The government is updating their citizenship guide, and while people are going to criticise it, I’m going to say that it’s a good thing that they actually devote a page to the fact that we’re a constitutional monarchy, and that they talk about the fact that Elizabeth II is the Queen of Canada. Not enough people realise what living in a constitutional monarchy means, even though it’s at the very heart of our political system. It would also be nice if we could stop acting horrified every time this government points out that basic fact because guess what – we’re a constitutional monarchy, and it’s actually a pretty good system. (It’s also too bad that the reporter in this story referred to Elizabeth II as the “Queen of England” – never mind that there hasn’t been a Queen of England since 1707). As well, they’ve done a pretty good job with the paragraph on the rights of gays and lesbians in this updated guide. Of course, it’s too bad that they’ve also included other bits of politicking with their references to human trafficking, polygamy and marriage fraud – current bugaboos of the government.
Tag Archives: Environment
QP: All in due course
It was Friday-on-a-Thursday in the House, as it prepared to rise for the Easter break. Attendance was lighter than usual, but not as light as a usual Friday, and most unusually, Stephen Harper was present, which I completely did not expect. Megan Leslie was leading off for the NDP, asking about the tax increases in the budget. Harper stood up to list all of the tax increases that he claimed the NDP were in support of (which may or may not reflect reality). For her final question, Leslie asked about a patronage appointment at ACOA of a former ministerial staffer, to which Harper assured her that it had been cleared by the Public Service Commission and there was no ministerial interference. Craig Scott was up next, and with his air of affected gravitas, asked about the Elections Canada report on recommendations to avoid future instances of misleading robocalls, and wondered where the promised bill was. Tim Uppal reminded him that they just got the report yesterday, and that the bill would come in due course. For the Liberals,Ralph Goodale asked about the government pulling out of the UN convention on drought, which has plenty of applications back in Canada as well as abroad. Harper responded that the UN body spent less than 20 percent of its dollars to achieve results, and surely they could spend their funds being more effective elsewhere. Goodale moved onto the robocall report, to which Harper somewhat spuriously claimed that only the Liberals were “convicted” of breaking these laws, and as the the report was only tabled yesterday, they were reviewing and and would take its findings into account. Massimo Pacetti asked the same again in French, to which Harper repeated the same again in French.
QP: The Bob Rae farewell tour
It was Bob Rae’s last QP as interim leader, while news of some kind of Conservative backbench revolt had fizzled out. With Thomas Mulcair still off in Labrador, it was up to Megan Leslie to lead off QP, asking about the tax increases in the budget. In response, Stephen Harper insisted that the NDP would raise taxes even more — apparently implicitly saying that the increases in the budget are okay in comparison. Charlie Angus was up next, bringing up the finding of the Ethics Commissioner with regard to the finding of Jay Hill. Tony Clement explained that they referred the matter to the Ethics Commissioner in the first place, and they strengthened the law in the first place. And then it was Bob Rae’s turn, for which he got an ovation by the entire House to mark the occasion. Rae hit out at the NDP and their disapproval of Keystone XL, and wondered why Harper wouldn’t lead a “Team Canada” delegation of supportive MPs and premiers to Washington in order to advocate for the pipeline. Harper said that they were already working hard, and that he wished he had such good ideas earlier.
Roundup: Robocall recommendations under advisement
The Minister of State for Democratic Reform is finally getting around to drafting a bill on reforming electoral laws to prevent things like fraudulent robocalls. While Elections Canada is coming with a report on said calls this week, with recommendations about how they would like to see the laws changed, Tim Uppal says that he won’t limit himself to those recommendations. So what kinds of changes is he considering? Well, I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Peter Kent has ordered that the soon-to-be-defunct National Round Table on Environment and the Economy to stop posting on their website, and to turn over all of their files in relation to said site over to his department. While he says this is about transferring those contents to Library and Archives, where they will remain accessible to the public, it is a bit odd that he is actively seeking to keep things like a farewell message from the Governor General from being posted on said site in its final days.
