1. 'Crazy like a fox.' The fact we now seem to be in the midst of a " census crisis" must be quite baffling to many Canadians. In truth, it's quite baffling to many of us in Ottawa who spend a large number of our waking hours watching politics.
But Paul Saurette, an associate professor of political studies at the University of Ottawa, presents a fascinating and very readable theory about why this is happening in an essay at The Mark.
Prof. Saurette says it'is obvious that government's decision to replace the mandatory long census with one that is voluntary is "terrible policy." But, he argues, it fits very well with the overarching Conservative objective to reduce the size of government.
As we all know, Prof. Saurette writes, "our own eyes never lie but numbers can say whatever they want them to say."
And while many voters won't notice or care about what happens to the census, "it will resonate deeply with certain swathes of voters by communicating to them that this government shares their suspicion of stats and the pointy-headed, out-of-touch academics who analyze them," he writes.
Because, for conservative activists and intellectuals, what is "truly infuriating to them is the suspicion that these types of knowledge play a role in actively cultivating non-conservative values and a public philosophy that acknowledges a role for government in addressing and reducing certain structural inequalities of society," Prof. Saurette writes.
"The less visible these structural issues are, the less likely it is that advocacy groups will be able to persuade Canadians that government programs are necessary. The less government programs seem necessary, the less government itself seems valuable. And the less government itself seems valuable, the more likely it is that conservative market-oriented values and principles can flourish."
In other words, he says, while many Canadians are scratching heads and thinking that the government's decision to fight so hard to push this through is crazy, "in reality, they're actually being crazy like a fox."
2. Snail's pace. A controversial report of a committee of MPs who have been studying anti-Semitism in Canada was supposed to have been completed in May. But Mario Silva, the Liberal who is the vice chairman of the committee (Conservative Scott Reid is the chair) says it will likely be several more months before it's released.
"For all intents and purposes, it's pretty much done," Mr. Silva told The Globe this week.
But it has to be properly formatted, he said. And Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, who provided much of the impetus for the investigation, is currently reviewing one section.
The report should be completed in a week or two, Mr. Silva said. Then it must be sent to all of the committee members. "I would say we are a couple of months away from making it public."
The panel is not an official committee of Parliament. Rather, it is an independent and multi-party group of politicians who are concerned about hate crimes directed at members of the Jewish faith.
It arose out a conference called the Inter-parliamentary Committee for Combating Anti-Semitism that was held in London in February of last year. Eleven Canadian MPs of different stripes attended that meeting and returned with a resolve to create a coalition against anti-Semitism in this country.
Primarily, the committee is looking at what has been termed the "new anti-Semitism" which is defined, in part, as excessive criticism of the state of Israel - comparing Israel's actions to Apartheid or those of Nazi Germany, for instance.
There are a number of groups that take issue with that definition. And many of them argue that the committee did not permit them to testify at its hearings.
The Bloc Quebecois quit the committee in March saying it was biased and partisan. MP Luc Desnoyers, one of the two Bloc members who sat on the committee, said his party was concerned about "the refusal of the steering committee to hear groups with opposing viewpoints."
But those MPs who remain on the committee insist that, whether or not groups were permitted to testify, their submissions will be taken into account in the final report and it will be a fair reflection of what has been learned.
The committee also plans to host the next international conference of parliamentarians on anti-Semitism in Ottawa in November.
So, the plans for the release of the committee's report have been changed, Mr. Silva said. "It was supposed to be launched in the summer for a government response for the conference, [and instead]it is going to be launched just before the conference."