The Backbench Top Ten

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, March 12, 2010 at 4:40 PM - 23 Comments

And now the debut of a new weekly feature here at Beyond the Commons: a wholly arbitrary ranking of the ten most worthy, or at least entertaining, MPs, excluding the Prime Minister, cabinet members and party leaders. A celebration of all that is great and ridiculous about the House of Commons. Exact criteria will take shape over time, points for now will be awarded on general competence and ability to amuse me. Continue…

The Commons: ‘I have the feeling that nothing will satisfy the honourable gentleman’

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, March 9, 2010 at 6:13 PM - 112 Comments

The Scene. Barely a week back and the government side is already tired of these incessant questions.

“Mr. Speaker,” Michael Ignatieff said, opening the fourth session of Question Period since Parliament’s extended Christmas break, “every day brings new information about the Afghan detainee scandal.”

“Sit down!” pleaded a Conservative voice.

The Liberal leader proceeded to review the latest story, this one having to do with a contingency plan the government prepared in the spring of 2007 to prepare for the possibility of untoward allegations. The Prime Minister shrugged this away as old news.

“Mr. Speaker, the issue here is getting to the bottom of this matter,” Mr. Ignatieff clarified, proceeding to invoke both the proverbial kit and the proverbial kaboodle. “Justice Iacobucci has no mandate, no subpoena powers, no tools to do the job. Allegation follows allegation, including the allegation that this government allowed rendition to occur. This is a serious matter. We have now learned that the government was more concerned with preventing political fallout, with the media management of this, than preventing torture. Justice Iacobucci is ready to serve. Why will the Prime Minister not give him the powers to hold a full public inquiry?”

Continue…

Iacobucci to decide

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, March 5, 2010 at 10:50 AM - 63 Comments

The Justice Minister has asked Frank Iacobucci, the former Supreme Court justice, to review documents relevant to the Afghan detainee issue and decide which can be turned over to the Parliament*.

The opposition seems unpersuaded. Jack Layton noted during Question Period this morning that Mr. Iacobucci would be reporting to the Justice Minister. Dominic LeBlanc asked why the government didn’t go further and ask Mr. Iacobucci to lead a full inquiry. Meanwhile, Derek Lee notes that the government already has, or should have, officials capable of deciding which documents can be released.

*This sentence originally indicated the documents would be turned over to the opposition. That was incorrect and misleading.

The Commons: 'Will they stop already?'

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at 7:57 PM - 89 Comments

The Scene. “General Natynczyk said what the government has been saying all along,” the Prime Minister explained en francais with his first opportunity.

Across the way, Gilles Duceppe burst out laughing.

Sixteen times these past few weeks members of this government told the House that not a single proven allegation of abuse suffered by a Canadian-transferred detainee could be found. The Defence Minister, the Transport Minister and the Defence Minister’s parliamentary secretary all testified as such.

Two days ago, the Globe reported otherwise. General Walter Natynczyk insisted that a close reading of the situation in question demonstrated the detainee, later beaten by Afghan authorities, was not so much detained and transferred, as merely questioned. And government ministers insisted on accepting Gen. Natynczyk’s version of events.

Only just before noon today, Gen. Natynczyk summoned the cameras and notepads and announced that he was wrong, that new information indicated the detainee in question was not just questioned, but in fact taken into custody. And so suddenly, it seemed, there was some explaining to do.

Continue…

Where we're at

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, December 4, 2009 at 2:06 PM - 16 Comments

As a summation of where the debate currently sits, the first exchange from this morning’s Question Period.

Hon. Dominic LeBlanc (Beauséjour, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, international and domestic legal standards are very clear. Canada has an obligation not to transfer detainees into situations where there is a reasonable risk that they will face torture. We have now heard clear evidence that the torture was widespread and systemic in the prisons where the government was transferring Afghans. Why did the Conservatives think that Afghans transferred by Canadians would be spared this treatment? Do they not understand that they, the Conservative politicians in Ottawa, have failed to live up to their legal obligations?

