Tag Archives: Fiscal Austerity

Roundup: False plots to take away votes

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There is no set by-election in Etobicoke Centre yet – in fact, the Supreme Court has not yet decided if they will hear the appeal – and the ground war in that riding is already heating up. The Conservatives have been calling voters to warn them that the Liberals were plotting to “overthrow” their votes, and that their votes would be “taken away” by the court decision. Which is a complete distortion, but all’s fair in war and politics, or something like that. Not that the Liberals haven’t started fundraising in preparation for the by-election there either, though not using such patently false claims it should be noted.

Thomas Mulcair blames Stephen Harper for east-west divisions, not his own comments. Shocking, I know. Meanwhile, Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall has some concerns over the “Dutch disease” comments, as does Dalton McGuinty. McGuinty says that the high dollar does pose challenges for the manufacturing sector, but it’s not “Dutch disease,” which really, when you actually weigh what’s going on, is more the case.

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Roundup: Scheer gives himself passing grades

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Speaker Scheer feels that decorum has been improving in the Commons, and while it’s not perfect, he thinks that we mostly don’t notice the improvement because only the bad behaviour gets noticed. He also says that some of his discipline is quiet, so that it doesn’t draw more attention to the behaviour in question. As a regular attendee of QP, I’m not sure how much of this I would attribute to Scheer himself. Some of the “improvement” can be attributed to the NDP’s unctuous sanctimony with their so-called “heckle ban” – which they do break all the time, but they are on the whole quieter than the Liberals (well, those who don’t feel the need to yell constantly anyway). Scheer however seems just as reluctant to bring the hammer down in public as Milliken was, and at times he seems to ignore some pretty unparliamentary language. Suffice to say, I’m not terribly convinced.

It seems that not all Conservatives are happy with Bev Oda’s spending habits, or the fact that she has been changing her expense reports without explanation.

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QP: Kent’s version of what happened

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While Thomas Mulcair was busy touring the Alberta oil sands, Nathan Cullen was once again holding the fort in Ottawa, and his lead series of questions were on the objections of those former Conservative fisheries ministers to the changes of the Act in the omnibus budget bill. Stephen Harper assured him that these changes were getting more committee study than ever, and that they would ensure a thorough and efficient review process. Cullen then brought up the upcoming website blackout protest and the attack on charities, but Harper shrugged it off, saying that most charities follow the rules and this was just ensuring that remains the case. Peggy Nash lamented that the government was offering no environmental leadership, to which Peter Kent reminded her that all three ministers showed up at the subcommittee for two hours! Except no, it was only for one hour, and it was a surprise appearance with almost no prior notice, and three ministers at once means that you can’t really get any substantive answers, but hey, details. Bob Rae asked about Rona Ambrose’s comments on the need to come with a new procurement process, and indicated that the government needed to take another step back in order to actually have some defence and foreign affairs policies in order before we decide what kind of planes we need. Harper simply retorted that at least his government was doing procurement, unlike the Liberals did. When John McKay asked for an open, fair and transparent competition for the fighter procurement, Jacques Gourde delivered Rona Ambrose’s talking points for her.

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Roundup: Gruesome deliveries

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It was a grisly day in Ottawa as a severed human foot was delivered to Conservative Party headquarters, and a severed hand found in a package a few hours later at a Canada Post depot. Yikes. No explanations yet, but you can be sure that everyone is pretty creeped out about this. As if that wasn’t bad enough, a torso was discovered in a suitcase in a garbage pile in Montreal, which may or may not be related.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer says that he’s still having difficulty getting numbers on the cuts, but suspects they may be deeper than advertised.

The government has decided not to appeal the court decision on veterans benefits clawbacks. This means that the government now has hundreds of millions of dollars in pension repayments to sort out.

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QP: The calm before the Apocalypse

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It started out like any other Question Period would. Thomas Mulcair rose to decry the effect of the EI changes on seasonal workers, and Harper assured him that EI would be there for those who need it. Peggy Nash tried to draw a connection between today’s census data and the need for OAS, but Diane Finley returned to her “sustainable” talking points, while Tony Clement assured her that all of their financial data was still being reported in quarterly reports and so on. Bob Rae brought up the comments of Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Kathy Dunderdale regarding the EI changes and the lack of consultation, but Harper assured him that he meets with premiers all the time. The Liberal benches didn’t sound like they believed that story, and while Harper may meet with premiers on an individual basis, he certainly hasn’t called a First Minister’s meeting in about six years, for the record.

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QP: McJobs and the race to the bottom

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The final MP to give a member’s statement for the day was Ted Opitz, embattled MP whose election results were overturned, and who decided earlier in the day to appeal to the Supreme Court at the last minute. As soon as he stood up to give a perfunctory attack against the NDP and their “reckless economic policies,” a voice shouted from the Liberal benches “Are you still here?” Apparently so.

And when Thomas Mulcair rose to begin QP, he prompted that perhaps Opitz may want to listen carefully as he may soon be seeking EI – before he went into a tale about how manufacturing jobs were being replaced with “McJobs.” John Baird, today’s back-up PM, lamented Mulcair’s lack of commitment to the “new civility” before he touted how great the new EI measures were going to be. Mulcair followed up with comparisons between the EI reforms and Conservative patronage appointments, not that Baird took the bait, but instead delivered his talking points about individual circumstances being considered. Megan Leslie was up next to also take on EI, with a bit more of a spin on seasonal industries, to which Diane Finley gave some slightly modified talking points, making it clear that this was good news for Canadians who want to work but who just need more information on where those jobs are. Bob Rae turned to the issue of the looming back-to-work legislation, and wondered why the government wouldn’t allow for both sides to appear before a committee to explain their situation before the government drops the hammer. Lisa Raitt lamented that when the Liberals once tried this, the matter got tied up in committee by the opposition – to which the Liberal benches roared that her party was the opposition at the time – not that it seemed to matter. Rae returned to the issue of EI and the lack of consultation with the premiers, to which Baird reminded everyone about what a terribly premier Rae had been, as though it was germane to the topic at hand.

