The Liberals jump on the cellphone airwaves bandwagon

By Peter Nowak - Friday, January 20, 2012 at 2:21 PM - 0 Comments

Esther Gibbons/Flickr

Ah, political opportunism–so easy to see, so disappointing to witness.

No sooner did Open Media start a petition for better wireless competition than the Liberals jumped in. The activist group’s latest effort, called Stop the Cellphone Squeeze, is urging the federal government to set aside spectrum licenses in an upcoming auction for new wireless companies. In plain English, they want big players Bell, Rogers and Telus barred from bidding on a certain portion of the airwaves that are necessary for cellphones to work.

As of this past weekend, the petition had amassed more than 35,000 signatures. Invisible Industry Minister Christian Paradis has said the rules for the auction will be unveiled “soon.”

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Liberal Biennial Convention 2012 Ottawa

By Mitchel Raphael - Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 8:12 PM - 0 Comments

Martha Hall Findlay (left), Michael Igntieff.

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And then this happened

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, September 30, 2011 at 1:19 PM - 68 Comments

John Baird is apparently very particular about his business cards. This matter was, perhaps predictably, a subject of some discussion during Question Period this morning. With his first intervention, for instance, Liberal Scott Brison suggested Mr. Baird was giving taxpayers the “golden finger.” After the Foreign Affairs Minister had laughed this off, Mr. Brison asked a supplementary question, which I reprint here, in its entirety, without comment.

Mr. Speaker, there seems to be quite the quid pro quo going on over there. The foreign minister gives the President of the Treasury Board a $50 million slush fund for his riding. Then the Treasury Board minister lets the foreign minister break the rules to get his golden business cards. This is a very expensive game of “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours”. When Canadians are struggling just to get by, why are Conservative ministers showering each other with gold? Why the golden showers?

Video here.

After QP, Mr. Brison was asked by reporters about his phrasing. He responded as follows. Continue…

The first day back, and two MPs’ ‘messy breakup’

By Mitchel Raphael - Monday, September 26, 2011 at 9:50 AM - 0 Comments

Photography by Mitchel Raphael

Jack Layton’s chair to go to his family

MPs arriving back on the Hill for the first day of Parliament were greeted by black coffins covered in cut-out, pastel-coloured butterflies on which were written the names of murdered and missing Aboriginal women. It was part of an awareness campaign coordinated by Walk4Justice. That morning, there were tributes for Jack Layton, and his green House of Commons chair was left empty for the day. NDP MP Peter Stoffer says his caucus is buying the chair Layton sat in for $950 and presenting to the late leader’s family. MPs wore orange ribbons in honour of Layton, though at question period it was mostly NDP, Liberal and Bloc parliamentarians wearing them. That included both interim Liberal leader Bob Rae and interim Bloc leader Louis Plamondon. On the Hill for the tribute was former NDP leader Alexa McDonough. The day before, she had helped with the orientation sessions for new MPs from all parties, covering issues ranging from office management to how to avoid temptations like the endless supply of booze at Hill functions. Question period started with interim NDP leader Nycole Turmel reading her questions from her papers, which lessened the impact. She was followed by NDP finance critic Peggy Nash, whose voice boomed out. “I’m used to speaking at rallies,” quipped Nash, who is seen as a strong potential NDP leader candidate.

MPs call it splits

Liberal MPs Mark Eyking and Rodger Cuzner were both elected in 2000 and until Parliament resumed on Monday they were also roommates. “It’s a messy breakup,” jokes Cuzner. “Eyking wants visitation rights for the clock radio.” In reality, two of Eyking’s sons have moved to the capital. One sells real estate and the other is at university. That means Eyking’s wife is in the capital more often too. Cuzner jokes he was “tripping over” Eykings at their place. So he moved out and is now living with his nephew.

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The demise of the HST (IV)

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, September 2, 2011 at 12:30 PM - 6 Comments

Scott Brison points to the Harper government.

For all this rhetoric, federal Liberal finance critic Scott Brison – the Liberals got all of this rolling during the Chrétien era – notes the Tories did little to help sell the tax in B.C. or elsewhere by wading into sometimes furious provincial debates. “They have refused to share any political risk or pedagogy to explain any tax change, and left provincial governments flailing in the wind,” he said in an interview. “If it’s important politically to the federal Conservatives, they ought to be putting some skin in the game politically.”

‘No good purpose is served’

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, August 11, 2011 at 11:33 AM - 26 Comments

In Colombia yesterday, the Prime Minister attacked critics of free trade with the country.

“No good purpose is served in this country or in the United States by anybody who is standing in the way of the development of the prosperity of Colombia,” said Harper. ”Colombia is a wonderful country with great possibility and great ambition. And we need to be encouraging that every step of the way. That’s why we have made this a priority to get this deal done. We can’t block the progress of a country like this for protectionist reasons.”

… Opposition to the trade deal has come from critics such as the federal NDP in Canada. Similarly, U.S. lawmakers have dragged their feet on approving a similar free-trade deal with Colombia, citing concerns over human rights. But Harper scoffed at those concerns, calling them a phony excuse. ”I think there are protectionist forces in our country and in the United States that don’t care about development and prosperity in this part of the world. And that’s unfortunate.”

