UPDATED: Defence Minister Anita Anand says while the timeline for precisely when military sexual misconduct cases will be handed over to civilians isn’t yet settled, she wants to move quickly on the recommendation to do so — as well as on the to-do list she has for the new role.

https://twitter.com/amandacconn/status/1456284249720594436

“Today’s announcement is just the first step, but there are many recommendations to be acted upon from the Deschamps report and the Fish report and now Madam Justice Arbour’s interim recommendations, but my intention is to work steadily on them," Anand said to Global News.

BREAKING: Defence Minister Anita Anand says she has “accepted in full” a recommendation from a former Supreme Court justice that military sexual misconduct cases must be handled by civilians, not military investigators. globalnews.ca/news/8349589/c… Arbour: "recurrent allegations of historical sexual misconduct against senior CAF leaders+the related Canadian Forces National Investigation Service (CFNIS) investigations have led me to conclude that immediate remedial actions are necessary to start restoring trust in the CAF.”

Okay folks *cracks knuckles* let’s talk about the politics of firearms law in Canada.

Caveat: while I have spent several years covering this file and attempting to understand the nuances involved in these laws, I am not a gun expert and welcome polite input from those who are. First off: there’s no right to bear arms here, and so we have a longstanding web of laws in place that restrict what kind of guns Canadians can own, how they can buy them and how they have to be stored, among other things.

Legislation in Texas that bans nearly all abortions — many before a pregnant person even realizes they are pregnant — has triggered a surge in traffic to websites advising how to safely access the abortion pill. globalnews.ca/news/8161484/h… “People are seeking alternative routes of access,” Elisa Wells with @Plancpills about the increase in traffic.

“We help them understand what those alternative routes of access are.”

UPDATE: The House of Commons has unanimously adopted a motion inviting Whole Foods CEO John Mackey to appear before veterans affairs committee on the poppy ban.

Mackey, an American, can either appear voluntarily or else face a bailiff enforcing the order next time he's here. Point of clarification here -- the above is more accurate to say, "Mackey, an American, can either appear voluntarily or else *risk facing* a bailiff enforcing the order next time he's here."

This invitation is being done out of the usual order of things so quickly reading up...

There’ve been no new reports of Canadian diplomats with mysterious symptoms of “Havana Syndrome” in nearly two years — but still no answers for those affected.

That’s despite new reports that American intelligence is now pointing the finger at Russia.
globalnews.ca/news/7365888/h… Canadian officials still say they have no idea what caused the symptoms or any updates on the investigation. But documents released under ATIP laws appear to corroborate claims made in court by affected diplomats that the CDN government tried to keep early reports under wraps.

So there is a report out that the federal government is going to replace 14-day quarantine for international travellers w rapid testing.

We are obviously watching for official announcement w more details but I just spoke with a federal official who says this report is incorrect. According to this official, PHAC is set to announce shortly a pilot project at two points of entry in Alberta that will deploy rapid testing for *essential travellers only*

One year after minority win, Liberals teeter on verge of possible election #cdnpoli
globalnews.ca/news/7409890/t… UPDATED: NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, whose party could play a decisive role here, seems to be choosing his words carefully.

He says NDP is "voting against an election" but won't say specifically whether that means abstain, yay or nay votes on the motion. globalnews.ca/news/7409890/t…

New from me:

UN Security Council members had a ‘vested interest’ in blocking Khashoggi probe, according to a memo by one Canadian official as Canada weighed pursuing an international investigation of the journalist's murder by Saudi agents #cdnpoli globalnews.ca/news/6223628/c… It's been more than a year since Khashoggi was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Turkey and the only credible assessment of his death has been a report into whether there are grounds for a criminal investigation -- deemed to be the case by the UN special rapporteur

Full details here on the evolving story of the arrest of Cameron Ortis, a director general in an RCMP intelligence unit in Ottawa, on multiple charges under the Security of Information Act and the Criminal Code. globalnews.ca/news/5899146/s… This is a huge story coming out of Ottawa today.

Ortis is a top level intelligence official within the national police force with a specialization in East Asian cyber security.

“The decisions made [regarding fighter jet replacement] were purely for reasons of political interest: not a single one could be claimed as being in the country’s national interest.”

https://twitter.com/MLInstitute/status/1125432343441731584

'According to documents never before seen by the public, the OAG had specifically cautioned the government against its chosen course of purchasing Australian Hornets as an interim measure in a draft report – and the final OAG report was heavily revised to obscure that ."

Boissonault presenting a motion to committee members right now. NDP MP Nathan Cullen speaking while these are passed around, says concerns raised by Liberals about motion being raised without consultation applies to Liberals now trying to table their own motion "The goal here was not to be in any way non-consensual," Housefather says.