Still not taking responsibility

Poor Christian Paradis. At every turn, the insistence of his party that he had nothing to do with this brewing corruption scandal is being contradicted by the parties involved. Now one of those involved is saying that party workers urged him to throw a fundraiser for the Conservative candidate in a Montreal riding. The party is denying all of this and saying that the party worker isn’t there anymore, and so on, but seriously guys? You can’t keep up this white knight of accountability stuff anymore if you refuse to take any responsibility for anything.

During Friday’s Question Period, Liberal MP Mario Silva brought up the issue of food bank use on Thanksgiving to highlight the government’s decision to ignore the Senate report on eliminating poverty in Canada.

Remember when Calgary’s right-wing radio commentator Dave Rutherford bashed the Press Gallery journalists for having an agenda when it came to poor Stephen Harper? Well, he had his chance to “interview” the PM – and I use the term loosely, which had the feel of a script reading direct from the PMO – like those horrible faux-interview commercials Harper used a couple of elections ago. The kind of journalism we should all aspire to, apparently.

Edmonton NDP MP Linda Duncan is not terribly amused by some of the things that Harper has been saying about her while in Edmonton, including that she apparently wants to shut the tar sands down at the cost of thousands of jobs – which Duncan vehemently denies.

Those Miranda Rights we see on American cop shows have no place in Canada, so says the Supreme Court. Why? Because our system works just fine, and doesn’t need to have something grafted on that was brought in because of police abuses. Sure, an accused can have an attorney present during interrogations in Canada if all parties agree, but to have it an automatic Charter right goes too far, said the 5-4 decision.

In the Toronto Star, Antonia Zerbisias examines the divide among feminists over the Ontario Superior Court’s decision on prostitution.

Also in the Star, Susan Delacourt wonders if a dull federal scene means greater interest in municipal politics, and if the “Tea Party factor” or Rob Ford’s apparent success in Toronto is a possible precursor to seeing that kind of narrative in federal politics.

David Johnston says he’s unlikely to wear a military uniform as part of his Governor General duties, unlike his predecessor. Of course with Jean, there was that added bit of symbolism of someone who grew up under a military dictatorship, afraid of uniforms, who grew to embrace it. I’m not sure it would have the same resonance with Johnston.

And veterans’ advocate Sean Bruyea talks to CTV about his experiences at the hands of Veterans Affairs, and how he feels vindicated by the Privacy Commissioner’s findings about the misuse of his records by the department. It’s pretty scary stuff.

This week – it’s a break week for the Commons, which I think we all need right about now.