Tag Archives: Governor General

Roundup: Khera can’t defend the budget betrayal

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It’s strange and uncomfortable to watch a minister of the Crown absolutely shit the bed on national television, and yet disabilities minister Kamal Khera did just that on Power & Politics yesterday when she was put up to defend the absolutely inadequate Canada Disability Benefit announcement in the budget. Khera had about three talking points prepared for the interview—and they weren’t short talking points, but they were talking points nevertheless—and she kept repeating them no matter what question was asked, remixing them slightly every time to make it look like she was not just saying the same thing when she was in fact doing just that. It was grating and painful to watch, and in the end, you have to wonder just whose idea it was to put her up to subject herself to that.

I get that there are probably reasons why things rolled out the way they did—not good reasons, but reasons nevertheless, which would likely be something to the effect of they gave themselves a June deadline and had no ability to actually meet it, especially as they hadn’t even managed to get assurances from the provinces that they wouldn’t just claw back their existing benefits with this new money, and they simply decided to do this bare minimum an insist that this was “just the beginning,” and that “more was coming,” and so on, but as is so often the case with this government, there is no candour, and just an attempt to feed us happy-clappy pabulum instead, Which is what Khera tried to do yesterday, and destroyed her own credibility on the file in the process.

Now the government has betrayed the disabled community and broken their trust, and it’s going to be an even tougher hill to climb going forward because they couldn’t just be honest and say that hard things are hard, they needed more time, and maybe that they were worried about their deficit figures rather than simply insulting everyone’s intelligence like they did here.

Ukraine Dispatch:

A Russian drone attack on Odesa has injured seven, while a missile strike took out a TV tower in Kharkiv region. And while Russians claim that they have overrun the village of Novomykhailivka, Ukraine says that they still control the territory. Ukrainian military sources say that the Russians have amassed a force of 20,000 to 25,000 troops for their push toward Chasiv Yar. While US aid and armaments could come shortly, Ukraine’s has a manpower problem on their front lines, which gives Russia the opportunity because it will take months for Ukraine to train their newly mobilised conscripts.

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Roundup: A dog and pony show at the bar of the House

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There was the extremely rare instance of a private citizen being summoned to the bar of the House of Commons yesterday to be admonished and to be ordered to answer questions—something that hasn’t happened since 1913. The person in question was Kristian Firth, one of the partners of GC Strategies, who was part of the ArriveCan imbroglio, and he was summoned for refusing to answer questions at committee and prevaricating in cases, and was accused of lying to the committee in other circumstances.

As expected, this became a dog-and-pony show from the very get-go, because that’s about the level at which most parliamentarians operate these days. The government didn’t want to ask him questions because he had a doctor’s note explaining he’s being treated for “mental health episodes” and is supposed to avoid extreme stress. Too bad, the Conservatives said, and refused to delay this to another day, and began their own questions, which were theatrical in nature, intended for clip-gathering, and for constructing an alternate reality where the Cabinet was somehow implicated in this whole affair and that Firth was somehow covering for them—something for which there has been absolutely zero evidence, but the Conservatives have absolutely no qualms about lying in order to tarnish reputations and try and paint the government as corrupt, in spite of the fact that there are no links between the political players and what happened on this file. The Conservatives made additional hay when they learned that the RCMP had executed a search warrant at Firth’s home for electronic records in an unrelated case, and they were quick to spread that all over social media along with the clips they had choreographed of this whole exercise. To be clear, nothing new was really learned, most of the Bloc and NDP MPs spent their time soliloquising on the record rather than asking real questions, and nothing has really changed other than the new social content gathered. What a way to run a parliament.

More budget coverage:

Because there weren’t enough stories on Budget Day itself, here are more of the follow-up stories:

  • Here is an explanation of the capital gains changes, and Chrystia Freeland pointing out that this was carefully researched and that the measures help restore fairness.
  • Here are more details on the plans to turn government buildings into housing.
  • The budget promises to redefine what counts as “rural” to qualify for the carbon rebate top-up, but offers no details as to how they’ll do that.
  • There is a measure in the budget about exploring how to make “halal mortgages” more available for Muslim Canadians.
  • The CRA is getting more tools to combat tax avoidance and evasion, including a requirement for more transparency around crypto transactions.
  • Here is a recounting of some of the angry pushback to what’s in the budget (and some of it is complete bunk, others are letting the premiers skate once again).
  • AFN national chief Cindy Woodhouse Neepinak says the budget isn’t sufficient for Indigenous people and wants a first ministers’ meeting on the subject.
  • Disability groups are deeply disappointed with how little the Canada Disability Benefit provides, but government indicates it will go up over time.

