Tag Archives: Stephen Harper

Roundup: Pilfered equipment and logistical nightmares

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Some 400 containers of military equipment remain in Afghanistan, much of which has been pilfered after the land route to the port in Karachi was closed. But hey, it was all non-sensitive equipment, so this logistical nightmare remains the most cost-effective route, etcetera. Meanwhile, our Sea King helicopter replacements won’t be ready this year or next. I’m quite sure that by the time we do get them, they’ll be free given the amount of penalties that Sikorsky will have racked up by that point.

Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence’s hunger strike continues, and she demands a meeting with Harper and/or the Governor General and not the minister.

Economist Stephen Gordon shows why we won’t have effective climate policy in this country anytime soon – nobody wants to pay for it. And the research of climate groups proves it.

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QP: Angry questions in advance of the KPMG report

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What was likely the final QP of the year was very nearly a full house in the Commons, and saw the arrival of the two new Conservative MPs who recently won the by-elections in Durham and Calgary Centre. Once Erin O’Toole and Joan Crockatt took their seats, Thomas Mulcair started off by reading off demands for amendments to the Investment Canada Act, and intimated that the Prime Minister is scaring off investment. Harper pointed out that the markets responded positively to the decision, and hit back about how the NDP would shut down the oil sands. Mulcair then switched tracks and went after the F-35s, to which Harper shrugged and said that the Auditor General’s report found some problems with cost assumptions, but they had this new process going forward. Bob Rae then got up, and took umbrage with Harper’s characterisation of the the Auditor General’s report, and got into a back-and-forth with Harper about what was in the report.

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Roundup: Re-focusing CIDA

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International cooperation minister Julian Fantino has announced a new business-focused international development policy, and said that it’s not CIDA’s business to keep funding NGOs forever. There’s no word on what kinds of programmes will be cut in order to make this shift in focus, but Fantino says that no, they’re not getting into the mining industry.

Campaign Research polling company has been censured by the industry body for their reprehensible calls into Irwin Cotler’s riding alleging that he’s about to retire.

Bill C-398, the latest iteration of the attempt to reform Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime – which aims to get cheap generic medicines to developing countries – was defeated in the Commons last night by seven votes.

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Roundup: Talking about the economy sans Harper

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The provincial premiers are meeting in Halifax to talk about the economy, and yet, Stephen Harper won’t be there – despite insisting that the economy is his favourite topic and the one thing that all Canadians really care about instead of any other pesky political problems. Funny that.

New refugee laws come into force next month, which mandate mandatory detention for “mass arrivals” – basically refugees that arrive on boats. Never mind that this has proven to be a costly failure in Australia, Jason Kenney still insists it’ll be a deterrent for false asylum seekers – even though it’ll make things worse off for legitimate refugees.

Northern Gateway environmental hearings have added an additional ten weeks in BC, seeing as a lot of people want their say on the project.

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Roundup: Things that sound the same but aren’t

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Stephen Harper spent his Remembrance Day in Hong Kong, where 283 Canadian Soldiers are buried. He once again dodged questions about the Last Post Fund to assist poor veterans with their own burials. In a not unrelated story, the Veterans Affairs minister defended his decision to call off an investigation by the Veterans Ombudsman into the privacy breaches in the department, saying that he the Privacy Commissioner was looking into it – never mind that the focus of her investigation is different. Much like how they shut down the office of the Inspector General of CSIS by claiming it was duplicating the work of SIRC (which it wasn’t), the government once again takes two things that sound similar but really aren’t, and cutting one while claiming duplication, where the end result is more secrecy and less oversight.

In Harper’s previous stop in the Philippines, he downplayed the leadership change in China as a likely exercise in continuity, and in looking to boost trade with the Philippines, that country’s president declared themselves to be “open for business under new management,” referring of course to the quest to clean up corruption in that country.

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Roundup: Incoherent laws on political loans

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The Chief Electoral Officer says that the current law around political loans is incoherent and unenforceable. You know, the one that the Conservatives and NDP rushed through in order to screw over the Liberals in the midst of a leadership contest at the time. And while the current bill to address political loans would fix some of those problems, well, it’s languishing on the Order Paper in order to keep those current Liberal debtors twisting a bit. Not mentioned? All of the Conservatives with outstanding political loans.

