The Commons: There but for the grace of God go us

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at 7:45 PM - 160 Comments

Stephen Harper stood this afternoon before a room of past and present cabinet ministers, current and former members of parliament, power-brokers, diplomats, hangers-on and swells—the size of the crowd woefully overwhelming Parliament’s air conditioning system on a truly sweltering day in the capital—and toasted the career of Jean Chrétien, the man who once seemed to epitomize everything Mr. Harper campaigned to change, everything that was wrong with this place, everything that brought Mr. Harper to office four and a half years ago.

Mr. Harper spoke of a “great Parliamentarian” and a “great leader” and his “long and successful service to Canada.” “For this passion and dedication, Jean Chrétien deserves our admiration and our thanks,” Mr. Harper said. “And he deserves to look back on his record of service to our country with pride and satisfaction.”

And then Mr. Harper said this. “Partisan differences are a healthy and necessary part of our political culture and process. But on an occasion such as this, we remember that they are transcended by a deep, enduring consensus, a shared understanding that our freedom rests also on the limitations imposed on those partisan differences by our constitutional traditions and the rule of law.”

Perhaps it was just the heat, but these words seemed heavy. Continue…

What we're not talking about

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, May 17, 2010 at 11:47 AM - 154 Comments

The realities of abortion in Tanzania are brutal. Canadian aid groups are confused and concerned. And a Liberal MP says a vote on abortion is inevitable.

The Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada apparently figures there are 124 “pro-choice” MPs and 120 “anti-abortion” MPs in the current Parliament, with 64 votes unaccounted for (a “pro-life” rally on Parliament Hill last week drew approximately 20 MPs). Though given the divergent views on the topic—as noted by Chris Selley—those titles might be overly simplified.

You're not helping, Mr. Szabo

By Aaron Wherry - Saturday, May 15, 2010 at 3:51 PM - 16 Comments

While the auditor general remains delightfully passive aggressive, Liberal Paul Szabo explains that one reason the public can’t have a look at the books is because, well, then we’d know about all the lawsuits we’re paying to fight and settle.

“If they were opened to the auditor general and open to the public, all of a sudden people would jump to conclusions without having all the facts,” he said.

“If you identify the member, or the law firm or all this other stuff, all of a sudden people could say … what’s wrong with this member, this member is getting sued all the time,” he said.

Szabo said a large chunk of the board’s budget is used to pay for legal costs because MPs are “very susceptible” to lawsuits and “our reputations can be ruined if it would ever get out.”

The Sun bureau, meanwhile, has apparently set out (scroll down) to interrogate every MP they come across, with predictably awkward results.

Parties unite for prostate cancer

By Mitchel Raphael - Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 10:20 AM - 9 Comments

All parties were united by wearing blue to show their support for NDP leader Jack Layton in his battle with prostate cancer. The men were given ties and the women were given scarves by Prostate Cancer Canada. Below, Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose.

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Liberal MP Justin Trudeau.

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The Commons: ‘This is not an easy issue’

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at 10:50 PM - 70 Comments

The Scene. It being 5:55pm, the Speaker moved on to time allotted for private members’ business, specially the resumption of debate on bill C-384. Approximately 250 of the 277 members, gathered previously to vote on a pair of motions, collected their belongings and departed for dinner.

The Speaker waited a few minutes for the House to settle, then called on the Bloc’s Francine Lalonde to restate herself. Clutching her notes with both hands, she stood and explained that C-384, her proposal, sought to amend the Criminal Code for the purposes of decriminalizing euthanasia or medically assisted suicide. Continue…

The most important book on the Hill

By Mitchel Raphael - Monday, November 30, 2009 at 12:06 PM - 34 Comments

The launch of the second edition of House of Commons Procedure and Practice was held in the Speaker’s dining room. Speaker Peter Milliken (left) with the book’s co-editors Audrey O’Brien, Clerk of the House of Commons and Marc Bosc, Deputy Clerk.

NDP MP Peter Stoffer gets his copy autographed by O’Brien.

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Really?

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, November 25, 2009 at 10:42 PM - 17 Comments

From Bruce Cheadle’s analysis of the scene.

Hillier managed to plug his recently released memoir and even autographed a couple of copies for star-struck MPs after his testimony.

And from the Twitter feed of CBC radio reporter Alison Crawford.

