Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

Stimulus for the ribbon industry

by Aaron Wherry on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 10:28pm - 32 Comments

CTV gets something approaching a specific detail.

Sources told CTV News that Ignatieff and Harper had agreed to further examine the rules surrounding employment insurance. The prime minister will apparently create a blue-ribbon panel to examine the divisive issue over the summer, and Ignatieff will choose two of its members.

Tags: Michael Ignatieff, Stephen Harper

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http://intensedebate.com/people/WDM WDM

I cast my votes for David Orchard and Peter MacKay!
http://intensedebate.com/people/KadyITQ KadyITQ

So .. will the PM agree to be bound by whatever blue ribbon recommendations the panel makes? And Ignatieff gets to choose two out of how many members? Is it just me, or is this — well, weird?

http://intensedebate.com/people/WDM WDM

My guess is he'll be about as bound as they are to pay attention to the PBO.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Geiseric Geiseric

The thing about Blue Ribbons is it's your choice of eggheads so telling them to get stuffed after isn't a good idea.

That's probably one of the details.
RayK

"So .. will the PM agree to be bound by whatever blue ribbon recommendations the panel makes?"

No. (I don't really know of course, I'm just stating the obvious.)

"And Ignatieff gets to choose two out of how many members? Is it just me, or is this — well, weird?"

Notice that the CTV story doesn't mention the partisan affiliation of their sources. Sounds to me like the Liberals are engaging in their usual manipulation-by-strategy, but if Ignatieff caves like this and accepts nothing but another non-binding report then I certainly hope somebody calls him on it.

RayK

Sorry, that was supposed to be "manipulation-by-leak strategy"

jarrid

Stephen Harper and Michael Ignatieff have been able to agree on a host of prickly topics, the Quebec as a nation resolution, the extension of the Afghanistan mission, the 2009 budget to name a few. Harper and Iggy are getting things done and I think that it'll be win-win for both of them. The only people who aren't happy is the extreme left/lib crowd. Those who supported the December Coalition.

There won't be a summer election, I think that's now pretty clear.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Jack_Mitchell Jack_Mitchell

"Harper and Iggy are getting things done"

That's a laugh.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Crit_Reasoning Crit_Reasoning

It's like they're collaborating on some kind of script.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Sir_Francis Sir_Francis

Yeah. Unfortunately, it has all the depth of the rejected draft screenplay for Ishtar.

http://intensedebate.com/people/tigerinexil1428 tigerinexile

Depends on how you define "things".

But hey, I'm happy with the de facto Grand Coalition…

jarrid

I see The Star's Chantal Hebert agrees with me, ending her column today with the following words:

"This is a rare case where a win for the leader of the official Opposition also stands to be a win for the Prime Minister."

ARX

Has Ignatieff lost his mind? He wants to establish a panel to study an issue on which he has been advocating a temporary reduction in hours to help in a time of crisis? A panel that will spend who knows how many weeks studying the issue, then present a list of recommendations for the autumn session? What victory is that? If this is true, and this is what Ignatieff gets, then this is capitulation, pure and simple. Harper might as well trade up from blue ribbons to a Royal seal and send someone to cross the land with hearings and all that for all the good this will do at this time. What a disappointment. Hopefully the Liberal party revolts if this is all Ignatieff can offer them.

Paul Wells

Revolt? Abandon their sitting leader? Ignore the rules of succession? Not the Liberals! They’d never do that. And surely not a third time in seven years.

RayK

Don't worry Paul; Liberals only revolt for political reasons, not policy reasons.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Crit_Reasoning Crit_Reasoning

The final knife plunge will come from Bob Rae. "Et tu, Brute?"
ARX

I guess times are turning dark for those small minority of us who actually want an election. Hopefully the Liberal caucus can convince Ignatieff not to make a terrible compromise (as in surrendering, or getting worthless concessions), something worse than what could be gained from an election.

Will

We're hardly a small minority. Look at Macleans' own poll.

André

It's very easy to justify: Baby Boomers would vote against the one who thought a win on EI is preferable to a win on Isotopes. Of course, morally, nothing much can be solved of the Isotopes issue within the time frame of an election and EI has much more potential to save the economy but try telling an angry horde of Liberals their party need to take a hit for the country.