The free trade deal with Colombia was the subject of extensive debate in the House: see here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

When I was reporting this piece on the House of Commons, MPs were debating a deal with Panama. The discussion I sat in on then—including debate between Scott Brison and Peter Julian and later Joe Comartin and Brad Trost—dealt with many of the same points of contention.

'Sensible, pragmatic, courageous'

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, March 15, 2011 at 2:47 PM - 31 Comments

Scott Brison considers British Columbia’s carbon tax.

“If you look at Campbell’s government in terms of tax policy and carbon tax, he was a centrist,” Brison said during a one-hour interview with The Province editorial board. “A carbon tax is not a left-wing or a right-wing policy, it’s simply a sensible, pragmatic, courageous [policy],” adding it also was “a risky idea” politically.

Here is the official explanation of that carbon tax.

The rulings

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, March 9, 2011 at 4:30 PM - 165 Comments

Here is the prepared text for the Speaker’s ruling on the government’s refusal to produce documents:

Here is the prepared text for the Speaker’s ruling on Bev Oda’s statements to Parliament:

In both cases, the Speaker found a prima facie question of privilege. In response to the former, Liberal Scott Brison moved that the matter be referred to the procedure and House affairs committee and that the committee report back to the House by March 21. In response to the latter, Liberal John McKay moved that the matter be referred to the procedure and House affairs committee and that the committee report back to the House by March 25.

The Commons: Bow before the independent business owner

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, February 9, 2011 at 6:55 PM - 101 Comments

The Scene. At the risk of giving away the surprise ending, let us start with this afternoon’s profound revelation. You may wish to sit down first and are advised to put on a helmet or some other kind of cranial reinforcement to prepare for the fact that what was revealed here today may well blow your precious mind. Moments of such insight into the meaning and workings of the world that surrounds us are so rare. Indeed, it is possible that some of you may not yet be prepared to process and accept what was made clear to those of us in the House this afternoon.

But let us now say and hear what needs to be said and heard. Let us be honest with ourselves and each other. And, specifically, let us know this: according to a national organization whose stated purpose is to advocate on behalf of independent business owners, most of this country’s business owners would prefer to pay less in taxes on the revenues their businesses generate. Not more, less. Surely not since the Canadian Federation of Independent Little Girls announced in 1925 that its members would not, if offered, be adverse to accepting the gift of a pony has our understanding of human behaviour been so fundamentally altered.

And let the record show that it was Pierre Poilievre—a man they call “Skippy”—who brought this reckoning upon us. Continue…

New year, new fight

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, February 8, 2011 at 9:15 AM - 9 Comments

Ten months after the Speaker’s ruling on documents related to the treatment of detainees in Afghanistan, the House is presented with a new confrontation.

The Commons finance committee in November was denied the right to see government projections of corporate profits before taxes, and was refused a look at studies on the cost of Conservative changes to the criminal justice system. Both are being withheld on the grounds they are cabinet confidences.

“Mr. Speaker, withholding the requested information from the committee does not serve the public interest,” Liberal finance critic Scott Brison said Monday in the Commons on a motion of privilege. ”In fact, withholding this information impedes Parliament’s ability to fulfil its duty to scrutinize the estimates and hold the government to account.”

How our MPs live

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, December 10, 2010 at 4:12 PM - 19 Comments

More pressing than the crumbling nature of our democracy may be the crumbling nature of the buildings that house our democracy.

The Commons: Yelling into the abyss

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, November 24, 2010 at 7:07 PM - 110 Comments

The Scene. If the leaders of the opposition parties have not yet realized that it is futile to ask the Prime Minister to account for the things he says and does—what he has said so far having only passing relation to what he has done and what he did yesterday having no necessary bearing on what he might do tomorrow—Mr. Harper is perhaps beginning to understand that he is best off bringing as little attention to himself as possible. So it was this afternoon that he yawned his way through three questions from Michael Ignatieff on the government’s policies on climate change and shrugged away three questions from Jack Layton on the extension of this country’s military mission in Afghanistan. When Gilles Duceppe asked about the risks entailed in offshore oil excavation, the Prime Minister didn’t even bother to stand.

However wise of Mr. Harper this may be, it does deprive the gallery spectators of a good show—the House rarely as exciting as when the Prime Minister is up and shouting some bold declaration to which he possesses at least a fleeting commitment.

