Author Archives: Dale

About Dale

Journalist in the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery

Roundup: Quiet backtracking on refugee healthcare

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It seems that the federal government has quietly backtracked on some of the changes it’s making to providing health care for refugees. In particular, ministerial instructions went up on the department website which said that government-assisted refugees would continue to receive benefits, which was not the case in the lead-up to the passage of the budget implementation bill. Of course, some of the rollbacks will continue, but they won’t be quite as draconian as previously announced.

The NDP want an explanation from the outgoing Commissioner of Elections as to why he stepped down in the middle of the robo-calls investigation (never mind that his plans had been in the works for months and months).

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Roundup: Support through cuts

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The government is showing continued support for the federal Youth Justice Services Funding Programme by slashing its funding by twenty percent. Also, the chocolate ration was increased from 30 grammes to 25. Doubleplusgood!

The Ethics Commissioner wants stricter guidelines when it comes to reporting the gifts that MPs receive – and the power to fine those that don’t report them.

In light of the Brazeau incident, Senator LeBreton is suggesting that the Senate’s attendance rules be reviewed.

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Roundup: Kenney versus the provinces

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As the provinces line up to denounce the government move to cut off certain health benefits to certain refugees, Jason Kenney continues to argue that they’re wrong. Never mind that he’s creating arbitrary inequalities that will be subject to court challenges, or that his pandering to a populist base ignores the fact that these refugees can’t have the same care as other Canadians because they’re not allowed to work, and thus can’t earn the money necessary for the care they require.

Here are six things that will change on July 1st as new laws come into effect.

Even though the bill on taking wine across provincial borders has now received royal assent, a myriad of provincial laws and regulations still makes this a fraught proposition. (Lowering interprovincial trade barriers – a government priority since 1867!)

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Roundup: Final vote on C-38 due today

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At 5:30 tonight, the Senate will vote on third reading of both C-38 and C-25 – the copyright reform bill, and one can imagine that royal assent will immediately follow. With those two bills out of the way, they’ll rise for the summer.

A new cross-border privacy deal has been signed that will allow Americans to share Canadian entry data with other countries without notification. The Privacy Commissioner is reading over the agreement, and I look forward to some fairly stinging “suggestions for improvement.”

A group of federal public servants got into some trouble for wearing “Harper hates me” buttons at the office. Public servants engaging in overt partisan politics is a very bad sign, and is detrimental to the continued functioning of our system of governance.

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Lord and Smith Commission, Episode 9

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My friend Destine Lord and I have a new video up, in which we talk about the end of the Senate sitting, rumours of a cabinet shuffle over the summer, and the winners and losers of the past year in politics.

Senate QP: An ode to self-guided tours

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Before QP could get underway, the Governor General dropped by the Senate to give royal assent to a number of bills. Not only did the government bills on pooled registered pension plans and the refugee reform bill receive assent, but so did the private members bills on citizen arrests, the flag, an epilepsy awareness day, human trafficking and bring wine over provincial borders. In addition supply bills also got the nod, leaving just two government bills left on the docket for the Senate to pass before they rise, possibly by midnight tonight, likely tomorrow.

When QP finally did happen, Senator Chaput was first up with questions on the cuts to Parks Canada and how that was affecting Riel house in Manitoba, and in particular, interpretation at the site in both official languages. Senator LeBreton indicated that the plan for self-guided tours was actually better than before, because people could see the sites at their own pace rather than be rushed along by guides. When Chaput asked if she could be provided with a list of criteria for the decision to remove the guides, and LeBreton said that she would take it as notice. There was a bit more back-and-forth at this point about the importance of French for the Franco-Manitoban minority in the province, but unlike many a back-and-forth in the Commons, this one was pleasant and civil.

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Roundup: Rumours with dubious evidence

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The Senate is ensuring that three contentious bills get passed before it rises for the summer, fuelling rumours that Harper is planning to prorogue Parliament in the fall and start a new session. The problem with this “evidence” for that theory is that the three bills in question have some external timelines – the budget implementation for obvious reasons (and the Senate traditionally sits until such a bill gets passed regularly, despite this particular bill’s particular circumstances), the refugee reform bill has a deadline of June 30th unless the previously passed refugee reform bill comes into force, which the government is trying to supersede, and the copyright reform bill is at the centre of our negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. As far as theories go, the evidence doesn’t actually fit. Nice try, though.

The Military Police Complaints Commission report into the Afghan detainee issue was finally released yesterday, and it absolves the military police of wrongdoing. That said, it was very limited in scope, and it had to devote an entire chapter to the government stonewalling of information and it raised the spectre of the Somalia Inquiry along the way (bonus 1994 CBC video here with Young Stephen Harper again contradicting Prime Minister Stephen Harper).

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Senate QP: Focus on the disaster, not the funding

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As Orders of the Day got underway in the Senate, Senator Vivienne Poy rose to announce that after fourteen years in the Upper Chamber, she has decided to resign her seat to move onto other pursuits. Poy, who was appointed by Jean Chrétien and was the first Asian Canadian to be appointed to the Senate, wasn’t due to retire until 2016. She was also instrumental in getting May recognised as Asian Heritage Month in Canada. Senators from all sides gave her a standing ovation when she was finished, and many went over to speak to her personally afterward.

When Question Period came around, Senator Poulin was first up asking about the tragedy in Elliot Lake, and whether the government would be providing any compensation for the economic repercussions the region would be facing. Senator LeBreton, the government leader in the Senate, who gets to answer all questions, first gave a brief tribute to Senator Poy and her contributions to the Senate before saying that she will express Poulin’s concerns to the government and take the question as notice (by which she means that she’ll provide a written response once she has more information).

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Roundup: Entirely proper backbench complaints

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Conservative backbencher Brent Rathgeber complained publicly about Bev Oda’s expenses, the use of cabinet minister limousines. “Oh noes! Harper can’t control his caucus!” We The Media, decry, when really we should be saying, “Hey, look – backbench MPs are doing their job and holding the executive to account!” It also emphasises how much of a problem Oda has become for Harper, and that she will need to be shuffled – if not out of Cabinet (and likely to a Senate seat or other patronage appointment), then certainly a major demotion to something innocuous like National Revenue.

Senator Patrick Brazeau, the youngest Senator in the Upper Chamber, has the lousiest attendance record over the past year. In fact, he was four days away from being fined for it. (Note that Senators have attendance taken and can be fined after too many absences, as compared to MPs who self-report attendance, and those reports are not made public). So what did Brazeau do? Call the journalist who wrote the story a bitch (and did, eventually, apologise). Because that’s class. You can read the Storified Twitter Machine exchange here.

In a speech at Queen’s University, former senator Lowell Murray decries the fact that PMO and PCO – the political and the civil service sides of the Prime Minister’s staff – has become one and the same, and that’s detrimental to parliamentary democracy.

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Senate QP: The email conundrum

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When the day began in the Upper Chamber, nobody had any idea of the storm that was brewing. Orders of the Day in the Senate Chamber proceeded fairly quickly, without a lot of new business on the slate as the sitting winds down, and so Question Period began fairly quickly along. And there was one dominant theme with the questions – EI reform.

Senator Callbeck was up first, concerned that the Atlantic premiers hadn’t been consulted on the proposed EI changes, and wanted a listing of just who the government did end up consulting with before proposing these changes. (Note that Senator Callbeck is a former Premier of PEI, and was the first elected woman premier in the country). Senator LeBreton, the leader of the government in the Senate and designated responder to all questions, gave a lengthy paean to how fair and responsible the EI changes were going to be, but eventually said that she didn’t have such a list, and would take the question as notice and get a written response.

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