itq committee lookahead

Gosh, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? Fortunately for all of us, most committees are much like long-running soap operas — even if you tune out for a few weeks/months/years,  it usually doesn’t take too long to get all caught up on the current plot twists and story arcs. Thank goodness J.J. Abrams isn’t the show runner for the House of Commons. Anyway, enough chitchat — let’s get parliamentary, y’all.

Or so we assume. I bet they even have sandwiches — and date squares. Anyway, the committee listings for this afternoon has a distinctly clandestine theme: out of the seven meetings currently on the schedule, just three are slated to take place before the prying eyes of the public, liveblogging or otherwise.

A former prime minister! No, not that one – Joe Clark, who appears before Foreign Affairs this afternoon, somewhat inexplicably alongside the director of South Carolina’s Canada Office, to discuss “key elements of Canadian foreign policy”.

What with one thing and another, the ITQ committee lookahead preparation team is running a little bit late today, which means there won’t be a complete overview of the week until later tonight – or possibly even tomorrow morning, in which case I promise that it will totally be worth the wait. To tide our fellow committee junkies over in the meantime, however,  here’s what’s going on behind the committee room doors this afternoon:

The Clerk of the Privy Council is, admittedly, no Julie Couillard, but he may be the most hotly anticipated witness that Public Safety will be able to lure into its web of investigative intrigue before the House rises for the summer – at least, until committee members are able to agree on when and how to summon not only Couillard, but her ex-ministerial ex-boyfriend as well – ideally, not in that order. In any case, Ottawa’s highest ranking civil servant is up this afternoon, and can expect a barrage of questions about – say it with me, now – what he knew, when he knew it, and – most importantly, for the opposition – when he told the PM about it. It, of course, is the security breach that led to Bernier’s resignation, although don’t be surprised if Lynch is also grilled over the protocol for background checks and security clearances, particularly given the reappearance of the RCMP tomorrow afternoon.