Monday after a constituency week, and MPs are still trickling back into the Nation’s Capital. QP got started off with Thomas Mulcair reading off a question about Senators Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin committing “fraud.” As Harper was not in the Chamber, it fell to Peter Van Loan, apparently the designated back-up PM du jour, who insisted that the Senators in question were being investigated, but that they owned property and had “deep ties” to the provinces they represent. In other words, they are now circling the wagons around their Senate appointees. Mulcair carried on, taking all supplementals in the leader’s round, asking about the EI “quota” figures uncovered by Le Devoir. Diane Finley assured her that they weren’t quotas but performance indicators, and that there were hundreds of millions of dollars lost to fraud last year. Bob Rae was up for the Liberals, asking about a statement that funding for First Nations not being an issue but that it was about accountability, and it if meant that unequal funding would continue. Van Loan assured him that Rae was wrong, that education funding was the same on reserves, and that the priority was to create opportunities for young Aboriginal people across the country. For his last question, Rae asked about the human rights situation in Sri Lanka and demanded that the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting will be held elsewhere from Columbo. Bob Dechert responded saying the actions of the Sri Lankan government was unacceptable, and they were continuing to engage.
Tag Archives: Refugees
Roundup: Push-poll “miscommunications”
Oh dear. It seems that despite initially denying the story, the Conservatives did eventually admit to being behind a push-poll in Saskatchewan designed to turn public opinion against the electoral boundaries changes – changes that will disadvantage the Conservatives as genuine urban ridings are carved out of the old distorting “rurban” ridings. Oh, but it was an “oversight” that they didn’t identify themselves. I’m sure the CRTC will be happy to hear that “guilty plea,” as Pierre Poilievre would term it, were this a Liberal mishap. But it’s not, so I’m sure their euphemisms will be equally creative.
The Environment Commissioner tabled his final report yesterday, which details frustrations with the pace of resource projects outstripping the capacity of regulatory agencies who are dealing with changing legislation, jurisdictional confusion, and not enough resources.
QP: A dubious fiscal connection
Day two of the new parliamentary year, and the whole “carbon tax” versus “Conservatives are irresponsible” talking points continued unabated. Apparently nobody could think up anything new over the past six weeks, and the rest of us are left to suffer. When QP began, Thomas Mulcair started off by reading off questions about bank ratings downgrades, with his rather dubious connections between corporate tax cuts and high personal debt levels, and how this was an apocalypse in the making. Harper assured him that they recognised the issue of household debt and have taken measures. Mulcair went on to read a question about the funding gap for First Nations schools, but Harper insisted that they had made a number of changes to reduce poverty. Jean Crowder picked up on the First Nations education funding issue, to which John Duncan said that they are consulting on structural changes to the system, as throwing money at the problem won’t change anything. When Crowder asked about the high-level oversight on the First Nations that was promised, Duncan reiterated the pledge. Bob Rae was up for the Liberals, asking about the lack of progress on clean water for all First Nations reserves, to which Harper said that they had measures under considetation. When Rae pointed out that there weren’t resources attached to those matters, Harper accused the Liberals of voting against measures. For his last question, Rae asked about the government’s attacks on the Parliamentary Budget Officer, but Harper didn’t really respond to the question.
Roundup: Whistle-blowing potentially illegal instructions
A lawyer in the Department of Justice is taking his own department to Federal Court because of what he deems to be illegal instructions with drafting bills that could contravene the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but without notifying Parliament. Think about all of the court challenges to those “tough on crime” mandatory minimum sentences, and how they’re being struck down. And for his efforts at transparency and accountability, he’s been suspended without pay. Because it’s not like this government is trying to politicise the civil service or anything – right?
Speaking of which, the Liberals want the Government Operations committee and the Clerk of the Privy Council to look into the issue of the M-4 Unit – err, Julian Fantino’s partisan letters on the CIDA website, even though CIDA staff insist it was all a mistake, that these letters were mixed in with a large volume of material they were uploading. Not that the Liberals are buying it.
Roundup: Launching a new Action Plan™
Stephen Harper launched a new Action Plan™ in Montreal yesterday – the Venture Capital Action Plan™, to create Jobs & Growth™ as part of our Fragile Economic Recovery™. Economist Stephen Gordon wonders how this jives with Harper’s reluctance for government control in any industry, or how it benefits anyone other than consultants and lobbyists.
AFN National Chief Shawn Atleo has been ordered by his doctor to take time off because of exhaustion, which given the events of the past couple of weeks is no real surprise. Meanwhile, Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence still refuses to end her liquid diet.
Here is a look at some of the projected costs of implementing the new safe drinking water legislation for First Nations reserves, and whether or not the government will fully fund it. Thomas Mulcair has taken to criticizing Harper’s approach to natural resource development, which he says is behind the Aboriginal unrest, and that Harper needs to sit down with the provincial premiers, as they are the key to resource revenue sharing with the First Nations.
