The clock is ticking, and there are some 300 amendments to go through in committee for the elections bill before Friday – which the NDP thinks is ridiculous. Err, except they agreed to the timeline, and they filibustered for days and used up said clock. Actions have consequences, and yes, it’s an important bill that is under discussion, so they had best get to work rather than complaining about it. The Director of Public Prosecutions did appear at committee and said that the biggest concern he has is of perception of independence rather than the independence in fact. Meanwhile, Michael Sona – the only person thus far charged with the Guelph robocalls though he protests his innocence – wonders that if criminals don’t register guns, why would people who make misleading robocalls register them? It’s kind of a good point, and points to yet another flaw in the bill.
Tag Archives: Veterans
QP: Avoiding answers with congratulations
Three leaders out of four, which still isn’t great for the respect for the institution. Thomas Mulcair led off by asking about a minister misleading the House, and whether it was an unacceptable practice. Harper responded first by congratulating Philippe Couillard for his victory and said that he looked forward to working with him. Mulcair got up and, after a screed about the Senate, pointed out the attacks that Pierre Poilievre made against the Chief Electoral Officer at the Senate committee. Harper again congratulated Couillard, this time in English. Instead of asking again, Mulcair stuck to his script and asked about voter fraud allegations that Poilievre made. Harper insisted that they were trying to ensure that voters had proper identification. Mulcair pressed, got the same answer, and moved onto the quotes of Sheila Fraser. Harper responded that elections shouldn’t be decided by people who can’t prove their identity. Scott Brison led off for the Liberals for a second day in a row, and again asked about the Building Canada Fund, the problems with which was impacting Nova Scotia municipalities. Harper responded, proclaiming ignorance of that issue, but touted their record investments. Brison pressed, to which Harper gave a staged plea for the Liberals to stop opposing infrastructure investments. Marc Garneau brought up the impacts to infrastructure programmes in Quebec, not that Harper was moved from his “disappointed” talking points.
Roundup: Trying to smear Sheila Fraser
The comments by former Auditor General Sheila Fraser are drawing some fire because Fraser is part of the advisory board to Elections Canada that Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand put together to help them on a number of issues facing the organisation and our country’s democratic processes in general. Pierre Poilievre and Tom Lukiwski seemed to assert that Fraser was speaking on behalf of Elections Canada, especially as she is being paid for this advisory work, which is really little more than trying to muddy the issue in order to try and defend his increasingly indefensible position. Meanwhile, Senator Hugh Segal, who is also on the same advisory board, thinks that both sides are going overboard and that everybody “needs to take a Valium.” Segal is looking for both sides to put some water in their wine, and for some amendments to come out of the process, which may ultimately wind up happening in the Senate, where Conservative senators are not all that keen on the bill in its current form.
QP: Regarding the Commissioner’s testimony…
With caucus day, not only were the leaders all present and accounted for in the House, but so were most of the MPs, which set up for a boisterous day. Thomas Mulcair started off by asking about the grain rail bottleneck and the lack of compensation in the bill due to correct it. Stephen Harper mumbled some vague assurances that they were working with producers and would increase the volumes shipped. Mulcair moved onto the testimony of the Commissioner of Elections, who said that some investigations might be shut down because of a lack of compelled testimony. Harper insisted that the bill gives greater independence to the Commissioner, and took a dig at the NDP’s “branch offices” around the country. Mulcair took a few more digs about Conservative “election fraud” before reiterating about the ability for the Commissioner to compel testimony. Harper responded with yet another dig about branch offices. Mulcair asked the same again in French, and got the same answer in French. For his final question, Mulcair asked if Harper thought that Eve Adams should step down, to which Harper called Mulcair a hypocrite, and the Speaker duly cautioned him for unparliamentary language. Justin Trudeau was up next, and asked about the status of the electoral mission to Ukraine. Harper thanked him for his support, and said that there would be updates as they became available. Trudeau switched to a CIBC report on Canadians not saving enough and having too much debt. Harper retorted that Trudeau didn’t have an actual definition for middle class, and dismissed the question. For his final question, Trudeau asked a boilerplate question on the plight of the middle class in French, to which Harper gave a dig that Trudeau wouldn’t know if he was meeting with middle class Canadians or not.
QP: Harper makes an appearance
For the first time in weeks, Stephen Harper was in the House for QP, as were all of the other leaders. Thomas Mulcair led off by asking about the repudiation for the Nadon appointment, and wanted a commitment that they would not attempt to reappoint him. Harper said that they would comply with the letter and the spirit of the ruling, and that the NDP didn’t have any objection to appointing a justice from the Federal Court. Mulcair asked about the fundraiser who travelled on the Challenger jet with Harper. Harper assured him that it was his practice to have those flights reimbursed at the commercial rate. Mulcair pressed, and alleged that the flight was a reward for fundraising, but Harper didn’t take the bait. Mulcair changed topics and asked about the elections bill and its repudiation by experts across the board. Harper retorted that the NDP opposed the bill without reading it, but shrugged off any further criticism. Justin Trudeau returned to the empty seat on the Supreme Court, and wondered when a new justice would be appointed. Harper reminded him that all of the parties supported having a judge appointed from the Federal Court and accused Trudeau of trying to politicise the appointment. Trudeau moved onto the cut to the Building Canada Fund, to which Harper insisted that they were making record investments, before making a crack about Trudeau’s definition of the middle class.
