Tag Archives: Auditor General

Decrying MacKay’s “sad spectacle”

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It was the NDP’s turn to talk about the F-35 process, and their defence critic, David Christopherson, and public works critic, Matthew Ravignat, who presented themselves at the National Press Theatre to discuss the situation. Christopherson started off saying that while MacKay had assured the press that the F-35s were the best value, we can never know that since there was never a competitive bid or tendering process. He then veered off to talk about the submarine programme, and decried how MacKay said yesterday that all four subs would be in the water by 2013, and yet responded to an Order Paper question weeks ago saying that the HMCS Cornerbrook will be in drydock until at least 2016, never mind the fact that we don’t have enough trained crews to maintain operational readiness.

Ravignat, however, had somewhat harsher words for MacKay.

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Roundup: Branding Mulcair

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The NDP have launched their English-language ads about Thomas Mulcair, which is mostly a bunch of b-roll people saying how great Thomas Mulcair is, at which point Olivia Chow says that Layton’s vision is in good hands, and Mulcair gives his pledge to “get the job done.” And hey, the party has been buying up some prime ad space too. Mind you, it seems these scripts were done up before the leader was even chosen, but considering how much in “violent agreement” they all were about policy it wouldn’t have affected the outcome much one way or the other.

Good news, everyone! Peter MacKay promises there will be more transparency with the F-35 going forward. Great. Now what about a proper procurement process that isn’t rigged and predetermined? Maybe? No answer. Meanwhile, Laurie Hawn seems to think that the Auditor General doesn’t know how to do his job, while Peter MacKay seems put out that DND will have to actually calculate operational lifetime costs as part of procurement – you know, like Auditors General have been asking for, for years now. The poor little lamb. Oh, and former Assistant Deputy Minister Alan Williams? Is still not buying any of these accounting excuses, for the record.

Another of our submarines is (finally) ready for sea trials, making that two now in the water. Meanwhile, it seems the navy may have some training issues with crews for said submarines, which really can’t be a surprise given how long they’ve been in drydock.

It appears that Canada will be setting up a separate immigration system for skilled tradespeople to deal with all of those labour shortages in places like Alberta.

Here is an accounting of how John Baird picked up the phone eight times to “lobby hard” against a vote for recognition of Palestinian statehood at the UN.

Just like the Manning Centre does for the Conservatives, the nascent Broadbent Institute has a poll that shockingly supports the NDP’s partisan position. I know – I’m just as surprised as you are.

Here’s a glance at the thirteen Senate “hopefuls” in Alberta’s “nominee election.” Note how they’re running under provincial banners for seats in federal caucuses – because that totally makes sense.

Here is a look at just what those cuts coming to the CBC will be, including the closure of foreign bureaux and the cancellation of two current affairs shows.

And one of Michael Ignatieff’s old novels, Scar Tissue, is being given new life as a theatre production in Vancouver.

Roundup: How to run a procurement process

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On the F-35 file, former Assistant Deputy Minister of procurement at DND, Alan Williams, has a few criticisms of his own of the Auditor General’s report – that it wasn’t nearly scathing enough – that the process that Harper is putting into place is just making things worse, and walks us through the steps of a properly run process to purchase fighter jets, and how the process to replace the CF-18s should be revamped from top to bottom. It’s a must-read on the entire debacle.

Meanwhile back at DND, there are more problems with the procurement processes for upgrading our frigates and maritime patrol planes. This doesn’t bode well for the state of oversight within the department.

In the event you haven’t seen them yet, the NDP have put out ads to start branding Thomas Mulcair’s image, with the rolled sleeves and all. They’re trying to do this before the Conservatives start their own ads, and while Rae is giving him a public beating over turning into a “Mini-Harper.”

Despite what has been speculated after Rae’s big fiery speech on Wednesday, he’s still not running to be permanent leader. At least not yet anyway. And no, Justin Trudeau isn’t running either.

Here’s a look at some of the hidden “back office” costs when it comes to imposing new efficiencies in public service departments in order to enable the staffing reductions. Hint: Efficiencies don’t come for free.

The Governor General is off to France to participate in ceremonies marking the 95th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, which was a defining moment in our history.

And Susan Delacourt muses about the Twitter vs. Tim Hortons “schism” that Charlie Angus alluded to in his big tirade while leaving the Twitter Machine. It seems to Delacourt that regardless of the venue, the value is in listening and interaction.

