Tag Archives: Federalism

Roundup: Stop ignoring the premiers’ role in pharmacare

Posted on by

Over the weekend, the Star ran a brief interview with Dr. Eric Hoskins, former Ontario health minister and the person that Justin Trudeau initially tasked with writing a report on getting to pharmacare, about the current situation between the government and the NDP over getting to just that. Hoskins says he’s trying to have high-level engagements with both parties, because this could be the last opportunity to get this to work in a long time, but some of that means getting the NDP to back down on their arbitrary timelines (which is more than reasonable considering how much their stupid timeline demands has meant a poor rollout of dental care, because proper implementation can take time).

This having been said, I was struck by the fact that the story completely left out the role of the premiers in this, and I cannot stress this enough, because healthcare delivery is a provincial responsibility, you cannot in any way, shape or form, get to national, universal pharacare without the provinces on board. And no, this isn’t something that they can just opt-in to over time, like the NDP seem to think—they need to be in on it from the ground floor, so that they can shape the direction of the Canada Drug Agency, and negotiate a national formulary rather than just the federal government pulling it out of their asses and, again, expecting the provinces to sign onto it (again, like the NDP seem to think). Hoskin’s whole report premised on the provinces being active participants in the process, because this affects them fundamentally. And it’s the provinces who have been the biggest hold-up for moving forward with this—only PEI has moved ahead, and thanks to the gradual build-up they’ve implemented with the federal government, they have a low-cost co-pay system running in the province, which is a wild step-up from the virtually nothing they at the provincial government level before.

The way that media keep talking about pharmacare is that this is something the federal government will do on high, and will somehow pay for entirely themselves, which again, is not how this would work. The PBO’s report cites a figure that the federal and provincial governments together would be paying (using whatever a methodology that may or may not survive reality), but doesn’t have any breakdown about what the cost-share would be, because of course that would need to be negotiated. It would be great if the national conversation, particularly that is happening in media, could actually include the crucial role of the provinces, but we all know that legacy media is allergic to the issues around jurisdiction, and it means a much worse discourse as a result.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russian forces intensified their push toward Avdiivka in the east, and Kherson in the south, while six people were killed in a Russian missile strike on a postal distribution centre in Kharkiv. Russian forces claim that they foiled several attempts by Ukrainian forces to cross the Dnipro river near Kherson over the past day. Meanwhile, here is a look at Ukrainians preparing for another winter of attacks on the electricity grid, as they prepare firewood and candles.

Continue reading →

Roundup: A new Speaker in a toxic environment

Posted on by

The day began with the speeches from the prospective candidates for Speaker—unserious Liberal candidate Stephane Lauzon bowed out before things got started, and the rest began their speeches as to why they deserved to get the job. There were also a few fulsome (in the proper sense of the word) expressions of thanks to Anthony Rota and claims that he was a “good Speaker” when he absolutely was not, which is why we were here today. The notion of respect and decorum got mentioned time and again, because they always do, for what little good it does (because the Speaker can only do so much). Elizabeth May once again said she was running (even though her being a party leader should have been disqualifying automatically, except for the fact that because the Greens don’t have official party status was the technicality that allowed it), but her running was yet again less about being a serious candidate than it was about giving herself the opportunity to make a speech about the rules, and why the Speaker needs to give up the lists provided to him or her and use their own judgment as to who should be recognised. (I actually agree, but this is one of those areas where if the Speaker did this unilaterally there would likely be a revolt). May also made the point that Rota apparently broke his own rules in recognising the Nazi-aligned veteran, however the Speaker’s office says that those rules didn’t really apply because it wasn’t an official sitting of the Commons, and Speakers have wide discretion in any case.

In the end, Liberal MP Greg Fergus was chosen, making him the first Black Speaker in Canadian history. The choice was a surprise to me because Fergus had never shown any interest in the role prior to this past week. In fact, he has always been a pretty notorious partisan (former leader of the Young Liberals, former national director of the party, former parliamentary secretary to the prime minister), and that raises questions for me, but that’s solely my opinion. Fergus did talk about subscribing to Hansard when he was 14, and being a House of Commons page, which puts him in good stead for his respect for the Chamber and the institution, but again, he’s coming into the position as a complete neophyte with no experience as a Chair occupant, which should be a little worrying given the particular state of Canadian democracy right now, and the rancorous mood.

