I will have to give it to NDP interim leader Don Davies that he has some big cajónes as he is once again demanding official party status as the House of Commons finds itself in a near deadlock on most legislation. He’s now into full-on blackmail territory—if you want this Parliament to work, give us status. But there are a few problems with this:

• The NDP have nowhere near earned the right to be trusted after they tore up their previous agreement with the Liberals in bad faith;
• The NDP were complaining that they were tired of being seen to be propping up the Liberals, but they’re once again offering to do just that, which leads back to the trust question; and
• The math as it relates to committees has not changed. The NDP do not have the numbers to sit on committees in a fair manner

Davies says that Parliament will work better if the NDP get seats on committees, but which committees? The whole point of the cut-off of 12 for official party status is that it’s just barely enough MPs to be able to cover-off a member on every committee (and that means they are doing double or triple duty). Is he suggesting that they just get to pick five or six committees that they should be allowed to sit on but not the others? How is that fair to those other committees, or those other issues that the NDP are effectively ignoring? Yes, Davies is desperate for more resources and staff that official status would offer, but you cannot demonstrate the fundamentals of being able to be present. Rules exist for a reason.

The current budget bill — C-15 — was tabled on Nov. 18. It's been debated on 10 different sitting days. It still hasn't received a vote at second reading and made it to committee. Would things move faster if C-15 was a dozen different bills?I'm unconvinced.

— Aaron Wherry (@aaronwherry.bsky.social) 2025-12-10T18:02:17.857Z

MPs seemingly:a) don't want to spend much time in Ottawa and b) don't like to agree to move legislation along without undue delay.

— Aaron Wherry (@aaronwherry.bsky.social) 2025-12-10T18:00:25.458Z

The current budget bill — C-15 — was tabled on Nov. 18. It's been debated on 10 different sitting days. It still hasn't received a vote at second reading and made it to committee. Would things move faster if C-15 was a dozen different bills?I'm unconvinced.

— Aaron Wherry (@aaronwherry.bsky.social) 2025-12-10T18:02:17.857Z

Meanwhile, the fact that the budget implementation bill was debated over some eleven days at second reading is a problem. Yes, it’s a problem that it’s a giant omnibus bill, but the Commons has been getting worse about debate times since at least 2011, and nobody shows any willingness to start doing anything differently, and that’s a problem. One of the things I keep reminding people is that in Westminster, second reading debate is one afternoon, because that’s all it needs to be because you’re debating the general principle of the bill—that’s it. Your entire caucus does not need to weigh in with repetitive talking points and slogans. You do not need to put everyone one to get clips. House Leaders need to grow up and start cracking down on this abuse of procedure, and that starts with the Government House Leader, who needs to put his foot down. Enough is enough.

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2025-12-10T14:25:06.076Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Ukrainian forces have been fending off an “unusually large” mechanised assault on Pokrovsk. Russian drones hit the gas transport system in Odesa. Ukrainian sea drones have disabled another vessel in Russia’s “shadow fleet” in the Black Sea.

Good reads:

• Mark Carney says that the next US ambassador will have time to prepare for the next round of trade talks (but hasn’t said who it will be).
• The government has not yet put forward a name for the foreign agent registry commissioner as they promised to by the end of the year.
• Four new entities have been added to the terrorism list.
• Outgoing ambassador Kirsten Hillman says that she told Carney she wasn’t interested in another full term, and plans to retire from the civil service.
• DND is looking into how to train and equip a 300,000-person citizen army in the case of a crisis situation.
• A report says the CEO of the national Pier 21 museum spent years abusing employees and making constant derogatory comments.
• US Ambassador Pete Hoekstra is downplaying concerns that his government plans to meddle in Canadian domestic affairs (as they have outright promised to do).
• The Logic takes a closer look at Kevin O’Leary’s plan to build a massive data centre in Northern Alberta, and why it’s behind schedule.
• A Nova Scotia report shows how female migrant workers in seafood plants are particularly vulnerable to abuses.
• Quebec’s anti-corruption police are now investigating the provincial Liberal party.
• Danielle Smith is now facing a recall petition, making it 21 MLAs now.
• Alberta’s Chief Electoral Officer is warning that a government bill aims to let the justice minister interfere directly in his operations (because of course).
• BC’s former chief coroner says the provincial government largely ignored her advice on how to deal with the toxic drug crisis.
• Kevin Carmichael parses the Bank of Canada’s decision to hold rates.
• Patrick Lennox argues that Danielle Smith making separation referendums easier opens the door for foreign interference, particularly from Trump and MAGA.
• Emmett Macfarlane draws the comparison between Trump’s abuse of pardon powers with Danielle Smith and other premiers using the Notwithstanding Clause.

Odds and ends:

Hey BSers! Need a copy of my book, for yourself or for a holiday gift? @dundurnpress.bsky.social is having their holiday sale! Use code HOLIDAY25 to save 25% on this, or any Dundurn book. Check out my book #UnbrokenMachine, or the book I contributed a chapter to, #RoyalProgress.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-11-19T02:01:04.435Z

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