As we head back to the Duffy courtroom for week two, there are a couple of pieces of note. David Reevely is incredulous at the picture being painted by Duffy’s lawyer – that somehow, a man who has been desperate to be on Parliament Hill and who has haunted it since the early 1970s was somehow naïve about the way that the place worked and was such a “rookie” that he had trouble following its intricacies. In other words, yeah right. James Cudmore, meanwhile, looks at the Duffy Diaries and sees in them Duffy’s personal desire to be a player, and those diaries break down some of his façade for the public. The desire to be a player is not news – it’s long been a fact of life on the Hill that Duffy coveted a seat in the Senate and the romantic (and utterly false) notion of the “taskless thanks,” and a former PEI senator used to say that Duffy would check his pulse every time he shook his hand, and Duffy certainly let several prime ministers know that he wanted the job, and finally Stephen Harper took him up on it in his mass of panic appointments in late 2008 during the coalition crisis, despite all of the warning signs (including Duffy’s prior conviction in Tax Court of trying to fiddle with his expenses on television). Duffy had previously said that the only question Harper had asked him was his commitment to Senate reform – such a long ago notion now that we have the Supreme Court reference that lays out the path for such a notion – but it’s clear from Duffy’s actions that it wasn’t really the case. He wanted to be a player, remember, and so he took up the torch for Harper. There are plenty of other Senators, even Conservative ones, who don’t do any fundraising for the party, but Duffy was fully aboard with it, his partisanship ratcheted up as he attacked opposition MPs, premiers of other political stripes, and put on dog-and-pony shows about the Economic Action Plan™, which led to that now infamously signed photo. Does this sound like someone who was a poor naïve legislator who was trying to fumble his way through the flexible rules of the Senate? I’m not sure that’s the picture that the broader context paints, but one has to wonder how much any of this will be the fodder of the Crown. It’s still early days in the trial, but one should be wary of the portrait the defence is painting of Duffy and the institution itself.
Tag Archives: Foreign Policy
Roundup: The hardest working appointment
Day three was much like day two in the Duffy trial – more trying to assert that there were no residency rules in the Senate, so as to absolve Duffy of having broken them under the letter of the law. Things later moved onto partisan activities, and the big feature everyone was talking about was the autographed photo of Harper and Duffy together, where Harper wrote that Duffy was his hardest-working and best appointment. Well, if he was hardest working, it was for party activities and not Senate business, as Duffy had a pretty lax attendance record for the two committees he sat on – a mere 55 percent, while a fellow PEI senator had 100 percent. So there’s that. It speaks to a willingness on Duffy’s part to do the Prime Minister’s bidding at the detriment of his own constitutional obligations as a senator, unlike other fundraisers that Harper appointed, such as Irving Gerstein, who chair committees and take those duties fairly seriously. And if Duffy couldn’t say “No, I have work to do,” when asked to do yet another party fundraisers, well, that reflects badly on him, doesn’t it? Rather unexpectedly, Patrick Brazeau and his lawyer showed up to watch, apparently taking notes on the proceedings, likely for the benefit of their own upcoming trial. Elsewhere, here’s a look at some of the other findings in the Duffy Diaries, including some backroom machinations in the caucus, some of the other observations of the day, and Nicholas Köhler’s write-up.
Roundup: The trial begins
The day has finally arrived, and the Mike Duffy trial can begin – and let me say, if you were sick of hearing about it before it began, well, the wall-to-wall coverage is going to be insufferable, especially over the next two weeks until the Commons resumes its sitting, and we’ll get a budget. And you’ll forgive me if I’m not one of the people who is expecting this to be a litany of fireworks and bombshells that will damage the PMO. If anything, I would presume that the judge would take a dim view of any attempt to make this a trial of Stephen Harper’s government rather than of Duffy’s culpability in his own affairs. After all, he signed off on all of those expenses, and he bears responsibility for everything, up to and including accepting that cheque from Nigel Wright. The rest – trying to pry open the inner workings of the PMO, as much as Duffy’s lawyer may try to bring this up to portray Duffy as the victim or a pawn in these machinations, I doubt will hold much water. In fact, even the most recent “shocking” revelation has nothing to do with the PMO, but rather with Duffy’s own hand in things. So no, I really don’t think this is going to be cause for Harper to sweat or lay awake at night – one doubts that Duffy has too much dirt left that can damage him at this point. (Incidentally, the Maclean’s Duffy trial page is pretty sweet, particularly the Scott Feschuk humour pieces.)