That rancorous mood extended to the congratulatory speeches. Prime minister Justin Trudeau’s speech danced on the edge of being partisan in his talk about what were essentially government priorities, to which Pierre Poilievre decided to one-up him and go full-partisan, that included a bizarre false history lesson where he tried to wedge his “common sense” nonsense into “common people,” and the House of Commons, with a wrong history of the name and the institution itself, before trying to compare Trudeau to King John, who was forced to sign the Magna Carta. If the words “classless jackass” crossed your mind, you would be correct, which is all the more reason why the state of Canadian democracy is in trouble, and Fergus will be hard-pressed to do much about it.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Ukrainian forces downed 29 out of 31 Russian drones and one cruise missile in overnight attacks, while falling debris tarted fires in Dnipro. Russia claims it downed a Ukrainian missile off the coast of occupied Crimea. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was visiting troops in the country’s northeast.

Continue reading →

Roundup: It’s Speaker Election Day!

Posted on by

Today is the day for the election of the new House of Commons Speaker, which begins with speeches at 10 AM, a thirty-minute pause so that the candidates can lobby MPs one last time and answer any questions they have, and then they begin voting. It’s a preferential ballot, so we don’t know how long it will take to count (which will depend if someone wins on the first ballot or not), and then they need to go through the protocol with the Senate before the Commons can return to business. Depending on how long this takes, we may or may not have Question Period today, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, here are some of the candidates for the position lamenting the current state of affairs in the Commons, but as I wrote in my weekend column, this is something that the Speaker alone cannot fix. He or she can help, particularly by applying the rules and not simply shrugging off when people break them (like Anthony Rota had a tendency to do), but real reform is going to require the cooperation of all MPs to change the Standing Orders to empower the Speaker to do more, and to give up the power of the party House Leaders to determine speaking lists (because they claim to need to have a “strategy,” which is both ridiculous and undermines the power of MPs). And more to the point, if a Speaker is too tough in enforcing the rules, then MPs may conspire to ensure they don’t win the Speaker election in the next Parliament (which is what happened to Geoff Regan, and why we wound up with the deeply unserious Rota).

This being said, it sounds like Chris d’Entrement may have soured his chances with the Liberals with his ruling last week in not admonishing Melissa Lantsman for her personal attack on Karina Gould during Question Period, and that may mean that Alexandra Mendès could win enough votes provided that enough Liberals rally around her as first choice, ensuring that we finally get our second female Speaker (finally), given that I really don’t think that Greg Fergus or Sean Casey are serious contenders for the job. Then again, ranked ballots are funny things, and sometimes crazy things happen as a result.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russian forces shelled the southern city of Kherson, killing two and wounding ten. In the northern city of Kharkiv, officials are building a fully underground school so that children can learn safely as Russian attack continue. Meanwhile, as shenanigans are taking place in the US Congress around funding for Ukraine, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with EU ministers about continuing vital cooperation.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1708921746907111912

Continue reading →

QP: Needling about the usefulness of competing housing plans

Posted on by

While the prime minister was still at the United Nations, his deputy was back in Ottawa and introduced a bill earlier in the day, but was absent from Question Period as it got underway, as was at least one other leader. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he cited documents published by the Bank of Canada where the governors are worried about creating false hopes about interest rates, and blamed Chrystia Freeland for creating those false hopes when she declared victory over inflation, and it has gone up since, and blamed deficits for this rise (which is not true). François-Philippe Champage replied in English that the last time Poilievre gave people advice, it was to buy crypto, and then patted himself on the back for tabling the bill on removing GST from apartment buildings and reforming competition law. Poilievre accused him of auditioning for the prime minister’s job, and repeated in English his accusation about Freeland and the nonsense about the deficit. This time Anita Anand got up, and she insisted that the government has a plan, unlike the Conservatives, and listed a few measures. Poilievre said that judging by applause, Champagne has a lead in leadership ambitions to Anand before using that as a segue to repeat the line about the Bank of Canada worrying about false hopes. Champagne got back up to again praise the bill they introduced earlier in the day. Poilievre blamed the federal government for housing price, and Sean Fraser got up to say that Poilievre’s plan only tinkers around the edges and doesn’t do anything measurable, and gave a couple of examples, calling Poilievre a “pretender” hanging things in the window. Poilievre insisted that his plan would ensure that nobody got tax breaks for $10 million luxury penthouse apartments, while his plan would get homes built. Fraser insisted that Poilievre’s plan wouldn’t do what he claims, that his government was doing what experts said, and that Poilievre may need to go back to him image consultant and start wearing glasses again if he couldn’t see that.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he complained that the government was going to impose conditions on the $900 million in housing accelerator funds when social housing is a provincial responsibility. Fraser insisted that he was working with his counterpart in Quebec, in both languages. Blanchet insisted that the government was wasting time while seniors were not getting help with the cost of living, as big oil was making profits. (That’s…a stretch). Jonathan Wilkinson reminded him that they have been eliminating subsidies for the industry while working to create good green jobs.

