This is the week that Parliament returns, and we’re already getting a hint of what it’s going to look like, with clues from Government House Leader Dominic LeBlanc as to the agenda. According to The Canadian Press, LeBlanc’s plans are for the Commons to sit for one week in order to move a motion on the tax changes the government plans to make (I’m guessing it’s a Ways and Means motion), and there will be a move to reconstitute the Procedure and House Affairs Committee, as well as Finance Committee, in order to get the ball rolling on procedural changes in the former, and pre-budget consultations in the latter, but leaving other committees to start up in the new year, and likely with more resources and staff in order to help make them more independent – all good things. While I remain sceptical about the proposed changes to make the Prime Minister only show up once a week in Question Period (as I outlined here), at least they are providing the framework for the discussions to happen before Parliament really gets into the thick of it. Thus far, there have been no decisions made about what’s happening with the Senate, which is starting to get a bit bothersome, particularly as it relates to either choosing a Speaker or a Leader of the Government in the Senate, and word has it that the Senate is likely to end up cancelling its Question Period altogether (which would be a tremendous shame considering that it’s a far better debate than what happens in the Commons). As for other items on the government’s democratic reform agenda, Léonid Sirota isn’t sure that some of them – like mandatory voting or limiting third-party spending outside of a writ period – will pass the constitutional muster.
Tag Archives: Temporary Foreign Workers
Roundup: A contraction and a rate cut
While he didn’t use the word itself, Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz essentially said that Canada is in a recession, and he cut the interest rate by another quarter of a percent, leaving prime at 0.5 percent. Poloz said that we are in a contraction, but there should be growth in non-energy sectors in the second half of the year. Nevertheless, shrinking the growth outlook for the year by a full percentage point of GDP blows billions of dollars out of the projections that were built into the government’s budget, which almost certainly will push it into real deficit territory (as opposed to the paper surplus that it was sitting in after raiding the contingency reserve and EI fund in order to pay for those family tax breaks and still make it look like there’s a surplus). Where the real kicker could come in is the fact that the Bank of Canada is trying to use monetary policy to stimulate the economy to help it grow, while the government is cutting in order to achieve its balanced budget rather than stimulating at a time of contraction to prime the pump, as it were, and there was talk about how it meant the government was basically undoing the work the Bank was trying to do. So there’s that. Also not helpful is the government then coming out to attack Justin Trudeau and Thomas Mulcair as a means of trying to distract from their economic record, so that they can make the pitch to be allowed to stay in office after the election. Maclean’s assembled an expert panel to discuss the rate cut, while Andrew Coyne fears the damage that all of the election promises will end up causing the economy by the time the vote is over.
QP: Counselling illegal behaviour
It being a Tuesday, Stephen Harper was present for QP, a rarity these days — it’s too bad that neither Jusin Trudeau was (despite being in town but apparently had a thing with his children), nor Thomas Mulcair (who was giving a speech in Toronto). Megan Leslie led off, bemoaning the economic situation the country finds itself in. Stephen Harper disputed her, praising the post-recession job creation record. Leslie noted the drop in manufacturing numbers, using it to plug Mulcair’s speech, but Harper repeated his previous points. Leslie tried again, but Harper insisted that the NDP were only at the mercy of big union bosses, and that brought economic ruin in Europe. Peter Julian then picked up, and wondered why the government was allergic to democracy and the facts. Stephen Blaney responded, saying that the “group in question” supports a terrorist organization, and a second round in English went exactly the same. Ralph Goodale led for the Liberals, condemning the government for “counselling illegal behaviour” when it came to the destruction of those gun registry records. Harper insisted that the RCMP acted on the will of parliament, and that the Liberals simply wanted to revive it. Goodale ripped into him for the response, but Harper more forcefully repeated that it was the will of parliament, and that the Liberals hated farmers and duck hunters. Stéphane Dion took another kick at it in French, going after the retroactive legislation burried in the omnibudget bill to protect the RCMP, but Harper would not change in his talking points.
