At his first stop on his Northern tour in Whitehorse, Stephen Harper announced a major Arctic research agenda to be spearheaded by the National Research Council. He wants to turn unique Canadian challenges into opportunities! Okay then. Michael Den Tandt notes that Harper is also in election mode, and is starting to flesh out his vision of the agenda for when that happens. (Den Tandt’s video file of the trip is here).
Tag Archives: Environment
Roundup: Dubiously non-partisan advertising
The government is enlisting the Canadian Medical Association, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the College of Family Physicians to put their logos on a Government of Canada, non-partisan ad campaign designed to talk about the dangers of marijuana. Where this becomes problematic is because the Conservative party has been making a lot of hay attacking Justin Trudeau and the Liberals over their policy around marijuana decriminalization, and it starts to look like a partisan ad using the government and tax dollars as a shield. It’s bad optics, and even if the three medical associations want to sign on because they have genuine concerns with teenagers using pot (as well they should), the timing and the current environment does taint the whole exercise.
Roundup: Adams withdraws
The announcement came at 10 PM on the Friday before a long weekend – in other words, trying to bury it. That announcement? That Conservative MP Eve Adams is bowing out of the Oakville North–Burlington nomination race in order to “focus on her health,” as she hasn’t been following her doctor’s orders about slowing down to focus on recovering from the concussion she received earlier in the year. Or at least, that’s the official excuse, but one has to wonder if it was because she found out that she was about to be disqualified after the shenanigans that she and her opponent accused one another of in the acrimonious nomination race. No word if she plans to run in her current riding (where speculation was she didn’t want to run again because she would be back up against a popular former Liberal MP who wouldn’t be impeded by the Orange Wave this time), or if this is her quietly bowing out of federal politics after 2015 entirely.
Roundup: An apology owed
The International Commission of Jurists has looked over the dispute between Stephen Harper and Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin around accusations that she was “lobbying” against the appointment of Justice Nadon. The ICJ declared that McLachlin did nothing wrong – and that Harper owes her an apology. In response, the PMO responded that they saw the response and “noted it.” At least it wasn’t yet another angry denunciation of “activist” judges protecting their own, or some other nonsense. Meanwhile, the Canadian Bar Association has responded to all of those Conservative MPs whinging that the courts are doing an “end run around democracy” by reminding them that the courts are an essential part of our democratic system, ensuring that rights are respected and that laws are applied properly. Not that it will soothe the sting being felt by sore losers, which is really what those complaints are all about.
Roundup: Hostile witnesses
Kady O’Malley looks at how sex workers were treated as hostile witnesses at the Justice Committee, in particular by Conservative MP Stella Ambler – who, it should be noted, isn’t even a regular member of that committee. Any of their experiences in which they stated that they weren’t victims were often dismissed or challenged as being somehow untrue, which is unfortunate but not surprising given that the government has a narrative around this bill that they intend to push.
Roundup: Minimal amendments
The Commons justice committee did their clause-by-clause review of the prostitution bill, and they agreed to two minor amendments – one that narrowed the reach of the communication provision from anywhere that children could be present, to simply being next to schools, playgrounds of daycares; the other being that they agreed to put in a provision to review the bill in five years, though the NDP tried to get that down to two. The Liberals didn’t put forward any amendments since they voted against the bill in principle at second reading, feeling it is unconstitutional and unsalvageable. The Greens largely feel the same way. Interestingly, Independent MP Maria Mourani doesn’t feel it goes far enough, and wants prostitution outlawed writ large. Here’s a look at some of the criminalization of both the sex workers as well as pimps and johns in Canada, and apparently we have fairly low rates of going after those who abuse sex workers – but one wonders if that also has to do with the fact that the women who were abused or assaulted didn’t feel safe reporting it because they feared being further criminalised.
Roundup: Mulcair’s high hopes for Alberta
Despite having already lost their star candidate for the riding, Thomas Mulcair remains confident that the NDP can still win Edmonton Centre in the next general election – never mind that the confluence of factors that favoured Linda Duncan aren’t really present in that particular riding. Mulcair then headed to Calgary, where he scoffed at the notion of Harper as national unifier, and pointed to the current voluntary national securities regulator project as an example of sowing divisions with provinces like Alberta, who don’t want to sign on. Erm, not sure how it’s relevant, or why the Supreme Court would shut down a voluntary scheme, but whatever.
