Scott's DiaTribes » prorogation

Conservatives want to pretend prorogation has no consequences vis-a-vis crime bills.

Scott Tribe — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:30:15 +0000

I see via Far & Wide that Justice Minister Rob Nicholson had the gall to come out and demand the opposition parties reinstate the Conservative crime bills. Those would be the same crime bills that Nicholson and his Conservative government were in daily hysterics last year demanding that the House and Senate quickly pass them in order to protect the country. Those would also be the same crime legislation that got killed due to Harper proroguing Parliament, showing that “urgency” to be a complete sham; trying to protect the government from potentially politically damaging/embarrassing information was more important.

Now, Minister Nicholson wants the opposition parties to pretend prorogation never happened. I’m tempted to advise the opposition parties the same as Steve – that is, to tell Nicholson to “pound salt” – but I’m thinking if Nicholson and his government want these crime bills badly enough, the opposition parties can play some hardball as well. If I were the opposition parties, I’d counter Nicholson by saying that they will agree to fast-track the bills, provided that the government voluntarily turns over the unredacted documents on the Afghanistan detainees to Parliament (as Parliament voted on, and which is the real reason we had prorogation).

That would quickly show the hypocrisy of the Conservatives yet again if they refused, as well as remind people that there must be something very politically damaging in those documents against the Conservative government if they abandoned their entire legislative agenda in the middle of a session by proroguing Parliament, somehow hoping that the Olympics and a month and half extra break would make people forget about that as an issue.

Best description ever of Harper’s prorogation mistake.

Scott Tribe — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:00:48 +0000

Realizing that prorogation was the worst political mistake since Pierre Trudeau handed John Turner a list of his friends to find jobs for, the PMO is starting to throw furniture out the windows, in a vain attempt to get the Langevin Block to levitate.

Courtesy of Greg over at Mr Sinister, who has a bit more following that great description on the PMO hoping cancelling all upcoming holiday breaks will get Canadians to forgive and forget their blunder. At the moment though, more new polling from Ekos today shows they aren’t in such a hurry to do so. Liberals have marginally increased their lead nationally, and lead in several key areas of the country.

The projected seats from that poll look nice too – nice if you’re not a Conservative supporter, that is.

Conservatives talking out of both sides of their mouth

Scott Tribe — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:59:14 +0000

Michael Ignatieff came out yesterday with a strongly worded appeal to the Prime Minister to support safe abortion and family planning programs abroad if he was serious about wanting to aid in improving the lives of women overseas.

One of the PMO’s spokespersons, or at least a spokesperson for Harper, came back with this angry retort:

Dimitri Soudas, a spokesman for Harper, said it was “sad” and “pathetic” that the Liberals were using women’s health as a “political football.”

That quote comes today at the same time we see the Conservative Party planning to send out a new 10%’er ad they’re about to release which tries to use soldiers as a political advantage for the Conservatives by accusing the Liberal Party of attacking/not supporting Canadian troops and of questioning Canadian soldiers actions in Afghanistan. That of course is ridiculous; the only thing the Liberals and other opposition parties are questioning are the Conservative government’s actions and what they knew was going on over there.

The point I’m trying to make is; Dimitri and the Conservatives have a lot of nerve trying to accuse the Liberals and Ignatieff of trying to use women’s health as a political football, when they’re doing even worse in hiding behind Canadian soldiers and smearing Liberals as being unpatriotic/un-supportive of our troops. This is an obvious attempt to distract Canadians from the prorogation uproar and the fact they were trying to avoid accountability on the issue. This new strategy is an apparent extension of that.

PMO Spokespersons living in glass houses..

Add another Conservative excuse for prorogation not going over well.

Scott Tribe — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:02:01 +0000

The Peterborough Conservative MP Dean Del Maestro decides it’s his turn to try and explain prorogation. First he pulls out the already tried “it’s been used so many times before!” excuse, before finally settling on “it’s the media’s fault for covering this!” excuse.

Here’s hoping the voters of Peterborough helps Dean get a long rest after next election. Perhaps if CAPP decides to go with a strategy to target certain Conservative MP’s to aid in their defeat, I’m hoping Dean will be at the top of their list.

Liberals and Iggy promise national childcare program

Scott Tribe — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:29:48 +0000

It’s been nice to see not only the Liberals capitalize on the Conservatives proroguing of Parliament by showing up for work on the Hill, but actually doing some substantive announcements and round-tables on policy, and this is probably their biggest and best one to date – promising to implement a national childcare/daycare program, regardless of how big the deficit is:

Ignatieff unequivocally declared on Monday that if he becomes prime minister, there will be no delay in delivering a national program – and lack of money won’t be an excuse. “This is the number one social priority of an incoming Liberal government,” Ignatieff said during a break in an all-day discussion on poverty and homelessness in Canada.

