Tag Archives: The Senate

Roundup: No summer vacation yet for senators

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The Commons has risen for the summer, and MPs have all fled the oppressive, muggy heat of Ottawa for their ridings. The Senate will still sit for another week, possibly two, depending on how long it takes them to pass the three bills that have been identified as their current priorities – the omnibus budget bill (which they’ve been doing extensive pre-study on for the past several weeks), the refugee reform bill (which the government needs passed before June 30th, lest last year’s refugee bill comes into force before this one does), and the copyright reform bill (which is an issue with the forthcoming TPP negotiations). During the end-of-sitting press conference yesterday morning, Senate opposition leader James Cowan noted that the government has made the unusual step of bringing in time allocation on those bills (which is actually a rarity in the Senate), which limits the role that Senators are supposed to play in our system, which is of course more in-depth study of legislation and the “sober second thought” of being a step removed from partisan and electoral politics. Not that these traditional considerations have stopped the current government, but what can you do?

A new Commissioner of Elections has been appointed amidst the various robocall investigations and the spending irregularities of Dean Del Mastro. But before anyone gets any particular ideas about how this is really a surprise or some Harper conspiracy to silence those investigations, his job was posted back in February, so no one should really read too much into it. On the subject of Del Mastro, it seems that his claims that he knew nothing about the investigation into his spending have been contradicted by further affidavits by Elections Canada officials. Oops.

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Roundup: Last-minute Order Paper additions

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With a little over a day left in the spring sitting of the Commons, two major government bills were unveiled yesterday. The first was yet another immigration bill, this time looking to crack down and deport non-residents who commit crimes and serve time in Canada, and oh look – it proposes to give the minister additional powers to decide on these cases. Right as a bill that proposes to give the minister additional arbitrary powers over refugee determination has nearly finished wending its way through the Senate. But you would be correct if you saw a theme emerging – giving the minister more arbitrary powers under the guise of speeding processes along, seeing as creating sets of rules that need to be followed takes time, and apparently we’re willing to forgo rules for the sake of speed. Or something like that.

Meanwhile, Vic Toews announced the tabling of a bill to amend the RCMP Act in order to improve the discipline process as the Commissioner had been requesting while he works to clean up the Force after a series of embarrassing scandals. These changes also include a more robust public complaints process, which is also a good thing.

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Senate QP: Potato packaging and linguistic concerns

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With the vote-a-thon proceeding apace in the Commons, I decided to head down the hall to the Other Place – otherwise known as the Senate – to observe the proceedings, and Question Period, there. Note that Nathan Cullen tried to get them the Commons to suspend the votes to still hold Question Period there, but he could not seek unanimous consent. But seriously – the point of marathon votes is to make it uncomfortable to be forced to stay in their seats through the votes, why give them a 45-minute reprieve so that the House can empty out to a skeleton crew?

After some senators’ statements, and reports having been tabled from committees, Senate Question Period got underway. Senator Hubley rose for the Liberals, and asked about changes in CFIA regulations when it comes to food labelling and packaging, especially for the effect that it was going to have on the potato industry on PEI, and could the government indicate who they consulted with before making these changes? Senator LeBreton, the Leader of the Government in the Senate, gets to answer all of the questions put to the government. She mentioned that Senator Nolin had previously raised the question with her, and that the changes had to deal with harmonising cross-border standards. That said, she has already submitted a request for a written response from the minister, and would pass along the Senator’s concerns. Hubley rose again and delivered a few facts about the industry, and asked again for information on who the government consulted with. LeBreton responded that she would ask.

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Roundup: Prepare for marathon voting

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And so begins the week where it all happens. All of those marathon votes, as many as the Speaker is determined to allow (the number of which we should know by around noon today).

Another leaking pipeline in Alberta has premier Alison Redford in damage control mode, professing confidence in the measures in place to deal with leaks as they happen, but critics say that there is too much industry self-reporting that needs to be addressed.

Preston Manning calls Thomas Mulcair a hypocrite for not making his “polluter pay” and internalising environmental cost ideas apply to Quebec’s hydro sector, which flooded forest areas the size of Lake Ontario.

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Roundup: Scheer gives himself passing grades

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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.

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Roundup: Complicating the “Dutch disease”

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Western premiers continue to strike back at Thomas Mulcair, refuting his assertion that they are simply “Harper’s messengers,” while he sticks to his guns on the “Dutch disease” diagnosis, calling it “irrefutable.” Erm, except more economic data shows that it’s not. An IRPP study shows that while there may have been a mild case of said “disease,” it’s a far more complex picture than simply Alberta versus Ontario’s manufacturing sector, as the decline in the manufacturing sector has more to do with the rise of China than it does with the strength of our dollar, which has in turn helped other sectors of the economy as well. Meanwhile, Statistics Canada reports that the manufacturing sector is rebounding. Not that we should expect Mulcair to back down from his position anytime soon.

It seems that the F-35s were built with no cybersecurity protections in them, making them as vulnerable to cyberattacks as Humvees were to roadside bombs, apparently. But these are still the best aircraft that our airmen and women need, remember! Meanwhile, the government sent the RCMP on a five-month probe into what they thought might have been leaked documents after a Globe and Mail story on the F-35s, which turned out to be nothing. Well, nothing but a warning that if the government doesn’t like what the media is reporting, they’ll read too much power into certain National Security Acts that don’t really apply and send the RCMP after them.

