Tag Archives: Federalism

QP: Sniping in advance of the eclipse

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The first day back from the Easter break, and Eclipse Day, and neither the prime minister nor his deputy were present, having spent the morning in Trenton making the defence policy update announcement. Most of the other leaders were present today, for what it’s worth. After the introduction of Jamil Jivani as the newest Conservative MP, Pierre Poilievre led off in French, reciting his slogans and accusing government of being “pyromaniacs” fuelling inflation. (That’s not what was driving inflation). Jonathan Wilkinson read a statement about investing in Canadians. Poilievre recited a bank report to claim the government was stoking inflation, and Wilkinson read more talking points about those investments. Poilievre switched to English to repeat his pyromaniac line, and Wilkinson again read lines about investing in Canadians. Poilievre went on about a “carbon tax election,” and recited more slogans. Sean Fraser got up to scoff about the lack of seriousness of Poilievre’s supposed plan. Poilievre insisted that his plan would lower prices for farms, food and homes, and Fraser responded by listed Poilievre’s record a “housing” minister (even though he really wasn’t).

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and he railed that the government was trying to tell Quebeckers how to build housing, and listed all of their supposed failures along the way. Pablo Rodriguez was incredulous that the Bloc was against housing, child care, or school food. Therrien railed that federal government was holding Quebec hostage, and Rodriguez reminded that that they were not the Quebec government. 

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and railed about corporate handouts, and went on a tangent about Conservative corporate handouts and if the Liberals would carry them forward. Wilkinson read more of his talking points about investments and fairness. Singh repeated his question in French, and this time Fraser got up to talk about some of their housing announcements from last week.

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Roundup: Another tranche of housing money

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As part of his pre-budget announcement tour, Justin Trudeau was in Halifax yesterday to announce a new tranche of housing funding, which comes with strings attached for provinces to access it, and if provinces don’t, well, it’ll get rolled into the municipal stream to let them access it instead. Some of this is an extension of the existing Housing Accelerator Fund, but they also have some new conditions around densification to be able to qualify for that funding, which is really about overcoming the NIMBYism that prevents a lot of it currently.

https://twitter.com/mikepmoffatt/status/1775245369128939654

This having been said, there will be implementation issues, and for that, Jennifer Robson has some thoughts.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Ukrainian forces say they downed two out of three Russian drones overnight on Monday, and that so far this year, Russia has fired five Zircon hypersonic missiles at Kyiv. Ukraine continues to make its own drone attacks against Russian refineries, with the latest strike against the country’s third-largest refinery. After much debate, Ukraine has lowered its draft age from 27 to 25 as they need to replenish their troops. Ukraine’s largest energy grid operator says that recent attacks have damaged the power system, but that total collapse is unlikely.

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Roundup: Promising rental protections that are provincial jurisdiction

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Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland made a pre-budget announcement yesterday geared toward Millennial and Gen Z voters and their particular frustrations with the housing market, with some particular promises around rentals—some Legal Aid funds for tenants fighting unfair evictions, a “Renters’ Bill of Rights,” and a voluntary mechanism where paying rent on time can help with your credit score. The problem here? This is all pretty much provincial jurisdiction.

The political calculus here is a little bit of a Kobayashi Maru—any help that they want to offer renters has to essentially be done through the provinces, and yet the federal government is constantly being badgered and hectored—and blamed—for rental issues. Hell, the NDP have been screaming that they want help for renters in the budget, even though it’s provincial jurisdiction. So, this becomes something of a handwavey gesture to make it look like they’re listening and doing something when they really have almost no levers, particularly at a time when premiers are far less keen to work with the federal government on anything (and are in most cases undermining them wherever possible). Meanwhile, the number of files they need provincial cooperation with keep mounting, whether it’s healthcare, dental care, pharmacare, the early learning and child care agreements, a possible school food programme, and the Canada Disability Benefit (where the biggest danger is provinces clawing back their own supports when additional federal dollars are introduced). What’s adding one more thing to that list? Cripes.

https://twitter.com/JenniferRobson8/status/1773160710274527466

https://twitter.com/LindsayTedds/status/1773172941573812385

As always:

Programming Note: I’m going to take the full long weekend off, because we’re about to head into a very, very busy and nasty time of year, so I’m going to take as much time as I can, while I can. Have a good one!

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russia has struck Kharkiv with aerial bombs for the first time since 2022, resulting in at least one civilian death.

