Treacherousness is in the eye of the beholder (II)

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 1:34 PM - 0 Comments

In case you were wondering, Minister Kent’s office hasn’t yet responded to my request for clarification. Regardless, Mr. Kent will probably have to explain himself to the Speaker now—at least so far as his second use of the term “treacherous”—because the NDP’s Pierre Dionne Labelle rose with a point of order after Question Period yesterday.

Mr. Speaker, in his response earlier to my colleague from Halifax, the Minister of the Environment called her a traitor. Since when do we call someone a traitor for going to meet with elected representatives in another country? Why is the environment minister keeping tabs on the people the NDP meets with? We maintain valuable relationships with progressive people in the United States. Instead of keeping tabs on us, he would do well to keep an eye on the hole in the ozone layer.

The Speaker said he would review the comment in question.

Treacherousness is in the eye of the beholder

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, November 22, 2011 at 7:13 PM - 0 Comments

Last week, Peter Kent used the term “treacherous” to describe the “course of leaving the domestic debate and heading abroad to attack a legitimate Canadian resource which is being responsibly developed and regulated.” In the two days after, Conservative MPs used the phrase “anti-Canada” to describe the trip of two NDP MPs to Washington.

Today in QP, Mr. Kent returned to the adjective with the following for the NDP’s Megan Leslie.

Mr. Speaker, I welcome my colleague back from her treacherous adventure abroad. I am sure Canadian workers and our resource industries will rest much more quietly now that she is back in this place.

There are at least two definitions of treacherous—”hazardous” and treasonous”—that could conceivably be applied here. This second reference by Mr. Kent seems to me to be closer to “hazardous,” if only when heard with the sarcastic tone Mr. Kent used to say it. The first reference seemed to me at the time to be closer to “treasonous” (though I was not there to hear his tone at the time). A commenter in this thread did beg to differ. Still now, I think it seems to imply treason, though I suppose it could merely be an unfortunately timed attempt at withering sarcasm. (I remain fairly confident that the implication of  the phrase “anti-Canada” is fairly clear.)

For the sake of clearing up any and all misunderstandings, I’ve sent an email to Mr. Kent’s office seeking clarification as to his exact meaning.

Pop quiz

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, November 21, 2011 at 4:58 PM - 0 Comments

The Environment Minister was asked this afternoon to explain the contradiction reported in this story about government cuts to ozone monitoring. Twice, Peter Kent claimed the report had taken comments out of context. And then Justin Trudeau stood and declared that he was ditching his prepared question on the topic to make a more straightforward appeal.

Can the minister explain to the House what “ozone” is and what is the difference between its impact at low altitude and high altitude? I just need to know that he understands the issues.

Mr. Kent responded as follows (with a brief interruption due to heckling from the Liberal side).

Mr. Speaker, if there are any shortcomings in this House it is in the quality of the questions from the Liberal opposition. This government would gladly compare our record on the environment, in all its dimensions to … Mr. Speaker, to complete my question, again the opposition is using a questionable media source quotation of one of my staff that has been taken out of context.

Speaking with reporters after QP, Mr. Trudeau explained himself. Continue…

This is the week that was

By Aaron Wherry - Saturday, November 19, 2011 at 3:42 PM - 0 Comments

Pat Martin tweeted a bad word. But refused to apologize. And claimed a kind of victory.

The government’s investments weren’t as advertised, but the future looks expensive. Supply management was put on the table and duly debated. The Royal Society asked us to think about euthanasia, but no one wanted to talk about it. The Conservative party has some reimbursements it might return. The NDP got set to debate itself as the contenders peddled their thoughts. The Liberals offered to realign the House at no extra expense. And a multi-party committee came together to consider matters of life and death. Continue…

Just another casual allegation of treason

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 10:00 AM - 0 Comments

After explaining to the House that opposition MPs were no longer relevant and dissenting opinions would no longer be tolerated, Peter Kent stepped into the foyer yesterday and described the visit of two NDP MPs to Washington as follows.

As you have seen this week, one of the opposition parties has taken the treacherous course of leaving the domestic debate and heading abroad to attack a legitimate Canadian resource which is being responsibly developed and regulated.  

