1. Pot shots. Summer creates a news vacuum in Ottawa but political junkies still have some things to mull over this week.
There are whispers of an August cabinet shuffle – rumours that have so-far been denied by the Prime Minister’s Office.
There is speculation about a fall election that all parties say they want to avoid.
There is ongoing bickering over a decision to spend $9-billion (plus billions more on maintenance) for a fleet of fighter jets as the country enters a period of austerity.
There are arguments for and against the Conservative government’s plan to scrap the mandatory long-form census.
And then there is blunt advice from Cheech and Chong.
The comedy duo – who made themselves famous in the ‘70s with their stoner act – had a few words for Prime Minister Stephen Harper when in they hosted a show last week at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal.
According to The Canadian Press, the comedy team is upset that large numbers of Canadians are still being arrested for marijuana possession after this country came close to decriminalizing the drug a few years ago.
“Wise up, you douchebag,” Mr. Marin said when asked what he’d tell the Prime Minister.
Tommy Chong, who hails from Edmonton, agreed.
“I would tell Stephen Harper to let go of George Bush’s butt,” Mr. Chong said. “Your head’s too far up there. Get your head out of his butt. He’s gone. George is gone. He’s history, Stephen.”
It's unlikley that Mr. Harper, who is in Moncton, N.B. on Monday to open the World Junior Championships in Athletics, will be taking a hard look at his government’s drug policies.
2. Isotope obstacles. The restart of the Ontario nuclear reactor that supplied a third of the world’s medical isotopes until it sprung a leak last year is progressing – though it is taking longer than planned.
Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. says the schedule to put the unit at Chalk River back online has proved “challenging, with more than 3,000 different restart activities that must be completed prior to returning the reactor to service.”
Even so, the Crown corporation maintains that the NRU will be running again by the end of this month – churning out the isotopes that are used in a wide range of medical procedures.
And, despite protracted negotiations around pricing, a deal has been reached between MDS Nordion, the Ottawa company that processes the material, and Lantheus, the U.S.-based distributor that has been careful to ensure that Canada received a fair share of the supply.
There is nothing in Nordion’s contract with AECL that required the processor to sell the isotopes to Canada so there were some concerns that they would flow to overseas bidders who were willing to pay a high price.
The new agreement between Lantheus and Nordion significantly reduces that possibility. But there are still complaints from the opposition about the government’s handling of the isotope supply.
It is very good news that the NRU is going to be back up and running and producing isotopes, Geoff Regan, the Liberal Natural Resources critic, told The Globe.
“Unfortunately, there is great concern in the scientific and medical communities about the Harper government's plans to stop producing isotopes, as the Prime Minister said last spring,” Mr. Regan said. “Meanwhile, the government appears to be in a rush to sell AECL outright, putting in jeopardy 70,000 jobs in the nuclear sector in Canada.”
Nathan Cullen, the critic for the New Democrats, said the biggest problem is that the Conservatives have failed to develop a coherent plan for the whole nuclear industry.
“The Prime Minister casually said last summer he wants Canada out of isotope business but has given no serious plan for where Canadians will acquire isotopes and at what price. This after firing Linda Keen [former head of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission] for a ‘life and death’ isotope shortage crisis,” Mr. Cullen said.
“Ultimately the public is looking for some assurance that they will get the life-saving tests they need. From this government, to this point, they've received a panicked and confused set of announcements.”
