Canada Politics Thread

[Cadsuane]

Has Baird come out of the closet himself yet? His being gay is pretty much the worst kept secret in Ottawa.

[Mazmaz]

wut lol

[Skjie]

If that is true, the Conservative transformation to Republicans will be complete.

[Mazmaz]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/stor...s-freedom.html

Religious freedom office defended by Baird

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird says his department's new Office of Religious Freedom won't become a vehicle for playing domestic politics in Canada's immigrant communities.

Baird dismissed criticism that the new office could lead to an uncomfortable mix of religion and politics.

"Freedom of religion is one of the first things in the Charter, it's one of the first things in the Bill of Rights, it's front and centre in the UN Declaration of Human Rights – it's an essential human right; I don't see any concern about that at all," Baird told The Canadian Press in a year-end interview.

The Tories announced the creation of the office in their federal election platform last spring, but they have yet to roll out details of the new entity, to be housed within Foreign Affairs. The government is expected to formally announce the new office early this year.

Baird has high hopes for the Office of Religious Freedom, even though it will come with a modest $5-million price tag. That will include a relatively minuscule $500,000 budget for operations, so it won't be a major drag on already thin resources.

But some are warning the office could have a broad impact, and not the positive one the Conservative government is looking for.
Tories accused of secrecy over new office

Alex Neve, the head of Amnesty International Canada, says that while religious persecution "is a serious human rights concern right around the world" he's not confident about the government's approach to the new office.

"We're watching it with interest but also with considerable concern," said Neve. "There is such complete secrecy about it." His organization has met with Foreign Affairs officials, but questions about the office generate vague responses along the lines of "work is under way" and "you'll be hearing more," said Neve.

Neve said religious freedom can have a "contentious relationship" with other crucial human-rights concerns such as women's equality, the equality rights of gays and lesbians, and freedom of expression.

"It's an area obviously where governments need to tread carefully. They need to do so in ways where they don't – either intentionally or unintentionally – convey a message that some religions are preferred over others."

Baird has been consulting internationally, including meetings with the Vatican in Rome and a day of consultations in Ottawa with religious groups in October.

The October consultations were not open to the public. Neve questions why Amnesty and other rights groups were excluded.

Baird offered few details about how the new office will actually function during a pre-Christmas interview.
Details still to come

"It's in the campaign document. What you see is what you get. There won't be any surprises," the minister said, adding he would be "speaking to it in the new year."

Pressed on what exactly the office will do, Baird replied: "It will be promoting religious freedom." He said it would involve "persuasion, lobbying, putting light ... promoting."

The Tories have noted that the concept of the office is not novel to Canada. They point to the fact the U.S. State Department has its own religious freedom office that was created in the late 1990s under the Democratic administration of Bill Clinton.

A May briefing note to Baird, obtained under Access to Information, lays out three priority areas for the new office: protecting, and advocating on behalf of, religious minorities under threat; opposing religious hatred and intolerance; promoting the Canadian values of pluralism and tolerance abroad.

Baird has consulted internationally on the creation of the new office meeting with the Holy See in Rome, the Aga Khan, head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Turkey and the U.S. ambassador at large for international religious freedom.

"They accomplished a lot," Baird said of his meeting last summer with Suzan Johnson Cook, the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom.

But he added "ours will be a made-in-Canada approach."

Baird cited persecution of Baha'i practitioners in Iran, Coptic Christians killed in Egypt and Roman Catholic priests who have been forced underground in China. "Sometimes tough things need to be said. It's really uncomfortable, I think, for the Egyptian government when you talk about the plight of Copts," said Baird.

"If you're one of the 54 Copts who was killed at this time last year, it's pretty uncomfortable for you and your family too, whose only sin was being Coptic."

As the Tories mull their final roll out for the new office, religious violence is sparking the usual time-honoured response of Canadian governments, whether Liberal or Conservative: a written denunciation in the minister's name condemning the perpetrators and an expression of solidarity for the victims.

