Staging a walkout

As was mentioned earlier, the Liberals
decided to stage a walkout before the vote on the new auditor general, citing
that they would not give legitimacy to a process that was changed halfway
through, as such a thing goes against fairness and the principles of natural
justice. And the New Democrats grumbled about how they showed up to vote, and one would have
thought the Liberals had learned after the whole Ignatieff thing during the
last election, but this becomes their fate as Official Opposition. Later in the
afternoon, the Liberals in the Senate made the same call and walked out before

the vote there. Rae says there is no rule the government will not break if it’s
convenient – and we shouldn’t be surprised either. Their adherence to the rule
of law has been spotty at best, and there has been an attitude of casual contempt
where rules in general only apply to everyone else. That said, we’re still
early in the life of this Parliament. Was this the issue to pull the walkout
over? I guess we’ll have to see.

New Brunswick’s justice minister says that
her province supports the omnibus crime bill . . . but that they need to sit down about
the costs, which they’re not naive about. Which is the issue, of course. No doubt when actual dollar figures
start to appear, the province may suddenly sing a different
tune, as has happened in other areas, like how Saskatchewan was all for
electing senators until they decided it was better that Ottawa pick up the tab.

The arbitrator the Conservatives appointed
as part of the Canada Post back-to-work deal has resigned. Oops.

Today in F-35 revelations, we find that the
training for our pilots who will be flying said aircraft will likely be done in Florida rather than at a Canadian base such as CFB Cold Lake (where training for the CF-18s
currently takes place).

And in NDP leadership news, Paul Dewar has a jobs plan to create a permanent infrastructure fund without raising taxes! Apparently
we can find all the money we need by closing down tax havens, although I’m
quite certain this has been debunked before. Meanwhile, Romeo Saganash has
thrown cold water over the NDP’s orthodoxy around its “Sherbrooke Declaration” Quebec policy, and Saganash comes down on the side of the

Clarity Act. Ooh, actual policy difference! And Niki Ashton says she’s made a decision. What said decision is, she won’t say just yet.