Sometimes it’s not just that the Senate is everyone’s convenient punching bag in federal politics – it’s also what they like to dangle before the media to show that they’re serious about some issue or another. Early on in the parliament, it was Conservatives who were supposedly going to flex their muscles to defeat all kinds of government bills in the Senate, which never happened, and now we’re getting threats from the new independent cohort. This time, it’s Bill C-29, the government’s budget implementation act, and a provision therein that has Quebec all hot and bothered because it would affect their consumer protection legislation as it relates to the banks.

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The government has maintained that because this is a federally-regulated sector that they have jurisdiction. Quebec disputes this, says that they have a Supreme Court of Canada decision to back up their position, and premier Couillard has been asking the government to remove this section from the bill, and impressing upon Senators to do something if the government won’t. New Quebec Senator André Pratte has apparently been making the rounds to do just that, while Government Leader in the Senate – err, “government representative” – Senator Peter Harder has responded with the usual plaintive wail that the Senate should respect the will of the House of Commons, never mind how much he was praising up and down the work they did on amending the assisted dying legislation just a few months ago.

But the pressure from the Senate may have already come to good effect. In Question Period of Friday, the finance minister’s parliamentary secretary, François-Philippe Champagne, announced a particular government climbdown on the issue:

We are going to continue working with consumer groups, stakeholders, and the provinces and territories to develop regulations and enforce the law. We are going to delay the implementation of some provisions of division 5 of the bill so that the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce can examine this important issue more closely.

In light of this development, should the Andrew Coynes of the world really be wailing and gnashing their teeth about the Senate supposedly overstepping their authority, or not respecting the will of the Commons? Or should we acknowledge that they heard the concerns that the government steamrolled over with their majority and forced the government to acknowledge that hey, maybe there is a problem that we should fix? Because I’m getting awfully tired of constantly hearing about how the Senate is somehow becoming this de facto ruling body of appointees, when it’s anything but. It’s doing the job that it was intended to do, which is sober second thought – particularly when there is a government with a majority, and with more independent senators in the chamber, they’re not taking orders from PMO to push things through. This is their job. This is what they’re supposed to do. Can we please tone down the histrionics about it?

Good reads:

• Catherine McKenna is sure that Manitoba will sign onto the climate deal, which is not a surprise given that Brian Pallister has said he’s holding out for healthcare.
• A small committee has been working to completely overhaul the fiscal relationship between the federal government and First Nations.
• The Government Operations Centre, which is supposed to manage crises, is outdated, understaffed, and inadequate for coordinating responses. Wheeee!
• The military has called on CSE to help them track someone in Canada over the past year, redacted documents have revealed.
• Pension delays are forcing more veterans into financial difficulty, as the department also tries to tackle homeless vets.
• Ezra Levant held a rally in Calgary yesterday and Kellie Leitch, Brad Trost and Chris Alexander all made the trek to be out there. Trost then denied climate change.
• Conservative leadership also-ran Pierre Lemieux said he would ban sex-selective abortions.
• Kevin O’Leary is hosting an “exploratory event” in Ottawa today, but not announcing a leadership bid (yet).
• John Geddes has a behind-the-scenes look at the “concession” Christy Clark demanded on the climate change deal.
• Alheli Picazo asks why Canada can’t start holding homeopathic remedies up to the same labelling standards that are now being applied in the US.
• Paul Wells writes about the constant worrying about the Trudeau “honeymoon” which has been declared to be over constantly, and yet persists.

Odds and ends:

Here is the strange tale of Diefenbaker’s burial requests, including concrete entombment.