Tag Archives: Environment

QP: Day three of the same GC Strategies response

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As the countdown to the G7 summit was on, the PM was not in the House for Question Period today, nor was Andrew Scheer. That left it up to Leslyn Lewis to lead off, raising their Supply Day motion to force GC Strategies to repay their contracts. Anita Anand said she would get go the question, but wanted to raise their air crash in India that included one Canadian aboard. Lewis also extended condolences, before repeating her question. This time, Joël Lightbound recited the talking points about barring GC Strategies, and that there are RCMP investigations and legal actions ongoing. Bob Zimmer read the same script, and demanded support for their motion. Lightbound released his same response. Zimmer said that the answer wouldn’t cut it, but got much the same response. Dominique Vien recited the French version of the same script, and Lightbound recited his same points en français. Vien tried again, and got the same answer one last time. 

Christine Normandin led for the Bloc, and decried that the government is planning to invoke closure on Bill C-5, which would steamroll fossil fuel projects and gut environmental assessments. Steven MacKinnon insisted that this was necessary in response to the trade war that the Americans started. Normandin corrected stated that this bill needed more study, and MacKinnon responded that Quebec voted for 44 Liberal MPs, as though that justified a Henry VIII clause in that bill. Patrick Bonin took over and said those 44 Quebec Liberals voted to steal from Quebec when they voted against the Bloc motion to extend the rebates for Quebeckers. This time Steven Guilbeault pointed out that there is still an industrial pricing system, and that Quebec’s price under cap-and-trade is below the price in the rest of the country.

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Roundup: The price of going around consultations

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As prime minister Mark Carney gets set to ram his major project legislation through Parliament—Henry VIII clause and all—a couple of philosophical questions are popping up about the nature of what it is they’re doing to speed through these approvals. Doug Ford is trying to do it by essentially creating lawless zones, whereas Carney is giving himself the power to override other laws through regulation alone, which is ripe for abuse and which the Liberals would be screaming bloody murder about if they were in opposition. (The Conservatives, incidentally, are not up in arms about this use of a Henry VIII clause). The thing is, though, these laws and regulations exist for a reason—they’re not there just to thwart investment or development (in spite of what the Conservatives might tell themselves), and you’re asking for trouble if you go around it.

Part of that trouble is Indigenous consultation, and what they seem to believe it entails. It’s not just a meeting where you sit down and go “Here’s what we want to do on your lands.” It’s way more complicated, especially as you have some particular First Nations that have been burned in the past by other developers who promised them all kinds of benefits for that development and then reneged on their agreements (often leaving an environmental catastrophe in their wakes that they won’t pay for, leaving these First Nations off even worse). And they are already talking about litigation if their rights are violated, and those rights include free, prior and informed consent. This is a big deal, and we’re not sure that either Carney or Ford have actually thought this through. Things take time—especially within First Nations. Carney may be in for an unpleasant surprise about his timelines.

[Mallory Archer voice]: Do you want litigation? Because that's how you get litigation.

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-06-10T04:18:21.071Z

Meanwhile, oil prices have crashed to rock-bottom prices, meaning it will be even more unlikely that we’ll see companies willing to invest in new pipeline infrastructure, even if the Carney government thinks they can ram projects through in a two-year window (which, again, I remain dubious about). Danielle Smith is trying to entice a proponent for some sort of pipeline, but again, money talks. Those rock-bottom prices are also going to hit Alberta’s government hard, because they budgeted for much higher royalties, and that in turn will make Smith panicky and try to pick even more fights, all because she refuses to implement a sales tax that would avoid being dependent on oil revenues above a certain level to balance the books.

Ukraine Dispatch

It was another night of heavy drone attacks, with the hardest-hit area being Kharkiv, killing three people and a total of 64 wounded across the country. Ukraine says that they struck a large gunpower factory in Russia. Another prisoner swap was held yesterday, but it was less prisoners than 1212 bodies.

