This is the week that was

By Aaron Wherry - Saturday, December 3, 2011 at 6:41 PM - 0 Comments

We tried to save the House of Commons.

Brian Topp pitched higher taxes (and considered equality). Nathan Cullen pitched democratic reform. Martin Singh pitched a national pharmacare plan. Paul Dewar prioritized. Robert Chisholm talked leadership.

Elections Canada tried to figure out kids these days. The Department of National Defence tried to keep the cost of its new headquarters quiet. The NDP bought billboard space. The omnibus crime bill went unaccounted for. The House voted to keep curtailing debate. The Harperization of Canada was confirmed. The Conservatives peddled rumours and defended their right to do so. Tony Clement explained his verbal typo. And the Speaker ruled John Williamson and Geoff Regan out of order. Continue…

You can’t ask that here

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, December 2, 2011 at 12:15 PM - 0 Comments

On the requirement that questions concern the “administrative responsibility” of government, the Speaker now seems to be taking a strict stance. Yesterday, for instance, he ruled the following, from Liberal MP Geoff Regan, out of order.

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have admitted the phone campaign of lies to the citizens of Mount Royal. The government House leader has actually said he is proud of these unsavoury tactics that seem to be straight from the era of Watergate. Would the Prime Minister heed the calls of commentators, even Conservatives, apologize for this outrage against democracy, shut down his dirty tricks team and call on Elections Canada to investigate?

Mr. Regan challenged the Speaker after Question Period and the Speaker duly promised to get back to the House with clarification of the rules. As Mr. Regan noted, questions about the in-and-out scheme were not ruled out of order and so it will be interesting to see where Mr. Scheer intends to draw the line here.

Choose your own position

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, October 7, 2011 at 4:05 PM - 19 Comments

Yesterday during QP, Liberal MP Geoff Regan stood and asked about the case of a Nova Scotia resident languishing in a Spanish prison. In response, Diane Ablonczy stood and outlined the government’s position on the repatriation of Omar Khadr. She later lamented for the House audio system.

All of which wouldn’t have been cause for much notice except for the fact that Ms. Ablonczy’s volunteered comment on Mr. Khadr—”We will respect the agreement between Omar Khadr and the U.S. government”—seems to contradict the position of the Public Safety Minister.

A spokesman for Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said Thursday the minister’s decision about the 25-year-old Guantanamo prisoner’s transfer to Canada will be made irrespective of the deal Khadr signed. “It would not affect the minister at all,” spokesman Michael Patton told the Toronto Star. “I don’t know what’s in the plea deal but it wouldn’t matter because the minister is not a signatory.”

… According to government sources in Ottawa and Washington, the embarrassing exchange reflects a behind-the-scenes uncertainty about the Khadr case, which has divided Canadians for almost a decade and which the Obama administration seems eager to hand over. Senior officials with the U.S. Defense and State Departments met with their counterparts in Ottawa last month to discuss the case, but left without finalizing details.

Budget election showdown '11

By Paul Wells - Thursday, December 30, 2010 at 1:35 PM - 171 Comments

As if on cue, this showed up in the Inkless Emailbox today:

Liberals call on NDP to stand against additional unaffordable Conservative corporate tax breaks

OTTAWA – As Finance Minister Jim Flaherty makes pre-budget overtures to the NDP, Liberal MPs today called on the NDP to demand the cancellation of Conservative corporate tax breaks at a time of deficit in favour of easing the economic pressures on average Canadian families. Continue…

Rights and Democracy: an odd cameo appearance

By Paul Wells - Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 4:11 PM - 47 Comments

Remember the great old days when the entire cast of Homicide: Life on the Streets would suddenly appear, in character, in an episode of Law and Order? Geek heaven. That’s how I felt last week when I saw a fascinating bit of testimony from the much-noted Nov. 23 meeting of the Commons Government Operations committee.

