The real news item that everyone largely ignored yesterday was the release of a Senate committee report that looked into the safety of transporting hydrocarbons by rail, pipeline and tanker. (Note: It made A1 of the Globe and Mail today, but in venues like the political shows yesterday, it was ignored entirely). While it didn’t delve too deeply into the Lac-Mégantic disaster, given that those investigations are still ongoing and that it happened as the committee was wrapping up its work, it nevertheless remained a relevant point to the recommendations that they were making, especially with respect to the fact that there can be all of the regulations in the world, but if companies don’t have a safety culture in place, it’s likely all for naught. (I’ll have more on this over at Blacklocks.ca in the next couple of days.
Tag Archives: F-35 Fighters
Roundup: A routine and legitimate prorogation
While in Whitehorse yesterday, Stephen Harper made it official – Parliament will be prorogued, and come back in October. Not sure when yet in October (though the Hill Times is saying October 21st), at which point they can return with a Speech From the Throne, and a reset of their agenda – which, let’s face it, they badly need by this point as they’ve pretty much exhausted their plans previously. Now, before you start getting angry about prorogation, remember that this is the kind of routine, normal agenda-resetting prorogations that are normal and as indicated, even necessary in the life of a parliament. It’s not being done to avoid a confidence vote, or otherwise thwart the will of the House, so put the placards away. Here, Kady O’Malley has three reasons not to freak out over this prorogation. Are we good? Apparently not, since the opposition parties are now going with the rallying cry that Harper is avoiding accountability for the Senate scandals in Parliament, and so on. Um, okay – I’m not exactly sure how much he could actually answer regarding those Senate spending issues since the Ministry doesn’t control the Senate and can’t actually answer for them under the rubric of ministerial responsibility that governs QP, and they’ve already pretty much hashed out the Wright/Duffy revelations to death, so I’m not exactly sure what “accountability” we’re missing out on. But hey, don’t let the facts spoil a good narrative. Oh, and Harper also said that he has no plans to retire anytime soon and will lead the party in the next election, so there’s that for all the pundits who’ve spent the summer theorising otherwise.
Roundup: Yet more trouble for Brazeau
In case you thought that an investigation for Breach of Trust wasn’t bad enough, the RCMP are also digging into media allegations that Senator Patrick Brazeau has long used his father-in-law’s address on a Quebec reserve in order to get a preferential tax rate, even though he’s never lived there. Yeah, it’s not looking good at all…
While in Quebec City, Stephen Harper spoke about how the Energy East west-east pipeline will create energy security in Canada, but wouldn’t give job figures to contradict what President Obama has been saying about the Keystone XL pipeline.
Roundup: Apoplectic over unenforceable rules
The Conservative Party is apoplectic with outrage after Elections Canada didn’t put punitive sanctions against those 2006 Liberal leadership candidates who still haven’t repaid their debts. The problem, Elections Canada says, is that the rules aren’t actually enforceable. And guess whose fault that is? The Conservatives, along with the NDP, who were in such a rush to punish the Liberals in 2006 that they passed a really flawed series of changes that made a dog’s breakfast of leadership campaign finance rules. About the most they did was make the ability to fundraise so restrictive that these former candidates with outstanding debts can’t raise that money. So really, well done all around.
Roundup: Lisa Raitt is on the case
Two days on the job as transport minister, and Lisa Raitt paid her first visit to Lac-Mégantic to assess the scene there for herself, and to promise that yes, the federal government will assist in reconstruction. And while the NDP complained that she didn’t come with numbers in hand, it’s like they don’t understand how federal disaster assistance works – that at the end of the process, they write one big cheque that will cover something on the order of 90 percent of the costs. It just doesn’t happen up front, which is the role of the province and municipality.
Roundup: Keystone XL and carbon politics
US President Obama gave a speech yesterday about energy, and as part of that came talk about the Keystone XL pipeline, and basically said that it won’t go ahead unless it can be “carbon neutral,” leaving some to wonder what exactly that means. Over at Maclean’s, Luiza Ch. Savage and Paul Wells parse the speech for themselves, and muse about what it means for Canada, especially as carbon emissions are very much now on the table for discussion. Note that this move from Obama happens as natural resources were expected to be at the centre of Harper’s “rebooted” agenda this fall.
