IMPAIRED DRIVING, TRADE AND FLOODING

OTTAWA— Parliament Hill seemed downright cosy this week as the surrounding areas shivered through days of wet basements and home-destroying floods.

The Conservatives devoted much of their week to chipping away at their case that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is too entitled, pointing out the $2,000 cost of cardboard replicas of the PM.

Their righteousness was kept somewhat in check by the reluctant resignation of Sen. Don Meredith who was facing expulsion because of his sexual relationship with a teenage girl.

Beyond the scoffing about the rain, the life-size cutouts and the sex scandal, there were solid devel- opments on drunk driving, trade with the United States and the fallout of flooding. Here are three ways politics touched us this week:

Driving under the influence

The legislative path toward legalizing marijuana has begun — with a move to crack down on impaired driving and a government on the defensive to explain why police should have more power in this area.

When the Liberals put forward their legislative package to legalize pot last month, they proposed allowing police to ask drivers at random to submit to a breathalyzer test as part of their efforts to prevent impaired driving. Some experts say the government is headed for a constitutional confrontation in court if it goes ahead.

Nixing NAFTA?

The U.S. Senate has finally approved Robert Lighthizer as the U.S. trade representative, putting in place a major piece of the puzzle to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. He is seen as calm, rational and experienced — so the process should be more predictable, right?

Not so fast: U.S. President Donald Trump now wants to start the clock ticking on the NAFTA talks, and the changes need to be “massive” — or else he’ll ditch the agreement altogether.

The Trump administration has signalled it wants better terms for dairy, lumber, automobiles, pharmaceuticals and the dispute resolution system.

Flooding

With thousands of homes in Gatineau, Que., Ottawa and Montreal under water this week, there was no escaping the serious and mounting problem of costly natural disasters. And now, British Columbia is facing a similar calamity.

Since 2011, the federal government has spent an average of $360 million a year dealing with the fallout of such disasters — three times the annual cost from previous decades.

And it’s never enough, forcing provinces and individuals alike to turn to Ottawa for help.

That pattern played itself out again this week, prompting pleas from Trudeau and his ministers to build more disaster-resistant structures in the future.