It was Audrey O’Brien Day in the Commons, as the Clerk Emeritus sat at the head of the table as a farewell to her time serving MPs. Rona Ambrose started off by paying tribute to O’Brien before she got to her question about pipelines, and how there was now a tanker ban on the west coast after Northern Gateway was approved (only it wasn’t really approved, as there were 200+ conditions attached). Trudeau also paid tribute to O’Brien before reminding Ambrose that they didn’t get any pipelines built. Ambrose demanded to know if Trudeau would let Energy East or Transmountain go through if they were approved, but Trudeau stuck to generalities. Ambrose tried again, but got a reminder that her government didn’t get pipelines to tidewater in ten years. Denis Lebel was up next, worried about the lack of information in the budget. Trudeau reminded him of the promises that they made to families in the election. Lebel tried to burnish his government’s record, but Trudeau’s answer didn’t change. Thomas Mulcair was up next, and after a brief homage to O’Brien, lambasted the government for approving the Saudi LAV deal. Trudeau reminded Mulcair of statements he made regarding the jobs in question and not cancelling agreements. Mulcair then accused Trudeau of using numbered companies to avoid taxes, but Trudeau insisted that all taxes were paid. Mulcair pressed, and Trudeau reminded him that he has been open about his financial holdings. Mulcair asked again in English, and Trudeau stood by his disclosures.
Tag Archives: Energy East
QP: Déjà vu from Monday
While new senators were being sworn in down the hall, all of the leaders were present for QP in the Commons, and everyone was raring to go. Rona Ambrose led off, reading from her mini-lectern, asking about how the budget numbers don’t add up. Justin Trudeau stated, matter-of-factly that they were putting money in Canadians’ pockets. Ambrose listed people who felt the budget lacked transparent, but Trudeau was undaunted in lauding the good news of the budget. Ambrose accused him of blocking projects like pipelines, and Trudeau hit back a little more pointedly about how “shouting pipelines into existence” didn’t work. Denis Lebel was up next, worried that the infrastructure envelope was thin, and Trudeau lauded the funding. Lebel launched a paean about how great the infrastructure funding was under their government, but Trudeau reminded him that their arguments failed to convince Canadians in the fall. Thomas Mulcair was up next, and got an ovation from the whole of the Commons. He repeated the false equivalency of that Shelly Glover fundraiser with the Jody Wilson-Raybould fundraiser, to which Trudeau listed all of the rules and said that they were being followed. Mulcair switched to the Panama Papers and the story that CRA officials went to work for KPMG, and Trudeau recalled the new funds for CRA in the budget. Mulcair repeated a bunch of dubious accusations and demanded an investigation into KPMG, and Trudeau repeated the funds for CRA. Mulcair closed the round with a question on EI reform, and Trudeau listed the reforms made so far.
The party that changed the accounting rules every year worries that we can't trust the numbers now. #QP
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) April 12, 2016
QP: Not taking the budget bait
The day before budget day, and the Commons was not as full as it could or should be. Rona Ambrose led off, her mini-lectern on Andrew Scheer’s desk as it often is these days, and she read some concern about her supposition about the budget. Justin Trudeau insisted that they had a plan, and that the previous government didn’t get the job done. Ambrose tried to retort that they had the best job creation record in the G7, then turned a lament about raising taxes. Trudeau reminded her of the debt-to-GDP ratio. Ambrose insisted that investment has “fallen off the cliff” since the election, but Trudeau responded that economists said that this was the time to invest. Denis Lebel took over to ask about public confidence in the economy, which Trudeau reiterated their investment promises, and Lebel lamented the state of the forestry industry as an example of a measure needed in the budget, but Trudeau didn’t bite, and told him to wait for the budget. Thomas Mulcair was up for the NDP, and decried Bombardier’s plan to outsource some jobs, and demanded the protection of jobs in Canada. Trudeau agreed that they wanted to protect good jobs, which was why they were taking the time to assess Bombardier’s proposal. Mulcair demanded commitments on EI, for which Trudeau reminded him that they made commitments in their platform and they would keep that promise in the budget. Mulcair switched to English and lamented the conditions on First Nations reserves, for which Trudeau yet again reminded him that they made promises to renew the relationship, and that the budget would contain historic investment. For his final question, Trudeau asked about a family where the children were kidnapped to Kurdistan. Trudeau insisted that the return of those children were a high priority.
