Caucus day, and all of the leaders were finally in the Chamber. Thomas Mulcair led off, asking for an update on last week’s events and what new measures were being taken to protect Canadian Forces members at home. Stephen Harper said that investigations were underway, and that he had nothing to add to their public statements. Mulcair noted the concerns of privacy commissioners, both federal and provincial, on new security laws. Harper said that they were interested in the views of various players in issues, and that they didn’t think there was a contradiction between safety and rights. Mulcair noted the need for civilian oversight and the two vacant chairs at SIRC. Harper assured him that things were great at SIRC, and we need to thank CSIS for their hard work protecting Canadians. Mulcair asked about funding cuts to security agencies, to which Harper said that they have adequate resources, then repeated in English the need to thank CSIS for their dedication to the protection of Canadians. Mulcair noted their differences in debating whether the attack was terrorism, but said that they wanted to work together to keep Canadians safe. Harper kept on with the praise for security agencies. Justin Trudeau was up next, and asked about the need for a parliamentary oversight for national security agencies. Harper insisted that the current system works and “we will continue moving forward.” Trudeau pressed again for the need in French, to which Harper repeated his answer in English and got in a dig that police weren’t automatically a threat to Canadians’ rights. Trudeau noted the recommendations for oversight from the Arar Inquiry, wondering when the government would finally act on those recommendations. Harper insisted that they had acted, and repeated that CSIS works hard.
Tag Archives: EI Reform
QP: Ignoring questions on oversight
It was another day without major leaders in the Commons, as they were at the funeral of Corporal Nathan Cirillo in Hamilton, leaving some sparser-than-usual seats in the Chamber as a result. Libby Davies led off, asking about the CSIS bill and the need for more civilian oversight. Stephen Blaney responded instead with a paean to Corporal Cirillo. Davies repeated the need of better oversight, citing the Arar Inquiry, the loss of the Inspector General at CSIS and the vacancies on SIRC. Blaney said that privacy rights were in the bill, and that that there was already strong oversight in SIRC. Davies pointed out the SIRC report citing how uncooperative CSIS, to the point of misleading them. Blaney thanked SIRC for the report, and largely ignored the concerns that were addressed. Nycole Turmel repeated the questions in French, and Blaney praised the bill rather than answer the issue of concerns. Ralph Goodale led off for the Liberals, and wondered about adequate resources for security services, wondering if an analysis of funding levels was being undertaken. Blaney said that the various agencies were reviewing what happened last week, but didn’t answer Goodale’s question. Goodale asked for an estimate of what incremental funding that the RCMP and CSIS would require to increase their operations, to which Blaney repeated his claim that they increased their funding already by one third. Dominic LeBlanc closed out the round, asking again about resources but in French. Blaney repeated his evasion in French in response.
QP: Wait for the bill
Despite it being Monday, there were no major leaders in the Commons. It left Libby Davies to lead off, asking for an update on security at federal sites. Stephen Blaney reminded her that Hill security is the domain of the Speaker and the Board of Internal Economy, but they were fully cooperating. Davies asked about the moratorium on armed forces personnel wearing uniforms in public, and Rob Nicholson said that he deferred to the judgement of the Chief of Defence Staff. Davies asked for assurances about full debate on any new security legislation, and Blaney promised that they would not overreact, but it was time to stop underreacting. Nycole Turmel picked up, asking about the National Post report that the legislation would criminalise certain Internet posts condoning terrorism, to which Blaney told her to wait for the bill to be tabled. Turmel wanted assurances that civil liberties would be protected, to which Blaney repeated his answer. Dominic LeBlanc led for the Liberals, asking for cooperation on drafting new security legislation and for detailed technical briefings on the bill. Blaney more or less agreed. LeBlanc wanted a timeline on the bill, but Blaney talked around an answer. LeBlanc pressed in French, but Blaney repeated his answer.
