Roundup: Who cares about the Speaker’s peril when there are talking points to parrot?

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Because this is sometimes a media criticism blog, I want to point you to a piece that was on The Canadian Press wire this weekend about a potential procedural showdown between the ongoing privilege filibuster and the coming end of the supply cycle, when the Supplementary Estimates will need to be voted on. This could have been a fascinating discussion that focuses on the pressure that will be on Speaker Fergus to get it right—which, to be frank, he did not when he made the ruling that allowed the privilege filibuster to begin, and pretty much every procedural expert I’ve spoken to has said he got the ruling wrong, and even more to the point, even a former Law Clerk of the Commons has said that this shouldn’t be a privilege issue because the powers to demand papers doesn’t extend to turning them over to a third party as is the case here.

But did the CP story touch on this? Hardly at all! There was some vaguely-worded talk about how this showdown could be unprecedented, but doesn’t actually explain the procedure, or the ruling the Speaker would have to make, and instead spends most of the piece both-sidesing the Liberal and Conservative talking points about the filibuster, because that’s what CP does best in their desire to be as scrupulously neutral as possible. Because who needs actual facts or an explanation of parliamentary procedure when you can quote talking points? This is a problem that CP refuses to address for itself, as news outlets across the country become more and more reliant on wire copy as the number of parliamentary bureaux for legacy media outlets continue to shrink.

Any of it, really.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2024-11-17T01:44:06.383Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Russia launched a massive missile and drone barrage against Ukraine overnight Saturday, which hit an apartment buildingin Sumy, killing eight. Russia launched a further 120 missiles and 90 drones overnight Sunday, targeting power systems and killing at least seven people, which will likely mean power cuts. The invasion is now 1,000 days old, and Russia is continuing to expend massively, including in lives, for small territorial gains. It also appears that President Biden has finally okayed the use of long-range weapons provided by the Americans to strike targets inside Russia. It appears that a Russian factory has been producing hundreds of decoy drones meant to overwhelm Ukraine’s defences, while certain drones will carry thermobaric warheads. (More on that investigation).

Good reads:

  • From the APEC Summit, Justin Trudeau says that he was advising other world leaders on how Canada dealt with Trump in the previous administration.
  • Now at the G20 in Rio De Janiero, Trudeau talked about the carbon levy and the battle against misinformation; he will meet with Biden while at the summit.
  • Trudeau also released a seven-minute video on YouTube to explain the immigration changes and to call out “bad actors” who have gamed the system.
  • In addition to a formal apology, the federal government will provide compensation for the 1960s mass-slaughter of Inuit sled dogs in Nunavik in Quebec.
  • The Chief Electoral Officer is proposing changes to the Canada Elections Act to make use of deepfakes illegal in election campaigns.
  • CBSA says that nineteen Afghan nationals failed their refugee claims in Canada and “voluntarily” left the country (which raises a lot of questions).
  • Prince Harry made an appearance at the Grey Cup game in Vancouver to promote the upcoming Invictus Games taking place there in February.
  • Kevin Carmichael ponders sentiment versus data, as the sense of economic doom is sometimes masked by strong data, and how policymakers need to adapt.
  • My weekend column looks at just whose hurt feelings are being led to accusations of “divisiveness,” and just whose “identity politics” matter as a result.

Odds and ends:

Danielle Smith has made much more unequivocally false statements about her own supposed indigenaeity than Boissonnault. I’m waiting for Poilievre to call her a “fake and a fraud,” and calling on her to resign.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2024-11-17T20:04:10.646Z

I miss this place.The new Chamber is very pretty, but not very functional.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2024-11-16T18:50:29.881Z

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One thought on “Roundup: Who cares about the Speaker’s peril when there are talking points to parrot?”

  1. Thanks for great information on Filibuster and on the mess in the House of Commons. I wish that #CBC would have you on Dale to explain all this.
    Mary Wright

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