parties top up leaders` salaries, so what? p. 11

Transcription

EXCLUSIVE POLITICAL COVERAGE: NEW
NEWS,
WS
W
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FEATURES,
EATURE AND ANALYSIS INSIDE
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
POLICY BRIEFING PP. 19-24
PARTIES TOP UP
LEADERS’ SALARIES,
SO WHAT? P. 11
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CANADA’S POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT NEWSWEEKLY
HILL
CLIMBERS P.25
WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2016 $5.00
NEWS ACCESS TO INFORMATION
NEWS ENVIRONMENT
NEWS DIPLOMACY
‘Too early to
tell’ if Liberals’
positive tone will
last: Info czar
Feds’ approach to B.C. dam
approvals ‘like the Saudi
Arms deal’: Opponents
Saudi government
sending huge
cultural delegation
to Ottawa, as arms
deal concerns
continue to swirl
BY MARIE-DANIELLE SMITH
There has been a “change in tone” from
the top, and a “very positive one,” when it
comes to access to information, says Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault.
“This is somewhat of a honeymoon
period,” the federal watchdog told The Hill
Times in an April 27 interview. “We will
have to see whether the sunny ways will
continue.”
It’s early days, Ms. Legault said, and
they’re full of a spirit of co-operation.
“It’s not unlike what we experienced in
the early days of 2006 and 2007, with the
previous government. So we will see how
this unfolds. It is too early to tell,” she said.
She later took the Conservative government to court over long-gun registry documents it denied a requester.
BY PETER MAZEREEUW
The Saudi government is planning to
send dancers to the lawns of Parliament
Hill May 19 as part of a massive, fourday cultural show, while a range of rights
groups and media pundits continue to pressure Canada’s government over arms sales
to the Middle Eastern powerhouse.
A delegation of between 70 and 100 performers, artists, and other exhibitors are
set to arrive in Ottawa to show off various
aspects of Saudi culture—from Arabic calligraphy to folk dances and Arab cuisine—
from May 18 to 21. Apart from the dance
Continued on page 6
Continued on page 7
NEWS CITIZENSHIP
NEWS FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Liberals order
investigation
into possible
citizenship fraud
Politician’s
cancelled
visit causes
tension in
Indo-Canadian
communities
BY TIM NAUMETZ
Citizenship Minister John McCallum
has ordered an investigation into Canadian
citizenship approvals that might have been
obtained fraudulently, following a scathing report from Auditor General Michael
Ferguson.
Mr. Ferguson tabled an audit report in
Parliament Tuesday that cited examples of
crucial information not being passed from
the RCMP and the Canada Border Services
Agency to the Immigration, Refugees and
Citizenship Department as 106,271 foreign
nationals who were permanent residents in
Canada submitted citizenship applications
in 2014 and had been granted citizenship
by June 2015.
Continued on page 16
BY CHELSEA NASH
Ken Boon, president of the Peace Valley
Landowner Association, and Rob Botterell, the
lawyer representing the organization, visited
Ottawa on April 27 to meet with officials
from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans
about their concerns of excessive sediment
pollution caused by preparatory construction
The planned visit of an Indian politician
to Canada to campaign to non-resident Indians and its ensuing cancellation has caused
tension in Indo-Canadian communities.
Amarinder Singh of the Punjab Pradesh
Congress Committee had planned to visit
Canada to hold rallies and events in the
GTA and Vancouver, according to news
reports out of India, but cancelled the visit
after a complaint was made by a human
rights group called Sikhs for Justice to
Global Affairs Canada and the Indian High
Commission in Canada.
Continued on page 4
Trees are cleared last fall from the future site of the Site C dam along Peace River in northeastern
British Columbia. Photograph courtesy of Garth Lenz
BY CHELSEA NASH
The federal government is coming up
on what will be a litmus test of its commitment to nation-to-nation relations with
First Nations and to the environment, say
those advocating for the shutdown of the
massive BC Hydro development known as
Site C in northeastern British Columbia.
2
THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2016
FEATURE BUZZ
HEARD
ON
THE
HILL
Diplomats flock to Cuban Embassy to meet
foreign minister
B Y P ETER M A Z E RE E U W
Dragon boat season
on the horizon
Members of the European Union Delegation’s team
prepare to paddle in the Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival
on June 27, 2015 at Mooney’s Bay. From front left:
captain Petra Auster and Annegret Hayward, EU
assistant Mélina Chimal-Pilon, and Austrian assistant
Annkathrin Diehl, Romanian second secretary Silvana
Bolocan (turned head) and Portuguese deputy João
Sabido Costa. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia
P
ublic servants and embassy staff are signing up once again to shed their businesswear for life preservers and a chance at glory.
