Author Archives: Dale

About Dale

Journalist in the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery

Roundup: Harper’s lowered expectations

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Apparently Stephen Harper avoids First Ministers meetings in order to keep expectations low and appear to be over-performing. Good to know. And suddenly I’m reminded of these old MadTV sketches. Seems rather apropos.

The Canadian Forces wants to spend a billion dollars on armed drones. Considering their recent track record when it comes to procurement, and the fact that we still don’t actually have any kind of white paper or policy direction when it comes to what our Forces are supposed to be doing and what roles they’re supposed to be filling, um, perhaps we should get on that first, before we spend a billion-plus dollars on drones that we might not actually need, no? Just saying.

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Roundup: A possible northern route

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The premier of the Northwest Territories suggests that if the Northern Gateway pipeline doesn’t end up going through BC, then they can send it north, where it can be shipped to Asia from there. Err, except there isn’t exactly a port that can support oil tankers in existence, and it would be an additional infrastructure burden to contend with.

The government looks set to introduce a bill that will allow for private property on First Nations reserves. While some First Nations support this, others – including Shawn Atleo – are opposed, saying that it not only offends their communal approach to land ownership, and that it could lead to non-natives taking control of land on reserves.

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Roundup: Pipeline review deadline set

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The federal government has imposed a December 2013 deadline on the environmental panel review of the Northern Gateway pipeline. Which is all well and good, provided that the proponent – Enbridge – has their files together and doesn’t delay their own paperwork so that other respondents can get their reviews done in time, as has happened with other panels. In fact, the government should stipulate that Enbridge should face a penalty if it engages in such behaviour, for what it’s worth.

Rumours of Katimavik’s demise may be exaggerated. It seems that with the starvation of federal funds, they are picking up sponsorship from elsewhere for programming that they offer, and may be able to carry on in some capacity after all.

Conservative MP Brent Rathgeber continues to do his job as a backbench MP and hold the government to account, this time on the policy of Supply Management. More backbench MPs should follow his lead.

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The Online Party demonstrates the height of civic illiteracy

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News went out yesterday that a the Online Party of Canada has obtained “registered party status” and will be fielding candidates in the upcoming federal by-elections. Never having heard of them, I quickly found an interview that party leader Michael Nicula, the director of a Toronto-based IT services company, did with the National Post. The results were pretty appalling.

Nicula quickly demonstrates that he has close to zero civic literacy. He has no understanding of responsible government, the Westminster system, or even the basics of just what is democracy. All wrapped in this shock-and-awe package of the Internet as the panacea to all of our political woes.

It was this quote in the interview that immediately caught my eye: “Why do we have to spend billions of dollars on elections?” Nicula asked. “The American Idol contest is done on the Internet, and it works pretty well. Why not do the same? With more security of course.”

And then my head exploded.

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Roundup: James Moore gone rogue!

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Uh oh – someone better alert the PMO thought police! James Moore has apparently gone rogue and cast doubt on Enbridge and the Northern Gateway Pipeline. Isn’t that heretical? Won’t the Pipeline Inquisition now need to fetch the comfy chair? I guess we’ll see if he’s still a cabinet minister by end of day.

The Canadian Forces remains overwhelmingly white and male, as they are falling well short of their diverse recruiting targets.

Some 80 lawyers have written an open letter to cast doubt on Jason Kenney’s assertion that he did nothing to speed through Conrad Black’s visa application. The spearhead of this campaign says it’s hard to believe that he wasn’t involved, given the history of micro-managing by this government. For what it’s worth, I believe Kenney said that he didn’t want to hear about this particular file, but that doesn’t mean that some officious bureaucrats weren’t doing what they thought would please the minister in speeding it through of their own volition.

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Roundup: Officially staying out of the Quebec Election

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In the event you missed it, an election was called in Quebec, with a date of September 4th set. With the writs now dropped, Paul Wells breaks down the situation here, while Mark Kennedy reports that both the Conservatives and the NDP are officially steering clear of the election, though some Liberals plan to help out individual campaigns in their ridings. I’m curious to see how long this holds out for all NDP MPs, and which party it is any of their MPs will be supporting if they do end up helping out.