That was the meeting at which construction-company boss Paul Sauvé testified that he received a $9 million contract to renovate Parliament’s West Block after he paid $140,000 to Gilles Varin, who knew people in the Conservative party. Here’s the key bit from a PostMedia account of that testimony:

“Varin was suggested to us strongly as a man who had strong connections with the Conservative government and that was the go-to-guy for this type of small-cap infrastructure spending contracts,” Sauve told the government operations and estimates committee in the House of Commons. “So yes, because we paid, we received.”

He goes on to suggest all sorts of links between the construction business and organized crime in Quebec, which I know will come as profoundly saddening news to Maclean’s readers and/or Members of Parliament. But where it gets really interesting for followers of the endless Rights and Democracy saga is when Liberal MP Geoff Regan notices the passive voice in the quote above (“Varin was suggested to us strongly…”) and decides to tug at that thread:

Hon. Geoff Regan: Thank you.

Who told you that you should go to see Mr. Varin because he was the guy to see?

Mr. Paul Sauvé: We had a board member called Claude Sarrazin, who was a Conservative, I believe, at least in spirit, who requested us to contact Gilles Varin, and brought him to my attention, to my office. Continue…

MPs don purple

By Mitchel Raphael - Monday, November 1, 2010 at 9:26 PM - 0 Comments

MPs from all parties donned purple recently as a way to raise awareness over the wave of gay teen suicides that have been happening in North America. Below, Liberal MPs Mario Silva (left) and Rob Oliphant.

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Liberal MP Scott Simms.

Continue…

The Commons: Repeat after Rona

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, October 25, 2010 at 6:35 PM - 0 Comments

The Scene. To his credit, Christian Paradis did not avoid the House this afternoon. No doubt knowing he would face a new round of questions about the latest in an unfortunate series of circumstances, the former minister of public works and current minister of natural resources took his seat along the front row all the same.

No doubt knowing he would not have to rise to answer a single one of these questions, he surely did so quite comfortably.

“Mr. Speaker, in September 2007, one week before it closed, the request for proposals for renovation of the West Block North Tower was amended and the qualifications needed to bid dramatically downgraded,” Liberal Marcel Proulx said first, reviewing the newest revelation for the benefit of the House. “Experts in the construction industry have said this would have benefited only one bidder, LM Sauvé.”

Nearly every other day of the last month has brought some new curiosity such as this—another clipping to tape to the wall in search of connections. Were it not for Richard Nixon, it might all be the stuff of whispered conversations around the booths at Hy’s. As it is, 38 years after those two-bit burglaries, we sit around the press gallery wondering how properly to attach the suffix “gate” to the situation.

Once more it is difficult to know whether to curse or thank the 37th president of the United States. Continue…

The Commons: Off we go with no idea where we’re headed

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, October 7, 2010 at 6:06 PM - 0 Comments

The Scene. “Everything we’ve learned so far has all the hallmarks of a scandal,” Liberal Geoff Regan was quoted as exclaiming in a party press release this afternoon.

And indeed, on this—the hallmarks, that is—there can be little debate. There is a lucrative government contract. There is an RCMP investigation. There is an individual, unregistered to lobby the federal government, who received payments from the individual who was awarded the lucrative contract. There is the party fundraiser the contract winner hosted that was attended by the cabinet minister whose department oversees such contracts. There is—or at least was—some kind of departmental probe that may or may not be related to all of this.

That there is as yet little sense of what exactly, if anything, this amounts to only heightens the intrigue—the House rarely as excited as when it hasn’t the faintest idea where it’s headed.

Continue…

The Commons: Who is to blame for supporting the troops?

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, September 23, 2010 at 6:29 PM - 0 Comments

The Scene. “Canadian families are in debt,” Michael Ignatieff informed the House. “They are trying to save and they expect the government to do the same.” And in that regard, he explained, Canadian families are confused—befuddled by the billions their elected government has committed to fighter jets, international summitry and corporate tax cuts. How, Mr. Ignatieff wondered, could said government explain said expenses?

With the Prime Minister away, it was John Baird’s turn then to stand with the smile that now seems to be permanently affixed to his face and say the word “jobs” not once, not twice, but thrice. And with that quota filled, Mr. Baird turned then to the question of the warplanes.

