QP: Scary trade deficits!

Yesterday, everyone was up in arms about a fictional carbon tax. Today, it was that trade deficits sound scary. Thomas Mulcair started off QP by reading off a questions premised on the fact that when Harper took office there was a trade surplus (for which the Liberals applauded themselves), and now there was a trade deficit caused by an “artificially high dollar.” Harper shrugged and said that such a deficit existed for “complex reasons,” but hey, they didn’t want an NDP carbon tax! And after Mulcair hammered after the trade deficit, he then read off questions about unemployment, for which Harper touted his government’s job creation record and listed a number of programmes they implemented.  Nowhere in this did anybody mention that we have a trade deficit largely because of weak global demand due to Eurozone uncertainty and slowing growth in the Chinese economy, coupled by a high dollar – but hey, the word “deficit” sounds bad, so we must capitalise on that rather than realising that a trade deficit isn’t actually what you think it is. Onward, Marc Garneau was up for the Liberals, asking about youth unemployment rather than the government trying to change the channel. Harper repeated his line about job creation. And when Garneau asked specific questions on making tax credits refundable and rolling back new payroll taxes? Harper answered with the accusation that the Liberals didn’t support their plans to lower taxes (which they loudly denied), and that the father of the carbon tax, Stéphane Dion, was sitting right behind him.

Continue reading

QP: First day of school

After an all-too predictable joking statement on the government legislating and end to the NHL lockout, and numerous Conservative statements on the fictional NDP “carbon tax,” Thomas Mulcair started off Question Period by citing things like the trade deficit while wondering if Harper would change his economic strategy. Harper spoke about the uncertain global economy, but gave no indication that he was willing to make any changes. Mulcair asked about the government cutting services during times of such high unemployment. Harper countered with the figure of three-quarters of a million net new jobs. Mulcair cited all of the instability in the European and American economies. Harper reminded him that Canada wasn’t the cause of that uncertainty, and hey, we’re the stable ones. Oh, Mulcair said, don’t get too caught up in “Fortress Canuck” when you should be protecting Canadian jobs. Better us than your tax hikes, Harper retorted, which was pretty much the same reply when Mulcair asked about whether or not he would meet with the premiers. Ralph Goodale was up for the Liberals, first asking about programmes to help young Canadians, to which Harper chided that while the NDP have bad ideas, at least they have some, unlike the Liberals. Goodale then asked a technical questions about financing cooperatives, but Harper ignored it and gave a rote talking point about the economy and lower taxes. Goodale closed off by asking about income inequality, to which Harper reminded him that they lowered the GST by two points for all Canadians.

Continue reading

Roundup: Fraudulent citizenship alert

Jason Kenney announced that the government is revoking the citizenship of some 3100 Canadians after an investigation showed that they were fraudulently obtained. The fact that a large number of those contacted about their pending revocation aren’t contesting the fact is probably an indication that there is an acknowledged problem, though I’m not exactly sure that we can take Kenney’s assurances that this will save us money in the long run at face value, since a lot of resources are going into these investigations while the backlogs aren’t getting any additional resources to be cleared. Also, apparently the department is also “rigorously” scrutinising any Iranian immigrants for any links to the regime there.

A Quebec superior court judge has ruled that the province has a right to its long-gun registry data, which has Vic Toews completely apoplectic.

Continue reading

Roundup: Pressuring the Clerk of the Privy Council

As his showdown with the federal government over details of the budget cuts intensifies, the Parliamentary Budget Officer, Kevin Page, obtained a legal opinion from a respected constitutional lawyer to try to pressure the Clerk of the Privy Council to giving up the information he’s requested. Page says he doesn’t want to have to take the government to court to get the data because it means that basically he’s lost – he won’t get the information in time for it to be useable, but at the same time, it’s a battle he needs to wage before the government treats him and his office with further contempt. Of course, this is all related to the ongoing contempt the Conservatives have been showing to Parliament over their refusal to turn over any of the requested financial data, no matter that IT’S THE FIRST DUTY OF PARLIAMENT TO CONTROL THE PUBLIC PURSE. But who cares about MPs doing their own jobs when they can (try to) get the PBO to do it for them and fight their battles for them?

