Possibly the last QP of the year — one can hope — and tempers continued to fray throughout the Precinct. None of the main leaders were present, which wasn’t going to improve the mood either. Peter Julian led things off, where he blustered about Northern Gateway decision, and Kelly Block was the sacrificial lamb sent up to read her talking points about how projects only move forward if they are proven to be safe after a rigorous, scientific review process, and that the proponent has more work to do. When Julian noted that consulting with First Nations was the government’s job, Block read that the government was working with First Nations. Nathan Cullen followed on to carry on the sanctimonious bluster, and Block read yet more of the same talking points. Chrystia Freeland led off for the Liberals, denouncing the justice minister’s sexist comments about female judges, to which Peter MacKay accused her of mischaracterizing his comments and that they only made judicial appointments made on merit. Carolyn Bennett and Scott Brison followed along, Brison characterising it as the Conservatives’ war on modernity, and after MacKay gave another embarrassing qualification, Leitch answered Brison by claiming that the number of female Governor-in-Council appointments is on the rise.
Tag Archives: Official Languages
Roundup: Poilievre’s new conspiracy theory
Pierre Poilievre’s narrative around his single-handed defence of the Fair Elections Act took another bizarre turn yesterday as he accused the Chief Electoral Officer of trying to gain more money and more power with no accountability to show for it. Um, really? Where exactly did that come from? And since when has it been cool to attack officers of parliament with impunity? Former Auditor General Sheila Fraser noted this particularly troubling development, but one has to admit that there has been mission creep among many of those Officers, entirely encouraged by the actual opposition parties who have been perpetually fobbing off their homework and responsibilities onto those Officers, effectively turning them into the real opposition to the government. So there’s that. Over on the Senate side, pre-study hearings began yesterday, and already there was much displeasure on the Senate Liberal side of the table, where Senator Serge Joyal said that there are provisions in the bill which are likely unconstitutional – opening it up to an immediate court challenge (and yes, Joyal is a constitutional expert, and he helped to draft the 1982 constitution).
QP: Burying the Sheila Fraser lede
Despite it being only Thursday, there was only one major leader in the House, as Stephen Harper was in Mississauga to announce a bill, and Justin Trudeau in Fort McMurray in advance of the by-election call there. Thomas Mulcair, still present in Ottawa, led off by asking about a refugee deportation case, to which Chris Alexander seemed to imply that the woman in question was not a genuine refugee. Mulcair brought up the plight of someone thrown in jail in China for assisting the labour movement, to which Alexander gave a paean about how great their refugee reforms were. Mulcair moved onto the elections bill, demanding that it be withdrawn. Pierre Poilievre insisted that his stories about widespread voter fraud were true. Mulcair then brought up former Auditor General Sheila Fraser’s objections to the bill — something I figured would have led off QP — but Poilievre was undaunted in his praise of the bill. For his final question, Mulcair brought up the request that the families of fallen soldiers pay their own way to a national memorial service. James Bezan said that expenses would be covered, and laid blame on the Colonel who sent out the letter. Chrystia Freeland led off for the Liberals, and brought up the changes in median incomes since the Conservatives came to power. Kevin Sorensen insisted that everyone was better off since they were in power. Freeland brought up other worrying figures, but Sorensen praised the government’s job creation record. Emmanuel Dubourg asked the same again in French, and Sorensen accused Trudeau of voting against middle class families time and again.
Roundup: Nobody panic, it’s just avian flu
H5N1 Avian Flu has claimed a life in Alberta – someone who contracted it while in China and started feeling ill on the plane ride home. Health officials are saying not to panic as it has so far resisted human-to-human transmission, and those closest to the affected person are being treated with Tamiflu, but the fact that this is going on while H1N1 is back in the news in Alberta, where ten people have died there from that particular virus is certainly causing some alarm.
Roundup: Assaulting the dignity of Parliament
It’s not the least bit surprising, but it should remain shocking every time it happens. Jim Flaherty announced yesterday that the fall economic update will be released next week, when the House is not sitting, and will be read in Edmonton and not the House of Commons. In other words, one more slap in the face to Parliament by a government that does its level best to devalue it at every opportunity. Because why not go for the cheap optics of a controlled message and release, instead of ensuring the dignity and sanctity of parliament are upheld.