“We do believe we also have an important responsibility to our men and women in uniform,” he asserted. “These planes that are being purchased will replace planes that will be more than 30 years old. These planes will last to 2040. That is why we are taking a different approach. We actually strongly support our men and women in uniform and want to equip them with the very best.”

So there. Support the troops, salute the flag, keep calm and carry on with nothing to fear but the surety that the opposition parties are, as we speak, conspiring to overthrow the government and burn this country to the ground. Continue…

The Commons: A little light reading

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 6:53 PM - 21 Comments

The Scene. Bob Rae sat with a great pile of paper on the desk in front of him. And after Michael Ignatieff and Lawrence Cannon had dealt with the question of what the government might say if the Americans were to ask about the possibility of Canadian troops staying a bit longer in Afghanistan, Ujjal Dosanjh stood to question the Conservative side about this pile of paper.

“Mr. Speaker, the government appointed Mr. Iacobucci at the last minute on a Friday morning, then took two weeks to release his terms of reference, and this morning, dumped some torture documents in the House without Mr. Iacobucci reviewing them,” Mr. Dosanjh reviewed.

Then the question. Or, more specifically, four questions, the last of which was actually two queries put together. “What was the government’s objective in hiring him? Was it just a stalling tactic? Why is Mr. Iacobucci being circumvented? Does he have a real job or is this just more cover for this government?”

The Justice Minister stood and shrugged and mumbled. “Mr. Speaker, quite the opposite,” Rob Nicholson said, though in response to which of the above questions it was unclear. “Mr. Justice Iacobucci is going to undertake an independent, comprehensive review of all the documents. The government has said that officials will make all relevant documents available, and the tabling today is part of that process.” Continue…

Smoked salmon in East Block courtyard

By Mitchel Raphael - Monday, October 19, 2009 at 2:02 PM - 0 Comments

To honour the Jewish holiday of Succoth (Feast of Tabernacles), a special ceremonial succah was set up in the East Block courtyard. Representatives from Chabad and Bnai Brith were on hand for the celebration. Below, Conservative MP James Lunney.

Frank Dimant of B’nai Brith (left) with Liberal MP Joe Volpe by the succah.

Continue…

The Commons: Stephen Harper's real world

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, June 11, 2009 at 6:55 PM - 53 Comments

The Scene. Stephen Harper is not one to leave well enough alone. So having spoken hopefully of his government’s plans to build parking spaces in the Toronto suburbs, a pedestrian overpass in Surrey and a library in Weymouth, his voice switched to a more ominous tone and his pointy finger started wagging near the bottom of the television screen.

He took direct aim at the Liberal leader, informing the viewing public that his rival had vowed “unequivocally” to raise taxes—news that will surely come as some surprise to even Mr. Ignatieff. He bemoaned the boogie men and women of the opposition who continue to insist their majority of seats in the House of Commons holds sway over his 37 per cent mandate. And he warned that only “needless political instability” could harm us now.

The Prime Minister does like to make dramatic-sounding pronouncements. Take, for instance, that moment in late September when he said “the only way” the country would fall into recession was if we were collectively crazy enough to choose Stephane Dion over him. Or that editorial, published on election day a few weeks later, when, with the stock market gone wobbly, he vowed “never” to take the country back into deficit.

Of course, you’ll forgive him if those assertions now seem a bit silly. Indeed, it is entirely unfair to impose the consistency of actual reality on Mr. Harper. A bit like asking Al Pacino to play the same character in every one of his movies. Though perhaps that’s a bad example. Continue…

The Commons: Everything about this is awful

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, June 10, 2009 at 6:24 PM - 55 Comments

The Scene. About ten minutes past the appointed time, the cameras outside the door began to flash, announcing Lisa Raitt’s arrival. A few seconds later she appeared at the entrance to the cramped room in Centre Block’s basement reserved for announcements, explanations and apologies.

Ms. Raitt collected herself, then approached the podium, the standard array of flags behind her. She placed her notes in front of her, sipped quickly from a glass of water and then, with watery eyes, began what had been promoted simply as a short statement.