Hon. John Baird (Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, CPC): Mr. Speaker, I say to the member opposite, the fight against terrorism, the fight against the Taliban, against al-Qaeda, is very serious and regrettably, the opposition is continuing to play partisan games on the backs of our men and women in uniform. There is not been one single proven allegation of abuse of a Canadian-transferred prisoner, and I should suggest to the member opposite that after three years of accusing our brave men and women in uniform of the very worst, it is time for the Liberal Party to apologize to our troops.

The Commons: And so we arrive at satire

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, December 3, 2009 at 6:20 PM - 39 Comments

The Scene. Bob Rae stood first, with what sounded like a reference to a particularly demented game of Clue.

“We were told yesterday at the Afghanistan committee that a braided electric cable, which is undoubtedly an instrument of torture, was found in the office of the director of investigations at the National Directorate of Security,” he reviewed. “I would like to ask the Minister of National Defence, would he not agree with us that a discovery like that points to a systemic problem rather than simply a single instance with respect to a discovery of that kind?”

As Mr. Rae spoke, there was some discussion on the Conservative side as to who should answer. Since the Liberal critic had requested the Minister of Defence, it was apparently decided that the Transport Minister would rise. Mr. Baird duly rose to list all the times Canadian officials have searched Afghan prisons without finding anything like a braided electric cable.

“In other words, in 2007 alone, we visited the prison on 33 occasions, the National Directorate of Security on 12, and the Afghan National Police Detention Centre on two, for a total of 47 visits,” Mr. Baird explained. “These were usually unannounced and there was nothing discovered.”

“Au contraire,” Mr. Rae said, reminding the Transport Minister of the braided electric cable to which he had referred just seconds earlier.

The Transport Minister rebuffed this too. Over then to Ujjal Dosanjh, the increasingly frustrated Liberal defence critic.

Continue…

The Commons: Lost in translation

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, November 25, 2009 at 6:04 PM - 60 Comments

The Scene. No hair is apparently so fine it cannot be split. If Confucius did not say so, he perhaps should have.

After Michael Ignatieff had stood to open Question Period and wondered aloud about the government’s competence, the Prime Minister, making his second consecutive appearance in the House, rose and explained, en francais, as follows.

“Quand nos diplomates, nos soldats ont reçu des preuves crédibles de cas d’abus, nos diplomates, nos soldats ont agi dans ces cas.”

Now, as scrawled quickly in ye olde Moleskine, the House of Commons translators, they of pleasant, if harried, voices, relayed “des preuves crédibles de cas d’abus” as “proof of abuse.” For the record, the authority that is Google understands this to mean “credible evidence of abuse.” And our dog-eared 1977 copy of Cassell’s French Dictionary translates the term “preuves” as “proof; evidence, testimony.”

This may or may not matter. Continue…

What they said (II)

By Aaron Wherry - Sunday, November 22, 2009 at 8:45 PM - 4 Comments

In the first few months of 2007, the treatment of detainees in Afghanistan was discussed during 14 sessions of Question Period: February 6, February 12, February 13, February 21, February 27, March 1, March 2, March 19, March 20, March 21, March 22, March 23, March 26 and March 29. It was on the morning of March 19, that Gordon O’Connor apologized to the House for misleading it about the monitoring of detainees by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Herein, a collection of some of the relevant exchanges during this period. Continue…

On socialism

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, September 17, 2009 at 12:24 PM - 25 Comments

Also from Dominic LeBlanc’s scrum yesterday. This is what it sounds like when coalitions die.

Question: What do you think of the Liberal, the NDP supporting the, propping up the government?

Dominic LeBlanc: I think the NDP showed today that they’re for sale and not for a very high price.  I think if Tommy Douglas were alive today, he’d be very, very ashamed of the NDP leadership of Jack Layton.

This is also perhaps as close as Parliament may ever get to a “Yo Momma” joke.”

On Catholicism

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, September 17, 2009 at 10:41 AM - 12 Comments

From Dominic LeBlanc’s scrum after QP yesterday.

Question: Sir, as a Catholic, are you concerned about protesters dressing up in religious garb?

Dominic LeBlanc: I, usually that kind of costume would be reserved for Hallowe’en.  That’s a little over a month from now.  So maybe they’re just a bit early.

