Tag Archives: Immigration

Roundup: Another Nexen decision delay

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In a move that surprises pretty much no one, the government has extended the deadline on the Nexen deal by another month, giving themselves until December 10 to make up their minds. This is no doubt in large part because Haprer is off to India next week and wouldn’t be around to deal with this outcome, no matte what it will be, and considering how they worked until the last minute on the Petronas deal, they may still be hard at work on this file and need more time.

It looks like the skilled worker immigration backlog could be eliminated by the end of 2014 – three years ahead of schedule – because of plans to create a pool system where provinces and employers can cherry-pick the workers that best suit their needs. The whole thing could be scuttled, however, by an upcoming court case that deals with the plans to legislate away the pre-2008 backlog, because those would-be immigrants would have been denied due process.

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Roundup: Breaking it up for study

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Despite the various committees having refused to look at elements of the omnibus budget bill, and the NDP bringing it up in committee, it seems the government had a change of heart after QP, and moved that ten committees would study aspects of the bill. Watch the NDP claim victory for “forcing the government’s hand” tomorrow.

Jason Kenney’s latest immigration changes are to make it easier for foreign students to stay in Canada, which makes a certain amount of sense. It’s too bad we’re not a “top-of-mind” destination for foreign students to head to.

A private member’s bill that makes wearing a mask during a riot an extra offence has passed the House – never mind that it’s a somewhat redundant law, and is ripe for a Charter challenge with its reverse-onus and broad definition of “lawful excuse.” I can’t wait to see the Senate committee dig into it and the language.

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QP: The committee has spoken

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The Conservatives had a bit of Halloween-themes fun as QP was about to start by getting Corneliu Chisu, an MP who hails from the Transylvanian region of Romania, to affect his best affected accent before warning of the “scary” NDP fictional carbon tax – a tacit admission that this whole carbon tax nonsense is really one big joke. When QP officially got underway, Thomas Mulcair read off a trio of questions around the Canada-China FIPA, promising to cancel it if he should one day form government. Harper’s response was that the investment community has been looking for this kind of long-term protection. Peggy Nash was up next, asking why the Parliamentary Budget Officer was not getting the information he requested, to which Flaherty assures her that the House already gets this kind if information on a regular basis. For his first pair of questions, Bob Rae wondered why the Canada-China FIPA had a 15-year notice period as opposed to the usual six months, to which Harper reiterates the point about long-term protection. For his final question, Rae asked why there was such secrecy around the FIPA and the Nexen deal, and asked, “What would Preston do?” But Harper would not rise to the bait of invoking Preston Manning, and spoke about the FIPA providing a legal framework for investment.

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QP: Not so much answering as chastising

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It was a much rowdier day in the House today, as a Conservative Members’ Statement on the fictional carbon tax as being the doom of Halloween got booed down just before the action got started. Thomas Mulcair was up first, reading a pair of questions related to the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s downgrading his fiscal projections, but John Baird – once again the back-up PM du jour – didn’t so much answer as chastised the NDP for voting against the previous budget bills. A question on youth unemployment merited more of the same. Libby Davies was up next, noting the report which said that food bank use continues to be up despite the economic recovery, and while Shelly Glover answered by saying that the PBO’s report also said good things about our performance relative to the rest of the world, while Diane Finley answered the supplemental and said that they were helping those who were suffering. Scott Brison was up for the Liberals today in Bob Rae’s stead, and he asked a trio of questions about the Conservatives not going after tax havens abroad while they cut the CRA, but Baird once again didn’t so much respond as made a bunch of non sequitur attacks about how the Liberals cut healthcare back in their day and so on.

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Roundup: Not a lot of fat to cut

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His first day on the job, and the new Chief of Defence Staff says there’s not a lot of fat to cut at National Defence, and that they will likely have to go on the low end of planned procurements. Yeah, this could be an interesting four years.

Petronas has agreed to give the government another 30 days to deliberate on their takeover offer of Progress Energy, where I’m sure a tweak or two will be added. But really, it means another month of listening to concerns about foreign takeover rules that still remain unclear.

Falling commodity prices, lower than expected inflation, and lower than expected government revenues? No problem – the government’s deficit reduction plans remain on track, Flaherty says.