Entries are already rolling in for the
annual Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat
Festival, a contest for bragging rights
among 200 teams of paddlers at Ottawa’s
Mooney’s Bay Park on Riverside Drive
that will run from June 23 to 26 this year.
Dragon boat racing, a sport taken
from Chinese tradition, involves teams of
between 14 and 20 paddlers, one drummer
and a steersperson guiding long, narrow
boats in a race against each other and
the clock. The Ottawa festival, which bills
itself as North America’s largest, includes
a special division for diplomatic missions
CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATION
Re: “AG denies Harper lawyer suggestion he will audit Duffy expenses
with trial over,” (April 27, p. 1). The story
said there were 69 days of hearings,
from April 14, 2015 through to last Feb.
23. In fact, the trial lasted 64 days, starting April 7, 2015. The story mistakenly
noted that Robert Staley began representing Mr. Harper on the Duffy issue in
mid-2014. It should have read mid-2013.
And Nigel Wright was misquoted saying
“stop the water torture” when he actually
said “Chinese water torture.”
•
Re: “Justice Minister Wilson-Raybould hires Smith as policy director,”
(May 2, p. 27). The photos accompanying the story were published by mistake and were unrelated to the text.
•
Re:“Five-year ban on lobbying excessive, say former political Hill staffers,”
(May 2, p. 1) Erik Waddell was mistakenly identified as having worked for
former industry minister James Moore as
industry minister. In fact, he worked for
Tony Clement as industry minister, and
later as president of the Treasury Board.
Also, Mr. Waddell was quoted as indicating that the lobbying ban only applies to
former designated public office holders
(DPOHs) trying to lobby other DPOHs. It
in fact bans former DPOHs from lobbying
anyone in government for five years postemployment. The Hill Times apologizes
for these errors.
(won last year by a team from the European Union Delegation) and the federal government (won last year by a team from the
Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission).
The reigning champions from the European Union mission have already signed
up for another go, as have teams from the
Romanian Embassy and Taiwan’s economic
and cultural office. The former champs of
the government division, which go by the
name Panacea, are also coming back, and
are now one of just two teams to take part in
the festival every year since it began in 1994,
according to Shelley Freake, the festival’s
director of teams and fundraising.
The Canada Border Services Agency is
entering a team for the first time, she said.
Each team pays an entrance fee of
$1,400, plus tax (less for teams from out
of town), and many of the teams raise
funds for charitable causes selected by the
festival as well, though few embassy teams
have done so in the past, said Ms. Freake.
This year, proceeds will go to the Youth
Services Bureau of Ottawa, the Tim Horton
Children’s Foundation and a Tim Hortons
community fund for Ottawa, she said.
Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, Cuban Ambassador Julio Garmendia, and Chilean Ambassador
Alfonso Silva at the May 3 reception.
The Hill Times photographs
by Sam Garcia
Mr. Parrilla with Jamaican High Commissioner Janice Miller and
Rwandan High Commissioner Shakilla Umutoni.
Braune publishes Arctic
book
Press gallery
veteran Gerd
Braune has
published
a Germanlanguage
book on
the Arctic.
Photograph
courtesy of Gerd
Braune
A press gallery veteran has published
a German-language book on the Arctic—
everything from polar bears to the Arctic
Council and the seal hunt controversy.
Gerd Braune, who writes for about a dozen
German-language publications, launched his
book, Die Arktis—Porträt einer Weltregion
(The Arctic—Portrait of a World Region) at the
Leipzig Book Fair on March 18. Mr. Braune
has covered Arctic policy and other issues as a
freelance member of the Parliamentary Press
Gallery since arriving in Canada in 1997.
The book introduces readers to the
Arctic, covering plants and animals, indigenous peoples, climate change, the Arctic
Council and some of the biggest Arctic
policy issues, and includes a chapter on
Canada and its history in the Arctic, said
Mr. Braune, who estimates he has travelled
to the Arctic 15 times or more.
“It’s not a book that will fly from the
shelves. It’s a book for people who are
interested in this issue,” he said.
The book is currently only available for
purchase in German-language markets in
Europe, but a Kindle edition of the book
can be purchased via Amazon for $9.99. Mr.
Braune is considering publishing the book
in English as well.
Vietnamese Ambassador To
Anh Dung with Senegalese
Ambassador Ousmane Paye.