Treachery is synonymous with treason. During World War II, the British parliament enacted the Treachery Act to prosecute enemy conspirators. Sixteen people were subsequently executed for violations under the act.

‘Anything you need’

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 9:55 AM - 1 Comment

Peter Kent reiterates to the Star that his conversation with Vern Freedlander wasn’t as Mr. Freedlander reported it. Whatever the case, Mr. Freedlander wasn’t registered as a lobbyist.

Freedlander billed the Town of Huntsville a total of $16,588.51 from December 2008 to September 2009, including a monthly retainer that worked out to $187.50 per hour.

One email from Freedlander to John Finley, the Huntsville economic development and grants officer, lays out the work the consultant would do for the municipality and his fee. “I will be available for phone consultation, lobbying efforts, anything you need,” Freedlander wrote in the Dec. 3, 2008 email. Apart from the email discussing the alleged conversation with Kent and another email requesting the contact information of someone at the foreign affairs department, there are no signs that Freedlander spoke to federal officials about the G8 Summit on Huntsville’s behalf.

You’ve got a friend in government

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 8:30 AM - 1 Comment

The Star obtains new emails related to the goings on in Huntsville.

An email dated Dec. 29, 2008, has Freedlander detailing a conversation with Environment Minister Peter Kent, his former broadcast colleague, who at that time was minister of state for the Americas. His written recollection of the conversation suggests that Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and John Baird, who was then minister of transport, were approving infrastructure funding applications submitted to them by their Conservative caucus colleagues.

“(Kent) told me he will whole-heartedly (sic) support the Huntsville IMC at cabinet and wanted to make sure we pass along our pitch to Tony Clement ASAP,” says the email addressed to Doughty and copied to two other senior municipal officials. “Peter tells me that right now MPs are being asked to provide infrastructure projects to cabinet for direct approvals by Baird and Flaherty. They earlier shovels get in the ground the better.”

Mr. Kent’s office denies any such conversation ever took place.

Vern Freedlander was previously referenced in an email between Tony Clement and Huntsville mayor Claude Doughty, in which Mr. Clement put Mr. Freedlander in touch with Mr. Doughty about a job. (Mr. Doughty told the CBC that Mr. Freedlander began working for the town of Huntsville on that job in early 2009. The email obtained by the Star predates that, but only slightly.)

The Commons: Looking on the bright side of global warming

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, October 4, 2011 at 5:53 PM - 36 Comments

The Scene. For sure, Peter Kent’s task is an unenviable one. He who must stand and take responsibility for the Harper government’s oft-lamented environmental policy—he who must be regularly derided by the opposition’s critics—is owed all of our empathy and perhaps even some of our charity.

But if anyone is to hold the title of Environment Minister, it might as well be Mr. Kent. He may lack the swirling bombast and fierce dismissiveness of John Baird, but after so many years in front of a television camera, he is an unflinching pitchman. And having, as a journalist, spent so many years listening to the spin of political and professional communicators, he is now an awesome weaver of words and assertions.

Continue…

Who do you mean by ‘we?’

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, August 15, 2011 at 4:15 PM - 2 Comments

In September 2009, when he was environment minister, Jim Prentice met with representatives from the Alberta government to discuss a national cap-and-trade program.

“I think you would agree with me that encouraging businesses and individuals to change behaviour requires appropriate price signals,” a briefing note, which outlines “points to register” with the Alberta government, reads. ”We believe that a carefully designed cap-and-trade system will send the appropriate price signals to encourage changes and ultimately help reduce emissions.”

That was, of course, the stated policy of the Harper Government at the time.

John Baird has since warned that cap-and-trade (or at least a Liberal proposal in that regard) is “dangerous” and “unCanadian” and “incredibly divisive,” while the Prime Minister has said cap-and-trade (or at least an NDP proposal in that regard) would “wreak enormous havoc on the Canadian economy.”

Mind you, Environment Minister Peter Kent allowed in May that a continental cap-and-trade program “can always be something to consider in the future.” And, indeed, the government’s website still describes it as an “option.”

The quiet cuts

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, August 4, 2011 at 11:00 AM - 17 Comments

Environment Canada is due to shed somewhere between 300 and 700 jobs.

