Roundup: Caretaker doesn’t apply

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Sometimes, the pundit class in this country boggles me. Case in point—the National Post’s John Ivison wrote yesterday that the announcement about moving ahead with high-speed rail was “ignoring the caretaker convention,” (and because this is Ivison, the words “in this country” are used loosely as he is currently filing from Costa Rica). I get that Ivison wants to dump on Trudeau for making a big, flashy announcement as he’s on his way out the door, but the thing is, the caretaker convention doesn’t apply. The only time that the convention does apply is when Parliament is dissolved for an election (and Philippe Lagassé can explain this all to you here).

Part of the problem is that legacy media in this country does not know how to deal with the current political situation, where Trudeau has signalled his intention to resign, but remains in power until his successor is chosen. This is perfectly legitimate in a Westminster system like ours, especially as Trudeau won a series of confidence votes before Parliament rose for the winter break, and before his advice to the Governor General to prorogue. Since then, virtually every single pundit and editorial writer has been wringing their hands, writing things like “lame-duck,” or “leaderless,” or “vacuum,” when none of this is actually true, and it breaks their brains that the government is capable of operating and responding to Trump and his predations without Parliament currently sitting, as though Parliament would have anything in particular to do in this current situation other than take-note debates or unanimous consent motions. Trudeau is personally able to exercise the full suite of his powers as prime minister right up until the moment he does officially resign and turn the keys over to his successor. This is neither illegitimate nor illegal, and the long-time observers of our political scene should know that.

What is particularly galling is that long-time Ottawa columnists don’t understand these very basics. Ivison used to be the Post’s Ottawa bureau chief, for fuck’s sake. He should have a basic understanding of the difference between prorogation and dissolution, and when the caretaker convention should apply. He’s been writing about Canadian politics since the birth of the Post, and was writing about UK politics before that. This is basic civics. And it’s not just him, even though he is today’s object lesson. We have a real problem when the people we are supposed to turn to for help in putting the news into context can’t be arsed to get the basic facts right, so long as they get to grind their ideological axes.

Ukraine Dispatch

Tens of thousands of people in Odesa remain without power after successive Russian attacks, while Russia claims to have taken back a “huge” chunk of Kursk region in Russia. The EU has been coming up with a plan to manufacture and send more arms to Ukraine.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau announced the plans to move ahead with high-speed rail, and they mean it, for realsies this time! Really!
  • Trudeau also stated that Ukraine must have a seat at the table for any peace negotiations, and has been in touch with Macron about Europe’s response.
  • Ambassador Kirsten Hillman says that Trump’s advisors are “pleased” we are taking action on the border and fentanyl (but just wait for the goalposts to shift).
  • The federal government says small businesses will have to pay taxes on their carbon levy rebates because the legislation to remove that tax was filibustered.
  • The CBSA complaints commission is still not up and running, in part because the government has not yet chosen a chair to head it.
  • The government is trying to move ahead with its gun buyback programme, but they are still trying to negotiate with police forces to do the collection work.
  • General Jennie Carignan says the Canadian Forces are on track to meet their recruitment targets this year, and that they have been modernising the process.
  • Carignan also says the military-to-military relationship with the US remains unaffected by Trump’s threats (for now, at least).
  • The PBO released another garbage report on guaranteed basic income, that continues to be ableist and ignore the particular needs of disabled people.
  • Mark Carney says he wants to split the budget into two parts—one for operations, one for capital projects, and that the former would be balanced.
  • Scott Moe says Trump “may not be entirely accurate with perceived facts.” And with that, Moe continues his long-running streak as Canada’s smoothest-brained premier.
  • Danielle Smith shuffled her deputy minister of health amidst the allegations of corruption at AHS—but he remains the interim chair and CEO. (Seriously?)
  • Kevin Carmichael explains why the Bank of Canada won’t have many tools to fight any economic downturn from tariffs, especially if corporations don’t absorb costs.
  • Stewart Prest sees a role for Canada in bringing allies across the globe to push back against Trump, in the name of preserving the international rules-based order.
  • Emmett Macfarlane denounces Nova Scotia’s attempt to de-fang the province’s Auditor General, and make the office less independent.
  • Paul Wells reiterates his four rules of politics, for posterity’s sake.
  • Wells also talks to Sylvie Kauffmann about the current mood in Europe now that America is no longer an ally and is now an adversary.

Odds and ends:

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