“Canadians should be concerned that an MP who has openly criticized and attacked Elections Canada is now in charge of the elections reform bill,” said Liberal MP and democratic reform critic Stéphane Dion (Saint Laurent-Cartier, Que.).
The government has promised reforms to Canada’s elections laws to deter abuses such as those that unfolded in the robocalls scandal in time to be implemented in the 2015 election.
Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand has asked that the legislation be passed at least a year in advance of the election, scheduled for October 2015, so that changes could be put in place in time.
Former Democratic Reform minister Tim Uppal (Edmonton-Sherwood Park, Alta.) had delayed bringing in any new legislation, but was set to introduce legislation in April, however, the reported backlash when it was shown to the Conservative caucus has apparently held it back.
Mr. Dion said he is not optimistic that the legislation will go anywhere fast under Mr. Poilievre.
“One of our priorities when the House sits will be to put pressure on the government to make sure that we have that in time, in order to be sure that fraudulent calls like the ones we had last time will not be repeated,” he said.
As the new Minister of State for Democratic Reform, Mr. Poilievre (Nepean-Carleton, Ont.) will be also be the face of the government on the Senate reform file.
In February the government referred the issue of Senate reform to the Supreme Court for guidance. It has asked the court for advice on whether it is constitutional to impose term limits, conduct Senate elections, or even abolish it entirely.
The Prime Minister’s Office has been hammered in House’s Question Period and in public opinion since CTV news revealed that former chief of staff to the Prime Minister Nigel Wright for writing Senator Mike Duffy a $90,000 personal cheque to get him to stop talking about the expenses scandal and to reimburse him for the expenses the Senate deemed inappropriate.
“Hopefully we can find a way to make some changes so that this kind of outrage that we’ve witnessed won’t happen again,” Mr. Poilievre told The Ottawa Citizen in Tuesday’s paper. Mr. Poilievre was unavailable for an interview with The Hill Times on Tuesday.
The new minister has a reputation as an all-purpose political point-man and attack dog, sticking up for the government—and sticking to talking points—during Question Period and on the political talk shows.
He has spent much of his time in the House of Commons this spring defending the government’s ethical record and downplaying disputes and investigations between Conservatives and Elections Canada.
On the court fight between MPs Shelly Glover (Saint Boniface, Man.) who is now in Cabinet as Minister of Canadian Heritage, and James Bezan (Selkirk-Interlake, Man.) and Elections Canada about their respective campaigns’ spending in the 2011 election, Mr. Poilievre said the pair “acted in good faith.” Ms. Glover has since backed down in her fight with Elections Canada and last month filed revised financial documents on her 2011 campaign expenses, heading off a legal challenge over ability to sit and vote as a member of the House of Commons. Her amended campaign return still leaves here campaign $2,267 over its legal spending limit.
“These Members of Parliament were duly elected. We expect they have the right to speak in defence of the filings they made and which Elections Canada has in the past accepted,” said Mr. Poilievre in the House June 17, before turning the subject to Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau’s (Papineau, Que.) paid speaking engagements.
He’s been the Conservative government’s man on ugly ethics issues like the in-and-out scandal, robocalls, and Elections Canada’s investigation into the elections spending of Dean Del Mastro (Peterborough, Ont.) and former minister Peter Penashue, and the Senate.
In May, he praised Mr. Wright’s decision to write Sen. Duffy a cheque, saying Mr. Wright’s actions were “exceptionally honourable.”
In response to a question from NDP MP and democratic reform critic Craig Scott (Toronto-Danforth, Ont.) on the existence of whether the Conservatives used a fund to reimburse Sen. Duffy, Mr. Poilievre gave a sarcastic answer June 10 that attracted unflattering media attention.
“Mr. Speaker, can I tell you a secret? Do you promise you will not tell anybody? Do not tell the NDP. Do not tell the CBC. The Prime Minister of Canada is the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, and when there are Conservative Party of Canada expenses, including from its leader, they are paid by the Conservative Party. I have been meaning to get that off my chest for a while. Please do not tell the CBC. Please do not tell the NDP,” Mr. Poilievre said.
He is also known for a number of politically incorrect statements that he’s made over the years, including saying aboriginal peoples need to work harder and rely less on the government the same day the Prime Minister made the residential schools apology.
