Canadian Federal Politics Thread v5

[Azure]

Raise taxes so we can funnel $250+ million in government contracts to our cronies you mean.

[CaptainCrunch]

A reminder that the Bloc also voted to suspend the hearing, and it is suspended to not interfere with the RCMP investigation

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/poli...duct-hearings/
“Liberal, Bloc, NDP MPs suspend ArriveCan hearings after reading ‘scary’ secret report

Liberal, Bloc Québécois and NDP MPs suddenly suspended parliamentary hearings related to ArriveCan and contracting misconduct allegations Wednesday after reading what one Liberal described as a “scary” secret preliminary report by a federal investigator.

They say any further hearings could put at risk investigations by the Canada Border Services Agency, which produced the report, and the RCMP.”

Of course the Conservatives want to make this a political issue rather than a criminal one.

My stance: if the RCMP does not investigate or does not find any wrongdoing, then the committee should resume its investigation. This needs to be looked at seriously and urgently, but there is an order or operations here that must be followed (criminal then political, not the other way around)

It is a political issue as well as a criminal one. Testimony in committees is key.


Also its hard to trust the CBSA to do an investigation when the President talks about missing documents, its hard to trust the government when the head IT guy deletes 1200 email. Its really hard to trust the RCMP when the PMO shut down their investigation into SNC Lavelin.



Its really hard to trust anything that's being investigated in the shadows anymore with this government. There are too many jaw dropping and scary reports.


This whole shutting down the committee til these investigations happen sounds like a ragging the puck til people forget about it moment.

[calculoso]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

It is a political issue as well as a criminal one. Testimony in committees is key.


Also its hard to trust the CBSA to do an investigation when the President talks about missing documents, its hard to trust the government when the head IT guy deletes 1200 email. Its really hard to trust the RCMP when the PMO shut down their investigation into SNC Lavelin.



Its really hard to trust anything that's being investigated in the shadows anymore with this government. There are too many jaw dropping and scary reports.


This whole shutting down the committee til these investigations happen sounds like a ragging the puck til people forget about it moment.

Other than making noise, what would a political committee do that the RCMP cannot?

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Also its hard to trust the CBSA to do an investigation when the President talks about missing documents,

You mean the U.S. President? I don't make that link, I am not sure many others do as well unless you're hyper-political. That's very specific and two very different situations.

[timun]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Its really hard to trust the RCMP when the PMO shut down their investigation into SNC Lavelin.

This goes to calculoso's point. The RCMP did criminally investigate, and charge, SNC-Lavalin. It didn't become a political issue until years afterward.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

You mean the U.S. President? I don't make that link, I am not sure many others do as well unless you're hyper-political. That's very specific and two very different situations.

No the president of the CBSA, who testified on document loss.

[Ozy_Flame]

Fair enough. There's enough presidents out there misplacing documents, it's becoming a very stinky miasma.

[Firebot]

Originally Posted by calculoso

A reminder that the Bloc also voted to suspend the hearing, and it is suspended to not interfere with the RCMP investigation

They say any further hearings could put at risk investigations by the Canada Border Services Agency, which produced the report, and the RCMP.”

Of course the Conservatives want to make this a political issue rather than a criminal one.

My stance: if the RCMP does not investigate or does not find any wrongdoing, then the committee should resume its investigation. This needs to be looked at seriously and urgently, but there is an order or operations here that must be followed (criminal then political, not the other way around)

The RCMP did not have any ongoing investigations on ArriveCAN itself, the investigation was in relation to specific CBSA agents and contractors based on Botler's allegations on a completely separate project, and Larry Brock was contending based on the CBSA report received that the agents in question being investigated are scapegoats and the wrong targets, hinting the CBSA may be hiding larger corruption with the destruction of 1500 emails and agents (that are not being investigated). This report was the CBSA's own report (Lafleur's) concluding there was no wrongdoing in the destruction of 1500 emails, etc and only focused on McDonald and Utano. This was an internal CBSA investigation mainly concerned with Botler's allegations while people of interest that should have been interviewed were not.

https://www.ourcommons.ca/Committees...ate=2024-02-05 (around 11:30:00 for Project Helios and Brock's questions that caused this whole fiasco)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/poli...s-allegations/

To shut down the committee to prevent key information from being revealed as 'scary' on the pretext of an ongoing investigation when there is no ongoing investigation deeper than the Botler allegations just leads further credibility to a cover up.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/poli...it-misconduct/

Shutting down committees also comes straight from the Liberal playbook of shutting down any public discussion which could have an investigation that could put them in a bad light, including trying to shut down the audit of ArriveCAN.

https://nationalpost.com/news/politi...valin%20affair.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/arm...ttee-1.5984303

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/jus...deau-1.5052976

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/oppo...ecan-1.6136064

The RCMP has also been been under scrutiny recently by its former commissioner's dubious request.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-...ions-1.6623287

As for the Bloc, the Bloc likes to see the world burn as long as Quebec is spared or benefits (see the SNC Lavalin vote) and will switch votes on a whim if politically convenient. They are chaotic neutral.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Brendone

This is the kind of crap that makes me cringe when people say “raise taxes to support X”. No, get your fricken house in order first. Until that happens why should I feel any additional taxes would got to anything but more BS?

This applies to provincial and civic governments as well.

I've said it a million times because I deal with a lot of high net-worth individuals and regular average individuals:

People in general do not mind paying their taxes. Until they see their Government wasting the money.

They worked for that money. They earned it. If the Government is just going to waste it then they'd rather keep it.

And thats when 'Trust in Government' begins eroding. People think 'oh Government scandals are no big deal!!'

It creates a snowball effect. Regardless of Governing party.

[accord1999]

Originally Posted by Roughneck

Just one more lane on the 401 will solve suburban Toronto’s traffic, I swear!

