Tag Archives: Bob Rae

Roundup: A thousand omnibudget amendments

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The next steps in the fight against the omnibus budget bill are heating up. After getting their interns to camp out, the Liberals deposited 503 deletion amendments to be considered. Moments later, the NDP deposited 506 deletion amendments of their own. (I’m informed that the number was just a coincidences and not a juvenile game of one-upmanship). This on top of Elizabeth May’s 200 or so substantive amendments. The Speaker is due to rule on Monday as to what is going to be admissible and how those amendments will be grouped together. Pity his poor staff, who will have to spend their weekend going through all of it.

Court documents are undermining what Dean Del Mastro was claiming yesterday regarding his innocence with those allegedly improper payments that Elections Canada is now investigating.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer is preparing to go to Federal Court to get the information on the budget cuts that he is entitled to get, but that the government is withholding.

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QP: Polite requests to split the omnibudget

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With Thomas Mulcair away, it was up to Nathan Cullen to lead the NDP for Question Period today. After this morning’s presser to put the government on notice that they were going to make a formal request to split the budget bill, Cullen asked a trio of questions about just that – splitting said budget bill. And lo and behold, James Moore – in his capacity as Deputy PM du jour – rose to say that this budget bill was getting more debate than any other in history. Peggy Nash rose to ask the very same thing, calling the bill a “Trojan Horse,” though I’m not quite sure it’s an apt analogy considering it’s not being used to breach any impenetrable walls as the Conservatives have a majority anyway. Regardless, both Jim Flaherty and Diane Finley dismissed Nash’s concerns considering all of the good things in the bill. Bob Rae got up and asked how it was that the government could cut mental health services to Canadian Forces personnel in light of their much-touted support for the troops. Moore talked about how Canada spends more helping its soldiers than any other NATO ally, but didn’t really answer the question. For his last supplemental, Rae asked about the forthcoming meeting with the UN Special Rapporteur on Food, but Moore responded by listing some of the great progress the government has made with First Nations issues.

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The Harper-versary speeches

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On the advent of the Harper-versary – one year of a strong, stable, national majority Conservative government – the three main parties all held events for the media. After all, who doesn’t love a good anniversary speech? (Note: “good” being a particularly subjective measure).

Stephen Harper was up first, as is his wont, and after the media filed into the caucus room, we were treated to some happy clapping before the speech itself. Apparently, Harper’s mandate is for one thing above all – to secure the prosperity of Canadians. And here I thought it was about killing the long-gun registry, the Canadian Wheat Board, passing the omnibus crime bill and any number of other measures that they have invoked the words “strong mandate” to justify.

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Roundup: Defence procurement versus policy

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Courtesy of iPolitics.ca’s Colin Horgan is an excellent piece about the apparent fact that defence procurement now seems to be driving policy, rather than the other way around (possible paywall). You know, the way it should be when a military is under civilian control, rather than when the civilian government bows to the whims of the military. Meanwhile, there is more expert opinion that cabinet had to have known about the full costs of the F-35 procurement, given the way in which Industry Canada and Public Works needed to be quieted down to get around the regular process (which I remind you is still very much at the heart of this issue – not just the price tag).

Stephen Harper announced a new programme yesterday that will give support payments for the parents of murdered and missing children that will allow them to take paid leave from work to deal with the situation. Maclean’s John Geddes, meanwhile, raises a red flag about the rhetoric Harper was using at the announcement, talking about child sex offenders getting lax house arrest sentences, when this is obviously not the case, and galling for Harper to bring it up.

The CBC’s Laura Payton asks four very important questions about those prison closures.

There was a bizarre little incident in the Manitoba legislature this past week where Conservative MP Shelly Glover and three of her caucus colleagues took to the legislature to launch bitter partisan barbs at the provincial NDP government over the issue of changes to the immigration programme. Glover feels the federal government deserves far more credit for the provincial successes and complains that the province isn’t paying their fair share, despite the fact that the province foots the bills for things like social services, education and health care. But as far as Glover was concerned, it was a case of yay Harper Conservatives, boo provincial NDP.

