Canada had quite a day on the foreign policy circuit. It started out with Harper declaring that he personally would be boycotting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka because of their human rights record and lack of improvement, and that he would send Baird’s Parliamentary Secretary, Deepak Obhrai, in his stead. He also intimated that he would review funding that Canada gives to the Commonwealth secretariat, which Senator Hugh Segal – our Commonwealth envoy – said was because of the ways in which the Secretariat was withholding reports of Sri Lanka’s abuses.
But then things got even more intense. The president of the Maldives made his displeasure with John Baird be known, saying that Baird was making inappropriate and derogatory remarks. Those remarks? That the president was delaying a run-off vote when he only got five percent of the vote in the recent election, and some other assorted election-related shenanigans, like the opposition leader being pepper-sprayed. Add to that, the Acting Foreign Minister being sent to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group meeting, under the authority of that president with the five percent vote.
And yet, there was even more – accusations in the press from leaked documents that originated from Edward Snowden – that the Communications Security Establishment was tracking the metadata from phone calls and emails to track the communications of Brazil’s Energy and Mines Ministry. Brazil’s president went on a public rampage and summoned the Canadian ambassador, and we are being told that more will be coming out in the following days. The government’s response – that we have close ties with Brazil.
Oh, and the former head of the Communications Security Establishment? He thinks the agency needs greater parliamentary oversight, in order to make Canadians more knowledgeable about what the agency does on their behalf. Also, they could totally hack into your data if they wanted – but it’s illegal for them to do so, but be careful about what you put out online regardless.
To mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Proclamation of 1763, a symposium was held at the Museum of Civilization, as well as a number of Idle No More protests across the country. AFN National Chief Shawn Atleo held a press conference, and remarked that he wasn’t pushing for another one-on-one meeting with Harper at the moment, and that he’s not exactly hopeful that the forthcoming legislation on First Nations education will put Aboriginal communities “in the driver’s seat.” Atleo also says he wants to focus on the relationship with the Crown, such as with ministers dealing directly with individual First Nations, as they seem to have been doing lately in BC. And really, it’s not a bad plan. Let’s hope, however, that it doesn’t mean that people think he means the Crown itself, because the Crown acts on the advice of the Ministry so long as it has the confidence of the House. That’s the way that Responsible Government works. You can’t try to appeal to the GG or the Queen directly – it doesn’t work that way.
After pushback from both the provinces and businesses, Jason Kenney sounds like he’s willing to be a bit more flexible with the introduction of the Canada Jobs Grant programme – but only so far with the provinces, whom he seems to think are doing “training for the sake of training.”
Despite a report that recommended increasing the resources of the criminal enforcement division of the Canada Revenue Agency, the division has been disbanded and “amalgamated” with other audit branches. And the new minister blames the bureaucrats for the decision, which was done before her time in the name of “efficiency.”
The Department of National Defence is hoping that more centralised management, and increased simulation for helicopter and aircraft flight training will free up enough cash in order to keep up other training and maintenance activities, as well as information technology and a cyber-force.
The government announced it would spend $3.3 billion for up to ten new large Coast Guard ships to be constructed at the Seaspan yard in North Vancouver. This is in addition to the $8 billion contract they have already been awarded for seven non-combat vessels.
Oh noes! Some Ontario senators’ travel claims got mis-coded as “regular” travel instead of “other”! Let’s…um, make a big deal about it. Meanwhile, Conservative Senator Bob Runciman has now posted his expenses, making that two out of the caucus. (The Liberal numbers should be posted within a couple of weeks).
Here’s an interview with Linda McQuaig who insists that she will be vocal about things she believes in even if it’s not really party policy.
And Andrew Coyne takes on Susan Delacourt’s Shopping For Votes and disputes the central thesis in a fairly compelling way. And it’s hard to disagree with his assessment either.