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QP: Tinfoil hats and telecom trouble

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While some MPs may have been a bit bleary-eyed from the previous late night, it certainly didn’t make for a dull Question Period. Or perhaps, that’s why it took such a turn for the worse the longer it continued. Thomas Mulcair was up first, reciting his carefully prepared questions on why the government still hadn’t provided any figures for the planned changes to OAS, to which Harper assured him that there weren’t going to be any actual cuts to benefits. Mulcair then turned to the issue of Chinese telecom company Huawei being granted Canadian contracts after the US and Austraila barred them as security risks. Harper insisted that the US doesn’t dictate our policies. When Randall Garrison rose to keep asking about the same questions, Vic Toews said that the CBC story only told half the tale, and that his officials weren’t in opposition, while Conservative backbenchers chirped about people wearing tinfoil hats. Bob Rae got up to ask about the changes to EI and how worker protections were eroding as their rights would no longer be enshrined in legislation, but rather in regulation. But when he demanded that Harper produce said regulation now, Harper dodged and insisted that the appeals process would remain in place. When Rae turned to the issue that the government wouldn’t produce the data on how much would be saved in the OAS changes, Harper reminded him that the measures wouldn’t be coming into effect until 2023.

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Roundup: Convenient committee travel

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While there is supposed to be a special sub-committee of Finance where environment critics can study the environmental portions of the omnibus budget bill, that has entirely been made problematic by the fact that environment committee – which means the associated critics – will be travelling this week as part of a study on the National Conservation Plan, and they’ll be in Alberta and BC. But it should be noted that this plan was approved weeks ago, so it’s entirely possible the timing of this was not a deliberate ploy (giving full benefit of the doubt).

Parliamentary watchdogs and auditors are starting to collaborate and work together more – much to the chagrin of senior public servants and the Treasury Board, who grumble that these agents of parliament are just looking for trouble to justify their existence.

Poor Peter MacKay – after equivocating within an inch of his life on what he knew about the costs of the Libya mission when he went public about them, he now blames the opposition and media for the controversy. Because nothing he says or does is ever his fault.

BC Premier Christy Clark has also joined in on the criticism of Thomas Mulcair’s take on oil sands development and his warnings of the “Dutch disease.” (And how many people crying about the “Dutch disease” and our “petrodollar” take into account the fact that the Americans have slowly but surely been devaluing their own currency to manage their debt?)

More analysis that the Liberals held more in camera meetings than the Conservatives? Don’t be fooled, says Kady O’Malley, who points out that top-line numbers don’t reveal that committees do go in camera for legitimate reasons – like picking witness lists and drafting reports, and the Liberals drafted a whole lot more reports than the current Conservative majority. Add to that, most of the previous in camera meetings were done by unanimous vote, not under opposition protest. And a reminder about why committees go in camera and what the alternatives might be (which aren’t really good either).

The president of the Canada West Foundation and one of the staunchest defenders of “Triple E” Senate “reform” has now backed away from his position, and actually sees more harm than good in the government’s current “reform” plans. This is big news in conservative circles, and should hopefully prompt some re-thinking of a flawed (and rather boneheaded) attempt to kludge together some reforms that will only make the system worse and will have no added democratic benefits in the long run.

And if you haven’t yet, watch Elizabeth May’s speech in the House on Friday about the omnibus budget bill. It’s probably one of the best denunciations of it to date.

Roundup: Happy Harper-versary!

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Happy one-year anniversary of the Strong, Stable, Conservative Majority Government! This morning we are looking forward to self-congratulatory speeches from Stephen Harper, Thomas Mulcair, and an announcement from the Liberals about how they plan to not only open the doors to their party, but knock down the walls as well. No, seriously. (I write more about that here).

Eight deputy ministers and senior officials turned up at the Public Accounts committee yesterday to talk about the Auditor General’s report on the F-35s. And by “talk about,” we mean basically say “Not my fault – don’t look at me.” And hey, because there were eight of them around the table, it meant there was very little questioning of any of them once they all got through their opening statements. (You know, the kind of thing that Liberal committee member Gerry Byrne was trying to avoid when he tried to pass a motion that the witnesses would be heard in panels of no more than two at a time). Accountability and transparency in action!

Quebec is officially calling for a Supreme Court reference on the constitutionality of the Senate “reform” bill. As well they should – the bill is unconstitutional, no matter how the government tries to make changes through the back door.

A Federal Court judge has given an “unreserved” smackdown of the practice of clawing back disability payments for veterans. Peter MacKay hasn’t yet said whether the government will appeal the decision.

Here is a pretty damning indictment about the death of oversight at CSIS.

Here is a look at the 40 diplomatic residences we’re considering selling, and the damage it’ll do to our “brand” abroad.

As was mentioned during QP yesterday, it looks like Conrad Black will be coming back to Canada after all, while the NDP took this case, along with that of Gary Freeman and showed the apparently double-standard being applied there.

Peter Kent accuses environmental charities of “laundering” foreign funds to undermine our country’s interests. Seriously.

And Steve Murray illustrates ways that we can help to improve decorum in the Commons.

QP: Decisive Action on apples and oranges

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Question Period began innocently enough. Thomas Mulcair read out his trio of questions around an admission that Peter MacKay had made that cabinet knew of the alleged two sets of books on the F-35s, and Harper chided him about comparing apples and oranges, and Jack Harris and Peter MacKay had two more rounds of the very same, MacKay asserting that he was talking about the process of decisions flowing through cabinet, but since they AG’s report, they’ve taken “decisive action.” Bob Rae, a bit hoarse, got up to ask about the Deputy Minister of Defence telling the Public Accounts committee that the AG “got it wrong,” and the lingering question about how deputy ministers can disagree with a report that the government says it agrees with, but Harper insisted that Rae was the one getting it wrong, and talked up about how they were proceeding with an oversight committee on the acquisition. Stéphane Dion closed the round by asking the government to withdraw its unconstitutional Senate “reform” bill, but Harper got up and instead of answering the substance of the question, touted the latest Senate “consultation election” in Alberta. Because who needs to worry about the constitution?

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