It seems that Enbridge nearly pulled out of a Pacific Ocean management plan over fears that Tides Canada’s involvement would hijack it – even though they were not in a position to do so. It also appears that this incident led up to Joe Oliver’s infamous “radicals” open letter.

Bob Rae talks about the need for the Liberal Party change its ways, and admitting that they have yet to absorb all of the lessons of the last election. Meanwhile, Paul Wells notes the party’s message that they will respond to Conservative attack ads – eventually.

Here’s an interesting look at the meaning of our tendency to nickel-and-dime politicians, and the continual insistence that they get paid too much.

And on 4/20, Thomas Mulcair tried to clarify his position on marijuana, which is decriminalisation but not legalisation, apparently. The Young Liberals have been making great hay of this, plastering downtown Ottawa with pictures of an angry Mulcair face with his quote from Global TV in which he subscribes the “potent pot” myth.

Roundup: Affidavits and quashed excuses

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In today’s Robocon revelations, it seems that in at least six ridings where misdirecting robo-calls were reported, there were actually no polling station changes, thus negating yet another Conservative talking point or excuse. Meanwhile, as part of the court challenge trying to overturn the results in those ridings, an affidavit emerges from a former employee of RMG who tells about making misleading calls based on scripts provided. Naturally, both the Conservatives and RMG have disavowed this, and call the affidavit false.

At an open government conference in Brazil, Tony Clement says that the government won’t give details on the full extent of the cuts until the spring of 2013. Seriously. Because this is the most open and transparent government in Canadian history, everybody!

Professor Stephen Saideman looks back at the excuses of interoperability and economies of scale when it comes to deciding to go with the F-35, and how that’s quickly becoming a moot point, while Canada still hasn’t run a competitive bidding process.

The papers to transfer Omar Khadr back to Canada have now been received by Vic Toews’ office. I’m sure they’re not searching for more ways to deny his repatriation under the notion that he’s somehow a grave threat to national security and that he (falsely) confessed to murder.

Thomas Mulcair has officially moved into Stornoway. Plus, here’s some of the changes in his backroom.

Bob Rae writes about the partriation of the Constitution, and lobs a couple of grenades at the NDP over the Sherbrooke Declaration in the process.

After years spent arguing that it was necessary, the Canadian Forces are closing their west coast intelligence office two years after it was established.

John Ivision delivers a blistering denouncement of the government’s use of secrecy with the environmental changes and the F-35s – and the public’s willingness to swallow it, while Andrew Coyne gives the Liberals some hard truths that many Liberals are acknowledging is a truth they need to deal with.

And Olympic gold medallist Adam Van Koeverden gives an ode to Katimavik, and thanks it for his very existence, as that is where his parents met.

Roundup: Happy Birthday, Charter!

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As it is now the 30th anniversary of the patriation of the Constitution, and the adoption of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, we can expect some words of congratulations from the Prime Minister, right? Well, no. You see, Harper has decided that the Charter is too linked to the “divisive” issue of patriation, and how Quebec didn’t sign onto the Constitution, so he’s going to keep quiet. Which is pretty interesting, considering that he’s just feeding into the myth that Quebec didn’t support patriation (much like the so-called “Night of the Long Knives” myth, perpetuated by separatists). So not only does he appear to be spiting the Charter out of partisan considerations, terrible Liberal document that it is – despite it being more of a libertarian document than anything else – but he feels needs to feed the separatist rhetoric. (Paul Wells shares his views here). Not that either Jean Chrétien or Thomas Mulcair go blameless here either, if you cast your eyes back ten years ago and what both said back then.

Still on the Charter front, from Britain’s National Archives comes a tale from the cabinet minutes of Thatcher’s government, who were considering rejecting the Charter of Rights and Freedoms as part of the constitutional patriation process. Closer to home, former Supreme Court Justice Louise Arbour looks at the impact of the Charter 30 years later.