He said the department was eliminating 300 positions, rather than the more than 700 positions cited by the unions. Attrition will cover many of the losses, while others affected will get help to transition to new jobs.

“While difficult, this decision will allow our government to continue to invest in clear air and a healthier environment for Canadians,” Morris said, adding that the department has no fewer employees than when the Tories took office in 2006.

The list of those affected includes two biologists, seven chemists, 45 computer scientists, 37 engineers, 19 meteorologists and 92 physical scientists.

Towards 2020

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, August 3, 2011 at 11:27 AM - 44 Comments

While officials told Environment Minister Peter Kent in January that existing measures left Canada short of its emission targets, the National Round Table on the Environment finds the government has overstated projected reductions.

The report, produced by an independent arm’s-length agency, broke out eight specific federal policies and their estimates, and found that the government made reliable estimates for only three. The other five were “likely overestimated,” according to the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy.

All in all, the package of climate policies the federal government has adopted will likely have half the effect claimed when each policy was introduced, the report suggests.

The Commons: Opening salvos, politely spoken

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, June 6, 2011 at 6:20 PM - 50 Comments

The Scene. Buttoning his jacket preemptively, Jack Layton did not bother to contain his grin as he looked up at the Speaker in anticipation of an invitation to stand.

Indeed, here the Speaker announced that the House had arrived at the time set aside for oral questions and called on the leader of the opposition to begin. And here Mr. Layton, having earned this hallowed and cursed title, thus stood to bask in the applause of his bountiful caucus.

When the ovation had subsided, he congratulated the Prime Minister and the members opposite on their recent election results. And yet, he noted, something like 60% of Canadians had not voted for a Conservative government.

“Ahh,” groaned various government members at Mr. Layton’s insistence on math.

The Prime Minister, Mr. Layton continued, had promised to work with all members of the House. But, in Mr. Layton’s estimation, the Speech from the Throne had failed to reflect this turn toward sweetness and light. “Where,” Mr. Layton wondered aloud, “is the government’s willingness to work with others?”

As if to demonstrate his own commitment to a new, more civil, House of Commons, the Prime Minister had excused himself from this day of normal business so that he might view the flooding in Quebec. In his place stood Peter Van Loan, that universally revered champion of noble discourse. Continue…

Peter Kent's brave stand

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 4:21 PM - 11 Comments

John Baird said the Liberal cap-and-trade plan was “unCanadian” and Stephen Harper said the NDP cap-and-trade plan would “wreak enormous havoc on the Canadian economy,” but Environment Minister Peter Kent apparently thinks cap-and-trade could still be pursued at some point.

“There’s no expectation of cap-and-trade continentally in the near or medium future and we don’t believe that it would be wise to go with a shallow market in a closely integrated continental economy,” Kent said. “It can always be something to consider in the future.”

'The most aggressive GHG reduction efforts undertaken by any economy in the world'

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 1:24 PM - 9 Comments

Andrew Leach explains what Environment Minister Peter Kent has to sort out if we’re to meet our greenhouse gas reduction targets.

With these challenges in mind, Mr. Kent’s decisions will determine whether or not we are in a position to meet our Copenhagen commitments, and determine either the costs we incur to meet our targets or the costs we incur as a result of not meeting them. Meeting them will require the most aggressive GHG reduction efforts undertaken by any economy in the world, and the challenge gets tougher with every day we do not act. Not meeting them may limit access to markets for our exported products and access to capital for our investment projects. Inaction could also provide other nations with justification for the imposition of low carbon fuel standards or border adjustment tariffs on our products.

On third thought

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, April 25, 2011 at 10:44 AM - 19 Comments

A few days after revoking his previous endorsement of a Conservative candidate with a controversial past, Peter Kent revokes his revocation.

“I regret any embarrassment that my remarks may have caused the Prime Minister,” Mr. Kent said in a statement sent to The Globe and Mail after Mr. Harper defended the candidate, Gavan Paranchothy, during a weekend campaign stop in Mississauga, Ont.

