Amendments are proceeding to the Fair Elections Act, and yes, the government is agreeing to a number of them. Others, like those proposed by Brent Rathgeber and Elizabeth May, well, not so much. Kady O’Malley uses the bill as a prime example of how the government’s obstinate and obstructionist communications strategy has not only backfired, but blown up in their faces as they were forced to make a public climbdown as the amendment process is underway.
Tag Archives: Fiscal Austerity
QP: It was all the Liberals’ fault (once again)
It was a beautiful spring day in the Nation’s Capital, and the Prime Minister was back in the House, which is always an encouraging sign. Thomas Mulcair led off by trying the prosecutorial tactic once again, and asked about when abuses to the Temporary Foreign Workers came to light. Stephen Harper pointed out that the NDP often asked for permits, and then said that they wanted to ensure that Canadians got the first crack at jobs. Mulcair read some quotes and wanted to know again when the government was made aware. Harper was more forceful in his reply when he repeated both points. Mulcair responded that he wanted the Auditor General to investigate the programme — not really a question — to which Harper insisted that the NDP were trying to block the government’s own reforms to the programme. Mulcair changed tactics and wondered why Harper was giving up on Senate reform, to which Harper insisted that his position hadn’t changed, but it was up to the provinces to bring forward proposals. Mulcair tried the same in French, taunting Harper that he didn’t want to speak to the provinces, not that Harper’s answer changed. Justin Trudeau was up next and returned to the TFWs, to which Harper retorted that the Liberals were also blocking their attempted reforms. Trudeau noted that he raised the problems a year ago, to which Harper accused him of revisionist history. Trudeau noted falling wages and youth unemployment in the face of those illegitimate TFWs, but Harper stuck to his declaration that the Liberals were blocking changes.
QP: Stronger inspections, a stronger blacklist
After a two-week break, MPs were in good spirits, though the front benches were a little thin. Thomas Mulcair led off and immediately launched into prosecutorial mode around the Temporary Foreign Workers Programme. Jason Kenney responded that they had expanded the powers of inspectors and strengthened the blacklist provisions. Mulcair insisted that Kenney had known of problems for six years, but Kenney said that Mulcair was conflating a number of programmes into one whole, where those few incidents of abuse were being dealt with. Mulcair changed gears, and wondered why the Commissioner of Elections couldn’t get the power to compel testimony or produce papers like the Competition Bureau has. Poilievre insisted that they could get a court order. Mulcair didn’t press, but moved onto the topic of allowing the Chief Electoral Officer, but Poilievre carried on about Information to Obtain orders and demanded an apology for the robocall allegations. Mulcair said that the Federal Court said that calls were made — not actually asking a question. Poilievre pointed this out, and carried on demanding that apology. Ralph Goodale was up for the Liberals, and demanded the Auditor General look into the Temporary Foreign Workers programme, to which Kenney assured him that the AG controls his own destiny and touted the changes they had made. Goodale carried on listing problems and repeated the call for the AG, though Kenney repeated his answer, making a dig at the previous Liberal government. Goodale said that the government needs to increase the number of pathways to citizenship, to which Kenney listed off a number of programmes that his government had implemented.
Roundup: Precious illusions and appeals to reason
As part of their campaign against the Fair Elections Act, the NDP have taken to a number of…precious tactics, from Craig Scott writing to Pierre Poilievre to ask him to withdraw the bill in order to start over with all-party consultation (good luck with that), to targeting individual MPs and ministers to vote against the bill, Michael Chong and Bal Gosal thus far. Chong may seem like fair game considering his new role as the so-called “champion of democracy” with his Reform Act bills, and his curious defence of the elections bills thus far (or at least his evasion of taking a stand until they are through the committee stage). But if they think that Gosal is going to break cabinet solidarity on a government bill, they’ve really lost touch with our contemporary reality, and it makes one wonder how they feel about one of the most important conventions about how we form governments under our system of Responsible Government. Would an NDP government not speak with a single voice? I doubt that very much, which makes this particular tactic all the more eye-roll inducing.
Roundup: All about Eve
The tale of Eve Adams and her nomination race got even more sordid yesterday as all kinds of other allegations started appearing out of the woodwork, now that attention is being paid to her. First came word that the riding association was appealing directly to Harper to investigate her activities, with regard to things like her access to the party database, her purchasing the colour-coded maps, that she was door-knocking and telling people that she had been asked by Harper to run in that particular riding, and generally trying to bigfoot the nomination race. (Letter here). Harper in turn asked the party to investigate. After this was made public, the owner of an Ottawa gas station called the media to let them know that he had also asked the PMO to investigate Adams’ behaviour after she had a meltdown tantrum over a $6 carwash that she was unsatisfied with. It has been suggested that all of these leaks are being made public in order to have her discredited and lose the nomination race that way, rather than have Harper or the party disqualify her from afar. It’s not such an outlandish theory either.
