The Supreme Court came down with a
unanimous decision that the federal government’s plans to unilaterally create a
national securities regulator is unconstitutional. Not that such a beast itself
is unconstitutional, but just that the government was taking was, and they have to actually work with the
provinces if they want to do it, though clearly Quebec is not onside, nor has
Alberta been historically (though that may change under the new leadership). But
that would mean that Harper would actually have to sit down with the provinces
and work with them, which we know he’s loathe to do (especially you look at
Monday’s health care funding “accord” as a prime example). For more, here is
some excellent Macleans.ca commentary on the decision from Geddes, Wells, Cosh,
and guest blogger Emmett Macfarlane.
It looks like the government-appointed “friend
of the court” in the BC polygamy reference case won’t be appealing the decision
upholding the polygamy ban.
What’s that? The more the government pours
money into enforcing drug laws against marijuana, the more the readily
available it gets? You don’t say!
Helena Guergis is now suing the Prime
Minister and the Conservatives for the way in which she was kicked out of
caucus. She’s asking for $1.3 million, so I’m now wondering how much the out of
court settlement will be (which will inevitably include a non-disclosure
clause).
The Liberals are fundraising to build a “national
call centre” for their future campaigns and membership drives. Susan Delacourt previews some of the other discussions happening leading up to their January
convention.
And Paul Wells notes that the new head of
the embattled Canadian Human Rights Museum worked on Harper’s leadership back
in 2001, and again for the Conservative Party since. Interesting.