ICYMI, back in September I profiled Duffy's lawyer, Donald Bayne, for @CanLawMag. http://t.co/5vbbFs4cTn
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) April 7, 2015
QP: New BSE concerns
The benches were pretty empty in the Commons on Monday, and apparently more than a few MPs were snowed in at their local airports, and none of the leaders were present. That meant that David Christopherson led off for the NDP, gruffly worrying about the BSE case in Alberta. Gerry Ritz confirmed that it was found and that they were still investigating. Christopherson wondered about consumer confidence, to which Ritz repeated that they were working with the farm in question and they put money in the budget to advance beef trading, which the NDP opposed. Christopherson then moved onto the back-to-work legislation for CP Rail, and the safety issues around it. Jeff Watson responded with some bog standard talking points about rail safety. Nycole Turmel repeated the questions in French, and Watson repeated his answers in English. Stéphane Dion was up for the Liberals, asking about the infrastructure deficit and the comments made by Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi, and would the government do something about it. Peter Braid gave his standard Building Canada Fund talking points in response. Dion pressed, and Braid repeated his talking points more forcefully. Dion was back up, noting the bulk of the investments were backloaded, but Braid insisted that they were better off than under the Liberals.
Roundup: Chris Alexander’s niqab nonsense
In a mind-boggling moment of specious logic and dog-whistle politics as its worst, Immigration Minister Chris Alexander asserted that people who defend women wearing the niqab are inherently defending violence against women. No, seriously. I’m not even sure where to begin, from the patriarchal assertions that deny women agency to make their own choices about what they wear, to the completely false moral equivalence between the two, all while trying to score political points on the xenophobic attitudes of a portion of the population that feels uncomfortable by the Other that confronts them (or as in the case of the vast majority of the country, something that doesn’t actually confront them but they’ve seen on television and are weirded out by). More than anything, it’s exceedingly odd that this is a government that likes to get up on any high horse it finds and trumpets the fact that it champions freedom of religion around the globe. Look, we even created a special ambassador for the post, and pretty much overturned the doctrine that there shouldn’t be a hierarchy of rights, and yet here we are privileging religion above other rights in our foreign policy. And yet, the moment these women choose to demonstrate their religious observance by wearing the niqab, this government freaks out and says no, that’s terribly, you can’t do it at these times and places. And yes, I know that the niqab is really more of a cultural observance than a religious one, but many of these women believe it to be religious, so unless we want to go full colonial on them, perhaps the government – and Alexander in particular – needs to rethink the logic of their position before they make any more boneheaded pronouncements.
QP: Let’s keep repeating quotes!
With John Baird’s big resignation speech out of the way, and all of the leaders present in the Chamber, it had the makings of a more exciting day. Thomas Mulcair led off, asking about the job losses at Target and wondered where the budget was — odd, considering that Target’s closure has absolutely nothing to do with the government. Harper insisted that he put out a number of economic measures, and read a quote from the CFIB that called the NDP’s measures “dumb and anti-small business.” Mulcair read a competing quote where the head of the CFIB praised an NDP proposal, then asked the same question again. Harper, in turn, doubled down on his answer. Muclair read the same quote yet again, then gave an anecdote about being in a Legion Hall in Sudbury before demanding to see the budget again, giving Harper yet another option to repeat the “dumb and anti-small business quote.” Mulcair railed about all of the eggs being in the “extractive basket” — not remotely true mathematically — and Harper bashed on the NDP being high tax. Mulcair gave a convoluted question about corporations sitting on dead money before demanding help for the middle class and a budget. Harper listed off a number of actions he announced. Justin Trudeau was up next, and decried the problems of the middle class and wondered why the government was giving tax breaks to those who didn’t need them. Harper praised the help they were giving families including a tax cut. Trudeau noted the cuts to infrastructure investments, and said the government’s priorities were wrong when they wanted to help the wealthiest 15 percent of Canadians. Harper reiterated how great his policies were for families. Trudeau then changed topics and wondered about a statement that Peter MacKay once upon a time about the need for parliamentary oversight of national security. Harper insisted that SIRC was robust and functioned well.
Roundup: A surprising defection
The NDP have lost another MP, but this time the defection is very surprising. Sudbury MP Glenn Thibeault has decided to leave federal politics and run for the provincial Liberals in that riding. Thibeault said that it was a long decision making process, and that he felt the Liberals’ plans for the region were something he felt strongly about, but then he hinted to CBC Sudbury that he was not seeing eye-to-eye with the federal NDP, and that’s when the warning lights go off – especially because Thibeault was caucus chair until a couple of weeks ago. He wouldn’t elaborate on that fact when later asked about it on Power & Politics, but it is still a big klaxon that all is not as it seems in the NDP caucus. Remember this is the caucus that is always united and solidarity in all things. When cracks form below the surface, it’s always a bit of interesting Kremlinology, and while clues may be hard to come by as to what the divisions are, the fact that they are present does add more grains of salt to the constant assurances that the party has never been more united – a phrase they trot out every time they lose another MP.