At cttee Paul Szabo snapped several pics of Hiller on his personal camera & then asked someone to snap one of him with Hillier.

The vast socialist conspiracy (III)

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at 5:39 PM - 26 Comments

Here is the airing of accusations and denials that followed Question Period today.

In other news, the protester known as Jeh was just on Power & Politics explaining that nothing was amiss with the blood on his face, that the poor quality of the image of him leaving Parliament is to account for the blood not being visible. He also produced what he said was an ER report of his injuries to the nose and face. Continue…

Allegation and refutation of intimidation in the House

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, October 22, 2009 at 11:31 AM - 39 Comments

After Question Period yesterday, and after the House had finished celebrating the career of Peter Milliken, Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt rose on the following point of privilege.

Mr. Speaker, earlier this month, the member for Mississauga South rose in the House and accused me of intimidation. I was not in the chamber when he raised the issue so I would like to take a moment now to respond. I want to make it clear that I did not make the gesture alleged by the member opposite, nor did I in any way intimidate the member opposite. Indeed, I am very cognizant of the fact that my two children, who are eight and five, watch question period and I would not make that gesture as a result of that, and not only that but also because I have respect for the House. Accordingly, there is nothing for which I can apologize to the House or its members. I want to thank you, Mr. Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to address the incident. I regret that we have to take the House’s time to respond in this way. We should be debating and facing the real issues of Canadians: crime, criminal sentencing, stimulating the financial recovery of industry, protecting jobs and protecting the environment. Those are the things that actually matter to the people of Canada from coast to coast to coast.

Paul Szabo’s original complaint, with description of the alleged “rude finger gesture” in question, was filed October 2. His colleague Bryon Wilfert rose the following Monday to say that he had witnessed the same “rude gesture.”

Absent other evidence, the Speaker has declared the matter closed.

Gavel, gavel, who gets the gavel? – Liveblogging the Ethics committee

By kadyomalley - Tuesday, October 6, 2009 at 8:45 AM - 5 Comments

That’s right, it’s time for one of ITQ’s very favourite rituals: election of committee chairs — that time-honoured tradition that is currently underway in meeting rooms across the precinct, which means she has to be a wee bit selective in deciding which ones to cover.

So, why did Ethics make the cut? Well, because there’s a rumour afoot of a plot to oust the incumbent chair, Paul Szabo, which means that this morning’s get-together could involve more than the usual pro forma vote to re-elect. Oh, and what with the latest controversy over ministerial fundraising by certain Toronto crown corporations, it might be fun to find out what will be on the committee agenda this fall. Anyway, check back at 9am for full coverage.

Yay! Committees are back! This is totally more fun than having an election.
8:55:13 AM
Greetings, fans of seemingly routine business with the potential to careen wildly off the rails! In mere minutes, the (re)inaugural meeting of one of ITQ’s perennial favourite committees will get underway, which is why she’s staked out a front row seat in the Railway Room. Not that there was much competition, mind you — so few of her gallery colleagues appreciate the subtle intrigue of a good old-fashioned chair wrangling.

Up for the government today, we have most of the usual suspects from the last iteration of this particular committee: Bob Dechert, Pierre Poilievre, Greg Rickford and Patricia Davidson. On the other side of the table, Paul Szabo — who doesn’t get to take his usual seat until and unless reelected — as well as Borys W., and Sukh Dhaliwal; Carole Freeman and Luc Desnoyers on Team Bloc Quebecois, and Bill Siksay as the lone representative for the NDP.

It’s all smiles at the moment — lots of intracaucus fraternizing going on – although the aura around the Liberal contingent has a distinctly glummer hue.

Does anyone else remember Murder at Midnight — one of those characteristically grisly game that was a staple of the now-known-as-tween year sleepover? That’s how I imagine the Liberal caucus right now — suspicious and stuck in the dark.
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Mitchel Raphael on the picture that took 20 years to get

By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, May 28, 2009 at 1:40 PM - 0 Comments

