The government unveiled its big omnibus
crime bill yesterday, minus the parts about lawful access or the anti-terror
provisions they had previously indicated would be included. (Predictably,
NDP MP Charlie Angus cried victory for the exclusion of the lawful access
portions). Over at Maclean’s, John
Geddes provides a pretty damning takedown of said bill and the government
rhetoric around it, which is worth a read.
Thomas Mulcair says that it’s totally not
pandering to Quebec to demand that it keep its proportion of
seats in the House of Commons when the chamber expands to better represent
Ontario, Alberta and BC. Now, there is perhaps some validity to the claim that
under the new scheme, Quebec’s representation would drop to 22 percent of the
seats when the province has 23 percent of the population – which another seat or two
would probably fix, but demanding it stay at 24.4 percent of the seats
defies the mathematical logic of ensuring that everyone else is better represented in
relation to their share of the population.
While Robert Chisholm is looking at raising the maximum $500,000 he would need for a leadership bid, Megan Leslie is
contemplating the personal sacrifices she would have to make in a leadership
role.
Jim Flaherty defends the $90,000-per-day
consultants, saying the Conservatives need outside advice on how to cut costs. Gosh, the
jokes pretty much write themselves.
During his UN visit in New York, Harper announced that 28 projects worth $82 million have been selected as part of his
maternal and child health initiative, and wouldn’t you know it, the list is
mostly religiously based aid organizations. Harper also indicated that he’d be
extending the Libya mission for another three months.
And it looks like the Air Canada strike
has been averted, so no new filibuster. At least not on another back-to-work
bill, anyway.
Why you can trust Xtra
