It could have been a rerun of yesterday, given the entirety of the leader’s found in QP. Thomas Mulcair once again began by reading out questions on the tainted meat “disaster,” and why store owners were acting responsibly but the Minister was not there to answer questions in the House. (He was over at the meat plant in question, and had a spectacular melt down of a press conference earlier in the day). Stephen Harper again responded that CFIA was the responsible authority and that they were containing the situation. Malcolm Allen bellowed outrage at the minister’s absence, and Pierre Lemieux (who is a much better communicator than his minister any day of the week, it should be noted), reassured him that CFIA was one of the top-rated food safety agencies in the world. Bob Rae asked why the head of CFIA said that he didn’t know the numbers yet for the new inspection standards, but Harper told him that it was not something to be determined by politicians, but rather by CFIA itself.
Tag Archives: Trade
Roundup: Incoherent laws on political loans
The Chief Electoral Officer says that the current law around political loans is incoherent and unenforceable. You know, the one that the Conservatives and NDP rushed through in order to screw over the Liberals in the midst of a leadership contest at the time. And while the current bill to address political loans would fix some of those problems, well, it’s languishing on the Order Paper in order to keep those current Liberal debtors twisting a bit. Not mentioned? All of the Conservatives with outstanding political loans.
Canadian Special Forces have lost millions in secret or “black” assets, and because it’s secret, auditing becomes a tough process through all of the redaction. Meanwhile, the new commander of the RCAF thinks the F-35s are the best choice, but he’ll respect whatever decision the government makes.
QP: Clawbacks and disincentives
Thomas Mulcair led off QP by wondering if the Prime Minister was in agreement with Peter Van Loan’s characterisation the day before that EI was a disincentive for people to find work. Harper stuck to defending his record of job creation. Mulcair’s last question was the topic of his party’s opposition day motion on whether Harper would meet with the premiers. Harper said that he’d met or called premiers over 250 times. Peggy Nash was up next, and in light of Nexen’s shareholders agreeing to be bought out by CNOOC, wondered if the government was aware of CNOOC’s environmental and human rights record. Mike Lake responded by saying that the investment review process was sound and that the minister was taking a close look at this case. Denis Coderre was up for the Liberals, asking about those EI clawbacks. Diane Finley rose instead of Harper, despite it being the leaders’ round, and responded with the wise words “workers are better off when they work.” That’s, like, deep.
QP: Temporary foreign workers vs unemployment
Despite it being Wednesday and a caucus day, when MPs are normally riled up, QP was a bit more staid today. It may have been because Harper was absent from the House, out entertaining Olympic and Paralympic athletes that he had just awarded Diamond Jubilee medals to. Thomas Mulcair led off by wondering how hiring more temporary foreign workers would help the unemployed in this country, leaving Peter Van Loan to act as designated back-up PM du jour, during which he recited talking points about how the government was creating jobs. All while folding his notes constantly. Mulcair went on to read further variations on that question, eventually wondering about rules changes that demanded that people take pay cuts or lose their EI, to which Van Loan recited that it was always better to have a job than to be on EI. For the Liberals, Dominic LeBlanc asked about EI clawbacks, income inequality and youth unemployment, but Van Loan simply listed off the tax cuts his government had offered to showcase all of the work they’ve done for Canadians.
QP: Scary trade deficits!
Yesterday, everyone was up in arms about a fictional carbon tax. Today, it was that trade deficits sound scary. Thomas Mulcair started off QP by reading off a questions premised on the fact that when Harper took office there was a trade surplus (for which the Liberals applauded themselves), and now there was a trade deficit caused by an “artificially high dollar.” Harper shrugged and said that such a deficit existed for “complex reasons,” but hey, they didn’t want an NDP carbon tax! And after Mulcair hammered after the trade deficit, he then read off questions about unemployment, for which Harper touted his government’s job creation record and listed a number of programmes they implemented. Nowhere in this did anybody mention that we have a trade deficit largely because of weak global demand due to Eurozone uncertainty and slowing growth in the Chinese economy, coupled by a high dollar – but hey, the word “deficit” sounds bad, so we must capitalise on that rather than realising that a trade deficit isn’t actually what you think it is. Onward, Marc Garneau was up for the Liberals, asking about youth unemployment rather than the government trying to change the channel. Harper repeated his line about job creation. And when Garneau asked specific questions on making tax credits refundable and rolling back new payroll taxes? Harper answered with the accusation that the Liberals didn’t support their plans to lower taxes (which they loudly denied), and that the father of the carbon tax, Stéphane Dion, was sitting right behind him.