QP: Regarding the Commissioner’s testimony…
With caucus day, not only were the leaders all present and accounted for in the House, but so were most of the MPs, which set up for a boisterous day. Thomas Mulcair started off by asking about the grain rail bottleneck and the lack of compensation in the bill due to correct it. Stephen Harper mumbled some vague assurances that they were working with producers and would increase the volumes shipped. Mulcair moved onto the testimony of the Commissioner of Elections, who said that some investigations might be shut down because of a lack of compelled testimony. Harper insisted that the bill gives greater independence to the Commissioner, and took a dig at the NDP’s “branch offices” around the country. Mulcair took a few more digs about Conservative “election fraud” before reiterating about the ability for the Commissioner to compel testimony. Harper responded with yet another dig about branch offices. Mulcair asked the same again in French, and got the same answer in French. For his final question, Mulcair asked if Harper thought that Eve Adams should step down, to which Harper called Mulcair a hypocrite, and the Speaker duly cautioned him for unparliamentary language. Justin Trudeau was up next, and asked about the status of the electoral mission to Ukraine. Harper thanked him for his support, and said that there would be updates as they became available. Trudeau switched to a CIBC report on Canadians not saving enough and having too much debt. Harper retorted that Trudeau didn’t have an actual definition for middle class, and dismissed the question. For his final question, Trudeau asked a boilerplate question on the plight of the middle class in French, to which Harper gave a dig that Trudeau wouldn’t know if he was meeting with middle class Canadians or not.
QP: Harper makes an appearance
For the first time in weeks, Stephen Harper was in the House for QP, as were all of the other leaders. Thomas Mulcair led off by asking about the repudiation for the Nadon appointment, and wanted a commitment that they would not attempt to reappoint him. Harper said that they would comply with the letter and the spirit of the ruling, and that the NDP didn’t have any objection to appointing a justice from the Federal Court. Mulcair asked about the fundraiser who travelled on the Challenger jet with Harper. Harper assured him that it was his practice to have those flights reimbursed at the commercial rate. Mulcair pressed, and alleged that the flight was a reward for fundraising, but Harper didn’t take the bait. Mulcair changed topics and asked about the elections bill and its repudiation by experts across the board. Harper retorted that the NDP opposed the bill without reading it, but shrugged off any further criticism. Justin Trudeau returned to the empty seat on the Supreme Court, and wondered when a new justice would be appointed. Harper reminded him that all of the parties supported having a judge appointed from the Federal Court and accused Trudeau of trying to politicise the appointment. Trudeau moved onto the cut to the Building Canada Fund, to which Harper insisted that they were making record investments, before making a crack about Trudeau’s definition of the middle class.
Roundup: Not denying the trail of evidence
The fallout from the departure of Dimitri Soudas continued around the Nation’s Capital yesterday, with Soudas giving this somewhat overdone defence of his “resignation” as doing it for the woman he loves, while other sources from within the party started to paint a picture of Soudas breaking his contract, with a data trail with his fingerprints on it leading to access to the party’s voter database and phone records that shoed hundreds of calls made to the riding where Eve Adams is contesting the nomination. Apparently he didn’t deny the allegations resulting from that investigation, and then he was out. There was also apparently pushback from the rest of the party leading up to the end, so it seems likely that Harper couldn’t ignore any problems with Soudas any longer. This now leaves a hole in Harper’s election organizing planning, as well as more questions about his judgement when it comes to appointments – adding to the long list that includes Senators Duffy, Brazeau and Wallin, and other appointments like Christiane Ouimet, Arthur Porter, and now Justice Nadon./
Roundup: A debate that won’t see the light of day
Conservative MP Stephen Fletcher is introducing two Private Member’s Bills on assisted suicide in order to get the debate on the agenda. The problem with this, of course, is that a) he would only have one slot for Private Member’s Business, so introducing two bills means one of them won’t see the light of day, and b) as Fletcher was a minister, his debate slot is at nearly the bottom of the list, as he only got it after he was dropped from cabinet, so it remains unlikely to see the light of day. Nevertheless, with the court challenges going on, it is a good reminder that Parliament should be debating these kinds of issues, but we all know that they are reluctant to, and try to fob off the hard work to the courts so that they can be seen to be dragged into doing something about it.
QP: No intention of giving a detailed analysis
With Stephen Harper now in Germany as his European trip carries on, and with Thomas Mulcair in Winnipeg, the only leaders present were Justin Trudeau and Elizabeth May. Deputy leader David Christopherson led off by asking about the vouching provisions in the elections bill, to which Pierre Poilievre gave a soliloquy about voter irregularities. Christopherson brought up the robocall registry requirements, to which Poilievre said that the current requirement is zero, so the one year requirement was better. Christopherson moved onto the party fundraisers riding government jets, to which Paul Calandra insisted that the value of the flights were reimbursed, though he neglected to say that the rate of reimbursement was lower than that of an economy flight during a seat sale. Nycole Turmel asked the same again in French and got the same answer, and same with a boilerplate question about the elections bill. Justin Trudeau was up for the Liberals, and asked about cuts to climate change offices in Environment Canada. Leona Aglukkaq responded that they had cut projected emissions without a carbon tax, which basically meant nothing at all. Trudeau brought up the cuts to the Building Canada Fund, to which Peter Braid responded with a weak sauce “thousands of billions” quip before touting all of their infrastructure investments (neglecting to mention that those funds are back-end loaded).