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Roundup: Laundering future abuses of power

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After pushing through new legislation that gives him extraordinary powers to determine who can be barred from entering the country, immigration minister Jason Kenney now says he’ll let a parliamentary committee determine the guidelines around it. Instead of, you know, putting limits in the legislation in the first place so that he’s not vested with so much arbitrary power in the first place. Also, it launders any potential political fallout when the powers are abused, because he gets to say “the committee set those limits, not me.”

The rebranding of the Canadian Museum of Civilization means it is now the Canadian Museum of History, which will be more of a unified history museum, which we don’t really have here in the Nation’s Capital. It won’t be another war museum, and no, the minister can’t exert curatorial influence. Part of this idea of networking smaller museums around the country is one where they can share artefacts between them for focused exhibits, which is great – assuming, of course, that they have the budgets to transport these artefacts around the country.

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QP: Not biting on the resignation demands

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With Harper heading home from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Bob Rae away elsewhere, it was up to Thomas Mulcair to be the sole leader in the leader’s round of questions. He began QP by reading a trio of questions on the tainted beef issue, his third question including a demand that Gerry Ritz resign. Ritz was up to speak each time – rather than another back-up PM du jour – but spoke about taking food safety seriously and science-based decision, but wouldn’t take the bait on the resignation demand. Malcolm Allen was up next to say that there aren’t enough meat inspectors in the system, to which Ritz replied that the Union said there were. Marc Garneau was up for the Liberals, first asking a pair of questions on reassurances around food safety, to which Ritz took the classy move of blaming previous Liberal cuts for the problems and to tout their government’s “reinvestments” in food safety. For his last question, Garneau asked about the issue of bullying, to which Rob Nicholson replied that the government was taking action, there were two Parliamentary committees studying the issue, as well as funding for RCMP and cyber-tips hotlines.

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Roundup: Joint embassies ahead

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Apparently we’re going to be part of a network of joint embassies with other British Commonwealth nations, in an attempt to head off the rising influence of European Union diplomats. It’s being billed as a cost-cutting measure, but there already questions about sovereignty being raised, as well as some fairly grossly inaccurate statements about how we’re under the same Queen (which we’re not – the Crowns are separate, even if Elizabeth II wears them all).

Here’s the strange case of an Ottawa communications firm involved with the F-35 blocking media access to aspects of the story. This, of course, while there are more questions as to whether or not the F-35 is really the pinnacle of fighter jet technology that its creators claim.

Thomas Mulcair was in Edmonton over the weekend to attend the provincial NDP convention there (despite saying that he stays out of provincial affairs when asked about happenings in Quebec). There, Mulcair told the audience that they need to boost the Canadian manufacturing sector (in other words, build refineries and upgraders in Alberta and not the Keystone XL pipeline to send said bitumen for processing in the States), while provincial leader Brian Mason claimed that his party were the true heirs to Peter Lougheed’s legacy.

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Roundup: Another omnibus?

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Here’s a look at what a new omnibus budget bill might contain – things like changes to science and research policies, or minor tax changes. Apparently there is some debate within the caucus about what the changes to pensions should entail, especially around the age of eligibility.

The opposition is concerned that a crackdown on “absentee” permanent residents could negatively impact the investment climate in the country.

We’re signing a nuclear deal with the United Arab Emirates in order to provide uranium to their reactors, and to set an example to Iran, apparently.

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Roundup: Fraudulent citizenship alert

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Jason Kenney announced that the government is revoking the citizenship of some 3100 Canadians after an investigation showed that they were fraudulently obtained. The fact that a large number of those contacted about their pending revocation aren’t contesting the fact is probably an indication that there is an acknowledged problem, though I’m not exactly sure that we can take Kenney’s assurances that this will save us money in the long run at face value, since a lot of resources are going into these investigations while the backlogs aren’t getting any additional resources to be cleared. Also, apparently the department is also “rigorously” scrutinising any Iranian immigrants for any links to the regime there.

A Quebec superior court judge has ruled that the province has a right to its long-gun registry data, which has Vic Toews completely apoplectic.

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