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1780726502008512549

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russian missiles hit Chernihiv in northern Ukraine, killing at least 17 people, while Ukraine attacked an airfield in occupied Crimea. There was also a Russian drone attack against the Ivano-Frankivsk reg9ion in the country’s west, the debris causing fires. Ukrainian soldiers are also accusing Russia of illegally using tear gas on their trenches.

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Roundup: The passing of Jim Carr

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Just before Question Period was about to start yesterday, the news broke that Liberal MP Jim Carr, who had been dealing with cancer for the past three years, had died. Proceedings were cancelled for the day, and tributes have been pouring in.

Ukraine Dispatch, Day 293:

It appears that Russia has burned through so much ammunition that they are now using decade-old stockpiles with high failure rates. Ukrainian forces say they have repelled Russian advances against four settlements in eastern Donetsk, and on eight settlements in Luhansk. Meanwhile, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy met virtually with G7 leaders about the need for modern tanks, artillery, shells, and natural gas to help their situation.

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QP: For love of filibusters

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While the prime minister remains in COVID isolation, he didn’t join QP virtually today, and his deputy was in Toronto to give a big speech on the government’s affordability measures when it comes to dealing with inflation. Most of the other leaders didn’t bother to show up today either, though Candice Bergen did show up for votes after QP, for what it’s worth. Luc Berthold led off, and he declared that everything the Liberals touch “goes south,” and he complained about passports, line-ups at borders, and delays for EI cheques. Karina Gould got up and empathized with the frustration people face, and noted that in the face of high demand, the government was responding by changing processes and hiring more staff. Berthold insisted that the government’s management was “chaotic,” listing a number of alleged ministerial sins, accusing the prime minister of abandoning Canadians. Gould again recited her empathetic talking points, and repeated the answer. Berthold then called Marco Mendicino’s struggles the “Pinocchio Affair,” before demanding his resignation (and the Speaker did not cut him off for doing so, but after he finished warned against name-calling). Pablo Rodriguez took this one, stating the opposition is divided and they can’t agree on anything, and called out the Conservatives for their love of filibusters. Dan Albas took over in English to first raise the cheap outrage story about the GG’s flight, then panned Chrystia Freeland’s speech before demanding that the government adopt their plans to fight inflation. Randy Boissonnault insisted that the Conservatives only had bluster, while the government had a list of affordability measures. Albas raised the escalators in user fees tied to inflation and demanded they be halted, but Boissonnault reiterated his same response. 

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and raised the problems at passport offices before redeploying the talking point that the federal government should mind its own business rather than “meddling” in Quebec’s affairs. Karina Gould assured him that they had hired new staff and were hiring more. Therrien then pivoted to the Information Commissioner’s report on the record number of Access to Information complaints, and Mona Fortier assured him that they were working to increase transparency and proactive disclosures (which is pretty much famous last words from this government).

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and he worried that the increase in the GST credit would be $7, which was insufficient. Boissonnault listed the measures in the budget to help people. Singh repeated his question in French, and Boissonnault repeated his same response en français.

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Roundup: An apology for Zoom—but not for why you think

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It’s now on or about day one-hundred-and-thirteen of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and it looks like Severodonetsk has not fallen, and lo, the promised humanitarian corridor did not happen. (This is my surprised face). Russians did shell a weapons depot near Lviv in the western part of the country, where Western munitions were allegedly stored. Meanwhile, civilians in areas where Russian forces were repelled are being faced with mines, which are killing and maiming people. Canada will be sending $9 million worth of barrel replacements for the howitzers we shipped to Ukraine earlier in the year, while Anita Anand is calling on the defence industry to be more responsive.

Closer to home, there was an interesting apology in the Senate on Tuesday, which was when Senator Rosa Galvez apologised for having attended a committee meeting over Zoom from out of the country. You see, the Senate adopted rules around their hybrid sittings where they must be at a designated office or residence, and that’s it. There is a sad history in the Senate of abuse going back decades were certain senators basically lived in Mexico and showed up for one day a year, and collected their base salary, and it was a scandal. Since then attendance records are made public and they essentially couldn’t get away with it any longer. (I remember after an earthquake, I went to the Hill just after it happened, and while senators were gathered on the lawn, they were keen to ensure that the person who recorded their attendance saw that yes indeed, they were present even though they were out of the Chamber at the moment it happened and the building was evacuated, because they take it seriously). Regardless, this senator says she was caught up in wanting to do her committee work while she was at the Summit of the Americas, which is commendable in a way, but also shows some of the dangers of this reliance on hybrid sittings in that it creates a new obligation of presenteeism.

