Senate QP: A perfectly legitimate mechanism

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For what was possibly the final day of the Senate’s sitting, there was some tension after the shenanigans on Friday. Things got off with a single statement, regarding the terror attacks last week, and then it was onto Routine Proceedings. The deputy government leader, Yonah Martin, tabled a motion that the next sitting of the Senate would see them rise until mid-September. “You’ll be pretty lonely,” a Liberal senator heckled, knowing an election would be taking place then.

When QP started, Senator Munson led off by pointing out that Bill C-377 would apply to mutual funds and TFSAs if one union member buys a unit thereof, and how it would mean posting the names of thousands online. Answering for the government, Senator Carignan said that it was coming up for a vote. Munson came back and wondered why the government didn’t have the courage to bring it forward as a government bill instead of putting it through the back door. Carignan said that a record number of PMBs passed in the current parliament and they were a perfectly legitimate mechanism that were great for giving MPs more to do. Senator Cordy rose on a supplemental, noting first that Conservatives had amended the bill but those amendments did not come back along with the bill when it started the process again, and then said that she had an email from Doctors Nova Scotia who say that they are concerned about being caught up in the bill. Carignan praised that the transparency to how union dues are spent, which the bill would enforce. Cordy tried again, but Carignan noted that charities face similar requirements, and they were just following the wishes of their leader, Justin Trudeau. Cordy snapped that Senator Cowan was her leader, and then noted that the government assigns private members’ bills to their MPs, and that one MP told her that they don’t need to accept it. Carignan retreated to the letter that Trudeau sent to Liberal senators asking them to oppose the bill, and that he was really their leader. Senator Jaffer got up to repeat the concern of mutual funds and TFSAs being disclosed, but Carignan said he didn’t understand her objection to transparency. Jaffer decried the bill as unconstitutional, but Carignan insisted that charities faced the same obligations. Jaffer noted that union members already get the information, and that if they object, it’s an area of provincial jurisdiction. Carignan said that union members still couldn’t get that information.

Senator Lovelace Nicholas note that police associations would also require members to post personal financial information online, so that criminals could access them. Carignan repeated his transparency talking points. Lovelace Nicholas repeated the safety concerns for RCMP members, but Carignan said it wasn’t appropriate to make such comparisons, and then noted transparency of salaries Chiefs on reserves. Senator Moore rose on a supplemental, and tried to drive the point home about any funds those officers in the union earned from those union activities would endanger them. Carignan didn’t change his talking points, noting his salary was online. Moore noted his was too, but when he was in municipal politics, police officers’ salaries were never posted online. Carignan said that if unions didn’t pay tax, they should expect to be transparent. Moore poked holes in Carignan’s logic, but Carignagn stuck to his points.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Senator Jean-Guy Dagenais for a black three-piece suit with a white shirt and red tie, and to Senator Denise Batters for a short-sleeved red dress. Style citations go out to Senator Marjory LeBreton for a pink floral top with a black skirt and a dusky rose jacket, and to Senator Ghislain Maltais for a taupe windowpane suit with black trousers, a light blue shirt, and a navy blue tie.