How Stockwell Day got crutches and lost his shirt

By Mitchel Raphael - Friday, February 4, 2011 at 2:00 PM - 3 Comments

Was it Gerard Kennedy’s cologne?
Illness and injuries seemed to be the theme of the day as the House of Commons resumed last Monday. Treasury Board President Stockwell Day was on crutches. “There was a puppy on a railroad… ” Day quipped. The truth, he confessed, was that a giant Labrador retriever came out of nowhere and knocked him down while he was on a run. Day now has a severe ankle injury. The dog didn’t just run him down: as he was running, Day was holding his shirt in his hand; after the fall, the dog grabbed the shirt and ran off with it.

Ontario NDP MP Glenn Thibeault slipped on some ice over the break, fracturing his arm and suffering severe hand injuries. Which meant, he says, that he could no longer do his hair. At one point it was looking like a comb-over, so he decided to just shave his head. He returned to Ottawa with a short buzz.

Quebec Liberal MP Alexandra Mendes showed up to question period wearing a medical mask. She was on day six of pneumonia. (It looks like the post-H1N1 trend of not coming to work on the Hill if you are sick is now officially over.) Her seatmate Gerard Kennedy asked whether she was trying to save him or was allergic to him. Later, Ted Menzies, the minister of state for finance, quipped to Mendes: “We thought Gerard just had strong cologne.” Other Conservatives joked about how the Liberals are literally muzzling their MPs.

Why’s Peter Kent so far away?
The House’s first day back for 2011 saw Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff ask the first five questions in question period, as opposed to just the first three. He has done this before, but Liberal MPs say watch for more QPs with Ignatieff piling on the first questions. Since this Prime Minister’s press conferences are few and far between, at least Stephen Harper now has to answer more questions in a public forum. Also on the first day back, Green party Leader Elizabeth May says she was not impressed with the remote seating position assigned the new environment minister. Peter Kent is now on the front bench, but is the second-last Conservative seat from the Speaker, down where the NDP sit. “We’ve never had an environment minister way down there,” says May.

Much ado over size
The first day of Parliament saw Speaker Peter Milliken throw his annual Robbie Burns dinner. This year, Ontario Conservative MP Ed Holder had the honour of addressing the haggis. When he pulled out a small knife to cut the Scottish delicacy, there were many chuckles. One MP shouted out, “Bill Blaikie‘s was bigger.” (The former NDP MP addressed the haggis with a sword.) Holder then pulled out a larger knife, to the delight of the crowd. This was Milliken’s 10th Robbie Burns dinner and likely his last as Speaker, since he does not plan to run in the next election. In honour of Milliken, a set of bagpipes was donated to the Rob Roy Pipe Band in Kingston, Ont., the city Milliken represents, for young people who want to learn to play the expensive instrument.

The tartan bazaar
The Cape Breton Highlanders were recently reinstated. (Formed in 1871, in 1954 they were combined with two other Nova Scotia battalions and renamed the Nova Scotia Highlanders.) Cape Breton Liberal MP Mark Eyking helped the brigade get reinstated, and for that he was made an honorary member. He says he now needs to get a kilt, but quips, “Can a Dutchman be a Highlander?” He says his wife, Pamela Eyking, is half-Scottish, so he is going to use her family tartan (the Gordon). Coincidentally, Defence Minister Peter MacKay, through his mother’s side of the family, already has a Gordon family tartan kilt, which he wore to Peter Milliken’s Robbie Burns dinner. MacKay said he would give Eyking his Gordon tartan kilt if Eyking would have a MacKay tartan kilt made up for the defence minister.

'Canada has a credible plan for addressing our environmental challenges.'

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, January 28, 2011 at 4:35 PM - 188 Comments

In the wake of a recommendation from the National Roundtable on the Environment and Economy that Canada move forward with a cap-and-trade system and a recommitment from the Liberals that they will move forward with cap-and-trade if elected, Peter Kent delivered his first major speech as Environment Minister this afternoon in Toronto.

The prepared text, after the jump. Continue…

'It's bait and switch'

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, January 10, 2011 at 10:25 AM - 73 Comments

Steven Chase looks at the government’s rhetorical turn towards “ethical oil.”

Environmental activists say the Harper government is adopting a classic diversionary tactic to redirect attention away from the oil sands’ poor environmental record. “It’s a rhetorical device; it’s bait and switch,” said Ed Whittingham, executive director of the Pembina Institute. “It’s designed to make us forget about the negative environmental impacts we have in Canada because you are comparing to a completely lower standard in other countries.”