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QP: A late pivot to shouting about Ukraine

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It being Wednesday, the prime minister was present to answer all questions, as is his wont, while his deputy was elsewhere. Most of the other leaders were present again today, which is great to see, even if they take up most of the spotlight on Wednesdays. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and after reciting his slogans, and then took a swipe at the Bloc before accusing the prime minister of stoking inflation with “tax hikes” on April 1st (blatantly untrue), and wondered if they would need an election on carbon pricing. Justin Trudeau recited that the carbon rebates give eight our of ten households more back than they pay, and that Conservatives don’t want to help with affordability or climate change. Poilievre insisted that the PBO said that most families will pay more and be negatively impacted—again, not what he actually said—and then said there was a “second tax” coming to Quebec—also not true—and wondered if the Bloc would support the government on this. Trudeau said that if Poilievre listened to Canadians, he would know the cost of inaction is high on farmers and fishers, while the government’s plan puts more money in people’s pockets. Poilievre switched to English to again recite his slogans and repeat his demand to cut the price increase or face a non-confidence motion, and Trudeau reiterated that the plan puts more money back into the pockets of most Canadians than they spend. Poilievre recited a bunch of falsehoods about the impact of the price, and repeated his demand. Trudeau again stated that the choice is more money in the pockets of Canadians. Poilievre raised the numbers from the PBO, knowing full well they are out of context, and Trudeau again repeated that people get more back than they pay.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he raised that the National Assembly voted on yet another unanimous motion to demand that Quebec get full powers for immigration, as though that means anything. Trudeau insisted that they were friends with the Quebec government, and Quebec already has more powers regarding immigration than any other province. Blanchet decried that Quebec pays for asylum seekers and demanded a billion dollars in compensation. Trudeau noted that they are compensating Quebec for asylum seekers. 

Blake Desjarlais rose for the NDP, and demanded the government not cut any funds to Indigenous Services, and Trudeau insisted that they have tripled investments and have come to settlement agreements, and that they were still doing the work. Desjarlais decried that this was insufficient, Trudeau reiterated his same points about the investments made.

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Roundup: Another NDP budget demand

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The NDP’s latest budget demand is a national school food programme, which is a) provincial jurisdiction, and b) something already under negotiation with provinces. This was a Liberal campaign promise, and as with many a file like this, they’ve been doing the heavy lifting in the background. For Jagmeet Singh, however, this isn’t happening fast enough, because in his conception of how governing works, the prime minister simply needs to put on his Green Lantern Ring and use enough willpower to make whatever he wants happen, and in the NDP’s conception, that generally means something that obliterates the federal and provincial jurisdictional boundaries.

I suspect a couple of things are at work—one of them is that if the federal government does come to an agreement with the provinces, Singh can try and claim victory for it, as he does with most things that he has done absolutely no work towards other than throwing a public tantrum. If this is a matter of the provinces looking for more federal money, then it will take time to ensure that the agreements are drawn up in a manner that has strings attached because we know that we absolutely cannot trust provinces to take the money and put it entirely where it is supposed to go (bitter experience with health transfers and pandemic supports), because as we’ve seen in child care, where there are agreements with strings, that some provinces have not been spending the federal funds where they are supposed to go, which remains a very big problem.

Ukraine Dispatch:

A man was killed in a Russian missile strike in the Kharkiv region, while five people were killed when a bus struck a mine in Luhansk region. One of Ukraine’s top commanders says they will stabilize their defensive position shortly, with the aim of returning to counter-offensive actions later in the year. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Odesa with the prime minister of Greece when a Russian strike exploded nearby the pair. Here is a look at Europe’s attempt to get more ammunition to Ukraine, including a Czech initiative to deliver stockpiles until production can ramp up.

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QP: Lobbing points past one another

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The prime minister was present today, while his deputy was away in São Paulo for G7/G20 finance ministers’ meetings. All of the other leaders were present today for the first time of the week. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and once again falsely claimed that the RCMP were investigating ArriveCan, and demanded that he waive Cabinet confidences to allow the RCMP to have those documents. Trudeau said that anyone who abused the system will face consequences. Poilievre said that was a non-answer, raised SNC-Lavalin, and repeated his demand. Trudeau said that Poilievre we simply focused on personal attacks. Poilievre repeated the same demand in English, and Trudeau repeated that the situation was unacceptable, which is why authorities were looking into it. Poilievre falsely insisted that there were previous criminal investigations into SNC and the Aga Khan, and Trudeau dismissed this as digging up things that were settled year ago, and Trudeau dredged up connections between people involved in ArriveCan and Poilievre during his time in government. Poilievre then demanded the government support their Supply Day motion on producing more ArriveCan documents, and Trudeau said this was a distraction from Poilievre not wanting to talk about the things the government is doing for Canadians. 

