Even though it was a Wednesday, all of the party leaders were off in Rideau Hall for the closing ceremony of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. That left Megan Leslie to lead off, asking about the refusal of the government to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Mark Strahl responded by reading a talking point about those rights already being entrenched in the constitution. Leslie listed off the various ways in which the government was failing Aboriginals, to which Strahl listed their successes, like the apology and striking the TRC in the first place. Leslie demanded the education funding gap for First Nations be closed, and Strahl read a condemnation of the attitudes that gave rise to the residential schools. Peter Julian then picked up, repeating Leslie’s first question in English. Strahl gave a list of accomplishments, and when Julian closed with a blanket condemnation, Strahl repeated his admonishment that the NDP voted against the good things they did. Dominic LeBlanc led off for the Liberals in French, saying that his party immediately accepted all 94 recommendations in the report and wondered if the government would do the same. Strahl said that they would consider the recommendations in light of the full report, to be delivered at the end of the year. Ralph Goodale then picked up in English on the same topic, and got much the same answer from Strahl. For the final question, Marc Garneau called out Conservative contradictions on supply management as part of Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, and Maxime Bernier gave a single-word response that they would protect it.
Tag Archives: First Nations
QP: Scripts on reconciliation
It was all leaders present for one of the few remaining Question Periods of the 41st parliament where we’ll see them all together. Thomas Mulcair led off, acknowledging that they were on unceded Algonquin territory, and noted the Conservatives voting against an NDP bill to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Mulcair wondered if the government would adopt it, to which Stephen Harper reminded him that Aboriginals are already included in the constitution and that the UN Declaration is an “aspirational document.” Mulcair repeated “aspirational” with a vitriolic tone, then demanded a nation-to-nation relationship between First Nations and Canada. Harper reminded him that they established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and they were working to improve the living conditions of all Aboriginals. Mulcair noted that at least 6000 children died in residential schools, and wanted Harper to acknowledge that they were “cultural genocide.” Harper insisted that he addressed the damage of forced assimilation seven years ago, and that the NDP consisted voted against the concrete steps the government was taking. Mulcair then noted poor education outcomes for First Nations currently, to which Harper reminded him of measures in the budget. Mulcair demanded that the funding gap for First Nations students be closed, to which Harper said that they were trying to reform the system and that the NDP vigorously opposed them. Justin Trudeau was up next, asking about unfinished Reconciliation action for Métis and Inuit, and wanted nation-to-nation engagement. Harper reiterated the various achievements they’ve made, and encouraged the Liberals to stand with when. Trudeau said that his party accepted and pledged to adopt the TRC Reports recommendations and wanted the same pledge from the government. Harper said that they would study the report, before returning to his slap that the Liberals voted against concrete measures. Trudeau gave it one last attempt, to which Harper said that there was no ideal relationship in our history and they were working to improve the living conditions of First Nations.
Roundup: Last-minute legislation
With less than three sitting weeks left, the government has announced that they will introduce yet another bill, this time to give the Minister of Transport enhanced powers when it comes to ordering vehicle recalls. The bill won’t be tabled until later in the week, and there’s no timeline for its passage, but Lisa Raitt is confident she’ll get all-party support for the bill to expedite it. Of course, it’s not guaranteed, and in the light of the recent Takata airbag recall, it does start to smack a little bit of desperation, that the government is doing one last push to show that they’re on top of things, even though they knew this deadline was coming, and this recall issue has been going on for weeks now. As well, they have nearly twenty more bills that they want to pass before the Commons rises, and as it stands, it looks like some of their showcase bills, like the “life means life” parole bill, aren’t going to make it, and Peter MacKay is admitting as much. This speaks to a couple of different issues – one is that there are doubtlessly bills that they’re going to allow to die so that they can campaign on them, both as unfinished business and under the falsehood that the opposition held them up (which really, they can’t do given that this government has the time allocation hammer and aren’t afraid to use it) so they need another majority in order to get these kinds of measures through. Of course, it also showcases that this government – and Peter Van Loan as House Leader – has been spectacularly terrible when it comes to the basic management of getting bills through (not that it’s all Van Loan’s fault – the NDP haven’t exactly played ball when it comes to any routine House management either, and it has been said several times that Peter Julian has managed to make Van Loan look downright reasonable). Suffice to say, good luck to Raitt, because she’s probably going to need it if she wants to get this bill through.
