Budget filibuster looms

Government plays defence all week.

by Ish Theilheimer and Samantha Bayard, with YouTube video

OTTAWA, Straight Goods News, June 11, 2012 — The government played defence, again, all week.

Things started off poorly for the Conservatives with news that Elections Canada is investigating Dean Del Mastro (Peterborough) for serious 2008 elections finance concerns. "He has been the number one attack dog on the issues of allegations of electoral fraud and they have been very bullish on their attacks on Elections Canada," said the NDP's Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay), who urged Del Mastro to step down as Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister during the investigation. "I have no desire to see Mr Del Mastro punished. He is a good parliamentarian. I have worked with him. We fight all the time but I have respect for him. While an investigation is underway Mr. Del Mastro is compromised in his ability. He should step down."

Charlie Angus wants Dean Del Mastro to step down

Online protest BlackOutSpeakOut 
Monday saw the "BlackOutSpeakOut" online campaign, where environmental groups and oppositions parties protested environmental changes under the federal budget bill. Some shut down their websites, some turned the background black, and some removed all colour from their sites.

NDP environment critic Megan Leslie speaking in support of BlackOutSpeakOut

Fresh water research eliminated, science muzzled 
Tuesday was World Environment Day, which the NDP used to highlight the way the government used the budget bill to eliminate funding for environmental research done in the Experimental Lakes Area in Northern Ontario and Manitoba. Two million dollars yearly sponsored some of the world's richest sources of data on fresh water, according to Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre). "This isn't about money, this is about muzzling scientists," said Martin. "The decision to cut the funding to the Experimental Lakes Area is almost incomprehensibly stupid. It's not only an affront to the International Scientific Community… but there is no business case for it."

NDP environment critic Megan Leslie agreed. "I think it's willful blindness, because science gets in the way. It gets in the way of what they want to do… it gets in the way of their politics."

Pat Martin calls it "stupid" to cut funding to the Experimental Lakes Area

Vets blast government on D-Day anniversary 
Wednesday was the anniversary of the D-Day invasion, and veterans' advocates used it as an opportunity to raise a growing list of concerns with the treatment of Afghanistan vets. Mike Blais, President of Canadian Veterans Advocacy, was flanked by Bob Rae and Tom Mulcair as he addressed a group of Canadian Veterans gathered on Parliament Hill to protest the lump sum payment given to wounded veterans. "We united veterans, Canadians, and Parliamentarians, we will restore the sacred lifetime obligations to Canada's sons and daughters who bore the consequences of peace and war in our name," he said.

Mike Blais speaks against the treatment of Afghanistan veterans.

Europe must swim on its own — Harperites 
The Conservatives were also on defence because European leaders are irate over Stephen Harper and other Conservative ministers lecturing them over the EU's financial crisis. On Wednesday, in the House, NDP leader Tom Mulcair said that at the G20 meeting in April, "The Minister of Finance led the effort to block an international plan to resolve the European economic crisis. He told European countries 'to step up to the plate' and fix the problem on their own, as if our fate were not intimately connected to theirs, and he gets applause for that from the peanut gallery. When will the Conservatives stop lecturing European countries?," Mulcair asked.

On Thursday, the Globe and Mail ran the headline Harper's refusal to help bail out Europe draws Germany's ire. The Conservatives hit back at Mulcair, with Jim Flaherty telling reporters, "We're not talking about poor countries; we're talking about Western Europe — large economies, relatively strong economies. They are fully capable of financing their own [recovery], just as the Americans did."

Jim Flaherty sneers at suggestions Canada should help resolve Europe's financial problems.

Budget filibuster coming 
The opposition parties are planning to fight Bill C-38 (the "Trojan Horse" budget bill) with a massive filibuster that could last all week this week, including hundreds of amendments submitted by the Liberals, NDP and Greens. As her party's sole MP, Green Party leader Elizabeth May, will have the ability to submit hundreds of amendments on her own. NDP finance critic Peggy Nash introduced 506 amendments too. "We're going to try one more time to try to change the very most damaging parts of Bill C-38, which we believe is in the interest of Canadians to do," she told reporters

Peggy Nash announces ammendments to bill C-38.

NDP labour critic Yvon Godin (Acadie-Bathurst), spoke out against the effects of changes to Employment Insurance on seasonal workers in Quebec and Atlantic Canada. 
"Those human beings are insulted by the government when they say they are lazy and they don't want to work," he said. "When you say the people like better to go hunting instead of working, what is it? Shame on them when they do that! It hurts the workers."

Yvon Godin on the effects of EI changes in Altantic Canada.

Action against bullying 
Amidst all the power politics, NDP LGBT critic Dany Morin brought young voices to the Hill this week, to speak against bullying. Three young people told reporters how they felt when they were bullied, starting with Faye Estrella, a youth who was bullied and now works a Jer's Vision, an anti-bullying organization. Estrella was bullied growing up in Toronto because of questions about her gender and sexuality. "They made fun of whether I was too skinny or too fat, the way I spoke, the clothes I wore, the music I listen to, what books I read." Estrella gave her perspective on bully culture as well, "That's what bully culture teaches you, that the strong get peace and popularity, the strong get all the lunch money and all the party invitations and nobody messes with them….We can un-learn bully culture, we can stop it, we can change it. But we need the government to take more of a stand."

Dany Morin wants a special all party committee to look into legislation to help target bullying especially the growing nature of cyber bullying in the current social media connected youth culture.

Dany Morin wants the House to take action against bullying.

Rob Clarke, Conservative MP for Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River discussed changes and updates he hopes to make to the Indian Act. 
The changes Clarke described include allowing First Nations to apply their own bylaws and allowing them to farm without ministerial approval. The Conservative MP said he had the support of Stephen Harper and many chiefs to make these minor changes to the Indian Act.

Rob Clarke addresses changes to the Indian Act

Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety has made some rash comments in the past, often speaking mostly from his personal perspective and going further than party policy dictates.
Recently, when commenting on the case involving Luka Rocco Magnotta case — involving Magnotta posting video of his crime on the internet — Toews responded, "Well I have my own ideas about what the government should be doing about that." I expected to hear him speak with more detail but he caught himself and continued to toe the party line. Perhaps he is on a tighter leash since his earlier outbursts.

Vic Toews on crime.

 

Francoise Boivin questions the ban process Asked about the government's intention to ban the new drug, "bath salts", NDP MP Francoise Boivin, (Gatineau) referred back to new powers the government conferred on itself with Bill C-10, and questioned the process for identifying what to ban. "We cannot come in one day and say we ban this or we ban that… I find they're trying to just look like they are on top of things but when we scratch a bit under the surface and we talk to the people who are on the ground and facing the problems with drugs, whatever type of drugs and we have serious drug problems in Canada… Take any one of Minister Nicholson's interventions and he always finishes with a big declaration, a vain mockery of the NDP not wanting safe streets — we want safe streets as much as anybody else but we want it done properly."

Francoise Boivin on Bath Salts.

 

© Copyright 2012 Ish Theilheimer and Samantha Bayard, All rights Reserved. Written For: StraightGoods.ca