Amidst all of the continued and sustained howling by the Conservatives for an electoral reform referendum, and the interminable bellyaching about the composition of the parliamentary committee and how it doesn’t let the NDP game the system in their favour, the Ottawa Citizen commissioned Stewart Prest to write a pair of op-eds about the reform process and the problems it faces, and to debate between the usefulness of a referendum or a citizens’ assembly. On the former point it’s fairly uncontroversial – that the Liberals won’t be able to get broad-based buy-in unless they can get more than one party on-side, but we’re not having any discussions about ideas because all we’re hearing is howling and bellyaching. Prest’s latter point, however, is the much more troublesome one, because I have a great deal of scepticism about citizens’ assemblies, particularly based on what happened in Ontario. Prest touches on the two main criticisms, both of which need to be expanded upon – that they are easy to manipulate, and that they undermine our representative democracy. On the former point, the outcomes of these assemblies tends to be overly complicated and shiny, what with STV in BC and MMP in Ontario. That there is a pro-reform bias to these assemblies is in and of itself a problem (not to mention that the pro-reform narrative, no matter who it comes from, is ripe with dishonesty particularly as it comes to the status quo), but that the lack of civic literacy on the part of the participants makes it easy for them to fall into the thrall of the various “experts” that steer them to the various options. As for the latter point, I do think it’s a problem that we entrust these very big decisions to a group of randoms with no legitimacy. (If you bring up the Senate’s legitimacy, I will remind you that their authority comes from the constitution and that their appointments are based on the Responsible Government principle that they are made by a government with the confidence of the Chamber). It does diminish our representative democracy because the inherent message is that politics is not to be left up to the politicians, which is a sad kind of cynicism. We elect our MPs for a reason. While I could be convinced as to the merits of a referendum because it would legitimise a decision of this magnitude made by our elected officials, to pass off that decision to yet another body is to again this same kind of buck-passing that has made it acceptable for us to insist that the Supreme Court now do our legislating for us instead of MPs, or officers of parliament to do the role of opposition instead of MPs. Why? Because it’s easier for the elected to hide behind the unelected to avoid accountability, and the public laps it up because they’re not elected so they must have superior opinions, freed from the grasping for re-election. So no, I don’t really see the merit in citizen assemblies as an end-run around democracy, and I think it needs to be called out more loudly.
Tag Archives: EI Reform
QP: Raising the referendum temperature
With the big announcement on the trans rights bill having been made, there were plenty of members’ statements about International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. All of the leaders were present, and Rona Ambrose led off, mini-lectern on neighbouring desk, and asked about the review of the forthcoming NEB ruling on the TransMountain Pipeline. Justin Trudeau hit back, saying that it was the previous government that created uncertainty by not committing to protecting the environment. Ambrose insisted that the review was “very thorough,” but Trudeau repeated his response about the previous government’s failings. Ambrose changed to the electoral reform referendum issue, and Trudeau responded with his promise that the last election would be the last under First-Past-the-Post. Denis Lebel took over and asked another pair of demands for a referendum in French, and Trudeau repeated his same answer in French. Thomas Mulcair was up next, and wondered “what the hell” the government was waiting for about decriminalizing marijuana — earning him a rebuke from the Speaker. Trudeau repeated his standard points about legalization as a framework to protect kids and deprive organized crime of revenue. Mulcair switched to French to ask about a pardon for people currently convicted under the existing law, but Trudeau’s answer didn’t change. Mulcair changed to C-10, for which Trudeau insisted that it would be used to build an aerospace industry in Canada. Mulcair repeated the question in English, and got the same response.
What kind of answer was that? Monsef's anti-FPTP talking points are utter nonsense. #QP
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) May 17, 2016
QP: Narratives and process
While there was already drama in the Commons earlier in the morning as a government bill barely survived a tie vote, by the time QP rolled around, it was a bit more sedate. Justin Trudeau was in Montreal for an award presentation, and Rona Ambrose was elsewhere, which left Denis Lebel to lead off. He raised the new guidelines around advertising, but wondered why Trudeau was still in a Discovery Canada ad. Brison reminded him that the ad in question was not a paid ad, and thus did not apply. Lebel asked again, and Brison switched to English and hit back about the previous government’s record. Lebel switched to English to ask again, and got the same answer. Andrew Scheer asked again, and raised the self-promotion narrative before demanding do know that no government funds were used in the ad. Brison read out the policy, and suggested that Scheer rethink his questions. After another round of the same, Thomas Mulcair rose for the NDP, and thundered about the “scammers” in KPMG. Diane Lebouthillier insisted that there were codes of conduct in place and that no one gets special treatment. Mulcair thundered again in French, got the same answer, and before Mulcair thundered about Montreal infrastructure funding. Amarjit Sohi insisted that funding was on the way as consultations were underway. Mulcair asked again in English, and go the same.