He mocked Mr. Trudeau for stating that the root causes of terrorism should be examined in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing.
“The root cause of terrorism is terrorists,” Mr. Poilievre said on CBC.
The appointment “astonished” Mr. Dion when he heard the news, he said.
New Democrat MP and ethics critic Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay, Ont.) said the move left him wondering what Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) was thinking.
“I’m scratching my head,” he said.
“This is supposed to be the turning of the page to restore a sense of trust among Canadians, and the man he picked to lead the file is Pierre Poilievre?” said Mr. Angus.
Mr. Dion said there is no indication that Mr. Poilievre will be more magnanimous in his dealings with the opposition now that he’s been promoted.
“He’s not there to cooperate with the opposition, he’s there to win short-term points for his government in a very partisan battle, period. If he wants to surprise me, I will be open to that,” he said.
The ministerial post is “an award for valued service,” said former PMO deputy director of issues management Keith Beardsley.
“Whether we agree or disagree with how he’s done it, the government’s perspective is he’s done a good job on it, and he’s been the loyal trooper on a lot of stuff that no one generally wants to handle,” he said.
The Senate will continue to be an issue when the government returns in the fall, noted Mr. Beardsley, and it will be interesting to see how Mr. Poilievre handles the file.
“That might signal that they are going to turn him loose on the Senate, which would be an interesting thing to see,” Mr. Beardsley said.
But both critics say the choice of Mr. Poilievre sends the message to Canadians that the government isn’t serious about reforming the Senate.
“They are going to fight this out and do whatever they have to rather than be accountable,” said Mr. Angus.
The Prime Minister is signaling that there will be no change in his government’s aggressive style with Mr. Poilievre’s appointment, said Mr. Dion.
“The Prime Minister wants him to attack Elections Canada, to attack the opposition, to not do anything about the Senate, and to undermine the institution. It’s what the Prime Minister intends to get from him,” Mr. Dion added.
Mr. Poilievre carpooled to the Cabinet shuffle on Monday with Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird (Ottawa-West Nepean, Ont.), who represents the riding next to Mr. Poilievre’s, and who is known for a similar aggressive style in Question Period.
While Mr. Baird remains regional minister for the area, Mr. Poilievre replaces former Chief Government Whip Gordon O’Connor (Carleton-Mississippi Mills, Ont.) who was not reappointed to Cabinet on Monday, as an area minister.
Mr. Poilievre, 34, was born in Calgary, and joined the Reform Party as a teenager. He went to the University of Calgary, and after school he co-owned a political research company called 3D Contact Inc.
Before running for election, he did policy work for former Canadian Alliance leader and minister Stockwell Day and Jason Kenney (Calgary Southeast, Alta.).
Mr. Poilievre ran for election in Nepean-Carleton, Ont., in 2004, and defeated then-Liberal defence minister David Pratt. Since then he’s been re-elected three times.
He has served in a number of Parliamentary Secretary positions, including Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister. Most recently he was Parliamentary to the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, and for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, a post he has occupied since the 2011 election.
He was also a member of the House Transport Committee.
Aside from his duties as minister of state, Mr. Poilievre now sits on Cabinet’s Committee on Operations, which is responsible for the day-to-day co-ordination of the government’s agenda, including issues management, legislation, house planning and communications.
He also on Cabinet’s Committee on Social Affairs, which examines health, justice, safety, aboriginal issues, training and skills development and immigration issues.
Conservative MP James Rajotte (Edmonton-Leduc, Alta.) would have been Mr. Angus’ pick for the democratic reform file, said Mr. Angus.
“James Rajotte, he’s a true blue Conservative, but I’ve never seen him use cheap politics, I’ve never seen him misrepresent the facts or lie. I think he would have sent the message that the Prime Minister understands that Canadians are very concerned about these allegations of fraud and secret payoffs,” he explained.
As to whether Mr. Dion had a candidate for his Conservative counterpart in mind, he wouldn’t say.
“Maybe so, but I don’t see any reason to mention a name now, it’s too late. We have Mr. Poilievre, which is the worst choice. Anybody but him would have I think been preferable,” he said.
Original Article
Source: hilltimes.com
Author: JESSICA BRUNO
No comments:
Post a Comment