Categories: Capital Read, Inside the Queensway

Breaking: How Pierre Poilievre will spend his summer vacation.

by kadyomalley on Monday, June 29, 2009 12:12pm - 47 Comments

As a charter member of the no-longer-being-referred-to-”blue-ribbon”-for-some-reason employment insurance working group/panel/whatever term gets Michael Ignatieff through the night. Hot off the PMO newswire:

PRIME MINISTER STEPHEN HARPER ANNOUNCES MEMBERS OF EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WORKING GROUP

OTTAWA –

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced the appointment of the Government’s members of the Employment Insurance working group. The Government’s representatives on the working group are:

• Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development;

• Pierre Poilievre, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister;

• Malcolm Brown, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development.

I’m sure the other panelists can hardly wait for Poilievre and Marlene Jennings to get the chance to reenact some of the most memorable moments of summer committee hearings past.

Tags: employment insurance, if there's a god of liveblogging please don't make these meetings in camera, in a pinch they always can gag 'em both with the blue ribbon, malcolm brown, pierre poilievre

More by kadyomalley

http://intensedebate.com/people/Inkless Inkless

They should sell tickets to the meetings.

john g

Agreed. I was going to go see KISS at the Bluesfest but this will be much more entertaining.

http://intensedebate.com/people/sea_n_mountains sea_n_mountains

there will be more pyro in the meeting room to be certain.

PolJunkie

Poilievre?!?! God helps us!!!
RayK

Well obvious this demonstrates what we already knew: that this whole thing is a sham.
john g

Isn't Jennings the one who made the biggest stink about Poilievere using the "tar baby" phrase?

Kady you must be annoyed…you must have wanted a summer vacation too but I'm sure duty will compel you to liveblog this now?

http://intensedebate.com/people/KadyITQ KadyITQ

Sadly, I don't think there's the slightest chance that these meetings will be held in public, but if, by some stroke of good luck, they are, wild horses couldn't keep me away.
http://liberalvideodepot.blogspot.com Ted

"Biggest stink" prize goes to the media. If you actually read what the politicians said, including Jennings, it was hardly controversial. Jennings explained the meanings of the term, explained how it was offensive to her, and invited Poilievre to retract and apologize. He didn't. She said she regretted that decision by him. And that was it.

http://intensedebate.com/people/Wascally_Wabbit Wascally_Wabbit

I think we – the public – should INSIST on them being open and public…starting HERE and NOW!
Heavens – even if CPAC won't carry them – we would have the faithful and devoted ITQ to record them for posterity…I smell another campaign arising here – heck – we got you shipped off to the G-20 – didn't we? ;-)

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

Poor Malcolm Brown!

http://www.intensedebate.com/people/sea_n_mountains sea_n_mountains

gawd, to have to sit through this…..if we gave Duffy a senator-ship for his hack work, surely Brown deserves two for enduring this.

John D

Have any of these people had to worry about needing EI? Ever? In their lives?
Mulletaur

Well, that's one way to ensure that the EI group doesn't start going all ecumenical …
http://intensedebate.com/people/OntarioTown OntarioTown

Watch for blue air ……. F-shot on a regular basis.
Wayne

Fantastic news : cudos to the young guy. ROFL I can't wait – stay tuned
Scott M.

Perhaps the judges pulled the Blue Ribbon based on the announcement that Poilievre would be there?

I'm guessing they're all getting that chintzy green "participant" ribbon now.

Wotcher?

It sure won't be Best in Show. But still, it'll be a helluva show.

http://www.upfrontottawa.com Peter

So do you think we should take this as a sign that Harper definitely wants an election this fall?
http://intensedebate.com/people/Jack_Mitchell Jack Mitchell

Incidentally, do they actually wear blue ribbons while empanelled?

http://intensedebate.com/people/SeanStok SeanStok

No. But Pierre promises to yell until he's blue in the face, if that's any consolation.

http://intensedebate.com/people/sea_n_mountains sea_n_mountains

what happens after the first 45s??
http://www.intensedebate.com/people/sea_n_mountains sea_n_mountains

what happens after the first 9.69s??
http://www.intensedebate.com/people/sea_n_mountains sea_n_mountains

what happens after the first 9.68s??

http://intensedebate.com/people/SisyphusThis SisyphusThis

No. That comes after. When they decide who's Best in Show.

Wotcher?

