Roundup: A genteel time that never was

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I saw a post yesterday that took a page from Hansard on that day in 1978, and well, it was full of the first prime minister Trudeau and several honourable members accusing one another of being animals, or parts thereof. And while hilarious, I think it’s a bit of a corrective when people keep insisting that Parliament used to be a much more genteel place (and we got a lot of that during the Ed Broadbent and Brian Mulroney memorials).

It really wasn’t that genteel. It never has been—there are infamous reports in Hansard about early debates in the 1860s where MPs were setting off firecrackers in the Chamber and playing musical instruments to disrupt people speaking. And I can also say that Question Period was a hell of a lot more raucous when I started covering it fifteen years ago compared to what it is today, which has a lot to do with the Liberals clamping down on applause (for the most part) for their members, which has led to there being less heckling from the Liberal benches (not saying it doesn’t happen—it absolutely does—just not as much, and certainly not in the quantities it used to be).

Question Period is worse in other ways, however—nowadays it’s all reciting slogans and everyone on the same script so that they can each get a clip for their socials, while the government gives increasingly disconnected talking points in lieu of responses, and there’s almost no actual debate (though every now and again, Justin Trudeau and Pierre Poilievre will get into an actual exchange with one another). And the repetition of slogans or the reading of canned lines each give rise to heckling because of its ridiculousness, and yes, there is louder heckling when women ministers are answering questions (but this is not a recent phenomenon either). But there was never a golden age of gentility in our Parliament, and we need to stop pretending there was as we lament the state of things. Instead, we should be lamenting the quality of the debate, which has been dead and buried since about the time that Bob Rae retired from politics.

Ukraine Dispatch:

A Russian missile struck an educational facility in Odesa, killing four. Russian forces are advancing in the eastern Donetsk region after the withdrawal from Avdiivka, while Ukraine waits for new arms from the west. UN experts say that a missile that landed in Kharkiv on January 2nd was indeed of North Korean manufacture. Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, visited Kyiv—the first member of the royal family to do so since the war began—and continued her work championing those affected by conflict-related sexual violence.

Good reads:

  • At a union event, Justin Trudeau promised to protect local jobs with the new EV plants, amidst concerns about temporary foreign workers.
  • Trudeau formally appointed interim RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme to the position full-time, in spite of his disastrous performance on a few files.
  • Canada’s High Commissioner to India has been summoned by the Modi government after Trudeau, Pierre Poilievre and Jagmeet Singh attended a Khalsa Day event.
  • Ya’ara Saks says she is working with BC as she reviews their proposal to re-criminalise public drug use.
  • Marc Miller says that international students will once again only be allowed to work 24 hours in a week starting this September.
  • In advance of the Foreign Interference Inquiry’s report, the federal government is preparing to introduce a suite of new national security laws and procedures.
  • The federal government is moving to get civil servants in the office three days per week, not just two, and wants it in place by September.
  • The head of the Canadian Armed Forces Space Division says that space matters are gaining priority because they are so integral to all other capabilities.
  • It was revealed that a number of MPs and senators have been subjected to “pixel attacks” by a hacker group linked to China, but weren’t warned by authorities.
  • Parliamentary staff are replacing earpieces and spacing out microphones more after yet another interpreter was injured on the job (because MPs don’t care about them).
  • The Logic talks to the former police officer who has been pushing for changes to hate crimes legislation, which the current government is finally acting on.
  • The House of Commons passed the Senate amendments to the bill to create a reconciliation council to oversee progress on the Calls to Action.
  • Pierre Poilievre hints that he would use the Notwithstanding Clause to “make” tough-on-crime laws constitutional if he forms government.
  • A major Quebec teacher’s union is joining the call to have the Supreme Court of Canada hear the challenge against Quebec’s Law 21.
  • Scott Moe says the CRA is going to audit the province over their refusal to pay the carbon levy on natural gas, but may not be able to collect unless the law changes.
  • Danielle Smith is promising to build out passenger rail service in Alberta (which I’ll believe when I actually see, because they promise this every few years).
  • Emmett Macfarlane explains the Ontario Court of Appeal ruling on how Parliament can limit its own privileges through the NSICOP legislation.
  • Paul Wells listened to Trudeau’s appearance with the building trades union, and fits it into the broader picture of what Trudeau has been saying on all those podcasts.

Odds and Ends:

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