Roundup: Fiscal update when?

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This year’s Fall Economic Statement is very late—it’s extremely unusual for it to happen in December—but these are not normal times, and the ongoing privilege filibuster hasn’t helped matters any. The government’s attempts to get shame either the Bloc or the NDP into finally voting with the government to pull the plug on it have all been in vain, because they all want to do their part to embarrass the government as much as possible. This being said, I’m not sure what the holdup is with the Public Accounts either, though they have insisted that they’re with the Auditor General and will be released soon. In any case, the government has refused to explain exactly why these releases are so late, because we’re back to the tiresome “If you’re explaining, you’re losing” schtick, so as usual, this government never explains.

Pierre Poilievre decided that he would pretend to be magnanimous and “offer” the government two hours from the Conservatives’ allotted day on Monday to present the update, but Chrystia Freeland rejected it out of hand, calling the offer absurd, and saying “This proposal from the Conservatives is like an arsonist who set the fire in the first place, saying, ‘don’t worry about it, I’ll come with a fire truck for a couple of hours, but tomorrow I’ll be back again with matches’.” Procedurally, I don’t see how the Conservatives could offer up time to government business on an allotted day, but also procedurally, Freeland could use the daily Statements by Ministers slot during routine proceedings to deliver the update (though that may be somewhat more awkward for the associated media lockup because those statements tend to be earlier than budget or fiscal update speeches are traditionally delivered, in part because of any data from those lock-ups moving markets (which is why they are traditionally delivered after 4 PM). They could technically also deliver it outside of the Chamber (Paul Martin once read it at committee, and the Conservatives liked to deliver it off Parliament Hill entirely), but we don’t want to encourage a return to the practice of announcing things outside of Parliament (and the UK Speaker uses very strong language about this sort of thing).

If I had to guess, I would suspect that it’ll be delivered next Wednesday or Thursday, once the Supply votes are out of the way, which makes it extremely convenient for Freeland and every other minister to spread out across the country to deliver the “good news” about the programmes in the budget, whereas Poilievre would want to use the timing of the update to claim that he “forced” the government to “come clean about the numbers,” or some such bullshit like that. None of this is great, but we’re dealing with an exhausted government and a dysfunctional parliament, so nothing is as it should be right now.

Ukraine Dispatch

Ukraine is giving soldiers who deserted or went AWOL a second chance, particularly given the shortages they’re facing on the Eastern front, and lo, some six thousand soldiers have rejoined. News leaking out of the Trump camp indicate that his plan to end the war involve major land concessions, NATO membership being off the table, and cutting military aid, unless Putin refuses, in which case they would provide more. (Land concessions are not really his goal, guys).

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau called out Pierre Poilievre as being unable to work in the country’s best interests, and is instead focused on scoring points.
  • Arif Virani has agreed to split the online harms bill into two portions—the child safety aspects which can advance immediately, and the hate speech provisions.
  • Steven Guilbeault says he understands why Bonnie Crombie is trying to distance herself from the carbon levy, but says it’s still the right (and best) thing to do.
  • Steve MacKinnon slammed both Canada Post and its union about disrespecting Canadians by dragging out the dispute this long.
  • Harjit Sajjan accepted Taylor Swift tickets from a BC Crown Corporation as part of a fundraising initiative, and says he was cleared by the Ethics Commissioner.
  • The Deputy Minister of Global Affairs held a briefing for foreign diplomats to lay out the difference between influence and interference, and that the latter is bad.
  • While Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes were on the Hill, the Canadian Olympic Committee was highlighting that they need increased funding.
  • The AFN is calling for a national inquiry into systemic racism in policing and police-related deaths of First Nations people.
  • Jagmeet Singh plans to use his Supply Day on Friday to call on the government to expand their “rebate” cheques, and to make certain GST cuts permanent.
  • Danielle Smith won’t say if she’ll invoke the Notwithstanding Clause as her anti-trans legislation is faced with lawsuits.
  • Andrew Coyne wonders if Pierre Poilievre is even capable of rising to the moment when it comes to Trump’s threats, or if he only has one gear.
  • Matt Gurney derides Mélanie Joly’s performance at the Halifax Security Forum as a symptom of Trudeau talking points, but doesn’t acknowledge every party is as bad.

Odds and ends:

Ottawa Playbook Scoop: Nick Taylor-Vaisey reports Vice-president elect JD Vance recently cracked a joke over dinner at the expense of Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre at a table that included Elon MuskRead Playbook here: www.politico.com/newsletters/…

— Mickey Djuric (@mickeydjuric.bsky.social) 2024-12-04T13:16:43.346Z

Need a copy of my book “The Unbroken Machine,” or “Royal Progress,” which I contributed to? Want to give a copy as a gift? Dundurn Press is having a 25% off site wide sale!

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2024-11-18T23:53:05.945Z

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