Canadian Special Forces have lost millions in secret or “black” assets, and because it’s secret, auditing becomes a tough process through all of the redaction. Meanwhile, the new commander of the RCAF thinks the F-35s are the best choice, but he’ll respect whatever decision the government makes.

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QP: Administrative arrangements

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With Harper away, Thomas Mulcair faced off against John Baird instead as QP got underway. Mulcair read his first two questions, about slow economic growth, to which Baird responded with some fairly rote replies about the government’s record on job creation. Mulcair then turned to the burning question of the day – what about those joint embassies? Why did we find out through the UK press? Baird replied that these were simply administrative arrangements – putting  a desk in embassies where we the UK doesn’t have a mission, and likewise a Canadian desk in a UK embassy where we’re not represented. Mulcair then suggested that if they’re so concerned about sharing with the UK, why not share armed forces, or combine the Senate and the House of Lords since they’re “the same thing” (at which point I nearly pulled a Naomi Campbell; they are most certainly not the same thing – not in the slightest), and so on, but Baird didn’t take the bait. Bob Rae was up for the Liberals, playing off that question and wondering why, if our foreign policy is so independent and great, was Harper not attending the UN General Assembly this week? Baird noted that Harper was going to be in New York to get a “Statesman of the Year” award, and that we play a leading role in the world. Rae then shifted to the topic of income inequality, which the government wasn’t addressing, but Baird returned to his job creation talking points, and listed off all of the government’s programmes for low-income Canadians.

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QP: First day of school

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After an all-too predictable joking statement on the government legislating and end to the NHL lockout, and numerous Conservative statements on the fictional NDP “carbon tax,” Thomas Mulcair started off Question Period by citing things like the trade deficit while wondering if Harper would change his economic strategy. Harper spoke about the uncertain global economy, but gave no indication that he was willing to make any changes. Mulcair asked about the government cutting services during times of such high unemployment. Harper countered with the figure of three-quarters of a million net new jobs. Mulcair cited all of the instability in the European and American economies. Harper reminded him that Canada wasn’t the cause of that uncertainty, and hey, we’re the stable ones. Oh, Mulcair said, don’t get too caught up in “Fortress Canuck” when you should be protecting Canadian jobs. Better us than your tax hikes, Harper retorted, which was pretty much the same reply when Mulcair asked about whether or not he would meet with the premiers. Ralph Goodale was up for the Liberals, first asking about programmes to help young Canadians, to which Harper chided that while the NDP have bad ideas, at least they have some, unlike the Liberals. Goodale then asked a technical questions about financing cooperatives, but Harper ignored it and gave a rote talking point about the economy and lower taxes. Goodale closed off by asking about income inequality, to which Harper reminded him that they lowered the GST by two points for all Canadians.

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Roundup: Adventures in Vladivostok

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While at the APEC Summit in Vladivostok, Russia, over the weekend, Stephen Harper and Chinese president Hu Jintao witnessed the signing of the Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement. Harper and Russian president Vladimir Putin also agreed to disagree on the issue of Syria. While at the summit, Harper also ratcheted up the rhetoric around Iran now that we’ve shuttered our embassy there.

It looks like the new Office of Religious Freedoms may have finally found its ambassador and could be set to open soon. Of course, it was also revealed that the Muslim panellists for their consultations were “not available,” which sounds terribly convenient when you’re trying to assure people that this won’t simply be an office devoted to Christian proselytising.

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Roundup: The road to 2015

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From the NDP caucus meeting in St. John’s, Thomas Mulcair made a speech about their “positive, optimistic” future, and how the road to 2015 starts now. As part of that road, the party plans to target youth voters in the next election. Meanwhile, MPs have reaffirmed their belief that 50 percent-plus-one is enough for Quebec to separate, which has the Liberals sounding like they plan to put a motion on the Order Paper about support for the Clarity Act this fall.

The Liberals have formally announced the rules for their leadership contest, which kicks off in November. While We The Media wait to hear whether or not Justin Trudeau will run (who says the party needs teamwork and not a saviour), we’re now getting musings from Jim Karygiannis (aka “Jimmy K”) and Joyce Murray.

Pauline Marois referred to herself as “Head of State.” Um, no. That’s the Queen. You might be the province’s head of government (provided that you can maintain the confidence of the Chamber in a minority context), but you’re not the Head of State. Not even close.

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