Hill report

Mar 202012
 
Turmel bows out as NDP leader

Plan B for F-35s, labour rights attack, by-election, Robogate controversy continues.

by Samantha Bayard

and Ish Theilheimer, with YouTube Videos

OTTAWA , Straight Goods News, March 19, 2012 — The last week of Nycole Turmel's interim leadership of the NDP was also the last before the House rose for a week's break. Her sendoff was fractious, what with new reports emerging daily on Robogate, the politicized problems at Air Canada, a stealth fighter bailout and more.

Since September, the NDP-led Opposition has been asking the government about the proposed purchase of 65 F-35 stealth fighter jets, demanding details on a reported backup in light of cost overrruns and other problems with the planes. This week, associate defence minister Julian Fantino, who previously had insisted his critics opposed opposed all things "holy and decent," was forced to admit alternative purchase plans are indeed in the works.

For 18 months, NDP MP Matthew Kellway (Beaches—East York) has been criticizing the Conservatives whole hearted support of the F35s. He's been asking that any proposed airplane purchase go out to tender. It seems the Conservatives are finally taking heed of the NDP's warnings.

Kellway says the situation has changed somewhat. Now, Minister of National Defence Peter MacKay answers one question by saying the government is committed to F35s, but then answers another question with a suggestion a project planning team is considering alternatives and they have a Plan B in place.

"It's not satisfying and it's a bit frustrating. I think the minister has an obligation to Canadians to answer some of the questions we have been asking," said Kellway.

Matthew Kellway speaks to reporters about F35s and a so-called Plan B

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Inside and outside the House, debate raged over the government intervening in labour disputes at Air Canada (and carried late into Tuesday night on March 13 in the House). Labour Minister Lisa Raitt found a new way to legislate worker back to work. She referred a dispute with pilots and machinists to the Canada Industrial Relations Board, to rule on whether air travel is an essential service. Effectively, this means the dispute will be turned over to arbitration.

On Wednesday, workers expressed their outrage by staging a rally outside Parliament. Marcel St-Jean, President of the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) Local 1751 Montreal, told the rally it is impossible to get the same quality of agreement from an arbitrator as at a traditional bargaining table. "With an arbitrator," he said, "the two parts are unequal."

St-Jean explained that Air Canada employees have been making concessions for the last 10 years. He suggested that although the general public feels that all Air Canada employees have high wages, some of the employees who handle baggage are making as little as $12.50 an hour and the work they do is essential to the safety and balance of the planes. "All employees at Air Canada are important," said St-Jean.

"The message that they send to business is: you do what you want. If you want to go and break collective agreements, take concessions, take their pensions away, we will be there to legislate them people back to work," NDP labour critic Yvon Godin (Acadie-Bathurst) told workers at the rally. "This is not the country that we want to live in. We want people to have good benefits, have pension plans, and be able to share our wealth, they are stopping this."

NDP labour critic Yvon Godin and Liberal transport critic Denis Coderre address Air Canada workers.

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Liberal transport critic (Bourassa) Denis Coderre told the workers "I truly believe that we don't have a Minister of Labour in this country any more. The right to bargain is a part of our democracy, to see the way they put up that back to work legislation was totally disgusting."

Meanwhile, tempers were retting testy as the NDP prepared to elect a new leader. Former NDP leader Ed Broadbent was accused by others within the party of going too far in a series of media interviews in which he harshly criticized Thomas Mulcair. The ever-colourful NDP MP Charlie Angus, (Timmins-James Bay), who is active in Paul Dewar's leadership bid, says he was not bothered by Broadbent's remarks and feels the campaign has been a credit to his party.

"I have a lot of respect for the candidates," said Angus. "Some potential future leaders called me a middle-aged white guy. If that's as bad as it's going to get, I can live with it. This has been a pretty good race, a pretty respectful race and I think Ed Broadbent's appearance doesn't change anything in terms of the respect people are going to have for Thomas Mulcair in parts of this country."

Charlie Angus talks about the NDP leadership race

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With the NDP poised to pick a new leader on March 24, it was interim NDP Leader Nycole Turmel's last week on the job. She received parting jabs from the Conservatives over flyers she is distributing to her riding constituents about tax credits. Stephen Harper teased her in the House about this, saying "I see that the leader of the NDP, in her most recent parliamentary bulletin to her constituents, actually praised a whole range of Conservative measures, all of the measures that she and her party actually voted against."

"At least we keep our constituents informed," she shot back. "On voter fraud, the Conservatives have avoided taking any responsibility."

Later, to reporters, Turmel looked back on the past eight months as interim leader and expressed some frustration about how many of her questions weren't answered directly.

"Before I walked in, there was a bit of emotion but when you get into the Question Period you want answers, you want this government to answer our questions," said Turmel. "He never answered our questions. He never did, over the last eight months."

Nycole Turmel

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On Tuesday, the Toronto-Danforth riding saw a by-election to fill Jack Layton's seat. Layton's widow, MP Olivia Chow (Trinity-Spadina) went door-to-door in support of NDP candidate and human rights lawyer Craig Scott, who eventually emerged victorious.

"I believe the folks in Toronto-Danforth want to elect a voice and a member of Parliament that reflects the values that both Jack Layton and the New Democratic Party of Canada stand for, which is one of equality and a caring society," said Chow. "They also want someone who can understand their needs. Craig Scott has been living in the riding for 22 years [as] a small business person, well known human rights lawyer and an excellent professor. So he has lots of depth, a lot of intellect and knowledge — so he'll fit really well."