QP: A premier present, but not the PM
BC premier Christy Clark was in the Speaker’s gallery, here to watch QP in the federal parliament after signing some agreements with the federal government. Alas, despite being back in the country, Stephen Harper was not present to take questions in the House. Neither Thomas Mulcair nor Justin Trudeau were there to ask said questions either, for what it was worth. That meant that it was up to Libby Davies to lead off for the NDP, decrying the expiration of the 2004 health accords. Rona Ambrose reminded her that they were still providing record levels of funding to the provinces, that the provinces were asking for funding predictability, and they were providing that. Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet asked the same again in French, and got the same response in English. Boutin-Sweet moved onto infrastructure funding, which Denis Lebel assured her of how great the new Building Canada Fund really was. Scott Brison led off for the Liberals, and asked about expanding the CPP, as recommended by the Finance Department’s own reports. Despite Joe Oliver being present, Kevin Sorensen got up to answer to say that the Fragile Economy™ could not afford more payroll taxes. Brison reminded him that they were keeping EI premiums artificially high to balance the books, and that those payroll taxes could be better spent on CPP enrichment, but Sorensen decried all of the things the Liberals voted against. Ralph Goodale got up to ask about the loss of infrastructure funds coming tomorrow (Lebel: We are giving record funding).
Roundup: Only 359 pages
The first of the 2014 budget implementation omnibus bills has now been tabled, and this one is only about 359 pages long. Included in its many, many pages are provisions relating to aligning trademark rules to match international regulations, changes to the temporary foreign workers programme when it comes to better enforcement mechanisms, formalizing the reintroduction of the “royal” titles to the Royal Canadian Airforce and Royal Canadian Navy, capping domestic roaming rates for wireless calls, keeping suspended MPs and Senators from accruing pension benefits, adding new Superior Court judges in Alberta and Quebec, funding the Champlain Bridge replacement (*drink!*), and implementing a controversial tax-sharing agreement with the US, to name but a few (more items here, while you can find the whole bill posted here.
Roundup: The minister of state who could not be shamed
Pierre Poilievre once again affirmed his complete and utter shamelessness yesterday, as Harry Neufeld, the author of the report that Poilievre likes to cite, appeared before committee and said flat out that Polievre is misquoting the report, that he never said anything about voter fraud, and that the portions of the elections bill that remove vouching as an option should be scrapped, and if they’re not, the bill as a whole should be. But never mind that, Poilievre not only carried on selectively quoting Neufeld, and then said that Neufeld may have written the report but he couldn’t write the law. No, seriously. Because the best response to being caught out misquoting is to double down and insist that the author is wrong. Well done.
QP: Fundraisers on jets
Tuesday, and most of the leaders were in the House, but Harper was still not back from the G7 meeting at The Hague. Thomas Mulcair led off by bringing up a story on iPolitics about how the Prime Minister used government aircraft for party fundraisers. Paul Calandra responded with a scripted response about how the RCMP won’t let the PM fly commercial and they use the Challengers less than the Liberals did, and by the way, you abuse taxpayers with your branch offices where you have no members. Mulcair shot back that the Government Whip said they followed all of the rules, and asked about those flights yet again, while Calandra whipped up his rhetorical flight. Mulcair tried to ask about spending safeguards in the Senate, and used the justification that the House approves the Senate’s allowance. Calandra noted their efforts to make the Senate more accountable and that they would see wrongdoers published. Justin Trudeau got up for the Liberals, and congratulated the government for the trade agreement with South Korea and when would the details be made available. There was some confusion on the government benches that it wasn’t an attack to deflect, and Erin O’Toole stood to give a talking point about how great trade with Korea would be. Trudeau then asked about vacancy on the Supreme Court, to which Peter MacKay said that they were examining the Nadon ruling and would be acting “post haste.”
QP: Shuffled sparring partners
After two weeks away, MPs were back and ready to carry on with the Grand Inquest of the Nation. With Harper still off in Europe, it was a question as to whether there would be a front-bench babysitter answering questions, or just ministers and parliamentary secretaries in the leaders’ round. Thomas Mulcair led off by asking about the situation in Ukraine, and David Anderson read a pro forma statement about travel bans and economic sanctions. Mulcair then turned to the Supreme Court ruling on the Nadon reference, and wondered if the government would accept the ruling. Peter MacKay stood up to reiterate that they got legal opinions beforehand, that they were surprised by the decision, and they felt that Nadon was a legal expert, and would study the decision. Mulcair then asked if the new minister of finance would abandon the national securities regulator project. Joe Oliver, in his debut answer in his new role, but said that he would wait for the new critic to ask in order to be fair to him after he took such a major pay cut. Mulcair then moved onto the elections bill, and Pierre Poilievre invited Mulcair to call witnesses before the committee, saying the bill would “protect” our system of democracy. Scott Brison led off for the Liberals, and asked about the coming cuts to infrastructure funds. Denis Lebel answered that they were increasing funds. Brison reminded him that the funding commitments were back-end loaded and that communities would have to hike property taxes in the interim, but Lebel insisted the preamble was wrong. Marc Garneau took another stab at the question in French, and got the same answer from Lebel.