Gilles Duceppe’s short-lived acting career

At the third annual Maclean’s Parliamentarians of the Year awards gala, Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe was runner-up for most knowledgeable MP and best orator. He found the latter recognition “funny, because in Quebec they are saying I am not that good an orator. But here, I am very good.” Duceppe comes from a family passionate about theatre and film. When asked if this had influenced his oratorical skills, he noted: “I was not a good actor at all. I can’t play a role. I did only once for a Christmas play [in Grade 6 at his Catholic school]. The nuns had me play Saint Joseph, the husband of the Virgin Mary, which is the most awful role for a man to play—the husband of a virgin!” The awards gala was hosted by Maclean’s columnist Paul Wells and Le Devoir columnist and L’actualité magazine contributor Manon Cornellier. Speaker Peter Milliken did the toast. Bob Rae won for best orator but could not attend—in his place he sent Toronto Grit MP Kirsty Duncan to fetch his award. (In 2007, when Michael Ignatieff won for best orator, he sent Ruby Dhalla on his behalf.) Toronto Liberal MP Rob Oliphant, who voted for Rae as best orator, said the reason Rae beat Ignatieff this year was that as leader “Michael doesn’t have as much time in the House. Bob gets more floor time.” Ontario NDP MP Joe Comartin won, for the second year in a row, the award for most knowledgeable MP. He said he can now place the extremely heavy awards in his Windsor, Ont., office because he just replaced his flimsy desk with a more solid one. For the third year in a row Nova Scotia NDP Peter Stoffer won most collegial. In second place was Liberal whip Rodger Cuzner, who noted: “I guess I’ve got to drink a little more [to beat Stoffer].” Cuzner said he wasn’t surprised that fellow Grit Paul Szabo once again won for hardest-working MP. Szabo sends new MPs a three-page letter filled with things they need to watch out for. “He wants to see everyone succeed,” says Cuzner. Halifax NDP MP Megan One of the highlights for her was seeing Garneau at the Canada Aviation Museum. “I really wanted to get my picture taken with him but I was too shy,” recalls Leslie. “So I took a picture of him by himself and it’s in my photo album still.” Twenty years later at the awards gala, Capital Diary snapped the first picture of Leslie and Garneau together. The NDP continued to dominate the awards for the third year, which had leader Jack Layton beaming all night. He noted the most knowledgeable MP, Joe Comartin, is his party’s justice critic and that the best rookie MP is their deputy justice critic. Layton also had kind words for the winner of best overall MP, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney: “He’s always a guy you can approach. I’ve always had a good relationship with Jason. He’s straight up. What you see is what you get.”

Another chip off the old Bloc

The Bloc’s Paul Crête also did well in Maclean’s Parliamentarians of the Year poll. He placed third for most collegial MP and fourth for hardest-working. Crête has been an MP for nearly 16 years and was part of the wave of separatists elected when the party ran in its first federal election in 1993. It was a well-timed tribute to the MP, who will be leaving federal politics to run for the Parti Québécois, in a yet-to-be-announced Quebec by-election in the riding now vacant thanks to the resignation of ADQ leader Mario Dumont.

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Mitchel Raphael on a hill feeding frenzy

By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 12:20 PM - 1 Comment

Those people on the Hill sure like free food

The Canadian Pork Council held a BBQ on the Hill (free pulled pork sandwiches!) to publicize the safety of their product in the midst of swine flu panic. It was the longest lineup Capital Diary had ever seen for a Hill reception. The final 30 people did not even get meat—some of them grabbed buns to soak up the leftover liquid in the serving pan. New Democrat Peter Stoffer was one of the few MPs who waited his turn in the endless line, even when organizers tried to pull him to the front for preferential treatment. The line went slower when cabinet ministers like Gerry Ritz (Agriculture) and Jean-Pierre Blackburn (National Revenue) took over from staff to do the serving. Everyone from Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq to Grit Leader Michael Ignatieff was chomping down. Conservative MP Shelly Glover noted she loves ham. “My kids live off of it,” says the mother of five, who was elected in the last election. (She is on leave from the Winnipeg Police Service, where she used to investigate crack houses and went undercover as a sex-trade worker.) Quipped deputy Speaker Andrew Scheer at the BBQ: “This is the good kind of pork on Parliament Hill.”

Who knew Justin had a tattoo?

