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.
Tag Archives: RCMP
QP: Last stabs at the omnibudget
Thomas Mulcair started off QP with one of those polite gimme questions that leaders occasionally ask one another, in this case on the situation in Syria – which Mulcair asked in English and then repeated immediately in French in the same 35 second block. Harper gave a perfunctory reply about how they’re working with their allies about binding sanctions, and then it was back to business as usual. Mulcair asked a pair of questions on the omnibus budget bill and the NRTEE’s final report today about the oilsands and greenhouse gas emissions. Harper responded by saying that when they took office, emissions were growing steadily but have levelled off. Peggy Nash was up next wondering about the effect of the EI changes on women, which got a rote talking point from Kellie Leitch, followed by Lisa Raitt giving her assurances about contractual obligations for income equity. Bob Rae was greeted with a standing ovation from all sides when he got up to speak, given his announcement earlier in the morning (though really, he’s not retiring), to which Rae quipped “Now they love me.” His first two questions were on Harper calling a first ministers’ meeting on national economic and energy strategies, which Harper insisted that he consults all the time and not just with premiers, and for his last question, Rae asked about the Del Mastro situation – with Del Mastro sniping “That’s a lie!” the whole while. Harper shrugged it off and said that they should treat all members with more consideration. Erm, okay.
QP: Angry tangents to distracting talking points
Stephen Harper remained away from the House of Commons today, off in Montreal to address a conference, leaving Peter Van Loan to face off yet again with Thomas Mulcair. Mulcair tried to ask about the omnibus budget bill, and list off all of the items being cut or changed in it, but Van Loan responded with accusations that the NDP want Canada to bail out Europe, and – oh, wow, that set Mulcair off. On each of his first supplemental, it was a bit of a retort, but on the second, after Van Loan kept up the distraction message, Mulcair went off an angry, red-faced tangent about Canada’s place in the world, which he then tried to awkwardly segue to a question about EI changes in his last few seconds, but it just gave Van Loan more opportunity to praise Canada’s fiscal situation. That was almost too easy to goad him, really. When Peggy Nash tried to talk about why the government was worried about cuts instead of job creation, Jim Flaherty accused her of trying to delay a bill that would create jobs. Bob Rae then got up, and first schooled Jim Flaherty on how IMF transfers work before wondering why the government was so sure that Canada was such an island of fiscal stability in an interconnected global marketplace. Van Loan then recited some of John McCallum’s quotes on the European situation by means of a reply.
QP: Doing the most in the Dominion
With Stephen Harper off in London to celebrate Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee this week, it was up to Jason Kenney to hold the fort in the Commons today as designated back-up PM du jour, a post that will rotate through the front bench all week. Thomas Mulcair, back from his Alberta adventure, was up first in Question Period, and asked why the government was outsourcing its smokestack monitoring to the US Environmental Protection Agency. Kenney replied that they were doing more about air quality “than any other government in the Dominion,” and wondered why the NDP hated Barack Obama. (In the Dominion? Don’t let the Vorta hear that, or they’ll send the Jem’Hadar after you. Oh, I kid). When Mulcair made a dig about Conservative caucus members believing that volcanoes caused climate change, Kenney retorted that the only thing volcanic was Mulcair’s temper. Megan Leslie was up next asking about scrutiny of environmental changes in the omnibus budget bill, but Peter Kent worried that she wasn’t paying attention to all of the great things his government was doing for the environment, like regulations and national parks. Bob Rae was up and gave mention to the “Blackout, speak out” event on the Internet today, and worried about the government’s culture of intimidation. Kenney, in turn, implied that Rae was somehow intimidating his own party. As a final question, Rae extended the culture of intimidation question to the calls being made in Etobicoke Centre over the weekend and the attack on the judicial process therein. Kenney declared that Borys Wrzesnewskyj had no shame, as he was busy fundraising, and then brought up AdScam. Seriously.
Roundup: Scheer gives himself passing grades
Speaker Scheer feels that decorum has been improving in the Commons, and while it’s not perfect, he thinks that we mostly don’t notice the improvement because only the bad behaviour gets noticed. He also says that some of his discipline is quiet, so that it doesn’t draw more attention to the behaviour in question. As a regular attendee of QP, I’m not sure how much of this I would attribute to Scheer himself. Some of the “improvement” can be attributed to the NDP’s unctuous sanctimony with their so-called “heckle ban” – which they do break all the time, but they are on the whole quieter than the Liberals (well, those who don’t feel the need to yell constantly anyway). Scheer however seems just as reluctant to bring the hammer down in public as Milliken was, and at times he seems to ignore some pretty unparliamentary language. Suffice to say, I’m not terribly convinced.
