It's Groundhog Day in Ottawa Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here to get it delivered weekday mornings. Almost seven years ago, Canada's military hired a former Supreme Court justice to conduct an "external independent review" of sexual misconduct and harassment in the Armed Forces. Tom Lawson, the chief of the defence staff at the time, was "profoundly disturbed" by a bombshell story in L‘actualité (reprinted in Maclean's) on "the sexual violence plaguing our soldiers—and a military hierarchy with its own justice system, and its own rules." That investigation followed similar reporting in Maclean's in 1998. Lawson tapped Marie Deschamps to report back the next year. Deschamps delivered her 102-page report on March 27, 2015. She offered 10 recommendations on improving a toxic culture that she concluded would "stifle complaints and leave problems unresolved." But, she warned, "Such goals require strong leadership and sustained commitment." The next chief of the defence staff, Jonathan Vance, pledged to root out the rot. He launched Operation Honour in an effort to reform military culture. Last year, he launched another new strategy. Now, Vance faces his own misconduct allegations. And documents tabled in the House of Commons this week revealed that 581 incidents of sexual assault had been reported since April 1, 2016—216 of which only resulted in "administrative action." Yesterday, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan launched yet another effort to tackle the same old problem. Sajjan tasked another retired Supreme, Louise Arbour, to conduct an independent external comprehensive review. "We accept responsibility for our failings," reads a departmental statement."We are committed to making a lasting change," said Sajjan. Patience with premiers is wearing thin: In his latest polling analysis for Maclean's, Philippe J. Fournier tracks months of approval ratings for most premiers across Canada. He finds that some leaders whose popularity improved in the early days of the pandemic haven't crashed back to Earth. But they're something of an exception: Opinion polls show the patience of Canadians towards their elected officials is growing thin. Although some leaders in this country are faring better than others, the overall tendency of the past months is crystal clear: Satisfaction of the handling of the pandemic is trending downward virtually everywhere, according to the bi-weekly Léger tracker for The Canadian Press. Shift the goalposts: Liberals beat their first-quarter vaccine delivery targets. They promised six million doses by March 31 and actually secured more than nine million by that date. But even as Canada's inoculation campaign ramps up, the number of fully vaccinated Canadians remains stubbornly low. The Tories hoped to exploit that cognitive dissonance by setting a new deadline for the feds, calling for a shot for every Canadian adult by the May long weekend. As Maclean's has reported, this country is on track to administer first doses to 75 per cent of adults by June 6 —only two weeks later. Conservative MP Dan Albas took a novel approach to vaccinations. He mused to the Commons that dual citizens in Canada could cross the border, get a shot and then return home. Liberal MP Mark Gerretsen was flabbergasted. He called Albas's idea "tone deaf" and a "wild idea." But is it really that different from the mobile clinic setup by Montana's Blackfeet nation that inoculated hundreds of Canadians who lined up in their cars for several kilometres? Watch their full exchange. Meanwhile, Tory leader Erin O'Toole continues his swing through western chambers of commerce. This morning, he'll virtually address the Calgary chamber. When he spoke to a similar audience in Delta, B.C., O'Toole sounded reasonably open to at least considering mandatory voting. What questions will Calgarians have in store? Cassie Campbell-Pascall vs. Iain Rankin: Two nights ago on a Sportsnet broadcast, the women's hockey legend called on the premier to apologize for cancelling the women's world hockey championships in Halifax. She called Rankin "fairly inexperienced" and accused him of "poor judgment." The premier dismissed Campbell-Pascall's gripe and blamed the "rapidly changing environment"—i.e. the emergence of more transmissible variants—for the move. Yesterday, the province's top doctor, Robert Strang, said he was in "full agreement" with the premier. Watch their response. COVID in Nunavut: The territory tallied 12 new reported infections yesterday, which elevates Nunavut's total case count to 61. Top doc Michael Patterson said contact tracers are about four days behind the virus. Send in your tax return: The CRA's deadline of April 30 hasn't yet budged. So don't delay—file today! And if you worked from home during the pandemic, here's a handy guide on how to claim the right deductions. —Nick Taylor-Vaisey | 