Concerns have been raised that private members’ bills are creating laws with less rigorous scrutiny, and that the government is using this to cut corners. Which is pretty much a big “well, yeah – obviously.” Private members’ bills are not drafted with the assistance of the Department of Justice, but rather by some underpaid clerks in the Library of Parliament, and the time allotted for debate is really limited – two hours per stage in the Commons, and maybe two committee meetings. And yes, the government has been taking advantage of this fact, but for a number of reasons. Sometimes that advantage is tactical – if it’s a PMB and not a government bill, it’s open for a free vote so you can get some opposition MPs onside as they (normally) won’t be whipped on it. If those free votes can sow some division, as with the long-gun registry bill in the previous parliament, so much the better. Sometimes it is genuinely an idea from the backbenches that the government likes, which I suspect the masked rioter bill was after it tapped into some good old-fashioned populist outrage after incidents like the Stanley Cup riots in Vancouver. But this having been said, I doubt that it’s often being done for the sake of less oversight and debate considering the speed with which these bills proceed, and no, not every bill or motion from a government backbencher is a backdoor attempt by the government to do something (like the Woodworth abortion motion, so stop insisting that it is. Seriously – just stop). A large part of the problem, however, stems from the fact that MPs are conflating their own roles, and they like to think of themselves as American-style lawmakers, and certain opposition parties – like the NDP in particular – like to use their private members’ business to advance party goals rather than the personal policy hobbyhorses of their MPs, like PMBs are intended to do. We need to be mindful that MPs are not there make laws, but are rather to hold those who do to account, and that has been eroded. PMBs are supposed to be limited in scope and effect because it’s not an MP’s job to make laws. When this role becomes conflated, problems like this one start creeping into the system.
Tag Archives: Tough on Crime
Roundup: Failed negotiations and procedural delays
The news that the Conservatives were going to bend ever so slightly and make some very minor amendments to their still massively problematic refugee reform bill yesterday may have buoyed NDP spirits that the government was going to agree to split up the omnibus budget bill – but to no avail. The government decided that no, even if they split it up, the NDP would simply delay seven bills instead of one, so they said no. Nathan Cullen responded by saying they were “afraid” of the debate, and that he would be consulting with his critics about their next steps, but one had to wonder why they didn’t already have that in place considering they were fresh out of a caucus meeting. (Marc Garneau, incidentally, described the NDP as having been slapped in the face by the Conservatives, and that perhaps they had been a bit naïve in believing this government would actually negotiate). So what did the NDP decide to do? Procedural delays, forcing votes in the Commons until time for government orders expired, with no actual debate taking place on said bill for the day. That’s fine, Peter Van Loan said – we’ll simply move your opposition day (scheduled for today) until next Wednesday, after the vote. The Liberals, meanwhile, criticised the NDP tactics as “too cute by half,” since they were only denying debate and not actually changing the voting date considering time allocation (though they fought over that bit of procedure). I guess we’ll see how this plays out over the course of today, because it’s going to mean a lot of procedural tactics if they want to try and delay a full day’s worth of debate, or if they’ll try some other kinds of tactics to prove their point.
Questions about Toews’ latest prisoner “reforms”
Earlier this morning, Public Safety minister Vic Toews announced that they were going to start making even more restrictions on inmates in federal penitentiaries, including things like charging more for room and board, limiting the kinds of work that inmates can get, and charging more for things like phone calls.
Memorial University criminologist Justin Piché, who has been studying the politics of this government’s crime agenda, took to the Twitter Machine shortly thereafter to ask a series of questions about what these changes will mean (edited for formatting): Continue reading
Roundup: The Environment Commissioner’s warnings
The Environment Commissioner released his report yesterday, and it’s not good news for the government. It seems that the continued delay in handing down promised regulations to industry means that there won’t be enough time for those affected industries to implement them in time for the 2020 reduction targets to be met. (You would think that industry would start looking for ways to reduce their emissions given that they know regulations will happen eventually, but I digress). He also found that the government hasn’t done any kind of long-term costing to the regulations – or lack thereof – and that they are still underfunding the efforts to clean up contaminated sites around the country. But oh, he’s relying on old data and this government takes the environment seriously, they reply. Only he’s not, and their talking points are going to start sounding pretty hollow.