QP: Yet more questions of Zajdel and other former staffers
As the sitting winds down, and the benches are restless, nobody was much expecting it to be a calm and civil QP. On top of that, Thomas Mulcair was off in Quebec City to showcase his regional caucus there, Stephen Harper was wrapping up the G8 summit, and Justin Trudeau was, well, elsewhere, it meant that Elizabeth May was the only leader in the House. Megan Leslie led off, asking if any member of the Prime Minister’s Office had been approached by the RCMP regarding the Wright investigation. James Moore, once again the designated back-up PM du jour, said no, and witness how they cooperate and not sit on evidence of corruption for 17 years. Leslie demanded proof that Wright’s cheque to Duffy was a personal one, to which Moore reminded her that he couldn’t access the personal cheques of Canadians. Leslie changed topics and asked if Moore had even met Saulie Zajdel before he hired him. Moore reminded her that Zajdel was a city councillor for 22 years and was a candidate, but it he had broken the law, the book should be thrown at him. Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe wondered who recommended Zajdel’s hiring — was it Senator Housakos or Dimitri Soudas? Moore sidestepped the question and returned to the admonition that if any lawbreaking was found, books would be thrown. When Blanchette-Lamothe brought up the former staffer who is now under investigation by the RCMP for the West Block contract, Moore said that an investigation already said there was no political interference in that cooperation. Dominic LeBlanc was up for the Liberals, and after another Zajdel question, asked what it was that the PM was asking of his chiefs of staff that landed them under RCMP investigation. Moore kept up his usual swipes about Trudeau’s speaking fees and Senators Pana Merchant and Mac Harb.
Roundup: Shadow MPs, and the speaking fees plot
There was quite the commotion yesterday morning as the mayor of Montreal was arrested on corruption charges, but possibly more interesting was Saulie Zajdel, a former “regional advisor to the Minister of Heritage,” otherwise known as the Shadow MP that the Conservatives installed in Irwin Cotler’s riding. It was on Zajdel’s behalf that the Conservatives robocalled Cotler’s riding with the misleading message that Cotler planned to retire and would they support Zajdel in a by-election that followed – an action that the Speaker termed “reprehensible.” In QP, James Moore tried to put some distance between himself and Zajdel, saying that the charges stemmed to Zajdel’s time as a city counsellor and his role in the regional office was coordinating events, and more telling, giving the blunt statement that if Zajdel was found to have broken the law that they should throw the book at him.
QP: What about Saulie Zajdel?
The final Monday of the spring sitting, and while there were a lot of empty spaces along the government front bench, the opposition benches were restless. Thomas Mulcair started off by bringing up last week’s Pamela Wallin interview, where she said that she briefed the Prime Minister’s office about her audit, contrary to Harper saying that he wasn’t briefed — never mind the fact that Wright and Harper are not the same person. James Moore, the designated back-up PM du jour, reminded him that there was an independent process underway. Mulcair then brought up the arrest of former Conservative candidate and “regional advisor” Saulie Zajdel, and he wondered what he was doing for Moore when he worked there. Moore said that the charges were of a municipal nature, and if he or the mayor were found guilty, they should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. When Megan Leslie brought up the very same topic, wondering why Zadjel left Moore’s employ, Moore hit back saying back by the justice system works best when people who know of wrongdoing come forward, as Mulcair should have done when he was offered a bribe seventeen years ago. For her final question, Leslie brought up Senator Wallin’s audit, to which Moore decided to go after Trudeau’s speaking engagements. Trudeau was up next, and brought up the cheque from Nigel Wright. Moore insisted that they didn’t have access to any personal cheques, but Trudeau got a cheque from the Canadian Mental Health Commission for a speaking engagement. Trudeau retorted that his party is raising the bar on transparency, before asking if any member of the government had met with Wright post-resignation. Moore kept swiping about Trudeau’s speaking engagements. When Trudeau pressed, Moore responded that no, he hadn’t met with Wright.
Roundup: Chasing answers in Peru
It only took a week, a trip to Peru and a question from a foreign journalist before Stephen Harper finally said that he was sorry over the whole Nigel Wright/Mike Duffy affair. Well, he was sorry that Wright giving the cheque happened – we’re not quite sure yet if he’s sorry that he appointed Duffy to the Senate. (Video here). So, there’s that.
Meanwhile, back home, the NDP have decided to launch a new campaign, that they say will be part of the next election, about trying to abolish the Senate. Because you know, the constitution is something that can be changed on a whim, in particular because abolition would require the unanimous consent of the provinces. In other words, Mulcair is promising to do the impossible because he won’t have to follow through with it, and he can blame the provinces if he forms government. Yay using constitutional vandalism as though there were no consequences as a political tactic! Here’s a great post on the short-sighted ridiculousness for this kind of abolition rhetoric.