of Commons started off with the Bloc moving a Supply Day motion to call on the government to send the issue of the implicated parliamentarians from the NSICOP report to the Hogue Commission to have her deal with it, which the Conservatives also spent the weekend demanding, and the Liberals? Immediately rolled over and said sure, let’s do that. Which is stupid, because this is an abdication of responsibility, and it lets Pierre Poilievre off the hook for doing the grown-up, responsible work of getting the classified briefing so he knows what’s going on in his own party and so that he can take action. But he doesn’t want to do that, because knowing the truth could mean he might be forced to behave like a responsible adult rather than an ignorant critic who can lob wild accusations from the rooftops with reckless abandon, and that’s what he loves to do because he also knows that’s what’s going to get him media attention. The NDP, meanwhile, tried to amend the motion to get Justice Hogue to also probe the allegations around interference in Conservative leadership races, and Jagmeet Singh says that if he finds any member of his party is implicated after he reads the full report, he’ll kick them out. (With no due process? And remember, he’s a criminal defence lawyer, for whom due process is their livelihood). Elizabeth May is also going to get her briefing, and is trying to weigh what she can say publicly when she does. Nevertheless, dropping this in Hogue’s lap is not a solution, but Canadian political leaders love to foist their political problems onto judges to solve for them, which can’t work, and we’re just going to wind up where we are today, but several months later. Because certain leaders refuse to be an adult about it.

Philippe Lagassé and Stephanie Carvin lay out the case precisely why it’s a Very Bad Idea to publicly name names, and why party leaders need to get their classified briefings so that they can clean house in an appropriate manner, which is what they refuse to do.

Meanwhile, more people are latching onto the mention in the NSICOP report about compromised media outlets—those on the left are convinced this is talking about Postmedia being on the take, and now Conservative MPs are putting out shitpost videos trying to claim that mainstream media writ-large is on the take so they aren’t to be trusted. The report didn’t actually say anything about mainstream media, and if you have a grasp of the media landscape, the report is likely referring to ethno-cultural media outlets serving diaspora communities, as there is plenty of documented evidence of particularly Chinese interference in some of these outlets in Canada. But the Conservatives don’t care about the truth, or context—they want to flood the zone with bullshit in order to create this dystopian alternate reality for their followers with the explicit aim of reducing their trust in reality, and that’s exactly what they have weaponised the report to do. It’s amazing that nobody actually calls them out for doing so.

Ukraine Dispatch:

A Russian guided bomb strike has hit houses in Kharkiv, injuring at least six. Russian forces have taken control of the village of Staromaiorske in the Donetsk region, but Ukraine denies that Chechen special forces have taken over a village near the northeast border. Ukraine is claiming responsibility for damaging three Russian air defence systems in occupied Crimea, as well as for a June 5th attack on an oil refinery that has cost half a billion dollars in lost production. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in Germany for a conference on post-war recovery.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau met with François Legault, offered $750 million instead of $1 billion as repayment for asylum seekers’ services, and won’t commit to target reductions.
  • Trudeau also tweeted support for a London, Ontario Muslim family whose house was torched in what appears to have been a hate-motivated incident.
  • Chrystia Freeland laid out the Ways and Means motion on the capital gains tax changes, calling on the Conservatives to actually come to a position on them.
  • The government has raised concerns with Israel about a coordinated, Islamophobic misinformation campaign that has been targeting Canadians over social media.
  • CBSA’s union has moved the strike deadline again, this time to Friday, as the negotiations continue.
  • The federal privacy commissioner is teaming up with his UK counterpart to investigate the data breach at 23andMe.
  • The Canadian Human Rights Commission has received an international status downgrade because of its internal treatment of Black and racialised employees.
  • Universities are warning that the incoming foreign agent registry could have a “chilling effect” on international partnerships at institutions.
  • Two First Nations who brought forward a case and received a settlement from the federal and Ontario governments want the courts to review their lawyers’ fees.
  • Here is a look at the author of a satirical, fake conspiracy theory that birds aren’t real, and what it taught him about conspiratorial thinking among the population.
  • The Terry Fox statue has been moved from across the street from the Centre Block to Sparks Street while plans get underway to redevelop the “Block 2” space.
  • Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin announced she will be stepping down from the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal.
  • Cabinet ministers have all taken turns campaigning in Toronto—St. Paul’s ahead of the coming by-election.
  • During his Cabinet shuffle last week, Doug Ford stripped responsibility for Queen’s Park renovations from Paul Calandra because he’s mad at him.
  • Jason Markusoff looks at the situation surrounding Shannon Phillips’ resignation in Alberta, and the ongoing harassment she has faced by police.

Odds and ends:

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