Meanwhile, over in the West Block, voting was suspended for a few minutes yesterday afternoon because there was a problem with the voting app that MPs use, and once again, this is a problem with how hybrid sittings are operating. I’ve already written about how this creates a new standard of perfect attendance which is a problem for all involved, but we’re already seeing a greater move for MPs and ministers who are in town not sticking around in the Chamber, but taking off and voting by app, and this is going to have profound consequences the longer it goes on. Votes were one of the few times when ministers could reliably be found in the Chamber, and backbenchers and opposition members could buttonhole them about pressing issues. If they take off as soon as votes are about to start because they think it’s easier to press a button (and have their faces recognised), then we’re straying dangerously far from one of the core symbolic elements of our parliamentary democracy. This should be killed with fire, along with the hybrid sittings, as soon as possible.

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Roundup: Paul’s disqualifying blunder

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It was not a good day for civic literacy or basic constitutional knowledge on the campaign trail, as Green Party leader Annamie Paul suggested that the Governor General “reinvoke” Parliament to hold an emergency debate on the situation in Afghanistan, and worse, cited a section out of the Emergencies Act to make it happen, and my head nearly exploded from the sheer stupidity of it all.

First of all, and this is crucial – the Governor General does not have that power. She has already dissolved Parliament. She can’t un-dissolve it with the stroke of a pen, and there is no mechanism to “reinvoke” Parliament, not even under the Emergencies Act. Parliament has been dissolved. There is nothing to recall in order to hold a debate, which again, is a useless gesture in the current situation. The most that would happen is that MPs would read speeches into the record for about five hours, and that’s it. Paul is perfectly welcome to read a twenty-minute speech to the media if she so chooses, and it would have exactly the same effect as an “emergency debate” would in the House of Commons (and I do use the term loosely). More to the fact, this is not a situation for which the Emergencies Act could be invoked, because it is not a national emergency in any shape or form. Additionally, the section she cites says that Parliament needs to be recalled at its earliest opportunity, even if it’s been dissolved – in which case it means as soon as there’s a new parliament that can be convened.

https://twitter.com/EmmMacfarlane/status/1427347519751720965

The fact that we have another party leader who is just pulling this out of her ass is bad enough, but she’s also a lawyer and should know better (and this goes doubly for Jagmeet Singh, as he too is a lawyer, and has been inventing powers for the Governor General). The fact that you can’t recall a dissolved Parliament is basic civics – and the fact that she doesn’t know this and is trying to issue demands to the Governor General should be disqualifying. It’s a complete embarrassment – but you wouldn’t know it if you watched the CBC, who glossed over the whole incident and didn’t mention it during their roundup of the day’s speeches. (We had other reporters covering themselves in glory today by asking the prime minister who was in charge during the election. No, seriously). An utter farce all around. This is why we can’t have nice things.

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Roundup: No, fixed election dates don’t give the GG unconstitutional powers

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The “debate,” if you can call it such, over Jagmeet Singh’s decision to undermine Her Excellency Mary Simon by publicly writing her and telling her to refuse the advice of the prime minister who commands the confidence of the Chamber just got more ridiculous, as Andrew Coyne decided to weigh in yesterday (and no, I’m not going to link because hate clicks are still clicks). Coyne contends that the fixed election date law empowers the GG to turn down such a request, and “proves” it by quoting testimony from former justice minister Rob Nicholson at the Senate committee.

No. Just…no.

The logic in Coyne’s argument can’t hold because the Governor General’s role in accepting the advice of the prime minister who enjoys the confidence of the Chamber is the very basis of our constitutional framework under Responsible Government. The only discretion she might have over dissolution is when a request is made shortly after an election – that’s it. Nothing a simple statute, like the fixed election date law, can change a constitutional element, and there is jurisprudence to back this up, particularly the doomed attempts at trying to get the courts to uphold the fixed election date legislation, which they dismissed (including the Supreme Court of Canada). Fixed election date legislation is an empty shell – a bit of theatre and attempt to Americanise our system, and is antithetical to how Westminster systems operate – it shouldn’t be on our books as a result. There is no way that it could empower the GG to do away with constitutional norms to refuse dissolution, and if she did refuse, the prime minister would be obligated to resign, and we’d be in an election regardless. It’s ridiculous and wrong to suggest otherwise.

https://twitter.com/EmmMacfarlane/status/1422914814494584833

https://twitter.com/EmmMacfarlane/status/1422925735472271369

What is even more ironic about this whole situation is that Jagmeet Singh and Coyne himself will often rail that the “undemocratic Senate” shouldn’t be allowed to exercise their constitutional powers to veto legislation, and yet they are demanded that an appointed Governor General exercise powers that she doesn’t actually have under the constitution. It’s bizarre, and it’s a lot of bullshit masquerading as principle.

