Tag Archives: Trade

QP: Still going while eyes on DC

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While Trudeau and several ministers were in Washington, things were still happening in Ottawa. Plenty of things. Rona Ambrose led off QP, asking that the government not approve any environmental measures that the Americans won’t implement themselves. Jim Carr noted that they were restoring credibility to the process. Ambrose then worried about the deficit spending which some economists claimed would have no benefit. Bill Morneau responded that they were making investments in long-term productivity at a time when borrowing is cheap. Ambrose switched to French to ask about the size of the deficit, to which Morneau trotted out his lines about growing the economy. Denis Lebel picked up, repeating the question about the lack of stimulus from the deficit, and he got the same response that Ambrose did. For his final question, Lebel asked the bog standard question of which taxes the government would raise to pay off said deficit, but Morneau stuck to his line of growth for the future. Leading off for the NDP was Peter Julian, demanded action on softwood lumber. David Lemetti stated that Trudeau and Obama signalled that they were interested in having an agreement. Julian railed about Canadian jobs, to which Lemetti finished his previous answer a commitment to report back in 100 days. Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet asked a pair of questions about the levels of Indigenous people in prisons, to which Michel Picard promised work to improve the situation.

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Senate QP: Meandering around the issue

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After the moving day at the beginning of Commons QP, it was time to head down the hall for Senate QP, with special guest star Jim Carr, minister of natural resources. Once he arrived, a little behind schedule thanks to a vote in the Commons, things got started. Senator Carignan led off, asking about the softwood lumber agreement expiring. Carr began with the traditional thanks and his expression about his admiration for the chamber, and after a couple of technical mic fixes (again), he said that he would be greatly surprised if the agreement did not come up in conversation during the PM’s trip to Washington.

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QP: Bélanger presides for a moment

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Today was the day that MP Mauril Bélanger was given the role of honorary Speaker, his plans to have run for the post cut short by his ALS diagnosis. Bélanger has since lost the ability to Speak, but thanks to modern technology, he has been using an iPad with a speech emulator, and it was this that allowed him to preside over the Commons after a slow procession to the Chamber. Bélanger oversaw some rather well-behaved (though still somewhat partisan) Members’ Statements, and the first couple of questions. Rona Ambrose led off and recalled the Ice Bucket Challenge, and asked the PM for research dollars for ALS. Justin Trudeau saluted Bélanger first, and urged Canadians to give time and support in finding a cure. Normally Ambrose would get four more questions, but instead Mulcair was up next, and asked about minority francophone rights — a passion of Bélanger’s. Trudeau paid tribute to Bélanger’s efforts over the year. Bélanger then made a statement of thanks through his voice emulator, before Speaker Regan resumed the chair, while the Chamber thundered applause.

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QP: Women ask the questions 

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It being International Women’s Day, one could be sure that outside of the leader’s round, we would see a majority of women MPs asking questions, and lo and behold, that was the case. Rona Ambrose led off, mini-lectern on Scheer’s neighbouring desk, and she asked about the Yazidi women targeted by ISIS and bringing them over as refugees. Justin Trudeau reminded her of the commitments they made to bring over refugees, and that they achieved their goal of 25,000 Syrian refugees . Ambrose repeated yesterday’s question about his visit to the Centre for American Progress, to which Trudeau responded that when he was there two years ago, he spoke out in favour of Keystone XL. Ambrose then tried to insist that Trudeau help Bombardier by agreeing to their supply day motion on the Toronto Island airport. Trudeau asked her not to pit region against region for political gain. Kelley Block was up next, and insisted that the Liberals let the Toronto Island airport expand so that Porter can buy Bombardier C-series jets (as though the tens that they would buy would totally make the difference). Marc Garneau praised Air Canada’s intent to purchase those jets, and when Block asked again, Garneau chastised her for not respecting the tripartite agreement with the city and provincial governments. Thomas Mulcair was up next, and demanded a childcare plan. Trudeau hit back that Mulcair would be deciding what to cut if he had been elected in order to balance the budget. Mulcair then used women’s access to EI to badger the government for defeating their opposition day motion. Trudeau responded that they were taking action, and there would be more to come in the budget. Mulcair raised the issue of tax cheats getting amnesty deals, and Trudeau noted it was under the previous government and they would investigate if need be. Mulcair demanded action, citing special treatment for the rich, and Trudeau reminded him of his pledge to give childcare dollars to millionaires.