https://twitter.com/aaronwherry/status/610876361096495104
Roundup: Harper’s permanent underclass
During a visit by the president of the Philippines yesterday, Stephen Harper took a question from a Filipino reporter about the Temporary Foreign Workers Programme – something that affects a great many Filipinos who come to work in Canada, and how there has been an exodus of those workers whose four-year permits have expired. Harper responded that he doesn’t want to see a “permanent underclass” of workers who don’t have the same rights as Canadians, and that they can become immigrants like everyone else. While that answer sounds pretty high-minded on the surface, the problem with it is that it ignores the changes that his own government put into place and perpetuates. Under Harper’s watch, the numbers of permanent residencies has declined in favour of more temporary work permits, and the other problem is that the current immigration program ignores the fact that there is a need for low-skilled immigrants in this country who can’t get in the door now because we are only looking for highly skilled or educated individuals and their families. That kind of system ignores the long-term investment in the country that low-skilled immigration brings, and has brought to this country when it was a big part of the way our system operated. In other words, Harper’s own government policies are perpetuating a system that will allow these temporary workers for four years, but won’t allow them to become permanent residents, and yet he admonishes them for not using the regular immigration routes. But hey, rhetoric while a foreign leader is present makes everything sound better.
QP: Carry on the middle-class talking points
As Monday is the new Friday, none of the main leaders were in the House — Harper in Europe, Mulcair in Quebec City, and Trudeau across the river in Gatineau, having just laid out his party’s new tax plan. When QP kicked off, Megan Leslie led off, asking about job losses in the manufacturing sector. Pierre Poilievre took the question, and listed off some talking points about how great their family tax cuts were. Leslie noted the media reports that Conservative MPs will personally benefit more from income splitting than others, but Poilievre was undaunted from his talking points. Leslie then changed to the topics of coalition air strikes in Syria hitting civilians. Rob Nicholson noted that they had a 12-month commitment. Jack Harris then asked about Harper’s comments that they were not sure how effective the bombing campaign was. Nicholson noted it was a precision campaign, and wanted the NDP to thank the men and women in uniform. Harris then asked about reports about allegations of mistreatment of Taliban by military police. James Bezan insisted that they were taking the allegations seriously. Dominic LeBlanc led off for the Liberals, praising their recent announcement and wondered why the government wouldn’t adopt it (Poilievre: Yay our plan), and Ralph Goodale got increasingly critical of that plan Poilievre was touting (Poilievre: You just said you want to raise taxes on people making $60,000 — blatantly untrue).
Pierre Poilievre is sticking to his talking points. #QP pic.twitter.com/lxQCieojfm
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) May 4, 2015
QP: Taking Action on the Deschamps Report
With the funeral for Senate Speaker Nolin taking place at the same time in Montreal, there were no leaders present in the Commons save Elizabeth May, and ensuring that it was going to be a pretty miserable day. Peter Julian led off, returning to the issue of Mike Duffy’s residency upon appointment (never mind that the story he was quoted about Duffy’s own concerns was repudiated). Paul Calandra responded by bringing up the satellite offices, and added in the new allegations of union representatives using parliamentary resources. They went again for another round of the same, before Julian raised job losses in the auto sector. Joe Oliver, present for a change, praised their investments in the sector and the tens of thousands of jobs that they saved. Sadia Groguhé was up next, asking a pair of questions about manufacturing slowdowns in French, and Oliver repeated his answer about all of the help they’ve given. Joyce Murray led off for the Liberals, raising the Deshcamps Report on sexual misconduct in the military. James Bezan responded that the culture was unacceptable, and they accepted the recommendations and were putting in place an Action Plan™. Murray listed off more of the horrors in the report, and wondered why no money was in the budget to address the issue. Bezan insisted that they were taking action. David McGuinty read more of the allegations in French, and accused the government of abandoning those victims. Bezan said that they were addressing the problems and would change the culture.
QP: Wait for tomorrow’s budget
The first day back from the Easter break, and the day before the budget, and attendance was pretty depressed, and none of the major leaders were present. Megan Leslie led off, demanding the government table a budget that helps families. Kevin Sorensen said she’d have to wait for tomorrow to get the details, but they were going to fulfil their provinces including tax breaks for families. Leslie insisted regular Canadians would face cuts, but Sorenson was not deterred from his good news talking points. Leslie then changed topics to the constitutionality of Mike Duffy’s Senate appointment, to which Paul Calandra reminded the NDP of their satellite offices and demanded they repay them. Peter Julian repeated the question in French, got much the same response, and for his final question, Peter Julian decried cuts to marine safety as demonstrated by the fuel leak in English Bay. Lisa Raitt responded by commending the Coast Guard on their actions, and reminded them that the ship transiting Canadian waters who is solely responsible for their pollution. Scott Brison led for the Liberals, decrying the planned balanced budget legislation, and asked the government to make the law retroactive to repay the five percent penalty for the years that we weren’t in recession. Sorenson praised balanced budgets, and didn’t take Brison’s bait. Brison then decried the doubling of the TFSA limit as helping only the wealthy, and Sorenson responded with some non sequitur past quote of Brison. Brison wanted more help for students instead of advertising (Poilievre: You would raise taxes on students).