That's what happened on Christmas Day after a radical sect called Boko Haram claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on churches that killed at least 42 people in Nigeria. Baird's statement that day said: "Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their loved ones. These people died practising their religion – a basic human right. Canada strongly denounces such cowardly attacks without reservation."

[Mazmaz]

I am really skeptical about this new office. What was the point of it? Did we have a problem with religious prosecution that I wasn't aware of? If anything the prosecution started against Muslims when this Prime Minister started calling "Islamism" the biggest threat to Canada. I mean they just invited a bunch of western religions when they were having their consultation sessions too.

There's a nagging thought at the back of my head this office, being under foreign affairs, is going to be used to intertwine Canada with Israel more somehow (Jason Kenny continuously has said that criticizing Israel in Canada has been antisemitism).

[Elvis]

Were the Coptics' persecution in Egypt a concern under Mubarek?

[Mazmaz]

Were the Coptics' persecution in Egypt a concern under Mubarek?

I don't understand what you mean. Canada is Egypt?

[Elvis]

I don't understand what you mean. Canada is Egypt?

Wtf are you talking about?

Read the article above you.

Baird cited persecution of Baha'i practitioners in Iran, Coptic Christians killed in Egypt and Roman Catholic priests who have been forced underground in China. "Sometimes tough things need to be said. It's really uncomfortable, I think, for the Egyptian government when you talk about the plight of Copts," said Baird.

I'm saying, did this issue of religious persecution in Egypt only become an 'issue' when Mubarek was ousted.

[Mazmaz]

Oh lol. I dunno.

[Mazmaz]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/stor...structure.html

First Nations funds mishandled by Ottawa, audits show
Two government audits show Ottawa is earmarking about a billion dollars a year to build and repair First Nations infrastructure, but its myriad officials are not keeping proper tabs on how the money is spent.

Even as Prime Minister Stephen Harper accuses the Attawapiskat First Nations of mismanaging federal funds, the internal audits posted recently suggest the criticism could apply to the federal bureaucracy as well.

The audits say there are "significant gaps" in how the on-reserve infrastructure funding is controlled, and that the financial reporting system is riddled with inconsistencies.

The audit of on-reserve community infrastructure says targets, standards and compliance systems are often ignored or inconsistently applied, leaving the government with an unclear picture of how well its money is working.

When it comes to water and waste water, for example, the report notes the department has ranked many water systems to be low risk.

At the same time, there were no inspections for more than a year on these water systems -- at least not until a national assessment of First Nations water systems prompted some regions to undertake testing.

"As a result, there is a risk of inaccuracy of data reported in the departmental performance report related to the risk levels of water and waste water systems," the audit says. The national assessment, published in July, found that 39 per cent of First Nations water systems were at high risk of being unsafe, affecting 25 per cent of people living on reserves.

It said Ottawa would need $1.2 billion in repairs, better infrastructure and training to fix the problem, as well as an additional $4.7 billion over 10 years to keep pace with growing demand.

But the continued monitoring by Aboriginal Affairs officials didn't thoroughly define such a widespread problem because they didn't properly apply the monitoring systems they had set up, the audit says.

The audit of money for First Nations water, sewage, schools, electrical power, roads, bridges and fire protection was completed in February 2011 but only posted recently on the department's website.

It concludes that management of major capital projects is "adequate", but that "there remain gaps" in governance, risk management and control frameworks for projects of all sizes. As for minor projects, and spending on operations and maintenance, "significant gaps remain over the management of funding."

In 2010-2011, the federal government put $1.2 billion into on-reserve infrastructure. That amount will drop to just below $1 billion this fiscal year because extra one-time funding from the federal stimulus program will expire.

First Nations chiefs complain repeatedly that they can't do any long-term planning for infrastructure improvements because funding arrangements are too short-term and too strictly defined.

First Nations leaders also say they are subject to layers and layers of accountability and audit, even as the federal bureaucracy in Ottawa grows larger and the communities grow poorer.

