Oh Julian Fantino – you’ve really done it this time. When a group of veterans came to meet him about the closure of eight service facilities, Fantino was an hour late, sending his parliamentary secretary and two MPs who are also veterans to assure them that the changes won’t really impact them, which just incensed the veterans. And when Fantino did show up, things got heated, and he stormed out saying that he wasn’t going to be finger-pointed to as one of the veterans was emphatically saying “You’re going to promise me that I won’t see any changes in service,” at which point said veterans filed down to the press theatre and denounced Fantino and the government. And it was quite the press conference to watch. To cap it off, Fantino put out a press release to highlight the “roundtable” held and to express his disappointment with PSAC, who brought the veterans to the Hill. Yeah, good job there. On a similar note, Fantino’s department is demanding repayment for $581 from the family of a soldier who committed suicide. No, seriously.
Tag Archives: Veterans
QP: A dig about veterans’ mental health
With all of the leaders in the House, it promised to be an exciting QP, but first, there were many Members’ Statements touching on the topic of Bell Let’s Talk Day. Thomas Mulcair began by asking about keeping the veterans service centres open, to which Stephen Harper assured him that they increased the number of centres — the over 600 Service Canada centres across the country. Mulcair brought up the eight recent military suicides to drive home the point, and Harper insisted that the centres being closed were hardly being used. Mulcair hit back by saying that Harper’s commitment to Bell Let’s Talk Day was cutting mental health services for veterans, before asking about his “affordability” proposals. Harper was not amused, and amid cries of “Shame,” pointed out the support they were giving to mental illness which was one of the reasons why he appointed Denise Batters to the Senate, given her advocacy work. Mulcair tried to ask about Senator Mac Harb’s alleged mortgage fraud, but the Speaker rightfully pointed out that it was not a question related to government business and shut it down. For his last question, Mulcair demanded that Harper ask the Government of Brunei to order their former diplomat to cooperate with the RCMP about Harb’s mortgage — because he apparently doesn’t recognise diplomatic immunity. Harper assured him that he had confidence in the RCMP to do their jobs. Justin Trudeau brought up a First Nations youth training centre in Whitehorse that is funded by the Labour Market Agreement that the government proposes to cut in favour of the Canada Job Grant. Harper insisted that youth unemployment was lower now than the average under the whole of the last Liberal government. Trudeau brought up a similar centre in Sudbury, but Harper said that they were making provincial transfers that benefitted these trainees. Trudeau closed by up the PM’s previous statements about provincial responsibility in this area, to which Harper responded that they recognised that job creation was the responsibility of the federal government.
Roundup: Budget date set
Jim Flaherty has announced that the budget will be delivered on February 11th, in the midst of the Olympics. Because remember that Canadians would be too distracted by the last Olympic games to even have Parliament sitting? Apparently that’s no longer a concern, and Flaherty is confident that Canadians can pay attention to both the games and the budget at the same time. Well, that and he apparently has a few measures that are important to pass sooner than later. John Geddes notes that Flaherty’s tone has changed lately to one of striking informality of late, where he seems to be freelancing some opinions and hinting that others may be to blame if there is added spending in the upcoming budget.
QP: Undaunted in 2014
The first QP of 2014 was ready to get underway, and Members’ Statements were dominated by Holocaust Remembrance Day statements and condolences for the lives lost in the Quebec nursing home fire. Before things got started, the four new MPs got marched into the House by both Justin Trudeau and Stephen Harper, and they took their seats. Mulcair started off by wishing everyone a Happy New Year, and asked his first question about the situation in Ukraine. Harper assured him that they too were concerned about it. Mulcair moved onto the suicide crisis within the Canadian Forces, and wondered if the PM would make this a personal priority. Harper assured him of the quality of mental health programmes available to members of the Forces. Moving on, Mulcair asked banking and ATM fees — a topic of his “affordability tour.” Harper gave some bland assurances, before Mulcair moved onto a question of Access to Information documents around the Senate scandal that the Privy Council Office refused to release — which makes sense as they are almost certainly legal opinions, given that the Senate is not a government department, and legal opinions are protected information. Harper insisted that the ATIP process is independent of government. Mulcair’s last turn was to bring up the alleged mortgage fraud perpetuated by retired Senator Mac Harb, which has absolutely nothing to do with government business. But rather than the Speaker shutting down such a blatantly out of bounds question, Harper got up and noted the independence of the RCMP’s investigations. Justin Trudeau was up, and noted that the provinces had rejected the Canada Job Grant programme, and wondered if the government would abandon it. Harper said that they remained committed to closing the skills gap across the country. Trudeau hammered away at the issue with his remaining questions, but Harper insisted that they were doing their part for job creation.
Roundup: Rail safety recommendations released
The Transportation Safety Board released their recommendations following the Lac-Mégantic disaster, which not only includes phasing out the DOT-111 tanker cars (though there is no mandated timeline), but also choosing the safest routes, better emergency measures along those routes, and limiting train speeds along the routes that carry dangerous goods. Routes should also be inspected twice a year. The government accepts the recommendations, but because things are complicated and the systems integrated across North America, talks continue between governments.
QP: Whither Santa Claus?
