In another blow against civic literacy in this country, someone has decided to start an online petition to have Rob Anders removed from office. No, really. I’d like to know exactly what mechanism, pray tell, can do this, because last I checked, we don’t really have a mechanism to unseat an MP. Now, if the residents of Calgary West were serious about unseating him, well, they could challenge his nomination and sign up enough new party members to ensure that he will no longer represent the party in the next election. But oh, that would require organisation, and effort, and well, we couldn’t possibly do that. Oh, and FYI, it will not only be an open nomination before the next election, but with the new electoral boundaries coming into place, Anders is going to have to choose which of the new ridings he’ll be running in, and anyone in that new riding can organise to challenge his nomination. You know, the way that things actually work in our system.
Tag Archives: Civic Literacy
Roundup: The missing meat inspectors
CFIA says that XL Foods didn’t follow some safety procedures – and then the press conference suffered a meltdown as the minister’s staff shut the whole thing down and offered “one-on-ones” instead – err, except there were some forty reporters in the room. Add to that, during caucus outs, Thomas Mulcair was quoting CFIA cuts in the past tense – err, except that they’re booked for the next two fiscal years and haven’t happened yet. Oops. Meanwhile, the union representing meat inspectors says they can’t find the “700 net new inspectors,” since that figure relates to classification levels, and not job descriptions. In fact, 200 of those “inspectors” are people hired to deal with invasive species of plants.
John Baird is calling for calm after mortar shells were exchanged over the Syria-Turkey border yesterday. Remember that Turkey is a NATO ally, which could bring us into that conflict.
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.
A note on this week’s opposition day
According to O’Brien and Bosc, the authority on parliamentary rules and procedure, the purpose of supply days is so that the opposition has a chance to demonstrate why supply should be refused. After all, it’s the role of the opposition to oppose the government, and they hold said government to account by controlling supply – the public purse. They are allotted so many days with which to demonstrate why the government should be refused supply.
This is the supply day motion that the NDP have proposed, and which will be debated in the Commons on Thursday:
“That this House acknowledge that the Canadian economy is facing unprecedented risk and uncertainty; recognize that many regions and industries across Canada have already suffered significant job losses in recent years; urge all levels of government to work together to build a balanced, 21st century Canadian economy; and insist that Canada’s Prime Minister meet with his counterparts in Halifax this November at the National Economic Summit being held by the Council of the Federation.”
Could somebody please tell me where in this is an ability to demonstrate why the government should be denied supply? Anyone? Helpful suggestions and attempts to legislate – or even “insist” – from the opposition benches are not the job of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition.
Can’t we just get things done?
Possibly the safest bet that you can make these days is on the first day that the House comes back after a break is for the likes of Nathan Cullen to come out and talk about how the caucus us “united and determined,” and how they’re going to be “proposition not opposition,” and gems like “we were sent here to get things done, not turn every issue into a political grenade.” And yet, it’s a pretty dangerous rhetorical game to start saying things like that without actually understanding what they mean.
If you ask the government, “getting things done” would mean having the opposition roll over and immediately pass everything. And if you ask the NDP, “getting things done” means that the government should abandon its agenda, see the light, and realise that the NDP have all of the answers and they’ll adopt their agenda whole-heartedly. But as we all know, reality doesn’t work that way. Everybody wants to “get things done.” The problem is deciding which things need to get done. And surprise, surprise, there are differences of opinion and belief as to which of those things need to be accomplished. It’s like it’s a democracy or something.
A primer for Joan Crockatt on a backbencher’s job
Over in the forthcoming Calgary Centre by-election, there is some grumbling about the choice of Conservative candidate, former Calgary Herald editor Joan Crockatt. But despite what everybody might feel about Crockatt’s credentials, or the fact that she was given a waiver that enabled her to run despite not having been a party member for six months before the race began, I have to say that I was completely dismayed – though not entirely unsurprised – by one of the comments she made to the Globe and Mail today:
“If I’m a backbench MP, I’m just fine doing that,” Ms. Crockatt said. “To me, the job is to support the Prime Minister in whatever way that he thinks.”
No. Just…no. That is not the job of a backbench MP, government or opposition. In fact, it’s pretty much the exact opposite of what a backbencher’s job is. A backbencher’s job, in government or in opposition, is to hold the government to account. That means that backbench MPs control the purse strings that the government wants to use in order to implement their programme. That’s why it’s their job to scrutinise the estimates, and ask tough questions about the spending programmes, and why the opposition has days set aside for the express purpose of demonstrating why the government should not be granted supply. It’s called accountability. You know, the whole reason that Parliament exists.
Roundup: The road to 2015
From the NDP caucus meeting in St. John’s, Thomas Mulcair made a speech about their “positive, optimistic” future, and how the road to 2015 starts now. As part of that road, the party plans to target youth voters in the next election. Meanwhile, MPs have reaffirmed their belief that 50 percent-plus-one is enough for Quebec to separate, which has the Liberals sounding like they plan to put a motion on the Order Paper about support for the Clarity Act this fall.
The Liberals have formally announced the rules for their leadership contest, which kicks off in November. While We The Media wait to hear whether or not Justin Trudeau will run (who says the party needs teamwork and not a saviour), we’re now getting musings from Jim Karygiannis (aka “Jimmy K”) and Joyce Murray.
Pauline Marois referred to herself as “Head of State.” Um, no. That’s the Queen. You might be the province’s head of government (provided that you can maintain the confidence of the Chamber in a minority context), but you’re not the Head of State. Not even close.
Roundup: The new Quebec landscape
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.
Roundup: A minority plus some insanity
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.
Roundup: Hiding “Angry Tom”
NDP leader Thomas Mulcair talks to PostMedia about the upcoming fall sitting, and promises more “proposition” on the way. Um, except that under our system of Responsible Government, that’s not his job. His job is to oppose. Not to legislate, not to propose laws, but to hold the government to account, and you do that by opposing things. Perhaps he needs to look that up. He also says that he’s pushing past the “Angry Tom” label. Um, you have seen Question Period right, when the Conservatives pick at him and he goes completely unhinged? He’s still got a ways to go before he puts “Angry Tom” behind him, and perhaps the progress he has made is because there hasn’t been QP for the past few months. Just a thought.
Seeing as central registries and mandatory ID cards are not going to fly in this country, it looks like we’re stuck with the traditional mandatory short-form census. That said, it looks like they may need to add some new questions to capture missing data now that the long-form census is no more.