So the federal government is under pressure to back off and allow band chiefs and councils more leeway to spend their federal allotments as they see fit, while also under scrutiny to spend taxpayers' dollars wisely.

"We are committed to ensuring that transfer payments are managed in a manner that respects sound stewardship and the highest level of integrity, transparency, and accountability," said Michelle Yao, spokeswoman for Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan.

A second recently posted internal audit looked at how officials managed $668 million in stimulus funding earmarked for housing and infrastructure on reserves.

That audit, also completed in February, found that officials tacked the new money onto existing programs so they could get the funding out the door quickly and efficiently.

But they did not add any extra risk management or monitoring to keep a close eye on the additional money.

As a result, "there is an increased risk that projects will not be completed as intended, that funds may be expended for ineligible activities, and that funds available for re-distribution will not be identified in a timely manner," the audit says.

[Mazmaz]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/stor...al-groups.html

'Radical' groups working against oilsands
Environment groups 'threaten to hijack' system, natural resources minister says

Environmental and other "radical groups" are trying to block trade and undermine Canada's economy, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said Monday in an open letter.

Oliver's letter comes one day before federal regulatory hearings begin on whether to approve Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline, which would deliver crude from Alberta's oilsands to Kitimat, B.C., for shipment to Asia.

More than 4,300 people have signed up to address the proposed pipeline over the next 18 months.

"Unfortunately, there are environmental and other radical groups that would seek to block this opportunity to diversify our trade," Oliver said in the letter. "Their goal is to stop any major project no matter what the cost to Canadian families in lost jobs and economic growth. No forestry. No mining. No oil. No gas. No more hydro-electric dams."

Oliver says the groups "threaten to hijack our regulatory system to achieve their radical ideological agenda," stack the hearings with people to delay or kill "good projects," attract "jet-setting" celebrities and use funding from "foreign special interest groups."
'Driven by an ideological imperative'

In an interview on CBC News Network, Oliver said radicals are "a group of people who don’t take into account the facts but are driven by an ideological imperative."

While Oliver took aim at foreign funding for environment groups, foreign investment is a major part of the oilsands. American, British, Chinese, French and Norwegian companies have all invested in the oilsands.

The difference, Oliver says, is that Canada needs the foreign capital.

"They’re helping us build infrastructure to help us diversify our market. Other groups are trying to impede … the economic progress; they’re trying to block development; they’re trying to block projects which will create hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in government revenue and trillions of dollars in economic development. That’s the fundamental difference."
Review process should be shortened, minister says

Oliver says he thinks the review process can be shorter and still protect Canada.

"Of course it's a matter of judgment. We want to have enough time, but we don't want to permit people to hijack the process, and that's what's been happening," he said.

Last month, Oliver criticized the environmental review process as he approved French oil giant Total's Joslyn North oilsands mine project 65 kilometres northwest of Fort McMurray, Alta. He said he wants to see the process streamlined and shortened to two years.

A spokesman for the Pembina Institute, an environment group, says it seems the government is looking at fundamentally changing Canada’s approach to regulating and reviewing development proposals, as opposed to looking at economic and environmental issues associated with a pipeline and making a decision.

"Frankly, I would say I’m surprised at the letter and the force of it with an absence of, I think, accurate information as a foundation for it," Dan Woynillowicz said.

Pembina gets about 10 per cent of its funding from outside Canada, he said. The other 90 per cent comes from people, foundations and fee-for-service work inside Canada.

Last Friday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told an Edmonton crowd that he's heard a "growing" concern about the use of foreign money to overload the public consultation phase of regulatory hearings.

"We have to have processes in Canada that come to a decision in a reasonable amount of time and processes that cannot be hijacked," Harper said.

"This is something that is not good for the Canadian economy and the Government of Canada will be taking a close look at how we can ensure that our regulatory processes are effective and deliver decisions in a reasonable amount of time."
'Hijacked by the foreign oil lobby'

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May says running a pipeline through British Columbia's northern wilderness is a bad idea that can't be fast-tracked.