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QP: Repeating the same questions about the AG’s report

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Wednesday, and everyone in the Chamber was revved up from their morning caucus meetings. The prime minister was present, as were the other leaders, and Andrew Scheer led off, and boasted that the Conservatives would force a vote to get money that went to GC Strategies back (which I don’t think you can do legally). Mark Carney said that the government was focused on best-in-class procurement practices, which is why they changed the department. Scheer claimed that Carney must have somehow been involved because he was an economic advisor to the Liberal Party, along with other ministers still in the Cabinet, and Carney crowed about the new minister and that his deputy used to fly fighter jets. Mark Strahl repeated the same accusations and accused the government of making no effort to get wasted dollars back, and Carney said that the Conservatives are ignoring that there was just an election. Strahl tried again, and got much the same answer. Luc Berthold read the French version of Scheer’s script, and Carney repeated his best-in-class line in French. Berthold repeated the notion that the ministers involved got promoted, and Carney stated that he will be focused on best-in-class procurement.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he wondered if the carbon levy rebates that went out in April was paid for already through the levy collected, and Carney said that it was a transitional payment because they cancelled the levy and people still needed it for the transition. Blanchet Said that the government is refusing to pay back Quebeckers if others didn’t pay into it, and demanded they now be compensated. Carney reminded him that Quebec has their own carbon pricing system, and that he respects their jurisdiction. Blanchet reiterated that the rebate was not paid for, and called it an injustice against the people of Quebec. Carney repeated that there are different systems and different transitions, so the system is coherent. 

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Roundup: The Auditor General on F-35s and ArriveCan

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Yesterday saw the release of the Auditor General and Environment Commissioner’s reports, and lo, these ones actually got a tonne of media attention and took centre stage in Question Period, which is a far cry from most of their recent reports. The reason, of course, is that the topics were sexy—F-35 fighter jets and the ArriveCan app gong show in particular, the latter of which the Conservatives have been salivating over for three years now, which made the day pretty much insufferable as a result. But there was more than just those.

  • The F-35 procurement costs have ballooned because of delays, pilot shortages, infrastructure, and inflation but acknowledged the Canadian government has little control over most of these factors.
  • CBSA failed to follow procurement and security rules when it used GC Strategies to contract out work on ArriveCan, and didn’t follow-up to ensure work had been done before more contracts were awarded.
  • Public Services and Procurement has been slow to modernise and downsize office space, and turn over surplus buildings for housing.
  • Indigenous Services has failed to process Indian Act status applications within the required six-month timeline, with a backlog having grown to over 12,000 applications.
  • The climate adaptation plan is falling short, with only one of its three pillars in place and little connection between spending and results.

I’m not sure that the F-35 news is all that surprising, but it does actually work to either justify a potential move away from the platform, or to reflect increases in defence spending calculations. The GC Strategies findings are also not unexpected, but one thing the Conservatives have been failing to mention is that CBSA is an arms’-length agency, so ministers had no real say over any of its contracting practices (as the Conservatives try to insist that any minister who had carriage on the file should be fired). Meanwhile, their narrative that this was somehow about “Liberal friends” was never mentioned in the report, nor was there any mention about partisan considerations, or indication that the firm had any connection to the government, so these are just rage-bait accusations used solely for the performance art, which is how most things go with these guys.

— Effin' Birds (@effinbirds.com) 2025-06-10T21:22:14.366Z

Ukraine Dispatch

Tuesday’s attack from Russia was one of its largest strikes on Kyiv, which also hit civilian targets in Odesa, and Kharkiv was subjected to a nine-minute-long drone attack that killed at least two and injured 54. Another prisoner swap took place yesterday, this time for an undisclosed number of sick and wounded soldiers.

