by Samantha Bayard
OTTAWA, June 17, 2013 (Straight Goods News) — The five-figure speaking fees Justin Trudeau took after becoming MP and before becoming leader came back to haunt him this week, with charges that his fees beggared the charities he spoke to.
by Samantha Bayard
OTTAWA, June 11, 2013 (Straight Goods News) - A report on the future of Canada’s submarine program says "gross mismanagement" and decreasing need have combined to make Canada's submarine program questionable at best.
Political science professor Michael Byers and defence analyst Stewart Webb today released a study called That Sinking Feeling: Canada’s Submarine Program Springs a Leak. The study was done for the Rideau Institute and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Canada bought its second-hand Victoria-class submarine fleet from Britain in 1998 for a greatly discounted price, Webb and Byers reminded reporters, but the four submarines have been plagued by mechanical problems every since. They have spent most of their service life being refitted and repaired.
Sailors and soldiers must go to sea in subpar second-hand submarines – Stewart Webb and Michael Byers
The Royal Canadian Navy projects the submarines will reach the end of their life cycle by 2030, but mechanical problems could cut their lives even shorter.
"It’s not simply a question of quite possibly gross missmanagement of a procurement file. It is also about the safety of sailors and soldiers of the Canadian Forces, who at the moment have to go to sea in subpar second-hand submarines and — if there is no plan to replace them — maybe going to sea in these same submarines up to and potentially beyond their safe lifespan," said Byers.
The replacement of Canada’s submarines was not included in the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy – a strategy that sets out construction timelines to 2041. This omission raises significant questions concerning the government’s intentions for the future of Canada’s submarine program, the researchers say.
The most likely explanation for this, says Webb, is, "gross mismanagement of the file, and if that is the case the lack of a plan would result in the end of Canada’s submarine program through neglect and obsolescence rather than design."
by Ish Theilheimer
OTTAWA, June 13, 2013 (Straight Goods News) — The Harper government has announced new deals with Peru and Tanzania that clear the way for mining and oil companies but do little to protect the environment or the people of those countries.
by Samantha Bayard
OTTAWA, June 10, 2013 (Straight Goods News) — An independent review of last year's XL Foods beef recall blames lax safety procedures, and a lack of preparedness for a large-scale recall as contributing to the outbreak.
by Samantha Bayard
OTTAWA, June 10, 2013 (Straight Goods News) — With the Conservatives deep in phoney expense claim scandals, the government appealed to hardcore supporters today saying they want to drastically cut public service sick days. The announcement came, ironically, on the first day of National Public Service Week.
by Samantha Bayard
OTTAWA, June 6, 2013 (Straight Goods News) — In another blow to the Harper Conservatives' reputation for democratic accountability, MP Brent Rathgeber of Edmonton-St.Albert announced his resignation from the Conservative caucus. On his way out, he blasted the government for its authoritarian management style and lack of transparency.
Rathgeber has been writing critically about his party in his blog since the Bev Oda expense account controversy, but what set him off finally was his colleagues amending his private member’s bill aimed at disclosure of expenses and salaries of the highest-paid public servants.
"I don't think that I can continue to represent them when I am told how to vote, told what to speak," said Rathgeber to reporters at the Ottawa airport.
Bill C-461 was crafted by Rathgeber with the intention of disclosing salaries of $188,000 or more. The committee with a Conservative majority amended the bill and raised the amount to $444,661.
Rathgeber wrote on his blog, "I joined the Reform/Conservative movements because I thought we were somehow different, a band of Ottawa outsiders riding into town to clean the place up, promoting open government and accountability. I barely recognize ourselves, and worse I fear that we have morphed into what we once mocked… I have reluctantly come to the inescapable conclusion that the Government’s lack of support for my transparency bill is tantamount to a lack of support for transparency and open government generally."
The NDP's Charlie Angus said his party was willing to work with him on elements of his private member’s bill on which they could agree. "Mr. Rathgeber attempted to bring forward a bill that dealt with transparency and accountability," Angus told reporters. "He had no support from the Prime Minister’s office. He actually came to us and said, 'Listen, we know that your party has problems but would you work with us?' and I said, 'Yes, we’ll work with you.'
"Now the government is trying to attack him," said Angus. "We felt there were two major problems with the private member’s bill. One was on the issue of journalistic sources, that the Conservatives and Mr. Rathgeber hadn’t clarified what the protections of journalistic activities were. We wanted that clear. Mr. Rathgeber was willing to work with us on that."
Charlie Angus says the NDP was working with Brent Rathgeber on his private member's bill:
The always-outspoken NDP MP for Winnipeg-Centre Pat Martin sympathizes with Rathgeber. "It’s hard to come to work every day if you have to hold your nose, you know. And I’ve talked to Brent in the gym. And I know how unsatisfied he’s been. And he’s not alone. There’s a lot of grassroots Conservatives who are nostalgic for the party that they used to have, and, one by one, they’ve watched these principles that they stood for being jettisoned over the side of the boat in the interests of political expediency," Martin said in a scrum.
