Three Cheers For the Supreme Court of Canada

Good for the Supreme Court of Canada calling out Harper on yet another attempt to bypass the law. The courts are increasingly becoming the backstop of Canadian democracy as institution after institution is being de-funded, dismantled or subverted by the Conservatives.

The refusal of a Supreme Court appointment (which I said via Twitter when it was announced was unconstitutional and couldn't be fixed by the lame "fix" hastily stuffed into a budget bill) is an unprecedented slap to Harper.

Of bigger significance is the statement that the federal government cannot unilaterally change the Supreme Court Act to suit it, as they tried. Thanks to PE Trudeau for protecting it as part of the repatriation of the Canadian Constitution. This also does not bode well for Harper's Supreme Court reference about his ability to reform the Senate alone, which I have been calling out as unconstitutional as well.

So a tip of the hat and raise a martini (Alberta - not Russian - vodka) to the 6 justices of the SCC.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/03/21/marc-nadon-not-allowed-to-sit-on-supreme-court-of-canada-top-court-rules/

No more free lunches! Except at the PMO.

The new sign on the PMO.

Over the last three years Harper's office has spent $67,789.48 on weekly catered lunch meetings for PMO staffers and ministerial chiefs of staff. According to the Huffington Post, this includes:

Boston Pizza ($7,724.26)
Mexican restaurant Southern Cross ($9,024.28)
Lebanese restaurant, El Mazaj ($8,471.70)
The House of Greek ($10,020.03)
Indian Express ($8,442.54)
Café Deluxe ($18,857.16)
Freshii’s ($5,249.51)

Prime Minister Stephen "no free lunches" Harper left Treasury Board President Tony Clement to explain this an apparent violation of Treasury Board policy. Clement blamed the bureaucrats, who clearly ordered food for Harper's PMO crew and ministerial staffers week after week against their will. The PMO lunchers pretty much all make six figures a year.

No word on whether the bureaucrats also chewed for them and then fed them like mother robins.

Harper's Judgment

Harper and his Conservatives have been going on about Justin Trudeau's "judgment" in all their attack ads and emails, and it is likely to become their theme of Election 2015 (since they have precious little else to run on).

I thought I would make a start on a new poster (infinitely expandable) showing how poorly Harper stacks up in the judgment department.

Here it is in PDF format (7 MB - updated August, 2015) - Harper's Judgment.

(Don't click the thumbnail below - it will show up as too small and I'll get a lot of emails and tweets about not being able to read it... Click the link above for the full-sized version.)