QP: Committing to reconciliation
Monday, and none of the leaders were present for QP, as is usual now. In fact, the Prime Minister had planned a photo op at the very same time, because this is apparently how he shows respect for the institution. Megan Leslie led off, noting the a forthcoming Truth and Reconciliation report, and asked if the PM would heed the call of the First Nations. Bernard Valcourt responded by reminding the House of the government’s apology to Residential Schools survivors, and that it was important to support the work of the commission. Leslie asked again for engagement on the file, and Valcourt said they were encouraging reconciliation. Leslie noted the legacy of the Residential Schools, such as poverty and crime, and wanted a commitment to honour the findings of the report. Valcourt thanked the commission and looked forward to receiving the report. Romeo Saganash expressed his dismay at the government’s actions following the apology, to which Valcourt reiterated the commitment to reconciliation on the part of the government. Saganash brought up the underfunding of on-reserve First Nations, to which Valcourt noted they had taken significant steps to improve the situation of Aboriginals across Canada. Carolyn Bennett also brought up the forthcoming report, and wanted a commitment to concrete actions to promote healing and reconciliation. Valcourt repeated their thanks to the commissioners and survivors, and their commitment to work with a First Nations to address the challenges they inherited. John McCallum was up next, and asked about pension insecurity in the private sector, and wanted an admission that voluntary programmes were not enough. Kevin Sorenson stood up to deliver the half-truth talking points about Trudeau’s comments on Ontario’s plan. McCallum gave it another go in English, and got the same answer.
Roundup: Truth and Reconciliation report due
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission makes its first report on Tuesday, wrapping up the commission itself, and after hosting a number of Reconciliation events around the country, the last of them here in Ottawa over the weekend. They found that at least 6,000 children died in residential schools as a result of a policy of “aggressive assimilation” or cultural genocide, a term that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court made at a speech lat week (which may prove problematic, as Emmett Macfarlane explains). Part of the Reconciliation events in the past few weeks have been to try and bring an understanding on both sides of the cultural divide, so as to bring healing in symbolic ways. One such is the bentwood box that has collected some 1300 items since the Commission began, which created a sacred space to bring forward the promise of reconciliation. One hopes that the chapters will turn to something more positive, but I also have a sinking feeling that this will become politicised over the coming weeks, and possibly even over the course of the campaign in the fall.
Roundup: Out goes an oddly pivotal figure
In a sense, there’s a closing of a particular chapter of Canadian politics with the announcement yesterday that Peter MacKay was done with politics, and would not be running again. He’ll stay on until the election, and Harper has opted to keep him in the justice portfolio for the dying days of the 41st parliament, but MacKay has made his mind up, and is going to slowly start packing up his office. In many ways, MacKay is a central figure to the modern era of Canadian politics. His decision to begin the process of merging with the Canadian Alliance – betraying an explicit written promise not to, made to secure the leadership of the old Progressive Conservative party – formed the juggernaut by which Stephen Harper was able to form the government that is entering its tenth year in power. While many are saying that this departure marks the end of the “progressive” side of the Conservative party, it bears reminding that MacKay was not a terribly Red Tory, and that there are far more progressive voices in the caucus and cabinet than he was. Where it may have an impact is with the continued attempt by the old Reform Party wing to amend the constitution of the party to sweep away the vestiges of the old PC wing, particularly predominant in the Maritimes and parts of Ontario, and with MacKay no longer there to use his weight among the membership, that final transformation may take place in a year or two. MacKay is also being remembered not only for his political controversies, but also for his romantic misadventures, now behind him as he leaves to spend more time with his family. John Geddes looks back at MacKay’s career, while Paul Wells writes about MacKay’s role in the political merger that changed Canadian politics, and Hugh Segal writes about MacKay’s importance to Canadian politics. Not long after John Baird’s departure, MacKay was spotted meeting with Brian Mulroney in Toronto, which fuelled resignation rumours, which he denied at the time. The Halifax Chronicle Herald’s editorial cartoonist Bruce MacKinnon recalls some of his best work with MacKay’s caricatures, and Global has some archived footage of MacKay’s break-up with Belinda Stronach when she crossed the floor to the Liberals. And BuzzFeed Canada has a listicle about MacKay’s career.
Roundup: Establishing a wedge narrative
It really was a little bit embarrassing – or would be, if he had even a millilitre of shame. Pierre Poilievre rushed everyone to a microphone yesterday morning to announce the “next part” of the Trudeau Tax™ that he’s trying to push as a talking point – that Justin Trudeau said that he would impose a new mandatory “payroll tax” for pensions like is happening in Ontario, with a dollar figure attached and everything. Which, of course, is a complete fabrication as Trudeau said no such thing. I know, because I was there sitting in front of him when he talked about CPP enhancement in his Wednesday press conference. And throughout Members’ Statements and Question Period, as many Conservatives as possible tried to make this very same claim – Harper going so far as to call it a “$1000 pay cut” – even repeating it in response to NDP questions. Way to make them feel relevant! Much in the way that Trudeau’s supposed “gaffe” about fairness was a legitimate point of philosophical difference that is being turned into an attack line, this hint at a policy discussion yet-to-come, which would need to be discussed with the provinces in any eventuality, is being morphed into something sinister and being associated with specific dollar figures where no pronouncement has been made – not that facts have ever mattered to the Conservative attack machine. (Witness “budgets balance themselves” which actually followed the phrase “when the economy grows,” which is true and the Conservatives have said so themselves on numerous occasions). So while we again have an area of legitimate philosophical difference – whether Canadians are saving enough, whether a mandatory plan is the best vehicle to fund retirements – it’s being turned into this dumbed-down populist talking point that obliterates nuance or the truth about what was actually said. But apparently veracity doesn’t matter because election. Or something. (But if you want to discuss nuance and policy, Jennifer Robson is glad we’re talking CPP expansion again.)