Roundup: The AG’s latest explosive revelation

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Speaking to the media yesterday morning, the Auditor General confirmed that the government would have known about the more accurate $25 billion price tag for the F-35s before the last election, based on the documents at DND that he saw. Which is a pretty big deal, considering it calls into question everything that Harper has been saying not only during, but since the last election. In fact, Bob Rae was so outraged that he is moving a motion of privilege in the House of Commons, saying that it is a fundamental right for Parliament to be told the truth, and if the government deliberately misled the House, then there must be consequences. Oh, and the PMO? Put out a release that tries to “clarify” their numbers, saying the previous figure didn’t include a bunch of numbers that the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s did, which sounds a bit rich at this point.

Here is another attempted explanation as to what and was not a “contract” or a Memorandum of Understanding with regards to the F-35 purchase, and how that added to the confusion. Here’s a look at how DND bullied other departments into signing on by using threats of the loss of industrial benefits. Brian Stewart muses about how this debacle fits into the “culture of secrecy” in the government.

NDP leader Thomas Mulcair gave a speech at the Economic Club of Canada to show that the NDP can be sound fiscal managers, and to talk about how he’s not opposed to the oil sands per se, just the way in which they’re being developed.

A Quebec judge has put an injunction on scrapping any long-gun registry data from Quebec.

Attawapiskat will no longer be under third party management, ostensibly for because conditions have improved there, but some – like Charlie Angus – believe it’s because the government is covering its tracks for blowing the file.

Here’s a look at the effect the closure of Rights & Democracy is going to have on places like Burma, where the agency was doing good work.

And here are five things you need to know about public service job cuts.

QP: Never mind the F-35s, look at these job numbers

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The Thursday before a holiday Friday, the House benches were a little emptier than usual, and QP held in the morning as it would be on a Friday. But unlike a Friday, it wasn’t entirely manned by the B-Teams of any particular party, as both Harper and Rae were present. Mulcair, however, was absent, and it was up to Joe Comartin to demand answers on what cabinet knew with regards to the F-35 fighters. Harper reminded him that they haven’t actually purchased any planes but will do with a new process in the future, before he veered off to new job numbers in order to try to change the channel. Christine Moore continued on demanding ministerial accountability, but Rona Ambrose reminded her that the Auditor General only wanted new cost estimates tabled and that they’re going above and beyond that with the new secretariat. Standing up for the Liberals, Bob Rae asked when Harper knew the proper costs per the AG’s report. Harper dodged and talked instead about how no planes were purchased, and that they have a new process.

Round two started with Matthew Kellway basically repeating Rae’s question – albeit less eloquently (MacKay: new process!), Malcolm Allen and Lysand Blachette-Lamothe continued those questions (Ambrose: Independently validating new cost estimates), Jack Harris and Ryan Cleary asked about the failure of the search and rescue system in Labrador (MacKay: ground search and rescue is a provincial responsibility), Alexandre Boulerice and Peggy Nash asked about Paradis’ staffer taking a trip to Vegas on a government credit card (Van Loan: Costs were recovered and he’s now a former employee). Marc Garneau compared Peter MacKay to the captain of the Costa Concordia on the F-35 file and demanded his head (MacKay: the AG says that we’ve responded appropriately and no money has been spent), Carolyn Bennett wondered what other things the $10 billion nearly misspent on the F-35s could have gone toward (Fantino: No money was misspent so no worries), and Gerry Byrne hammered home the point of the AG’s words (Ambrose: We have a new process!). Dionne Labelle and Craig Scott asked about CBC cuts (James Moore: the CBC has enough funds to fulfil its mandate), and Nycole Turmel and Paul Dewar asked about public service job cuts (Menzies: Look at the new job numbers!).

Round three saw questions on job cuts on military bases – especially in Quebec, a veteran being denied health benefits, old Conservative promises on cutting taxes on gasoline when it reaches a certain price (Paradis: You guys wanted to raise gas taxes), cuts to CMHC, the cuts to Katimavik, the education funds being withheld in Attawapiskat (John Duncan: The money is in the account as of today), and the court challenge on the long-gun registry data.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Greg Rickford for a superbly tailored dark grey suit with a white collared shirt and a purple tie and pocket square, and to Judy Foote for a grey suit jacket and white top. Style citations go out to Jean Rousseau for a fluorescent blue shirt/grey suit violation, and to Lois Brown for a black suit with a bright yellow collared shirt.

Lord and Smith Commission, Episode 2

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My friend Destine Lord and I have a new video up, wherein we talk about the federal budget and the Auditor General’s report on the F-35 procurement process.

