In another stunning bout of knee-jerk populism, Jason Kenney has seized on the story of a Canadian dual-citizen blowing up a bus in Bulgaria, coupled it with a dubious Private Member’s Bill about stripping the citizenship of dual-citizens who engage in acts of war against the country, talked about amending it to include terrorism, and viola – ready for the media. How predictable, and how so very, very flawed. For one, it’ll never stand up to the Charter, because Canadians, no matter where they may have been born, are all equal under the law. Also, it shows contempt for process because he’s trying to hijack a PMB that probably shouldn’t have been voteable in the first place. It’s worse that Kenney wants to try and ram through unconstitutional measures into the PMB process, which would get a mere couple of hours of committee study before heading back to the Chamber for a mere two more hours of debate. Yeah, he may need to rethink this whole proposition.
Tag Archives: Civic Literacy
Roundup: Push-poll “miscommunications”
Oh dear. It seems that despite initially denying the story, the Conservatives did eventually admit to being behind a push-poll in Saskatchewan designed to turn public opinion against the electoral boundaries changes – changes that will disadvantage the Conservatives as genuine urban ridings are carved out of the old distorting “rurban” ridings. Oh, but it was an “oversight” that they didn’t identify themselves. I’m sure the CRTC will be happy to hear that “guilty plea,” as Pierre Poilievre would term it, were this a Liberal mishap. But it’s not, so I’m sure their euphemisms will be equally creative.
The Environment Commissioner tabled his final report yesterday, which details frustrations with the pace of resource projects outstripping the capacity of regulatory agencies who are dealing with changing legislation, jurisdictional confusion, and not enough resources.
Roundup: Farewell Canadian Crown, hello Crown colony status
The government did something well-meaning yesterday, but in the process, ended up doing something very, very bad. In what was no doubt a somewhat thoughtless attempt to circumvent the rules around constitutional amendments, they tabled their act to change the laws of succession for the Canadian Monarchy yesterday that evoked a moot section of the Statute of Westminster that basically said “whatever the Mother Country decides, we’re cool with.” And with that one fell swoop, the government of Canada has undone eighty-two years of Canada having an independent Crown, and has once again relegated us to the status of a Crown colony of Britain – and no, I’m really not being dramatic. (See the bill and the government’s nonsensical backgrounder here). You see, that section of the Statute of Westminster that they’re evoking – was repealed with the patriation of the Constitution in 1982. Oops. And by simply assenting to the UK change, it means that the Crown of Canada is not a separate corporate sole from the Crown of the United Kingdom – which means that Canada is not a sovereign country. And because the Office of the Queen – which the rules of succession are a Very Big Deal regarding – falls under s.41(a) of the Constitution – that means a constitutional amendment requiring the unanimous consent of the provinces. Yes, it’s a little messier and will take a little more time, but we’ve got at least two generations of heirs in order to get it right, and there is little reason that any of the provinces would object to such common sense changes. But hey, for the sake of expediency, let’s treat the constitution like it doesn’t matter! Which seems to be the modus operandi of the entire political discourse of this country of late – between this, the NDP’s “Unity bill,” and Bob Rae thinking that the Governor General should be involved in political meetings with the First Nations and denying royal assent on the Wheat Board bill, we have pretty much proven that civic literacy in this country is in complete and utter shambles. How many other mature democracies treat their constitutions like they’re relative documents that you can project your own interpretations onto as they suit your agenda? Unbelievable.
YCYC and their latest distorted poll
On Wednesday, purported “civic literacy” group Your Canada, Your Constitution released the results of a new poll, this time on restricting the powers of prime ministers and premiers through codified rules that could be enforce.
The question was as follows:
Some rules that are part of Canada’s Constitution, that are called “constitutional conventions”, are not written down, and so experts disagree what these rules actually are and whether the rules can be enforced. Experts do agree that the unwritten convention rules cover decisions such as: when the Prime Minister and premiers can open and close parliament; what measures can be included in bills such as budgets; whether a government has lost a vote that should cause an election; whether an election should be called just because a Prime Minister or premier wants an election, and; which political party, or parties, will be the government after an election.
In most countries in the world, including Britain, Australia and New Zealand, these rules are written down so the powers of their politicians are clearly defined and restricted, and so the rules can be enforced.
Do you think Canada’s constitutional convention rules should be written down so that the powers of the Prime Minister and provincial premiers are clearly defined and restricted, and so the rules can be enforced?
Respondents were given the option to strongly agree/agree/disagree/strongly disagree/don’t know, and the question received an 84 percent agreement. Sounds great, right?
Roundup: Returning to untenable demands
The AFN is apparently back to their demands that Harper and the GG be at the table together at their next meeting – which is untenable. That a number of chiefs think that the GG can force Harper to deal with their issues is a gross misconception that they need to abandon. It’s even worse when one of them comes on Power & Politics and declares that the Queen got it wrong. Because you know, it’s not like she’s been on the job for the past 60 years or anything. Meanwhile, Tim Harper has a very disturbing tale of threats and intimidation going on in the internal politics of the AFN, which includes threats being made against National Chief Shawn Atleo and other regional chiefs. Paul Wells writes about Stephen Harper’s choice between cooperation and confrontation with First Nations.