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QP: The PM is going to Washington

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Monday after a constituency week, and the PM was in Toronto to play with a pandas and talk to Huffington Post readers in a video town hall. Rona Ambrose led off, asking about the possibility of the Afghanistan war memorial being cancelled. Kent Hehr responded that the Veterans Affairs was working with Heritage Canada, with more to come in a few months. Ambrose changed topics, asking about Trudeau meeting with the Centre for American Progress, repeating some of their statements about the oil sands. Catherine McKenna reminded Ambrose that they believe that the economy and the environment go hand in hand. Ambrose then changed to the TD Economics projection for ballooning deficits, but Scott Brison was having none of it, reminding her of the debt legacy of the previous government and stated that they would not cut ideologically. Denis Lebel was up next, after a long absence from the Chamber, during which he repeated the Centre for American Progress question in French, and he got the same answer from McKenna in French. For the final question, Lebel repeated the TD question in French, and Brison repeated his own answer in French. Thomas Mulcair next, asking about the upcoming vote on their EI motion. MaryAnn Mihychuk reminded him that they are working hard to reform the EI system to help workers, which was coming shortly. Mulcair repeated the question with some additional notes about EI vote the Liberals made in the previous parliament, but got the same answer. Mulcair changed topics to the softwood lumber negotiations, asking if the PM would take a stand in Washington. David Lametti responded that they were working to maintain stable access in the US market. Mulcair then lamented the lack of new targets or timelines from the Vancouver meeting. McKenna insisted that carbon pricing mechanisms were on the way.

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Roundup: Getting their attention

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The upcoming trip to Washington DC continues to headline the news, and introducing Trudeau to the American audience was that segment on 60 Minutes, which wound up being fluffy and pretty lazy – particularly when they used a photo of actress Kim Cattrall in place of Margaret Trudeau. Oops. The celebrity factor could still play well for Trudeau, as it allows him to reach Americans in a way that most other politicians can’t, and it could serve Canadian interests well if we can push forward on some of our issues while we have their attention. One of those issues is softwood lumber, which is up for re-negotiation, but may wind up being another fraught battle, between changing circumstances since the last deal, and American election season making any deal on their end unpalatable, but at the same time, it could wind up back in endless litigation, which one expects that nobody wants to deal with. While Trudeau may not be able to get the issue solved on this visit, it could be an opportunity to get some wheels in motion and put some momentum behind it. But then again, with everyone concerned about the optics of the state dinner, and the celebrity aspects that come with it, we’ll see if any actual issues will penetrate the American consciousness.

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QP: Overwrought and obfuscating 

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After some of the soaring (well, overwrought in any case) rhetoric of today’s supply day motion on condemning the BDS movement, everyone was on-hand for QP, which one hoped would not be nearly so melodramatic. Rona Ambrose led off, mini-lectern on desk, and lamented that the CF-18s have ended their bombing mission before the debate and vote — as though it was a vote on authorization and not supporting the government’s plan. Justin Trudeau reminded her that Canadians voted for his plan. Ambrose then noted the job losses at Bombardier and wondered why aid was being considered for that company but no support was being offered for Energy East. Trudeau reminded her that he supported getting resources to market, but they needed a different process than the failed one that the Conservatives followed. Ambrose asked a muddled question about getting people back to work, to which Trudeau reminded her that his party was committed to EI reform, not hers. Gerard Deltell demanded aid for the families affected by the Bombardier layoffs, at which point Trudeau noted a decade of neglect by the previous government while his was working with the provinces. Deltell insisted that the Toronto Island Airport was the key to reversing these job cuts (as opposed to Bombardier’s poor management), but Trudeau reminded him of the contract signed with Air Canada. Leading off for the NDP was Irene Mathyssen who read some tired outrage about the TPP, for which Trudeau reminded her that the trade minister was engaged in consultations and that it would be brought up for debate in the Commons. Mathyssen asked the same thing again, got the same answer, and then Alexandre Boulerice demanded help for Bombardier. Trudeau reminded him that they were working for with the provinces. Boulerice closed the round with thundering denunciation of the job losses from the previous Air Canada maintenance contract dispute, but Trudeau reminded him that overheated rhetoric helped nobody.