QP: He was talking about Greece
Thursday, and wouldn’t you know it, and to my great surprise, Stephen Harper was actually present for a change. Neither Thomas Mulcair nor Justin Trudeau were present to face off against him, however, so make of that what you will. That left Peter Julian to lead off, and wouldn’t you know it, he started off with yet another Mike Duffy question, on the altered audit report. Harper, of course, rejected the premise of the question and noted that Duffy was before the court for his own actions. Julian moved to the pro forma question about Duffy’s residency, and Harper responded with a pro forma response about the NDP satellite offices. Julian moved onto the Senate invoking privilege to keep their internal audit from the court — not actually government business — and Harper responded again with the satellite offices. Niki Ashton was up next, and asked about the lack of response to the First Nations housing fund, and Bernard Valcourt read a statement about significant resources being allocated to meeting housing needs. A second round was much the same. Scott Brison led off for the Liberals, asking about relaxing labour laws that would make it easier to fire Canadians, which Joe Oliver supported. Harper insisted that Oliver was talking about Greece, not Canada, and slammed the Liberal record. Brison pushed on the issue, and Harper read the latest Conservative attack line about how Trudeau apparently wants a new mandatory payroll tax. Marc Garneau closed the round, asking about the same issue in French, and got the same answer about it being a discussion about Greece, and that the Liberals would raise payroll taxes.
Harper shrugs at Julian's mention of the Duffy Diaries. #QP
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) May 28, 2015
IT'S NICE TO SEE LIBERAL LEADER SCOTT BRISON IN THE HOUSE FOR #QP. FOR SOME REASON, THEY USUALLY HAVE HIS MEDIOCRE DEPUTY FILL IN.
— RealChangeBot (@RealChangeBot) May 28, 2015
Roundup: Re-starting the CPP debate
Talk of expanding the Canada Pension Plan was dominating the discussion yesterday, but much of it seemed to be in a bit of a vacuum. To recap, the Conservatives, having largely eschewed any talk of CPP expansion as “job-killing payroll taxes” to date (despite some positive noises having been made by Jim Flaherty at one point), say they’re going to consult on voluntary expansion, but haven’t approached any of the provinces, which they need to do. The Liberals are moving in the direction of making an expansion mandatory, which the NDP have already largely been in favour of. For some context, Maclean’s spoke to a pension expert about the situation, and they reposted an piece from Kevin Milligan about what different expansion models could look like (and it’s also a reminder that none of this is about poor seniors, who are already taken care of by other programmes). The Ottawa Citizen also has a Q&A about the discussion as well. What should also bear mentioning is that voluntary increased contributions, if not done in a certain way, could dramatically increase the administration costs of CPP since it will require individual management of accounts – something that the current system does not currently need. Dramatically increasing costs will make CPP a less efficient vehicle for retirement savings, and may start to look like a commercial pension instead. If the government is insistent on a voluntary expansion as one of a number of options (like TFSAs and pooled registered plans), then this cost factor could be an important determiner in what that could look like.
QP: CPP consultations and fictitious allegations
Even though the king and queen of the Netherlands were visiting, all of the leaders actually showed up for QP for a change. Thomas Mulcair led off, asking for the declaration of Mike Duffy’s residence. Stephen Harper responded that Duffy’s actions were before the courts. Mulcair threatened that if Harper didn’t answer now, he would at the debates, and then demanded that the full Duffy audit be released. Mulcair gave some vaguely coherent muttering about the PMO covering up the cover-up in the Senate, to which Harper reminded them that the NDP faces their own repayment problem for their satellite offices. Mulcair moved onto the retirement age, demanding it be lowered to 65 (not that it actually changed — just OAS), to which Harper listed off their other measures for seniors. Mulcair closed with a quote from Jim Flaherty regarding CPP, to which Harper insisted the NDP would raise taxes on seniors. Justin Trudeau was up for the Liberals, and wondered why the government made their CPP announcement with no consultation by the provinces. Harper said that their record of supporting voluntary options was clear, while the Liberals would raise taxes. Trudeau reminded Harper of his record of statements on breaking up the CPP. Harper said that was false, and touted the options they created to help Canadians save. When Trudeau insisted that experts agreed with them, Harper said that Trudeau’s experts were imaginary, and that Trudeau would show leadership in raising taxes.