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP, and railed that the legislation on eliminating the GST on apartment buildings did not contain a definition of affordable. Soraya Martinez Ferrada praised their national housing strategy. Lindsay Mathyssen complained that the government isn’t stopping landlords from evicting people (which is a provincial responsibility), and demanded a federal acquisition fund to buy buildings to keep them affordable. Fraser patted himself on the back for their previous announcement in London, Ontario.

Continue reading →

QP: Complaining that the PM is in New York

Posted on by

While the prime minister and his deputy were off to New York—the PM to the United Nations General Assembly, his deputy to meetings with the US treasury secretary—all of the other leaders were present. The anti-trans demonstrations outside the Hill were largely a failure, drowned out by counter-protesters, which was going to come up later on. Pierre Poilievre led off in French and stated that the prime minister said this was a difficult time for politicians, that the government declared victory over inflation prematurely and it rose again last month, before he demanded the government bring down taxes and so-called “inflationary deficits” (which is not a thing we’re dealing with). François-Philippe Champagne rose to much applause, before he said that he heard three things from Canadians—to help with the cost of groceries, the cost of housing, (the third thing didn’t come through), and they know that the government is there for them. Poielivre got up to needle the Liberals for their enthusiastic response to Champagne and suggested maybe they want him as leader instead, before deploying his usuals slogans. Champagne patted himself on the back for calling in the grocery CEOs before saying that people were tired of Poilievre’s slogans. Poilievre switched to English to complain about Trudeau going to New York before demanding they balance the budget and cut the carbon price. Jonathan Wilkinson got up to recite some lines about affordability before listing actions taken to address affordability while dealing with the existential threat of climate change. Poilievre again repeated that Trudeau went to New York while people have to pay carbon prices and demanded the cut it. Anita Anand pointed out that they have a plan to help Canadians unlike the Conservatives, and patted herself on the actions taken. Poilievre spouted a bunch of utter nonsense about inflation, and this time Sean Fraser for up to complaint that Poilievre only attacks the vulnerable and doesn’t have any plans to help families.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and complained about housing prices, and the supposed $900 million he claimed the federal government is withholding from Quebec. Fraser said he is working with the province. Blanchet insisted this was interference, and said that Ottawa should build housing (which he just said was Quebec’s jurisdiction) and then demanded the government stop subsidising the oil and gas sector and use that money for old age security. Wilkinson said that they have already ended subsidies.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and demanded federal action against renovictions and “demovictions” (which is not really federal jurisdiction). Fraser praised the National Housing Plan, and that the government was going to build more houses. Singh switched to French to complain there were no affordable units to rent, and wanted guarantees they would be built. Fraser again praised the National Housing Plan, and switched back to English halfway through to complete his same talking points.

Continue reading →

QP: Lying by omission about inflation drivers

Posted on by

In light of the ugly inflation numbers released this morning, Question Period promised to be a gong show, and lo and behold, as things got underway, Pierre Poilievre led off in French, railing about so-called “inflationary deficits” as being the cause of what raised inflation, which is false. Justin Trudeau noted that some of the spending were investments in Canadians while still being fiscally responsible. Poilievre accused them PM of “printing money” which is a lie, and claims hr warned him about inflationary deficits and that they put oil on the inflationary fire. Trudeau said that what he took from that is that Poilievre is saying he wouldn’t have given people the “grocery rebate” or cut child care fees while the government did so while being fiscally responsible. Poilievre switched to English to decry headline inflation and demanded a balanced budget. Trudeau insisted that they helped bring down inflation while helping Canadians with groceries and child care while being fiscally responsible. Poilievre insisted that the government was not compassionate by loading on debt, and gave some specious math about inflation. Trudeau said that Poilievre was talking down Canadians and the economy, before patting himself on the back for cutting GST on rental constructing and stabilising grocery China. Poilievre went on a mendacious tear about “newly-printed money,” and worried about a mortgage crisis. Trudeau relayed that he met a mother in Oakville whose mortgage payments rose as much as her child care costs went down, which was good for her, but the Conservatives have made it clear that they wouldn’t do anything about child care.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc and demanded that the government release $900 million in housing funds to Quebec, presumably without any strings. Trudeau noted the $4 billion housing accelerator fund and that they were working with the government of Quebec to ensure that it gets the most effect. Therrien claimed to be baffled by this, and Trudeau repeated his response. 