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Roundup: Mary Simon en route to Rideau Hall

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At long last, prime minister Justin Trudeau announced his pick for the next Governor General – and that the Queen had approved of her appointment. The choice is Mary Simon, an Inuk woman from Nunavik in northern Quebec, who started off at CBC North, moved on to negotiating land claims and was part of the constitutional negotiationsin the early 1980s, and later served as Canadian ambassador to Denmark and to the Arctic Council, before becoming president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, serving two terms. The only real downside was that she doesn’t speak French, and she cited that it was because it was not offered during as a choice when she attended day schools in the 1950s, but was committed to learn it – though it does bear noting that Inuktitut is an official language in Nunavut, so that should count for something among critics.

https://twitter.com/sachaforstner/status/1412417960271097868

Speaking of critics, here is a rundown of praise and criticism for the choice, as well as some praise from some of the loudest Indigenous advocates in the country, as well as a few others. One of the recurring things that keeps coming up, however, is that Simon is taking on a role that is colonial, and while Simon herself doesn’t see a conflict (and I’m told that the Inuit view their relationship with Canada differently than the First Nations do). Something that I’ve also seen a lot of online have been variations of “If she doesn’t use the office to burn it to the ground, then what good is it?” or “I hope she’s the last Governor General,” and the usual republican nonsense that misidentifies exactly which queen she will be representing, but of course, the problem with these narratives are both that a) as Governor General, she it’s not her place to burn it all down – that’s why we elect governments; and b) abolishing the monarchy will only complete the colonial project, not advance reconciliation. There are too many facile narratives floating around that only serve to make things worse, not better.

https://twitter.com/robert_hiltz/status/1412480494390886401

Meanwhile, Philippe Lagassé enumerates the additional burdens that Simon will have to take on – rehabilitating the office post-Julie Payette, dealing with military sexual misconduct as the commander-in-chief, and walking the line of being the representative of the Crown in a time of reconciliation. Susan Delacourt states that Simon should have been appointed in 2017, making the salient point that she is experience over novelty, and diplomacy over celebrity. Aaron Wherry argues that the appointment is not simply empty symbolism. Paul Wells emphasises the value of presence and being present in the role, which Simon will fulfil greatly.

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Roundup: Parliament versus itself

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Not unexpectedly, the Speaker of the House of Commons has declared that he’s going to fight “tooth and nail” for Parliament’s right to demand whatever documents they want – as well he should. But this is a very complex issue that becomes parliament fighting against itself, because of the obligations in places like the Canada Evidence Actthat triggered the process that the Attorney General had to undertake around those Public Health Agency documents related to the National Microbiology Lab firings.

With that in mind, here is some context as to what the Canada Evidence Act demands, and why this is not Justin Trudeau personally defying the will of parliament, but the government following its own laws.

For a further breakdown of the legal balancing act involved, and what the court process for this will look like, read through this thread (which was a little too long to simply post, but a couple of highlights are below).

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Roundup: Atwin crosses to the Liberals

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There was a somewhat shocking turn of events yesterday as Green MP Jenica Atwin suddenly crossed the floor to the Liberals, after weeks of turmoil within the party over the policies around Israel. When Atwin made comments about Israel being an apartheid state, one of leader Annamie Paul’s advisors threatened her position, and she decided it was time to go. Remember also that the NDP have a Thing about floor-crossing, and wouldn’t have accepted her, leaving her with just the Liberals as a potential home rather than staying an Independent – no doubt increasing her chances at re-election. She insisted that all of her previous comments and votes stood, no matter that she was now a Liberal, so perhaps she will remain among the more “maverick” MPs in the caucus who don’t all toe the line in the same way.

https://twitter.com/DavidWCochrane/status/1403096836383166465

Of course, with any floor-crossing, we get the same tired chorus of voices demanding that anyone who does cross must immediately resign and run in a by-election, which is nonsense in the broader context of how our system works. We elect MPs – we don’t elect parties, even if that’s your calculation when you go into the voting booth. Why this distinction matters is because we empower MPs to act on our behalf, regardless of the party banner, and then we get to judge them for their performance in the next general election. Sometimes MPs will need to make decisions to cross the floor for a variety of reasons, but usually because it’s intolerable in their current situation, and they make the move. We empower them to do so because our electoral system gives them agency as an individual – they’re not a name off of a list because the party got x-percentage of a vote.

This absolutely matters, and we need to enshrine their ability to exercise their ultimate autonomy if we want our system to have any meaning. Otherwise we might as well just fill the seats with battle droids who cast their votes according to the leader’s wishes, and read pre-written speeches into the record that the leaders’ office provided. The trained seal effect is bad enough – we don’t need to erode any last vestiges of autonomy to please the self-righteous impulses of a few pundits who think that this kind of move is heretical or a betrayal, or worse, to appeal to the desire by certain parties (in particular the NDP) to have their power structure so centralized that they see their MPs as a mere extension of their brand rather than as individuals. Parliament means something – the ability of MPs to make ultimate decisions needs to be respected in that context.

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