On the Robocon file, it seems that Elections Canada’s investigation into the Guelph robo-calls has taken them to Conservative Party headquarters, and they’re looking into missing log-in information on the CIMS database, considering that the contact list provided by RackNine matches the CIMS list entirely. Meanwhile, NDP MP Pat Martin has apologised for unfairly maligning the calling firm RackNine over the whole Robocon affair – the second apology he’s had to make in the course of this issue (the previous one being to campaign research). And yes, it was almost certainly to avoid a lawsuit, though it’s not clear that this was enough to ward it off. This is why I keep questioning the wisdom of the NDP putting Martin out in front every time a story like this happens – yes, they know he’ll light his hair on fire in outrage, and he’s even aware that it’s why people come to him for quotes, and he says something outrageous, and the party gets press, but it almost always ends up badly. You’d think that the NDP would learn eventually, but I guess not.

Here’s an excellent breakdown – complete with coloured charts – about the “differences in accounting” when it comes to the cost of those F-35s. Meanwhile, here is a look at the mess that is the procurement process for the Cyclone helicopters, which should serve as a cautionary tale for what could very easily go wrong (and already appears to be going wrong) with the F-35s.

The government is axing a prison rehabilitation programme designed to help lifers who get parole, and has been able to claim success. But since their plan seems to be throwing more people in prison for longer with fewer programmes available to help them rehabilitate, axing this kind of programme makes perfect sense in their twisted logic.

And Bob Rae’s resolve not to run for the permanent leadership of the Liberal Party seems to be slipping, if this timeline of quotes is any indication.

Roundup: No lessons learnt with immigration backlog

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Because apparently the government hasn’t learned anything since the last time they tried to impose caps to solve the immigration backlog, the plans to simply legislate it away are likely to open the government up to more court challenges. Meanwhile, language testing is going to become mandatory for certain classes of immigrants, while the government looks to centralise immigrant settlement services.

Here’s a look at how this issue over F-35 costs could impact the way future military procurements are handled, and there are a lot of other procurements on the way. Here’s a look at the way in which military officials told MacKay that the F-35 was the “cheapest option” on the market for future fighter craft, despite the escalating costs. Former Assistant Deputy Minister Alan Williams continues to shred the government’s numbers, including the fact that they were actually planning to buy 79 jets, not 65 (remember those 14 replacement planes that Garneau mentioned yesterday morning? And it this is an example of contract splitting, that’s actually strictly prohibited). And Andrew Coyne takes MacKay to task, and breaks it down that this issue is ultimately not about planes, but about whether we live in a functioning parliamentary democracy, or even want to – which is what we all need to remember when we get bogged down in accounting issues.

About 5500 public service layoff notices were given yesterday, including a big number from Border Services, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and policy positions in Health Canada. Here’s a look at the cuts being made to the military, which includes virtually eliminating parts of our air defence.

The government released its greenhouse gas emissions report yesterday and wow, we’re already a third of the way to our 2020 goals! Err, except that we’ve actually increased slightly from 2009. And while there is a patchwork of provincial plans, we still have no federal plan, despite having been promised one for years, which means that they really had no role to play in any reductions that were made. (More detailed breakdown here, but possible paywall).

There is a good chance the election results in Etobicoke Centre could be overturned in an ongoing court challenge. This is also a warning as to some of the lax training by Elections Canada officials out there.

Conservative MP Bob Dechert touts how religious freedoms “trickle down” to other freedoms in society, rather than you know, focusing on human rights in general and that including religious freedom. Also not mentioned – how creating an office to focus specifically on religious freedoms gives the impression that Canada operates on a hierarchy of rights, privileging religion over other rights in its foreign policy.

Here’s a look at what the demise of Assisted Human Reproduction Canada means at a provincial context – in this case, Alberta.

Joe Clark talks about the Conservatives’ damage to our foreign policy here, with a few observations on the rise of the NDP.

And Bob Rae recalls the debates that brought about the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, 30 years ago.