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and demanded Quebec be given the ability to withdraw from any pharmacare system with full compensation and no strings. Trudeau said that too many people didn’t have coverage. Blanchet insisted that they did have coverage in Quebec, which was why they want full compensation, and he took a swipe at the NDP in the process. Trudeau said that even in Quebec, people face gaps in pharmacare, which is why the government was working with the provinces with the goal of filling those gaps.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and railed about the revelation that Shopper’s Drug Mart was overcharging for health services, which should have been asked in Queen’s Park and directed to Doug Ford. Trudeau took a swipe at Jenni Byrne participating in Conservative caucus meetings before praising their agreements with provinces. Singh switched to French, and worried about the environmental assessment for the NorthVolt battery plant. Trudeau praised the investment, but didn’t answer the question. 

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QP: Constant questions to other opposition parties

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The prime minister and his deputy were on their way back from the weekend trip to Kyiv and Poland, while most of the other leaders were away. Andrew Scheer led off in French, and he recited the list of Conservative slogans to point out that the Bloc voted in favour of funding ArriveCan. Jean-Yves Duclos stood up to thank the Auditor General for her work, and cite the most of her recommendations have been acted upon. Scheer pointed out that the Bloc voted for this eight times, which got a warning by the Speaker, to which Duclos told him that that he should ask the Bloc, but reiterated the canned line about the government doing what needed to be done in the pandemic. Scheer switched to English to recite his slogans, and gave the same accusations about voting for ArriveCan, but this time directed to the NDP, to which Duclos repeated that if the opposition has question of the NDP, they should ask him not the government. Scheer repeated the slogans, and breathily worried about the carbon price increasingly, and misleadingly tied it to food bank use. Anita Anand reminded that climate change is real, and that they want to take money out of people’s pockets. Scheer misquoted the PBO about the carbon price, and linked it to people dumpster diving. Anand noted that they didn’t refute that they don’t believe in climate change or that they want to take money from people’s pockets.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and he took his own shot at the NDP, accusing the government of spending on things Quebec already has and are not their priorities. François-Philippe Champagne acknowledged that they do take inspiration from Quebec, and noted they didn’t want to talk about their investments in the province. Therrien demanded more federal money instead of programmes, to which Mark Holland accused them of trying to start fights instead of helping people.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he demanded the government reform Nutrition North, claiming that the subsidies are not passed along to consumers. Dan Vandal insisted that they are working to ensure that the subsidy is fully passed along, and that progress has been made. Singh repeated the demand in French, and got the same response. 

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Roundup: Asbestos and rodent-free!

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We are due for another round of sighs and hand-wringing as 24 Sussex has been declared asbestos and rodent free (which were mostly mice, not rats as previously reported), and the old wiring and plumbing are also gone, so now the decision needs to be made on what to do with it—and while yes, it is ostensibly the call of the National Capital Commission, they require money from the government to make any plans come to fruition, so this does wind up being on the government’s plate.

At this point, with the abatement work completed, it seems like maybe this would be a good time to just go ahead and do the renovations, including reinforcing the roof to protect against drone attacks (because yes, this is now a serious consideration) because this is still a worthwhile property and I think there is some symbolic weight and value of being across from Rideau Hall, and the image of the prime minister having to cross the road to meet with the Governor General is a good one to have, rather than the current “running across the back garden” image, which doesn’t convey the same weight or gravitas. And Rideau Cottage isn’t suited for a lot of purposes, like entertaining, working dinners, and the kitchen is too small for the prime minister’s chef to work in, which is why they used 24 Sussex still until recently, and currently use an unnamed nearby facility and deliver the meals from there. Plus, it too would require more security upgrades. I’m also not terribly keen on purpose-building a new residence in the site of a current parking lot, as has been a proposal.

My one request remains that if they do the work to restore 24 Sussex as a working residence, that they restore the original façade because it had a lot more character and is more in keeping with the neo-Gothic elements of the Centre Block (and the stripped-down 1950s appearance it currently holds is indicative of the architectural sins of that era). But let’s just get it done, while Trudeau is in the declining years of his government, when he can’t be accused of doing it to feather his own nest but that it can be justified in doing the work for the nation, like it should have been all along.