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QP: GC Strategies, over and over and over again…

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Fresh from the Pride Flag raising on Parliament Hill, the prime minister was present for Question Period today, as were the other leaders. Andrew Scheer was present but did not lead off, leaving that up to Larry Brock, who put on his most serious tone to decry the Auditor General’s report on the “fraudsters” at GC Strategies and the dollars that they got from government, and demand taxpayers get their money back. Mark Carney thanked the Auditor General for her service and noted that the company has been prohibited from government contracts for seven years, and that “Canada’s New Government™” would uphold higher standards. Brock blustered that ministers responsible for those “fraudulent” payments are still in Cabinet, and demanded taxpayers get their money back. Carney instead praised them for supporting their legislation on tax cuts. James Bezan took over and thundered about the AG report on the F-35 procurement, and the increased cost projections and delays to necessary infrastructure for the planes, and demanded that the ministers responsible be held to account. Carney in turn wondered if Bezan held himself to account for military funding falling below one percent when he was in the government, before patting himself on the back for the military funding announcement. Bezan sputtered and insisted that the Conservatives “delivered” for the military, and demanded to know why Anita Anand was still in his Cabinet, as he blamed her for the findings in the report. Carney instead delivered an ode to the Canadian industry that they would be featuring in this military rebuilding. Pierre Paul-Hus asked the same condemnation about the report and Anand in French, to which Carney pointed to this first action he took was to review the F-35 contract. Paul-Hus then turned to the ArriveCan portion of the report and the GC Strategies condemnation. Carney noted that an independent process suspended their ability to bid for contracts already.

Yves-François Blanchet said that the final carbon levy rebate was paid out before the money was collected, then Quebeckers were also owed a payment. Carney responded that while he was “proud” to cancel the levy, Quebec and BC have their own systems and didn’t pay into it. Blanchet tried a second time, and Carney repeated that they didn’t pay into it. Blanchet put a price that of $814 million on that, and Carney noted that Blanchet himself created Quebec’s carbon pricing system, and that their not getting a rebate was coherent.

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QP: A specious connection between food prices and a budget

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The prime minister was out at Fort York, having made his big defence spending announcement, while the opposition was having their first allotted Supply Day in the Commons, with a nonsense motion calling for a budget because of food price inflation, blaming it on government spending when that’s not even remotely correct. 

Even though Andrew Scheer was present, he didn’t lead off, leading that up to Michael Barrett, who signalled to their motion, and demanded a budget that will bring down grocery prices (How? Price controls?) François-Philippe Champagne assured him that there will be a budget in the fall, and said it was ironic that the Conservatives consistently voted against measures to help people. Barrett claimed that the savings from the tax cut would be “vapourised” by “inflationary spending,” and demanded a budget again. Champagne said that they will always side with Canadians, like they sided with children to give them a national school food programme, or seniors with dental care, or families with child care. John Brassard took over to give the same mendacious framing of food price inflation, to which Wayne Long praised their cutting the consumer carbon levy. Brassard repeated the line about tripling food price inflation, and Long praised the headline inflation number, the workforce participation number, and the triple-A credit rating. Luc Berthold cited the “food professor” to blame food price inflation on government spending in French, to which Champagne pointed out that the Conservatives voted against any measures to help Canadians. Berthold repeated the same falsehoods to demand a budget, and Champagne retorted that the responsible thing to do was to cut taxes which they did.

Once again confused about all these questions in QP about food prices.Eliminating the carbon tax was supposed to take care of that.

— Aaron Wherry (@aaronwherry.bsky.social) 2025-06-09T18:21:50.749Z

Christine Normandin worried that the bill on trade barriers would force a pipeline through Quebec, and demanded the bill be split apart. Chrystia Freeland said that this is a critical moment for the country, so everyone needs to work together to build one Canadian economy. Normandin called the bill a step backward for the environment and democracy, and this time, Steve MacKinnon said that this bill is a response to an economic crisis caused by the Americans. Patrick Bonin also worried about the declaratory powers in the legislation, and Dabrusin says the difference between the Liberals and the Conservatives is that the Liberals believe in protecting the environment. 

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Roundup: Back-channel tariff talks?