Critics of the F-35 procurement, including University of Ottawa defence analyst Philippe Lagassé remain unconvinced that the F-35 is the only option for Canada, because DND hasn’t actually made a proper case.
“Pierre Poutine’s” trail has grown cold at a proxy server in Saskatchewan, as the records Elections Canada was looking for were no longer in existence. Not that this means the end of the investigation, but it just takes a different form. Meanwhile, Terry Milewski takes a look at the mounting questions surrounding Elections Canada’s “clerical errors” in the last election that are the subject of those ongoing court challenges.
A Conservative private members’ bill that would ban people from wearing masks during riots went before committee yesterday, and was denounced as being unnecessary. Colin Horgan tried to get answers on the bill from its author, and seemed to be proving the very same points about its futility.
Here is a look at yesterday’s release of the Mental Health Commission’s report.
Vic Toews is lashing out at provinces like Ontario insisting that point-of-sale data on long guns be collected – even though it’s a practice that pre-dates the long-gun registry that has immense value as an investigative tool, and the fact that it falls under provincial jurisdiction.
Thomas Mulcair is bristling at the suggestion that he’s muzzling his Quebec MPs on the tuition question, and says that they have a coherent policy of more federal government support for education. Err, except they also have their Sherbrooke Declaration that says that they shouldn’t tell provinces how to run their affairs. I’m still waiting for that particular reconciliation.
And the Manitoba Conservatives are suggesting that an NDP intern in that province also accessed Vic Toews’ divorce files, for what it’s worth.
Roundup: Begin budget implementation week
It’s budget implementation debate week in the Commons this week, as Second Reading debate moves ahead under time allocation. The CBC’s Kady O’Malley made a very good point on the weekend that Second Reading debate on this bill isn’t going to matter very much, because it’ll simply be parties reciting their support or outrage into the record, but rather it’ll be the committee where all of the important debate happens. Given that the government has less ability to invoke time allocation on committees, there is still a chance for some more scrutiny and debate to happen there – however they still do have a majority on the committees, so that will be limited nevertheless.
Speaking of committees, here’s a look at the dysfunction creeping into the committee system as a whole – not that anyone can agree as to the causes or solutions. Part of this soul-searching was triggered after Liberal Mauril Bélanger quit the official languages committee after 17 years. Conservative Michael Chong believes there are simply too many committees, so MPs are stretched too thin as they have to do double-duty and are unprepared, and that they do too many studies when not considering legislation. Others, like Ned Franks, think the committees are too large, and that this is part of the symptom of party leaders having too much power over their MPs that said committee members are too afraid to actually speak their minds or have confidence in the expertise they develop. And they’re probably all right, to varying degrees.
The government has signalled that they’re going to put their weight behind a Conservative private member’s bill on banning facemasks during riots. The NDP say they’re supportive in principle, but want some clarification that it won’t muddy the waters with other legal inconsistencies.
It appears that changes to the OAS weren’t in the Conservative platform, because the issue wasn’t discussed until after the election when public servants presented those changes as one of a number of options the government could look at when it comes to addressing the demographic crunch.
Since the Conservatives came to power in 2006 there has been a sharp decline in immigration applications from many Asian countries, due in part to tightening language restrictions. As immigrants can help be bridges between Canada and their countries of origin when it comes to business opportunities, the fact that the world economy is shifting toward Asia means that we could be losing out in the future if this trend continues.
Here’s a look at the examination of protocol at Heritage Committee last week.
And Joe Clark talks about the need for Canada’s foreign policy to innovate as more economic power and demographics shift toward the developing nations of China, India, Brazil, and even Mexico.
QP: Unity, focus, and expensive hotels
At the start of the day, new NDP house leader Nathan Cullen gathered the media together to tell us about how the dynamic in Ottawa has changed, that the NDP are a unified and focused team, and that they were going to keep Harper on his toes. Fast forward until Question Period when word hit the wires that NDP MP Bruce Hyer decided to leave caucus, largely because of Mulcair’s heavy hand on the whip when it comes to the party’s position on the long-gun registry. Yes, that’s apparently what united looks like. As for focused, well, I predicted on Friday that everyone’s attempt to get a spot to shine was going to result in a shambolic, scattershot QP. I was not wrong.