QP: Terrorism and Ebola
With the revelations of that radicalized individual being identified in the hit-and-run in Quebec yesterday, it would be interesting to see how prominent that would be in QP. Thomas Mulcair led off asking for an update on the incident. Stephen Harper gave a “thoughts and prayers” response and called the incident a despicable act of violence. Mulcair wondered why they disclosed unconfirmed terror claims in the Commons yesterday and wanted a full briefing. Harper said that he told the House as soon as he found out. Mulcair moved onto the Ebola vaccine and the sale of the development rights for $205,000, which Harper didn’t quite answer as he reiterated that the government held the rights to the vaccine donated to the WHO. Mulcair asked about the auction of protective equipment, to which Harper responded that they made available all surplus materials when the WHO asked for them, and that they would continue to assist. Mulcair wanted clarification as to when the request came, to which Harper recounted his meeting with the WHO in New York and how Canada has been praised for our response. Justin Trudeau was up next, and after offering his condolences to the family of the soldier who was killed yesterday, and asked about those radicalized individuals under surveillance. Harper responded that they were examining the ways in which to give more tools to security organizations in order to make arrests more swiftly. Trudeau then asked about their supply day motion on the Ebola response and ensuring that the Health minister is available to committee, to which Harper insisted that the minister has been very available and they hoped a motion could be drafted that all parties could support. To close the round, Trudeau asked if the government could match donations made for the Ebola crisis, but Harper didn’t make such a commitment.
QP: Major network censorship!
Despite it being a Thursday, none of the major leaders were present in the Chamber for QP. Yay accountability! Megan Leslie kicked off by asking about radicalized Canadians who were not stopped before they left the country. Stephen Blaney said that there were 63 investigations underway covering over 100 individuals, and why didn’t the NDP support their anti-terrorism legislation. Leslie asked why they were relying on US intelligence for these radicals, but Blaney gave a non sequitur about supporting the mission in Iraq. Leslie turned to the Ebola crisis, to which Rona Ambrose assured her of all the ways in which Canada was contributing. Libby Davies carried on asking about the Ebola vaccine and reiterated the tale of the intellectual property concerns, but Ambrose assured her that the supply that was given to the WHO did not have those concerns and it was up to them to decide what to do with it. Davies quoted a WHO release stating that the commercializations of the vaccine was held by that U.S. company. Ambrose, somewhat exasperated, insisted that they were two completely different issues, and the intellectual property on the donated doses belonged to Canada. Ralph Goodale asked about the plans to stuff things like copyright changes into the budget bill. Kevin Sorenson insisted that Goodale wait until the bill was tabled. Goodale blasted the plans to change those copyright plans so that news clips can freely been used in political ads, calling it “expropriation without compensation.” Shelly Glover said she wouldn’t comment on rumours or speculation, but gave an excuse about networks censoring content. No, seriously. The round closed with Dominic LeBlanc giving the same question in French, and Glover repeating as well.
QP: Ebola and Syria
It was curious how many empty seats there were in the Commons on a Wednesday, given that it’s caucus day, but all of the leaders were present, so it should at least be interesting. Thomas Mulcair led off by asking about increasing aid to west Africa to deal with Ebola. Harper reminded him that Canada just dispatched a second mobile lab and more supplies were on the way. Mulcair asked about the experimental vaccine that was still not delivered, but Harper responded that they were waiting for the World Health Organisation to determine where it would be used. Mulcair insisted the delay was because of an intellectual property issue, and Harper assured him that he looked into it and was told that is not the reason it has been held up. Mulcair changed topics to Syria, going from Harper’s former denunciations of Assad to the caveat that he would permit bombing in the region if given permission by that government. Harper responded that this as a military operation but not going to war against any government in the region. Mulcair closed the round by asking where our fighter jets would be based in the Middle East, to which Harper told him that it wasn’t yet determined. Justin Trudeau was up next, and asked if the government planned to offer more than the $10 million recently announced for the refugee crisis in Turkey. Harper gave bland assurances about aid being delivered, and said that they also needed to stem the flow, which meant stopping ISIS. Trudeau asked the same again in French, got the same answer, and asked about the the targets for resettled Syrian refugees not being met. Harper assured him that the minister had already answered that, and hit Trudeau once again, saying that stopping ISIS was more than a refugee response.
Roundup: Calandra’s tearful apology
It was rather stunning, and certainly unexpected, when Paul Calandra got up after Question Period and choked back tears as he apologised for his behaviour on Tuesday, and offered direct apologies to both Mulcair and the House as a whole. He also insisted that the answers were his, and not the “kids in short pants” – even though he later said that he was given the information on that former NDP staffer by a member of the PMO. That said, the fact that he also equivocated, refused to promise to never do it again, and tried to rationalize it as being angry by that NDP fundraiser’s Facebook rant, really took away from the sincerity of the tears and the moment itself. It certainly does raise the question about what changed between now and Tuesday – especially after he doubled down on Wednesday (which led to the Paul Dewar facepalm meme that hit the Internet all day Thursday). I will say that it’s an awfully big coincidence that he suddenly got tearful and apologised on the very same morning that Stephen Harper got back to town after being away since the initial incident happened. Sure, Calandra was pilloried and publicly shamed by the media and the pundit class, but it’s not for the first time either. Paul Wells gives his take on the dynamics at play, while Andrew Coyne takes particular issue with Calandra’s equivocating during the apology, and how it continues to make a mockery of parliament.