A judicial review by the Federal Court has ruled that it was unreasonable for the federal government to impose a third party manager on Attawapiskat to deal with the housing crisis there, and that the band is entitled to the costs of having said manager imposed.

The Canadian Wheat Board is officially dead. Stephen Harper and company celebrated this at a farm in Saskatchewan, where Harper also invoked the Royal Prerogative of Mercy to pardon those farmers who had been arrested for breaking the former monopoly.

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Roundup: Spinning prison gangs as good news

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What’s that? More gangs in prisons as we’re seeing more overcrowding, more double-bunking, more and incidents of violence that might entice prisoners to join gangs for protection? You don’t say! What’s more audacious, however, is the government dressing this up as more gang members in prison and off the streets, and yet not having any police data to back that particular claim up. Just so long as it has to feel convincing, we don’t need facts!

Martha Hall Findlay, Hedy Fry and Joe Volpe are trying to make a deal with Elections Canada about their outstanding leadership debts now that the courts won’t give them any more extensions.

Tim Uppal wants Parliament to stop “stalling” the Senate Reform Act. Um, it’s your government that’s not bringing it forward for debate. Oh, and they want the provinces to pay to “elect” (but not really since it’s just a “consultation”) federal senators. Predictably, no province except Alberta is wild on the idea and won’t pursue their own plans if they have to pay for them. Not that it matters anyway, since the whole thing is unconstitutional to begin with.

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Roundup: Missed non-binding deadlines

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The government is going to miss the six-month deadline the House gave it when it passed a non-binding motion about amending the Elections Act vis-à-vis robocalls. Hands up anyone who’s actually surprised. Meanwhile, other experts say that Elections Canada already has all of the tools they need, but their problem is actually enforcement, in that they’re not doing enough of it. Meanwhile, Kady O’Malley takes a look at that Paul Calandra fundraiser that people have been talking about, and breaks down what kind of money we’re talking about, and it’s more than some people would think.

In a similar vein, the Conflict of Interest Act is overdue for its five-year review, and given the committee calendar it likely won’t be reviewed until closer to the holidays. And hey, maybe they’ll think about doing more about the mandate of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, which is pretty limited and limiting.

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Roundup: Plenty of blame in the historic pipeline battle

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BC premier Christy Clark has a few harsh words for Ottawa as well about the lack of engagement with First Nations when it comes to the Northern Gateway pipeline plans. Meanwhile, a number of experts in the field and oilfield historians say that the current battle over the Northern Gateway pipeline is unlike any previous energy battles in our country’s history.

Charlie Angus is outraged – outraged! – that the Senate’s attendance records aren’t online, because it’s like a secret society! Err, except the Commons attendance records aren’t public at all, let alone being online and accessible, whereas at least the Senate has public records and will likely get them online as soon as they can devote the time and resources to getting that up and running. And seriously, a lot of the Senate web accessibility is actually better than that of the Commons. Sorry, but no sympathy for Angus until he gets his own Chamber in order.

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Roundup: Christy Clark walks out

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And that was the third and final day of the Council of the Federation meeting in Halifax, and it too had its share of drama as BC Premier Christy Clark walked out on the discussions on a national energy strategy until her concerns over the Northern Gateway Pipeline were addressed. While BC MPs gave a fairly mixed reaction to Clark’s move, the other premiers seemed fairly non-plussed with the attitude that it’s a big country, and they can go ahead without them. And then they all went back to complaining about health transfers. Meanwhile, a portion of an existing Enbridge pipeline in Ontario was approved to have its flow reversed, which could be an early step in bringing more western crude to eastern refineries – assuming that the pipeline can carry heavy crude and has enough capacity to make it worthwhile.

Here’s a look at five past and current interprovincial disputes.

In the Paul Calandra fundraising news, it seems that the chairman of the proposed radio station vying for the licence was encouraged to attend the fundraiser and make a donation. Yeah, that should have raised a flag.

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