Roundup: A damning audit
Things on the Attawapiskat file got even more interesting yesterday with leaks of the independent audit of the band’s finances – the full report going online later in the day on the Aboriginal Affairs website. The gist – there was almost no due diligence with spending on the reserve, little to no documentation, and no way to tell if any of the money has been spent effectively. And remember that Spence’s partner is the band’s co-manager, whose job it is to handle the money. Spence has also known the audit’s results since August 28th, and has refused to comment to the audit firm about it. While it was due to be released no later than the middle of next week, the PM’s spokesperson denied that it had been withheld deliberately. And Spence? Shut out the media from her Victoria Island campsite while her spokesperson said that the audit was wrong and wondered about the timing of the release. Paul Wells notes that of all the leaders, past prime ministers and would-be leaders who’ve visited Spence, Thomas Mulcair was conspicuously absent, which may have turned out to be a prudent thing. Jonathan Kay parses the lessons inherent in that year-old CBC report on Attawapiskat, and applies them to the current situation. John Ivison looks at the audit, and the context of Theresa Spence’s ever-changing goal posts, while Andrew Coyne looks at the tensions in the Aboriginal community between those looking to modernise with incremental advancements the way the current government is proceeding with, and those who consider those advancements “genocide.”
Roundup: The Carney conundrum
The Globe and Mail wrote a story that tried to paint a picture of how Liberals were wooing Mark Carney, and that while he spoke at an exclusive event in Nova Scotia, he spent a few days at Scott Brison’s house with his family. And *gasp!* they both talked about income inequality at one time! Nobody else ever talks about income inequality – never! They must have been in cahoots about getting Carney to run for the party leadership! Never mind that they have a lot of similarities in experience and circles that they both travel in. The problem is that the story is largely sourced by unnamed “officials” and is dependent upon one particular organizer who was trying to get Carney to run and who may have simply been spinning a fabulation that Carney was actually entertaining a bid while he tried to get an organization behind him that was based on a false understanding of how the leadership ballot process was being run. It’s a bunch of random information being strung together with a bunch of supposition that something might have been discussed, because nobody wants to talk about it. And from a journalistic perspective, it reads a lot like rumour being reported as fact – especially with almost nobody going on the record to confirm or deny anything.
Whether the events in the story are true or not is no longer the issue, however. Economist Stephen Gordon worries about the irreparable harm that the Carney story does for the office of the Governor of the Bank of Canada, simply so that some “senior Liberal sources” could try and find some imagined gain.
Roundup: “Safe” countries and harsher rules
Jason Kenney released his list of “safe” countries of origin for refugee claimants, where claimants from those countries will be subject to an expedited process (which critics charge is an inadequate time to prepare a case), and no access to appeal. Included on the list are countries like Hungary and Latvia, where Roma populations have been targeted by far-right groups (and despite Kenney’s repeated claims to the contrary, they can’t actually seek asylum in other EU nations), but Mexico has not been (yet), to which Kenney says they are still deciding because of the security situation in that country. (Maclean’s has an interesting article about refugee claimants from Mexico who were targeted in that country because they were wealthy).
The Supreme Court upheld anti-terror legislation when weighted against other Charter rights.
As part of Leona Aglukkaq’s mandate to get Health Canada out of the business of doing anything at all, the department is now getting out of the medical marijuana business and turning it all over to approved commercial growers, which may make it easier to get, but also way more expensive, which is a problem for people on fixed incomes because they can’t work as a result of the conditions for which they are using said medical marijuana.
Roundup: Near-fisticuffs and self-serving narratives
The big news of the Commons yesterday was what appeared to be the near-outbreak of fisticuffs between Peter Van Loan and Thomas Mulcair (a spectacle Bob Rae later referred to as making “Sumo wrestling look like a fitness contest). Apparently once the votes were over – and the Speaker ruled against an NDP Point of Order that the Report Stage vote last night shouldn’t have counted because Jim Flaherty wasn’t there to move his own motion – Peter Van Loan crossed the floor, shaking his finger, and said something along the lines of “it was your fucking guy,” referencing an error made by Deputy Speaker Joe Comartin in the chair when that vote was taken last night, and that Cullen was being a hypocrite by making a big deal out of it. And Mulcair allegedly snapped back with “get the fuck back to your own side.” And MPs started rushing over until Peter MacKay and Paul Dewar broke it up before any punches could be thrown. Now, Van Loan doesn’t deny his choice of words, but other NDP MPs are claiming that Mulcair only told Van Loan not to threaten his House Leader. What this does, however, is set up a couple of counter-narratives, each of them self-serving. For the NDP, it’s that Van Loan and Harper’s gang are bullies – and we are in the midst of a crusade against bullying these days. For the Conservatives, it’s about Mulcair and his temper, citing an incident three years ago where it was Mulcair who crossed the floor and menaced Gerald Keddy in a similar manner. And then there is the crowd that is shaking their head and lamenting it all – or as Colby Cosh put it, “Wah wah wah parliamentarians get angry sometimes wah wah wah disgrace to democracy etc. etc.” Pretty much. Good thing there are a mere seven sitting days left.
QP: Dancing around disability questions
It was nearly a full House, which is rare for a Monday, but as is also the norm for a Monday, Harper was absent. Nevertheless, Thomas Mulcair got the ball rolling by reading a about the government missing its economic targets, to which John Baird, the designated back-up PM du jour, first congratulated the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on their happy news before he moved onto approved Economic Action Plan™ talking points. When Mulcair pressed on about job numbers and temporary foreign workers, Baird kept on with the Action Plan™. Peter Julian was up next to denounce the supposed fire sale of Canadian resources to China, to which Christian Paradis assured him that they will ensure investments provide a net benefit to Canada. Bob Rae was up then for the Liberals and asked about the government’s disability tax credit and whether or not it would be made refundable. (It was Persons With Disabilities Day, for the record). Baird danced around the question with feel-good talking points about all kinds of tax credits.