Tag Archives: Procurement

Roundup: Parks as environmental policy

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This may come as a surprise, but Stephen Harper is going to announce the creation of another park in the North during his tour. You know, like he’s done every other year. And hey, creating parks are a great way to look like you’re doing something for the environment when really you’re making no effort at all, right?

The federal government has announced they’re going to launch a 25-year renewal plan for Tunney’s Pasture (otherwise known as the Land of Exile during my former life working government contracts). I hope they have good luck with the contaminated sites there, and that hopefully unlike the Parliamentary precinct plans, 25 years won’t turn into 40.

Thomas Mulcair admits that he’s no Jack Layton, but that he learned a lot from his leadership style. Aaron Wherry has more tales of the creation of Layton’s final letter.

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Roundup: What Flaherty and his pals discuss

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Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is off on his summer retreat with business and policy leaders, talking about finance stuff all candidly and off-the-record like. But just what are they talking about? Well, some rather intrepid ATIPing by the Globe and Mail shows that last year, they talked about things like raising the retirement age, lowering wages, anti-union “right-to-work” legislation and two-tier healthcare. You know, all kinds of imported American Republican ideology that’s served that country so well.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel concluded her visit to Canada. The take-away message: “Yay trade!” Duly noted.

What’s that? The government is likely under “enormous pressure” from the US to buy the F-35 fighters? You don’t say!

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Roundup: Selecting a window dressing panel

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The government has announced the selection panel for recommending the next Justice of the Supreme Court, comprised of three Conservatives, one NDP and one Liberal MP, and as it was pointed out, three lawyers, a PhD in sociology, and a farmer. The judge will have to be from Quebec, as that is the vacancy on the Court. Of course, this whole process is really just window dressing anyway as ultimately this is and always has been a crown prerogative of the Prime Minister anyway.

There are rumours that the government wants to create a permanent secretariat in Public Works to deal with military procurement issues, which everyone else seems to agree is just adding layers of needless bureaucracy without actually solving any of the problems. Meanwhile, the report on the F-35 procurement disaster is overdue according to the government’s timetable, and Public Works has had to put out yet another tender for an independent auditor. Because it never ends.

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Roundup: Harper’s lowered expectations

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Apparently Stephen Harper avoids First Ministers meetings in order to keep expectations low and appear to be over-performing. Good to know. And suddenly I’m reminded of these old MadTV sketches. Seems rather apropos.

The Canadian Forces wants to spend a billion dollars on armed drones. Considering their recent track record when it comes to procurement, and the fact that we still don’t actually have any kind of white paper or policy direction when it comes to what our Forces are supposed to be doing and what roles they’re supposed to be filling, um, perhaps we should get on that first, before we spend a billion-plus dollars on drones that we might not actually need, no? Just saying.

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Roundup: Not exactly ‘off-the-shelf’

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So those army trucks that got cancelled at the last minute? It seems their costs escalated when DND kept adding in new capabilities to the “off-the-shelf” models, and the price tag went up. Just like with those Chinook helicopters, if you recall. But no, our procurement system isn’t broken.

Shawn Atleo has been re-elected as National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. He won on the third ballot, but the fact that nearly a third of the chiefs voted against him, he has some work ahead.

Aww, Julian Fantino thinks it’s “unfair” that the Toronto Star dares to go to Afghanistan and dares to print that our aid efforts haven’t lived up to expectations, because apparently that doesn’t fit his party’s narrative.

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Roundup: Dishonourable crybabies

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NDP MP – and chair of the Public Accounts Committee – David Christopherson, has launched a broadside at Liberal MP Gerry Byrne because Byrne raised the alarm that the Conservatives were trying to shut down the inquiry into the Auditor General’s report on the F-35 procurement, and because Byrne raised a question to Christopherson in QP – like he has a right to. And so Christopherson went out to the media and called Byrne a “dishonourable crybaby,” accused him of making personal attacks (ie – the question in QP), and said that Byrne was complaining the rules weren’t fair. You know, the way that Christopherson – while sitting as chair of the committee – launched into one of his trademark tirades about how unfair the rules he was supposed to enforce were when the whole inquiry was getting started. Seriously. But given that Christopherson is apparently so thin-skinned that he can’t accept a question in QP without taking it personally and then running out to the Foyer to the media, perhaps the crybaby may be a little closer to home. Just a thought.

Meanwhile, over at the Finance committee, there are accusations of McCarthy-esque witch-hunts abounding after Conservative MP Randy Hoback went after United Steel Workers economist Erin Weir for once running for the NDP. But wait – Peggy Nash’s own questioning of Vivian Krause went into pretty much the same kind of behaviour.

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