Roundup post: Buckingham Palace says no
Buckingham Palace has written back someone who wrote to appeal to the Queen on Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence’s behalf. The message? That the Queen, by way of the GG, acts on the advice of the Prime Minister and cabinet, so go bug them. Which is the way it should be, seeing as we have Responsible Government and everything, and the fact that the Queen isn’t magic. And the Spence supporter who wrote her? Is going to write back to complain that his letter to Harper hasn’t been responded to yet, even though it’s only been days, and responses from PMO take something on the order of six months (given the constant deluge of mail they get daily). Oh, but I’m sure his letter was of such high priority that the PMO felt compelled to drop everything and ensure he jumped to the front of the response queue. And I’m quite sure that Buckingham Palace has nothing better to do than order the PMO to ensure that his letter is priority, because he’s special.
Roundup: Launching a new Action Plan™
Stephen Harper launched a new Action Plan™ in Montreal yesterday – the Venture Capital Action Plan™, to create Jobs & Growth™ as part of our Fragile Economic Recovery™. Economist Stephen Gordon wonders how this jives with Harper’s reluctance for government control in any industry, or how it benefits anyone other than consultants and lobbyists.
AFN National Chief Shawn Atleo has been ordered by his doctor to take time off because of exhaustion, which given the events of the past couple of weeks is no real surprise. Meanwhile, Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence still refuses to end her liquid diet.
Here is a look at some of the projected costs of implementing the new safe drinking water legislation for First Nations reserves, and whether or not the government will fully fund it. Thomas Mulcair has taken to criticizing Harper’s approach to natural resource development, which he says is behind the Aboriginal unrest, and that Harper needs to sit down with the provincial premiers, as they are the key to resource revenue sharing with the First Nations.
Roundup: The post-meeting calls to end the hunger strike
Today in Idle No More news, Thomas Mulcair and the Grand Chief of Quebec Matthew Coon Come are calling for Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence to end her hunger strike because sufficient progress has been made, and the fact that her demand to have the Governor General and the PM at the table together is never going to happen ever. One of the founders of the movement says she supports Spence, but not road blockades or the political process with the AFN. Former Prime Minister Paul Martin criticises Stephen Harper’s handling of the First Nations file. AFN National Chief Shawn Atleo is preparing to meet with Harper again in two weeks, and credits Idle No More for getting the process started.
The Department of Justice has spent $3.6 million on the Ashley Smith inquiry, but is keeping as much of it as the can under wraps.
Spence, the GG, and political Calvinball
It remains to be seen whether or not that meeting between the Prime Minister and the First Nations will happen today because of the omnishambles that the process has become. The day began with the rather amazing feat – that Stephen Harper once again compromised. He asked the Governor General to host a ceremonial meeting at Rideau Hall for the Chiefs after the working meeting, and the GG accepted and extended the invitation. It was a wholly appropriate way of involving the representative of the Queen as the Chiefs were demanding. But then revolt happened. A group of Manitoba chiefs decided that they were going to follow the lead of Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence and say that unless the GG was at the table with Harper, then no dice. Of course, Chief Spence’s demands have had all the clarity of the rules of Calvinball, and her demands changed again today so that she wanted Harper and the GG at the table at the same time, and the premier of Ontario. You know, the one who’s tendered his resignation and is busy cleaning out his office while his successor is being chosen? Yeah, that one. And never mind that Chief Spence’s credibility has pretty much been reduced to tatters because of her erratic behaviour and demands – her demand that Harper and the GG be at the table together is completely and wholly inappropriate.
Roundup: Spence versus Responsible Government
It was another fraught day with regards to the whole Prime Minister-First Nations meeting, Chief Theresa Spence, and civic literacy in general. Chief Spence first said that she wasn’t going to go to the meeting because the Governor General wouldn’t be there. And then, briefly, she was going to be there, and then no, no she wasn’t and to add to that, she was going to keep up her liquid diet, and had signed her will because she was ready to die. So really, no dramatics there. But not only that, the continued insistence that the Governor General be there to represent “the Crown” is both wrong and misguided, and yet nobody seems willing to tell Spence that she’s barking up the wrong tree. In fact, she’s decided to write the Queen to have her insist that the GG show up – because the Queen is magic, and Canada is apparently still a colony under direct Crown control. “Oh, but it’s an important symbol that he be there,” Spence’s supporters insist. Except that the only symbolic message that would be sent is that the Queen and by extension the GG are the ones who make public policy in Canada and that the whole 167 years of Responsible Government were all just a dream – like that season of Dallas. Because without trying to be too glib, this is exactly what Spence is demanding. And not to put too fine of a point on it, I’ll add this quote: “Spence is demanding a meeting with a ghost, with a Crown that by 1763 had already ceded much of its discretionary powers to Parliament.” This from a post that explains the metaphors that Spence is trying to interact with on a literal basis. And the fact that people don’t understand that it’s inappropriate to involve the Sovereign or her representative in what is supposed to be a working policy discussion is troubling, because it means that they have no working understanding of what Responsible Government is, let alone that it’s a real thing, a system of governing principles that is the foundation for our democracy. That anyone would honestly suggest otherwise, that the Queen could swan in and make proclamations or declarations at whim, is an indictment of the crisis state of our civic illiteracy, and it really needs to be rectified.