Last year, Nova Scotia Grit Mike Savage was the lone MP to take up the Canadian Paraplegic Association’s challenge to spend a day in a wheelchair. This year, several politicians participated, including Conservative MP Dona Cadman and senators such as Olympic skiing gold medallist Nancy Greene Raine. They experienced first-hand the challenges of being in a wheelchair—travelling over carpets or hitting inaccessible committee rooms on the Hill. The day ended with wheelchair races. When Justin Trudeau took on his Toronto Liberal colleague Martha Hall Findlay, he suggested she remove her jacket. When she did and it was revealed she was sleeveless underneath, Trudeau, who was already without a jacket and tie, stripped down to his sleeveless undershirt. (A few people were surprised to see a small tattoo of the earth on his upper left arm.) He won for fastest male MP, but beat Hall Findlay only by a slim margin. It should be noted, however, that Hall Findlay had a “wardrobe malfunction.” Her bra straps slipped off her shoulders and she had to pause to push them back up.

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A moment to say nice things

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, May 14, 2009 at 11:49 AM - 0 Comments

Our little pamphlet celebrated the parliamentarians of the year last night—and the written testaments to each MP’s excellence are now online, including salutes to Jason Kenney, Bob Rae, Peter Stoffer, Meghan Leslie, Paul Szabo, Bill Casey and Joe Comartin. The short profiles of Stoffer and Rae are particularly eloquent and insightful.

This is the third year we’ve handed out awards—previous winners include Bill Blaikie and Ralph Goodale.

The Parliamentarians of the Year

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at 7:57 PM - 10 Comments

The Parliamentarians of the Year were honoured at a ceremony in Ottawa tonight. Maclean’s editor-in-chief Ken Whyte handed out awards to this year’s winners: Jason Kenney, MP of the Year; Bob Rae, best orator; Megan Leslie, best rookie; Peter Stoffer, most collegial; Bill Casey, best represents constituents; Paul Szabo, hardest working; Joe Comartin, most knowledgeable. For profiles of the winners, pick up this week’s issue of Maclean’s, or check out our Parliamentarians of the year article.

The Commons: The mild voice of consensus

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, January 26, 2009 at 4:59 PM - 7 Comments

With the Throne Speech through, MPs returned to the House to lounge about before business began. Speaker Peter Milliken fiddled with the morning paper’s Sudoku. Veteran Affairs Minister Greg Thomson flipped through the New Yorker. The Prime Minister scrutinized a copy of the new seating chart, periodically looking up to see precisely where his least favourite members of the Liberal side were now seated.

Eventually it was decided that perhaps they should get on with the business of rescuing the nation from economic apocalypse, so Milliken put away his Sudoku and called the proceedings to order. The Prime Minister rose to a standing ovation and commenced with the procedural formalities.

When it came time to begin debate, Mr. Harper turned to Tilly O’Neill-Gordon, the retired elementary school teacher from Miramichi who sits in the back row and speaks in exactly the tone of voice one would expect from a retired elementary school teacher. Here, one imagined, was the mild voice of consensus we had been promised.

She spoke of our “unprecedented time” and its “unprecedented challenge.” 

“What,” she asked, “are we going to do about it?” Continue…

Ted Menzies will not be silenced

By Aaron Wherry - Sunday, January 18, 2009 at 7:29 PM - 4 Comments

The lo-fi, but immensely helpful, HowdTheyVote.ca appears to have been updated through the current sitting of Parliament.

The most verbose member of parliament (aside from Speaker Peter Milliken) during fall’s abbreviated session? Ted Menzies, who, as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Finance, has already managed an impressive 10,361 words.

Paul Szabo, Paul Crete and Jack Layton were the most talkative members of the Liberal, Bloc and New Democrat sides respectively.

Gordon O’Connor (chief government whip) and Rona Ambrose (Minister of Labour) have so far gotten by on a combined 122 words. Thirty-eight MPs, including Michael Ignatieff, have so far yet to speak.

BTC: Local v. national

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, September 2, 2008 at 12:34 PM - 0 Comments

Back during one of those heady days of mid-August when the ethics committee was sitting and Paul Szabo was slowly losing what remains of his hair, Conservative backbencher Pierre Lemieux came up with a remarkable little claim to his own irrelevance.

“It’s well known amongst all our colleagues, even on the other side, that the national campaign has a tremendous impact on the local campaign,” he told one witness. “There are very few candidates who win the election in their riding based on their own efforts.”

This might seem a rather cynical take on the political process here, but is it necessarily true? Continue…

Liveblogging the Ethics committee – Day 2, Part 2: Now with 200% more witnesses! (Maybe.)