"Unfortunately, I think your role as minister of natural resources has been hijacked by the [Prime Minister's Office] spin machine. The PMO is, in turn, hijacked by the foreign oil lobby," she wrote in an open letter in response to Oliver.

May says there are other ways to diversify Canada's energy markets, other routes and other forms of energy.

"By characterizing this issue as environmental radicals versus Canada’s future prosperity you have done a grave disservice to the development of sensible public policy," she said.

[Mazmaz]

I think it's really interesting the use of language here, equating environmental groups to almost terrorists, using words like "hijack" and "radicals".
They really are using the economy as an excuse for anything aren't they? Maybe I'll be labeled as a "radical" for criticizing the government and get dragged out of my house and sent to a Canadian version of Gitmo.
It's really quite a nice strategy of fear they've been using up to this point.

[Mazmaz]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/stor...-strategy.html

Attack on 'radicals' sign of tougher federal strategy
Government expected to get more aggresive in defending major economic projects

If the federal government's salvo at environmentalists opposed to the Northern Gateway pipeline this week came as a surprise to some, it was a welcome defence of an important economic project to others.

The branding of opponents as "radicals" is part of a strategy to make sure the pipeline gets built, argues Tom Flanagan, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's former chief of staff and an expert on aboriginal issues.

Flanagan said there is a concerted world-wide attack against the oil industry. Neither the government nor the industry paid much attention for a long time. But Flanagan said postponement of the Keystone XL pipeline in the United States was a wake-up call.

"Shrugging it off, I don't think, is good enough anymore. It's a battle and you have to start pushing back," said Flanagan, who is also a frequent contributor to CBC-TV's Power & Politics with Evan Solomon.

But name-calling is only one part of the strategy. Pointing out uncomfortable facts is another.
In an open letter to the media Monday, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver pointed to a link between Canadian environmental groups and foreign donors.

Oliver said this connection meant foreigners were trying to negatively influence Canadian decisions about our economy.

"There are some radical groups and they're being financed by other radical groups in the United States who are trying to impose their particular agenda on what is a very important project," Oliver told CBC News.

Oliver told reporters Wednesday he was not branding all environmentalists as radicals, but he defended his letter.

"I thought we'd just get the facts out without being politically correct about it," Oliver said.
Environmental groups fear attack on funding

But environmental groups worry this is just the beginning of a campaign to discredit their work and possibly rob them of their charitable status. The federal Finance committee begins hearings into charities when Parliament resumes sitting at the end of January.

Peter Robinson, CEO of the David Suzuki Foundation, believes environmental groups with charitable status are right to worry.

"One way to try to limit or shut down debate is really to have a strong and concerted attack back. And in particular to threaten on issues such as charitable status," said Robinson. This has a chilling effect on what organizations will say, according to Robinson, who said that's not good for public debate.

But some see the government's strategy as about more than just removing environmental groups from the debate.

"For quite some time it has been clear that the federal government is not very interested in environmental assessment and they have been looking for various ways to not just streamline but to minimize the application of assessment," argues Bob Gibson, a professor at the University of Waterloo in Ontario and an expert on the Canadian environmental assessment process.

He points to recent Environment committee hearings looking into the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act as an example.

Gibson believes there are plenty of ways to make the process more effective and efficient but he doubts that is what the government is interested in doing.

"The argument for efficiency here is not accompanied by any serious examination of how you get greater efficiencies while retaining the effectiveness that is necessary in these things."

In the end, Gibson believes this is about money.

"I think they would want to have very quick approvals for any undertaking that looks like it is going to be economically attractive," he said.

Oliver has his own thoughts related to that point.

"We need to diversify our marketplace. We need to move to Asia to sell our natural resources. There is the potential of trillions of dollars of economic development, this is nation building," he said.

For Flanagan's part, he is happy the government has adopted a scrappier tone.

"The toughness is needed right now. You've got to signal that you're serious about this."

[Mazmaz]

Really hope this government doesn't go in the way crushing all dissent by cutting funding, though I'm not holding my breath.