The last QP of the sitting could be described in a single word: Scattershot. Apparently everyone was looking to get as many YouTube clips for their MPs’ websites to sustain them through the summer on a variety of topics, so there was very little coherence to any of the debate. Thomas Mulcair asked about F-35s (Harper: We’re rebuilding the Canadian Forces with the equipment our men and women in uniform need!), the cut in funds to minority francophone newspapers (Harper: There’s this funding formula in place, and hey, you ran all kinds of unilingual Anglophone candidates in francophone ridings), and about the myriad ethical lapses of the Conservative front bench (Harper: This was one of the most legislatively productive periods in Canadian history, and you’re an ineffective opposition!). So there. Nycole Turmel then took a turn batting away at those ethical lapses (Paradis: Our government’s done a good job on the economy!) before Bob Rae got up and went after Flaherty’s mortgage announcement earlier in the morning, noting that the new changes return the policy back to where it was in 2006 when the government took office (Harper: We’re being prudent after listening to the experts!). For his final question, Rae noted that it was National Aboriginal Day, and given all of the 1812 celebrations, why hasn’t the government resolved the Six Nations land claims dispute that has been going on since said war. Harper assured him that they were in negotiations, and hey, they have new land claims legislation.
Tag Archives: Parliamentary Budget Officer
The sitting roundups
It being the last sitting day of the spring for the Commons, all three parties summoned the media to outline their particular versions of what happened the past few months.
For the government, Peter Van Loan summoned us to the Foyer, where, along with Stephen Blaney to provide the French narrative, he outlined a simple message. “We got the job done.”
Roundup: Last-minute Order Paper additions
With a little over a day left in the spring sitting of the Commons, two major government bills were unveiled yesterday. The first was yet another immigration bill, this time looking to crack down and deport non-residents who commit crimes and serve time in Canada, and oh look – it proposes to give the minister additional powers to decide on these cases. Right as a bill that proposes to give the minister additional arbitrary powers over refugee determination has nearly finished wending its way through the Senate. But you would be correct if you saw a theme emerging – giving the minister more arbitrary powers under the guise of speeding processes along, seeing as creating sets of rules that need to be followed takes time, and apparently we’re willing to forgo rules for the sake of speed. Or something like that.
Meanwhile, Vic Toews announced the tabling of a bill to amend the RCMP Act in order to improve the discipline process as the Commissioner had been requesting while he works to clean up the Force after a series of embarrassing scandals. These changes also include a more robust public complaints process, which is also a good thing.
QP: The price for being at the table
The G20 over, Harper was back in the House today for what will probably be the penultimate QP of the spring sitting. (All those in favour of getting the blazes out of Ottawa with its oppressive muggy heat, please say ‘yay.’ And so on). Thomas Mulcair, scripted questions waiting on his miniature lectern, led off by asking Harper a trio of questions regarding Canada’s entry into the TPP negotiations, and what exactly we were willing to give up to get to the table. Harper simply reiterated how great the “jobs and growth” agenda was, which trade is a part of. Peggy Nash wondered about how it was the PBO “overstepped” his mandate when not that long ago he was praised for having improved the financial reporting process in Parliament. Tony Clement insisted that a parliamentary committee voted that he wasn’t doing his job – ignoring the context of said report and how it was actually about a turf war the PBO was having with the Parliamentary Librarian. Oops. But then Nash decided to call out Clement to repeat allegations that the PBO wasn’t doing his job – outside of the House! And thus officially ended Nathan Cullen’s promise that he was going to keep the NDP from engaging in the “silly season” that happens around this time of year. Bob Rae was up next and he too wanted to know about the issue of the PBO getting the information he requested, and Harper insisted that they provide all information by the usual means. But for his final question, Rae took everyone by surprise and wondered if Harper was going to be sticking to the planned October 2015 election date given that some seven provinces are also holding elections at that same time. Harper, after joking about the Liberals’ motives for wondering about election timing this far out, said that they were aware of the pile-up and were having discussions with the provinces about it.
Roundup: Obsessing over a-bombs
Because it was all anyone could talk about yesterday (every time someone says a dirty word…) it seems the antipathy between many Federal and Alberta Conservatives is alive and well. It’s no secret that most Federal Conservatives were lined up behind the Wild Rose during the last election, and were pretty bitterly disappointed when Redford pulled out ahead. So with Redford’s deputy PM coming to town, the chair of the “Alberta caucus” within the Conservative party asked if anyone wanted to have a gathering to meet with him. Jason Kenney’s response? No, because he doesn’t want to set a precedent for future ministerial visits, “Plus he is a complete and utter asshole.” Yep, minister of the Crown. Hitting “Reply all.” Demonstrating that he’s all class. As you may have read, Kenney refused to apologise publicly during QP, but according to his spokesperson, he did afterward. Aaron Wherry finds that this isn’t the first time that Jason Kenney has called his opponents assholes – and in the House no less.
CBSA is going to halt their plans to install surveillance technology into airports and border crossing until the privacy concerns can be addressed. You know, like they should have done before they started. They’ve also deleted recordings that have already been made. (Here’s an interview with the excellent deputy Privacy Commissioner, Chantal Bernier worth checking out).
