The government has pledged another $3.5 billion over five years for its Maternal and Child Health initiative, in the hopes of achieving the Millennium Development Goal of 75 percent reduction in maternal mortality by 2020. CBC’s Hannah Thibedeau got a rare interview with the PM along with Melinda Gates, where Harper said that abortion is “too divisive,” which is why they weren’t funding them in developing countries, but the logic there is skewed – should they also not defend gay rights because that’s also divisive and it’s illegal in some countries? Harper also spoke about the settled science around vaccinations – and yet his government is giving tax breaks to naturopaths, which isn’t exactly science. (Also, settled science around climate change, but who’s counting?) Kate Lunau speaks about the need for better statistics including birth certificates in developing countries. Paul Wells savages the PMO’s media control at the summit, and their decision to kick journalists out of the event while trying to make those objections sound like self-obsession.
Tag Archives: Privacy
QP: Unhappiness with the proposed privacy commissioner
Thursday, and not a single major party leader was to be seen in the House — Harper off at the Maternal and Child Health summit in Toronto (where his press minions were kicking reporters out of the various sessions), Thomas Mulcair on tour in Saskatchewan, and Justin Trudeau off campaigning in Trinity—Spadina. Way to show respect for Parliament, everyone! That left Megan Leslie to lead off, brining up the nomination of Daniel Therrien as the new Privacy Commissioner, saying that the author of that legislation shouldn’t then be called upon to critique it. Dan Albas responded, saying that Therrien had a strong record of experience, and that he was identified as the best candidate after a rigorous process. There was a second round of the same, before Leslie turned to the lack of follow-through on maternal and child health goals and the need for reproductive options being made available. Deepak Obhrai praised the initiative for saving lives and decreasing maternal death rates. Nycole Turmel asked the same in French, naming the UN Reproductive Initiative as one of the organizations that the government refuses to fund, to which Obhrai repeated his answer. David McGuinty led for the Liberals, decried the loss of a full construction season due to the poor outlay of the Building Canada Fund. Denis Lebel accused him of misleading the House, and said that six billion dollars of infrastructure funding was flowing. Judy Sgro asked the same and got the same answer, Ralph Goodale quoted figures about how it was affecting municipalities, not that Lebel was swayed, calling the information “false.”
Roundup: A giant loss for Parliament
With a growing list of international projects on child soldiers, genocide, research into PTSD, and two books being written, and a sense of the unhappiness of the institution at present, Senator Romeo Dallaire has decided that he’ll step down next month, around the same time that Senator Hugh Segal is also due to depart. Dallaire’s departure means the incalculable loss of one of our hardest working and most respected parliamentarians, and one of the people most deserving of a Senate seat where his wealth of experience has immeasurably been a benefit to sober second thought, policy development and drafting the expert reports for which the Senate is known for. Dallaire was also not happy with the way the suspension motions around Senators Wallin and so on were carried out because of the lack of due process, but hey, political expediency and all. And of course, the growing number of vacant seats is creating a bigger problem for the institution down the road.
Roundup: I dream of Turks & Caicos
Visions of Turks & Caicos were abounding on the Hill yesterday, as premier Rufus Ewing visited to talk trade, and while no doors were closed on the subject of annexation (except, more or less, by John Baird), everyone had their fun. Even Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall decided to get in on it, offering to make the islands part of Saskatchewan so as not to need to open up the constitution to add an eleventh province, and PEI Premier Robert Ghiz playfully suggested that his island province would be a better fit. Err, except that Nova Scotia beat them to it by a decade, when their assembly passed a unanimous motion back in 2004 to have Turks & Caicos join them. Oops. Regardless, trade and security would be beneficial, where it could be a Canadian trade port to the Caribbean, and possibly even a supply base for our DART teams. It wasn’t all without hiccups either, as a Caribbean news site listed some complaints that the islands have of Canadians, and that they have no idea where Conservative MP Peter Goldring came up with the notion that 100 percent of the islands support a merger with Canada.
Roundup: A looming second empty Quebec seat
The Chief Justice has written to the Prime Minister to remind him that Justice LeBel will retire on November 30th, which would mean a second Quebec seat vacant on the bench. It’s notable because often a soon-to-retire Justice would retire before the next session began, and just finish off any decisions still in the works on their way out. Instead, Justice LeBel is staying on to the bitter end, likely because the Court is not confident that the PM will have a suitable replacement in time, given the way that they handled the vacancy left by the retirement of Justice Fish. Peter MacKay has promised that they’ll have a name for the currently vacant seat (that Justice Nadon was retroactively never appointed to) “soon,” but it’s also a reminder that they’d better get the process started for the next appointment as well. It’s also leading to more calls that the process as it stands needs to be reformed so as to be more transparent, so this might be the impetus to make those changes.