QP: Good administration for veterans
It was a full house for caucus day, and there were numerous paeans to Jean Beliveau before things got started. Thomas Mulcair led off by asking about the staff reductions at Veterans Affairs, to which Stephen Harper said that they were increasing services for veterans, before he offered his own statement about Beliveau. Mulcair turned to veterans service centre closures and wondered why he wasn’t firing the minister instead. Harper insisted that they took resources away from back room bureaucracy and were delivering more services, calling it “good administration.” Mulcair moved to the government’s court arguments that the sacred obligations for veterans were just political speeches signifying nothing. Harper insisted that he would not comment on matters before the courts, but that the substantive measure was that they enhanced veterans services in numerous ways. Mulcair pressed, to which Harper insisted that the items he was listing were not political rhetoric but were real action for veterans, which the opposition voted against. Mulcair promised that an NDP would reopen every one of those offices, before pivoting to the issue of funding for thalidomide victims. Harper said that the meetings were ongoing, before returning listing to the veterans programmes that the NDP voted against. Justin Trudeau was up next, and asked about the underfunding of military cemeteries, to which Harper insisted that the government enhanced funeral services for veterans, which Liberals voted against. After another round in French, Trudeau asked about the government meeting with an École Polytechnique survivors group, Harper insisted that they knew why Marc Lepine targeted those women and they would continue to support victims.
I'm glad that the Commons votes on individual budget line items. Oh, wait… #QP
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) December 3, 2014
QP: Fantino’s third-party management
Tuesday, and all four leaders were in the chamber today, as was Julian Fantino. It was going to be a good day for outrage. Thomas Mulcair led off by immediately laying into Fantino and wondering about the lack of confidence in the minister if he was imposing “third party management” on the department. Harper insisted that he didn’t know what Mulcair was talking about and praised the former Chief of Defence Staff becoming the new Deputy Minister, and that he could think of no greater honour than the minister paying tribute to the 70th anniversary of the Italian Campaign. Mulcair asked again in French, where Harper reminded him that Fantino’s new chief of staff had nothing to do with the Duffy affair before repeating his previous answer. Mulcair wondered why the minister was still there if he had lost confidence in him. Harper noted that all ministers have chiefs of staff, and that Mulcair must also have one “overseeing the slow descent” of that party, before reminding him of the accrual accounting rules about the funding announcement. Mulcair moved onto the lack of concern by Aglukkaq on the scavenging allegations, to which Harper assured him that the people of Nunavut have never had stronger representation. Mulcair lumped in Gerry Ritz and Candice Bergen to his blanket condemnation, and Harper assured him that he was proud to compare the track record of his government to that of the NDP, before singing the praises of his front bench, and that then slammed the NDP of having such little public support that they had to “rob parliamentary funds” — earning him a rebuke from the Speaker. Justin Trudeau was up next, and brought up the 50-year timeline of the veterans announcement. Harper assured him that his government has invested $5 billion in additional measures over veterans, and accused the Liberals of voting against veterans and families. Trudeau accused the Prime Minister of prioritizing tax cuts for the wealthy over veterans and demanded an apology. Harper retorted that the Liberals should apologize for voting against veterans every single time. Trudeau gave one more shot in French, to which Harper repeated his answer in French.
Roundup: Jean gets the Francophonie nod
Former Governor General Michaëlle Jean has been named the new secretary-general of La Francophonie at the summit in Senegal on Sunday. Jean is the first woman and the first person from North America to helm the organisation, which has largely been dominated by African states. Unlike the Commonwealth, La Francophonie is a more problematic international organisation, dedicated more to language and culture and as a result has some fairly questionable member states with even more troubling human rights records, and it is now an open question as to whether Jean will be able to do more to steer the organisation into a new and more positive direction. Jean has spoken about the need to strengthen economic action in the developing world, apparently owing to what some call the “Chrétien Doctrine,” that assisting poor countries develop their economies will also boost their human rights along the way. Stephen Harper, who had endorsed Jean’s bit and whose government backed much of the travel that Jean did while campaigning for the post, is hoping to use the boost of having a Canadian heading the organisation to help with his maternal and child health goals. In fact, Harper used the summit to urge action on ending forced and early marriages – though his own government’s legislation on that subject is hugely problematic. In fact, I would urge you to read the speech that Senator Mobina Jaffer gave in the Senate on the bill, which raises a number of red flags as to just how much of a problem the bill is in the broader context.