Kenyan High Commissioner John Lanyasunya, Dominican Republic
counsellor Dulce Rosario, Miraly Gonzalez, wife of the Cuban
ambassador, and Claudia Rocabado, chargé d’affaires of Bolivia.
Hungary marks memorial day for
Holocaust victims
Liberal MP Anthony Housefather and
Hungarian Ambassador Balint Odor at
the April 18 reception at the embassy to
recognize Hungarian Holocaust victims.
Floralove Katz with Barrick Gold founder
Peter Munk and Conservative MP Ed Fast.
Mr. Housefather with Liberal MP Michael Levitt, Supreme Court of
Canada Justice Michael Moldaver and his wife, Riky Moldaver.
The Hill Times photographs by Ulle Baum
Mr. Odor with Mr. Munk and his wife,
Melanie Munk.
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4
NEWS ENVIRONMENT
Silt is stirred
up in the
Peace Valley
River as a
result of
preparatory
construction
for the Site
C dam. Photo
courtesy of
Garth Lenz
Feds’ approach to B.C. dam
approvals ‘like the Saudi
Arms deal’: Opponents
The fisheries
minister says his
department will
consult with First
Nations groups
before making
permitting decision.
Continued from page 1
for the Site C dam, which, at a cost
of close to $9 billion and a projected
10-year timeline, is described as one
of the largest public infrastructure
projects B.C. has ever seen.
The project has caused a stir
among the First Nations groups
who live in the area and use the
land for gathering, trapping, fishing, and other cultural and spiritual practices, and landowners in
the area who will be displaced as
a result of the construction.
Mr. Boon is one of those landowners.
He said if the Site C project is
to continue, he and his wife will
lose their home.
“My wife’s family lived there,
we live in her grandfather’s old
house, so we have deep roots
there especially on my wife’s side
of the family,” he told The Hill
Times during his visit to Ottawa
last week.
Mr. Boon and Mr. Botterell
are concerned that the federal
government is turning a blind eye
to Site C, and said they felt they
needed to meet with officials to
inform them “so they can’t say
their hands are tied,” said Mr.
Boon.
The federal government is
currently deciding on whether to
issue a permit for civil works in
relation to the hydroelectric dam
to go ahead.
Mr. Boon said the government
seems to be hiding behind the
fact that there are several related
cases currently before the courts.
The project was approved in
October 2015 by both the provincial and federal governments,
after the application underwent
a three-year joint review panel
overseen by both governments.
Regarding fisheries, the panel
concluded, “the Project would
cause significant adverse effects
on fish and fish habitat,” and that
“there would be a reduction to
fish health and survival due to
sedimentation during construction and headpond and reservoir
filling.”
Mr. Boon wanted to stress
that the Peace Valley Landowner
Association is not against energy
development projects. But he said
he has a lot to lose if this project
goes ahead, and he doesn’t feel
like anyone is being held accountable for potential infractions
being committed at the site.
“What we are doing is looking out for the interests of the
landowners in the valley...we
want to know that if permits are
being issued for this project that
they are being reviewed properly
and that this is being done right. I
don’t feel it has to this point,” said
Mr. Boon.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, land advocate Helen
Knott, and Mr. Boon all said
they believe the warnings in the
Joint Review Panel, including of
damage to fish populations and
infringements on indigenous
treaty rights, were ignored by
the previous federal government
when it decided to go ahead with
the project anyway, citing economic benefits.
“I guess it was Stephen Harper
trying to do [B.C. Premier] Christy Clark a favour,” said Ms. May.
“It’s all politics.”
The project opponents say the
Liberal government should be
held responsible for the current
state of the project, even if it
didn’t make the initial decision to
allow the dam to be built.
“So you take all that together
and you think...this new government is going to say: ‘This is like
Saudi tanks, sorry the previous
government made the decision,
we’re just going along with it’?
That won’t wash,” Ms. May told
The Hill Times.
Foreign Minister Stéphane
Dion has been under fire for the
way he and his government
framed a deal to sell arms to
Saudi Arabia. Initially, the government claimed that its hands
were tied because the deal had
been approved by the previous
Conservative government, but
Mr. Dion was criticized when it
was revealed he actually played
a key role in confirming the deal
in April.
Mr. Botterell and Mr. Boon
echoed Ms. May.
“I think what’s happening in
the federal bureaucracy is ‘Oh,
we’re done here. Too bad, but—
sort of like the Saudi Arms deal—
it was signed. We really feel for
you, but that was then and this is
now. And we’ll be different going
forward.’ And what we’re saying
is ‘No, no, going forward is right
now,’” Mr. Botterell said. “The fishery is going to be ruined for the
First Nations. You’d better be sure
that this is the least impactful
solution and you’ve got a chance
right now to do it right,” said Mr.