Roundup: Standby for evening sittings
Government House Leader Peter Van Loan is calling for evening sittings for the remainder of the spring sitting of the Commons, in order to get stuff done. Here’s a list of five bills that the government is looking to get through before they rise for the summer. And you can bet that the late nights will make MPs all that much crankier as the last stretch before summer grinds along. Get ready for silly season, ladies and gentlemen.
Roundup: Bruce Carson has a book
Stephen Harper’s former advisor, and now accused fraudster, Bruce Carson, wrote a book. And as Colby Cosh noted, historians are forever grateful to those with nothing to lose. So while the Conservatives and NDP gripe about Carson’s current status, we have stories on how Harper wanted to move Jim Flaherty to industry in 2007 but he refused to go, and that Harper backed down because he didn’t want to lose him. We have a story on how Harper gave advice to Jack Layton in the 2008 election about trying to “bury” Stéphane Dion, and how Harper had Ambrose so busy doing other things when she was environment minister that she couldn’t pay attention to her actual file. And here’s a story on how Harper briefly thought he might have to step aside while the Cadman affair (remember that?) was in full swing, before being disabused of that notion by his staff. Could make for interesting reading.
Roundup: Victoria Day and the Canadian Crown
Given that yesterday was Victoria Day, here is a look at how it’s a particularly idiosyncratic Canadian holiday, which combines the celebration of the monarch who founded our country along with the official birthday of the reigning monarch, and has a history wrapped up in things like Empire Day, but remains uniquely Canadian all the same.
QP: Who advised Nadon?
It being Tuesday, and lo and behold, all three leaders were in the House. Praise be. Thomas Mulcair led off with a softball about the assistance that Canada is deploying to Nigeria to help locate the schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram. Stephen Harper offered a condemnation of Boko Haram, needn’t said that Canadian personnel were in Nigeria to help authorities there. Mulcair moved on to ask a short question as to whether he advised Justice Nadon to resign and rejoin the Quebec Bar. Harper spoke about advice he received that said appointing him from the Federal Court would be okay. Mulcair noted that he didn’t get an answer and asked which staffer gave Nadon that advice to resign. Harper reiterated his answer. Mulcair changed topics again and demanded severe financial penalties for companies that breach railway safety rules. Harper noted improvements that had been made to the safety network, and that they were coordinating with the United States before congratulating the police for laying charges on the individuals involved in the Lac Mégantic disaster. Mulcair insisted that nothing had really been done, but Harper insisted that they were indeed taking measures. Justin Trudeau rose for the Liberals and noted his visit to Fort McMurray before saying that the Temporary Foreign Workers programme was increasing unemployment in Alberta. Harper retorted that the Liberals were looking for more TFWs for their ridings. Trudeau pointed out the ways that the government loosened the rules and demanded the adoption of his party’s plans. Harper said that while there was a need for some workers, it shouldn’t be a business model. Trudeau then noted the objections to the changes in Quebec, but Harper reiterated his assertion that the Liberals wanted even more TFWs.
Roundup: Honour and protocol
The government has declared today to be a National Day of Honour to mark the mission in Afghanistan, but not everyone is pleased with the way they’ve handled it. The fact that the last flag from Kabul is being handed to Harper and not the Commander-in-Chief – the Governor General – is a pretty major breach of protocol that really won’t endear Harper to the troops, especially as such a breach looks transparently like a photo-op. Some of us thought that Harper had given up on such outright breaches after Prince Charles was here for Remembrance Day a few years ago and proper protocol was suddenly observed once again. Perhaps Harper’s presidential envy has reared its head again? The Royal Canadian Legion’s Dominion President is none too pleased with the government for the short timelines and lack of communication when it comes to preparations, because it didn’t allow many of the branches across Canada time to plan anything.
A Silver Cross mother whose son died in Afghanistan has told Power & Politics the tale of her difficulties with the system following her son’s death, from being billed for cost overruns at the funeral to being denied support services because her son was unmarried. It’s a pretty awful and wrenching tale to watch, but one that everyone should. It certainly colours the government’s Day of Honour back-patting.