The NDP made one last effort to kill the omnibus budget bill with a “reasoned amendment” that it not move to third reading. Not surprisingly, it was voted down, and the bill is now on its way to the Senate.

Continue reading

Roundup: Taking the omnibudget threat seriously

So, remember what I was saying yesterday about how the opposition – and the NDP in particular would be hammering away at the government in QP about the omnibus budget bill if they truly considered it to be the major priority and affront to democracy that it is? Well, it only took them until the end of the second round – a full 25 minutes into QP – to ask a pair of broad and general questions about the omnibus nature of the bill, and 38 minutes to ask a couple of substantive questions about a particularly troubling measure within it (and didn’t take the parliamentary secretary to task for her nonsense answer during the supplemental question, like they should have). Apparently this constitutes taking an existential threat to parliamentary democracy seriously.

What’s that? More problems with defence procurements that say they’re going to be one thing (in this case vehicular power transmission components) and turns out to be something else (13 armoured vehicles)? You don’t say! Meanwhile, the military says that Peter MacKay would have known the actual cost estimates of the Libya mission when he reported a much lower figure to parliament. I am shocked – shocked!

The RCMP Commissioner has sent warning letters out to provincial commissioners of firearms to warn against setting up backdoor long-gun registries. The problem of course is that he doesn’t exactly have the ability to meddle in provincial jurisdiction like he – and Vic Toews – would like to on this issue.

The Public Service Commission is investigating whether eleven employees were improperly hired at ACOA due to political interference.

Here’s a more in-depth look at the situation that MDA finds itself in while the government drags its feet on signing the contract for the next phase of the RADARSAT constellation.

Harper and his team continue to try and get Helena Guergis’ lawsuit against them dismissed.

The punitive measures that the Conservatives and NDP imposed on the Liberals around campaign financing retroactively on the 2006 leadership race continues to haunt some of the former contenders.

Here’s a bit of an explainer of what some of the latest “Pierre Poutine” revelations mean.

And Lisa Raitt talks about her battle with post-partum depression to help raise awareness of mental health.

QP: No warpath, just general questions

One would have thought that with the Conservatives having rejected the NDP formal request to split the omnibus budget implementation bill that Thomas Mulcair would be on the warpath. But no – he instead started off QP by asking a fairly broad question about the bill and its large environmental component, and Harper answered with a general response about the need to “streamline” review processes. Mulcair then went to the issue of the demise of the Public Appointments Commission in said bill, and he got into a back-and-forth with Harper about the NDP voting to kill it (never mind that it was a non-binding motion rejecting the proposed commissioner). Matthew Kellway then got up to ask about the updated cost figures from the F-35s, and Julian Fantino got up for the first time in ages to assure the House that there is not only a Seven-Point Plan™, but rather a Seven-Point Action Plan™ for the procurement process. Bob Rae rose for the Liberals, and went after the government for their using the CRA to investigate charities they don’t like, never mind that ones they do like get hundreds of thousands of dollars in foreign donations. Harper insisted that the CRA is an arm’s length agency and that charities have to operate within clear limits.

Continue reading

Roundup: The Environment Commissioner’s warnings

The Environment Commissioner released his report yesterday, and it’s not good news for the government. It seems that the continued delay in handing down promised regulations to industry means that there won’t be enough time for those affected industries to implement them in time for the 2020 reduction targets to be met. (You would think that industry would start looking for ways to reduce their emissions given that they know regulations will happen eventually, but I digress). He also found that the government hasn’t done any kind of long-term costing to the regulations – or lack thereof – and that they are still underfunding the efforts to clean up contaminated sites around the country. But oh, he’s relying on old data and this government takes the environment seriously, they reply. Only he’s not, and their talking points are going to start sounding pretty hollow.

Critics of the F-35 procurement, including University of Ottawa defence analyst Philippe Lagassé remain unconvinced that the F-35 is the only option for Canada, because DND hasn’t actually made a proper case.