Ukraine Dispatch:

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited troops in Robotyne, which is on the front lines in the south east, and the site of intense fighting. Over the weekend, two Ukrainian drones are purported to have struck the largest Russian oil refinery in the country’s south.

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Roundup: Trying to escape child care obligations

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Some Alberta daycare operators are starting “rolling closures” to protest the new funding regime that goes along with the $10/day early learning and child care programme, saying that they’re not getting enough to make ends meet. This is 100 percent a provincial problem—they signed onto the agreement with the federal government, knowing what the funding agreement was and that they had obligations for provincial funding, and that included increasing the wages of the people who work in the sector (because there’s no excuse for it being so low, particularly as there is a gendered element to it).

So what’s Danielle Smith’s response? Aside from denigrating the operators doing these rolling closures, she is trying to blame the federal government, claiming that their spending caused inflation to rise, which is what is making these operators face problems. Which is, of course, bullshit. Federal spending has nothing to do with the rise in inflation (as the Bank of Canada has stated many times over), and even more to the point, this child care programme has been disinflationary (at least for the early years, before the base-year effect kicks in, meaning it’ll be a one-time drop in inflation). Nevertheless, because she’s blaming the federal government, she wants to shake them down for more money, because that’s what provinces do every single time. Thus far, federal ministers are holding firm and pointing out that provinces knew what they signed onto, but legacy media, of course, is once again trying to make this a federal problem.

And this keeps happening. We never hold provinces of the premiers to account for anything. Another good example is social housing—as former minister Sheila Copps pointed out, back in the eighties, the provinces insisted that the federal government get out of housing because it was provincial jurisdiction, and just give them the money, and they knew best how to spend it. And happens every single time, they spend the federal money on other things, and then blame the federal government once things reach a crisis because of their under-spending. Same with healthcare. Because we are allergic to holding premiers to account in this country, and that’s a very real problem.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russia is refusing to turn over any of the purported POW bodies from that downed plane, because it totally isn’t a psy-op. The head of Ukrainian military intelligence says that he expects the Russian offensive on the eastern front to fizzle out by early spring, by which point they should be exhausted. Lviv in western Ukraine has become the first city to remove all of its Soviet-era monuments.

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QP: Memory-holing past indifference

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The prime minister was elsewhere, meeting with the president of the Slovak Republic, who is currently on a state visit to Canada, but his deputy was present for a second day in a row (which is a rarity these days). Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and mocked the prime minister saying that all spending has been absolutely necessary, but noted that a large percentage of consultants hired for ArriveCan resulted in no work done, and demanded the money be recovered. Chrystia Freeland said that Canadians understand that when Conservatives talk about spending, they want to cut things like dental care and child care. Poilievre said that the ArriveCan app was an example of “corruption,” and then railed that the Bloc did an “about face” on their support for Bill C-234, and demanded the government pass it in its original form. Freeland insisted that while she can’t speak for the Bloc, the nation of Quebec understands the need to combat climate change. Poilievre switched to English to repeat that number of ArriveCan contracts were not fulfilled and demanded the money be recouped. Freeland insisted that the Conservatives only want to cut services. Poilievre then pivoted to Trudeau’s vacations, and demanded to know if he paid the “full carbon tax” on each ton of emissions. Freeland asked if he knows how much the heating of Stornoway costs, and that the government was helping people with climate rebates. Poilievre insisted that he pays for his own vacations, and demanded that the government undo the amendments to Bill C-234 and pass it. Freeland pointed out that Poielivre also doesn’t pay rent on Stornoway, and that he wants to take away the climate rebates people rely on.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and decried Quebec’s settlement capacity for immigrants and refugees, and railed that this was impacting housing. Sean Fraser praised the agreement that they came to with Quebec to build more houses. Therrien railed that immigration levels were still going up, and demanded the targets be lowered. Marc Miller pointed out that they already have an agreement with Quebec to manage its immigration levels.

Jagmeet Singh blamed the Liberals for the housing crisis in Toronto, and demanded they capitulate to Olivia Chow’s blackmail. Freeland praised Toronto, and said they were having “constructive conversations” with the city and the provinces, and that they have given more than any previous government. Singh switched to French to decry that the government has called for another investigation into grocery chains rather than taking action. François-Philippe Champagne said that the best solution is for more competition, and that he has asked the Commissioner to use his new powers for this.

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