Also, we got the lighting a bit better, but while we aimed at making a shorter episode, well, it didn’t quite work out that way. Blame it on a rich news week.

QP: F-35 edition

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After some Members’ Statements to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day and a moment of silence to pay respect, Question Period: F-35 edition got underway. Thomas Mulcair took up all five slots in the leader’s round to demand that Peter MacKay be held responsible for the debacle (not that he demanded his resignation outright), but Harper responded with his usual manner – standing up, shrugging, and saying that they’ve accepted the Auditor General’s report and have put in place a new secretariat to oversee the process. And it was probably Thomas Mulcair’s best performance, with shorter more direct questions, but he was still reading them off. Bob Rae stood up to decry the $10 billion misinformation and wanted Harper personally held responsible, right up to his resignation. Harper was sounding a bit more testy by the end, but kept going back to his talking points about accepting the report and the establishment of a new secretariat, but he did use the rather odd language of it being a more independent process to verify cost estimates, rather than to run an open competition. And in case you were worried, no, he didn’t offer his resignation over this affair.

Round two was largely dominated again by the F-35 debacle. Christine Moore, Matthew Kellway, Matthew Ravignat, Peggy Nash and Malcolm Allen had their own takes on it, whether it was more calls for MacKay to take responsibility, or trying to paint Christian Paradis with the same brush from his time as Public Works minister, or demanding an apology on behalf of the Parliamentary Budget Officer for the way he was treated when his estimates were unpopular but later proved correct. Answering were Julian Fantino, Rona Ambrose, and Peter MacKay, but they only repeated the very same talking points as before (though Ambrose, to her credit, could at least mix it up a bit and give the same talking point six different ways and make it sound like she was giving more information than she really was). Marc Garneau demanded MacKay’s resignation (MacKay: You’re misrepresenting the AG’s report), John McKay followed suit (Ambrose: Look! New secretariat!), and Judy Foote demanded that Fantino resign, calling him the minister without portfolio (the M-4 Unit stood up to respond, and you could hear his duotronic circuits whirring for a few seconds while he tried to formulate a response, before he simply went back to his talking points). From here, the topic shifted, and Hoang Mai asked about the AG report on tax avoidance (Shea: Look at all the things the AG praised us for!), while Nycole Turmel and Paul Dewar asked about the effect of public service job cuts (Saxton: Yay leaner government!).

Round three saw questions on Bruce Carson’s relationship with John Duncan, patronage appointments, CBC cuts, gas prices in Quebec, the demise of the National Round Table on Energy and the Requirement and Rights & Democracy, cuts to staff on military bases, and federal intrusion in BC’s coasts with regards to the Northern Gateway pipeline (Lebel: There are sound regulations in place).

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to John McKay for his charcoal suit with a pink shirt and light blue tie, and to Michelle Rempel for a simple yet tailored black dress with a blue and grey scarf that wasn’t distracting. Style citations go out to Jasbir Sandhu for a pale orange shirt and tie with his grey suit, and to Lynne Yelich for a yellow jacket with black piping with a black turtleneck.

QP: That damning F-35 report

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After a morning spent breathlessly talking about the Auditor General’s report, we were waiting for fireworks. Harper was in the House, Mulcair was ready with his scripted questions sitting on his miniature lectern on his desk, but when the time came, Mulcair instead led off with a fairly pro forma question on budget cuts, to which Harper responded about transfer payments growing faster than provinces themselves were, and that they weren’t actually being cut. So much for that. Mulcair then turned to the F-35s and the Auditor General’s report, for which Harper assured him that they had accepted the report and were putting into place more rigorous supervision of the procurement process. Christine Moore followed up with more of the same, and Julian Fantino delivered an answer just like Harper’s. Ralph Goodale demanded to know why there was still no open tender for replacement fighters, to which Fantino accused Goodale of ignoring the good things the AG said in the report, though Goodale immediately countered that those good things praised were what the Liberals had put into place. When Marc Garneau asked about the government’s wilful blindness on the problems in the process, Rona Ambrose got up to tout the new secretariat being put into place to manage the procurement process.

