Roundup: The same government, not a new one

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The final results of the BC election started rolling in as the absentee ballots were counted, and lo, it looks like the NDP managed to flip one seat in the final tally, making it a 47-44-2 tally NDP/Conservative/Greens. And while that’s all well and good, the way in which major media outlets described this was a gods damned tragedy, and I was about to lose my mind.

No, the NDP are not going to “form government,” because they are already the government. Only the legislature changes. No, the Lieutenant-Governor didn’t ask Eby to form government, her statement explicitly said “David Evy advised me that he is prepared to continue as premier.” Because she doesn’t sit around waiting to make a decision—she acts on advice, and he never resigned, so he is not forming anything. He will be shuffling his Cabinet, but it’s the same government that carries over to another legislature. That’s it, and it’s a really big problem when neither the national wire service of the national public broadcaster couldn’t actually read what she wrote, and instead wrote their copy based on a falsehood and changed her words to suit their wrong meaning.

Additionally, because I am going to get pedantic here, there is also no such thing as a “majority government” or a “minority government.” Government—meaning Cabinet—is government. What changes is whether they control a majority or minority of the legislature. The legislature is not government. What matters is whether the same government is able to maintain the confidence of the chamber, which is much easier to do when you have a majority of the seats. The fact that Eby has managed to secure a razor-thin majority of those seats means that he has essentially ensured that he can maintain that confidence (though the Speaker issue could remain tricky). But my gods, could our media outlets have a modicum of civic literacy? It’s not only embarrassing that they don’t, but it’s outright dangerous for democracy going forward.

Ukraine Dispatch

Russian air attacks killed four in Kyiv and four in Kharkiv, where they also shattered a historic building and celebrated landmark. Critical infrastructure was also damaged in two regions in the north of Ukraine, leading to more power outages.

Good reads:

  • Mark Holland says the government will launch consultations into advanced requests for MAiD, as Quebec moves ahead with legislation to allow them.
  • It looks like the plans for the high-frequency VIA line will be upgraded to high-speed rail (though we’ll see if it actually happens).
  • The new rules for temporary foreign workers came into effect on Monday.
  • The CRA suffered a significant breach where hackers used H&R Block credentials to file false refund claims to be sent to fraudulent addresses and bank accounts.
  • Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says that there needs to be an overhaul of major policies in order to help fix the productivity crisis we find ourselves in.
  • The federal Leaders’ Debate Commission announced that Steve Paikin and Patrice Roy will moderate the English and French debates respectively in the next election.
  • The class-action lawsuit launched by Black civil servants began hearings in Toronto to determine if they can certify.
  • A number of Liberal backbenchers are calling for a secret ballot on Trudeau’s future, while the party is starting to test new digital ads about Pierre Poilievre.
  • Nathaniel Erskine-Smith says he’s baffled by the Alberta agriculture minister saying his pandemic preparedness bill would “devastate” the agricultural sector
  • Pierre Poilievre pitched a policy of removing GST on new homes under $1 million, but plans to cut two programmes to pay for it, including the Housing Accelerator.
  • Blaine Higgs has resigned as PC leader in New Brunswick after losing his own seat.
  • The Parti Québécois says they want more robots and automation to replace temporary foreign workers (because they want that Japanese “dying culture” feel).
  • Ontario’s solicitor general wants the federal government to remove bail for certain offences, in complete defiance of Charter rights.
  • Danielle Smith’s government has introduced their bill to update the Alberta Bill of Rights, and much of it is in response to the Manning Panel’s utter nuttery.
  • Anne Applebaum looks at how the Trump campaign’s language is setting the stage for another post-election insurrection.
  • Paul Wells muses about the vapidity of modern politics and how everything revolves around an obsession about winning elections and not governing.

Odds and ends:

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2 thoughts on “Roundup: The same government, not a new one”

  2. But my gods, could our media outlets have a modicum of civic literacy? It’s not only embarrassing that they don’t, but it’s outright dangerous for democracy going forward.

    This- is minor compared to what seems complete constitutional illiteracy of the leader of the NDP and the leader of the Conservatives over the division of powers between the Federal Gov’t and the provinces. At the height of the pandemic neither leader seemed to understand that health was a provincial affai not a federal one. At the time both leaders were lawyers. Both must have slept through that lecture in law school.

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