One of the aspects of the new electoral reform bill that I was always wondering about – leadership fundraising – is being changed. Once it comes into force, contributions to leadership campaigns can be annual instead of lifetime, so that means that some of those former leadership candidates can start to fundraise from the same donors again. The bill doesn’t change the enforcement of those old debts, which was basically unenforceable. Meanwhile, Jason Kenney has said that the government would consider amending the bill at committee to include a ban on veiled voting, after a question by the Bloc about this. While David Christopherson may warn that it’s a dangerous game to find a wedge issue like this, he seems to forget that his party was also in favour of banning veiled voting when it was an issue in the Commons a couple of years ago. Stephen Maher points to the various flaws in the bill that require correcting – and all party support to make the whole endeavour legitimate. Andrew Coyne wonders just what problems the bill was intending to solve, because the provisions in the bill seem to be reflecting problems that aren’t actually there.
Tag Archives: Afghanistan
Roundup: Overselling change, reaffirming identity
In more reaction to Justin Trudeau’s senate move – which the Liberals are totally overselling in both chambers, incidentally – we hear from Senator Anne Cools, the Dean of the Senate, who fears that it may be unwise and that it doesn’t speak highly of Trudeau’s sense of loyalty. Conservative MP John Williamson says boneheaded things like we should choose senators out of the phone book. Senator Terry Mercer says that while he may no longer be in national caucus, nobody is going to stop him from being a party activist, either at the provincial or federal level. Mercer and fellow Senate Liberal Céline Hervieux-Payette were on Power & Politics, where Mercer said the important change is that there will no longer be whipped votes (but the role of the Whip is organisational), and it’s obvious that Evan Solomon needs to brush up on the constitution (hint: the Senate’s legitimacy is conferred by the constitution). A few other senators are pushing back a little against the move, and the Conservatives in the Senate are now questioning funds to the opposition. A few months ago, Stéphane Dion dismissed the very idea of an appointments commission as elitist and watered down the Prime Minister’s accountability – and he’s entirely right. Laura Payton explains the caucus mechanics and why they’re important. Bruce Hicks gives some history about the kinds of appointments that Sir John A Macdonald promised when the Senate was created.
Roundup: Overhauling military procurement?
The CBC’s sources are telling them that a complete reorganisation of the military procurement system will be a highlight of the upcoming Throne speech. Whether that reorganisation is to put it in a new agency under the direction of a single minister, or as a permanent secretariat comprised of bureaucrats (and presumably outside consultants) remains to be seen, but hopefully there will be a system where there is some accountability, and a single responsible authority rather than the murky mess that is the current system where everyone is involved but nobody is responsible or accountable.
Roundup: A contract flawed from the outset
A leaked government report gives a rather stinging indictment of the Sea King helicopter replacement procurement, calling it flawed from the outset. At the time, the government treated it like they were buying “off-the-shelf” helicopters, but with so many procurements, the military loaded it up with new specifications until it was no longer “off-the-shelf,” but was rather something that should have been treated like an in-development contract. And so we get delays, and penalties, and intransigence. The report recommends re-scoping the contract in order to treat it as an in-development project so that they can start accepting delivery of helicopters and phasing in new features, but there’s no word on if the government will accept this proposal or not, or if they’ll just continue to blame the Liberals for it rather than taking responsibility or action.
Roundup: PR disasters and denials
The president of Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway visited Lac-Mégantic yesterday, but managed to strike all of the wrong tones in his delivery, giving a performance that mystified public relations experts. Meanwhile, Thomas Mulcair insists that he didn’t link the Lac-Mégantic explosion with budget cuts – and yet there’s video with him saying it. Huh. Andrew Coyne warns against those – including Mulcair – seeking to use the disaster to further their own agendas.
Liberal MP Scott Brison says that the weak labour market and high youth unemployment is “scarring” both those youths and their parents.
Roundup: Glover’s staff helps to make amends
Shelly Glover’s paid campaign staff are returning part of their salaries in order to help ensure that she gets under her election spending cap. Complicating this are the fact that the party’s lawyer previously asserted that they were doing door-knocking for a much lower rate, even though there was never any indication in the filings that either were door-knocking.
The former RCMP national director says that a likely focus of the investigation into the ClusterDuff affair will be the source of Nigel Wright’s $90,000 cheque, and if it did come from party funds, it could add to the Breach of Trust charges. Meanwhile, the RCMP have spoken with Senator Patrick Brazeau’s staff as part of their inquiry into his expenses.
