Tag Archives: Refugees

Senate QP: 200 or 2000 Syrians?

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It was a late Monday evening sitting, part of the final push to get things though before breaking for the Christmas holiday. Once again, Routine Proceedings sped through to get to Question Period, so much so that it caught the lead Senator for the day off-guard, as she was conversing with a Senator on the other side of the Chamber.

Once she rushed back to her desk, Senator Jaffer asked about the low numbers of Syrian refugees that have been brought to Canada. Senator Carignan, the Leader of the Government in the Senate, insisted that Canada has offered protected to all kinds of Syrians. Jaffer asked about the fact that only 200 have come over, but Carignan insisted that it was closer to 2000 — 1900 to date. Jaffer disputed that figure, before noting that she was recently in Turkey to visit the camps there, and wondered what more Canada was doing, but before Carignan had a chance to reply, they had to break to ring the bells for a scheduled vote.

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Roundup: Another unhappy premier

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He still won’t meet with Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, dropping by Toronto for a meeting with new mayor John Tory on Thursday instead, and yesterday, Stephen Harper met with Paul Davis, the new premier of Newfoundland and Labrador. That meeting, however, did not go happily as the premier is accusing the PM of changing the rules unilaterally regarding their agreed-upon compensation for fish processing losses under the EU trade agreement in such a way that the province will never see those funds. So, still trying to win the province over, I see. Meanwhile, PostMedia imagines how the conversation between Harper and Wynne will go when it eventually does happen, and Paul Wells has some thoughts on the affair as well:

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QP: Waiting for harmonized regulations

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The last Wednesday QP of the year is one without any leaders present. The three main leaders were in Montreal for the Jean Béliveau funeral, while Elizabeth May remains at the climate conference in Lima, Peru. Megan Leslie led off, pointing out that Harper calling oil and gas regulations “crazy” flies in the face of his previous promises and wanted an apology for the government not doing their job. Colin Carrie responded by reading that the PM said that we wouldn’t take unilateral action but that we want to work collaboratively with the Americans. Leslie pressed about previous ministerial stats, and got another recitation of talking points about unilateral regulations. Leslie wondered when Harper had last spoken to President Obama about harmonised regulations, but Carrie instead read a talking point about how reckless the NDP are. Peter Julian was up next, and wondered if the government abandon their court case against veterans. Parm Gill said that he wouldn’t comment on a court case, and instead listed all of their recent initiatives. Julian noted Harper calling the New Veterans Charter a “Liberal programme” before reading his indictments against Julian Fantino. Gill insisted that the NDP were simply trying to protect “big government union jobs.” Ralph Goodale was up for the Liberals, and noted the lapsed spending and cuts at Veterans Affairs, but noted the increase in ministerial staff and bonuses to managers. Gill read praise for their new initiatives. Goodale noted Rick Hillier’s call for a public inquiry into the treatment of veterans, but Gill insisted that they were following the recommendations of the Auditor General. Marc Garneau gave one last kick on the “back office” cuts, to which Gill insisted that they would make no apologies for eliminating bureaucracy.

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QP: Trying to protect bureaucrats

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After the government unveiled their much ballyhooed price gap legislation, it remained to be seen if that would lead off QP, or if Julian Fantino would remain in the line of fire. Before things got started, however, the two new Conservative MPs from the recent by-elections, Jim Eglinski and Pat Perkins, took their seats. Thomas Mulcair had not yet returned from Paris, leaving Peter Julian to lead off, asking about the US Senate torture report, and how CSIS and the RCMP could use information obtained by torture. Harper insisted it had nothing to do with Canada. Julian moved onto the veterans file and demanded the resignation of Julian Fantino, to which Harper said that the NDP were more interested in protecting bureaucrats and cutting services. Nycole Turmel was up next, and asked about processing times for EI applications, and the decision to hire temporary workers to clear the backlog. Jason Kenney responded that they were dedicated to giving good levels of service, and thanked his parliamentary secretary for the report on processing. Turmel tied in the Social Security Tribunal and the Temporary Foreign Workers programme, calling Kenney incompetent, but Kenney repeated Harper’s line that the NDP is averse to efficiencies. Justin Trudeau was up next, and brought up the sacred obligation to veterans, wondering why the priority was a tax break for wealthy families instead of veterans. Harper insisted that they provide benefits to both families and veterans, and the current court case was against a previous Liberal programme. Trudeau listed a number of veterans programmes cut or underfunded by the government, to which Harper recited of list of programmes that he claimed the Liberals voted against before trotting out his line that they were trying to protect bureaucrats. Trudeau asked again in French, and Harper claimed that 100 of the jobs they eliminated existed solely to delay benefits payments. (Really?!)