Lucky then for those who turned up to watch today that the Finance Minister has not yet learned that it is, in the long view, better to speak softly and avoid any statement that might be construed as a nod to objective reality. Continue…

Mitchel Raphael on moustaches—and MPs worth a Halloween visit

By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, November 11, 2010 at 11:20 AM - 0 Comments

NDP MP Peter Stoffer has his 'stache shaved for Movember | Sean Kilpatrick/CP

Scott Brison’s lonely night
Two of Glen Pearson’s adopted children arrived from Sudan three years ago, knowing nothing about Halloween. After explaining the concept, the Liberal MP woke up on his kids’ first Halloween in Canada to find them in costume, all set to trick or treat. When he broke the news that they’d have to wait until dark, “They both burst into tears because they thought they got to go out all day to people’s houses and get candy.” They felt better that night, once they had sacks of treats. “It was something they never dreamed of as possible,” says the MP. Now, Pearson’s Halloween tradition is to stay home handing out treats while his kids hit the streets. Newfoundland Liberal MP Siobhan Coady has fine-tuned her Halloween handouts. “My sister is allergic to nuts so I always make sure I have a nut-free option. I also give out chips, chocolate, and Play-Doh. It’s a little surprise.” Minister for International Co-operation Bev Oda, when at home for Halloween, knows all six kids who come to her door in the sparsely populated area. Her tradition is to give them presents, including MP3 players and video games. Halloween is a lonely time for Liberal MP Scott Brison and spouse Maxime Saint-Pierre. “There are three houses on our road,” he says. “We own two, and the other belongs to my 90-year-old aunt Margie [Faulkner].” They keep candy on hand just in case, but no one ever knocks. “It kinda reminds me of my fifth birthday party,” says Brison. “My mother had this great party. Nobody showed.”

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The Backbench Top Ten

By Aaron Wherry - Sunday, November 7, 2010 at 8:05 PM - 2 Comments

Our weekly, and 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. Last week’s rankings appear in parentheses. Continue…

The corporate tax cut debate

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, November 4, 2010 at 1:20 PM - 0 Comments

Jasmin Guénette and Vincent Geloso from the Montreal Economic Institute, Maxime Bernier’s old haunt, lament the Liberal promise to cancel future corporate tax cuts.

The more productive a company is, the higher salaries and better overall working conditions they can offer their workers. Highly productive companies can also afford to pay higher prices to their suppliers, which in turn allows those suppliers to offer better salaries and conditions to their employees. Raising corporate taxes, though, reduces the investments that could otherwise have improved worker compensation.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has launched a campaign against the Liberal proposal, prompting a formal reply from Liberal finance critic Scott Brison.

The Backbench Top Ten

By Aaron Wherry - Sunday, October 31, 2010 at 5:43 PM - 0 Comments

Our weekly, and 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. Last week’s rankings appear in parentheses. Continue…

The Backbench Top Ten

By Aaron Wherry - Sunday, October 24, 2010 at 1:31 PM - 0 Comments

Our weekly, and 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. Last week’s rankings appear in parentheses. Continue…

The Commons: Who loves ya, baby?

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, October 21, 2010 at 6:58 PM - 0 Comments

The Scene. As he made his first intervention, Michael Ignatieff insisted on staring down Stephen Harper’s empty chair. Perhaps it’s to the point now that the Liberal leader sees Mr. Harper’s dismissive mug wherever he looks. Perhaps he simply found the green felt of the House seats a soothing sight to gaze upon.

His question this day had to do with the potential sale of Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Incorporated to BHP Billiton Limited and all of the national, economic and social implications within and around that transaction. “Mr. Speaker,” he said, “yesterday when the Prime Minister was asked about the possible sale of Potash Corp he basically shrugged his shoulders and said ‘Australia, America, who cares?’”

In full, the Prime Minister had said, “This is a proposal for an American-controlled company to be taken over by an Australian-controlled company.” Whether Mr. Harper was shrugging at the time, I do not remember. But given that he is given to shrugging reflexively at almost all propositions, it is certainly a distinct possibility. Continue…

The Backbench Top Ten

By Aaron Wherry - Sunday, October 17, 2010 at 3:35 PM - 0 Comments

Our weekly, and 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. Last week’s rankings appear in parentheses. Continue…

The blame game

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, October 12, 2010 at 1:08 PM - 0 Comments

Canada has failed in its bid for a seat around the UN security council table.

For those keen fans of finger-pointing, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon is due to address reporters in New York at 1:15pm (viewable here). The Prime Minister’s Office has summoned Ottawa bureau chiefs for a briefing at 2pm. NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar will speak with reporters in the House foyer at 2:30pm. And the Liberals have called a news conference with Michael Ignatieff, Bob Rae and Scott Brison for 3:30pm in the National Press Theatre.

The Backbench Top Ten

By Aaron Wherry - Sunday, October 10, 2010 at 4:14 PM - 0 Comments

Our weekly, and 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. Last week’s rankings appear in parentheses. Continue…

The Backbench Top Ten

By Aaron Wherry - Sunday, October 3, 2010 at 1:38 PM - 0 Comments

Our weekly, and 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. Last week’s rankings appear in parentheses. Continue…

The Commons: Vic Toews makes a funny

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, September 27, 2010 at 6:57 PM - 0 Comments

The Scene. It should not ever be said this government goes about its business too quietly, that it attempts to hide or conceal its true feelings or intent. Indeed, to the contrary, it wears its gleeful disregard quite proudly.

Consider, for instance, today’s display from Vic Toews. Take note particularly of the really, very hilarious thing he said. Continue…

The Backbench Top Ten

By Aaron Wherry - Sunday, September 26, 2010 at 2:37 PM - 0 Comments

We resume our weekly, and 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. Last week’s rankings appear in parentheses. Continue…