It won’t happen for six months, but the news came out yesterday that Conservative Senator Hugh Segal will be retiring from the Upper Chamber before his term is complete, in June. Segal, one of the remaining Red Tories and a bit of a rebel who has pushed back against some of the government’s more egregious bills and actions, will be taking on the new position of Master of Massey College. Given that he has been one of the voices of sanity in the Conservative caucus, it will be a definite blow to the Senate’s membership and to the quality of debate. It will also mean the loss of expertise in foreign affairs, as Segal has also been our representative to the Commonwealth, and served on the Eminent Persons panel that saw the creation of the Commonwealth Charter.
Tag Archives: Canada Post
Senate QP: No commitment to getting answers
It’s likely to be the last day of the Senate’s sitting for 2013, which also means the final QP of the year. There was a lengthy list of speakers for Senators’ Statements, a number of committee reports tabled, and finally, Question Period. Senator Hervieux-Payette led off, and asked about the allegations around Jim Love, the chair of the Royal Canadian Mint and his activities around offshore tax havens. She asked in particular for the government to launch an inquiry into Mr. Love and his activities. Senator Carignan, answering for the government, insisted that this was a private matter between two parties and they had no intention of taking part in legal proceedings, but hey, look at the tough stand they took against tax evaders. Unimpressed, Hervieux-Payette reminded him that they took the stand that those on the government payroll should be suspended if they were found to have financial irregularities, such as with Duffy and Wallin, and she brought up Love’s large travel costs. Carignan returned to the talking point about the government’s stand on tax evaders. Hervieux-Payette pointed out that there was no indication the overseas tax frauds were really before the courts, but Carignan insisted that the government was working hard to stop tax evasion. Senator Moore stood up for a supplemental, concerned about what Hervieux-Payette reported about Love’s $6000 flight between Toronto and Calgary, and that perhaps the minister responsible for the Mint report back to them on that. Carignan tried to evade and speak around the request. Moore made it once again, but Carignan simply fell back onto the talking point that they expect those who spend taxpayer funds to do so responsibly, and Moore kept getting up to demand a report to the Chamber on it, while Carignag kept repeating his talking point.
Roundup: Canada Post’s big announcement
Canada Post has announced that it will phase out urban home delivery over the next five years in favour of community mailboxes. Not only that, but they will raise stamps to $1 apiece, and that they will reduce their workforce by attrition. The government supports this plan, while the postal union and seniors groups are opposed. CBC has six myths and realities about Canada Post. PostMedia breaks down the numbers at Canada Post. The CEO of Canada Post, Deepak Chopra (no, not that Deepak Chopra) also serves on the board of directors of the Conference Board of Canada, whose reports seemed to suggest these very changes. Andrew Coyne argues that this is the time to eliminate Canada Post’s monopoly.
Senate QP: Reacting to Canada Post
With the House now risen for the holidays, the Senate was still sitting to wrap things up before they too could go home. And yes, that includes carrying on with Question Period, to see if there are any answers that they could get before things wrapped up entirely — and hey, this is the chamber where you can actually ask questions about Senate business! Things got underway after Routine Proceedings, and Senator Eggleton asked about a number of child poverty reports, and wondered if the government would increase the nation child benefit plan. Senator Carignan, answering for the government, assured him that they had already increased the child benefits available as well as created the universal child benefit, while those below the low-income cut-off didn’t have to pay taxes. Eggleton was not impressed by that answer, as what was done was certainly not enough to solve the problems. Carignan touted that the government was creating wealth and jobs, and they lowered taxes so families had more disposable income. Eggleton brought up the inequity of supports for Aboriginal children as compared to non-Aboriginal children. Carignan stuck to his “jobs and growth” talking points, and didn’t address the level of inequity.
Roundup: Schrödinger’s secret fund
The drama of the “secret” party fund won’t let go as government MPs keep contradicting themselves. One minute there’s no fund, then there is one, but it’s the same as the rest of the Conservative Fund, so no story here, then on Saturday, Chris Alexander says it’s the same Fund, but some funds are administered by the PMO because they deal with his schedule… And yeah. It continues to confuse because nobody can get their messaging right.