Roundup: A doomed and dangerous challenge
Toronto lawyer Rocco Galati, of the Nadon case fame, is going ahead with his challenge of the government’s citizenship bill, but it’s a nightmare of a challenge because it’s based on a completely wrong-headed understanding of the way our system of responsible government works. Galati names the Governor General in the suit, saying that signing the bill into law went beyond his constitutional mandate. The problem is, of course, is that ours is not a system where the GG can refuse royal assent unless it’s a measure that is so egregious that he or she is willing to risk a constitutional crisis. Responsible Government is all about the Crown acting on the advice of government, and by granting royal assent, it does several things: it grants authority to the new law in the name of the Sovereign; it represents the people agreeing to live under the rule of law; and the Queen as the embodiment of the state, emphasises that we all live equally under the law. Galati argues that provisions of the bill are unconstitutional, but remember that it is still within the authority of the courts to strike down a law – that come under the powers of the Crown as the font of justice, whereas royal assent is a function of the Crown-in-Parliament. Galati seems eager to mix the two and would have the GG get legal opinions before any bill is signed into law – a complete distortion of our system of government and the separation of powers that exists between the Courts and Parliament. That Galati had tried to get the courts to block royal assent before it even happened is a further sign that he not only doesn’t understand the system, but is wilfully trying to undermine it regardless of the dangers or consequences of such moves. Only madness lies down the path Galati is trying to tread, but because he has no legal merit for the ruling, it won’t get very far, fortunately.
QP: It’s up to the proponent
The final caucus day of the sitting, and Rib Fest taking place a block away, MPs were itching to head back to their ridings. All of the major leaders were in the Chamber today for a second day in a row (amazing!) while Elizabeth May was absent for a change, off campaigning in Toronto for the forthcoming by-elections. Thomas Mulcair led off, wondering where all those Conservatives were to tout the Northern Gateway after three years of doing so previously. Stephen Harper said that the NDP were opposed to all resource development, considered it a “disease,” and it was up to Enbridge to fulfil the 209 conditions imposed by the NEB. Mulcair said that BC Conservative MPs were “in the witness programme” about the pipeline, while Harper shot back that Mulcair himself was in the programme when it came to answering for their improper mailings and satellite offices. Mulcair insisted that with the removal of Navigable Waters Act protections, the deck was stacked in favour of the pipeline, to which Harper reminded him of the 180 days of hearing and thousands of pages of evidence, and that there were 209 conditions. Mulcair brought up Enbridge’s record in the US, Harper returning to the scientific panel, and when Mulcair declared that Harper could not “subcontract the Honour of the Crown” to Enbridge with consulting First Nations, Harper listed the number of hearings they held with First Nations groups as part of the regulatory process. Justin Trudeau brought up that the BC government still opposes the pipeline, and wondered why the Prime Minister still said yes. Harper repeated that it was up to the proponent to meet their conditions. Trudeau brought up the government’s previous statements about the importance of the integrity of the Great Bear rainforest, but Harper reiterated about the scientific process of the regulator. Trudeau asked one last time to reverse the approval, but Harper kept repeating about the 209 conditions, and concluded that the Liberals don’t practice evidence-based decision making.
QP: Still making a decision
It was a rainy day in Ottawa, with the Ontario election going on, and the faint thumping sounds of the music being played at the nearby Franco-Ontarian Festival was heard through the walls on the Hill. Stephen Harper and Thomas Mulcair were present, while Justin Trudeau was off in New Brunswick to glad-hand with voters. Mulcair led off by pointing out that the expert review panel didn’t recommend the F-35s (indeed, they didn’t make any recommendations as it wasn’t their role), and would they hold an open competition. Harper stood up to say that they were still making a decision. Mulcair pressed and wanted the report made public, to which Harper reiterated that they were evaluating the report. Mulcair changed topics and asked point blank how many Syrian refugees were accepted into Canada, citing how Chris Alexander hung up on a CBC Radio interview yesterday. Harper responded that the number was over a thousand, before he slammed Mulcair and the NDP for their problematic spending. Mulcair kept at it, pointing out how many refugees other countries had taken in, but Harper reminded him that most of those displaced Syrians were temporarily displaced, and that they weren’t intended to be settled elsewhere permanently. Joyce Murray, leading for the Liberals, asked that the government turn down the Northern Gateway pipeline, to which Greg Rickford told her that they were still making a decision. Marc Garneau was up next and returned to the issue of the fighter jet replacement, and accused the government of being reckless with public money. Diane Finley assured him that the expert panel gave rigorous and impartial advice, which she thanked them for. Garneau demanded a fair, and open competition, to which Finley reiterated that they launched their Seven-Point Plan™.