Roundup: Another committee demand

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The Conservatives are demanding yet more “emergency” committee hearings, but because it’s a committee they don’t control, they are getting in front of the cameras to make performative demands. Case in point, yesterday Andrew Scheer called a press conference to demand that the NDP and Bloc agree to recall the public safety committee to examine how a suspected terrorist was able to immigrate and obtain citizenship when he may have been videotaped dismembering a prisoner in 2015.

Of course, the Conservatives’ case and rationale is largely hyperbolic, and their blaming the current government for crime rates is both specious and done entirely in bad faith. But then again, Scheer is a lying liar who lies constantly, so he’ll say anything to get attention, and that’s all this is really about—attention. The Conservatives need to get fresh clips for their socials, and summer committee meetings are precisely the kind of thing that they think makes them look good, so that’s why they have been trying to run committees over the summer, and claiming that the other parties want to be “on vacation” rather than doing work in their constituencies. (This becomes one of those areas where you could accuse the Conservatives of projection in that they treat constituency time as “vacation” or a “break” rather than simply doing other kinds of work in the riding).

This is just one more demand for a dog-and-pony show. I’m not sure what exactly a parliamentary committee could do here.

In case you missed them:

  • For National Magazine, I look at BCCLA’s fight to try to see secret documents to hold CSIS to account for possibly improper spying on environmental groups.
  • Also for National Magazine, I delve into the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision on annuities the Crown owes for several Ontario First Nations for treaty breaches.
  • My weekend column conducts a thought experiment on how the Liberals could possibly hold a leadership contest under their current rules anytime soon.
  • My Loonie Politics Quick Take looks at the performative hairshirt parsimony on display as people lose their minds over the purchase of the diplomatic condo.
  • My column goes through some of Poilievre and company’s recent deceitful claims when it comes to drug decriminalisation and safer supply.
  • My feature story in Xtra looks at queer diplomacy in Canada, and how we’ve made great strides in the past decade, but we still have a lot more to do.
  • My weekend column on Jagmeet Singh’s continued announcements that are either economically illiterate, or entirely the domain of the provinces.

Ukraine Dispatch

Ukraine says that their forces downed four Russian missiles and 15 drones overnight. Nevertheless, a missile did strike the Kharkiv region, killing one and injuring twelve. The first group of F-16 fighters are now in Ukraine, and ready to be deployed.

https://twitter.com/zelenskyyua/status/1820400963833958849

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1820799395371110697

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau was in Winnipeg to speak to healthcare workers and members of the Black community (after saying he had “no public evens” planned).
  • Mélanie Joly joined her G7 counterparts in a joint statement declaring that there is nothing to be gained from rising tensions in the Middle East.
  • Randy Boissonnault says the government is planning a series of changes to the temporary foreign worker programme in order to crack down on abuses.
  • Steve MacKinnon is optimistic about the Liberals’ chances in the next election.
  • The Commissioner of Elections has fined someone for voting twice in the 2019 election, claiming that he wanted to “test the system.”
  • Because provinces won’t pay doctors enough to hire scribes or assistants, some of them are turning to LLMs and data centres in the US, which compromises privacy.
  • Conservatives insist that they’re not behind the bot accounts praising Poilievre’s recent tour stops.
  • Stephen Saideman explains his scepticism around Canada’s ability to meet the NATO two percent spending target.
  • Emmett Macfarlane objects to the federal Justice Department apparently offering legitimacy to supposed provincial amendments to the constitution.
  • Susan Delacourt reflects on the Anonymous Liberals™ leaking to the press, and about why some of them are granted anonymity to begin with.
  • Paul Wells has some thoughts about Justin Trudeau trying to wait out his opposition, and Pierre Poilievre’s hopes to govern by way of slogans.
  • Wells is also unimpressed with Trudeau’s habit of saying he has no public events, then having an event (with a pool reporter) and retroactively updating his agenda.
  • My column looks at what happened at the Status of Women committee last week, as the Conservatives try to use “emergency” meetings to feed their social media.

Odds and ends:

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2 thoughts on “Roundup: Another committee demand”

    • If it were for security reasons, there would be better ways to mitigate that than making false statements to the press.

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