Tag Archives: Canadian Forces

Roundup: Secret meeting with Mulroney

Posted on by

With a need to bolster his public image in Quebec, and the real sense of how much trouble he could be in should the PQ get elected in the province, Harper apparently had a secret meeting with Brian Mulroney last week for advice. (I’m still trying to figure out when that might have happened, given that Harper’s been a pretty busy PM of late, between international travel and vote-a-thons in the Commons). Nevertheless, necessity can make for strange bedfellows. Paul Wells dissects what it all means here.

The Rio+20 summit has ended with little in the way of agreed upon targets or timelines. Peter Kent says it’s a good thing, and that big conferences like that end up being counter-productive, and that binding targets are “inappropriate” and “unrealistic.”

Despite the requests to waive solicitor-client privilege in the investigation of a soldier’s suicide, Peter MacKay says no.

Continue reading →

Roundup: No summer vacation yet for senators

Posted on by

The Commons has risen for the summer, and MPs have all fled the oppressive, muggy heat of Ottawa for their ridings. The Senate will still sit for another week, possibly two, depending on how long it takes them to pass the three bills that have been identified as their current priorities – the omnibus budget bill (which they’ve been doing extensive pre-study on for the past several weeks), the refugee reform bill (which the government needs passed before June 30th, lest last year’s refugee bill comes into force before this one does), and the copyright reform bill (which is an issue with the forthcoming TPP negotiations). During the end-of-sitting press conference yesterday morning, Senate opposition leader James Cowan noted that the government has made the unusual step of bringing in time allocation on those bills (which is actually a rarity in the Senate), which limits the role that Senators are supposed to play in our system, which is of course more in-depth study of legislation and the “sober second thought” of being a step removed from partisan and electoral politics. Not that these traditional considerations have stopped the current government, but what can you do?

A new Commissioner of Elections has been appointed amidst the various robocall investigations and the spending irregularities of Dean Del Mastro. But before anyone gets any particular ideas about how this is really a surprise or some Harper conspiracy to silence those investigations, his job was posted back in February, so no one should really read too much into it. On the subject of Del Mastro, it seems that his claims that he knew nothing about the investigation into his spending have been contradicted by further affidavits by Elections Canada officials. Oops.

Continue reading →

QP: The price for being at the table

Posted on by

The G20 over, Harper was back in the House today for what will probably be the penultimate QP of the spring sitting. (All those in favour of getting the blazes out of Ottawa with its oppressive muggy heat, please say ‘yay.’ And so on). Thomas Mulcair, scripted questions waiting on his miniature lectern, led off by asking Harper a trio of questions regarding Canada’s entry into the TPP negotiations, and what exactly we were willing to give up to get to the table. Harper simply reiterated how great the “jobs and growth” agenda was, which trade is a part of. Peggy Nash wondered about how it was the PBO “overstepped” his mandate when not that long ago he was praised for having improved the financial reporting process in Parliament. Tony Clement insisted that a parliamentary committee voted that he wasn’t doing his job – ignoring the context of said report and how it was actually about a turf war the PBO was having with the Parliamentary Librarian. Oops. But then Nash decided to call out Clement to repeat allegations that the PBO wasn’t doing his job – outside of the House! And thus officially ended Nathan Cullen’s promise that he was going to keep the NDP from engaging in the “silly season” that happens around this time of year. Bob Rae was up next and he too wanted to know about the issue of the PBO getting the information he requested, and Harper insisted that they provide all information by the usual means. But for his final question, Rae took everyone by surprise and wondered if Harper was going to be sticking to the planned October 2015 election date given that some seven provinces are also holding elections at that same time. Harper, after joking about the Liberals’ motives for wondering about election timing this far out, said that they were aware of the pile-up and were having discussions with the provinces about it.

Continue reading →

Roundup: Pressuring the Clerk of the Privy Council

Posted on by

As his showdown with the federal government over details of the budget cuts intensifies, the Parliamentary Budget Officer, Kevin Page, obtained a legal opinion from a respected constitutional lawyer to try to pressure the Clerk of the Privy Council to giving up the information he’s requested. Page says he doesn’t want to have to take the government to court to get the data because it means that basically he’s lost – he won’t get the information in time for it to be useable, but at the same time, it’s a battle he needs to wage before the government treats him and his office with further contempt. Of course, this is all related to the ongoing contempt the Conservatives have been showing to Parliament over their refusal to turn over any of the requested financial data, no matter that IT’S THE FIRST DUTY OF PARLIAMENT TO CONTROL THE PUBLIC PURSE. But who cares about MPs doing their own jobs when they can (try to) get the PBO to do it for them and fight their battles for them?

The NDP made one last effort to kill the omnibus budget bill with a “reasoned amendment” that it not move to third reading. Not surprisingly, it was voted down, and the bill is now on its way to the Senate.