Ignatiff did not offer specifics on dollar figures or how many daycare spaces he believes that the plan he has in mind would create, but I like the fact he’s clearly staked out a specific difference between himself and the Conservatives on this issue. The latest poll from Decima talked about in my prior blogpost shows the Liberals have regained the lead from the Conservatives with women voters, and I’m thinking an ambitious plan like this will help them with this voting demographic. In my opinion, the Conservatives 100$ a month “program” is neither a national daycare program, nor does it do much in aiding families to pay for childcare costs, and it is vulnerable to a well thought out national plan that covers all. We will need to see what Ignatieff has in mind with the specifics of this plan – I would like it to be more of a “national” program then what the Paul Martin Liberal administration offered – but details are sure to come.

Of course, as the Star article mentions, Ignatieff may be fighting past Liberal records of promising a national daycare program, and then putting it off due to money concerns, but this statement from Ignatieff seems pretty unequivocal that a program will be implemented regardless of the deficit at the time.

As an aside, kudos from this corner to Ignatieff and the Liberals on taking advantage of “Conservative prorogation month” as a way to offer some alternative policy to the Conservatives on policy, knowing the spotlight would be primarily on them in Ottawa with the government off on its Olympics holiday/recalibration tour. I hope they keep it up.

Another reason for prorogation; killing off the Afghanistan Committee?

Scott Tribe — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:12:04 +0000

There was some brief discussion about this in one of my comment threads yesterday, but it’s been reinforced today. An interesting bit of information in a CP release today which talks about the Conservative government relenting and paying off diplomat Richard Colvin’s legal bills – as he was entitled to receive. It’s to do with the Afghanistan Committee that Colvin testified at, and which is the precursor to all of this prorogation stuff. Check this part out about the Afghanistan Committee:

…It’s not clear, however, whether the committee charged with investigating Colvin’s claims will be resurrected once Parliament reconvenes in March given that the unanimous consent of all parties in the House of Commons would be needed to re-establish it.

So in otherwards, if the Conservatives refuse to give assent in the House, they can prevent the Committee from being re-formed to continue hearings – which is the real reason that they prorogued Parliament – because they didn’t like the accountability the opposition parties were trying to hold them to. After all the displeasure they’ve received over this prorogation stunt, I find it hard to believe even they would go this far; it would cement the anger people feel over this, and why the CAPP group got so big in the first place, and it would reinforce the notion to the public that the Conservatives are trying to avoid Parliamentary accountability – on this issue and in general.

UPDATE @ 2:48 pm: The Conservative Government has quickly reacted to these rumblings, and if we take their statement at face value and their word, appears not to want to go that route either.

H/T Penlan.

You mean people other then the locals actually can read what I spout? – various Tory MPs.

Scott Tribe — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:28:10 +0000

Seriously, I almost get the feeling Conservative MP’s who have been talking to their local media seem to think that no one else but the locals will read the local interview. Witness the latest attempt by a Conservative MP to justify the prorogation of Parliament; Ron Cannan, MP for Kelowna-Lake Country gives it a go in an interview with the Kelowna media:

For him, prorogation is an opportunity for the Conservative government to concentrate on the economy by implementing the next phase of its economic stimulus program and prepare a new budget. If parliament was in session then the opposition parties could vote non-confidence and force an election before those tasks are complete. “That’s what we don’t want,” said Cannan.

Ron’s argument seems to be the Conservatives cancelled Parliament in case the opposition took a Parliamentary vote – as they are occasionally allowed to do in a Parliamentary democracy – before they could get to their “economic recalibration” in March, so they decided to recalibrate without having to worry about those pesky opposition parties.

Quite frankly, with all the litany of excuses they’re offering up that has gone over like a lead balloon with the public, I’m not so sure that it wouldn’t be any worse for them if they just came right out and bluntly said “we didn’t like the Afghanistan committee bugging us, so we gave Parliament a time-out, and hope the issue goes away”.

(And yes, Conservative MP’s, we can read your statements you make in your local ridings across Canada. There’s this thing called the internet..)

UPDATE: Ha ha. A Maclean’s commentator in this thread wonders if Conservative MP’s are trying to figure out what the best excuse to use for justifying prorogation is:

They are engaged in some sort of contest, to see who can come up with the most absurd reason why they prorogued parliament. I am just waiting for “we all got drunk one night and thought how much of a drag QP is, so BAM! Here we are.”

Ekos poll: Liberals take the lead (half point); detects ‘significant shift’

Scott Tribe — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 05:24:35 +0000

This Ekos poll was released tonight, and you’ll be seeing plenty of it on CBC later today, since it was done for them. The Liberals have crept into a “statistically insignificant lead”, but a lead nonetheless – the first since August 2009. The numbers are:

Some of the key analysis from Frank Graves that I find rather striking:

“At this stage it is probably safe to say that despite considerable initial confusion over whether the government’s problems were ephemeral or structural the evidence is that there has been a significant shift..the fact that prorogation backfired on the government, and that its response to Haiti has been well-received but has not translated into support for the Conservative party, suggests there may be some sturdiness to these trends… Certainly, it would be a mistake to assume that extensive coverage of the Olympics in coming weeks will bring the government relief simply by distracting voters,” he added.