“Pierre Poutine’s” trail has grown cold at a proxy server in Saskatchewan, as the records Elections Canada was looking for were no longer in existence. Not that this means the end of the investigation, but it just takes a different form. Meanwhile, Terry Milewski takes a look at the mounting questions surrounding Elections Canada’s “clerical errors” in the last election that are the subject of those ongoing court challenges.

A Conservative private members’ bill that would ban people from wearing masks during riots went before committee yesterday, and was denounced as being unnecessary. Colin Horgan tried to get answers on the bill from its author, and seemed to be proving the very same points about its futility.

Here is a look at yesterday’s release of the Mental Health Commission’s report.

Vic Toews is lashing out at provinces like Ontario insisting that point-of-sale data on long guns be collected – even though it’s a practice that pre-dates the long-gun registry that has immense value as an investigative tool, and the fact that it falls under provincial jurisdiction.

Thomas Mulcair is bristling at the suggestion that he’s muzzling his Quebec MPs on the tuition question, and says that they have a coherent policy of more federal government support for education. Err, except they also have their Sherbrooke Declaration that says that they shouldn’t tell provinces how to run their affairs. I’m still waiting for that particular reconciliation.

And the Manitoba Conservatives are suggesting that an NDP intern in that province also accessed Vic Toews’ divorce files, for what it’s worth.

Roundup: Using the same straw man

With over a thousand borders services personnel on the chopping block, the union representing them has taken a page from Harper’s book and is now warning of the risks of more guns, drugs and child pornography making its way into the country because there aren’t enough agents. Yes, it’s greatly hyperbolic, but you can’t say that the government didn’t ask for it. Meanwhile over at DND, the cuts seem to be creating chaos as the military tries to hold onto hardware as things shake out.

Looking at DND’s own costing guidelines, Colin Horgan finds that the government’s numbers on the F-35 procurement still doesn’t add up properly (possible paywall). Here’s a timeline of questions being asked in the House about the F-35s, dating back to July of 2010, including some video of what MacKay said on TV back then, much of which has been contradicted by the AG, and the motion the Liberals tried to pass about holding a competitive tendering process (which failed when the Bloc voted with the government). Here are the pointed questions being asked in the House back in September of 2010, and the answers that were given then.

We’re cutting aid to twelve poor countries, including Afghanistan, but don’t worry, Bev Oda declares. We’ll still respond appropriately as needed. Meanwhile, we’re trying to convince other countries to help with the West African food crisis, but imagine the message we’re sending by asking for more help while at the same time cutting our own aid budget.

What’s that? The RCMP say that the loss of gun registry records means that it will be harder to trace firearm ownership as part of criminal investigations? And this might be impacting on our international obligations for tracing illicit firearms? You don’t say!

The 30th anniversary of the patriation of the Constitution and the adoption of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is coming up this weekend, and how will the government be marking the occasion? With a press release. The Liberals are trying to organise some rallies, but it seems like a pretty big deal considering how much they’re spending to mark the War of 1812 and the Diamond Jubilee (which are both important celebrations, don’t get me wrong).

Harper is off to the Summit of the Americas, where he plans to urge leaders to keep up the War on Drugs, as many of those countries look to decriminalisation and other options while they face devastating drug wars.

And Jean Chrétien is now musing that he should have tried to “unite the left” when he had a chance, but he decided to keep his cabinet small so he didn’t. Err, I’m not sure that the handful of NDP seats that were in play at the time would have really helped the Liberals stay in power, and until you can convince the NDP to adopt the free market system, good luck with that merger.

Roundup: The AG’s latest explosive revelation

Speaking to the media yesterday morning, the Auditor General confirmed that the government would have known about the more accurate $25 billion price tag for the F-35s before the last election, based on the documents at DND that he saw. Which is a pretty big deal, considering it calls into question everything that Harper has been saying not only during, but since the last election. In fact, Bob Rae was so outraged that he is moving a motion of privilege in the House of Commons, saying that it is a fundamental right for Parliament to be told the truth, and if the government deliberately misled the House, then there must be consequences. Oh, and the PMO? Put out a release that tries to “clarify” their numbers, saying the previous figure didn’t include a bunch of numbers that the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s did, which sounds a bit rich at this point.