QP: A refusal to apologise
With Harper still in Los Cabos for the G20 meeting, and with Jason Kenney in the news over a curse-laden email, it was up to John Baird to again take on the role as back-up PM du jour. And when Thomas Mulcair kicked off QP by asking whether there would be another omnibus budget bill in the fall – giving the oh-so-clever “more like ominous bill” as part of his answer – to which John Baird touted their focus on jobs and growth. When Mulcair turned to the issues of transparency and accountability in respect to the PBO’s search for data on the cuts (Baird: Yay Accountability Act! Oh, and the PBO has overstepped his mandate). Linda Duncan was up next to give a grave and sanctimonious account of Jason Kenney’s email in which he called the Deputy Premier of Alberta “a complete and utter asshole” – though she couldn’t repeat that in the House. Kenney stood up and not only didn’t apologise, but hit back at Duncan and the NDP for not supporting the development of the oilsands and then once again distorted the “Dutch disease” comments. Bob Rae was then up and wondered why Kenney refused to apologise. Kenney continued to not apologise, but touted his government’s “close working relationship” with Alberta and oh, he got 76 percent of the vote in his riding during the last election – as though that gives him a mandate to insult provincial representatives. Rae idly wondered what Kenney would have called him if he got 80 percent of the vote, but Kenney stuck to his non-apology.
Roundup: Pressuring the Clerk of the Privy Council
As his showdown with the federal government over details of the budget cuts intensifies, the Parliamentary Budget Officer, Kevin Page, obtained a legal opinion from a respected constitutional lawyer to try to pressure the Clerk of the Privy Council to giving up the information he’s requested. Page says he doesn’t want to have to take the government to court to get the data because it means that basically he’s lost – he won’t get the information in time for it to be useable, but at the same time, it’s a battle he needs to wage before the government treats him and his office with further contempt. Of course, this is all related to the ongoing contempt the Conservatives have been showing to Parliament over their refusal to turn over any of the requested financial data, no matter that IT’S THE FIRST DUTY OF PARLIAMENT TO CONTROL THE PUBLIC PURSE. But who cares about MPs doing their own jobs when they can (try to) get the PBO to do it for them and fight their battles for them?
The NDP made one last effort to kill the omnibus budget bill with a “reasoned amendment” that it not move to third reading. Not surprisingly, it was voted down, and the bill is now on its way to the Senate.
QP: Never mind the PBO, check the Public Accounts
The first Question Period of the last sitting week of the spring semester of the Commons kicked off with Thomas Mulcair inquiring about the legal challenge that the Parliamentary Budget Officer was bringing forward since he wasn’t getting the answers that were due to him on the government’s cuts. Conservative backbenchers scoffed as Kevin Page’s legal experts were referenced, and John Baird, acting as today’s back-up PM du jour, studiously avoided referencing the PBO at all as he talked about how financial data was continuing to be released as it always has been, through the Quarterly Reports and the Public Accounts. Peggy Nash reiterated the questions, for which Tony Clement reiterated the answer, before Nash moved onto how the omnibus budge bill was going to punish seniors, to which Diane Finley assured her that seniors were better off under their government than they had been previously. Bob Rae then got up to not only restate the case for the PBO to get those numbers, but to remind the Conservatives that they had previously been found in contempt of parliament because of their refusal to turn over the necessary figures. Baird insisted that they were elected on a plan that they were following through on, which again studiously avoided the issue entirely.
Roundup: Between 67 and 159 votes
The Speaker has whittled down 871 amendments to between 67 and 159 votes, depending. In other words, about 18 to 26 hours of consecutive votes, more or less, which they’re now preparing themselves for. Speaker Scheer also ruled that because there are no firm rules for omnibus bills that this one is permissible, but hey, why don’t you guys lay down some rules for the future over in the Procedure and House Affairs Committee. And so, the votes will take place probably Wednesday, and probably starting late at night since the government also moved to extend sitting hours to midnight every night for the remaining two weeks.
With the ruling on May’s point of order in mind, after QP, Nathan Cullen tried to argue that the omnibus budget bill has become a contempt of parliament because the government won’t release the data on the cuts to the Parliamentary Budget Officer.
Scott Brison takes to the pages of the National Post to say that the issue of income inequality is not a left-or-right issue, but one that Parliament should be addressing.
Roundup: A thousand omnibudget amendments
The next steps in the fight against the omnibus budget bill are heating up. After getting their interns to camp out, the Liberals deposited 503 deletion amendments to be considered. Moments later, the NDP deposited 506 deletion amendments of their own. (I’m informed that the number was just a coincidences and not a juvenile game of one-upmanship). This on top of Elizabeth May’s 200 or so substantive amendments. The Speaker is due to rule on Monday as to what is going to be admissible and how those amendments will be grouped together. Pity his poor staff, who will have to spend their weekend going through all of it.
Court documents are undermining what Dean Del Mastro was claiming yesterday regarding his innocence with those allegedly improper payments that Elections Canada is now investigating.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer is preparing to go to Federal Court to get the information on the budget cuts that he is entitled to get, but that the government is withholding.