Roundup: “Stolen” land for a memorial

An Ottawa architect is raising the alarm about the plans for the site of the “Victims of communism” memorial, saying it’s been “stolen” by the current government. The site, between the Supreme Court and Library and Archives, was supposed to be the future site of a building to house the Federal Court, but the current government has quietly scuppered those plans. That Federal Court building would have completed a triad of national buildings – the Justice Building, the Supreme Court, and the Federal Court building (which had approved designs and was ready to go before the Liberal government delayed the plans). The fact that the plans for that building to have been disappeared without explanation deserves explanation, but none are forthcoming. That such a prominent site is going to host a memorial (and one that is politically driven and is fairly controversial) rather than a significant national building should be concerning, however I fear this is going to be shrugged off like so many of the ways in which the national capital is being constantly denigrated and undermined by the current government.

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Roundup: Abusing the PBO’s mandate

It’s official – MPs are now abusing the mandate of the Parliamentary Budget Officer. A report was released from his office yesterday, which announced the costing of the Conservatives’ election promise to create a fitness tax credit for older adults once the budget was balanced. That’s right – MPs were getting him to check on an election promise that is years away from seeing the light – probably not until after the next election. Strange, but this doesn’t seem to have anything to do with independent budget forecasts or help in deciphering the supply cycle. In fact, this is little more than MPs fobbing off their homework to the PBO so that they can wrap themselves in his independent-and-therefore-credible analysis. Because math is hard! Is it any wonder that the government has become suspicious of the way in which the PBO has been operating, when opposition MPs are using it in such a way? It doesn’t matter that this particular report came from a Conservative MP either, because it’s still dealing with election promises rather than forecasts or the estimates and it still plays the independent-and-therefore-credible game. It also shouldn’t be a personal calculation service, as Galipeau was using the PBO in that manner before he “brought a recommendation” to Flaherty in advance of the budget – he has a caucus research bureau for these sorts of things. This is also an argument for not making the PBO an independent officer of parliament, because he would have no accountability to anyone at that point. When this kind of abuse by MPs for partisan gain becomes his modus operandi rather than the actual work he’s supposed to be doing then it’s hard to see how this won’t become a major problem for the way that our system of government functions.

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Roundup: Cue the F-35 damage control

So the F-35s are suddenly a big deal again. First Power Play gets a leaked tidbit from the KPMG report that says the costs are more in the $30-40 billion range, and then PostMedia reported that the government had cancelled the F-35 purchase entirely. This then prompted the PMO to issue a quick denial, that they were committed to going through with the Seven-Point Action Plan™ of the procurement secretariat, which basically means that the F-35 is no longer being sole-sourced, but will have to compete with the other choices out there, like the Super Hornet (which is widely touted as a better choice for Canadian needs to in the first place). Oh, and it looks like Rona Ambrose has promised the KPMG report will be tabled before the House rises – but my cynical side says that it will be on the actual day that happens.

Despite the government’s hand-picked advisory panel on firearms recommending that there be some relaxation of prohibited firearms into the “restricted” category – apparently for the sake of souvenir handguns brought back during the two World Wars – Harper has said thanks but no thanks, and is distancing himself from many of the panel’s recommendations. (In fact, Harper was downright reasonable and cooperative on the topic in QP yesterday, which was a rare and welcome sight).

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Roundup: Formalising co-locations

So that whole “shared embassies” thing is being downplayed as far less of a thing than the UK press made it out to be – that it’s simply a Memorandum of Understanding that formalises co-location arrangements that we already have going, so that more of them are likely in the future, given the whole age of fiscal austerity and whatnot.

The Conservatives seem keen on adopting a “buy Canadian” strategy for military procurement whenever possible, rather than solely relying on the usual Industrial Regional Benefits programmes that we usually insist upon. Economist Mike Moffatt decries this as economic nationalism run amok, and notes that it’s the last thing one wants if they’re concerned about the high dollar (as the NDP seems to be). When Andrew Coyne wrote to denounce the idea, the Prime Minister’s DComm contacted him to say that there is no such policy – but it could mean that there’s no such policy yet. It all remains to be seen, apparently.

What’s that? Prison populations are swelling? You don’t say! Meanwhile, Vic Toews’ office continues to insist that the expected wave of new prisoners hasn’t materialised. Funny that.

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Roundup: One year post-Layton

Today marks the one-year anniversary of Jack Layton’s death, and there will be a number of memorial events taking place. Olivia Chow reflects on her life without Layton, while the public remains in the dark about just what kind of cancer it was that he died of, which raises questions about the secrecy we allow political leaders when it comes to questions of their health during elections.

Elections Canada has updated its figures on robo-call complaints it’s investigating (1394 complaints in 234 ridings), but it won’t turn over its documents to the Federal Court for the Council of Canadians’ court challenge of the results in seven ridings. (And really, it’s about interfering with their own ongoing investigation, not a conspiracy).

Here’s a recounting of the NDP’s Potemkin committee hearing on the F-35s yesterday. We don’t actually have any standing defence policy that their procurement can be applied towards, and apparently they’re still in the early testing phases so we won’t even have a realistic idea about their capabilities for several more years.

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Roundup: Memorising all of your lines

Peter Penashue demonstrates that he’s memorised all of his lines when it comes to any question asked of him, no matter it actually is. Seriously, he’ll give you the same answer every single time. Shades of the repetitive Ed Miliband interview, and further proof that certain members of the Harper cabinet could be replaced by robots and nobody would be any the wiser. Meanwhile, Kady O’Malley looks into the donations to Penashue’s rather stagnant riding association.

Public Works is looking for an outside auditor to review the ongoing construction projects within the Parliamentary precinct, but nobody quite knows why.

There is another public spat brewing in the RCMP over the changes being made to the Force.

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Roundup: Splitting up the omnibus bill

It’s no real surprise, but it is important to note that the opposition wants the government to hive off the environmental portions of the omnibus budget implementation bill into its own separate piece of legislation so that it can be properly studied and debated. Which is more than reasonable, and considering that even young Stephen Harper railed about how undemocratic omnibus bills are, then it only stands to make sense. After all, there are a lot of significant changes being rammed though – which is the point, but that doesn’t make it right. Oh, and when the government crows about keeping greenhouse gasses down in a period of economic growth – it was due to provincial efforts, like shutting down coal-fired electricity plants, and not federal efforts.

The budget implementation bill also includes a section on scrapping the Inspector General’s office at CSIS. Apparently the logic is the duplication with the Security and Intelligence Review Committee – which currently doesn’t have a chair, and which doesn’t really have the capability to produce the same kinds of annual reports that the Inspector General did. Because hey, apparently we don’t really care who’s watching the watchers.

Other cost savings measures the government are considering are the elimination of providing the cost gender reassignment surgery for trans military personnel. Because apparently they want to use the money instead on years of legal challenges instead.

While We The Media obsess about Bev Oda’s orange juice and limousine rides, there are real concerns about the changes being made to CIDA’s funding priorities.

Part three of Huffington Post Canada’s look at reshaping electoral boundaries takes a look at Saanich-Gulf Islands, and what Elizabeth May calls a transparent attempt at Conservative gerrymandering in the riding.

The mayor of Ottawa thinks that if the National Portrait Gallery idea is dead that the government should instead turn the old American Embassy on Wellington into a museum of Canadian accomplishments.

And Tabatha Southey imagines an apology form letter for Conservative cabinet ministers.