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QP: Questions on back office cuts

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The last Monday of the year, and it was a bitterly cold one in Ottawa. Like many a Monday, none of the leaders were there, and even Elizabeth May was gone, off to the climate summit in Lima, Peru. Megan Leslie led off, and asked about cuts to services at Veterans Affairs that were more than just “back office” cuts. Julian Fantino insisted that the story was false, and read about reducing bureaucratic expense. Leslie twice asked about the reduction in staff for rail safety, to which Jeff Watson insisted that the number of inspectors was up, as was the number of auditors. David Christopherson shouted the veterans cuts question again, got the same robotic answer from Fantino, before a hollered demand for resignation, earning another robotic recitation. Dominic LeBlanc led for the Liberals, and asked about the government’s court arguments that there was no fundamental obligation to wounded veterans. Fantino robotically insisted that they were uploading services for veterans. Frank Valeriote listed off a litany of other cuts to veterans, but Fantino read a talking point about increases to front-line services. Valeriote asked a last question about VA managers getting bonuses in the light of cuts to services, but Fantino assured him that the decisions were always taken for the right reasons.

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Roundup: Refusing to appoint senators

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Stephen Harper says that he’s in no rush to appoint senators because legislation is still getting passed, so no big deal, right? The question arose because the new Senate Speaker, Pierre-Claude Nolin, remarked that there are concerns about regional representation becoming unbalanced, and I’ve heard from other Conservative senators who are not-so-quietly complaining that they are being overloaded with committee work because they’re having to sit on several committees given that we’re soon to be at seventeen vacancies – almost one-fifth of the Chamber. It’s a significant figure, and the added danger is that a Prime Minister – either Harper, or a new one post-2015 – would appoint a big number at once, stressing a system that is designed to absorb two or three new ones at a time. It also demonstrates a kind of contempt that Harper is showing toward the system and the specific role that the Senate plays within it, preferring instead to treat it as a rubber stamp that he is ramming legislation through. Nolin pointed to several passages from the Supreme Court’s reference decision during his presentation, and noted one of the roles of the Senate is to provide reflection to legislation that passed the Commons in haste. In this era of time allocation, that would seem to be more needed than ever – and yet, the government’s senators are doing their own best to rush things through, which Nolin quite blatantly called out today, saying that he aims to remind all Senators of their obligations as laid out in that decision. Nolin also said that he thinks the worst of the Senate’s spending woes are behind it, as we wait for the AG’s report next spring, and offered his own take on what happened on October 22nd.

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QP: Good administration for veterans

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It was a full house for caucus day, and there were numerous paeans to Jean Beliveau before things got started. Thomas Mulcair led off by asking about the staff reductions at Veterans Affairs, to which Stephen Harper said that they were increasing services for veterans, before he offered his own statement about Beliveau. Mulcair turned to veterans service centre closures and wondered why he wasn’t firing the minister instead. Harper insisted that they took resources away from back room bureaucracy and were delivering more services, calling it “good administration.” Mulcair moved to the government’s court arguments that the sacred obligations for veterans were just political speeches signifying nothing. Harper insisted that he would not comment on matters before the courts, but that the substantive measure was that they enhanced veterans services in numerous ways. Mulcair pressed, to which Harper insisted that the items he was listing were not political rhetoric but were real action for veterans, which the opposition voted against. Mulcair promised that an NDP would reopen every one of those offices, before pivoting to the issue of funding for thalidomide victims. Harper said that the meetings were ongoing, before returning listing to the veterans programmes that the NDP voted against. Justin Trudeau was up next, and asked about the underfunding of military cemeteries, to which Harper insisted that the government enhanced funeral services for veterans, which Liberals voted against. After another round in French, Trudeau asked about the government meeting with an École Polytechnique survivors group, Harper insisted that they knew why Marc Lepine targeted those women and they would continue to support victims.