Roundup: Defence procurement versus policy
Courtesy of iPolitics.ca’s Colin Horgan is an excellent piece about the apparent fact that defence procurement now seems to be driving policy, rather than the other way around (possible paywall). You know, the way it should be when a military is under civilian control, rather than when the civilian government bows to the whims of the military. Meanwhile, there is more expert opinion that cabinet had to have known about the full costs of the F-35 procurement, given the way in which Industry Canada and Public Works needed to be quieted down to get around the regular process (which I remind you is still very much at the heart of this issue – not just the price tag).
Stephen Harper announced a new programme yesterday that will give support payments for the parents of murdered and missing children that will allow them to take paid leave from work to deal with the situation. Maclean’s John Geddes, meanwhile, raises a red flag about the rhetoric Harper was using at the announcement, talking about child sex offenders getting lax house arrest sentences, when this is obviously not the case, and galling for Harper to bring it up.
The CBC’s Laura Payton asks four very important questions about those prison closures.
There was a bizarre little incident in the Manitoba legislature this past week where Conservative MP Shelly Glover and three of her caucus colleagues took to the legislature to launch bitter partisan barbs at the provincial NDP government over the issue of changes to the immigration programme. Glover feels the federal government deserves far more credit for the provincial successes and complains that the province isn’t paying their fair share, despite the fact that the province foots the bills for things like social services, education and health care. But as far as Glover was concerned, it was a case of yay Harper Conservatives, boo provincial NDP.
It seems that Enbridge nearly pulled out of a Pacific Ocean management plan over fears that Tides Canada’s involvement would hijack it – even though they were not in a position to do so. It also appears that this incident led up to Joe Oliver’s infamous “radicals” open letter.
Bob Rae talks about the need for the Liberal Party change its ways, and admitting that they have yet to absorb all of the lessons of the last election. Meanwhile, Paul Wells notes the party’s message that they will respond to Conservative attack ads – eventually.
Here’s an interesting look at the meaning of our tendency to nickel-and-dime politicians, and the continual insistence that they get paid too much.
And on 4/20, Thomas Mulcair tried to clarify his position on marijuana, which is decriminalisation but not legalisation, apparently. The Young Liberals have been making great hay of this, plastering downtown Ottawa with pictures of an angry Mulcair face with his quote from Global TV in which he subscribes the “potent pot” myth.
Roundup: Prison closures looming
The government has announced that they are closing down the Kingston and Leclerc penitentiaries, as well as the Ontario Regional Treatment Centre, a mental health facility for inmates within the Kingston facility. But don’t worry, Vic Toews says – they have plenty of capacity in other facilities (which is not exactly true, seeing as there are different kinds of capacity in different facilities, and we have seen a rise in double-bunking), and we haven’t seen the great spike in prisoner population that everyone was afraid of. Err, except they’ve only just passed the omnibus crime bill, and it’ll be a couple of years before that boom will likely happen (and to be fair, the lion’s share of that burden will be borne by provincial institutions, with all of those two-years-less-a-day mandatory minimum sentences). The closure of the ORTC is probably most concerning because as it stands, there is already a gross lack of capacity for mental health services in prisons – and yet psychologists and mental health nurses have been given layoff notices. It’s also concerning that Toews feels that the provinces should be re-institutionalising more mental health patients rather than locking them up in prisons, but provincial health authorities have moved to release more people with mental health concerns into the communities, where they then wind up in prisons. Toews can’t simply wish this vicious cycle away. Suffice to say, Kingston was an ancient facility that was due to close years and years ago, but the fact that there seems to be little in the way of plans to keep up with appropriate capacity, and the fact that the government still hasn’t provided with costing or even detailed plans of their prisons agenda makes this a concerning enough issue.
Given the amount of research capacity that is being cut at Environment Canada, here is a look at how their mandate is going to start changing over the next few years. One of those changes includes the closure of the BC oil spill office, which Peter Kent dismisses as only providing information on sensitive areas and not actually cleaning up oil spills. Seriously. Meanwhile, cabinet is giving itself the veto power over pipeline projects, despite what the National Energy Board may rule on any project, which pretty much makes any pretence of rigour meaningless at this point. But it’s all for the economy, which is still fragile, everyone!