By kadyomalley - Tuesday, August 12, 2008 at 1:46 PM - 0 Comments

Background reading:

• Yesterday’s highlights are here and here.
• First part of today’s hearing is here.
• Overview of potential witnesses here

1:57:09 PM
We have witnesses! I repeat, we have witnesses: three of them, in fact: Doug Lowry, David Marler and Geoffrey Webber. Coincidentally, all three are what we like to call Hostiles: two official agents and one former candidate, all of whom have spoken out about the program in the past, and one of whom has filed an affidavit in support of Elections Canada’s contention that the money was spent by the national campaign, not the locals.

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Liveblogging the Ethics committee Day 2, Part 1: That is, if anyone bothers to show up

By kadyomalley - Tuesday, August 12, 2008 at 8:31 AM - 0 Comments

Read yesterday’s highlights here and here

Overview of potential witnesses here.

9:45:29 AM
Welcome to Witness Watch 2008, everyone! As mentioned in the ITQ preview, today’s agenda is somewhat unsettled, to put it nicely, since nobody knows whether any of the scheduled witnesses will actually show up. There’s also the small matter of that letter from the clerk – you know, the one in which he said that one person on the witness list told his staff that the Conservative Party had instructed them not to show up, which the Tories have categorically denied

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And now, a few very pointed questions from the audience: Liveblogging the Ethics committee's afternoon session

By kadyomalley - Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 1:42 PM - 0 Comments

1:54:11 PM
… And we’re back, or at least on the verge of it – that two hour lunchbreak just flew by, although I did manage to wolf down a balanced and nutritious lunch of — black cherry ice cream. Two scoops. Which I hope answers the question of whether I’m some sort of health nut somewhat definitively.

Marc Mayrand is already in his seat, along with Francois Bernier, his — co-election thingy; I’ve forgotten his title, but he’s a senior staffer at Elections Canada.

They’re only scheduled to do two more hours of questioning — the last two will be spent on committee business, which will mean dealing with David Tilson’s trio of motions, and finalizing the witness list. That could get very interesting indeed, as the chair wants to hold in public, rather than in camera, which is how these things are usually done.
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UPDATE – In and Out Inside Out: Liveblogging the Ethics committee

By kadyomalley - Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 9:12 AM - 0 Comments

UPDATE THINGY: Instead of making this the longest post in the history of macleans.ca, I’m going to switch threads for the afternoon session, so click here for part two.

9:40:42 AM
Twenty minutes to go, and I’m already installed at the media table, having once again shown up early on the assumption that journalists would have slept in line outside the committee room overnight to secure a prime viewing spot, because I apparently haven’t yet figured out that not everyone gets as excited over committees as I do.

(Although this is likely to be a slightly better-attended session than the last meeting I covered, at which I was quite literally the only reporter there.)

Anyway, before they get started, a brief recap for anyone out there who hasn’t been following the story with as obsessive an eye as ITQ: The Ethics committee is about to kick off its long-awaited investigation into the so-called In and Out scandal, an ongoing battle between Elections Canada and the Conservative Party over whether the latter went over the advertising spending limit for advertising during the last election by funneling national ad buys through local campaigns. (For more background, check the FAQ here.)

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Summer school for scandal – An ITQ refresher course on in-and-out (and why it matters)

By kadyomalley - Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 6:15 AM - 0 Comments

With just hours to go before the Ethics committee kicks off its eleven-months-in-the-making investigation into the Conservative in and out election spending scheme, it seems like as good a time as any to re-post the official ITQ In and Out FAQ, which was originally published on April 28, 2008.

What, exactly, are the Conservatives accused of?
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Oh, and just in case there was even a shadow of a doubt in anyone's mind …

By kadyomalley - Monday, July 14, 2008 at 10:32 PM - 0 Comments

Of course I’ll be covering the Ethics committee this week — both days, gavel to gavel; from10am til 6pm – not including the two hour break for lunch and however many hours of Conservative-driven procedural shenanigans Paul Szabo can take before he starts cuts off government members’ microphones.
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Sun, fun and in and out committee hearings – An ITQ liveblogging summer spectacular!

By kadyomalley - Monday, July 7, 2008 at 11:15 AM - 0 Comments

We all knew it was coming – some of us have been counting down the hours, in fact – but still, now it’s official. In the Big Committee Room too — not holed away in West Block, where no one can hear you scream (unless you happen to be David Tilson):
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