Tag Archives: Espionage

Roundup: What fake parts?

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The Americans discovered a problem that some of their military hardware was being sold to them with counterfeit parts, most of them from China. We buy most our military hardware from the Americans. So what is DND doing about this possible threat? Nothing. You’re welcome, Canada.

The Conservatives have consented to allowing ten different committees study aspects of the Omnibus budget bill, for what it’s worth. The NDP moved a motion to break it up into eleven parts, not that the government will take them up on it. Meanwhile, John Geddes parses what the changes to the Navigable Waters Protection Act means, and why the government talking points about it aren’t really all that accurate.

Not unsurprisingly, the recession derailed the government’s debt retirement plans, and even less surprising is the fact that they haven’t come up with any new plans. Seeing as long-term planning isn’t really this government’s forte and all.

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Roundup: A day of many reports

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The big news yesterday was the Auditor General’s report, and most people were talking cyber-security and problems at Veterans Affairs, but the report also highlighted the problems the government has with its long-term fiscal sustainability. More specifically, approving big spending items without doing any kind of analysis on the long-term impact on the state of the nation’s finances – you know, stuff the Parliamentary Budget Officer has been trying to get information about. Gosh, it’s a good thing that we have MPs to scrutinise the estimates and public accounts to catch this sort of thing – oh, wait…

The Security and Intelligence Review Committee’s report also came out yesterday, which pretty much trashed the no-fly list.

Yet another report that came out yesterday was that of the Correctional Investigator, and it highlighted the problem of self-harm that is growing in the prison system. Yeah, we really do need to do something about the problem of mental health in the prison population, and somehow I doubt that cutting chaplains contributes to that solution.

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Roundup: Meeting in the Congo

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In advance of the Francophonie summit in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pauline Marois has beaten Harper to the punch by meeting with opposition and civil society groups first, even though Harper has also promised to meet with them and to speak to the country’s leadership about some of the major human rights problems there, like using rape as a weapon of war. Harper’s trip to Senegal was also in large part about encouraging trade with the region, and making Senegal into a hub for investment. And in advance of the Harper/Marois meeting, the National Post’s Steve Murray offers some suggestions for things they probably should and shouldn’t say to one another.

The Russian ambassador said the scandal over this navy spy will fade away, and that “even friends spy on each other.” Because we want to forget that the danger of old-fashioned spying still does exist, despite our current preoccupations with counter-terrorism and hacking.

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