QP: Searching for clues in the PMO
As yet another Rob Ford video hit the media and drew out all of the oxygen of the news cycle, Question Period got underway, the benches in the Commons a little emptier than usual for a Thursday. Thomas Mulcair started off back in prosecutorial mode, and asked who in the PMO was interviewed by the RCMP. Harper assured him that the PMO wasn’t under investigation — Mike Duffy was. Mulcair wondered what documents the RCMP were requesting, but Harper would only say that they were cooperating. Mulcair asked if Harper personally knew about requests for the party to pay for Duffy’s expenses. Harper insisted that he’s been clear, and that he told Duffy to repay his expenses. Mulcair brought up the contradictions in the story to date, but Harper insisted that the facts were clear, that Duffy made inappropriate claims and took a cheque he wasn’t supposed to. When Mulcair brought up Harper’s quote from the days of the sponsorship scandal, Harper said that the $40 million in taxpayer dollars from sponsorship was completely different from the Duffy situation. Dominic LeBlanc led off for the Liberals, and asked if any documents from Chris Woodcock were turned over to the RCMP. Paul Calandra took the hit for this one, and said that they were cooperating and then accused the Liberals in the Senate of fighting for the status quo. Ralph Goodale picked it up, and asked if Woodcock was ever asked about his participation in events. Calandra simply insisted that the Liberals were awful.
Senate QP: The long farewell speech
Unlike in the Commons, the Senate does their statements first off, then proceeds to Routine Proceedings, before they move onto QP. The statements were paying tribute to Senator De Bané, Canada’s first Arab-Canadian MP and holder of five cabinet posts under the Trudeau government, who is due to retire from the Senate in August. After all of the tributes, and De Bané’s farewell speech that followed, it was a lengthy reflection of his career, the value of the Senate, and his proposal that the Senate create a non-partisan standing committee on culture.
QP: Selective rate regulation
Being both Budget Day Eve and caucus day, the excitement was palpable. Thomas Mulcair led off QP by reading off a question about how Peter Penashue broke the law, and wondered what it said about the rest of the caucus. Harper rejected the characterisation, and touted ALL THE THINGS that Penashue did for Labrador. Mulcair then turned to the issue of Flaherty’s haranguing banks to not engage in a mortgage war when he wouldn’t regulate credit card rates. Harper insisted that mortgage rates were at the lowest rate in history, and Flaherty was trying to ensure market stability. Françoise Boivin was up next asking about the PBO’s latest report on crime legislation spending, but Rob Nicholson mostly deflected by bringing up Mulcair’s meeting with Gary Freeman while in the States. Bob Rae returned to the question of Penashue, to which Harper considered Rae’s characterisations to be negative campaigning. For his final question, Rae brought up the Competition Act with respect to Flaherty’s calls to the banks about mortgage rates, not that Harper’s answer about market stability changed.
Roundup: Cyber-security and Cylon attacks
While considering the challenges posed by the new frontier of cyber-security and hacker attacks, Senator Pamela Wallin says that the government shouldn’t introduce more regulation, but should rely on businesses to report breaches and for people to educate themselves about staying safe from cyber-criminals. Um, yeah – good luck with that – which was pretty much the opinion of experts, who say that more regulation is pretty much necessary to force companies to do something about their cyber-security.
In a not un-related fun story that looks at the Order of Precedence, PostMedia wonders what would happen if we suffered a Cylon attack. As astute viewers of Battlestar Galactica will remember, Laura Roslin was 42nd in line when she became president after everyone else was wiped out in the attack. In Canada, there are 37 names on the list – err, except that this is simply the cabinet list. After that, there are provisions that would allow for the Queen or Governor General to ensure that there was a continuity of government.
Senate QP: Potato packaging and linguistic concerns
With the vote-a-thon proceeding apace in the Commons, I decided to head down the hall to the Other Place – otherwise known as the Senate – to observe the proceedings, and Question Period, there. Note that Nathan Cullen tried to get them the Commons to suspend the votes to still hold Question Period there, but he could not seek unanimous consent. But seriously – the point of marathon votes is to make it uncomfortable to be forced to stay in their seats through the votes, why give them a 45-minute reprieve so that the House can empty out to a skeleton crew?
After some senators’ statements, and reports having been tabled from committees, Senate Question Period got underway. Senator Hubley rose for the Liberals, and asked about changes in CFIA regulations when it comes to food labelling and packaging, especially for the effect that it was going to have on the potato industry on PEI, and could the government indicate who they consulted with before making these changes? Senator LeBreton, the Leader of the Government in the Senate, gets to answer all of the questions put to the government. She mentioned that Senator Nolin had previously raised the question with her, and that the changes had to deal with harmonising cross-border standards. That said, she has already submitted a request for a written response from the minister, and would pass along the Senator’s concerns. Hubley rose again and delivered a few facts about the industry, and asked again for information on who the government consulted with. LeBreton responded that she would ask.