As stated for their upcoming Supply Day motion (currently scheduled for Monday, the Conservatives have drafted a resolution that would see the House of Commons express non-confidence in Minister Sajjan and Minister Sajjan alone. It’s the kind of thing that makes me want to bash my head into a wall before my head explodes because it’s so very boneheaded from start to finish.

First of all, you should read this post by James Bowden, who takes apart the motion to and shows that it is unconstitutional. What is more interesting is the fact that the NDP tried this tactic before when Rona Ambrose was minister of the environment, and the Speaker ruled it out of order then, just as Speaker Regan should this time. Why? Because one of the fundamental tenets of Responsible Government is that of Cabinet solidarity. Cabinet lives and dies as a single body – there is no dispensation given to ministers we like, or to simply cull the prime minister from the rest of them in these kinds of votes. It’s an important feature of why the system works the way it does, and trying to cherry pick it for the sake of political tactics makes one a bit queasy because this is our very system of government that we’re talking about and they should bloody well know better.

Look, I get that they’re trying to exploit what they see as low-hanging fruit with Sajjan, but along the way, they’ve been dangerously blurring the lines of civil-military relations by asserting that the troops want him gone (do they aside from a few cranks? Never mind that it’s not these soldiers’ call), and by referencing Sajjan’s actions in military terms rather than political ones. Trying to use the term “stolen valour” is also offensive, not only because it’s generally reserved for someone who dons a uniform or medals without having been in combat (which is not the case with Sajjan), but because they’re co-opting it from the military for political benefit. But now they’re trying to go against the fundamentals of Responsible Government to score what they hope will be a cheap win.

That Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition is trying to burn the system to the ground to score a couple of points is a very serious problem, and one indicative of a party that is more focused on populist spin than they are in being principled. It’s  a disturbing pattern, and one that they should knock off before they go too far down this garden path.

Good reads:

• While the PM resumed fundraising activities, the party removed registered lobbyists who bought tickets to attend.
• The Supreme Court of Canada will hear the case of the New Brunswick man charged for taking beer over the border from Quebec.
• American bedframe and cedar companies are begging their own government for an exception on Canadian softwood duties.
• At the Senate committee to talk about the Trans rights bill, the justice minister said that new gender markers were coming to passports.
• CRA has suspended the last of its political activity audits of charities, and will look to change the way it enforces those rules going forward.
• Conrad Black appeared at a Commons committee (via video) to defend the Trumpocalypse.
• Dylan Robertson got the email chains from McGill around the Potter Affair.
• Steven Blaney knows he’s not going to win the Conservative leadership but still thinks he’ll come out ahead anyway.
• John Ivison talks to Michael Chong, who worries about the future of his party as he goes against the forces of conformity within it.
• Supriya Dwivedi offers some advice to Jagmeet Singh about Quebec in the wake of Kevin O’Leary’s failure to capture that province’s imagination.
• Kady O’Malley previews the Procedure and House Affairs Committee study into the alleged privilege breach of security denying MPs movement, and why it matters.
• Paul Wells looks over the state of our military spending, and the ongoing problems around it.

Odds and ends:

This week’s Ask Kady Anything looks at Sajjan, electronic voting, and Doctor Who.

Tristin Hopper looks at the incidence of gun violence befalling our Fathers of Confederation versus the American Founding Fathers.

CBC rounded up all of the instances of government departments (and ministers) tweeting about May the 4^th.