Tag Archives: Trade

Roundup: Not helping poor veterans

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It seems that two thirds of poor veterans who apply to the Last Post fund for their funeral costs are turned down, and those who are accepted are not given enough to cover the cost of a Last Post funeral, which has certain criteria. Those criteria mean that the funerals can cost up to $12,000, when the fund only provides $3600, and funeral directors have been swallowing those additional costs. Meanwhile, it looks like this one veteran’s disability claim appeal is being blocked because his brother fought the system and embarrassed it publicly.

The former deputy minister of Industry Canada, who worked extensively with the Investment Act, sees no reason why the CNOOC-Nexen deal should be turned down. Except, of course, for politics.

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Roundup: Another Nexen decision delay

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In a move that surprises pretty much no one, the government has extended the deadline on the Nexen deal by another month, giving themselves until December 10 to make up their minds. This is no doubt in large part because Haprer is off to India next week and wouldn’t be around to deal with this outcome, no matte what it will be, and considering how they worked until the last minute on the Petronas deal, they may still be hard at work on this file and need more time.

It looks like the skilled worker immigration backlog could be eliminated by the end of 2014 – three years ahead of schedule – because of plans to create a pool system where provinces and employers can cherry-pick the workers that best suit their needs. The whole thing could be scuttled, however, by an upcoming court case that deals with the plans to legislate away the pre-2008 backlog, because those would-be immigrants would have been denied due process.

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QP: Detailing a nightmare scenario

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After some increasingly partisan sniping during Members’ Statements (and seriously, knock it off all of you), Thomas Mulcair started off QP by reading off a question on when the government was going to offer clarity on its Net Benefit test for foreign investment, to which Harper reminded him that they’ve already made changes to the Investment Canada Act when it comes to things like national security. Mulcair then turned his attention to the Canada-China FIPA, and detailed this nightmare scenario when the government of China would sue the Canadian government if the government of Alberta refused to sell them all of their undeveloped natural resources – to which Harper called the whole premise wrong and said that the FIPA was about protecting our investments under the rule of law – something Canadian investors don’t necessarily enjoy in China. Peggy Nash wondered about the omnibus budget bill going to the various committees, to which Shelly Glover made a dig about the Liberals voting against a motion related to the study, and then Nash turned to the topic of late night “bizarre moves” by the government when it comes to their decision-making, but she left herself wide open to Ted Menzies decrying the “bizarre move” of the NDP voting against their budget measures. Bob Rae was up for the Liberals, first asking about that disturbing Ashley Smith video, to which Harper said that it was a “terrible tragedy,” and that there was an inquest underway that he wasn’t about to get involved in. For his final question, Rae asked if Harper would allow various committees to meet over the break week to study the budget bill, but Harper noted that committees are the masters of their own destinies, and that he hoped MPs could work expeditiously.

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QP: The committee has spoken

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The Conservatives had a bit of Halloween-themes fun as QP was about to start by getting Corneliu Chisu, an MP who hails from the Transylvanian region of Romania, to affect his best affected accent before warning of the “scary” NDP fictional carbon tax – a tacit admission that this whole carbon tax nonsense is really one big joke. When QP officially got underway, Thomas Mulcair read off a trio of questions around the Canada-China FIPA, promising to cancel it if he should one day form government. Harper’s response was that the investment community has been looking for this kind of long-term protection. Peggy Nash was up next, asking why the Parliamentary Budget Officer was not getting the information he requested, to which Flaherty assures her that the House already gets this kind if information on a regular basis. For his first pair of questions, Bob Rae wondered why the Canada-China FIPA had a 15-year notice period as opposed to the usual six months, to which Harper reiterates the point about long-term protection. For his final question, Rae asked why there was such secrecy around the FIPA and the Nexen deal, and asked, “What would Preston do?” But Harper would not rise to the bait of invoking Preston Manning, and spoke about the FIPA providing a legal framework for investment.

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QP: Not so much answering as chastising

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It was a much rowdier day in the House today, as a Conservative Members’ Statement on the fictional carbon tax as being the doom of Halloween got booed down just before the action got started. Thomas Mulcair was up first, reading a pair of questions related to the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s downgrading his fiscal projections, but John Baird – once again the back-up PM du jour – didn’t so much answer as chastised the NDP for voting against the previous budget bills. A question on youth unemployment merited more of the same. Libby Davies was up next, noting the report which said that food bank use continues to be up despite the economic recovery, and while Shelly Glover answered by saying that the PBO’s report also said good things about our performance relative to the rest of the world, while Diane Finley answered the supplemental and said that they were helping those who were suffering. Scott Brison was up for the Liberals today in Bob Rae’s stead, and he asked a trio of questions about the Conservatives not going after tax havens abroad while they cut the CRA, but Baird once again didn’t so much respond as made a bunch of non sequitur attacks about how the Liberals cut healthcare back in their day and so on.

