Tag Archives: The Senate

Roundup: Alberta on the edge

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It’s election day in Alberta. Will the desire for change lead to an even more right-wing “libertarian” government of inexperienced rookies? Or will institutional inertia and one party state-ism that has otherwise defined the province carry the day? I guess we’ll have to stay tuned to find out.

Today’s Senate “nominee elections” in Alberta are likely to split along party lines – as in, PC and Wildrose, who have both pledged to sit as federal Conservatives in the Senate. Which is just one reason why this whole exercise is so problematic – there is no sense in provincial parties running candidates when those candidates will sit in different federal caucuses once they arrive in Ottawa down the road – assuming of course that they do make it to Ottawa. In fact, it makes the vote that much more disingenuous.

Vic Toews admits that Omar Khadr is a Canadian and he’s coming back, so he’s now in damage control mode – he won’t be a danger to Canadians, and at least if he serves his sentence here we can better monitor him and his activities upon release than if he’d served his entire sentence in the States and suddenly showed up on our borders.

There are thousands of buildings owned by the federal government that are crumbling, some of them in states of total system failure.

Despite the ongoing battles between the chief of Attawapiskat and the federal government, it seems that not everyone in her community are pleased with her leadership. Not only that, some members of the community are also tired of NDP MP Charlie Angus using them to score political points.

Susan Delacourt looks at a grand national project like the Charter 30 years later, and fears that such a feat couldn’t be accomplished in today’s political landscape.

What’s that? The Conservatives are dismissing more expert testimony with those court challenges to overturn the election results in seven ridings? You don’t say! Meanwhile, in the battle to overturn the results in Etobicoke Centre, the Elections Canada factum says that mere clerical errors shouldn’t be enough to invalidate an election result.

Liberal Party brass were meeting in Ottawa this weekend to determine the rules for their (eventual) leadership contest, which they’ll have more firm rules on by June.

Here’s a look at Ruth Ellen “Vegas” Brosseau, one year after her election.

Here’s a timeline of the history of the Kingston Penitentiary.

And here’s a little bit about the Queen, as Saturday was her 86th birthday (not that we’ll celebrate it here in Canada until Victoria Day).

Roundup: Branding Mulcair

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The NDP have launched their English-language ads about Thomas Mulcair, which is mostly a bunch of b-roll people saying how great Thomas Mulcair is, at which point Olivia Chow says that Layton’s vision is in good hands, and Mulcair gives his pledge to “get the job done.” And hey, the party has been buying up some prime ad space too. Mind you, it seems these scripts were done up before the leader was even chosen, but considering how much in “violent agreement” they all were about policy it wouldn’t have affected the outcome much one way or the other.

Good news, everyone! Peter MacKay promises there will be more transparency with the F-35 going forward. Great. Now what about a proper procurement process that isn’t rigged and predetermined? Maybe? No answer. Meanwhile, Laurie Hawn seems to think that the Auditor General doesn’t know how to do his job, while Peter MacKay seems put out that DND will have to actually calculate operational lifetime costs as part of procurement – you know, like Auditors General have been asking for, for years now. The poor little lamb. Oh, and former Assistant Deputy Minister Alan Williams? Is still not buying any of these accounting excuses, for the record.

Another of our submarines is (finally) ready for sea trials, making that two now in the water. Meanwhile, it seems the navy may have some training issues with crews for said submarines, which really can’t be a surprise given how long they’ve been in drydock.

It appears that Canada will be setting up a separate immigration system for skilled tradespeople to deal with all of those labour shortages in places like Alberta.

Here is an accounting of how John Baird picked up the phone eight times to “lobby hard” against a vote for recognition of Palestinian statehood at the UN.

Just like the Manning Centre does for the Conservatives, the nascent Broadbent Institute has a poll that shockingly supports the NDP’s partisan position. I know – I’m just as surprised as you are.

Here’s a glance at the thirteen Senate “hopefuls” in Alberta’s “nominee election.” Note how they’re running under provincial banners for seats in federal caucuses – because that totally makes sense.

Here is a look at just what those cuts coming to the CBC will be, including the closure of foreign bureaux and the cancellation of two current affairs shows.

And one of Michael Ignatieff’s old novels, Scar Tissue, is being given new life as a theatre production in Vancouver.