Botterell.
An emailed statement from
the Department of Fisheries and
Oceans reads: “DFO has received
and is reviewing BC Hydro’s
application for a Fisheries Act
Section 35(2)(b) authorization for
the Site C main civil works (i.e.,
dam, generating station, spillway,
and associated works) and operations. DFO is currently consulting
potentially affected indigenous
groups prior to making a decision
on issuance of an authorization.”
Minister for Fisheries and
Oceans Hunter Tootoo, in an
interview with The Hill Times,
reiterated the fact that the department would be consulting with
First Nations groups before deciding whether to issue the permit to
BC Hydro.
When asked whether he was
considering denying the permit,
he said: “My officials and chief
of staff met with representatives
from over there. There was information provided, we’re reviewing
that information and, you know,
part of the application from BC
Hydro. We’ll follow the process,
we’ll be consulting with the indigenous groups over there before
any decision is made whether to
move forward or not.”
The Member of Parliament for
the area, Conservative Bob Zimmer (Prince George-Peace RiverNorthern Rockies, B.C.) did not
respond to a request for comment.
While construction has already started on the project, Mr.
Boon remains hopeful it could
still be halted.
“The activity that has happened to date, it’s reversible,” he
said. “It’s just a small part of what
will be needed for this project.
There’s not a dam being built yet,
it’s all prep work leading up to
this project. Myself as an individual, I’m still hopeful that a sober
second thought will be done with
this. And this is a key one, these
federal permits.”
[email protected]
The Hill Times
ENERGY
SITE C: A TIMELINE
MAY 2014:
The federal-provincial joint
panel review, among other
conclusions in a 473-page report,
says if Site C goes forward, that
there would be “significant
adverse effects of the Project on
cultural heritage resources for
both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people.”
OCTOBER 2015:
The federal government issues 14 permits for work on Site
C in the midst of an election.
DECEMBER 2015:
BC Hydro signs a $1.75-billion
contract with its preferred bidder
to construct the main civil works
on the project. Clear-cutting
and other preparatory work has
started on Site C.
DECEMBER 31, 2015:
A group calling itself
the Treaty 8 Stewards of the
Land, referring to a treaty signed
by First Nations and Queen Victoria in 1899, sets up camp on Site
C to peacefully protest the development of the land. The camp is
run by advocate Helen Knott and
Mr. Boon.
FEBRUARY 2016:
Lawyer Rob Botterell and
Ms. Knott come to Ottawa seeking meetings with the prime
minister and cabinet ministers.
They meet with Liberal MP
Pamela Goldsmith-Jones (West
Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea
to Sky County, B.C.), NDP justice
critic Murray Rankin (Victoria,
B.C.), and a junior policy adviser
in Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett’s
(Toronto-St. Paul’s, Ont.) office.
“It was like they were checking a
box off,” Ms. Knott told The Hill
Times after her meeting with Ms.
Bennett’s staff.
FEBRUARY 29, 2016:
The B.C. Supreme Court
grants BC Hydro an injunction,
requiring all protesters to leave
Site C by midnight, or face arrest. The court cited “irreparable
harm” that it said was being
done to the $9-billion project by
the presence of the protesters.
APRIL 6, 2016:
Ms. Clark announces a
$470-million turbine contract
with BC Hydro for Site C.
APRIL 27, 2016:
Mr. Botterell and Mr. Boon
visit Ottawa to meet with the
fisheries and oceans minister’s
chief of staff, George Young, regarding concerns over sediment
pollution at the construction
site and the process for issuance
of new federal fisheries permits
by the Trudeau government.
5
NEWS TPP
House Trade Committee agrees
on equal witness selection
A Liberal motion
on the TPP study
may be a product
of ‘exceptional
circumstance’ or
rookies on the
committee, say
lobbyists.
BY PETER MAZEREEUW
W
ading through a prolonged
study on the Trans-Pacific
Partnership Agreement, the House
Trade Committee has taken the
unusual step of passing a motion
requiring that, “to the greatest
possible extent,” each party with
a seat at the table should be able
to choose an equal number of witnesses to weigh in on the deal.
The motion is relatively
unique, so far as a handful of current and former Members of Parliament and staffers can recall, in
that it puts in writing rules for a
selection process for which few
hard rules exist.
Though the motion was written
to apply only to the committee’s
TPP study, several members said
they are open to continuing the
practice of splitting up witness
slots equally. However, a pair of
Liberal MPs left the door open to
returning to the more typical practice of giving the majority caucus
more say over who gets to testify.