You beat me to that one. I should've read all the comments before I started typiing.

http://liberalvideodepot.blogspot.com Ted

Tells you all you need to know about how committed Harper is to helping unemployed Canadians and how seriously he takes this panel. Poilievre. Goodness.

http://intensedebate.com/people/jasonhickman jasonhickman

As opposed to the calming, consensus-building influence that defines Marlene Jennings…

http://intensedebate.com/people/SophiaGeffros SophiaGeffros

Oh, Pierre…
Well, I pity the public servant.
William

This panel`s work is not exactly rocket surgery—–expanding EI to self-employed and equalizing the hours-worked requirement.

But, I suppose PM Harper had to be ready for a screaming match with Jennings being Iggy`s muscle. So if they choose to Bring it on—-young Pierre will do just fine.

http://intensedebate.com/people/IanBC IanBC

You sound like someone who is an expert in rocket surgery.

William

Why are left-wingers so dull and boring ?

http://intensedebate.com/people/IanBC IanBC

This is directed at me? Upon what are you basing the "left-winger" slur?

William

Probably not so much at you as this site in general—-whole comment sections are full of one-line retorts—- Poilievre is so loud, Harper is so mean, Duffy is so fat—-it`s just boring, nothing there. No imagination, no substance.

Liberal journalists like Wherry, O`Malley, and Feschuk are enjoyable to read—–Liberal commenters should learn from them.
http://intensedebate.com/people/sea_n_mountains sea_n_mountains

right, the real substance comes for putting a highly regarded and astute thinker like Poilievre on the committee in the first place.
http://www.intensedebate.com/people/sea_n_mountains sea_n_mountains

right, the real substance comes for putting a highly regarded and astute thinker like Poilievre who has oodles of expertise on this matter on the committee in the first place.
Wotcher?

"whole comment sections are full of one-line retorts"
Like…left-winger are so dull and boring?
William

No, the best example is your previous comment above and the 4 prior to it.
Don`t forget to give each other thumbs-up.
Wotcher?

Well, I never claimed to be a rocket surgeon.

Anon

And people did not want a summer election !! Instead, we'll have the Pierre and Marlene road show.

It must say something about the PM that PP is his most trusted go-to guy. Of course, Marlene is Iggy's go-to gal.

So, there you go. Leadership in action.
john g

Hardly surprising. If Iggy is going to nominate one of his most hardcore partisans to the panel, why shouldn't Harper do so?
Chuck VS Macleans

Poilievre VS Jennings, Lets get ready to rumble!!!

Frankly I don't think this means anything but it is fun to sterotype people, then claim you don't sterotype people…
http://www.intensedebate.com/people/BCerInToronto BCerInToronto

If I could strike a serious note for a moment, I find it interesting Harper has given one of the three "Conservative" spots to what appears to be a non-political, senior civil servant. PP's appointment aside, I think having someone with an intimate knowledge of the mechanics of EI on the committee is a good thing.

I'm curious, though, how this will impact any vote or consensus on final recommendations by the committee. The composition was 3-3, but now its 3 Lib 2 Con 1 civil servant. Will Brown be expected to vote with Finley and Poilievre? Will he be free to vote his conscious, and possibly side with the Liberals? Or does it really matter anyways?

http://accidentaldeliberations.blogspot.com The Jurist

"Or does it really matter anyways?"

That would be a "no":

"The working group will deliver recommendations to the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and Canadians by September 28, 2009.

The parties will work in good faith to implement any consensus recommendations made by the working group."

So the terms of reference include a difference between "recommendations" and "consensus recommendations", with any agreement on implementation limited to the latter. (Not that there's much reason to expect Brown to vote against the minister responsible in any event.)
RayK

Who says there will be any votes?

(I assumed at first that there would be–based on the "blue ribbon panel" phrasing–but I haven't heard anything since that actually indicates that there is any agreement on formal process. I suspect that there will be no votes and that instead the panel will either reach a unamious agreement or Harper will declare it a failure before issuing his own report in its place.)

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

I suspect that Brown and Chan will end up doing most of the actual work.
Chuck VS Macleans

Agreed, the rest is show…

Chan and Brown are the main players.
http://intensedebate.com/people/George_Pringle George_Pringle

The Liberals broke the hours-worked requirement by creating / bribing Atlantic and Quebec ridings with special rules. Now the ND and Libs have to give everyone the same rules. A fair system of insurance only that is not used to fund other govt programs is needed and the premiums dramatically lowered.

It's not equalization, it's not training programs, it is just insurance. They can look at the whole system so that someone who pays for 20 years but was on reduced hours in the last year which they use to calculate the amount of benefits but those the NDLib who keep saying are excluded are not paying premiums.

I have worries about the self employed declaring them unemployed and collecting money until they decide to take a new contract or a small business used as a form of corporate welfare. EI is now being used as corporate welfare by far time business and even govt institutions now.