Tag Archives: Thomas Mulcair

Roundup: Back-to-work bill on track for tonight

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Expect today to be taken up with the back-to-work legislation around the CP Rail strike. Because of the way things are laid out procedurally, the vote on time allocation will take place this evening, at which point the bill will take precedence over everything and debate and votes – limited to a couple of hours – will go into the evening. It should be noted that the bill is far more fair and even-handed than previous examples under this government, according to many, though it’s still derided as an attack on the rights of workers.

As Thomas Mulcair prepares for his trip to Alberta – and Fort McMurray in particular – he’s toning down his language somewhat, while his critics out there are sharpening their own words.

Ted Opitz has appealed the overturning of the Etobicoke Centre election results to the Supreme Court at the last minute, but hasn’t exactly been clear on the grounds for the appeal. The Supreme Court is supposed to hear this without delay, and render a quick judgement, per the Elections Act.

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Roundup: Back-to-work legislation ahoy!

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With the negotiations at CP Rail having broken down, it looks like we’ll be seeing some fresh back-to-work legislation this week.

Joe Oliver says he’s supportive of Alison Redford’s national energy strategy idea – but he just doesn’t want to call it that. Meanwhile, this unsigned Maclean’s editorial makes a few good points about the “Dutch disease” debate, the changing manufacturing sector, and the nonsense of trying to attach environmental concerns to the economics. Stephen Gordon has even more economic data that seems to divorce the decline in our manufacturing sector from the rise in our resource economy, when compared to other major economies.

Western premiers will be meeting on Tuesday to talk about energy and environmental regulation, and it seems like Mulcair will be on that agenda as well. Meanwhile, Newfoundland and Labrador premier Kathy Dunderdale has a bone to pick with Peter MacKay over the search-and-rescue closures in her province, and that’s only getting worse with the EI changes.

Jim Flaherty is striking a slightly more conciliatory tone around EI changes than Diane Finely has been.

There is talk that the government is exploring the idea of a standalone military procurement office, after all of the many and sundry blunders that have taken place in the past few years. One should say that if they do go ahead with this, they’re probably better off not just putting the same people in charge as the ones who’ve made the mistakes in the past – you know, like they did with the new fighter jet secretariat.

What’s that? An internal investigation of the privacy breaches at Veterans Affairs clears the department of wrongdoing? You don’t say!

What’s that? A quarter of defeated Conservative candidates have since been given public service jobs? You don’t say! Actually, this is neither that concerning nor alarming considering that most are qualified for the new jobs, and we shouldn’t get too worked up if defeated candidates get staffer positions. It’s not like opposition parties don’t give staffer jobs to their own defeated candidates at times either.

Thomas Mulcair has remortgaged his house eleven times since the early eighties, continually increasing his mortgage debt despite his MP salary, but no one will say why – even though this is a very unusual thing.

Sadly, the birth of Canada hardly rated mention in Queen Victoria’s journals. Alas!

And Tabatha Southey casts a satirical eye on the “bravery” of David Wilks and his strong stand against…his previous strong stand.

Roundup: Less accessible EI appeals

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Amidst all of the changes to the EI system, another of the items tucked away in the omnibus budget bill is the scrapping of the two current EI review boards. While the current system is free and as different levels of appeal, the plan calls for a much smaller board to hear EI appeals, along with CPP and OAS claimants. Oh, and it’s a more technical process that’s likely going to need people to hire lawyers, thus making far more inaccessible than the current system. Diane Finley and her people claim “efficiency” and “less duplication,” while the people who work with the system currently say that it’s not actually inefficient. Oh, and about those changes to the EI system, Newfoundland and Labrador premier Kathy Dunderdale is not happy – especially about the lack of consultation with the decision, not that this should come as a great shock.

Lockheed Martin says that Canadian companies will lose out on future contracts if we don’t go ahead with the F-35 purchase – and that all indications on their end are that the government is still committed to them, despite this new secretariat and a Seven-Step Action Plan™.

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Roundup: Star candidate entreaties

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Thomas Mulcair says that the NDP’s poll numbers are so great that he’s getting approached by all kinds of “star candidates,” seeing as they’ll obviously have some pretty safe seats up for grabs. Um, okay. Isn’t there some saying about counting chickens three years before an election, or something like that?

The copyright bill is due to pass the Commons next week, but there remains a chance the digital locks provisions might be amended in the Senate, or face court challenges.

The Commons Ethics committee recommends that the Lobbying Commissioner be given the ability to fine lobbyists who don’t follow the rules. You know, like she’s been asking for forever.

Aww, Alberta’s sole NDP MP is trying to defend Thomas Mulcair’s “Dutch disease” comments, and says the focus on them is a distraction from the budget debate. Just like Mulcair digging in his heels on the issue is all about focusing the budget debate and the menace to democracy that it poses.

The CBC’s Peter Mansbridge interviews Conrad Black now that he’s free and back in Canada, including Black hitting back at Thomas Mulcair for his “demagogic rabblerousing.”

Here’s an accounting of the bitter silence the government was forced to endure around the intelligence leaks from that naval officer in Halifax.

Here’s a look at some potential futures for the Kingston Penitentiary, which is a national historic site – but chances of it becoming an Alcatraz-style museum seem slim in this age of austerity.

And here’s your recap of Charles and Camilla’s Diamond Jubilee Royal Tour thus far in New Brunswick and Toronto.