Continue reading →

QP: Never mind the PBO, check the Public Accounts

Posted on by

The first Question Period of the last sitting week of the spring semester of the Commons kicked off with Thomas Mulcair inquiring about the legal challenge that the Parliamentary Budget Officer was bringing forward since he wasn’t getting the answers that were due to him on the government’s cuts. Conservative backbenchers scoffed as Kevin Page’s legal experts were referenced, and John Baird, acting as today’s back-up PM du jour, studiously avoided referencing the PBO at all as he talked about how financial data was continuing to be released as it always has been, through the Quarterly Reports and the Public Accounts. Peggy Nash reiterated the questions, for which Tony Clement reiterated the answer, before Nash moved onto how the omnibus budge bill was going to punish seniors, to which Diane Finley assured her that seniors were better off under their government than they had been previously. Bob Rae then got up to not only restate the case for the PBO to get those numbers, but to remind the Conservatives that they had previously been found in contempt of parliament because of their refusal to turn over the necessary figures. Baird insisted that they were elected on a plan that they were following through on, which again studiously avoided the issue entirely.

Continue reading →

Lord and Smith Commission, Episode 8

Posted on by

My friend Destine Lord and I have a new video up, in which we talk about the omnibus budget bill vote-a-thon, and the latest revelations with military procurement deals in this country.

QP: Power or lack thereof corrupting

Posted on by

With Stephen Harper back in the House after nearly two weeks away, it remained to be seen how the drama would play out. And, well, there really wasn’t a lot of drama. Thomas Mulcair asked a couple of rote questions on getting Harper to justify the environmental changes in the omnibus budget bill, and Harper responded calmly that there was still going to be a rigorous process for environmental assessment that included timelines for investors. For his final question, Mulcair asked why Harper had such a change of heart when it came to his opposition to omnibus bills. Harper gave a recitation about how it was a bill full of comprehensive measures for jobs and growth, and the economy, and sunshine and rainbows (well, okay, maybe not those last two). Libby Davies was up next to decry the cuts to health transfers to the provinces, and Ted Menzies bet Leona Aglukkaq to the punch and talked about how the transfers were still increasing and included a floor should the economy not grow, though Aglukkaq did respond to the supplemental question, during which she called Davies’ questions misleading. Bob Rae was up next, and wondered if Harper’s change of heart when it comes to omnibus bills meant that he had been corrupted by power. While Harper gave pretty rote responses about the comprehensive measures for his first two responses, on his final response he noted that Rae had promised not to run for permanent leader and now seemed to be changing his mind, which must mean that it’s a lack of power that corrupts. Oh, snap!

Continue reading →

Roundup: Between 67 and 159 votes

Posted on by

The Speaker has whittled down 871 amendments to between 67 and 159 votes, depending. In other words, about 18 to 26 hours of consecutive votes, more or less, which they’re now preparing themselves for. Speaker Scheer also ruled that because there are no firm rules for omnibus bills that this one is permissible, but hey, why don’t you guys lay down some rules for the future over in the Procedure and House Affairs Committee. And so, the votes will take place probably Wednesday, and probably starting late at night since the government also moved to extend sitting hours to midnight every night for the remaining two weeks.

With the ruling on May’s point of order in mind, after QP, Nathan Cullen tried to argue that the omnibus budget bill has become a contempt of parliament because the government won’t release the data on the cuts to the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

Scott Brison takes to the pages of the National Post to say that the issue of income inequality is not a left-or-right issue, but one that Parliament should be addressing.

Continue reading →

QP: Angry tangents to distracting talking points

Posted on by

Stephen Harper remained away from the House of Commons today, off in Montreal to address a conference, leaving Peter Van Loan to face off yet again with Thomas Mulcair. Mulcair tried to ask about the omnibus budget bill, and list off all of the items being cut or changed in it, but Van Loan responded with accusations that the NDP want Canada to bail out Europe, and – oh, wow, that set Mulcair off. On each of his first supplemental, it was a bit of a retort, but on the second, after Van Loan kept up the distraction message, Mulcair went off an angry, red-faced tangent about Canada’s place in the world, which he then tried to awkwardly segue to a question about EI changes in his last few seconds, but it just gave Van Loan more opportunity to praise Canada’s fiscal situation. That was almost too easy to goad him, really. When Peggy Nash tried to talk about why the government was worried about cuts instead of job creation, Jim Flaherty accused her of trying to delay a bill that would create jobs. Bob Rae then got up, and first schooled Jim Flaherty on how IMF transfers work before wondering why the government was so sure that Canada was such an island of fiscal stability in an interconnected global marketplace. Van Loan then recited some of John McCallum’s quotes on the European situation by means of a reply.

Continue reading →

Roundup: Prepare for marathon voting

Posted on by

And so begins the week where it all happens. All of those marathon votes, as many as the Speaker is determined to allow (the number of which we should know by around noon today).

Another leaking pipeline in Alberta has premier Alison Redford in damage control mode, professing confidence in the measures in place to deal with leaks as they happen, but critics say that there is too much industry self-reporting that needs to be addressed.

Preston Manning calls Thomas Mulcair a hypocrite for not making his “polluter pay” and internalising environmental cost ideas apply to Quebec’s hydro sector, which flooded forest areas the size of Lake Ontario.

Continue reading →