QP: Fears of the EI secret police
Budget Day — or Economic Action Plan 2013™ Day if you’re following the propaganda — and the House was a bit thin in the ranks. Thomas Mulcair was absent, and so Megan Leslie was up first, asking about the “witch hunt” against the unemployed. Stephen Harper assured her that EI was there for those who need it, and that they wanted to make sure it would be there for everyone who needed. For her last question, Leslie took jabs at “disgraced candidate” Peter Penashue, to which Harper said that Penashue had a record of achievement to run on. Peter Julian was up next, asking about how an oil spill response ship ran aground on the way to a photo-op. Joe Oliver was having none of it, and accused the NDP of rejecting science because they didn’t like the State Department report on the Keystone XL. Bob Rae was up for the Liberals, outlining the timeline between Elections Canada’s letter to Penashue and his resignation. Harper erroneously accused the Liberals of being against the seal hunt and Lower Churchill, and then praised ALL THE THINGS that Penashue did for Labrador. For his final question, Rae asked about Flaherty’s calls to banks about mortgage rates, to which Harper assured him that mortgage rates are the lowest they’ve ever been,
Roundup: Happy Budget Day, everybody!
It’s Budget Day, everyone! And in what looks to be an otherwise stay-the-course budget, it appears that the big shiny object is going to be…cheaper hockey equipment. Because that matters more than anything else, and Stephen Harper must solidify his credentials as the Hockeyest Prime Minister in the history of ever! Okay, so it’s actually lowering one specific tariff, but still. Meanwhile, Les Whittington gives the five myths of Conservatives budget making. Scott Brison finds a “leaked” copy of Flaherty’s budget speech.
MPs of all stripes – including a few Conservatives – were criticising Flaherty’s move in calling Manulife Financial to stave off a mortgage war. More surprisingly is that one of his own cabinet colleagues, Maxime Bernier, was publically critical. It remains to be seen if this will be treated as a case of “Mad Max” being a maverick, or if this is a breach of cabinet solidarity, Bernier not being a “team player,” and he’ll be bounced out of cabinet – yet again. Andrew Coyne finds the irony in Flaherty lecturing people about taking on too much debt considering how much he added to the national debt.
Roundup: Carefully managed budget leaks
As is the usual order of business these days, a carefully managed pre-budget “leak” was released yesterday in the form of a private letter to caucus – the “private” being a full wink-wink-nudge-nudge, of course. This is what we call building the narrative and managing the message. In said letter, Jim Flaherty signalled that his priorities will be skills training, infrastructure and “value-added” manufacturing jobs (never mind that “value added” is a misnomer term, as “value-added” is simply labour input + capital input). Maclean’s has produced a preview guide to the budget coming down this week. Michael Den Tandt believes it’s going to be a “stay the course” budget without any transformational change.
QP: Peter Penashue, hardest working minister ever!
Tuesday before Budget Day, and all leaders were in the House. Thomas Mulcair started off QP by reading off questions about cracking down on tax havens, but Stephen Harper was eager to continue needling him about his trip to Washington, and how he apparently undermined the economy. For this second supplemental, Mulcair read a pair of questions about reversals in fiscal policy, not that Harper let up on his attack against Mulcair’s position on Keystone XL. For his final question, Mulcair asked about Peter Penashue’s resignation, to which Harper assured him that Penashue did the right thing and that he was the best MP from Labrador in the history of ever. Bob Rae carried on that line of questioning — off the cuff and without scripts, mind you — not that Harper’s answer was any different.
Roundup: Who are the unreal people who don’t deserve real things?
The NDP were out first thing Monday morning to launch their pre-budget ad campaign, dubbed “Real things for real people.” No, seriously – that’s what it was. And it was all about all kinds of anti-austerity things they wanted to see – but had no costing figures to present either. Because it’s not like that’s what the first thing the media is going to ask or anything. It directs people to their website, which is full of all kinds of fun and specious dichotomies like “failed fighter jets or public transit” – because you can only have one or the other, apparently. I’m also still waiting to hear about what counts as a “real person” – clone troopers? Flesh “Gangers”? Soong-type androids? Lyekka? Cylons? How about childfree singletons that don’t live in suburbia? Yeah, genius move whoever thought up this particular gem.
Roundup: “Inexperience” and other likely excuses
Peter Penashue’s “inexperienced” former official agents says that the corporate donation was “unintentionally” accepted, that Penashue himself didn’t know about the donation, and that the last four or five days of the campaign, “all hell was breaking loose” trying to get money in before the deadline, so the rush totally explains all of the ineligible donations. So really, it’s nobody’s fault because nobody takes responsibility for the documents they signed off on, right? Well, maybe not. The former Chief Electoral Officer, Jean-Pierre Kingsley, notes that as the Elections Canada investigative process continues, charges may yet be laid, though not in time for the by-election. The CBC’s David Cochrane looks at the whole affair from the local angle and wonders if Labradoreans want a cabinet minister or to re-elect someone who ran an incompetent campaign and blames others for mistakes that he was responsible for.