The Commons: And that's when the nuns started yelling

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, September 16, 2009 at 7:53 PM - 47 Comments

The Scene. Dominic LeBlanc was speaking in his grand stage voice, the sound of his second question filling the chamber, when the shouting started.

In the first row of the north visitors’ gallery, three nuns, or at least three women clad in the outfits of nuns, were chanting something unsavoury about the seal hunt, each holding a banner that read “The Seal Slaughter is a Bad Habit.” Get it?

The Speaker called for a pause in proceedings and all turned to gape at the spectacle. While security officers struggled to contain the invaders, Conservative Steve Blaney stood and held aloft a binder, apparently wrapped in seal skin. MPs stood to applaud their colleague’s brave choice of office supplies. Liberal Gerry Byrne crossed the floor to happily shake Blaney’s hand.

Security eventually gained control of the situation—the nuns handcuffed and carried away, each still yelping their protests as they were shown the door—and the Speaker called on LeBlanc to continue his casting of aspersions on government efforts to ease trade between Canada and the United States.

It has only been three days and already it has been a fine first week back for our 40th Parliament. Continue…

Newsmakers of the week

By Lianne George - Thursday, July 9, 2009 at 9:30 AM - 0 Comments

Everyone loves a stampede
On Saturday, the leaders of Canada’s three major parties turned up in Calgary to take part in Stampede festivities and slip in a little meal-time campaigning. Speaking at a breakfast at the Calgary Zoo, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff blasted the Tories for their latest attack ads, which imply that the Bloc Québécois favours leniency for pedophiles. “I’m in politics to defeat the Bloc Québécois with real arguments,” Ignatieff told the crowd, “rather than slurs and vicious ad hominem personal attacks.” Not far away, at a barbecue in Heritage Park, Prime Minister Stephen Harper slammed the Liberals’ “timid and trendy” foreign policies and the NDP’s ethos of “tax and spend.” “Let the opposition parties threaten to get together to defeat us and replace us,” he said. “Canadians have been clear that they do not want another election.” Meanwhile, NDP Leader Jack Layton, invited by Calgary Herald reporter Don Braid to a barbecue at the Ranchmen’s Club, a well-known Conservative hangout, played nice, worked the room and, according to Braid, had “friendly chats with several people I wasn’t sure would talk to him at all.” He even braved a prairie oyster. “Not bad,” Layton said. “I think I’ll have another one.” Continue…

Romeo LeBlanc, 1927-2009

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 12:39 PM - 4 Comments

The former governor general and cabinet minister, and father of Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc, has passed away at the age of 81. The Ottawa Citizen, Globe and Canadian Press have lengthy obituaries. CBC goes into the archives for video of a 1995 profile.

Statements from the Prime Minister, the leader of the opposition and the Governor General after the jump. Continue…

The Commons: Who is this man?

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at 5:37 PM - 68 Comments

The Scene. Near the end of his visit to the National Press Theatre the other day, having completed his prepared statement and having finished his response to the last of two dozen questions from the assembled reporters, Michael Ignatieff was afforded a chance to make an exit. But he was not ready to leave. He had one last answer. To a question that hadn’t been asked.

“If you’ll allow me to conclude on one note,” he said. “My stake in this is actually proving to Canadians, who are very skeptical about politics and our political system, that we can make this system work for them. That we can hold a government to account, get them to improve their performance, get good government for Canadians. That’s the big prize here actually. Make Canadians feel we got a pretty good system here and it works for Canadians and it delivers results for them. We get that, good result.”

He then turned to his right and walked away from the podium, a pensive look on his face—perhaps considering his own words, perhaps worrying that he’d said something he shouldn’t have, perhaps wondering if he’d made much sense to anyone in the room.

It is dangerous to believe what a politician says, or even to believe that he believes what he says. It is impossible, ultimately, to separate the individual from his stated purpose of persuasion and his unending pursuit of public approval. But it is tempting to believe Mr. Ignatieff genuinely believes this much. If only because, in relative terms, it sounded so odd. So out of sync with everything else, simultaneously quaint and precocious, alluring and disorienting.