Roundup: Just a difference in accounting

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Peter MacKay says that we don’t have to worry – that extra $10 billion figure with the F-35s was all just a difference in accounting about what was included in those figures, such as salaries and fuel, and so on. Which seems a bit…dubious, especially seeing as this is the first time they’ve said anything like that, and went on the attack against people like the Parliamentary Budget Officer when his numbers were released a while back that are closer to the $25 billion figure. So clearly, if it was a difference of accounting, they would have said that a year ago, and they didn’t. Even if MacKay’s assertion is true, and I have doubts, it does not excuse the rigged process either, which also needs to be repeatedly called out as well. Meanwhile, here are a bunch of quotes about the F-35 process in the past.

Despite the third party manager being withdrawn, the chief of Attawapiskat is pressing ahead with her court challenges as to what all went down.

Oh noes! BC is delaying their bill to hold Senate “consultative elections” because the private member’s bill proposing them “needs more work.” Not only is it a dumb idea to start monkeying with federal constitutional issues at a provincial level, but doing so in order to try and win some political favour is equally nonsensical, and with any luck this inane idea will die a death by fire.

Here’s a really awful tale about what a family was put through when a young soldier committed suicide.

And here’s a look at the meaning of Thomas Mulcair’s beard. No, seriously. Also, a look at his wife and political confidante.

Conservative Senator criticises foreign money inquiry

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Conservative senator Nancy Ruth has occasionally found herself on the other side of positions taken by other members of her party, and today was no exception. In the Senate earlier this afternoon, Senator Nancy Ruth took issue with her fellow Conservative senator Nicole Eaton’s inquiry into foreign money into Canadian non-profit organisations. Eaton and several of her fellow Conservative senators are going after environmental groups primarily, who they see are asserting undue influence on the Canadian political process, as well as our economic interests when it comes to natural resources – thinking primarily of course of the Alberta oilsands, and pipelines needed to transport the bitumen to places where it can be upgraded into more conventional oil forms.

Nancy Ruth says that while she supports the pipeline, she has three questions around the inquiry – why is the net being cast so narrowly in that it targets only charities, what evidence is there that these foreign foundations are pushing Canadian groups into taking positions that they wouldn’t otherwise, and why the current mechanisms for policing charities are inadequate.

“If the concern is about foreign influence, then why is the inquiry not considering the lobbying efforts of foreign corporations with huge interests in the development of the oil sands and the construction of the pipeline?” Nancy Ruth asked. “Why is the inquiry not considering the lobbying efforts of Canadian corporations with foreign investors?”

Nancy Ruth also wonders about the proof, considering allegations made by Senator Eaton of “interference, abuse, political manipulation, influence peddling, manipulation,” and by  Senator Daniel Lang of “money laundering and support for terrorism, and active engagement in elections.” These allegations are coupled with the notion that the foreign funders are somehow exerting undue influence.

“Could it not be that Canadian charities went looking for financial support both within and without Canada to support their positions?” Nancy Ruth wondered. “Furthermore we live in a global culture with global ideas.”

In pointing to the existing policing mechanisms, and the fact that any charity can’t spend more than ten percent of its budget on political advocacy as it stands, and the fact that there are already disclosure rules for non-residents, Nancy Ruth doesn’t see the same issue that Eaton does.

“If you want the CRA, the NGOs or charities to make foreign monies public – that’s fine with me – if it does not infringe on the Canadian laws on privacy and the principle of confidentiality of tax,” Nancy Ruth said. “More transparency suits me, as it would let me see who is funding Ethical Oil and who it’s ‘puppets’ are.”

She drives home her point about the tone being set by the existence of the inquiry as one that attacks Canada’s democratic principles.

“What is really being advocated is that some groups should have influence, and others should not,” Nancy Ruth said. “What is really being advocated is that some points of view cannot be questioned, while others are a waste of time and cause delay.”

Fellow Conservative senator Dennis Patterson, who represents Nunavut, followed up by decrying the misinformation given by these environmental non-profit groups and their “convoluted” financing, which he blamed “lazy journalists” for propagating. As an example, he talked about protests against seismic tests in Lancaster Sound, saying that it was based on falsehoods.

He then said that Canada does not need foreign aid, and that groups in these countries, be they from the States or Europe, they should turn their attention to their own backyards, and worried about “philanthropy as an instrument of foreign policy.”

At the end of the day’s debate, before it was adjourned, Liberal Senator Jim Munson stood up to ask Patterson about why those “poor, impoverished lobbyists” wandering around Ottawa aren’t similarly being asked for the same kinds of transparency.

Senator Eaton was not amused, and called the question ridiculous, though Patterson did concede that perhaps the transparency requirements shouldn’t focus solely on charities.