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Roundup: Less accessible EI appeals

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Amidst all of the changes to the EI system, another of the items tucked away in the omnibus budget bill is the scrapping of the two current EI review boards. While the current system is free and as different levels of appeal, the plan calls for a much smaller board to hear EI appeals, along with CPP and OAS claimants. Oh, and it’s a more technical process that’s likely going to need people to hire lawyers, thus making far more inaccessible than the current system. Diane Finley and her people claim “efficiency” and “less duplication,” while the people who work with the system currently say that it’s not actually inefficient. Oh, and about those changes to the EI system, Newfoundland and Labrador premier Kathy Dunderdale is not happy – especially about the lack of consultation with the decision, not that this should come as a great shock.

Lockheed Martin says that Canadian companies will lose out on future contracts if we don’t go ahead with the F-35 purchase – and that all indications on their end are that the government is still committed to them, despite this new secretariat and a Seven-Step Action Plan™.

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Roundup: Unveiling the proposed regulations

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Diane Finley has unveiled her proposed EI reform regulations, and it seems to be a lot about twice-daily emails about “appropriate” jobs in the local area to EI recipients. Which is great – provided you have a computer and Internet access, and aren’t one of those poor schmucks who has to rely on their local library for the Internet, especially seeing as the federal funding for those library computers is now at an end. The changes will also track how often one claims EI, and start taking away benefits the more you claim it. Rona Ambrose likens it to E-Harmony for jobseekers. No, seriously. Meanwhile, here is some more reaction, plus Scott Brison relays concerns from the agricultural sector in his riding with regards to these reforms’ limits on temporary foreign workers, who they say the use of actually creates more jobs for local residents. Steve Murray casts his satirical eye on the situation here.

To say nothing about him personally, John Baird has been pretty vocal about promoting GBLT rights around the world in his capacity as foreign affairs minister. With that in mind, it’s awfully curious that he was speaking at an event sponsored by an anti-gay church on the topic of religious freedom. His speech, however, was pretty bland, and offered no real clues about the still undefined Office of Religious Freedoms.

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Roundup: Null and void

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The results of the last federal election in Etobicoke Centre were declared null and void by an Ontario court yesterday after the judge found there to be enough improper votes cast to overturn the results. The Conservatives have eight days to file an appeal – which would go directly to the Supreme Court in an expedited process – before a by-election needs to be called. While Borys Wrzesnewskyj insists that there was voter suppression in his riding, this was not the basis of the results being overturned, but rather, because Elections Canada officials and the volunteers at the polling stations didn’t follow rules. This does raise the issue of the kind of training that volunteer and scrutineers receive, and what happens when people get lazy, take shortcuts, and don’t follow rules properly. (And yes, the Conservatives have put out talking points that they followed the rules but this is an Elections Canada issue).

While it’s not related to the Etobicoke Centre decision, Elections Canada will soon be receiving a report on the Guelph robo-calls.

What’s that? The Conservatives refuse to release the draft report they prepared in 2007 on pension sustainability? You don’t say! But Finance officials have finally confirmed that the OAS changes are expected to save the treasury about $10.8 billion – even though both ministers refuse to.

Uh oh – it looks like Alberta is going to miss its emissions reduction targets, and that its already dubious carbon-capture-and-storage scheme is falling off the rails. But at least it’s prompting a review of said programmes, right?

Economist Stephen Gordon further problematises the “Dutch disease” rhetoric, and throws in what some of the environmental arguments would mean if they were equally applied to the manufacturing sector. Meanwhile, it turns out that Industry Canada funded their own study into the phenomenon a couple of years ago and found some correlation, but the government of course is distancing itself from it.

There will be another vacancy on the Supreme Court by August. I’m guessing that means September special Parliamentary hearings, unless we’re really lucky and get “emergency” ones in the summer.

The costs of the restoration of buildings in the Parliamentary Precinct continues to rise, but we all know that over time and over budget is part of our proud Canadian heritage.

Here’s a look at the impacts on Canadian archaeology that the cuts to Parks Canada are going to have.

Prince Charles writes about service in a nod to the Diamond Jubilee and his upcoming visit to Canada.

And Scott Brison has a little bit of fun at the expense of the “nude Stephen Harper” painting.

QP: Tinfoil hats and telecom trouble

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While some MPs may have been a bit bleary-eyed from the previous late night, it certainly didn’t make for a dull Question Period. Or perhaps, that’s why it took such a turn for the worse the longer it continued. Thomas Mulcair was up first, reciting his carefully prepared questions on why the government still hadn’t provided any figures for the planned changes to OAS, to which Harper assured him that there weren’t going to be any actual cuts to benefits. Mulcair then turned to the issue of Chinese telecom company Huawei being granted Canadian contracts after the US and Austraila barred them as security risks. Harper insisted that the US doesn’t dictate our policies. When Randall Garrison rose to keep asking about the same questions, Vic Toews said that the CBC story only told half the tale, and that his officials weren’t in opposition, while Conservative backbenchers chirped about people wearing tinfoil hats. Bob Rae got up to ask about the changes to EI and how worker protections were eroding as their rights would no longer be enshrined in legislation, but rather in regulation. But when he demanded that Harper produce said regulation now, Harper dodged and insisted that the appeals process would remain in place. When Rae turned to the issue that the government wouldn’t produce the data on how much would be saved in the OAS changes, Harper reminded him that the measures wouldn’t be coming into effect until 2023.

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