The official party status debate seems to be moving ahead without any consideration of logic, or why the rule exists, or the importance of rules actually being followed. And so, Don Davies says he’s reaching out to Carney to try and get official party status, but insists that he’s not going to try and threaten quid pro quo about it. I’m going to point back to my column from earlier in the week that there is no reason they should qualify for it—or to trust the “no quid pro quo” line either, but I’m really, really not swayed by all the capital-p Pundits who think that the Liberals should give them that status just because, or because they feel bad (or perhaps grateful?) that all those NDP voters switched to Liberals to stop Poilievre and Trump (even though that’s not what the data shows in most ridings), and it lets the NDP off the hook for running a poor campaign with a leader who was past his best-before date, and for their inability to present a vision for voters to believe in. If they want to have their official party status, they need to earn it back in the next election. (A few more details on the state of the party here).

One of the other things the big-P Pundits keep bringing up is the issue of the number of staff that would be lost, and the fact that there wouldn’t be salaries for a party whip or House Leader, but again, they’re seven MPs. You don’t need a staff to wrangle those MPs, to get them onto committees and ensure that if they’re absent that they’re covered off, and so on. It’s not a consideration. Does it suck? Yes. But let’s be realistic about just what those seven MPs are going to be contributing and how much staff they need to do it. They are not actually owed anything here, and perhaps we need to be a little hard-nosed about it. You can bet that if the situation was reversed, the NDP would be ruthless about it (and they were in 2011 when they formed the official opposition and broke established courtesies and rules around seniority for offices in Centre Block and so on in their fit of triumphalism). And the Bloc remember that the NDP refused to extend official party status to them after 2015 when they had ten seats.

There were also news stories about the supposed “feelers” that Liberals have allegedly put out for any NDP floor-crossers, but in the conversations I’ve had with staffers, it has been a lot of “Erm, we don’t want them. Especially that crew.” So, while maybe someone made a few phone calls, or “feelers,” I would seriously doubt that there is an honest effort being made here, but this is merely what I’ve heard, so take that with a grain of salt.

My life reporting on #cdnpoli, basically.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-05-09T13:31:29.079Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Russians hit 8 settlements in Zaporizhzhia region 220 times during their so-called “ceasefire.” Some 40 world leaders, including Canada, are supporting the creation of a special international tribunal to prosecute Russia for their war of aggression. President Zelenskyy is hosting leaders from the “coalition of the will” today.

Good reads:

• Mark Carney will be shuffling his Cabinet on Tuesday morning, and word is it’ll be a smaller core group with a larger tier of ministers of state.
• Here is a look at what closer military cooperation between Canada and Europe could look like moving forward, as the future of America in NATO is in doubt.
• One of the Royal Canadian Navy slushbreakers has returned to port after a first trip to Antarctica to support an all-Canadian research expedition.
• Election promises around militarised icebreakers continues to confound people who have a clue about what they’re talking about with the Arctic.
• A judicial recount has been granted for Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore, where the Liberal incumbent lost by 77 votes and claims some ballots were “wrongly rejected.”
• Because we’re in hell, the CBC has to fact-check the conspiracy theories being promulgated about Poilievre’s loss in Carleton.
• John Hogan has been sworn-in as premier of Newfoundland and Labrador.
• A report shows that Nova Scotia’s recent election had historic low turnout, particularly among younger voters.
• The mayors of Edmonton and Calgary are denouncing Danielle Smith’s separatism talk (which of course, she insists she’s not actually doing).
• What’s that? The Alberta government has been found to be non-compliant with freedom of information laws? I am shocked! (And nothing will be done).
• Alberta’s chief electoral officer warns that their new election legislation makes it harder for him to do his job. (Yes, that’s the whole point).
• Justin Ling takes a deep dive into the tech bro ideologues who are influencing the Trump administration to dismantle democracy.

Odds and ends:

"It's a complete mystery!"via @clareblackwood.bsky.social

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-05-10T03:07:10.360Z

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