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Roundup: Appointment board terms

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The Order in Council relating to the new Senate appointment board was made public yesterday, and some of the details were tweeted out (as below, with commentary). Of note for me when you read the terms was that this interim process for the first five appointments will be done by engaging with civil society groups of various distinctions. The permanent process going forward will be the one that invites people to nominate others (or themselves) as vacancies come open.

https://twitter.com/EmmMacfarlane/status/690289470709563392

https://twitter.com/EmmMacfarlane/status/690289727677829121

https://twitter.com/EmmMacfarlane/status/690290163809959937

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Roundup: Barton in charge

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The announcement came down yesterday making it all official – Rosemary Barton has now passed the gauntlet of the competition process and has officially been named the permanent host of CBC’s Power & Politics. It’s not as though she didn’t more than prove herself in spades over the course of the election, with six-days-a-week broadcasts, and sharp coverage, but that Chris Alexander interview, where she shut down one of his tantrums and put him in his place – that has become legendary in political circles already. A senior journalist in this town described her as an “accountability interviewer,” and that’s something that’s been desperately needed in this city, where there has been a certain amount of timidity in the kinds of interviews we’ve seen. Not having a Jeremy Paxman of our own, we’d seen many a political show host in this country tiptoe around members of the Harper government for close to a decade because they often threatened (or instituted) boycotts after one hissy fit or another (John Baird being particularly famous for them), but Barton was having none of that – and it went for opposition MPs as well, like her interview with Thomas Mulcair pretty much on the day she was given the interim job when Evan Soloman’s sudden firing happened, and she didn’t put up with Mulcair’s too-cute-by-half routine. In their release, CBC pointed out her history as a reporter, going back to her starting out as a researcher for the French-language RDI while in Winnipeg, and covering politics in Quebec City – the kinds of chops that her predecessor never had, who relied instead on personality than on hard-won experience in covering the beat. And with Barton’s permanent appointment comes the acknowledgement of the changing face of politics in Canada – the fact that she’s not a middle-aged white male is important in an age of younger MPs, and of gender-equal cabinets, that a younger woman is tougher and more competent in the role than her middle-aged male contemporaries. It’s just too bad that this announcement didn’t happen in June on the heels of Solomon’s departure. (And as for Evan Solomon, it was announced that he’s taking over the afternoon broadcast for Ottawa’s CFRA radio station, because all is apparently forgiven for his ethical lapses).

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Roundup: Return of the airplane pressers

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After very little media time at the G20 in Turkey, Prime Minister Trudeau held a press conference on the flight to the Philippines yesterday, taking every question, and generally being far more open than Harper ever was on an international trip. There were a number of messages – first, that while the plan remains to withdraw the CF-18s from combat in Iraq and Syria, we would be stepping up training on the ground beyond the 69 special operations trainers there currently, and the what that training might look like is still being determined. Second, he spoke about his forthcoming bilateral meeting with President Obama while at the APEC summit, and that there was a lot of climate discussion at the G20 that will continue right through to the Paris summit, with Canada looking to get on board with more robust discussions and pushing more recalcitrant countries to step up. Finally, when it comes to Syrian refugees, yet more assurances that security is not being compromised as part of the push to get the promised 25,000 here before the end of the year. As for that APEC summit, Stéphane Dion and Chrystia Freeland were there in advance of Trudeau talking trade and in particular the TPP, since that looks to be one of the dominant themes on the agenda there.

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