"Canadians are angry about this." I wonder about the sample size. #QP
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) May 16, 2016
QP: Howling for a referendum
While the March for Life went on outside the Centre Block, and while Justin Trudeau was in town — having met with the premier of New Brunswick only a couple of hours before — he didn’t show up at QP. Then again, neither did Rona Ambrose or Thomas Mulcair. Jason Kenney led off, demanding a referendum on electoral reform as the provinces had. Maryam Monsef kept up yesterday’s saccharine talking points, and insisted that a referendum wouldn’t reach young people, women, people with disabilities or minorities. Kenney and Monsef went at it again for another two questions, before Stephen Blaney picked up on it in French, and got the same response. Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet led for the NDP, and decried the composition of the electoral reform committee, to which Monsef insisted that having the Bloc and Greens on the committee was indeed going above and beyond what was required. Hélène Laverdière changed topics and turned to Saudi LAV sales, wondering how many civilians need to be killed before it becomes unacceptable. Stéphane Dion reminded her that the NDP promised to respect the contract to win the seat in that riding, and when Laverdière tried to make it about a question of trust, Dion noted that the NDP changed their tune, not the Liberals.
Why does Monsef keep insisting that women don't engage in the democratic process? #QP
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) May 12, 2016
Speaker Regan not impressed with Blaney's call-and-response tactic. #QP
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) May 12, 2016
QP: California meetings
Tuesday, and only two of the three main leaders were all in attendance, possibly for the only time this week. Rona Ambrose led off, mini-lectern on neighbouring desk, and raised the subject of that Torys fundraiser that Jody Wilson-Raybould attended. Justin Trudeau noted that the rules were followed, the Conservatives were convicted of election fraud, and Conservatives had been convicted of election fraud. Ambrose said that when their government had a similar issue “from a mistake” that they paid it back — not actually true, as Shelly Glover attended a fundraiser with people who were looking to her for grants, and thus was not a similar situation. Trudeau noted that they only paid the money back when they got their hands caught in the cookie jar. Ambrose gave it one last shot but got the same response. Denis Lebel took over, and railed about the figures in the budget, and raised quotes from the parliamentary budget officer. Trudeau insisted that no, his government was being open and transparent. Lebel then raised the old bill C-377 and now it was all about union transparency. Trudeau reminded him that it was actually about using transparency against their rivals, which was not what his government was about. Leading for the NDP, Hélène Laverdière asked about the signing of the Saudi LAV export permits, and Trudeau said that he would not renege on a deal and he had confidence in Dion. Laverdière demanded the contract be made public, but got the same answer. Nathan Cullen then decried the lack of new GHG targets, for which Trudeau reminded him that they are working with the provinces. Cullen asked again in English, and got the same response.
QP: Trying to trip the justice minister
Following the surprise upset of Thomas Mulcair’s leadership yesterday, it was not difficult to see why he was absent for the first QP after the Easter break. As for the prime minister, he was also absent but we’re not quite sure why. Rona Ambrose led off, script on lectern, asking about a particular kidnapping case, for which Omar Algabra assured her that they were willing to meet at any time. Ambrose shifted to the “betrayal” of small business taxes, for which Bill Morneau insisted that their other measures would help small businesses. Ambrose wondered if Trudeau still believed that small businesses were just ways for the wealthy to shelter taxes, to which Bardish Chagger insisted that wasn’t the case at all. Denis Lebel took over in French, asking about infrastructure spending, for which Amarjeet Sohi listed the various infrastructure funds. Lebel insisted that the funds were already committed by the previous government, but Sohi noted that it wasn’t getting spent. Peter Julian led off for the NDP, asking about the minister of justice’s fundraising. Jody Wilson-Raybould assured him that she cleared the activity and there was no conflict. Julian kept up, to which Dominic LeBlanc to repeat the answer with a little more scorn poured on. Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet worried about a CRA employee going to work on the KPMG board while they were under investigation, for which Diane Lebouthillier recited the new funding for the agency to go after tax cheats. Boutin-Sweet raised the Panama Papers and asked the question again in French, and Lebouthillier noted that there were rules around those who leave the Agency.
Roundup: The Senate Advisory Board reports
In keeping with the commitment to openness and transparency, the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments released their report yesterday (PDF) on the interim process by which the first seven of the new independent Senate appointments were chosen. It’s an interesting read – they had a list of nearly 300 names to consider after consultations and nominations, from which they whittled it down to 25 names – five per vacancy that they were expected to fill, from which Justin Trudeau ended up selecting seven names rather than just five. The cost of the whole process was about $170,000, which seems to be pretty bare bones if you ask me. There were observations on the process included in the report, primarily that the process was pretty rushed, which meant that most of the information they had on candidates were all based on self-declaration, and that they didn’t conduct interviews with their short-list candidates in this process – they merely identified them, and one presumes that PMO was then responsible for the final vetting – something that might change as the process goes forward and the panel has more time and resources going forward as they look to fill the remaining vacancies over the next year or so, and any future vacancies as they come up. Also, the report listed the nearly 400 groups that the Board reached out to in order to get suggestions, and had demographic data on gender, linguistic profile, and Aboriginal and visible minority status. It also noted that failed candidates got a letter thanking them for participation, and the report noted that they are free to apply again under the future process. The chair of the Board has dismissed any concerns over the issue of André Pratte and his property hiccough, given that it will be resolved before he is appointed, and it’s a perfectly reasonable position to take. I will also note that this report answers most of the questions that Scott Reid has been howling about in QP over the past couple of months with regard to process and the secrecy of the system. Yes, there is an expectation of confidentiality for those who did not get appointed, as with any Governor-in-Council appointment, and from the language of the report, the PM did indeed choose the names from those on the short lists. Thus far, it looks like this new system is working as expected, and it provides the necessary suggestions for how to improve the process even further. Of course, we need to see how these new senators will perform, particularly in the capacity as independents in a system where the rules are still weighted to party caucuses (though that is slowly changing), but so far Trudeau’s reform plans are bearing fruit. We just need time to evaluate them going forward before we can declare it a success or not.