QP: A debate or a vote
The President of Germany was visiting the Centre Block today, no matter that Harper was still in New York for the United Nations, and Justin Trudeau was off campaigning in Oshawa, leaving Thomas Mulcair once again the only major leader present. He led off by asking about the Prime Minister’s revelation in New York that we were being asked to contribute more troops to Iraq. Rob Nicholson responded by saying that the request was just received and that it would be reviewed, along with our current non-combat mission at the end of the 30 days. Mulcair wanted the letter made public, and asked how many more troops were being asked. Nicholson repeated that it would all be part of the review. Mulcair wanted the disclosure of the permission given by Iraq, to which Nicholson assured him that they had proper permission. Mulcair moved onto the burgeoning refugee crisis in Turkey, to which Chris Alexander gave a pro forma response about how many refugees from Iraq we have already settled and how many more we planned to. Mulcair pressed for detail on Syrian refugees, and Alexander said that more than 1500 Syrian refugees were present in Canada. Marc Garneau led off for the Liberals, and asked for details on the new Iraq request, and that it would be brought for debate in the House. Nicholson repeated that they would be reviewing everything. Joyce Murray noted the recall of Parliament in the UK to debate their Iraq deployment, to which Nicholson invited the opposition to use their supply days to debate further. Adam Vaughan reiterated the need for debate in parliament before any deployment was extended, and Nicholson noted how forthcoming the government has been.
QP: A few answers on Iraq
Before Question Period got underway, the Speaker rose to make a statement. Scheer gave a reminder about his role as it is laid out in O’Brien and Bosc, and reminded members that the current practice, upheld by successive Speakers, is that he has no authority over the content of answers, quoting Speaker Milliken several times. He reminded them that it is up to MPs to give him those powers, but did caution MPs to be more judicious in their language. When things got started officially, Thomas Mulcair asked about the end date of the engagement in Iraq. With Harper off in New York, James Bezan stood up to tell him that the clock started on September 5th, and chided the NDP for offering no suggestions for stopping ISIS. Mulcair made a dig about Bezan not being a member of government before asking how many soldiers were on the ground at present. Bezan deferred, but when Mulcair pressed, Bezan said that the commitment was for 69 personnel who would provide assistance to Kurdish forces. Mulcair demanded a vote on deployment, and Bezan noted all of the other deployments that they didn’t demand a vote for. For his final question, Mulcair demanded a full public inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women. Kellie Leitch said that families of victims were thankful to the government for coming forward with their Action Plan™. For his question, Justin Trudeau cited a report saying that this generation of Canadians would be worse off than their parents, and wondered what the government was doing to change that. Joe Oliver responded by touting assistance for low-income Canadians. Citing the inter-generational wealth gap, Trudeau wondered if the government would vote for their EI credit proposal, but Joe Oliver responded by reading his previous statement in French. Trudeau pressed on their plans for the vote, but Oliver said that the last thing the Liberals were qualified to talk about was EI.
Roundup: Contempt, tempers, and losing the plot
Thomas Mulcair’s snide exchange with the Speaker during yesterday’s QP continues to resonate around Ottawa, with reminders that Scheer doesn’t currently have the powers to police the content of answers (MPs would have to agree to give him those powers), and musings about this kind of contempt of parliament and remonstrations about how this is what makes people cynical. And the worst part? That even over the Twitter Machine, Paul Calandra continues to play the part. It has also been noted, and I fully agree, that by losing his temper and going after the Speaker, Mulcair made the story about himself rather than Calandra and his utter nonsense.
Media upset with me, gee what am I to do? Tell you what, I will stand up for Israel who are on the front lines fighting terror every day.
— Paul Calandra (@PaulCalandra) September 24, 2014
It's not up to Speaker Scheer to discipline poor answers, and you lose focus on govt stonewalling when you attack the Speaker. #QP
— Bob Rae (@BobRae48) September 23, 2014