It has not been the Liberals’ weekend for communications strategies, it seems. After days of enduring the hectoring over “Ladies Night” and the facetious comments that Justin Trudeau made about China, along came the Liberal veterans affairs critic, Jim Karygiannis, where he went on Power & Politics and quoted the director of Wounded Warriors Canada in saying that giving wounded soldiers lump sum disability payments was like “waving a case of beer in front of a drunk,” as many will spend it on houses, fast cars, or their addictions, and he cited examples of these kinds of things happening where he met the individuals involved. And cue the outrage. Said director of the organisation immediately distanced himself from the comments over Twitter, and a few hours later, Karygiannis apologised – sort of. Suffice to say, it didn’t help the perception that the Liberals have their a-game on when it comes to media messaging.
Tag Archives: China
Roundup: Suspending errant senators
In a blatant bit of damage control, Conservatives in the Senate have moved to suspend Senators Duffy, Brazeau and Wallin without pay for “gross negligence” in the use of their parliamentary resources. This came shortly after Duffy sent a message out to say that he was going on medical leave due to heart problems. There are concerns from Senators on both sides that this move comes without a lot of due process, seeing as none of the three have been charged with a crime, though Liberal Senate leader James Cowan noted that he felt there had been insufficient sanctions applied back in the spring, but the government didn’t seem keen on action then. I will admit to my own reservations about this move to suspension without pay without due process, but that has been mollified somewhat when it was explained that this particular disciplinary measure is not a reflection of the RCMP investigations, but as a result of the findings by the Senate’s internal economy committee that found that those Senators had broken the rules. There will still be debate on these motions and the opportunity for each Senator to defend themselves – though it was also pointed out that it will be hard to continue to garnish Brazeau’s wages if he’s suspended without pay. To top if off, Thomas Mulcair felt it appropriate to crack wise that these suspensions are a good first step and that he would prefer to see all Senators suspended without pay before they move to abolish the Chamber. Which is hilarious until you realise that no legislation could actually be passed by a chamber that was entirely suspended (and would have had to suspend itself, as only the Senate itself has the power to suspend its membership). Apparently “good public administration” in Mulcair’s books means ignoring the constitution.
Roundup: Populist consumer-friendly proposals
As the Speech From the Throne gets closer, we’re starting to hear more about the populist consumer-friendly agenda that will be laid out in it. Not content with just cellphone bills and airlines, James Moore was on television on Sunday talking about things like cable channels, where they will break-up the packages that the cable companies offer in favour of a la carte channel selection. Which is great, except that the CRTC has already mandated that this will actually start to happen, and some cable companies have started to offer it as a way of trying to retain customers who are starting to cut their cable in lieu of other online options, so it’s not like the Conservatives are coming out of the blue on this one. But hey, anything to try and claim some populist credit. Of course it makes one wonder what supposed free market conservatives are doing promising tonnes of new regulations when they’re supposedly in favour of smaller government, but I think we all know that these aren’t really free market conservatives we’re dealing with anymore.
QP: Prosecutorial versus crowd-sourcing
Wednesday, caucus day, and MPs filled the benches on both sides. Thomas Mulcair started things off short and sharp once again, asking what clarification Mike Duffy sought after caucus back in February. Stephen Harper said that he simply stated that any improper expenses needed to be repaid. Mulcair asked if Nigel Wright was present for that meeting, but Harper’s answer didn’t change — even after Mulcair asked it again. Mulcair then tried to press about the amount of Nigel Wright’s severance package, but Harper refused, stating that he was only being paid the minimum amount required by law. He then asked if Harper authorised the statement on May 17th that said that Nigel Wright would be staying on. Harper spoke about how Wright made an error in judgement, and he accepted his resignation, before finally breaking out the “You sat on a bribery allegation for 17 years.” Justin Trudeau called into question the logic of Wright paying Duffy’s expenses to spare the taxpayers and asked for the real reason for Wright’s resignation. Harper gave the same talking points. Trudeau asked the same in French before pointing out that Nigel Wright was the director of the Conservative Fund for seven years, and asked one more time which Harper appointed Duffy. Harper didn’t really respond, and took a swipe a Trudeau instead.