Pat Martin says Brent Rathgeber may be more popular than Stephen Harper in Conservative circles:
Some Conservative MPs and staffers have called for Rathgeber to resign and run in a by-election but he says he will not do so and looks forward to speaking freely as an independent.
"I can only compromise so much before I begin to not recognize myself. I no longer recognize much of the party that I joined and whose principles (at least on paper) I still believe in. Accordingly, since I can no longer stand with them, I must now stand alone."
by Samantha Bayard
OTTAWA, June 3, 2013 (Straight Goods News) – Sixty-one nations signed the UN Arms Trade Treaty in New York today to stop the illegal sale and distribution of arms fueling international conflicts and gang violence, but the Harper government insisted Canada not be one of them.
Argentina, the UK, Australia and other allies took time to celebrate as they signed, but Canada sat the party out. NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar asked why today in Question Period.
"This is about the regulation of global trade in weapons. It is not about domestic use. The minister has had two months to figure this out. The question is, why does he not just sign? It is time to sign this accord. Every year, half a million people die because of the illegal trade in arms. Why is the government failing to join the rest of the world in limiting the arms that go to some of the hottest conflicts in the world? In fact, right now, when we are talking about Syria, we are talking about arms going to Syria. It is time to stop that. Sign the deal now," said Dewar.
Foreign affairs minister John Baird, today's stand-in for the Prime Minister, responded, saying,"We have very strong domestic regulations with respect to the export of both arms and munitions. What we do not want to see is the NDP and their friends in the Liberal Party try to bring in through the back door a long-gun registry that would only hurt law-abiding sportsmen and only hurt law-abiding hunters and farmers. This is what the Liberals and the NDP want to do in the next election and they can be assured we will not let them get away with it."
Paul Dewar calls Baird's response on the arms treaty "a very poor display on a very serious subject."
"This has nothing to do with the long gun," Dewar told reporters later. "This is about people in places like the Congo. This is actually about preventing Syria. This is about what happened in Sudan and this Minister of Foreign Affairs tries to make this a domestic issue, tries to make it sound as if this has got something to do with long-gun registry. It was a very poor display of our Minister of Foreign Affairs on a very serious subject. And he should not only apologize but he should get up and explain what the hell was he thinking, you know, when we have something as serious as this."
The treaty could also reduce the crime rate here in Canada by slowing the flow of illegal firearms, Dewar said, predicting it could slow the rate of gang violence even in Baird’s own riding of Ottawa-West Nepean, where several gang-related shooting deaths have occurred recently.
by Samantha Bayard
OTTAWA May 30, 2013 (Straight Goods News) A delegation from northern Greece is in Canada to voice concerns over Vancouver-based Eldorado Gold Corporation’s proposed Skouries and Perama Hill mining projects.
by Samantha Bayard
OTTAWA May 30, 2013 (Straight Goods News) Today's revelation of a leaked email from Mike Duffy, in which he lobbied for a Cabinet ministry without a portfolio, gave new life today to the Senate expense fraud scandal in the House of Commons.
by Samantha Bayard
OTTAWA May 30, 2013 (Straight Goods News) – With Governor General Performing
Arts Award winners sitting in the Gallery, heritage minister James Moore,
standing in for his again-absent leader Stephen Harper picked a poor time to slag artists.
Responding to a question from NDP house leader Nathan Cullen about who in the
Prime Minister's Office had been contacted by police regarding the Nigel Wright/Mike
Duffy affair, Moore went on the the offensive, scorning NDP MP and former actor Tyrone
Benskin, who, it was revealed this week, owes back taxes. "His first and only act in this
Parliament legislatively is to try to pass a bill to absolve himself of his own tax liability.
That is NDP corruption." Moore went on to praise his government's arts funding record.
He said the NDP is, "Pretending to stand up for artists when all they are doing is standing up for their right to avoid paying taxes."
Even Liberal Bob Rae was so astonished, he chastized Moore in the House. "I thought the attack by the minister… was one of the nastiest attacks on an individual in the House that I have seen in my time."
Canadian acting icon Eric Perterson of Corner Gas fame, who is receiving an award
for lifetime achievement this year, walked out of Question Period because he was offended by Moore’s comments, which he described as disdainful and insensitive towards artists.
"I was led to believe I was to be introduced in the House of Commons to be
congratulated for what I'd done, instead of sitting there to be insulted by this incredibly
insensitive remark about artists in general and about a particular artist and colleague of mine in particular."
Eric Peterson says he walked out on the House of Commons after hearing artists insulted.
