Roundup: Caucus confidence and garbage legislation

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It is now day one-hundred-and-four of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Russia has turned over several of the bodies of Russian fighters from that steel mill in Mariupol where they were holed up for weeks. Missiles continue to fall over other parts of the country, and president Volodymyr Zelensky warns that Russians are targeting the city of Zaporizhzhia in the south, as a means of advancing further into the centre of the country. As well, here is a thread about Russia’s cyberwar in Ukraine, and how they route Ukrainian internet through Russian servers when they take over territory as a means of controlling information.

Meanwhile, a lot of attention has been paid to the confidence vote that UK prime minister Boris Johnson was subjected to within his own party, which he barely survived, and at a much lower margin than other UK prime ministers survived theirs before they made their political exits. With 42 percent of your caucus against you, you cannot survive more than a few more months. It’s simply untenable. Of course, Michael Chong had to pipe up to make yet another pitch for his (garbage) Reform Act and trying to goad the Liberals into signing onto it, which is wrong, and tiresome. Like the Liberals did when Chong first proposed the bill, there was this assertion that this would be what would do in Stephen Harper because his caucus must hate him, erm, except they didn’t. And Chong is making the very same assertion here, which seems to be yet one more Conservative falling into the trap of believing that people hate Trudeau as much as they do. Additionally, as I have stated time and time again, MPs did not need Chong’s garbage legislation to be able to oust leaders—they already had that power if they chose to use it. Putting a legislative framework around those powers only curtails them by stealth, while pretending to “give” MPs powers they already have, it absolutely limited senators’ powers within their caucuses, and it gave leaders even more insulation by putting up thresholds to levels beyond what would ordinarily have been considered fatal to a leader. It doesn’t need to spread further.

Good reads:

  • Justin Trudeau met with the president of Chile, and they spoke about economic development being inclusive, as Chile looks to reform its mining laws.
  • Trudeau also said  China was being “irresponsible and provocative” when they buzzed Canadian planes on a UN mission to enforce North Korean sanctions.
  • Vancouver now has their first confirmed case of monkeypox, and can we just not?
  • Pablo Rodriguez told the Heritage committee that they estimate the online broadcasting bill will generate $1 billion to be used to fund new Canadian content.
  • Marco Mendicino says the government is not ruling out a full handgun ban.
  • The proposal in the budget implementation bill to seize and sell off Russian assets may violate international law, according to some experts.
  • Parks Canada has declared John Ware, a Black cowboy who settled in Alberta, as a person of national historical significance.
  • A federal public servant has pleaded not guilty on charges of leaking shipbuilding contract information six years ago (if you recall the Mark Norman drama).
  • Supreme Court of Canada Justice Mahmud Jamal has given another interview as he approaches his first year on the top bench.
  • Hearing loss is side-lining more parliamentary interpreters and cancelling committees, and what have I been telling you for the past two years?
  • Liberal MP Salma Zahid is holding consultations on a proposed private member’s bill to force CSIS to exercise a duty of candour in dealing with courts.
  • The Star has an interview with Scott Aitchison about his vision for the party.
  • Tax evasion charges against former Conservative MP Rob Anders were dropped on the first day of his trial.
  • Professor Stéfanie von Hlatky walks through the Arbour Report and how it’s trying to deal with such a complex organisation as the Canadian Forces.
  • Susan Delacourt contrasts the low interest and low turnout in the Ontario election with the attention and focus on the federal Conservative leadership race.

Odds and ends:

My latest for National Magazine takes a closer look at the Alberta Court of Appeal reference decision on the Impact Assessment Act and its use of injudicious language.

My Loonie Politics Quick Take looks at what bills are likely to get passed before the House of Commons rises for the summer.

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2 thoughts on “Roundup: Caucus confidence and garbage legislation”

  1. You’ve said several times that “MPs did not need Chong’s garbage legislation to be able to oust leaders—they already had that power if they chose to use it. ” I’ve not seen that power. Could you point me toward it? Thanks

    • It’s the basic confidence convention. If your caucus is against you as leader, your leadership is untenable. You don’t need to distort the Parliament of Canada Act to put a framework around that.

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