In case you missed it, here is the recap of yesterday’s Public Accounts meeting on how they’re going to handle looking into the Auditor General’s findings on the F-35s. The takeaway – that the Conservatives, by their actions and votes, look like they’re going to use their majority to hold a bare minimum of meetings (say, one hour for the AG, one hour for the PBO, and two blocks of a half-dozen deputy ministers who will each pass the blame around), and the report will come down saying “see, not our fault, blame the bureaucrats. Or maybe I’m being cynical. Meanwhile, The West Block helpfully compiles the F-35 paper trail.
Meanwhile, Peter MacKay has another defence procurement headache at his feet, this time over armoured infantry vehicles, where the process was halted by fairness monitors and now needs to be restarted. How long will MacKay’s Teflon coating resist these mounting, embarrassing, screw-ups on his watch? Or, more importantly, when will the government actually undertake to radically reform defence procurement in this country so that it’s actually a coherent process under a single accountable authority?
And here is Thomas Mulcair’s new shadow cabinet – three deputy leaders and critic roles for almost everybody! Some of the choices are pretty peculiar (Charmaine Borg for digital issues, when she allegedly didn’t even have a cell phone until she was elected? Joe Comartin to democratic reform? Linda Duncan to Public Works? Jinny Sims to immigration?), and I’m especially curious why this was a press release after 5.30 last night. But I’m suddenly picturing a return to scattershot Question Periods where they try to give questions to everyone, and diffuse any momentum that was possible.
Roundup: Happy Birthday, Charter!
As it is now the 30th anniversary of the patriation of the Constitution, and the adoption of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, we can expect some words of congratulations from the Prime Minister, right? Well, no. You see, Harper has decided that the Charter is too linked to the “divisive” issue of patriation, and how Quebec didn’t sign onto the Constitution, so he’s going to keep quiet. Which is pretty interesting, considering that he’s just feeding into the myth that Quebec didn’t support patriation (much like the so-called “Night of the Long Knives” myth, perpetuated by separatists). So not only does he appear to be spiting the Charter out of partisan considerations, terrible Liberal document that it is – despite it being more of a libertarian document than anything else – but he feels needs to feed the separatist rhetoric. (Paul Wells shares his views here). Not that either Jean Chrétien or Thomas Mulcair go blameless here either, if you cast your eyes back ten years ago and what both said back then.
Still on the Charter front, from Britain’s National Archives comes a tale from the cabinet minutes of Thatcher’s government, who were considering rejecting the Charter of Rights and Freedoms as part of the constitutional patriation process. Closer to home, former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour looks at the impact of the Charter 30 years later.
On the Robocon file, it seems that Elections Canada’s investigation into the Guelph robo-calls has taken them to Conservative Party headquarters, and they’re looking into missing log-in information on the CIMS database, considering that the contact list provided by RackNine matches the CIMS list entirely. Meanwhile, NDP MP Pat Martin has apologised for unfairly maligning the calling firm RackNine over the whole Robocon affair – the second apology he’s had to make in the course of this issue (the previous one being to campaign research). And yes, it was almost certainly to avoid a lawsuit, though it’s not clear that this was enough to ward it off. This is why I keep questioning the wisdom of the NDP putting Martin out in front every time a story like this happens – yes, they know he’ll light his hair on fire in outrage, and he’s even aware that it’s why people come to him for quotes, and he says something outrageous, and the party gets press, but it almost always ends up badly. You’d think that the NDP would learn eventually, but I guess not.
Here’s an excellent breakdown – complete with coloured charts – about the “differences in accounting” when it comes to the cost of those F-35s. Meanwhile, here is a look at the mess that is the procurement process for the Cyclone helicopters, which should serve as a cautionary tale for what could very easily go wrong (and already appears to be going wrong) with the F-35s.
The government is axing a prison rehabilitation programme designed to help lifers who get parole, and has been able to claim success. But since their plan seems to be throwing more people in prison for longer with fewer programmes available to help them rehabilitate, axing this kind of programme makes perfect sense in their twisted logic.
And Bob Rae’s resolve not to run for the permanent leadership of the Liberal Party seems to be slipping, if this timeline of quotes is any indication.