QP: Thanking the RCMP
The day after a major terror bust in Canada, it was a question as to how this would play out in the Grand Inquest of the Nation. And so, when QP got underway, Thomas Mulcair began by reading off a congratulations to the RCMP and the members of the Muslim community who tipped them off. Harper got up to similarly offer his thanks and congratulations for those who helped to foil the plot. Mulcair then moved onto the testimony of the Bank of Canada at committee, where they were told that there was little else they could do to stimulate the economy, and the warnings about household debt. Harper responded by saying that they have been urging caution on debt levels and to try take what measures they can. Peggy Nash was up next, and asked a rambling question that ended up on the topic of the possible border fee the Americans are considering charging, to which Maxime Bernier assured her that they were going to vigorously oppose it. Nash was back up and returned to another rambling question that ended up on the increases in tariffs. Jim Flaherty was up to respond, and while he got sidetracked by heckles a couple of times, and pointed to the many tax hikes the NDP supported. Justin Trudeau was up next for the Liberals, and asked about the decline in youth summer employment. Harper responded that the Liberals voted against their plans to help them. And yes, Trudeau was still half-reading his questions, but could ad lib a little.
QP: Return of the FIPA panic
It was a quieter day on the Hill, the three main leaders out of the House, leaving it up to Megan Leslie to ask about a call for an inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women. James Moore, who remains the designated back-up PM du jour in Harper’s absence, assured her that there were inquiries underway and that the government was doing what it can for all Aboriginal women including extending matrimonial property rights — a bill that the NDP opposed. Leslie turned to the status of the Canada-China FIPA, which Moore assured her that it was about protecting the interests of Canadians doing business in China. Nathan Cullen asked the very same again, to which Ed Fast gave the same response — equal rules for both parties. For the Liberals, Marc Garneau brought up the tariff issue, and pointed out that the bicycle shop owner that Flaherty gave his photo op in felt misled. James Moore said that if anyone is misleading people, it’s the Liberals for saying that the government hasn’t done anything other than lower taxes.
QP: Fears of the EI secret police
Budget Day — or Economic Action Plan 2013™ Day if you’re following the propaganda — and the House was a bit thin in the ranks. Thomas Mulcair was absent, and so Megan Leslie was up first, asking about the “witch hunt” against the unemployed. Stephen Harper assured her that EI was there for those who need it, and that they wanted to make sure it would be there for everyone who needed. For her last question, Leslie took jabs at “disgraced candidate” Peter Penashue, to which Harper said that Penashue had a record of achievement to run on. Peter Julian was up next, asking about how an oil spill response ship ran aground on the way to a photo-op. Joe Oliver was having none of it, and accused the NDP of rejecting science because they didn’t like the State Department report on the Keystone XL. Bob Rae was up for the Liberals, outlining the timeline between Elections Canada’s letter to Penashue and his resignation. Harper erroneously accused the Liberals of being against the seal hunt and Lower Churchill, and then praised ALL THE THINGS that Penashue did for Labrador. For his final question, Rae asked about Flaherty’s calls to banks about mortgage rates, to which Harper assured him that mortgage rates are the lowest they’ve ever been,
Roundup: Meet the new Religious Freedom ambassador
The government has named Andrew Bennett, a former civil servant and current dean of a Christian college in Ottawa, as its new ambassador for the Office of Religious Freedom. We’ll now see what happens with this office – it’s small and its $5 million budget won’t go far, and there will be scrutiny to see if it prefers some religions over others, or if it speaks out against religious persecutions of women or gays and lesbians, or even atheists.
NDP leader Thomas Mulcair went to Calgary to address the Chamber of Commerce there, and talked about making foreign investment criteria more transparent, and then talked doom about the Canada-China FIPA. Experts, however, have panned his apocalyptic reading of the agreement.
QP: New MP, same questions
The calendar running out, and so many things left to bat the government with, it was going to be another fairly testy QP, but before things could get underway, the business or the House paused so that newly elected NDP MP Murray Rankin could be brought into the a chamber to take his seat. When QP got underway, Thomas Mulcair read off a trio of questions about when the government would be clarifying the Investment Canada Act, per the NDP opposition day motion yesterday which the Conservatives agreed to. Harper responded that they already clarified the rules last Friday when they drew the line in the sand around state-owned enterprises — hence why they voted for said motion. Mulcair carried on, asking a pair of questions on the F-35s, and why there were no regional industrial benefits. Harper assured him of the Seven-Point Plan™, and named several companies in Montreal that are benefitting from subcontracts for the plane’s construction. Bob Rae was up next, and pressed about the cost figures for the F-35 purchase. Harper went back to the Seven-Point Plan™, and reminded Rae that when you keep lengthening the service lifetime that the costs will also keep rising.
Roundup: Investment rules and an eye on joint ventures
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.