As we wait for the writs to be drawn up – and I wouldn’t hold my breath on it happening until at least Wednesday, because they want to ensure that the Manitoba election is over first – we’re ready to start seeing the official campaign launches. The NDP were supposed to have theirs on Sunday, but cancelled it out of respect for Hurricane Dorian hitting Nova Scotia and PEI, only to turn around and then do a “bus unveiling” in Toronto and then head to Ottawa to “open” the campaign headquarters – which was essentially launching the “official” campaign anyway. All of which is a bit of a fiction because the campaign has really been going on for months, because fixed election dates are garbage. (Side note: in the week following the point being made that Singh has not yet visited New Brunswick, and the high-profile defections, that he still hasn’t bothered to make a stop in that province).

Meanwhile, because the NDP have already released their platform, the Parliamentary Budget Officer is starting to cost some of their promises, and the first one was released regarding their pledge to eliminate interest charges on current and future federal student loans.

https://twitter.com/twitscotty/status/1170671191629037569

Good reads:

• Threats being made against Catherine McKenna mean that she now requires security in some situations.
• Here’s a look at how parties vet candidates to ensure they don’t become an embarrassment on the campaign trail.
• The Liberals are trying to seize on the fact that Andrew Scheer won’t categorically rule out his promised private school tax credit, simply putting it off “at this time.”
• Former PQ health minister Réjean Hébert is now officially a federal Liberal candidate.
• Jagmeet Singh promised more immigration funding for Quebec if elected – err, except Quebec has been trying to reduce the number of immigrants they take in.
• Within Quebec’s CAQ government, men with additional duties meriting added salary outnumber – and out-earn – women in those positions.
• The Ontario and federal governments have come to an understanding about funding a French-language university that the Ford government previously scrapped.
• Northwest Territories premier Bob McLeod has signalled that he won’t run again in the next territorial election, and reflects on his time in office.
• Aaron Wherry posits that Justin Trudeau’s biggest rival in the election is his 2015 self, and whether “doing politics differently” has been different enough for voters.
• Heather Scoffield takes a deep dive into the statistics to see if the government’s promises around the Middle Class™ have been paying off.
• Andrew Coyne cynically compares the two main parties, and just how very far apart they are on so many issues.
• Susan Delacourt offers some timely reminders about what kinds of things to avoid saying during campaign season.

Odds and ends:

In the CBA’s National Magazine, I wrote about the two bills debated in the last parliament that infringed on judicial independence, and what it might signal.

New Brunswick’s lieutenant governor is the first openly gay vice-regal in Canadian history, and possibly in the entire Commonwealth.

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