Roundup: Project Amble under way
The RCMP’s investigation into Senators Mike Duffy and Mac Harb has been dubbed Project Amble, apparently, and they’ve seized documents related to twelve election campaigns that Duffy was involved in, and according to court documents, they appear to be pursuing charges related to breach of trust – which is an indictable offence. And if you’re wondering about “Project Amble,” here’s a look into how the Toronto Police Service comes up with their operation names (not that it’s too illuminating).
On top of that, Liberal Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette has asked that the Senate Ethics Officer look into the conduct of Conservative Senator Pierre-Hughes Boisvenu, after he’s been trying to arrange for additional benefits for his former girlfriend/assistant after she got a new job in a Senate administration office. Hervieux-Payette asserts that the former assistant shouldn’t even be working in the Senate because of the relationship, and that he’s trying to get her additional benefits is a breach of ethics, and because nobody would speak up, she wants the investigation launched to protect the integrity of the institution.
Roundup: Poor, poor Mike Duffy
Poor Senator Mike Duffy. Poor, poor Senator Duffy. So poor, in fact, that he had Nigel Wright, the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff write him a personal cheque for $90,000 to cover his housing allowance repayment. And how did the dear Senator repay Wright for his very generous gift? By bragging around town that Wright had done it, enough that those emails found their way to one of Duffy’s former journalist colleagues. Oh, and such a “gift” would also be against Sec. 17(1) of the Senate’s Conflict of Interest Code. Oops. (And apparently the Ethics Commissioner on the Commons side is now looking into Wright’s actions). Now, there is some ambiguity in those regulations, predicated on what constitutes a gift and just how close of a friendship the pair have – and that came as the bombshell later in the day. After an afternoon of Conservative talking heads peddling the story that the pair were very close, and that Wright helped Duffy out because he was concerned about his financial situation given his health and all, comes the revelation that Duffy tried to say that he got a loan from the Royal Bank and that Wright had no part in this, and more than that, insiders say that Duffy and Wright barely know one another. This despite PMO’s assurances to the contrary, although they tried to paint this in that altruistic light, while simultaneously trying to shift the attention to Senators Brazeau and Harb instead. They were also trying to peddle the line that Harper knew nothing about this – that his own chief of staff cut a cheque to make a noisy and embarrassing story go away, and yet the boss was kept in the dark? Yeah, that’s totally plausible. Tell me again how this is going to end well for any of the parties involved.
Roundup: Interim PBO and the search for a replacement
In a rather surprising announcement at the end of the day yesterday, the government has named the Parliamentary Librarian as the interim Parliamentary Budget Officer until Kevin Page’s replacement can be found. That process is internal to the Library, and Page has expressed concerns that the makeup of the committee charged with the search is being kept secret, but I do get concerned when opposition parties want input into those processes, because it ultimately erodes the accountability for those appointments. Look at the questions surrounding Arthur Porter these days, and how Vic Toews skirts accountability by pointing out that the opposition leaders were consulted on his appointment. That’s why the prerogative power of appointment should rest with the Governor in Council – because it keeps the executive as the sole resting place of accountability. Meanwhile, the job criteria for the next PBO have been posted, and they include qualities like “discreet” and “consensus seeking” – perhaps not too surprising after the battles that Page had with the previous Parliamentary Librarian over his role.
Roundup: Exit McGuinty
The shocking news last night was that Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty resigned suddenly – and prorogued the Legislature to let the dust settle. His party was facing contempt proceedings, and prorogation collapses them, but he did just resign, which is the ultimate accountability measure. Meanwhile, a team has been assembling to try to encourage him to run for federal leader for a while – not that it’s likely to happen. Here is reaction from Stephen Harper and Bob Rae. Paul Wells looks back at McGuinty’s career, and the situation his party now finds itself in.
Incidentally, I’m really not that outraged about this prorogation, possibly because I actually know what a prorogation means, and I’m not of the belief that it’s illegitimate for a government to exercise its Crown powers. He wasn’t facing a confidence motion, and it was well within his right as premier to do so – especially to allow time for the dust to settle from his resignation. I’m a little less keen if he plans to keep it prorogued until after his party’s leadership contest, but they’re planning on a quick one, so I wouldn’t expect it to be out for six months. And if anyone can tell me what exactly the piling on by opposition parties would contribute at this point when the premier has already taken that ultimate step and resigned, well, be my guest.