QP: Catching the Speaker’s eye
The press gallery was full at the very start of Members’ Statements, hoping that MPs would take the Speaker’s advice yesterday and start standing up to catch his eye, in order to bypass the dreaded Whip’s list. And no, nobody tried to catch the Speaker’s eye, and the list carried on unabated, with Warawa on said list to talk about a local talent show. Breathless anticipation, all for naught. When QP got underway, Thomas Mulcair read off a gimme question about meeting with Rehteah Parsons’ parents, and the need for cyberbullying legislation. (Funnily enough, the NDP voted against a bill to do just that by Liberal MP Hedy Fry, ostensibly because it was poorly drafted, yet not offering amendments). Harper agreed that there was a problem that needs to be addressed, and that they need to make it clear that the Internet was not a free pass for criminal behaviour. Mulcair moved onto the topic of the Federal Court decision regarding the Parliamentary Budget Officer, to which Harper replied with the implication that the previous PBO, Kevin Page, was partisan. Mulcair changed topics again, and moved onto the issue of privacy breaches, to which Harper assured him that they take those issues seriously and have developed action plans when breaches happen. Charmaine Borg asked the very same again, to which Tony Clement gave her the same reassurances, but with an added gratuitous shot at the former Liberal government. For the Liberals, Joyce Murray asked about the topic of the week — youth unemployment. Harper assured her that they had all kinds of programmes in place to help youth find jobs. For the final questions the round, Bob Rae asked whether Canada would try to get the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting moved here, and to take over the chair from Sri Lanka given their human rights abuses. Harper agreed that they were concerned about the Sri Lankan situation, and would be monitoring the situation. Elizabeth May and Bruce Hyer stood up for pretty much every question in this round, trying to catch the Speaker’s eye, to no avail.
QP: The Bob Rae farewell tour
It was Bob Rae’s last QP as interim leader, while news of some kind of Conservative backbench revolt had fizzled out. With Thomas Mulcair still off in Labrador, it was up to Megan Leslie to lead off QP, asking about the tax increases in the budget. In response, Stephen Harper insisted that the NDP would raise taxes even more — apparently implicitly saying that the increases in the budget are okay in comparison. Charlie Angus was up next, bringing up the finding of the Ethics Commissioner with regard to the finding of Jay Hill. Tony Clement explained that they referred the matter to the Ethics Commissioner in the first place, and they strengthened the law in the first place. And then it was Bob Rae’s turn, for which he got an ovation by the entire House to mark the occasion. Rae hit out at the NDP and their disapproval of Keystone XL, and wondered why Harper wouldn’t lead a “Team Canada” delegation of supportive MPs and premiers to Washington in order to advocate for the pipeline. Harper said that they were already working hard, and that he wished he had such good ideas earlier.
QP: Specious and unclever comparisons
Monday afternoon, and MPs were still filtering back into Ottawa after the weekend. Thomas Mulcair started things off by reading questions on EI inspectors’ guidelines, and how the government could justify that kind of invasion of privacy. James Moore, the designated back-up PM du jour, accused Mulcair of fear-mongering. Mulcair then moved onto the specious comparison between the Senate and its “honour system” and the EI inspections. Moore pointed out that Mulcair was happy to trash people without offering any particular solutions for reform. Alexandre Boulerice was up next, and continued to decry said “honour system” (not that this has anything to do with the business of the Commons, and never mind that MPs’ books are even more opaque). Poilievre stood up to speak to Boulerice’s separatist credentials instead of answering. Bob Rae was up for the Liberals next, wondering about the government’s curious plans for dealing with slow economic growth by means of more austerity and curtailing competition. Moore instead insisted that the Liberals had no credible economic plans. Rae asked then about the EI inspections, not that Moore’s answer differed much. For his final question, Rae asked about how security clearances have become more lax under the present government. Moore insisted that the allegations against Dr. Arthur Porter had nothing to do with his time as an appointee.
Roundup: New residency questions
It seems that Senator Peterson of Nunavut is next on the list to have his residency questioned. Apparently he may be spending more time in BC than in Nunavut, where he is representing. Meanwhile, intrepid reporters went to check out signs of life at Senator Mac Harb’s alleged primary residence in the Ottawa Valley, and found the Christmas lights were still up. Closer to home, there is talk that Senator Wallin’s travel expenses were flagged during a random audit, for what it’s worth. And yes, the audits of those residences will be made public. What is amusing is the concern that the NDP are showing about “secret audits” in the Senate – as though the Commons Board of Internal Inquiry were a paragon of openness and transparency as opposed to the most secretive organisation on the Hill.
What’s that? The RCMP has a problem of bullying within the ranks? You don’t say!
QP: No love for Senator Wallin
Valentine’s Day in the Commons is usually a wasteland of bad puns and lame jokes. Today we we mostly spared the indignity, barring a couple of lame Members’ Statements, and the very final question in QP. Thomas Mulcair led off by reading questions about Senator Wallin’s travel expenses — torqued so that they were counted over 27 months to make them sound especially damning — to which Harper reminded him that Western NDP MPs had similar travel expenses. For his final supplemental, Mulcair read a question about the “moral outrage” of unequal funding in First Nations for education. Harper rejected the premise of the question, and assured him of the measures they were taking. Niki Ashton was up next, asking why there was no national inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women, to which Kerry-Lynne Findlay assured her that they were working with provincial and territorial governments and were responding to the needs of victims. Ralph Goodale picked up on the topic of the Human Rights Watch report on RCMP abuses in those Northern BC communities. Vic Toews said that there is the Commission for Public Complaints about the RCMP to deal with such complaints. Dominic LeBlanc was up last to repeat the question in French, not that Vic Toews responded in kind.