With rumours that the House might rise today, there was the very real possibility that this very well could be the last QP of 2013. Without Harper or Mulcair in the House, it was likely to be another fairly perfunctory day full of Paul Calandra’s classic lines of obfuscation. When things did get started, Megan Leslie decried the failure of an NDP motion at Ethics Committee to look into the once-missing Benjamin Perrin emails, and wondered who in the PMO ordered that it be shut down. John Baird, the designated back-up PM du jour, assured her that PCO took responsibility for the mistake, and the committee was in camera so he didn’t know what happened. Leslie tried again twice to no effect, and Nycole Turmel took over in French to ask if those emails proved there was “no legal agreement” around the Duffy repayment. Baird assured her that the RCMP were looking into things. Justin Trudeau was up for the Liberals, and asked about the funding gap for First Nations education. Bernard Valcourt responded by saying that they ended a comprehensive education regime, which required legislation, and that he remained committed to fixing the system that has failed those children, with funds to flow once the framework was in place. Trudeau moved onto the topic of the replacement of the Champlain Bridge, to which Denis Lebel accused the Liberals of 13 years of inaction on the bridge, but they were committed to a replacement ahead of the original schedule. For his last question, with some rhetorical flourish, Trudeau asked if anyone in the government was embarrassed by the conduct on the ClusterDuff file. Baird responded with a bit of a quip before reverting to the talking point that one person had taken responsibility and only two people were under investigation.
QP: Shouting, whinging, and Speaker’s cautions
With Stephen Harper and Thomas Mulcair both in South Africa for Nelson Mandela’s memorial, and Justin Trudeau elsewhere, it was shaping up to be another episode of Ask Paul Calandra. David Christopherson led off, shouting his way through a script about the ongoing ClusterDuff affair and whether the PM was telling the truth. Jason Kenney, the designated back-up PM du jour, assured him that the Prime Minister has been since May 15th, as the ITO showed. Nicole Turmel carried on in French, wondering about the role of Harper’s staff not telling him about what was going on. Kenney, cool and collected, stated that Harper was repeatedly clear that he was disappointed that his staff did not inform him about it and there have been staffing changes in his office. Marc Garneau led off for the Liberals, bringing up Senator Gerstein’s role in the affair, and wondered if the government would ask Gerstein and Michael Runia to appear at Ethics committee. Kenney reminded him that such a question had nothing to do with government administration. For his final question, Garneau asked about the “undeleted” Perrin emails, and wanted them tabled for public consumption. Kenney reminded him that PCO regretted their error, and that the PM wasn’t involved.
QP: More ClusterDuff questions, more Paul Calandra obfuscation
With Stephen Harper off making an announcement in Lac Mégantic, we were guaranteed that it was going to be yet another episode of the Paul Calandra Show for QP today. Would he bring up his father’s pizza parlour? Would there be a homily about the lessons he teaches his daughters. Add to that, the only leader in the House was Thomas Mulcair, which promised to make for a rather lopsided day. When QP started, Mulcair returned to his former mode of solilioqusing, and wondered lengthily about why the Prime Minister couldn’t take responsibility. Paul Calandra got up and praised the leadership the Prime Minister showed in his conduct, and that the documents showed that he didn’t know. Mulcair brought up statements regarding the Prime Minister approving actions, thus implicating him in a cover-up. Calandra offered much the same in response. Mulcair then wondered why a senator would require the PM’s approval to repay his own expenses, but Calandra responded with the allegation that Mulcair sat on a bribery allegation for seventeen years. Mulcair wondered why nobody else lost their jobs if they were involved, but Calandra reiterated the alleged bribe story. Mulcair’s final question got cut off for unparliamentary language, and the Speaker moved on. Ralph Goodale was up for the Liberals, and asked about the “good to go” statement. Calandra shrugged it off and carried on battering at Mulcair. Goodale brought up the sentiments of this affair in the riding of Brandon in his follow-up, which gave Calandra an opening to batter the Liberals about a panoply of their ills. For his final question, Goodale brought up the interference in a Senate committee proceeding, but Calandra decided that returning to the days of the Sponsorship scandal was the way to go.
Roundup: Like a case of beer to a drunk
It has not been the Liberals’ weekend for communications strategies, it seems. After days of enduring the hectoring over “Ladies Night” and the facetious comments that Justin Trudeau made about China, along came the Liberal veterans affairs critic, Jim Karygiannis, where he went on Power & Politics and quoted the director of Wounded Warriors Canada in saying that giving wounded soldiers lump sum disability payments was like “waving a case of beer in front of a drunk,” as many will spend it on houses, fast cars, or their addictions, and he cited examples of these kinds of things happening where he met the individuals involved. And cue the outrage. Said director of the organisation immediately distanced himself from the comments over Twitter, and a few hours later, Karygiannis apologised – sort of. Suffice to say, it didn’t help the perception that the Liberals have their a-game on when it comes to media messaging.
Roundup: A mess of Harper’s own creation
All eyes will be on the Supreme Court this week as the Senate reference goes ahead. The fact that there will only be two sitting Quebec justices is a major bone of contention, and highlights the mess that the government made of the whole appointment process. A mess, it needs to be said again, they didn’t need to make. On the subject of the reference question, this piece looking at the abolition of Quebec’s Legislative Council is a neat bit of history, but actually has almost no use in terms of abolishing the Senate because the provinces aren’t federations. I’m not sure why this is such a difficult concept for people to grasp, and yet they keep pointing to places like Nebraska, New Zealand and Sweden as places that don’t have upper chambers – never mind that they’re either unitary states or sub-national governments, and don’t have the same dual federalism concerns that Canada as a whole does, which is why we need a bicameral legislature.