Laura Payton has more.

How ethical is your oil?

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, January 7, 2011 at 5:32 PM - 188 Comments

The Environment Minister observed yesterday (around the 12-minute mark of that interview) that Canada is a supplier of ethical oil—a phrase recently employed by Ezra Levant—because the revenues derived from that oil are not used to “fund terrorism or the destabilization of other governments.” This may or may not beg questions about the origins of our own oil imports.

The latest release of Statistics Canada’s Energy Statistics Handbook lists our sources of crude oil and equivalents going back to 1989. Our noted individual sources in 2010 (through September) were, in order: Algeria, the United Kingdom, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Iran, Iraq, Mexico, Venezuela, Russia and the United States.

Check back later

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, January 7, 2011 at 11:11 AM - 18 Comments

Peter Kent casts his eyes forward.

Canada, which has committed to roughly matching U.S. efforts on fighting climate change, is watching carefully as the Obama administration rolls out new emission rules for power plants and refineries. Mr. Kent said Canada will draw up its own emission standards for petroleum refineries – including oil-sands facilities – but added there’s no schedule yet. “Our focus for the next several years is going to continue to be on maintaining the economic recovery and we will do nothing in the short term which would unnecessarily compromise or threaten to compromise that recovery,” Mr. Kent said. “It is not our intention to discourage development of one of our great natural resources. We know it can be developed responsibly.”

… The minister added that he plans to follow up a Conservative pledge to regulate pollutants by unveiling a proposal – “I hope some time this year” – for national air-quality standards based on a provincial agreement reached in 2010 by his predecessor. This would include rules for public reporting, modelling and monitoring air quality.

Peter Kent explains the greenhouse effect

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 9:04 AM - 210 Comments

Whatever his qualifications and future as Environment Minister, in cannot be said that Peter Kent doesn’t understand the problem he is now charged with addressing. Indeed, reporting for CBC in 1984, he hosted an extensive report on the looming threat of global warming. Twenty-six years later, it holds up rather well—either because of the foresight of the reporting or because the discussion has progressed so little since.

Parts 2 and 3 after the jump. Continue…

The cabinet shuffle: meaningful but not momentous

By John Geddes - Tuesday, January 4, 2011 at 7:42 PM - 53 Comments

It’s a mistake to read sweeping strategy into cabinet tinkering. Today’s mini-shuffle is interesting only if you take it on its own, modest terms.

The key move is Peter Kent taking over as environment minister. That job, in Stephen Harper’s government, places two demands on the minister: 1) bat back Opposition questions about the government’s elusive climate change policy; 2) advance that policy, whatever it may be, in bilateral talks with the U.S. and ongoing international negotiations under the complex interim deal hammered out last month in Cancun, Mexico.

Continue…

Who goes where

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, January 4, 2011 at 2:39 PM - 25 Comments

Peter Kent goes from Minister of State for Foreign Affairs to Minister of Environment. Diane Ablonczy goes from Minister of State for Seniors to Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. Julian Fantino becomes Minister of State for Seniors. Ted Menzies goes from parliamentary secretary for finance to Minister of State for Finance.

With the promotion of Mr. Menzies and the addition of Mr. Fantino, the ministry and the cabinet will once again number 38—one short, on both counts, of the historical high mark.

Official news release after the jump. Continue…

Do you think it's easy to make priorities?

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, December 8, 2010 at 1:54 PM - 75 Comments

A survey of recent government prioritizing.

Jim Flaherty, December 7. Mr. Speaker, Canada’s economic recovery remains our government’s number one priority.

Leona Aglukkaq, December 7. Mr. Speaker, we continue to make health care a priority.

Stephen Harper, December 7. Mr. Speaker, the priorities of this government, beyond national defence and criminal justice, are pretty obvious. It is preserving jobs; it is making sure Canadian families do not pay taxes that are too high; and it is making sure that we fully fund transfers for health and education to the provinces…

Stephen Harper, December 7. That is why, as this government has looked at its budgetary priorities, maintaining the growth of those transfers for our health care system has been the number one priority of this government.

Peter Kent, December 6. I must emphasize that the safety of Canadians and all people travelling on Canadian roadways remains our first priority.

Continue…