It seems that not all Conservatives are happy with Bev Oda’s spending habits, or the fact that she has been changing her expense reports without explanation.
Lord and Smith Commission, Episode 7
My friend Destine Lord and I have a new video up, in which we talk about Syria, the RCMP Commissioner’s frank open letter, and that wine bill that made MPs go insane.
Roundup: Back to work, please?
Lisa Raitt wants CP Rail employees to voluntarily return to work before the back-to-work legislation passes, seeing as that awful Senate won’t violate all of their own rules in order to bend to her whims. How horrible is it for Parliament to have rules to be follows? Why do Parliament’s rules hate the economy?
It turns out that the severed hand found at the Canada Post depot in Ottawa yesterday was bound for Liberal party headquarters – not that there was any political motive. It looks like the suspect in this case was just a deranged and narcissistic individual, and nothing attracts the crazy like politics. More about the increasingly bizarre and gruesome tale can be found here.
On a lighter note, Jennifer Ditchburn looks at some other odd mail that MPs and Senators get, which include these wooden churches.
QP: The calm before the Apocalypse
It started out like any other Question Period would. Thomas Mulcair rose to decry the effect of the EI changes on seasonal workers, and Harper assured him that EI would be there for those who need it. Peggy Nash tried to draw a connection between today’s census data and the need for OAS, but Diane Finley returned to her “sustainable” talking points, while Tony Clement assured her that all of their financial data was still being reported in quarterly reports and so on. Bob Rae brought up the comments of Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Kathy Dunderdale regarding the EI changes and the lack of consultation, but Harper assured him that he meets with premiers all the time. The Liberal benches didn’t sound like they believed that story, and while Harper may meet with premiers on an individual basis, he certainly hasn’t called a First Minister’s meeting in about six years, for the record.
Roundup: Back-to-work bill on track for tonight
Expect today to be taken up with the back-to-work legislation around the CP Rail strike. Because of the way things are laid out procedurally, the vote on time allocation will take place this evening, at which point the bill will take precedence over everything and debate and votes – limited to a couple of hours – will go into the evening. It should be noted that the bill is far more fair and even-handed than previous examples under this government, according to many, though it’s still derided as an attack on the rights of workers.
As Thomas Mulcair prepares for his trip to Alberta – and Fort McMurray in particular – he’s toning down his language somewhat, while his critics out there are sharpening their own words.
Ted Opitz has appealed the overturning of the Etobicoke Centre election results to the Supreme Court at the last minute, but hasn’t exactly been clear on the grounds for the appeal. The Supreme Court is supposed to hear this without delay, and render a quick judgement, per the Elections Act.
Roundup: Hints about the EI changes
Fisheries minister Keith Ashfield has lifted the lid off the proposed EI reform regulations, and they almost seem *gasp!* reasonable. People won’t be forced to take jobs more than an hour’s drive from their homes, which shouldn’t result in the massive depopulation of the Atlantic provinces. Of course, this may all be wrong, and there remains no official word, but it’s a start, right?
The seven Conservative MPs whose seats are facing court challenges have all now formally requested the cases be dismissed as “frivolous and vexatious.” Meanwhile, Stephen Maher worries about what the revelations that overturned the results in Etobicoke Centre say about the job that Elections Canada is doing in ensuring the integrity of our elections.
Attorney General Rob Nicholson is stepping in to try to halt a Human Rights Tribunal hearing about an aboriginal RCMP officer alleging systemic racism in the Force. Meanwhile, here are the unpleasant allegations of sexual misconduct around one senior officer in Alberta’s RCMP headquarters.
Ministerial clampdowns appear to be the theme of the day as Peter MacKay has also ordered one on the inquiry of a soldier’s suicide.
The government is launching consultations on how to improve official languages in this country, while sparing said programmes from budget cuts.
What’s that? Vic Toews is misquoting an NDP MP? You don’t say!
CP Rail assures us that a strike won’t affect commuter service. But the economy is still fragile! No word yet if Lisa Raitt is going to drop the hammer yet again and table some back-to-work legislation.
The Prime Minister’s official bio in Diamond Jubilee Royal Tour media materials contains the election phrase “strong, stable, national majority” (though we have been assured that this was a copy-paste and not written by public servants). Because there is no distinction between the partisan and the office it seems.
And a number of First Nations chiefs met with Prince Charles yesterday, and requested a meeting with the Queen to discuss treaty issues. Remember that the treaties are with Crown directly, and that relationship is personal. Meanwhile, Charles and Camilla are off to Regina, the last stop on their Diamond Jubilee Royal Tour. As for their time in Toronto, here’s a bit of video, including of Camilla visiting with the Queen’s Own Rifles, the regiment for whom she is the Colonel-in-Chief.