Roundup: How to run a procurement process

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On the F-35 file, former Assistant Deputy Minister of procurement at DND, Alan Williams, has a few criticisms of his own of the Auditor General’s report – that it wasn’t nearly scathing enough – that the process that Harper is putting into place is just making things worse, and walks us through the steps of a properly run process to purchase fighter jets, and how the process to replace the CF-18s should be revamped from top to bottom. It’s a must-read on the entire debacle.

Meanwhile back at DND, there are more problems with the procurement processes for upgrading our frigates and maritime patrol planes. This doesn’t bode well for the state of oversight within the department.

In the event you haven’t seen them yet, the NDP have put out ads to start branding Thomas Mulcair’s image, with the rolled sleeves and all. They’re trying to do this before the Conservatives start their own ads, and while Rae is giving him a public beating over turning into a “Mini-Harper.”

Despite what has been speculated after Rae’s big fiery speech on Wednesday, he’s still not running to be permanent leader. At least not yet anyway. And no, Justin Trudeau isn’t running either.

Here’s a look at some of the hidden “back office” costs when it comes to imposing new efficiencies in public service departments in order to enable the staffing reductions. Hint: Efficiencies don’t come for free.

The Governor General is off to France to participate in ceremonies marking the 95th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, which was a defining moment in our history.

And Susan Delacourt muses about the Twitter vs. Tim Hortons “schism” that Charlie Angus alluded to in his big tirade while leaving the Twitter Machine. It seems to Delacourt that regardless of the venue, the value is in listening and interaction.

Rae says Harper is not “just the piano player in the brothel”

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In a speech to caucus that was open to the media, Bob Rae excoriated Stephen Harper over the F-35 debacle. Really, really took him to task, especially seeing as the Harper government is one whose hallmark is centralised control. And it was that control that Rae zeroed in on as he put the blame for the debacle squarely on Harper’s shoulders.

Rae pointed to the “leaks” coming from PMO in advance of the Auditor General’s report. The “leaks,” which don’t happen by accident, said that nameless officials misled Harper and that he was “privately furious” and he was going to make sure that it never happened again.

Rae typified the PMO as “the most highly centralised and tightly controlled government in Canadian history.”

“You can’t get away with the fiction that a $10 billion dollar mistake in calculating the cost of the F-35 stealth fighter had nothing to do with the man in charge, with the man whose name and whose moniker is on every single publication of this government.”

Rae says that such denials might work for others, but not for Harper.

“He cannot now pretend that he was just the piano player in the brothel who didn’t have a clue as to what was going on upstairs.”

Rae charged Harper with misleading the public, putting out a misleading prospectus, false figures and false documents to the tune of billions of dollars. “Any company that did those things would fire the CEO and replace the board of directors. Police would be called in and the civil litigation would be huge.”

And given that Canada no longer has cabinet government, but Harper government, Rae says that Harper personally must wear the debacle and resign.

Rae also touched on the federal budget, given that he has not had a chance to speak in the House about it, and said that there they had five simple questions about the document.

“Does it make the country more prosperous?” Rae asked. “Does it ensure that the prosperity in the country is deeply shared? Does it improve our environmental and fiscal sustainability – is it a budget that points the way to genuine sustainability for the country? Does it improve our democracy and the quality of life in our federation? And finally, does it allow Canada to be at its best in the world?”

Not surprisingly, Rae answered no to each of those questions. He also mentioned that the only time “climate” is mentioned with in the budget is as a reference to the investment climate, which is important, but so is climate change.

Rae’s criticism wasn’t spared simply for Harper, but he had a few words for the NDP as well, whose “filibuster” on the budget speech was not grounded in sound tactics, but simply prevented others from speaking in his estimation, and that it denied 40 MPs from getting a chance to speak.

“The era of love and good feeling is clearly over inside the NDP,” Rae said. “It’s a new regime. We now live in a world where anger is apparently better than love, arrogance is now better than humility, and petulance is much stronger than respect.”

And he had one last shot at Thomas Mulcair.

“The way to beat Harper is not to become mini-Harper. It’s not a strategy that’s going to work, but it says a lot about the new NDP.”