Roundup: An ignored anniversary

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A very important anniversary passed yesterday that concerns our history and development as a country, but you didn’t hear a single MP remark on it in the Commons yesterday. It was the anniversary of the Statute of Westminster, which not only gave Canada full control over its foreign affairs – one of the final pieces of sovereignty from the United Kingdom that had not yet been transferred to our control – but more crucially was one of the defining moments in the independence of the Canadian Crown. The Statute helped solidify the notion that the Crown is divisible, and henceforth the same monarch would wear separate Crowns for each of the realms that he or she ruled. That’s why the Queen of Canada, the Queen of the UK and the Queen of Australia are separate legal entities even though Elizabeth II wears each hat. It’s one of the most fundamental underpinnings of our sovereignty and constitutional architecture, but not a single MP could be bothered to mention it. Well done, everyone. Also of note: Royal historian Carolyn Harris uses the discussion around the DNA of Richard III to remind us that our current Queen reigns by an Act of Parliament, not by divine right, which is a worthwhile lesson when it comes to how the modern monarchy works.

https://twitter.com/onshi/status/542685207938084864

Good reads:

  • Jason Kirby writes an excellent piece about the way in which the government uses burdensome bureaucracy and reporting process to ensure that spending lapses.
  • MP Rob Clarke and Senator Lillian Eva Dyck, both Cree, are having a war of words over Clarke’s Private Member’s Bill on First Nations transparency.
  • Here are interviews with new MPs Pat Perkins and Jim Eglinski, both of them former mayors.
  • Aaron Wherry tries to get to the bottom of what the staff reductions are at Veterans Affairs, and largely gets talking points with a side of attitude from Laurie Hawn.
  • A 4-3 Supreme Court of Canada decision allows police to do limited searches of cellphones during arrests. They also agreed to hear the appeal with regards to Omar Khadr’s attempt to be transferred to a provincial jail.
  • One year after the Ashley Smith report, the government gave weak sauce responses to the issues raised, and won’t commit to ending solitary confinement for mentally ill offenders.
  • Charlie Angus and the NDP are concern trolling over ministerial staff in regional offices.

Odds and ends:

The Canadian Press offers a cheat sheet for the fall sitting of the Commons.

Here is more of the Commons ceremony to recognise the bravery of Hill security guards.

https://twitter.com/jameslunneymp/status/543138361087889409