QP: A laundry lists of non sequiturs
Caucus Day, and the only other day of the week when we can expect all party leaders to show up — because they’re showing how much Parliament matters. Thomas Mulcair led off, asking where the budget was, to which Stephen Harper read off a laundry list of measures they have already brought forward. Mulcair noted job losses, to which Harper decried NDP tax hikes. Mulcair brought up the Governor of the Bank of Canada’s statement about the state of the economy being “atrocious,” but Harper kept up his same line of answers. Mulcair noted that the costs of our military missions being classified in budget documents, but Harper ignored it and touted their family tax cuts. Mulcair then brought up Jason Kenney’s misleading statements about smart bombs, and Harper again claimed the NDP would take away the family tax cuts, before decrying how awful ISIS is. Justin Trudeau was up next, and noted unemployment figures and demanded a real plan. Harper responded by claiming that the Liberals would also take away the family tax credits. Trudeau gave a jab about spending taxpayer dollars for benefit gain, to which Harper gave a bog standard “$40 million dollars” response before he again claimed the Liberals would take away programmes from Canadians. For his final question, Trudeau asked about partisan advertising, before making a dig another the absent Liberal party platform.
QP: Concern over a slight shrinking in GDP
It being Tuesday, the leaders were all present and ready to go, because apparently it only counts two days a week now. Thomas Mulcair led off, asking about the new numbers from StatsCan that showed that GDP shrank ever so slightly last month. Stephen Harper touted his family tax cut legislation instead. Mulcair demanded a budget, but Harper demurred. Mulcair decried “all of the eggs” in the oil basket — actually not true — and continued his demand for a budget, but Harper kept insisting that they are continuing their Economic Action Plan™ and that it was working. Mulcair then moved onto this morning’s PBO report that said that families with older kids and those without kids in childcare will be getting more benefits than those with kids in childcare. Harper first insisted that the NDP wanted to raise taxes, and then insisted that all families would get an increase in after-tax benefits. Mulcair decried those families with kids in childcare being punished, but Harper repeated his answer. Justin Trudeau was up next, and he returned to the reports of negative growth in three months of the past six, and wondered when the government would come up with a plan to get the economy moving. Harper responded with a laundry list of their recent announcements, and insisted that the Liberals only wanted to raise taxes. Trudeau noted that giving a tax break to the rich wouldn’t help, but Harper insisted that forecasts still showed growth, and wanted support for their family tax break bill. Trudeau asked again in French, and Harper repeated his answer in French.
QP: On bombing Syria
About four hours after Harper addressed the Commons about extending the Iraq mission, everyone gatherer again, all leaders present and full benches behind them. Thomas Mulcair led off, asking about the October statements that bombing in Syria would only happen with the permission of that government, and asked what changed. Harper responded that ISIS was taking refuge in Syria, and that we were following the lead of our allies in bombing across that border. Mulcair asked about the change in statements on painting targets, but Harper insisted that the government would act about the threat of ISIS. Muclair asked about how many new soldiers would be added, to which Harper insisted that those would not change. Mulcair asked for an exit strategy, and Harper responded by being “clear” about the threat that ISIS poses to Canada and the world. Mulcair wondered how Harper could still claim it wasn’t a combat mission, and Harper responded by wondering how the NDP could not support the mission. Justin Trudeau was up next, asking about the planning horizon for the combat role. Harper responded that the motion was for up to twelve months, and that they would continue to evaluate the situation. Trudeau wondered if our Special Forces would be operating in Syria, to which Harper assured him that the motion was only for them to continue training in Northern Iraq. Trudeau then wondered how Canada would communicate with the Assad regime to ensure that our fighters would not be targeted by Syrian air defences. Harper insisted that our allies were already doing it.