Senate QP: The loquacious Mr. Goodale

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This week’s ministerial Senate Question Period featured special guest star Ralph Goodale, minister of public safety. Senator Carignan led off for the opposition, asking about PTSD for RCMP, and the delays in passing the Senate amendments to Bill C-7 on RCMP unionization and whether the government was going to seek another judicial extension on it. Goodale said that they were considering the amendments and were consulting with their stakeholders to determine the nature of their response, and then said that they were working on coming up with policies for PTSD in first responders.

Senator Day led off for the Senate Liberals, asking about C-22 on an oversight commission committee of parliamentarians, and concerns he had with regard to maximum numbers of members but no minimum, which could mean no senators or opposition members on the committee. Goodale noted that the intention was a committee of nine, including two senators, and promised to look at the language in the bill to that the intentions were clear, before offering some praise for the bill’s intent.

Senator Meredith asked about the rise in gun violence, and Goodale acknowledged the concern and noted the attempts to craft guns and gangs policies to help deal with the issues, and noted that they did make a financial commitment. On a supplemental, Meredith asked about a national youth strategy to help them contribute across the country. Goodale noted that it was a commitment from the Prime Minister during the election and why he gave himself the youth portfolio.

Senator Tanas asked about the disaster relief programmes, using the High River floods three years ago as an example of where the system was broken down. Goodale offered to make personal inquiries into the status of the High River responses, and noted the added steps that they took during the Fort McMurray fires to expedite the processing of cheques.

Senator Batters went with the regional angle of the carbon tax imposed on their home province of Saskatchewan, and Goodale said that while it wasn’t in his portfolio, he noted that the money collected would remain in the province and it would allow the premier to eliminate the provincial income tax if he so chose, and that the idea was to spur jobs while designing systems that fit each province’s needs. Batters tried to get onto the issue of carbon capture and sequestration, and Goodale noted that when he was minister of natural resources in the 1990s, he invested in it.

Senator Jaffer asked the status of consultations on changes to the anti-terrorism legislation (formerly C-51), and of CSIS agents intimidating innocent Muslims. Goodale noted that the first step to reform it was the committee of parliamentarians on national security, which was Bill C-22; the second promise was for community outreach and counter-radicalization, which was funded and was being implemented; and he noted the changes they were looking at in terms of changing definitions in the legislation and things like appeals on no-fly lists; and then he noted the level of input that he has received.

Senator Lankin returned to the issue of the national security committee, and Goodale reiterated that it was an essential element in their security architecture, and noted the many areas that it touched on.

Overall, there weren’t a lot of exchanges today mostly because Goodale is a minister known for giving very long and detailed answers. He can’t do that in the Commons with their 35-second limit, but in the Senate? Well, he can talk. At length. Which he did. The Speaker kept warning Senators to keep their questions short (and some were fairly long on their own) because there was a list, but it was really because Goodale took so long in his answers that not a lot of questions got asked, and one I was particularly missing as on oversight for CBSA, which I’m sure would have been asked if there had been time.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Senator Linda Frum for a nicely tailored black suit with a lavender top, and to Senator Serge Joyal for a tailored black suit with a light blue shirt and a dark grey tie. Style citations go out to Senator Larry Smith for a tan brown suit with an off-white shirt and brown tie, and to Senator Betty Unger for a dark teal jacket with a loud floral scarf.