Continue…

The Commons: 'This is a joke'

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 6:26 PM - 47 Comments

The Scene. After the House had finished discussing the American President’s upcoming visit, environmental regulations, funding for the arts, the aerospace industry, military contracts and the rights of women to fair and equal pay, the Bloc Quebecois’ Paul Crete rose to once again press the case of Omar Khadr.

“We are talking about a child soldier,” he said, “imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay for more than six years and subjected to torture.”

Would the Prime Minister, Crete asked, commit to discuss the matter when he meets with Barack Obama next week?

Mr. Harper remained in his seat. The chair to his right, usually occupied by Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, was empty. So to address this serious matter, the Conservatives sent up Deepak Obhrai, the parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs and a voracious reader.

“Mr. Speaker, our position regarding Mr. Khadr remains unchanged. Mr. Khadr faces serious charges that include murder, attempted murder and terrorism,” he said as he has said so many times before. “We continue to closely monitor this situation, including the work of the American committee formed to study the fate of the detainees, including Mr. Khadr. Any speculation is premature at this time.”

Though some will suggest that the handling of Mr. Khadr long ago descended to the level of farce, it was at precisely this moment that things turned from simply ridiculous to kind of sad. Continue…

Your Team Iggy starting line-up

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, January 22, 2009 at 5:23 PM - 43 Comments

Posted without comment for the moment. Some attempt at analysis to follow after some consideration now offered below.

Intergovernmental Affairs Michael Ignatieff
House Leader Ralph Goodale
Deputy House Leader Marlene Jennings
Whip Rodger Cuzner
Deputy Whip Marcel Proulx 
Finance John McCallum
Foreign Affairs Bob Rae
Defence Denis Coderre
Environment & Energy David McGuinty
Health Carolyn Bennett
Industry, Science & Technology Marc Garneau
Public Safety & National Security Mark Holland
Natural Resources Geoff Regan
Justice and Attorney-General Dominic LeBlanc
International Trade Scott Brison
Public Works and Government Services Martha Hall Findlay Continue…

The first draft

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, December 11, 2008 at 12:20 PM - 8 Comments

An inside account of two bewildering weeks in Ottawa—the product of more than a dozen interviews—is now online. It was jointly reported by John Geddes and I, with John ably handling the bulk of the writing duties.

There will no doubt be much more to learn and understand in the weeks, months and years to come, but I think—if I may so—we have produced a fairly complete recounting of who did what and when.

Several additional points that either didn’t make it into the magazine or need to be emphasized. Continue…

On Dominic LeBlanc's press conference

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, December 8, 2008 at 3:49 PM - 4 Comments

Liberals should probably be feeling badly that this guy wasn’t given a full campaign to try to make his case.

LeBlanc steps down—backs Ignatieff

By kadyomalley - Monday, December 8, 2008 at 12:23 PM - 30 Comments

The least unexpected (but still, I’m sure, by some lamented) announcement of the day — that Dominic LeBlanc will be stepping down as a candidate in the Liberal leadership race — is scheduled for 2:30 p.m., with the obligatory barrage of questions about whether he plans to throw his support to Michael Ignatieff beginning about fifteen seconds later.

UPDATE: Okay, so apparently, the press conference has been pushed back to 3pm – not because of cold feet, but for logistical reasons – so I guess I’ll see you back here thenabouts.

2:48:01 PM
Well, that was unfortunate — I was standing by the door with what I thought was plenty of time before the soon-to-be-former candidate showed up when I suddenly heard the Acadian tones of Dominic LeBlanc himself: “I knew you’d be here on your BlackBerry.” It’s so embarrassing when your liveblogging target sneaks up on you. Let the record show, however, that he was early – I wasn’t late.

Anyway, he and his aides have disappeared into the back room — the staging area, as it were — to de-coat and hat and prepare for the media onslaught.

2:52:14 PM
A good turnout of media, although I suspect there are a few Hill reporters who would rather huddle around the newsroom television to watch Bob Rae, who is also holding a press conference this afternoon, although apparently it won’t start til 3:30.

