Tax on pot, cleaner fuel and sexual assault: how politics mattered this week
OTTAWA — Parliament Hill’s busiest social week of the year started with Liberals basking in byelection victories and culminated in a celebration of the Supreme Court’s chief justice, who is retiring after almost three decades at the high court.
Hundreds of lawyers, three prime ministers — current and former — and a Who’s Who of Canadian politicos toasted Beverley McLachlin at a glittery tribute on Thursday night, reflecting on the advances of Indigenous rights, access to justice and women in public life.
Notably absent was Stephen Harper, who chafed at the top court’s perceived activism under McLachlin and who once publicly rebuked her for inappropriately trying to speak to him about an appointment to the court — an allegation McLachlin vehemently denied.
Even as the MPs left town for Christmas and were replaced by former NHLers and other fans of the Canada 150 skating rink on the Hill, measures towards a tax on pot, a standard for cleaner fuel and an RCMP revisit of sexual assault files made their mark.