Opposition anger the day previous had been dismissed as “cheap politics.” Others argued it simply had to be accepted that ministers of the crown would naturally, if in private, find something “sexy” in a potential health care crisis. Given a night to think it over, the minister herself had apparently suffered second thoughts.

Three young men from the Prime Minister’s Office watched from the side. At the front of the room, the Natural Resources Minister apologized to those who might’ve taken offence to a statement she had not intended any of us to hear. She expressed “deep regret” and offered a “clear apology.” She paused at the end of each sentence to take a deep breath.

She spoke of her father and his 18-month ordeal with colon cancer. She spoke of watching her brother die from lung cancer. She struggled to swallow the lump in her throat. With tears welling in her eyes, she made a brief, futile search of the podium for tissue.

She steadied herself, finished her testimony, pledged to carry on, then took her leave. Continue…

The Commons: The interrogation of Lisa Raitt

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, June 4, 2009 at 6:12 PM - 18 Comments

The Scene. The afternoon’s session began with the rare seven-part question.

“Mr. Speaker,” said Liberal David McGuinty, “I have several questions for the Prime Minister.”

Did the documents, he wondered, belong personally to the Natural Resources Minister? When did she realize they were missing? Did she inform her deputy minister? If so, when? What secret information did they contain? What commercial information may have been revealed? And, finally, would the government be taking action against the television network that was, previously and inadvertently, in possession of said documents?

Not surprisingly, the Prime Minister chose to answer none of these queries.

“Mr. Speaker,” he said, “as I said yesterday, the minister had reasonable expectations that these documents would be kept secret. The minister has acted accordingly, and I support the minister in her actions.”

Even less surprisingly, Mr. McGuinty did not then decide to cease with his examination. “Mr. Speaker, secret documents are those that ‘could reasonably be expected to cause serious injury to the national interest,’” he posited. “We are told these documents contain information on AECL’s financial status, indebtedness, contractual undertakings, obligations, lawsuits and details surrounding its bid for the supply of nuclear power in Ontario. They also deal with the critical issue of medical isotopes for medical testing. Can the Prime Minister explain how the release of this information could not be reasonably expected to cause serious injury to the national interest?”

The Prime Minister returned to his previous point. Then he revived his new favourite trick.

“Let me quote for the member opposite the editorial today in the Toronto Star which says that the minister offered her resignation,” he said. “The Prime Minister rightly refused to accept it. It is time for the opposition to move on to more substantive issues.”

The Conservatives stood to cheer the infinite wisdom of the same editorial board that endorsed Stephane Dion last fall. Continue…

The Commons: Those angry days of yore

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, June 1, 2009 at 6:15 PM - 11 Comments

The Scene. David McGuinty rose first with a reminder of days gone by.

It was 18 months ago, he mused. The Chalk River nuclear facility was inactive. A shortage of medical isotopes threatened. Thousands of patients across Canada and around the world hung in the balance. The Prime Minister, Mr. McGuinty recalled, quite rightly deemed the precarious situation a “threat to human health.”

The Liberal environment critic though was not giving the Prime Minister full credit. Indeed, to pick just four of Stephen Harper’s words from those heady days of national crisis, is to do a great disservice to the memory of his performance then. Continue…

Second-last of the independents

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, May 1, 2009 at 12:00 PM - 1 Comment

Bill Casey bid adieu to Parliament yesterday with a classy final speech (the Chuck Cadman story was particularly poignant). Tributes from Peter MacKay, Geoff Regan, Peter Stoffer,Claude DeBellefeuille and the Speaker followed.

Full speeches after the jump. 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 Final Day: Early returns

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at 10:01 PM - 0 Comments

For the Liberals…

Re-elected: Scott Brison, Todd Russell, Scott Simms, Gerry Byrne, Rodger Cuzner, Lawrence MacAulay, Dominic LeBlanc, Mark Eyking, Geoff Regan, JC D’Amours, Shawn Murphy, Brian Murphy

Out: Charles Hubbard, Robert Thibault, Paul Zed

New: Judy Foote, Scott Andrews.