There’s still some time between now and the next election of course. However, when one considers where the Conservatives once were in the polls, and how fast they’ve plummeted back into a tie in the past 2 weeks, it must mean there are a lot more ‘elitists’ out there who care about accountability in government (and the fact this government decided to prorogue for an extra month to delay that) then Tony Clement and the Conservatives thought.

Either that, or the Toronto Star and the rest of the “liberal media” and all those Liberal advocate groups out there (whoever that might be – CAPP looks pretty non-partisan to me) have even more power at changing people’s minds then Adam Daifallah of the National Post already thinks they do (his column got called “a whinefest” over at The Jurist’s blog -quite correctly in my opinion- though I’ll at least give Adam marks for conceding the Conservatives blew it on prorogation)

My view on this poll, as it follows other polls today and a few days ago, are that I continue to say that it shows Canadians are able to chew gum and walk at the same time. They’re also a lot more attentive and ticked off over a craven political move then some media folks were willing to give them credit for. I’ll also assert that the Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament Facebook group’s large growth (and continuing to grow; over 219 000 members tonight) and their organized impressive marches reflected that discontent/anger at the Conservatives – notwithstanding attempts by some Conservative-friendly commentators to claim the CAPP group failed to get a large portion of the Facebook activists away from clicking their mice and out into the streets.

Well, not everyone may have marched, but there are apparently a lot of people at home that are unhappy at this move. They may not march, but they certainly can vote, and they’re telling the pollsters right now they’d not vote Harper back into power because of this prorogation stunt of his. But by all means, Stephen Taylor/National Post/John Moore/various random Conservative MP’s/Cabinet ministers; keep saying no one cares about prorogation, or find more excuses why it needed to happen. The more you seem to try and justify it/say people don’t care about it (or my personal favorite, mention how many times it’s been done in the past and try to make this one out as “routine”) the worse in the polls the Conservatives are doing.

Maybe, just maybe, people hate getting told how to think or what they don’t care about.

(H/T Muskoka Liblog)

UPDATE: I didn’t really go into the Ekos regional #’s, which are available at the Ekos report, but I’m sure Steve V will do that later today. Keep an eye out at his blog, as he loves breaking down regional polling numbers in an overall poll.

THURSDAY MORNING UPDATE: Steve V doesn’t disappoint.

Decima dead heat

Scott Tribe — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:52:56 +0000

Okay, so I know the official name is Harris-Decima, but that would make the title a bit more awkward. The Conservatives must be feeling awkward too. A 4 point Conservative lead from last week’s Decima poll now is down to 1:

A new poll suggests that Canada’s swift reaction to the tragedy in Haiti has not boosted the government’s popularity among voters. Pollster Allan Gregg says it appears voters are still unsettled over Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s unpopular decision to prorogue Parliament and aren’t swayed by the popular effort to help Haiti. The latest survey by The Canadian Press Harris-Decima suggests the Tories and Liberals are in a statistical dead heat, with 32 per cent supporting the Conservatives and 31 per cent going with the Liberals. The NDP were at 15 per cent, while the Bloc and the Green Party each had 10 per cent.

I believe that gets referred to in the polling business as “within the Margin Of Error” and/or “a statistical dead heat” (my personal favourite pollster saying).

Anyhow, this again proves that Canadians can walk and chew gum at the same time. They can acknowledge the government is doing what it is supposed to be doing with regards to the Haiti tragedy, yet still be ticked off that Parliament is suspended because Prime Minister Harper and his Conservative government wanted to play political games and put off accountability for an extra month and a bit, and then claim it was for economic consultations or so people can focus on the Olympics, or whatever other excuse they could come up with to try and justify it (while avoiding saying the real reason).

Things catching my attention today

Scott Tribe — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:21:46 +0000

- Rick Mercer goes after the Conservative government’s use of our Canadian Forces as political props, and calls it a “new low in Canadian politics”.

- Mark Francis of Section 15 writes an open letter to Conservative cabinet minister “no one cares about prorogation except elitists” Tony Clement (and avoids addressing him as “The Honourable Tony Clement” so he doesn’t feel elitist).

- This article was written by Lorne Gunter on the evils of public election financing (who normally writes for the Edmonton Journal), and it appeared in the Ottawa Citizen today. Apparently public election financing is bad, according to Lorne, because we’re “forcing people to support separatists”. This is nonsense. As I said over there, The BQ is getting money based on the amount of votes that they receive – as are the rest of the parties. Therefore, they’re indirectly being funded by the folks who choose to vote for them, just as the rest of the parties are. The public system is not “forcing” anyone to give money to a party they don’t like. The public system is allowing voters to fund the party of their choice. (H/T to Impolitical).

- Oh, and it’s also nice to see that a fair # of the media aren’t falling into the “he said she said” stance and are actually not buying the Conservatives “prorogation is routine!” line they’ve been offering up as one of their convoluted defences for this.