2:56:18 PM
Fifty second warning!

Continue…

Recent historical precedent of the day

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, December 8, 2008 at 10:45 AM - 21 Comments

Do you suppose the Democrats would’ve ultimately regretted forgoing the primary process and just going with the candidate who appeared “inevitable” at the outset? 

The Liberal Party of Canada may have few options under the present circumstances, but it is probably not gratuitous to point out that they will probably come to feel at least somewhat badly about whichever they choose. Not that that hasn’t been something of a party motto for the last couple decades.

No pressure, Mr. Ignatieff.

Aw, Dominic. There's always next time, right?

By kadyomalley - Monday, December 8, 2008 at 10:36 AM - 8 Comments

‘

ITQ  never even got to liveblog his official announcement. We’ll just have to cover his downstepping instead, which should be interesting in its own way, particularly if he does throw his support behind the Ignatternaut.

From the press gallery listserv:

Date: Dec. 08
Time: 14:00
Participant(s): Liberal MP Dominic Leblanc.
Location: National Press Theatre.
Subject: Press Conference.

Date: 08 déc.
Heure: 14:00
Participant(s): Le député libéral Dominic Leblanc.
Endroit: Théâtre National de la Presse.
Sujet: Conférence de presse.

UPDATED: And then there were two …

By kadyomalley - Sunday, December 7, 2008 at 6:41 PM - 47 Comments

According to CTV (and via the incomparable NNW), Dominic LeBlanc may be out of the race.

UPDATE: Canadian Press has more about what may happen next — and it’s good news for fans of  the one-member-one-vote system!

And so the Liberal leadership tour begins

By Michael Friscolanti - Friday, December 5, 2008 at 5:38 PM - 9 Comments

Bob Rae, the new Liberal pitchman for the anti-Harper coalition, is off to Winnipeg for the first leg of his coast-to-coast campaign. As the Globe reported this morning, Rae is stepping over Stéphane Dion and staking his slim leadership hopes on the back of a shaky pact with the NDP and the Bloc. “The coalition is a good idea,” Rae told reporters yesterday. “What is critical is that we talk to Canadians about the economy and about our democracy because Mr. Harper has transformed our Canadian democracy. He suspended the work of Parliament and he has transformed the government into a regime.” Expect more of the same song Saturday morning at Winnipeg’s Crescentwood Community Centre. Rae takes the stage at 10:30 a.m.

His main rival, Michael Ignatieff, is in New Brunswick for a separate Liberal get-together. And if the past few days have been any indication, the frontrunner will continue to tiptoe around any talk of a coalition. It’s been widely reported that Iggy and his closest advisors want nothing to do with a socialist/separatist alliance (he was the last Liberal MP to sign a petition in favour of the plan) and if their Christmas wish comes true, the whole thing will fall apart by the time Parliament reconvenes on Jan. 26.

And Dominic LeBlanc? The Other Contender hasn’t surfaced today. Not yet, anyway. Maybe he’s working on his leadership website. It’s still under construction.

What's next for the Liberal leadership contenders?

By Michael Friscolanti - Thursday, December 4, 2008 at 10:27 PM - 6 Comments

Make no mistake. Michael Ignatieff, Bob Rae and Dominic LeBlanc all want to be Prime Minister one day. They just don’t necessarily want that day to be May 2.

None of them is saying that, of course (or at least not in public). But let’s be frank. When these men threw their names in the race to replace Stéphane Dion as the top Liberal, the job posting was pretty clear: Leader of the Official Opposition. Not Leader of a Temporary Coalition Between Everyone Other Than Stephen Harper That Suddenly Makes Me Prime Minister. The latter remains a real possibility, even after today’s developments. Yes, Harper managed to convince the Governor General to prorogue Parliament until Jan. 26, buying his Conservatives seven more weeks of power. But the Liberals and the NDP, with a wink and a handshake from the Bloc Quebecois, are still vowing to topple his minority and install Dion as acting prime minister until the Liberal leadership convention next spring. After that, the winning Grit—Ignatieff, Rae or LeBlanc—would move directly into 24 Sussex Drive. Right down the hall from Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe. Continue…