In a surprising turn of events, Intergovernmental Affairs minister Peter Penashue resigned his seat after it was proved that he accepted improper political donations in the last election, which included free flights, an interest-free loan, and dressed up corporate donations. And then he paid back $30,000, which was more than the amount that the CBC had calculated, and they had no idea where the money came from, since the campaign was broke, hence the need for the loan. Penashue won by only 79 votes then, and plans to contest the nomination. His former Liberal Challenger, Todd Russell, has lately been fighting the Lower Churchill project because it hasn’t properly consulted with the Innu communities in the region, and is taking the next few days to consider if he’ll run again.
Tag Archives: Christy Clark
Roundup: Ideological purity, backlogs, and penalties proposed
It was the Manning Networking Conference in Ottawa over Friday and Saturday, and in it, Preston Manning said some pretty interesting things about how conservatives should distance themselves from those who cross the line – like Mr. “Lake of Fire” from the Wildrose in Alberta, or Tom Flanagan and his child porn comments. And yes, this is a pretty big departure from the Reform Party of yore, as Chris Selley notes. Also at the conference was US libertarian hero Ron Paul, and Aaron Wherry writes about Paul, Jason Kenney, and the notion of ideological purity as put forward in a conference like the MNC.
Roundup: Wanton constitutional vandalism
The NDP have decided to spend their opposition day motion on what is basically the endorsement of wanton constitutional vandalism, but in this particular case, trying to put forward the case for Senate abolition. Never mind that their arguments will ignore federalism, bicameralism, and the actual work that the Senate does or perspective it provides – no, it’ll be all specious catchy slogans and intellectually dishonest false comparisons masquerading as substantive debate. It’s like saying that you don’t know what your pancreas does, so why not remove it? Meanwhile, Thomas Mulcair won’t say whether or not he’d appoint Senators if he were to form government in 2015 – never mind that whether he believes in the Senate or not, there is still a constitutionally mandated legislative process that needs to be followed. But you know, details.
Roundup: Attack ads and shadow MPs
The NDP are launching anti-Conservative attack ads in Quebec. Because they’re the party that wants to raise the tone of debate and end the politics of division! They’ve also declared that MP Dany Morin will act as a kind of “shadow MP” for Claude Patry’s riding, to ensure that his constituents can still get their voices hear. Um, okay – remember when people were up in arms that the Conservatives had defeated candidates as “shadow MPs” in opposition ridings? How is this any different, really?
The government is going to scale back on their Arctic operations, as well as some training operations in other environments, because of budget cuts. Also being scaled back are plans for a naval base in the North. Remember the whole “use it or lose it” mentality that the government was applying to Arctic sovereignty? Yeah, what ever happened to that?
Roundup: Just another Rob Anders eruption
The big news that got people’s tongues wagging/up in arms yesterday was how Rob Anders spoke of his “theory” about how Thomas Mulcair somehow hastened Jack Layton’s death. No, seriously. He later gave a sort-of apology, and everyone wondered how much longer the PM could abide him in caucus. (Seriously everyone, it’s his riding association’s decision). Meanwhile, Aaron Wherry reminds us of the timeline of Layton’s declining health, while Glen McGregor reminds us of Rob Anders being one of the “celibate” Reform MPs back in the day.
Okay, okay, so it looks like Justin Trudeau is launching his leadership bid today after all (still – it’s a month too soon), and after his initial launch in his riding, he’ll hold events in Mississauga and Richmond, which looks very much to be launching a campaign targeting the suburban ridings of major cities. Jesse Brown looks at Trudeau’s geek credentials.
Senator Roméo Dallaire thinks the Conservatives have been undermining Omar Khadr’s chances at rehabilitation, what with their foot-dragging and attempts to politicise is future parole hearings.
Roundup: Formalising co-locations
So that whole “shared embassies” thing is being downplayed as far less of a thing than the UK press made it out to be – that it’s simply a Memorandum of Understanding that formalises co-location arrangements that we already have going, so that more of them are likely in the future, given the whole age of fiscal austerity and whatnot.
The Conservatives seem keen on adopting a “buy Canadian” strategy for military procurement whenever possible, rather than solely relying on the usual Industrial Regional Benefits programmes that we usually insist upon. Economist Mike Moffatt decries this as economic nationalism run amok, and notes that it’s the last thing one wants if they’re concerned about the high dollar (as the NDP seems to be). When Andrew Coyne wrote to denounce the idea, the Prime Minister’s DComm contacted him to say that there is no such policy – but it could mean that there’s no such policy yet. It all remains to be seen, apparently.
What’s that? Prison populations are swelling? You don’t say! Meanwhile, Vic Toews’ office continues to insist that the expected wave of new prisoners hasn’t materialised. Funny that.
Roundup: Pipeline review deadline set
The federal government has imposed a December 2013 deadline on the environmental panel review of the Northern Gateway pipeline. Which is all well and good, provided that the proponent – Enbridge – has their files together and doesn’t delay their own paperwork so that other respondents can get their reviews done in time, as has happened with other panels. In fact, the government should stipulate that Enbridge should face a penalty if it engages in such behaviour, for what it’s worth.
Rumours of Katimavik’s demise may be exaggerated. It seems that with the starvation of federal funds, they are picking up sponsorship from elsewhere for programming that they offer, and may be able to carry on in some capacity after all.
Conservative MP Brent Rathgeber continues to do his job as a backbench MP and hold the government to account, this time on the policy of Supply Management. More backbench MPs should follow his lead.