Tag Archives: Public Service

Roundup: Witness protection without oversight

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The government introduced new witness protection legislation yesterday that the opposition sounds to largely be in favour of, though the proposal doesn’t include any provision for external review or oversight, which shouldn’t really be a surprise given this government’s apparent dislike of such things.

The PBO produced a report on public sector compensation for the sake of having baseline figures to use when looking at the impact of job cuts to government expenditures. And yes, he found some interesting figures about how its growth outpaced inflation and other levels of government. But all everyone will see is the “average $114K” figure, not think about what that includes or the range of salaries it encompasses, and will froth at the mouth about how horrible those bureaucrats are, and so on.

The Chief of Attawapiskat is engaging in a hunger strike in Ottawa to force a meeting with the Prime Minister about treaty obligations. The Minister of Aboriginal Affairs has offered to meet with her, but we’ll see what happens with that.

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Roundup: Alerted to mischief days before the vote

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Uh oh. Access to Information documents show that the public were raising concerns about misleading robo-calls to Elections Canada before the election took place, and that Elections Canada was already in contact with the Conservative Party’s lawyer about said mischief. These new clues fit in with the testimony given by the owner of that one phone bank company regarding the calls they were making for the Conservatives in the days leading up to the campaign.

Some 11,000 jobs have been cut so far in the public service, 7500 of them by attrition, says Tony Clement.

There has been some drama in the Senate over amendments to the Cluster munitions treaty.

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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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Roundup: Kenney’s populist distortion

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Aaron Wherry speaks to one of the organisers of those doctors who interrupt ministerial press conferences on behalf of refugee healthcare. Jason Kenney’s office responds with populist language that distorts the situation and frames it in such a way as to make refugee claimants look like freeloaders (ie – using “gold-plated benefits). That Kenney employs the “safe countries” talking point is actually a false argument because the designation is a political one, and not everyone who lives in a democratic country is “safe,” be it gays and lesbians in Jamaica, or the Roma in Hungary. But Kenney’s language is carefully scripted to stir up populist sentiment and appease an undercurrent of xenophobia in his base, and it should be called out as such.

With by-elections now in the works for both Durham and Calgary Centre, here are a couple of looks at them from Kady O’Malley, who runs down the lengthy list of would-be Conservative candidates in Calgary, along with a few Liberals who have thus-far declared interest, and Colin Horgan, who looks at some of the issues at play, and notes that all may not be lost for the Liberals given provincial results, shifting attitudes and Conservative infighting.

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Roundup: Kenney versus the provinces

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As the provinces line up to denounce the government move to cut off certain health benefits to certain refugees, Jason Kenney continues to argue that they’re wrong. Never mind that he’s creating arbitrary inequalities that will be subject to court challenges, or that his pandering to a populist base ignores the fact that these refugees can’t have the same care as other Canadians because they’re not allowed to work, and thus can’t earn the money necessary for the care they require.

Here are six things that will change on July 1st as new laws come into effect.

Even though the bill on taking wine across provincial borders has now received royal assent, a myriad of provincial laws and regulations still makes this a fraught proposition. (Lowering interprovincial trade barriers – a government priority since 1867!)

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Roundup: Last-minute Order Paper additions

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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.

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