Here is another attempted explanation as to what and was not a “contract” or a Memorandum of Understanding with regards to the F-35 purchase, and how that added to the confusion. Here’s a look at how DND bullied other departments into signing on by using threats of the loss of industrial benefits. Brian Stewart muses about how this debacle fits into the “culture of secrecy” in the government.

NDP leader Thomas Mulcair gave a speech at the Economic Club of Canada to show that the NDP can be sound fiscal managers, and to talk about how he’s not opposed to the oil sands per se, just the way in which they’re being developed.

A Quebec judge has put an injunction on scrapping any long-gun registry data from Quebec.

Attawapiskat will no longer be under third party management, ostensibly for because conditions have improved there, but some – like Charlie Angus – believe it’s because the government is covering its tracks for blowing the file.

Here’s a look at the effect the closure of Rights & Democracy is going to have on places like Burma, where the agency was doing good work.

And here are five things you need to know about public service job cuts.

QP: Never mind the F-35s, look at these job numbers

The Thursday before a holiday Friday, the House benches were a little emptier than usual, and QP held in the morning as it would be on a Friday. But unlike a Friday, it wasn’t entirely manned by the B-Teams of any particular party, as both Harper and Rae were present. Mulcair, however, was absent, and it was up to Joe Comartin to demand answers on what cabinet knew with regards to the F-35 fighters. Harper reminded him that they haven’t actually purchased any planes but will do with a new process in the future, before he veered off to new job numbers in order to try to change the channel. Christine Moore continued on demanding ministerial accountability, but Rona Ambrose reminded her that the Auditor General only wanted new cost estimates tabled and that they’re going above and beyond that with the new secretariat. Standing up for the Liberals, Bob Rae asked when Harper knew the proper costs per the AG’s report. Harper dodged and talked instead about how no planes were purchased, and that they have a new process.

Round two started with Matthew Kellway basically repeating Rae’s question – albeit less eloquently (MacKay: new process!), Malcolm Allen and Lysand Blachette-Lamothe continued those questions (Ambrose: Independently validating new cost estimates), Jack Harris and Ryan Cleary asked about the failure of the search and rescue system in Labrador (MacKay: ground search and rescue is a provincial responsibility), Alexandre Boulerice and Peggy Nash asked about Paradis’ staffer taking a trip to Vegas on a government credit card (Van Loan: Costs were recovered and he’s now a former employee). Marc Garneau compared Peter MacKay to the captain of the Costa Concordia on the F-35 file and demanded his head (MacKay: the AG says that we’ve responded appropriately and no money has been spent), Carolyn Bennett wondered what other things the $10 billion nearly misspent on the F-35s could have gone toward (Fantino: No money was misspent so no worries), and Gerry Byrne hammered home the point of the AG’s words (Ambrose: We have a new process!). Dionne Labelle and Craig Scott asked about CBC cuts (James Moore: the CBC has enough funds to fulfil its mandate), and Nycole Turmel and Paul Dewar asked about public service job cuts (Menzies: Look at the new job numbers!).

Round three saw questions on job cuts on military bases – especially in Quebec, a veteran being denied health benefits, old Conservative promises on cutting taxes on gasoline when it reaches a certain price (Paradis: You guys wanted to raise gas taxes), cuts to CMHC, the cuts to Katimavik, the education funds being withheld in Attawapiskat (John Duncan: The money is in the account as of today), and the court challenge on the long-gun registry data.

Sartorially speaking, snaps go out to Greg Rickford for a superbly tailored dark grey suit with a white collared shirt and a purple tie and pocket square, and to Judy Foote for a grey suit jacket and white top. Style citations go out to Jean Rousseau for a fluorescent blue shirt/grey suit violation, and to Lois Brown for a black suit with a bright yellow collared shirt.