Tag Archives: Bilingualism

QP: Howling denunciations

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With the budget lock-up going on down the street, procedural warfare taking place at committee, and news from the attacks on Westminster filtering through, there was a lot to distract from QP. Rona Ambrose led off, asking about the Westminster attack, and Trudeau offered both condemnation for the attacker, and condolences for the victims. Ambrose then moved onto the topic of immigration policy and those who follow the rules. Trudeau said that they are ensuring that all Canadian laws are being followed and police and border agencies have the resources they need. Ambrose then moved onto the proposed changes to the Standing Orders, and Trudeau said that they were pleased to put forward a broad discussion paper, with a number of platitudes. Ambrose pressed on changes to Question Period, and Trudeau insisted he was pleased to answer questions but he was open to improvements. Ambrose wondered how Trudeau would respond if Stephen Harper proposed showing up in QP just once a week — never mind that once a week was Harper’s average. Trudeau hit back that Harper would never put forward a paper or have a discussion about it. Mulcair was up next and asked the same thing, and Trudeau instead admonished the opposition for their heckling with all of the school children in the gallery. Mulcair went another round, and got much the same admonishment. Mulcair then turned to a question about what should happen if a minister should break the Conflict of Interest Act, and Trudeau said that they follow the rules. Mulcair accused Trudeau of taking illegal gifts and breaking the law, and railed about how little Trudeau repaid for his vacation. Trudeau noted that they put a policy into place for reimbursement, and that the RCMP makes determinations about his safety.

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QP: Quotas and downshifting

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It’s an awful, wet day out in the Nation’s Capital, the precipitation an ugly mix of fluffy wet snow and needle-like ice pellets. Inside the Commons, QP kicked off with Thomas Mulcair reading a question about cuts to services for First Nations including policing. Harper responded that there were no cuts, and that new funds would be announced in due course. Mulcair’s second question was about Flaherty’s letter to the CRTC, to which Harper reminded him that he already answered the question the day before. Mulcair then asked a question about those Senators who have not yet responded to the CBC about their residency. Harper assured him that all Senators respect their residency requirement (though I suppose that remains to be seen). Nycole Turmel was up next to ask a pair of EI “quota” questions, speciously tying in the Senate, to which Diane Finley assured her that there were no quotas or bonuses for achieving cuts. Rae pressed on the issue of bonuses for cuts, to which Harper talked about how they wanted to ensure that EI funds were there for those who paid into them. Rae carried on about how this move was simply downshifting the unemployed onto provincial welfare rolls, but Harper insisted there was no such plan.

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Roundup: Cyber-security and Cylon attacks

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While considering the challenges posed by the new frontier of cyber-security and hacker attacks, Senator Pamela Wallin says that the government shouldn’t introduce more regulation, but should rely on businesses to report breaches and for people to educate themselves about staying safe from cyber-criminals. Um, yeah – good luck with that – which was pretty much the opinion of experts, who say that more regulation is pretty much necessary to force companies to do something about their cyber-security.

In a not un-related fun story that looks at the Order of Precedence, PostMedia wonders what would happen if we suffered a Cylon attack. As astute viewers of Battlestar Galactica will remember, Laura Roslin was 42nd in line when she became president after everyone else was wiped out in the attack. In Canada, there are 37 names on the list – err, except that this is simply the cabinet list. After that, there are provisions that would allow for the Queen or Governor General to ensure that there was a continuity of government.

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Justice Deschamps and the bilingual question

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This past week, we have seen a couple of different interviews with outgoing Supreme Court Justice Marie Deschamps, and there is something that both touched on, which was the selection of future justices. In particular, the question of bilingualism has been brought up, and Deschamps, a Quebec justice, is well placed to give her take on What It All Means in the context of her experience and role.

Think back for a moment to the last round of Supreme Court appointments, when the issue of bilingualism again reared its head, as it has periodically for the past few years. The NDP have had private members’ bills on the issue (one of which died in the Senate during the last election), and the Bloc made a big deal of it when they were still a relevant force in the Commons, but the momentum to formalise this requirement never picked up enough steam to get it into law.

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