Roundup: The big visit
With Trudeau now in Washington DC, we are being bombarded by What It All Means. And thus, the arrival was full of firsts, and we are being told to expect an announcement regarding the expansion of the border pre-clearance programme, however privacy concerns remain. John Kerry says there’s no urgent need for a new Canada-US pipeline as we already have some 300 already, while our new ambassador says that the Keystone XL issue “sucked all of the oxygen” out of the relationship between the two countries, while progress is coming on some “less sexy” files. And here’s a look at the State Dinner menu, which features both Canadian and American spring flavours. Trudeau is also expected to announce that he will host a “Three Amigos” summit with the American and Mexican presidents in June, something Stephen Harper was supposed to do and then didn’t.
Senate QP: Meandering around the issue
After the moving day at the beginning of Commons QP, it was time to head down the hall for Senate QP, with special guest star Jim Carr, minister of natural resources. Once he arrived, a little behind schedule thanks to a vote in the Commons, things got started. Senator Carignan led off, asking about the softwood lumber agreement expiring. Carr began with the traditional thanks and his expression about his admiration for the chamber, and after a couple of technical mic fixes (again), he said that he would be greatly surprised if the agreement did not come up in conversation during the PM’s trip to Washington.
Roundup: Points for process
From all accounts, the First Ministers meeting in Vancouver got off to a terse start. Premiers were unhappy over the regional bickering over Energy East and discussions of carbon pricing, while Indigenous groups were grousing that they should also have been at that table when it comes to coming up with a plan on combating climate change. By lunch, word around the place was that Trudeau was digging in his heels and was ready to impose a national carbon price on the provinces if they continued to balk and not work together to come to some kind of framework. And, by those same accounts, something changed after lunch and they struck a more conciliatory tone, and even though the meeting ran overtime, they came up with the Vancouver Declaration on Clean Growth and Climate Change, which was essentially an agreement on process. They have six months now to form four working groups and when they meet again in September, the expectation is that there will be more concrete plans, but carbon pricing mechanisms will be part of it – though there seems to be some indication that somehow carbon capture and storage will be seen as some kind of mechanism related to climate mitigation, despite the fact that thus far it’s been an expensive failure of a concept (but hey, Brad Wall is fully committed to it). And then even more grousing happened from the opposition, where the Conservatives complained that there was too much uncertainty for market investment (though not really if you consider that carbon pricing is coming, which the energy sector has actually been demanding and building into their projections), and the NDP moaning that there are still no targets or timelines (to which one wonders if they would have simply imposed them and told the provinces to deal with it if they were in charge, as with their vaunted plans for a cap-and-trade system despite the fact that BC has a successful carbon tax). So if nobody goes away happy, does that mean it was some measure of success? Perhaps, but one shouldn’t diminish the fact that there was a victory for process, because (and it can’t be stated enough) process matters. Democracy is process. So if you have a process laid out, it means that you can move ahead in a coordinated fashion with a plan and a road map and go from there. That may be an understated ending to the conference, but we’ll have to see what the next six months bring.