John

Over the summer? How about getting some done right now, at the end of June. Heck have the House sit late, anything for this people to get something done now instead of talking and talking…
Calgary Junkie

The Libs should take this offer, and make the best of it–"we are trying to make parliament work, blah blah". If they turn it down and force an election, then Harper will win the spin war that it was the LIBS who got us into an unwanted election.

And we will all see stage 2 of the ads–"See we told you, Iggy forced an election in the middle of a global recession, blah blah. He's not in it for Canada, he's only in it for himself. "

Will

I think voters will be intelligent enough to ask how exactly Harper living at 24 Sussex is singlehandedly keeping the recession wave at bay.

jarrid

Voters made that decision 8 short months ago, giving the Conservatives a strenghtened mandate. To refresh people's memory, this is how Canadians voted:

Conservatives 143 ( a pick up of 19 seats)

Liberals 77 ( a loss of 26 seats)

Separatists 49 ( a loss of 2 seats)

NDP 37 ( a pick up of 8 seats)

I know Liberal partisans didn't like that result but in a democracy everyone has to accept the will of the people. This country isn't a plaything for the Liberal Party of Canada.

http://bcinto.blogpot.com BCer in Toronto

Was that 8 months ago, when Harper assured us if there was going to be a recession it would have happened already, and we should totally trust him because he's an economist? Was it also 8 months ago Harper said the only way to stop a recession was to vote Conservative.

It seems to me that the big-ass recession that happened between then and now takes some of the credibility out of Harper's economic management credentials.

Speaking of election results, i also call Canadians voting the Conservatives a MINORITY.

I know Conservative partisans didn't like that result but in a democracy everyone has to accept the will of the people. This country isn't a plaything for the Conservative Party of Canada.

jarrid

The current brand of Liberal partisans remind me of the single-mindedness of the Quebec separatists, they always want another referendum.

The only people interested in an election right now are Liberal partisans and backroom boys. They're chomping at the bit to go because they see a partisan advantage: full stop.

Why don't you Liberals have a policy convention and act like an alternative government in waiting instead of simply assuming that Canadians will elect you by default. Those days are gone I'm afraid and the sooner the Libs get it, the stronger they'll get.

http://google.com Salacious

hey I'm Blue, I like Industrial music and I think ribbons can look very very good on women
Dee

All you Ottawa folks clearly need a vacation so that those of us in the hinterlands (outside Ottawa city limits) don't have to hear about this nonsense anymore on the local newscast.

There are more important things going on in the world right now (hello, Iran!) and, as I said a couple of days ago: Iggy will confront Harper on a few issues, Harper will cave a wee bit and then it's summer recess with no election.

'kay? Just a tempest in the hyper-caffeinated teapot that is our nation's capital.
http://intensedebate.com/people/Crit_Reasoning Crit_Reasoning

Hooray! Peace in our time!
http://intensedebate.com/people/OntarioTown OntarioTown

Not to worry, no matter what happens, CTV will help fix it up for the Conservatives. ____Fife also said Ben Mulroney was going to run for the Liberals.____So, here's the choice – if Iggy calls an election the media will be horrified (got vacation plans and cottages, etc.) and if he doesn't the media will be horrified.____After all, it was okay for Harper to call an election last fall because he wouldn't share his toys and doesn't play well in the sandbox.

jarrid

Jim Travers, is that you?

Harper's first minority government was one of the longest lasting in Canadian history. One of the reasons it lasted so long is that Harper and the Liberals found common ground on some of the key issues such as the extension of the Afghanistan mission, the crime control bill etc.

Ordinary Canadians, despite their partisan differences, want to see Parliament work.

Dee

Yeah, Canadians want Parliament to work. Unfortunately, the PM and Conservatives have been doing everything in their power to make it a dysfunctional institution (non-campaign attack ads, needlessly introducing legislation that doesn't have a hope of passing in the House, proroguing Parliament, …). Of course, the opposition parties are not completely blameless either.

If there is one grain of optimism I can take from this latest pseudo-crisis it is that Iggy may have finally gotten Harper to behave like an adult (albeit for a short period of time) and to get Steve to briefly realize he is the head of a minority government, not a majority.

jarrid

The opposition has an obligation to help make Parliament work. The Liberals appear only interested in taking power. And they haven't even had a policy convention. Oh, that's right, the backroom boys do that.