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QP: The projections are on track

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The House was a bit sleepy today, where Thomas Mulcair started off by reading out a pair of questions on the rules around foreign takeovers, the English one of which using the phrase “like a thief in the night.” John Baird, acting as the back-up PM du jour, thanked him for raising the tone of debate before proceeding to remind him how much the government supported foreign investment and that the minister was reviewing it. For his last question, Mulcair asked about the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s lowered growth projections, but Baird offered up some bland talking points about growth! And jobs! And warnings against the fictional NDP carbon tax! Megan Leslie followed up with a pair of English questions on the very same topic, for which Ted Menzies assured her that we are in a period of slow global recovery, and that the projections were on track. Bob Rae was then up and asked a pair of questions about the cancelled EI programme that offered five additional weeks of benefits in hard-hit areas, to which Baird responded that the measures were always meant to be temporary. For his final question, Rae wondered why Peter Penashue was still sitting in cabinet after his campaign overspent in the last election – along with additional allegations of improper donations. Baird assured him that the new Official Agent was working with Elections Canada, before launching into an angry rant about how the Liberals needed to get their own house in order before casting aspersions elsewhere.

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Roundup: Discovering the domain of private members’ bills

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Liberal MP Massimo Pacetti has a private member’s bill up for debate that proposes a tax credit for domestic travel that crosses three provinces – in order to help Canadians discover their own country instead of always travelling south. He calls it the “Discover Your Canada Act,” and it is a laudable goal, as domestic travel is ridiculously expensive in this country but – and this is a very, very big but – it’s not the domain of a private member’s bill. In fact, it is so far outside of the domain of private members’ business that it demands expenditure – which tax credits are in effect – and expenditure requires a Royal Recommendation if it’s not government legislation. And this is not government legislation, nor will the government endorse this because we’re living in an era of “fiscal austerity,” and it’s not a boutique tax credit that will appeal enough to the supposed Tim Horton’s crowd. But seriously – MPs really need to knock off this foolishness of trying to make government policy from the opposition benches. Private members’ business has its place, but these kinds of stunts, while trying to capture the populist imagination, just end up looking ridiculous.

Update: I’m reliably informed that tax credits are a way of getting around the requirement for a Royal Recommendation – but that kind of technicality doesn’t mean that this is still the domain of private members’ business. My criticism of this kind of stunt stands.

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QP: Ridicule and non-sequiturs

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Things were a bit more subdued in the House today as QP got underway, as Thomas Mulcair asked about a Conservative MP’s accusation that the Canadian Association of Retired Persons was a partisan organisation. Harper responded that his government was preserving pensions while still eliminating the deficit. Mulcair wondered if the Calgary Chamber of Commerce was next on the enemies list after their criticism of the foreign takeover review process, but Harper joked about how their ideological differences with the NDP were vast. For his final question, Mulcair asked when they would get clarification on the takeover rules, to which Harper said the decision was still with the minister. Jack Harris was up next, curious about that letter Harper sent Peter MacKay about the cuts to his department, but MacKay would only respond that under their watch, spending for defence had gone up every year. Ralph Goodale was up for the Liberals, asking about reciprocity agreements with foreign takeovers, but Harper responded with ridicule and the canard that there was no growth in trade with China under the Liberals, unlike his government. (Goodale later tweeted that under the Liberals two-way trade increased 669 percent, whereas it was only 77 percent under Harper). For his final question, Goodale asked about how they could enforce conditions with those takeovers, but Harper didn’t even bother trying to answer the question, and instead read a selective quote from this morning’s Supreme Court decision on Etobicoke Centre – a complete non-sequitur if there ever was one.

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QP: They’re not cuts, they’re changes

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With Members’ Statements getting rowdy before Question Period even started, Speaker Scheer warned, “let’s not have this again.” And really, we didn’t. QP was fairly listless overall. Thomas Mulcair started out reading a question on the $10 billion in cuts to Old Age Security, to which Harper said that no, there were no cuts but changes coming in 2023. Mulcair moved onto the topic of the Parliamentary Budget Officer not getting the information he requested, to which Harper responded that they wrote the Act that created the position, and they report that information to Parliament. Megan Leslie was up next wondering why it was that the FAQ page on about the Navigational Waters Act was pulled down from the government’s website, to which Lebel said that they were fixing “erroneous information” about that Act on the site. Down the memory hole it goes (excepting of course for Google cache and the Library and Archives Canada backup copy). Bob Rae was up next, asking if the changes to OAS were really worth it considering the negligible percentage of money that it affected, but Harper insisted it was all about future sustainability. For his final question, Rae asked why the government wasn’t prosecuting some HSBC tax evasion cases, to which Harper insisted that they don’t tolerate that behaviour, and that CRA was investigating.

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QP: We learned from the AG’s report…

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The drinking game of the day could have been “We learned today in the Auditor General’s report…” Because for about the first half of QP, nearly every question was prefaced by that statement. Thomas Mulcair started off by reading off a question about cyber-security from the report, who which Harper insisted the report said that they were making progress, and then a pair of questions on the hidden costs of cuts to OAS, which Harper insisted was a misnomer because there were not cuts – just changes coming down the road. Peggy Nash asked a pair of questions about changes to the labour code, to which Tony Clement first gave a bland non-answer about respecting taxpayers and fair changes, before Lisa Raitt answered the supplemental about how these changes gave clear deadlines for payments for employees where they didn’t exist previously. Bob Rae was then up, asking a pair of questions relating to the AG’s report, wondering why our Cyber-security response centre couldn’t be staffed 24/7, to which Harper insisted that they were making investments in cyber-security and had accepted the Auditor General’s recommendations. For his final question, Rae asked about the Correctional Investigator’s report on the skyrocketing number of aboriginal women in prisons, but Harper’s response wasn’t terribly edifying.

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