Roundup: Mindless PR propaganda
There are times when will indulge my masochistic streak. Yesterday was one of those days, when I took a deep breath, girded my loins, and read that Broadbent Institute “report” on Proportional Representation. And then proceeded to roll my eyes and sigh the whole way through it. To say that it’s an intellectual exercise would be an insult to critical thinking or, well, actual intelligence. No, it was but a mere collection of platitudes masquerading as serious argument (and it should not surprise me considering the source). If you too want an exercise in masochism, or you desperately want to hate-read it, it’s here, but I wouldn’t waste my time. The highlights consist of “OMG First-Past-the-Post is old!” and a bunch of charts that show how terrible “false majorities” are, except that there is no such thing as a “false majority” because the popular vote figure is a logical fallacy that neither reflects how the system is constructed, nor how elections are run. In fact, nowhere in the document does it actually give a proper recounting of how our system works, where you have 338 separate-but-simultaneous elections that each decide on who occupies a single seat to form a parliament, and that parliament determines who forms government based on who can command the confidence of the Commons. Instead, it calls FPTP elections “horse races” while proportional representation is “sharing the pie” (not how the system works – at all), and then talks at length about “fairness.” It talks about “wasted votes” as if they were a Thing as opposed to an expression by sore losers for whom votes only count if the person they voted for wins. It makes a bunch of bullshit platitudes about how PR will magically increase voter turnout (not true) and ignores that declining voter turnout is a widespread problem across all democracies regardless of electoral system. Accountability? Apparently not an issue because you have all kinds of parties to vote for! And any criticisms of PR? Brushed off and not actually explored. The worse sin of all, however, is the way in which it treats the political process, as though the vote were the end-all-and-be-all of engagement. False. Completely and utterly false, and that’s part of the problem that the magical thinking of PR advocates in general. You see, our system starts with joining a party, where you then participate in policy discussion leading up to resolutions at biennial policy conventions, and in participating in nomination races for candidates. Riding associations act as liaisons with caucus members to relay concerns, even if your riding is not represented by your party of choice, and one actively participates in the system. The ballot box is but one small facet of that process. But most people don’t know this because they aren’t taught it in schools, and PR advocates prey on this ignorance to push for their own magical solutions to perceived problems without a proper understanding of the ecosystem or the mechanics. So no, unless you’re going to represent the actual system, then no, you’re not having an honest discussion about PR, and that’s exactly what this report was – dishonest, jejune, and a sad waste of everyone’s time.
Oh, FFS. Just because you didn’t win doesn’t mean that your vote was wasted. It just means you’re a sore loser. pic.twitter.com/5OYZHt1KYd
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) March 2, 2016
https://twitter.com/fatbertt/status/705081823639031808
https://twitter.com/fatbertt/status/705082136756424705
https://twitter.com/fatbertt/status/705083872577507328
Roundup: Pipeline drama queens
It really doesn’t take much to set Brad Wall off these days, and in ways that are both a bit unseemly and frankly nonsensical, and really, really unhelpful in the long run. Yesterday is was Quebec’s environment minister filing a court injunction related to Energy East, but unlike what everyone was up in arms about, it wasn’t to block the pipeline – he made several assurances that he had no opinion on it. Rather, he wanted TransCanada to submit paperwork with the Quebec government for their own environmental process, and TransCanada has thus far said no. It remains to be seen if Quebec’s position holds legal water (there was a precedent in BC that may or may not apply), but from the apoplexy coming from the likes of Brad Wall or Brian Jean in Alberta, you’d think Quebec had declared the project dead on arrival. Except they didn’t. Rachel Notley kept a level head saying she knows it’s not a veto, so she’s keeping her guns holstered. Justin Trudeau said he understands the province’s desire to get social license for the project, but listening to conservatives, both federal and provincial, you would have thought that those terrible lefties had put a stake in the heart of the oil industry. In fact, it’s the opposite of helpful when they are quick to declare a crisis of national unity when really, it’s Brad Wall fighting an election, and the Federal Conservatives and Wildrose party in Alberta trying to assert themselves into the debate in the most divisive way possible (and seriously, guys – that’s not how equalization works, so stop using it as a talking point). Suffice to say, everyone is acting like a bunch of petulant drama queens, demanding approvals to pipeline projects without actually going through the proper process, claiming that Trudeau politicized the process (err, except it was the Conservatives who changed the law so that Cabinet was given final sign-off on these projects, completely politicizing the process), and that if he doesn’t do things their way that he’s destroying the country. That’s a mature way to handle things, guys. Slow clap.
