Tag Archives: Omar Khadr

Roundup: No summer vacation yet for senators

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The Commons has risen for the summer, and MPs have all fled the oppressive, muggy heat of Ottawa for their ridings. The Senate will still sit for another week, possibly two, depending on how long it takes them to pass the three bills that have been identified as their current priorities – the omnibus budget bill (which they’ve been doing extensive pre-study on for the past several weeks), the refugee reform bill (which the government needs passed before June 30th, lest last year’s refugee bill comes into force before this one does), and the copyright reform bill (which is an issue with the forthcoming TPP negotiations). During the end-of-sitting press conference yesterday morning, Senate opposition leader James Cowan noted that the government has made the unusual step of bringing in time allocation on those bills (which is actually a rarity in the Senate), which limits the role that Senators are supposed to play in our system, which is of course more in-depth study of legislation and the “sober second thought” of being a step removed from partisan and electoral politics. Not that these traditional considerations have stopped the current government, but what can you do?

A new Commissioner of Elections has been appointed amidst the various robocall investigations and the spending irregularities of Dean Del Mastro. But before anyone gets any particular ideas about how this is really a surprise or some Harper conspiracy to silence those investigations, his job was posted back in February, so no one should really read too much into it. On the subject of Del Mastro, it seems that his claims that he knew nothing about the investigation into his spending have been contradicted by further affidavits by Elections Canada officials. Oops.

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Roundup: Alberta on the edge

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It’s election day in Alberta. Will the desire for change lead to an even more right-wing “libertarian” government of inexperienced rookies? Or will institutional inertia and one party state-ism that has otherwise defined the province carry the day? I guess we’ll have to stay tuned to find out.

Today’s Senate “nominee elections” in Alberta are likely to split along party lines – as in, PC and Wildrose, who have both pledged to sit as federal Conservatives in the Senate. Which is just one reason why this whole exercise is so problematic – there is no sense in provincial parties running candidates when those candidates will sit in different federal caucuses once they arrive in Ottawa down the road – assuming of course that they do make it to Ottawa. In fact, it makes the vote that much more disingenuous.

Vic Toews admits that Omar Khadr is a Canadian and he’s coming back, so he’s now in damage control mode – he won’t be a danger to Canadians, and at least if he serves his sentence here we can better monitor him and his activities upon release than if he’d served his entire sentence in the States and suddenly showed up on our borders.

There are thousands of buildings owned by the federal government that are crumbling, some of them in states of total system failure.

Despite the ongoing battles between the chief of Attawapiskat and the federal government, it seems that not everyone in her community are pleased with her leadership. Not only that, some members of the community are also tired of NDP MP Charlie Angus using them to score political points.

Susan Delacourt looks at a grand national project like the Charter 30 years later, and fears that such a feat couldn’t be accomplished in today’s political landscape.

What’s that? The Conservatives are dismissing more expert testimony with those court challenges to overturn the election results in seven ridings? You don’t say! Meanwhile, in the battle to overturn the results in Etobicoke Centre, the Elections Canada factum says that mere clerical errors shouldn’t be enough to invalidate an election result.

Liberal Party brass were meeting in Ottawa this weekend to determine the rules for their (eventual) leadership contest, which they’ll have more firm rules on by June.

Here’s a look at Ruth Ellen “Vegas” Brosseau, one year after her election.

Here’s a timeline of the history of the Kingston Penitentiary.

And here’s a little bit about the Queen, as Saturday was her 86th birthday (not that we’ll celebrate it here in Canada until Victoria Day).

Roundup: Affidavits and quashed excuses

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In today’s Robocon revelations, it seems that in at least six ridings where misdirecting robo-calls were reported, there were actually no polling station changes, thus negating yet another Conservative talking point or excuse. Meanwhile, as part of the court challenge trying to overturn the results in those ridings, an affidavit emerges from a former employee of RMG who tells about making misleading calls based on scripts provided. Naturally, both the Conservatives and RMG have disavowed this, and call the affidavit false.

At an open government conference in Brazil, Tony Clement says that the government won’t give details on the full extent of the cuts until the spring of 2013. Seriously. Because this is the most open and transparent government in Canadian history, everybody!

Professor Stephen Saideman looks back at the excuses of interoperability and economies of scale when it comes to deciding to go with the F-35, and how that’s quickly becoming a moot point, while Canada still hasn’t run a competitive bidding process.

The papers to transfer Omar Khadr back to Canada have now been received by Vic Toews’ office. I’m sure they’re not searching for more ways to deny his repatriation under the notion that he’s somehow a grave threat to national security and that he (falsely) confessed to murder.

Thomas Mulcair has officially moved into Stornoway. Plus, here’s some of the changes in his backroom.

Bob Rae writes about the partriation of the Constitution, and lobs a couple of grenades at the NDP over the Sherbrooke Declaration in the process.

After years spent arguing that it was necessary, the Canadian Forces are closing their west coast intelligence office two years after it was established.

John Ivision delivers a blistering denouncement of the government’s use of secrecy with the environmental changes and the F-35s – and the public’s willingness to swallow it, while Andrew Coyne gives the Liberals some hard truths that many Liberals are acknowledging is a truth they need to deal with.

And Olympic gold medallist Adam Van Koeverden gives an ode to Katimavik, and thanks it for his very existence, as that is where his parents met.