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QP: Fantino’s third-party management

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Tuesday, and all four leaders were in the chamber today, as was Julian Fantino. It was going to be a good day for outrage. Thomas Mulcair led off by immediately laying into Fantino and wondering about the lack of confidence in the minister if he was imposing “third party management” on the department. Harper insisted that he didn’t know what Mulcair was talking about and praised the former Chief of Defence Staff becoming the new Deputy Minister, and that he could think of no greater honour than the minister paying tribute to the 70th anniversary of the Italian Campaign. Mulcair asked again in French, where Harper reminded him that Fantino’s new chief of staff had nothing to do with the Duffy affair before repeating his previous answer. Mulcair wondered why the minister was still there if he had lost confidence in him. Harper noted that all ministers have chiefs of staff, and that Mulcair must also have one “overseeing the slow descent” of that party, before reminding him of the accrual accounting rules about the funding announcement. Mulcair moved onto the lack of concern by Aglukkaq on the scavenging allegations, to which Harper assured him that the people of Nunavut have never had stronger representation. Mulcair lumped in Gerry Ritz and Candice Bergen to his blanket condemnation, and Harper assured him that he was proud to compare the track record of his government to that of the NDP, before singing the praises of his front bench, and that then slammed the NDP of having such little public support that they had to “rob parliamentary funds” — earning him a rebuke from the Speaker. Justin Trudeau was up next, and brought up the 50-year timeline of the veterans announcement. Harper assured him that his government has invested $5 billion in additional measures over veterans, and accused the Liberals of voting against veterans and families. Trudeau accused the Prime Minister of prioritizing tax cuts for the wealthy over veterans and demanded an apology. Harper retorted that the Liberals should apologize for voting against veterans every single time. Trudeau gave one more shot in French, to which Harper repeated his answer in French.

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QP: Lapsed spending and a lack of analysis

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Despite it being Thursday, the Commons had a lot of empty desks and none of the major leaders present. Megan Leslie led off, asking about Joe Oliver’s admission that his office did not do their own analysis of the EI tax credit. Oliver insisted that their reduction would create jobs, but the NDP would raise taxes. Okay then. When Leslie pressed, Oliver touted the government’s job creation figures. Leslie moved onto the $1.1 billion in lapsed spending on veterans, to which Parm Gill insisted that it was false. Nycole Turmel asked the same is in French, to which Gill repeated his answer. Ralph Goodale was up for the Liberals, asking about spending on housing and infrastructure, to which Denis Lebel said that if Goodale was so concerned, he should have done more when he was finance minister. Goodale laughed, and raised the lapsed veterans spending, to which Parm Gill howled that the Liberals put the Forces through a decade of darkness. Marc Garneau asked the same question again in French, and Gill gave a slightly less hysterical answer about how much they’ve spend on veterans.

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QP: Even Ontario wants NDP childcare

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Caucus day in the Commons, and all of the major leaders were again in the chamber, with the Conservatives proud of the new MPs elected in Monday’s by-elections who were visiting in advance of being sworn in, while the NDP were crowing over social media about Maria Mourani joining their party (but not caucus until after the next election). Thomas Mulcair led off by noting that the Ontario legislature voted in favour of supporting the NDP’s childcare plan, and asked about the government’s previous pledges. Harper reminded him that the other night, some Ontarians voted overwhelmingly against the NDP, and that his government has made life more affordable for all families. Mulcair wondered when Harper would meet with the Ontario premier about issues like childcare, and Harper claimed that he meets with premiers regularly — except he’s been avoiding Kathleen Wynne. Mulcair claimed that 65 percent of Canadians live in jurisdictions that want more affordable childcare, and repeated his demand for childcare spaces. Harper insisted that his government has put money in the pockets of Canadians that the NDP were planning on taking back. Mulcair pressed on Harper’s previous specific commitments about the healthcare escalator, to which Harper insisted that they have increased transfers to promises to record levels. Mulcair insisted that the transfer rate change was a cut (which it really wasn’t), but Harper repeated his answers. Justin Trudeau noted that the government would vote against his bill on Access to Information citing bureaucratic increases, and wondered why they opposed the modernization of Access to Information. Harper said that they did modernize the system by bringing 70 new agencies under its aegis and that the Liberals opposed other transparency measures. Trudeau moved to the cuts to infrastructure funds, to which Harper said that the Liberals voted against funding and that they only wanted to “raise taxes to fund bureaucracy.” Trudeau moved onto a conference in Montreal that Harper skipped, and Harper insisted that the government was represented.

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