Roundup: Adventures in Vladivostok
While at the APEC Summit in Vladivostok, Russia, over the weekend, Stephen Harper and Chinese president Hu Jintao witnessed the signing of the Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement. Harper and Russian president Vladimir Putin also agreed to disagree on the issue of Syria. While at the summit, Harper also ratcheted up the rhetoric around Iran now that we’ve shuttered our embassy there.
It looks like the new Office of Religious Freedoms may have finally found its ambassador and could be set to open soon. Of course, it was also revealed that the Muslim panellists for their consultations were “not available,” which sounds terribly convenient when you’re trying to assure people that this won’t simply be an office devoted to Christian proselytising.
Roundup: The road to 2015
From the NDP caucus meeting in St. John’s, Thomas Mulcair made a speech about their “positive, optimistic” future, and how the road to 2015 starts now. As part of that road, the party plans to target youth voters in the next election. Meanwhile, MPs have reaffirmed their belief that 50 percent-plus-one is enough for Quebec to separate, which has the Liberals sounding like they plan to put a motion on the Order Paper about support for the Clarity Act this fall.
The Liberals have formally announced the rules for their leadership contest, which kicks off in November. While We The Media wait to hear whether or not Justin Trudeau will run (who says the party needs teamwork and not a saviour), we’re now getting musings from Jim Karygiannis (aka “Jimmy K”) and Joyce Murray.
Pauline Marois referred to herself as “Head of State.” Um, no. That’s the Queen. You might be the province’s head of government (provided that you can maintain the confidence of the Chamber in a minority context), but you’re not the Head of State. Not even close.
Roundup: What Flaherty and his pals discuss
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is off on his summer retreat with business and policy leaders, talking about finance stuff all candidly and off-the-record like. But just what are they talking about? Well, some rather intrepid ATIPing by the Globe and Mail shows that last year, they talked about things like raising the retirement age, lowering wages, anti-union “right-to-work” legislation and two-tier healthcare. You know, all kinds of imported American Republican ideology that’s served that country so well.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel concluded her visit to Canada. The take-away message: “Yay trade!” Duly noted.
What’s that? The government is likely under “enormous pressure” from the US to buy the F-35 fighters? You don’t say!
Roundup: Announcing the intention to keep a promise
Because it’s the height of summer with not a lot else to do, Stephen Harper paid a visit to a Ronald McDonald House out in Vancouver to announce that his government planned to follow through on a campaign promise to provide 35 weeks of EI benefits to parents dealing with seriously ill children. Well, so long as you intend to keep that promise… Perhaps the announcement should have come when the bill was tabled. Oh, wait – I’m sure we’ll get yet another photo op when that does happen sometime in the fall (unless it’s not until spring with next year’s budget…)
Harper also defended the environmental review process of the Northern Gateway pipeline and said that the decision will be made on scientific and economic as opposed to political criteria. Well, so long as we’re clear about that, we can stop worrying – right?
Trade Minister Ed Fast is in London during the Olympics to extol the virtues of trade with Canada.
Senate QP: Focus on the disaster, not the funding
As Orders of the Day got underway in the Senate, Senator Vivienne Poy rose to announce that after fourteen years in the Upper Chamber, she has decided to resign her seat to move onto other pursuits. Poy, who was appointed by Jean Chrétien and was the first Asian Canadian to be appointed to the Senate, wasn’t due to retire until 2016. She was also instrumental in getting May recognised as Asian Heritage Month in Canada. Senators from all sides gave her a standing ovation when she was finished, and many went over to speak to her personally afterward.
When Question Period came around, Senator Poulin was first up asking about the tragedy in Elliot Lake, and whether the government would be providing any compensation for the economic repercussions the region would be facing. Senator LeBreton, the government leader in the Senate, who gets to answer all questions, first gave a brief tribute to Senator Poy and her contributions to the Senate before saying that she will express Poulin’s concerns to the government and take the question as notice (by which she means that she’ll provide a written response once she has more information).