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Ever since the latest round of steel and aluminium tariffs went into place, there have been questions as to when and how Canada will respond, and earlier in the week, prime minister Mark Carney counselled patience and that there were “intensive negotiations” happening, but retaliatory measures were also being prepared. We found out yesterday that Carney and Trump have been having back-channel conversations on the subject, so retaliation while this is happening may be counter-productive. But you also have industry worrying that the longer this goes without retaliation, the more they become vulnerable to other things like steel imports from other countries being diverted to Canada, which could make their situation even worse.

That being said, we may not be able to eliminate all tariffs, and some level could remain because Trump does love tariffs, and has a completely wrong-headed notion about them because of the people he has been surrounding himself with. Never mind that our auto sector can’t survive with tariffs, or that the Americans will simply pay through the nose for aluminium that they can’t smelt themselves.

Meanwhile, the Star has a really good five-point explainer about the counter-tariffs, and why the Conservatives’ claims that they were “secretly removed” is false, but rather a certain number of counter-tariffs were suspended for six months to give Canadian companies time to adjust supply chains, but there are still plenty of counter-tariffs in place.

Ukraine Dispatch

There was another missile and drone attack overnight which hit Kyiv, has killed at least four people.

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QP: Worrying about (below-target) inflation

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With the (non) drama around the first “confidence vote” (which wasn’t really either) out of the way, MPs were back for Thursday QP, but this time most of the leaders were absent. While Andrew Scheer was present, it was Jasraj Hallan who led off, citing that the PBO was “concerned” about the size of the interest payments on the federal debt, and demanded to know what date the budget would be tabled on. François-Philippe Champagne thanked him for voting for the Ways and Means motion on the tax cut, and couldn’t wait for the Conservatives to support the main bill. Hallan demanded Champagne apologise for collecting the carbon levy (erm, which went back to people), railed about inflation, and demanded a budget. Champagne patted himself on the back for not only the tax cut, but the GST break on first-time house purchases. Leslyn Lewis read the same script demanding a budget with the same false threats about inflation, and Champagne enthused about all of the good things that were in the Estimates, such as dental care and child care. Lewis read the same concern from the PBO and accused the Liberals of breaking their promise to cap spending, to which Champagne proclaimed that they were proud to support people with their programmes. Chris Lewis read the script about counter-tariffs and demanded a budget, to which Dominic LeBlanc said that they are negotiating a new agreement with the Americans because the tariffs are unjustified and ridiculously punitive. Richard Martel read the French script about aluminium tariffs, and LeBlanc praised the aluminium workers, and he denounced the tariffs again, saying they will support workers.

Christine Normandin led for the Bloc, and worried there was still no help for the aluminium industry, and demanded action. LeBlanc repeated his praise for the industry and that they are working to protect the workers. Normandin worried about forestry and aerospace also being targeted, and again demanded action. Mélanie Joly raised her meetings with the CEOs in the industry and insisted they are protecting the sector. Jean-Denis Garon took over to also demand support, along with a budget being tabled, and Champagne insisted they are fighting against tariffs and protecting industry while they build Canada.

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QP: Angry about the new tariffs