Well, transit's not going to cut it. It's been a slow, painful recovery from COVID.

Originally Posted by Roughneck

Seems like the 407 should be the funding and operational model for major new roadworks going forward, then?

And drivers, who overwhelmingly make up the taxpayer base might decide that they don't want to subsidize transit users so much anymore.

[curves2000]

I was watching CTV Power Play the last few days and it was interesting. The MP who had made the comment about "Electing more Liberal MP if you want a carbon tax carve out" was on speaking. When pressed on multiple occasions by host Vassy Kapelos, she refused to admit she regretted the choice of words. The host asked multiple times in a different way and the answer was always the same, they are fighting climate change for Canadians.

Yesterday she interviewed MP Seamus O'Regan who is the Minister of Labour. She asked him to respond to comments made by the Environment Minister about the government not wanting to invest in new road projects to battle climate change. He kept giving non answers and responding that the government has always supported road projects in recent years .

It's responses like these and it's concerns from a lot of regular, middle of the road voters, that have the Liberals down in the polls. There is a strange, we are not looking after normal people mindset that has set into the Liberals.

[Manhattanboy]

The Liberals are now an ideological party pure and simple. They have their own agenda based purely on their ideology and your opinion and mine is irrelevant.

[lambeburger]

Steven Guilbeault should listen to his SimCity 2000 lookalike:

NSFW!

[calculoso]

Originally Posted by Manhattanboy

The Liberals are now an ideological party pure and simple. They have their own agenda based purely on their ideology and your opinion and mine is irrelevant.

Sounds like every party

Liberals - environment
Conservatives - low taxes
NDP - government programs for everyone
Bloc - Quebec

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by calculoso

Other than making noise, what would a political committee do that the RCMP cannot?

Grandstand

Originally Posted by accord1999

Well, transit's not going to cut it. It's been a slow, painful recovery from COVID.






And drivers, who overwhelmingly make up the taxpayer base might decide that they don't want to subsidize transit users so much anymore.

Interesting numbers - especially the transit growth in BC (20% vs. 11% for cars).

I suspect there are a lot of things underlying those numbers, like whether service frequency/reliability itself is comparable to 2016...a lot of chicken/egg stuff with transit, as well as feedback cycles (less riders makes it feel less safe which means less riders etc etc).

Another thing I could see is partial returns to office changing the commuter trip evaluation. When going every day a monthly transit pass might be an economic (and traffic aggravation) no-brainer. At say twice a week you are then comparing the individual trips, and the extra premium to drive might win out.

[calgarygeologist]

Stupid Liberal government is turning their back on the environment and selling out our future. I thought they cared about the future.

Ottawa is proposing to water down its clean electricity regulations in the face of intense opposition from some provinces by further opening the door for natural gas power plants to keep burning well beyond the promised deadline for net-zero power in 2035.

In response to objections brought by provinces and electrical grid operators, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault is now considering allowing new gas plants to operate with no limits past 2045, as well as loosening restrictions on existing plants.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau "made a commitment to a net-zero grid in 2021,” said Keith Brooks, programs director at Environmental Defence. “But provinces like Ontario and Saskatchewan, they have gone ahead (and started building new gas plants) in a direct challenge to federal regulations, and now the federal government seems to be waffling.”

“If these regulations allow new plants to be contracted, constructed and run completely unmitigated out past 2045, and the existing fleet is allowed to continue to operate for its 20-year end of life period as well, there’s no limit on emissions for quite some time,” said Brooks.

“It’s important that this 20-year lifespan not be extended,” he said. “Otherwise, it’s going to be a huge problem.”

According to a summary of consultations released Friday, the changes that Ottawa is considering include:
-Allowing greater use of natural gas power when electricity demand spikes;


-Lifting a hard cap of 450 hours per year for natural gas plants without means to prevent emissions, and replacing it with a limit based on annual emissions;

-Allowing for the “limited use” of offsets for gas plants that exceed their emissions limits;

-“Slightly” extending the exemption for gas plants currently being planned and built, which aren’t subject to the regulations until 20 years after they come online. This originally applied to plants that came online before 2025; the government is proposing to extend that by an unspecified amount of time.

New Democrat MP Laurel Collins, the NDP’s climate critic in Parliament, called the changes “disappointing” because they weaken what she sees as a critical climate policy for the federal government.

“This is them, yet again, creating more loopholes,” Collins said. “This is a critical piece of our climate policy and getting clean electricity by 2035 … It is essential if we have any hope of meeting our climate targets.”

It’s not yet clear how these changes would impact overall emissions from the electricity sector, which the Liberal government in Ottawa has pledged to reduce to “net zero” by 2035. The original version of the regulations already fell short of that goal. Guilbeault told the Star last year that there would have been fewer than 10 megatonnes of “residual” emissions from the country’s power grids by 2035 under the first proposal — about 20 per cent of overall electricity emissions based on 2021 figures.

[Brendone]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Stupid Liberal government is turning their back on the environment and selling out our future. I thought they cared about the future.

Guess they realized small module unicorn fart reactors may not be ready by 2035

[Azure]

I think that is fantastic news and should drive the natural gas industry in our country for many years.

I would support the plants having to limit emissions as much as is possible with tech / capture / whatever as long as it doesn't limit their hours.

Pie in the sky generating capabilities are not ready, and are clearly years away from being feasible.

[Roughneck]

Originally Posted by accord1999

And drivers, who overwhelmingly make up the taxpayer base might decide that they don't want to subsidize transit users so much anymore.

I'm sure it will make their commutes better and parking cheaper.

[Doctorfever]

Instead on “one more lane”, just let the traffic back up. I mean, after all, thousands of cars and trucks idling on the roads for hours is also good for the environment.