Tag Archives: Bob Rae

Roundup: Undermining accountability with dollar figures

Posted on by

The government has started attaching dollar figures to who much it costs to answer Order Paper questions – in this case, $1.2 million in a three-month period. Oh noes! Parliament costs money! And really, using this tactic of putting dollar figures on basic accountability is underhanded and violates the very premise of Parliament, which is to hold the government to account by means of controlling supply. To do that, Parliament needs facts and figures, quite simply. And making it seem like a costly imposition for Parliamentarians to exercise their most basic function is, in a word, despicable.

The federal and provincial finance minsters met at Meech Lake yesterday, and while they didn’t come to any consensus over boosting the CPP, they did agree to study it and come up with a report for their meeting in June.

Not that it’s any big surprise, but former assistant deputy minister of procurement at DND, Alan Williams, said the F-35 process as “corrupted” from the beginning, but the main question remains why the cabinet went along unquestioningly when the bureaucrats barrelled ahead with the sole-source contract. Meanwhile, the Americans are already looking at developing a “sixth generation” fighter jet by 2030.

Continue reading →

Roundup: Witness protection without oversight

Posted on by

The government introduced new witness protection legislation yesterday that the opposition sounds to largely be in favour of, though the proposal doesn’t include any provision for external review or oversight, which shouldn’t really be a surprise given this government’s apparent dislike of such things.

The PBO produced a report on public sector compensation for the sake of having baseline figures to use when looking at the impact of job cuts to government expenditures. And yes, he found some interesting figures about how its growth outpaced inflation and other levels of government. But all everyone will see is the “average $114K” figure, not think about what that includes or the range of salaries it encompasses, and will froth at the mouth about how horrible those bureaucrats are, and so on.

The Chief of Attawapiskat is engaging in a hunger strike in Ottawa to force a meeting with the Prime Minister about treaty obligations. The Minister of Aboriginal Affairs has offered to meet with her, but we’ll see what happens with that.

Continue reading →

Roundup: Investment rules and an eye on joint ventures

Posted on by

Those new foreign investment rules unveiled by Harper along with the Nexen and Progress Energy decisions will likely have an impact beyond the oil sands – but it’s clear as to how just yet. What it will likely do is involve state-owned enterprises in more joint ventures and having them become minority shareholders to conform to the new rules. Economist Stephen Gordon looks at the economics of investing in the oil sands and why there is a need for foreign investment (and why most of the fears about foreign state-owned enterprises are overblown).

Oh, and those theories that Harper put these markers around state-owned enterprises as a marker for future trade negotiations with China? Paul Wells wonders about the logic of that considering that Canada-China FIPA that’s sitting there, unratified…

On the F-35 file, certain critics say that the promised industrial benefits (currently pegged in the $9 billion range, down from the $12 billion originally stated) aren’t likely to materialise, which is a ticking time bomb for the government. To date those industrial benefits have amounted to less than $500 million.

Continue reading →

Roundup: Flaherty wants to stay put

Posted on by

Newsflash: Jim Flaherty says he wants to keep his job as Finance Minister until the budget is balanced, which likely means spring of 2015, in advance of a new election. While it’s unlikely that Harper will shuffle him out before he does his promised major re-shuffle a little closer to the next election, there have been some questions as to how long Flaherty will be sticking around as he’s been looking pretty tired and acting downright cranky the past couple of months.

Peter Kent is patting himself on the back for cancelling a proposed shallow gas infill project in Alberta, despite the fact that this was a decision that took seven years. Even more laughably, Kent is claiming the Orwellian-named “Responsible Resource Development” legislation from earlier this year as the reason for the cancellation – despite, as we mentioned, the fact that this has been a seven-year process.

As the government and the military continue to back away from the F-35s, General Tom Lawson now says the term “Fifth-generation” is unhelpful. Or should I say Fifth Generation™, since it’s a trademarked marketing term and not an actual description of capabilities.

Continue reading →

Roundup: The big infrastructure ask

Posted on by

Big city mayors (minus Toronto and Montreal) were meeting in Ottawa yesterday, where they asked the federal government for $2.5 billion in matching annual funds for infrastructure, and talked a lot about gridlock. And while yes, infrastructure is a big deal, I just worry about the gridlock excuse because when you build more roads, you only get more gridlock. Of course, municipalities need to start talking about capping their borders and focusing on intensification so that mass transit becomes more feasible and cost-effective and people have an incentive to use their cars less, but I don’t hear too much discussion around that.

The government is spending $4 million on the ad budget for its Responsible Resource Development™ campaign – a fairly Orwelling branding exercise about how great it is that they’re promoting resource extraction industries while gutting environmental regulation. This $4 million is above the $5 million ad budget already allocated to Natural Resources Canada.