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A hot Wednesday in the Nation’s Capital, and everyone was fired up from their caucus meetings in the morning. Mark Carney was present, as were the other leaders, and Andrew Scheer actually stood up to speak today, when he didn’t earlier in the week. With that in mind, Scheer led off by denouncing the new Trump tariffs, and said that other countries got them removed while Canada had them doubled (not really true), said that Carney couldn’t get a deal, and then went on a tangent about the counter-tariffs being “secretly” removed (not true), and then demanded a budget. Carney called the tariffs, illegal, unjustified and illogical, and said they did have retaliatory tariffs on over $90 billion of U.S. goods, and they are undertaking “intensive” negotiations and are preparing reprisals if they don’t succeed. Scheer then tried to tie this to the fact that the PM won’t approve a new pipeline, and said that consensus can’t happen because BC premier David Eby is a “radical,” and tried to needle the divisions in Cabinet on energy projects, before he demanded an approval for a pipeline “today” (never mind that there is no pipeline being proposed). Carney said that everyone is agreed to build projects of national importance, and consensus includes Indigenous people, which the Conservatives don’t agree with. Scheer retorted that if photo ops and phoney rhetoric got things done, Trudeau would still be prime minister. He then pivoted to food price inflation, to which Carney patted himself on the back for their tax cut. Dominique Vien took over, and she demanded the government respect their motion to table a spring budget. Carney said that the bill before the House would reduce taxes for 22 million Canadians. Vien also raised food price inflation, and railed about the Estimates bill, to which Carney said that these estimates included things like health transfers and pensions for seniors. Richard Martel took over, and he gave the French script about counter-tariffs, and Carney repeated that the U.S. tariffs were illegal and unjustified, and that they are in negotiations with the Americans.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he too was concerned about the doubled steel and aluminium tariffs. Carney said that they need to do several things at the same time—building a single economy, negotiating with the Americans, and that they were going to win, just like the Oilers. Blanchet tried again, and got the same response. Blanchet demanded support for the sector, and wanted support for a wage support bill (which would be unvoteable). Carney again said they were negotiating.

Carney says they will win with US negotiations, “Just like the Oilers.”Sorry to be That Guy, but you know the Oilers famously choke at the end, right? #QP

— Dale Smith (@journodale.bsky.social) 2025-06-04T18:30:47.920Z

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Roundup: A lost vote for the sake of point-scoring

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The opposition shenanigans manifested during one of the very first votes of the new Parliament, where the government was not able to defeat the Conservative amendment to the Address in Reply to the Speech From the Throne. Said amendment urged the government to table a spring budget, but it’s not binding, and it looks like Mark Carney and the rest of Cabinet will take it under advisement and leave it at that (because you can’t produce a budget within two weeks’ notice, and the Conservatives know that very well).

What gets me is that you have the Conservatives (and others) going “what does it say when the government loses their first vote?” when it says nothing at all. If anything, it says that in a minority parliament, the opposition parties will do everything they can to embarrass the government, just as they have in previous parliaments, and given the current configuration of parties, this is really just a continuation of the constant juvenile bullshit we’ve seen over and over again that resulted in a paralyzed House of Commons last fall. Nothing really changed, and we’re going to see more that very same thing because we have the same insistence on juvenile point-scoring from the opposition, and we have the same Liberal government that is both inept at communicating their way out of a wet paper bag, and who are tactically incompetent because they think that they will somehow come out looking sympathetic to the procedural warfare and gamesmanship when they absolutely won’t because legacy media will simply not actually call anyone’s bullshit, but just both-sides the whole thing, and the Liberals will always lose in that framing. And I suppose what it says about the government is that they haven’t learned a single gods damned lesson from their near-death experience, and Carney’s complete political inexperience isn’t doing them any favours here either.

Meanwhile, the government introduced their big omnibus border bill, and it has a lot of troubling elements, from lowering thresholds for electronic data collection by law enforcement that won’t always require a warrant, and gives Canada Post more authority to open mail they deem suspicious. It also changes particular thresholds for asylum claims, and gives the government powers to simply stop claims or immigration processes with no explanation or apparent avenues for appeal. There are some positives, such as more resources for financial crimes, but in the grand scheme of things, I’m not sure it balances the negatives. The government claims they found the right balance that respects Charter rights, but I am dubious, and I suspect that law enforcement convinced them that they need these rights-violating powers and used Trump’s threats as a justification to get what they want.

Ukraine Dispatch

A Russian rocket attack killed at least four and injured at least 25 in Sumy. The city of Sumy remains under threat as Russians advance in that region. Ukraine detonated explosives on the concrete piers supporting the bridge linking Russia to Crimea, forcing its closure.

https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1929871991034568954

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