Well, we gave responsible devm't a shot for 3 mths…I guess we should go back to "no brainers", fights w ENGOs, threats of exploding trains
— Andrew Leach (@andrew_leach) March 1, 2016
https://twitter.com/inklesspw/status/704690026781786112
https://twitter.com/inklesspw/status/704691188327174144
https://twitter.com/emmmacfarlane/status/704715206543482882
QP: Overwrought and obfuscating
After some of the soaring (well, overwrought in any case) rhetoric of today’s supply day motion on condemning the BDS movement, everyone was on-hand for QP, which one hoped would not be nearly so melodramatic. Rona Ambrose led off, mini-lectern on desk, and lamented that the CF-18s have ended their bombing mission before the debate and vote — as though it was a vote on authorization and not supporting the government’s plan. Justin Trudeau reminded her that Canadians voted for his plan. Ambrose then noted the job losses at Bombardier and wondered why aid was being considered for that company but no support was being offered for Energy East. Trudeau reminded her that he supported getting resources to market, but they needed a different process than the failed one that the Conservatives followed. Ambrose asked a muddled question about getting people back to work, to which Trudeau reminded her that his party was committed to EI reform, not hers. Gerard Deltell demanded aid for the families affected by the Bombardier layoffs, at which point Trudeau noted a decade of neglect by the previous government while his was working with the provinces. Deltell insisted that the Toronto Island Airport was the key to reversing these job cuts (as opposed to Bombardier’s poor management), but Trudeau reminded him of the contract signed with Air Canada. Leading off for the NDP was Irene Mathyssen who read some tired outrage about the TPP, for which Trudeau reminded her that the trade minister was engaged in consultations and that it would be brought up for debate in the Commons. Mathyssen asked the same thing again, got the same answer, and then Alexandre Boulerice demanded help for Bombardier. Trudeau reminded him that they were working for with the provinces. Boulerice closed the round with thundering denunciation of the job losses from the previous Air Canada maintenance contract dispute, but Trudeau reminded him that overheated rhetoric helped nobody.
The vote on the CF-18s is for support, not authorisation. Cripes. #QP
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) February 18, 2016
THIS IS WHY WE SHOULDN'T HAVE THE HOUSE VOTE ON MILITARY OPERATIONS.
— kady o'malley (@kady) February 18, 2016
QP: In advance of the deployment motion
As Ottawa dug itself out from a record snowfall, everyone was ready to go in advance of the debate on the new ISIS mission that would happen after QP. Rona Ambrose had her mini-lectern ready to go, and she read a question about how the PM could possibly withdraw our CF-18s from the fight against ISIS. Justin Trudeau noted that one opposition party wanted them to do more and the other wanted them to do it less, and they had a comprehensive plan. Ambrose accused him of stepping back against the fight against terror, to which Trudeau assured her that our allies were happy with our stepping up our efforts. Ambrose accused Trudeau of picking and choosing Canadian values, to which Trudeau reminded her about what people voted for. Ambrose then accused the government of burning through the surplus her government left — eliciting laughs from the government benches — and wondered how much deficit they would pile on. Trudeau reminded her that they actually left a deficit, and they were committed to delivering growth. Ambrose lamented job losses, to which Trudeau again noted committing to growth. Thomas Mulcair was up next, and blasted the government for not preventing job losses at Bombardier. Trudeau insisted that they would grow the economy in responsible ways. Mulcair demanded again in English, and Trudeau repeated his answer with an added lament about shouting about problems. Mulcair then changed topics and demanded to know if the new mission was a combat mission. Trudeau said that they were doing what was most effective. Mulcair gave another go, and got pretty much the same answer.