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he railed that the government was only trying to “stabilise” grocery prices and not bring them down—clearly demonstrating he has no idea what he’s talking about. Trudeau mouthed the pabulum about working with the CEOs. Singh then raised the allegation of the assassination by Indian agents, and wanted assurances of safety for those being threatened. Trudeau spoke about the rule of law and the being more to do, but didn’t really answer.

Continue reading →

Roundup: Barely a first step

Posted on by

With the excitement around Thursday’s announcement on removing HST from purpose-built rental homes, there is a lot more work to do, most of which needs to be done at the provincial and municipal level, but the federal government is starting to step up with more than some funds, which is something. I do worry that a number of provinces will decide that because the federal government is doing something, that they can step back—you know, like a number of them did with healthcare spending where they reduced their own spending by the same amount as an increased federal transfer, which defeats the whole purpose.

So yeah—I’m not popping any champagne just yet that we have some incremental moves. Meanwhile, here’s Mike Moffatt on what needs to happen next.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russian drones attacked the central Khmelnytskyi region, likely attempting to hit the Starokostiantyniv air base, where the attack on the shipyards in occupied Crimea had been launched. Meanwhile, a Ukrainian sea drone damaged a Russian missile ship off of occupied Crimea. Meanwhile, a pro-Russian former government minister has been detained for 60 days with no option of bail for suspected treason.

https://twitter.com/defenceu/status/1702649870736105582

Continue reading →

Roundup: Losing faith in the justice system because of provincial choices

Posted on by

The CBC has a story out about how a retired corporal from the military has lost faith in the justice system because court delays stayed the trial of her alleged attacker, and you can bet that pretty much everyone is going to take absolutely the wrong lessons from this, most especially legacy media.

The administration of justice—courts, Crown prosecutors, support staff—are all firmly within provincial jurisdiction. And for decades, provinces have been under-funding their systems while whinging that the federal government isn’t doing things like making bail harder to get (which is, frankly, unconstitutional). There is a story out of Toronto on the very same day about how staffing shortages—because of the province—have caused closures in courtrooms which led to a different sexual assault trial being tossed because they can’t get a trial within a reasonable time for the rights of the accused. And in the case of the corporal, it was because the Crown prosecutors (again, provincial responsibility) couldn’t get their shit together to push the case forward. And no, this has nothing to do with the federal government not filling judicial vacancies fast enough (which I have condemned this government for). These are all problems that are squarely within the provinces’ responsibilities.

And you can bet that people are going to try to both-sides this military issue because the provinces have been whinging that the military turning over cases to the civilian system is leaving them under-resources, even though it’s a handful of cases and the provinces have consistently made the policy choice over decades to under-fund their system. Trying to shift the blame to the federal government or whine that they’re not getting enough money is a well-worn pattern that we shouldn’t let them get away with. Unfortunately, that’s not in legacy media’s playbook, and you can bet that we’ll get more rounds of angry accusations that the federal government “let this happen” when clearly the failure was provincial the whole time.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Ukrainian forces say they have reclaimed even more territory in the east and south parts of the country, as well as off-shore drilling platforms near occupied Crimea. Ukrainian forces have also been collecting Russian bodies along the “road of death” that they retook in June, so that they can exchange them for their own comrades, living and dead. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is calling on his country to remain focused on the war, with warnings that a “wartime budget” is coming, meaning this could go on for longer than many have hoped.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1701223223440928994