Olivia Chow speaks in support of by-election candidate Craig Scott

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The House doesn't sit again until March 26. By then, the NDP will have chosen a new permanent leader and Craig Scott will sit as an MP.

eMail: Samantha@straightgoods.com 

Mar 132012
 
Harperites March ahead with no break in sight

Robogate progresses, Air Canada strike squelched, drug shortage crisis and more.

by Samantha Bayard

Next in the Robogate scandal: awarding the Chief Electoral Officer the powers to investigate thoroughly. Both opposition parties wish to extend the reach of the CEO, allowing him to request documentation. The Conservatives preferred a more roundabout way of investigating using external auditors, probably in hopes of sharing the blame with the opposition.

Shockingly the Conservatives conceded — perhaps giving into the will of the public, after weeks of attacks and denial. "Are the wheels beginning to fall off their wagon? Are they finding some oxygen and figuring out what the right thing to do is? I don't know," said David Christopherson (NDP MP for Hamilton Centre).

MP David Christopherson says Harperites suddenly came to their senses

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Bob Rae, Liberal interim leader, continued putting pressure on the government for the Robogate scandal by bringing up the Etobicoke Centre riding, one of the cases he feels drove Elections Canada to investigate. He also commented on the Air Canada lockout, critiquing the Harper government for interfering with an outside dispute. "All the steps they've taken have made a real farce of collective bargaining in the public sector," he said.

Bob Rae talks about Etobicoke Centre and Air Canada

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Lisa Raitt, Minister of Labour, spoke about Air Canada, where pilots and machinists were nearing the end of their contracts. She referred the disputes to the Canada Industrial Relations Board, thus putting a stop to any looming March break strike. Her reason? "Given our fragile economy, a work stoppage is unacceptable."

Lisa Raitt squelches Air Canada workers' right to strike

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Yvon Godin, NDP labour critic, protests that Raitt has stepped beyond the bounds of her role. He feels she should encourage the unions and employers to get back to the bargaining table and suggested that she is in the back pocket of big corporations.

MP Yvon Godin criticizes Labour Minister Lisa Raitt's choices

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Early in the week, Megan Leslie, the NDP Environment critic, revealed that an Environment Canada employee was leaving to work in an oil sands industry think group. This is a powerful conflict of interest, she said, expressing concern about the marriage between oil and state. She said, "I think there's a real problem when the regulated and the regulator get mixed up."

NDP MP Megan Leslie discusses conflict of interest at Environment Canada

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On March 5, a 30 minute video by Invisible Children went viral. Through the power of social media, 55 million people learned about horrors which occurred at the hands of the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda and other African countries. Overnight, Invisible Children made Joseph Kony infamous globally. Since then, the video has sparked controversy and discussion around the world.

Justin Trudeau, Liberal MP for Papineau, spoke about how the video demonstrated the power of social media, and how he feels the topic requires more research, thought and nuisance.

"I think this government is a lot more ready to pay attend to social media and people taking an interest in political affairs. I certainly hope that the Prime Minister will pay attention to this," said Trudeau in a scrum.

Justin Trudeau talks about the Kony 2012 viral video

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Drug shortages have quickly have become a global problem. When the Canadian government failed to fix the problem, in recent days the American Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has stepped to help Canada cope. Why has our government been so lax: perhaps from fear of stepping on corporate toes?

"There have been warnings for the last year and a half about severe drug shortages, which many critically ill patients are now facing. What did the minister do in response? She created a website. That is cold comfort for those who need those prescriptions," said Libby Davies (Vancouver East) in the Commons.

On Thursday, Liberal Health critic Dr Hedy Fry put together a press conference and brought up the Conservatives' incompetence in not acting to prevent drug shortages and only requiring voluntary participation of drug companies. She said, "The Health Minister is responsible for the protection and the health of Canadians, not for the protections and the health of industry."

Dr Hedy Fry blames the government for global drug shortages.

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The Harper Government was able to fulfill their promise to pass the Omnibus Crime Bill, Bill C10 through Parliament within 100 days. They silenced debate on tough Opposition questions like mandatory minimums, cost and a number of other factors. On Monday, Defence Minister Rob Nicholson sidestepped criticism about the cost to be shouldered by the provinces and touted proudly that with a majority, the power is in Harperite hands.

Defence Minister Rob Nicholson ducks questions about C-10's cost to the provinces

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Jack Harris, (NDP MP for St. John's East) describes how the Conservatives never really fleshed out how much Bill C10 would cost. In fact, he says that Statistics Canada had to put together some last minute statistics based on information from the Parliamentary Budget Officer, because the Harper Government didn't request them any earlier. He feels the government has dropped the ball on the significant cost of Bill C10. "It's pretty obvious that the government didn't do its homework. When you make a submission to Cabinet on legislation I think you are supposed to tell the Cabinet how much this is going to cost the country. I don't think they did that," said Harris.

NDP MP Jack Harris criticizes the cost of Bill C10

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Charlie Angus discussed the differences between the Liberals and Conservatives "dirty tricks" and highlighted the most important issue at hand — the widespread pattern that likely fingers the Tories as the culprits of electoral fraud. "Let's not lose sight of the more serious issue of people misrepresenting themselves as Elections Canada, telling you to go vote in the wrong place so your ability to vote is deliberately interfered with," said Angus.

Over the weekend, the Manning Centre hosted a convention where Conservative strategists discussed tactics and political process. The meeting discussed the idea of abolishing or at least no longer televising Question Period, which one Conservative backbencher described as "stunningly horrible, a complete waste of time and a public zoo". Charlie Angus understood why the Conservatives would want to be rid of it: "they seem to hate to be questioned to any capacity."

NDP MP Charlie Angus talks about Electoral Fraud and Question Period.

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eMail: Samantha@straightgoods.com