Roundup: Victoria Day Diamond Jubilee Royal Tour Edition

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Happy Victoria Day, everyone! Be sure to raise a glass in honour of Victoria, the first Queen of Canada, as well as in honour of the official birthday of Her Majesty Elizabeth II, the present Queen of Canada. In case you didn’t realise, Victoria Day is actually a distinctly Canadian holiday not celebrated by anyone else.

Speaking of the Canadian royal family, Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, have arrived and begin their brief royal tour in New Brunswick today, before heading to Toronto later on for the Victoria Day fireworks there.

Thomas Mulcair, digging his heels in on the “Dutch disease” issue, declares that this will be the defining issue for the next election. You know, not a scandal-plagued and incompetent government with heavy-headed and dictatorial tendencies, but something that the Conservatives can rouse their Western base about, along with any other region that is involved in resource extraction. That’s tactical genius at work.

Voter-identification robo-calls have already started in Etobicoke Centre, and the by-election hasn’t even been called yet. Because apparently it’s never too early to get started on this kind of work. Meanwhile, Pundit’s Guide breaks down the riding’s recent electoral history and the dynamics at play.

Peter MacKay indicates that we won’t be extending our current training mission in Afghanistan.

Instead of providing a reasonable explanation why Environment Canada was dumping a bunch of office furniture rather than recycling it, Peter Kent’s office decided to go the route of blaming the media and calling the story “false.” Transparency and accountability, everyone!

Here’s a strange little tale about mysterious Canadian bank accounts in Liechtenstein.

And Lisa Raitt is cautioning CP Rail to think twice about striking. Because she’s apparently not afraid to drop the hammer – again.

Roundup: Complicating the “Dutch disease”

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Western premiers continue to strike back at Thomas Mulcair, refuting his assertion that they are simply “Harper’s messengers,” while he sticks to his guns on the “Dutch disease” diagnosis, calling it “irrefutable.” Erm, except more economic data shows that it’s not. An IRPP study shows that while there may have been a mild case of said “disease,” it’s a far more complex picture than simply Alberta versus Ontario’s manufacturing sector, as the decline in the manufacturing sector has more to do with the rise of China than it does with the strength of our dollar, which has in turn helped other sectors of the economy as well. Meanwhile, Statistics Canada reports that the manufacturing sector is rebounding. Not that we should expect Mulcair to back down from his position anytime soon.

It seems that the F-35s were built with no cybersecurity protections in them, making them as vulnerable to cyberattacks as Humvees were to roadside bombs, apparently. But these are still the best aircraft that our airmen and women need, remember! Meanwhile, the government sent the RCMP on a five-month probe into what they thought might have been leaked documents after a Globe and Mail story on the F-35s, which turned out to be nothing. Well, nothing but a warning that if the government doesn’t like what the media is reporting, they’ll read too much power into certain National Security Acts that don’t really apply and send the RCMP after them.

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Roundup: Scrutiny versus populist outrage

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The government is backing another private members’ bill, this time about establishing a mandatory minimum sentence on kidnapping a person under 16 – despite the fact that a former Supreme Court justice calls this unnecessary and creating a more patchwork Criminal Code that increasingly is ad hoc and full of loopholes and inconsistencies. It’s like the government were going along with anything that sounded good without giving it proper thought or analysis. Oh, wait –that’s exactly what they’re doing. Who needs proper scrutiny when you’ve got populist outrage on your side?

Thomas Mulcair dismisses the premiers of Alberta, BC and Saskatchewan as “Harper’s messengers” when they go after him about his comments on the oil sands and our supposed “petro dollar.” Erm, okay. Because that makes sense. Paul Wells further dissects that particular line of thinking here.

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Lord and Smith Commission, Episode 6

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My friend Destine Lord and I have a new video up, in which we talk about the opposition strategy around the omnibus budget bill, and Thomas Mulcair’s “Dutch disease” comments.

Roundup: Omnibudget off to committee

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The omnibus budget bill has passed Second Reading without any procedural trickery, and is off to committee for study, while it also begins pre-study in a number of different Senate committees. The NDP, however, are promising “novel” ways to engage the public on the issue. My question is why it’s taken them two weeks to start engaging the public.

The reaction to John Baird’s outburst in QP yesterday that they were shutting down the National Round Table on Environment and the Economy because they didn’t like their recommendations has largely been “told you so.” (Said outburst included a slip where he said a carbon tax would “kill Canadians” when he obviously meant “kill jobs.”) While some people say that everything Baird says is calculated, I’m not so sure – this had a bit more of a tone of mocking and an attempt to goad the Liberals that may have backfired, and I suspect that he may have been given a stern talking to by PMO, and will be reading his responses during his next turn as back-up PM.

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The Harper-versary speeches

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On the advent of the Harper-versary – one year of a strong, stable, national majority Conservative government – the three main parties all held events for the media. After all, who doesn’t love a good anniversary speech? (Note: “good” being a particularly subjective measure).

Stephen Harper was up first, as is his wont, and after the media filed into the caucus room, we were treated to some happy clapping before the speech itself. Apparently, Harper’s mandate is for one thing above all – to secure the prosperity of Canadians. And here I thought it was about killing the long-gun registry, the Canadian Wheat Board, passing the omnibus crime bill and any number of other measures that they have invoked the words “strong mandate” to justify.

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