Roundup: Independence and the line of accountability
The punditariat continues to lose their minds over Senate independence, and I’m almost at the point of exasperation with it. After years – decades – of hand-wringing about how senators aren’t independent enough to do their jobs of sober second thought, we are suddenly overcome with hand-wringing about them being too independent and the government being unable to pass legislation (as though the opposition having a Senate majority has never happened in our country’s history before…oh, wait). It’s kind of like how We The Media keep demanding MPs be independent and vote for their constituents’ wishes and so on, and yet the moment one of them shows a little bit of backbone, we thunder that the leader is losing control of his or her caucus. Because that’s helpful. And so, Campbell Clark bemoans that poor Peter Harder doesn’t have any levers of power in the Senate to do Trudeau’s bidding, and lo, he may not even have much of an office budget either (though he can always ask the Internal Economy to increase it – this is not something that is set in stone for all time). Add to that, Clark worries that all of those new independent senators are going to have to find some new process of working things out – completely ignoring that they have already started getting that ball rolling with the Independent Working Group. It’s like he hasn’t paid attention to what is actually going on there and has been going on for the past several weeks. Meanwhile, Chantal Hébert looks at André Pratte’s history and notes his differences with Trudeau’s philosophy, then bemoans that with all of those incoming senators, that the party leader won’t be responsible for their behaviour as they once might have been. And what is Hébert ignoring? Only the most fundamental principle in Canadian democracy – Responsible Government. Trudeau will be responsible to voters for the conduct of his appointees, whether he can whip them or not. That is a fundamental tenet of our system. If he makes a bunch of dud appointments, then guess what – voters can have their say, just as they had their say with Harper after the extent of the ClusterDuff business came out in court. This is a basic concept, and it’s disappointing that a long-time observer of Canadian politics has to be reminded of it.
1) In this country, opposition doesn’t govern even in a minority government; 2) How could that bill possibly work without a Royal Rec.?
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) March 29, 2016
(This rant brought to you by @ChantalHbert yet again raising the bill in her column today: https://t.co/zg8SOh381z)
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) March 29, 2016
QP: Easter Theatre
It was Friday-on-a-Thursday QP in the Commons, in advance of the two-week Easter break. Justin Trudeau was away, as were many ministers, starting to fan out across the country to sell the budget to Canadians, but Bill Morneau was present, and expects to be the star of the show. Rona Ambrose led off, mini-lectern on neighbouring desk, and she railed about the “betrayal” of the middle class. Morneau insisted that there were plenty of measures to help families. Ambrose bemoaned the size of the deficit, and Morneau returned with a dig about the previous decade of low growth. Ambrose asked which taxes the government planned to raise, but Morneau didn’t bite, praising the measures therein instead. Denis Lebel took over, lamenting the lack of a plan to balance the budget. Morneau praised the plan to grow the middle class. Lebel closed by repeating the question on the size of the deficit, but got the same response. Thomas Mulcair was up next, recalling Air Canada breaking the law regarding their maintenance contracts, and now the government was retroactively changing that law. Marc Garneau responded that the situation had evolved, and Air Canada had made new commitments to create new jobs in Quebec and Manitoba. Mulcair read some condemnation that the deal was “Orwellian,” and that the Liberals were letting the rich get off the hook, but Garneau repeated his answer about changing situations and competitiveness. Mulcair thundered about the government not respecting a Human Rights Tribunal on equal investment for First Nations children. Carolyn Bennett said that they were making investments, but the systems had to change as well. Mulcair then failed about a plan to outsource Shared Services jobs, but Judy Foote responded that the publicized report was from 2014, which they did not intend to follow.
Tom Mulcair straight yelling in question period like his job depends on it.
(Which it might)
— Paul McLeod (@pdmcleod) March 24, 2016
Roundup: A surprisingly packed budget
And that was the budget. It was full of interesting things, but you wouldn’t know it based on the fact that absolutely everybody was fixated on the deficit figure, and barely even that it was built on a super cautious, pessimistic framework that basically presented a worst-case scenario in terms of assumptions, meaning that the only place it really could go was up, and yes, if the economy grows enough, then the budget will start to balance itself. The child benefit changes are the big news, and as for reaction, the Conservatives call the budget a “nightmare” while the NDP rail about all of the promises that it didn’t keep (because everything should have happened immediately).