Continue reading →

Roundup: Caught out for trying to be too clever

Posted on by

There has been another ridiculous slap-and-hairpull fight happening between Liberals and Conservatives over Twitter over an article in the Guardian which cites a rights watchdog saying that there are no pro-choice Conservatives left. It’s not actually true, because there are, but the problem is that the Conservatives were trying to be too clever by half when it came to MP Cathay Wagantall’s latest anti-abortion bill. It was structured ostensibly to give legal weight to a foetus when a pregnant person was attacked or assaulted, and it was 100 percent a backdoor attempt to give a foetus rights, which was intended to start the process of enshrining those rights on the road to banning abortion. It was not very well hidden, and every anti-abortion group in the country was counting on this bill. A smart Conservative leader would have either nipped this in the bud entirely, knowing that it was a trap, or marginalised Wagantall and any of her supporters, to demonstrate that they are a very small minority in the party. But no—instead, Poilievre had every single member of his caucus vote for it under the rubric that it was about protecting pregnant people. And it is that vote that this Guardian article cites as the basis for saying there are no pro-choice Conservatives.

But of course, political hay has been made of this, and Liberals across the board are sharing the piece, because this works to their advantage and plays to their base, and Conservatives are howling that they’re sharing misinformation. Never mind that the Conservatives spread all manner of mendacious messages on the daily, most of it outright lies and disinformation, and they don’t even blink, but as soon as something comes along that catches the Conservatives out on something they through they were being clever about, well, suddenly that’s beyond the pale.

Everyone needs to grow up, but seriously, this is your own fault, Conservatives. You should have known this was going to happen, so acting all wounded when it did is really disingenuous.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Drones purporting to come from Ukraine struck a Russian warship and caused what could in fact be severe damage to fit. Ukrainian forces have working to retake more land around Bakhmut. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian security service says that Russia is planning a false-flag operation against an oil refinery in Belarus in order to blame it on Ukrainians in order to draw Belarus into the conflict.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1687503986008498188

Continue reading →

Roundup: A stupid fight over housing jurisdiction

Posted on by

There is a really, really stupid fight brewing around whose jurisdiction housing is, and I am very nearly at the end of my patience for this. On Monday while in Hamilton, the prime minister said—correctly—that housing is primarily not a federal jurisdiction, but that they are trying to do what they can to support municipalities. And so yesterday, Pierre Poilievre held a press conference to insist that it must be a federal responsibility because immigration, infrastructure and taxes affect housing, and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation is federal (erm, except it’s an arm’s-length Crown corporation). But while there are federal policies that can affect housing, that’s not actually a federal responsibility. He knows this, but is trying to muddy the waters in order to blame Trudeau for the problems that provinces and municipalities have created for themselves.

And to put a cherry on this particular sundae, the gods damned CBC comes along and simply both-sides this stupid fight without actually pointing out that under the constitution, housing is a gods damned provincial responsibility. And there is a certain other outlet that shall not be named running a piece about how Trudeau says that housing’s not a federal responsibility while standing behind a lectern with a sign about building houses faster as though that’s some kind of smoking gun and not simply the federal government patting itself on the back for dispersing money—which is not actually an indication of constitutional responsibility. This shouldn’t be rocket science, and yet they also do this with healthcare. Nor is this new—provinces have been shrugging off this responsibility since at least the 1950s, because they know they can get away with it because credulous media outlets in particular let them.

This being said, I am also rapidly losing patience with the whole thing about people angry that Trudeau has correctly pointed out that he is not primarily responsible, and that he should somehow “show leadership” through handwavey means. This makes as much difference as people getting angry that Trudeau hasn’t fixed healthcare. Yes, there are things the federal government can do around the margins to affecting housing, but again, they cannot force municipalities to zone for density. There are stories about how hundreds of millions of federal dollars for affordable housing are languishing in cities like Vancouver because the municipalities can’t get their permitting through. Trudeau doesn’t have the constitutional levers to change that, or a Green Lantern ring to willpower more housing construction. Meanwhile, the premiers sit back and let Trudeau take that blame while they continue to do nothing about the problems, and the media won’t hold them to account. Isn’t federalism just grand?

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1686292418344239104

Ukraine Dispatch:

In the early morning hours, drone debris has hit Kyiv as attacks were thwarted. There were also more attacks on the port city of Odessa and the grain storage there. Russians also shelled a hospital in Kherson, which killed one doctor. Meanwhile, that same office tower in Moscow’s financial centre got hit by another drone attack (and again, Ukraine is not claiming responsibility).

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1686410208338464768

Continue reading →