Round two was mostly taken up with F-35 questions from the likes of Matthew Kellway, Malcolm Allan, and Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, for which we got mostly the same answers from either Fantino (who did mention a new Seven Point Plan™ on the process), or Ambrose. Peter Julian asked about a report claiming private sector job losses stemming from public sector cuts (Flaherty: those are wild numbers), Olvia how asked about the AG’s report on air safety (Lebel: We accept the report – basically shrugging off the reporting of serious lapses in safety inspections), and Jamie Nicholls asked about Aveos (Lebel: It’s an issue with two private companies). John McKay and Dominic LeBlanc returned to the F-35 and four years of mismanagement (Ambrose: New secretariat!). Irene Mathyssen and Kellie Leitch traded scripted outrage versus scripted bafflegab, Huang Mai asked about future tolls on the Champlain Bridge (Lebel: There’s no question about tolls right now), and Françoise Boivin asked about Quebec’s court challenge on long-gun registry data (Bernier: We’re going to defend our area of jurisdiction).

Round three saw questions on the demise of Rights & Democracy, Henk Tepper, OAS versus the Prime Minister’s special retirement allowance, environmental assessments at airports, a Canadian in a Spanish prison, drug shortages, GMO pork, and a final question on the long-gun registry data.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Greg Rickford who again proves that tailoring is key, with his black suit, white shirt and pocket square, and striped blue tie, and to Alexandrine Latendresse for her grey and black top, black skirt and black jacket. Style citations go out to Robert Goguen for a fluorescent blue shirt/black suit violation, and to Isabelle Morin for a black and floral jacket. The Christine Moore Shiny Watch today reports a multi-coloured metallic dress (that could have come from Talos IV) with black bordering around the waist and bust lines, paired with a black jacket.

QP: Attacking a provincial government

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As the NDP’s budget filibuster – for lack of a better term – continues, it was little surprise that Thomas Mulcair decided to start off today’s Question Period by reading off a trio of questions about the budget and jobs, careful to mention the Aveos job losses and forthcoming public sector cuts. As Harper was off in Washington for a “Three Amigos” meeting, we were instead treated to Peter Van Loan as designated replacement PM for the day, who touted the focus on job creation and economic growth in the budget, and that the NDP’s plan for higher taxes would kill those jobs. Peter Julian got up to ask about the public service cuts, to which Jim Flaherty replied that Julian should read all about the job creation hiring credit within the budget. Bob Rae stood up to ask a pair of questions about why Flaherty thought it was acceptable to attack the province of Ontario’s finances, but Van Loan did not answer, but simply kept trying to assert that Rae was a terrible premier back in his day. For his final question, Rae asked about the “special allowance” given to retired Prime Ministers, but Van Loan insisted that the budget was clear that MP pensions would be brought into line with those of the private sector.

Round two kicked off with Robert Chisholm calling the budget “mean-spirited” (Flaherty: Look at the long-term growth projections!), Wayne Marston and Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe asking about OAS pensions and downloading costs to the provinces (Leitch: We’re acting responsibly!), Libby Davies asked about the so-called cuts to health transfers (Aglukkaq: We’re not cutting transfers), and Hélène LeBlanc asked about the changes coming to the National Research Council (Paradis: We’ve doubled some research funds!). Marc Garneau and Justin Trudeau asked about the suggestions by Conservative MPs of incompetence at Elections Canada at the Procedure and House Affairs committee last week, and about their budget cuts (Uppal: We supported the motion in the House; Van Loan: They assured us they have all the resources they need), and John McKay asking about the forthcoming Auditor General’s report on the F-35s (Fantino: Wait for the report). Matthew Kellway and Christine Moore asked about the F-35 process (Fantino: We need replacement planes), and Jack Harris and Ryan Cleary asked about that search and rescue failure in Labrador (McKay: The Canadian Forces tries to respond to these requests).

Round three saw questions on the Northern Gateway Pipeline approval process, killing the Public Appointments Commission Secretariat, the environmental cuts in the budget (Kent: The budget proves how committed we are to the environment! Yes, indeed it does), Bell planning to double payphone rates to a dollar per call, the letter to Peter MacKay written by a former search and rescue technician about the impact of the changes, unilingual Anglophone IRB judges (Dykstra: Do you want us to fire the unilingual francophone ones in Quebec too?), cuts to the Council of Welfare, and environmental assessments with future airport construction.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Jonathan Genest-Jourdain for his grey suit with a white shirt a somewhat whimsical purple tie, and to Lisa Raitt for her tailored black leather jacket with a striped white collared shirt. Style citations go out to Maxime Bernier for a black suit with a yellow shirt and pocket square, with a red tie, and to Linda Duncan for a creation that appeared to be patchwork, but I can’t much describe it beyond that. Glance askance over to Christine Moore, whose love of shiny metallic ensembles was demonstrated today by a top that was comprised entirely of silver sequins.

And in case you missed it, this little rhyme from Liberal MP Roger Cuzner had everyone in the House laughing before QP got started.