Continue reading →

Roundup: Discovering the domain of private members’ bills

Posted on by

Liberal MP Massimo Pacetti has a private member’s bill up for debate that proposes a tax credit for domestic travel that crosses three provinces – in order to help Canadians discover their own country instead of always travelling south. He calls it the “Discover Your Canada Act,” and it is a laudable goal, as domestic travel is ridiculously expensive in this country but – and this is a very, very big but – it’s not the domain of a private member’s bill. In fact, it is so far outside of the domain of private members’ business that it demands expenditure – which tax credits are in effect – and expenditure requires a Royal Recommendation if it’s not government legislation. And this is not government legislation, nor will the government endorse this because we’re living in an era of “fiscal austerity,” and it’s not a boutique tax credit that will appeal enough to the supposed Tim Horton’s crowd. But seriously – MPs really need to knock off this foolishness of trying to make government policy from the opposition benches. Private members’ business has its place, but these kinds of stunts, while trying to capture the populist imagination, just end up looking ridiculous.

Update: I’m reliably informed that tax credits are a way of getting around the requirement for a Royal Recommendation – but that kind of technicality doesn’t mean that this is still the domain of private members’ business. My criticism of this kind of stunt stands.

Continue reading →

Roundup: The new Quebec landscape

Posted on by

Now that she will be attempting to form a government in Quebec, Pauline Marois is vowing to toughen language laws and scrap the tuition hikes – but whether or not she’ll get enough support remains to be seen. And if she wants provincial control over EI, well, Diane Finley’s not keen to give up that power either. In the wake of the shooting at the PQ rally Tuesday night, the federal political leaders have all offered their condolences and condemnation. Paul Wells offers some perspective of previous incidents of violence ostensibly tied to the political debate in Montreal. Jean Charest has stepped down as the provincial Liberal party leader after a 28-year political career. Susan Delacourt remembers her encounters with him.

The shooting incident has several Liberal MPs recalling their own issues with security in the past.

Continue reading →

Roundup: A minority plus some insanity

Posted on by

So, it’s looks like Pauline Marois is going to attempt to form a minority government in Quebec – assuming that she can get the confidence of the National Assembly. But hey, it was far from the wipe out of the Quebec Liberals that some were predicting, and it was fairly close in seat count – within four seats at writing time. (If you want to use the flawed metric of the popular vote, it was even closer, but again, it’s a flawed metric that isn’t actually measuring what you think it is). Jean Charest did lose his own seat, and we’ll see who runs to replace him as party leader once he steps down (which is likey to be announced soon). I’ve already heard rumours that MP Denis Coderre could be interested, for what it’s worth. Also, it’s worth noting that there is really no mandate for a new referendum – sovereignty is polling at an all-time low, and the mandate between the PQ and Quebec Solidaire is far less than the 40 percent that the previous PQ government felt would be necessary to even broach the topic. So, small favours. Stephen Harper, incidentally, is looking forward to working on their shared goals – like jobs and the economy.

And then things went crazy. Marois was pulled off-stage during her victory speech as apparently a man in a blue bathrobe entered the back of the theatre, shot two people and set a fire on his way out. He was quickly arrested and apparently shouted “Les anglais se réveillent” or “The English are rising” as he was loaded into the car. One person was shot and killed, another treated for shock, and the fire was quickly doused, and things were under control in short order. It was turned the tenor of the coverage around in a flash.

Continue reading →

Roundup: Clerical errors and attack ads

Posted on by

The Supreme Court heard arguments about the Etobicoke Centre election yesterday, and the crux seem to hang on whether “clerical errors” are enough to overturn votes and “disenfranchise” Canadians. But how many errors are too many and how many should we let slide before it becomes “fatal” to the integrity of the election? It’s actually a weighty issue to ponder, and they have reserved judgement. While it’s supposed to be handled expeditiously, the point was also made that the remedy – a by-election – is time-sensitive, and so one can hope that the Court will be swift in its ruling. (I offered some of my own thoughts as to the arguments here).

The NDP launched their own attack ads in response to those the Conservatives launched against Thomas Mulcair. The crux of the message: Harper created the recession, the deficit, and is now making cuts to the vulnerable. It’s all pretty much demonstrably untrue and contradictory, but since when were attack ads supposed to be entirely factual when the intent is to cast doubt on your opponent? James Moore was quick to respond via the Twitter Machine: “Hope is better than fear.” Touché.

Continue reading →

Roundup: The vote-a-thon rolls along

Posted on by

The omnibus budget bill amendment vote-a-thon is currently underway in the House of Commons. Actual voting stated at 1 am, and will continue likely for 24 hours, give or take.  Andrew Coyne sees the virtue in the vote-a-thon, as one of the tools that the opposition has to bloody the government if only a little bit, which we need to see more of if we really respect democracy.

As you may have heard, Bob Rae officially announced that he’s not seeking the leadership of the party, but will stay on as interim leader until the convention, which will happen in April. And in a rare move in this place, he ended his speech/press conference with a few lines from Shakespeare’s Sonnet XXV. Susan Delacourt looks at some of the possible factors of the decision. All eyes are now on Justin Trudeau, who has admitted to feeling pressure to run, but he’s still saying no for now. Pundit’s Guide looks at lessons that the Liberals should learn from the NDP leadership.

Continue reading →