Author: Alan

Bunny, I’m afraid took rather a hard line…Ah well, it is only a week.

Instead I enjoyed a bit of the Irish and considered the painful predicament of our new masters. Forget Emerson…nice man Emerson, pleasure to work with. What will make pain for the masters are the little tykes.

Simple problem – we signed agreements with Quebec and some of the less important provinces. Three years, five years. Couple of billion here and there. Point is that the youngster thinks he can, more or less by press release, cancel the deals.

Pleasingly, young Cashew has been on the wire suggesting I come on “Of Counsel” to the firm. Nice to be asked and all. (And we should be keeping an eye on Cashew, very sound chap.) I can’t imagine what fun it would be to have conduct of the Quebec case.

Of course the young masters could pass a bill. With what votes I say. With what votes?

Clever of that Jack fellow to suggest the socialists might be bringing in their own child care program. They would certainly have the votes. And what then gentlemen? Is a government defeated when the House passes a bill? I do wish Eugene was more than a ghost. Bloody socialist but a font of Parliamentary tradition. (Of course he would have pointed out to the Leader that he’d been defeated but I digress.)

Well a few days at the lake with Bunny and a weekend in Sante Sauvier with Marie Jose, a few good stiff ones there I can tell you, and our temporary absence from the West Block seems a little easier to endure.

And I must say, gentlemen, that this blog is an excellent idea. Who could have known that my Telidon initiative could have borne the magnificent fruit of the internet and these rather interesting blog things. I hope Ken Thompson has been informed.

In any case, I was, as they apparently say, “surfing” and, along with a somewhat worrisome number of young ladies wearing rather few, if indeed, any clothes – one of whom may have been Marie Jose which I shall have to look into when next I am in Montreal. (A telling mole.) – I ran across a worrying development. I came across some chap’s blog with the rather doubtful name of Occam’s Carbunckle who, without benefit of PCO briefing has noticed the fact that what goes on in Parliament is the tip of the governance iceberg, to coin a phrase.

Regulations, on the other hand, are a different matter. Generally, regulations are the meat and potatoes of law. They give detail and substance to the edicts set forth in the statute. Regulations are made by the Governor-in-Council (Cabinet), subject to the regulation making power granted in the particular statute. They can also be repealed by Cabinet. A regulation cannot contradict a statute, as it is subordinate legislation. There is, however, usually a lot of leeway in what can be enacted (or repealed as the case may be). A statute can really be rendered toothless by the proper neglect in enacting regulations. Let’s take the Firearms Act for instance. the regulation making powers in that statute are as follows:

Oh Dear, if this youngster can figure this out it is only a matter of time before the stubble jumpers will have the Keys to the Kingdom. And what then? What indeed? I suspect we were just lucky that no one told Joe and, of course, it was Brian who introduced me to Marie Jose and he really has always been one of us. But that Toews (and what sort of name is Toews anyway) fellow seems all set to use our regulations for their ends. Time for several fingers of scotch and, perhaps, Bunny can be persuaded to be Governess a bit early this month.

“Complex files”; it sounded so important at the time. My country could use me even if my party could not. And now… my files are gone but my duty remains. My old lot will be at the helm for a year. Two at the outside. But how to raise the subject with my new colleagues? None of them have made moves toward the leadership but I expect that will change.

Aut Caesar aut nihil.

I must be strong now.