Minutes from a private portion of the committee’s March 8
meeting show it passed a motion
laying out some of the terms of its
TPP study, including a clause that
requires clerk Rémi Bourgault,
in consultation with committee
chairperson and Liberal MP Mark
Eyking (Sydney-Victoria, N.S.), to
schedule witnesses “to the greatest possible extent, with witness
slots apportioned equally among
each caucus for each meeting.”
So far, that’s been the case, said
Tracey Ramsey (Essex, Ont.), the
committee’s sole NDP representative.
Ms. Ramsey said there hasn’t
been a major difference so far in
the sorts of witnesses testifying before the committee during its TPP
study meetings versus other meetings, but that the motion is a good
way to ensure the committee members hear all perspectives as they
evaluate the looming trade deal, on
which the Liberal government has
not yet taken a firm position.
Liberal MP Kyle Peterson
(Newmarket-Aurora, Ont.), who
said he proposed the motion, said
the idea was to get the broadest
possible cross-section of witnesses for the TPP study.
“We thought it was important,
we as Liberals, because we had
nothing to do with the negotiations of the deal at all,” he said.
The committee is taking the
next few months to travel across
the country to hear from Canadians on the deal as well as accept written submissions. The chair
hopes to report back to the House
about it by the end of the year.
Majority rules
There are few hard rules about
the way in which witnesses are selected for a committee. Each caucus
on the committee typically submits
a list of desired witnesses ranked
in order of preference. Members
often put forward witnesses they
know already. The committee clerk
officially schedules witnesses to appear based upon the time available,
which witnesses can make it, and
input from the committee chair. In
practice, subcommittees on agenda
and procedure often play a role in
deciding which witnesses will be
chosen.
The witness selection process
for most committees has been
loosely based upon a formula
that allocates witness slots, or at
least input into which names get
chosen from the lists, based upon
the makeup of the House of Commons. In other words, members
of the party with the most MPs—
who also form a majority of the
members on most committees—
get to choose the most witnesses.
The second-ranked party chooses
fewer, and so on.
In practice, that’s not always the
case, said Mr. Eyking, a veteran of
numerous committees during his
15 years as an MP. In most cases,
the majority caucus would only
flex their muscle when the committee was studying a particularly
contentious issue, he said.
Mr. Eyking, Mr. Peterson, and
Ms. Ramsey all said they were
open to extending the equal
selection of witnesses beyond the
TPP study in the future, though
the Liberal MPs stopped short of
promising to do so in all cases.
“We’ve got to have a balanced
approach and listen to everyone,”
said Mr. Eyking, adding that the
Liberal majority “might have to
revisit it” if a contentious issue
changed the committee’s relatively collegial atmosphere.
‘Exceptional circumstance’
Writing out a rule for how
witnesses are selected is “a little unconventional,” said Yaroslav Baran,
a consultant lobbyist for Earnscliffe Strategy Group and former
chief of staff to a chief government
whip and house leader under the
Harper Conservatives.
In most cases, representatives
of the different parties will engage
in some “wheeling and dealing” to
hash out a list of names, roughly
half of which will be recommended
by the majority, half by the opposition caucuses, he said.
Members of different parties
often want to hear from the same
witnesses, and that overlap further
stretches adherence to the principle of doling out witnesses based
on representation in the House,
said Robin MacLachlan, a consultant lobbyist for Summa Strategies
and former legislative assistant to
former NDP MP Paul Dewar.
The move to hear from more
witnesses recommended by the
opposition is likely a product of the
“exceptional circumstance” of one
government studying a trade deal
negotiated by another, said Don
Boudria, a consultant lobbyist for
Hill and Knowlton Strategies and
former Liberal cabinet minister.
“I wouldn’t call it earth-shattering, because it doesn’t affect
the votes on the committee either
way,” he said, adding that the
majority on a committee should
have more say in which witnesses
appear in most cases by virtue of
their mandate from the electorate.
Putting the motion in writing
could be a case of“atypical behaviour”more common now for committees populated by more rookie MPs
than usual, said Mr. MacLachlan.
There are five rookies on the
House Trade Committee—four
of them Liberals—including Mr.
Peterson, who worked as a commercial lawyer prior to winning
his seat.
[email protected]
@PJMazereeuw
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6
NEWS ACCESS TO INFORMATION
‘Too early to
tell’ if Liberals’
positive tone will
last: Info czar
‘Honeymoon’ period
is in full swing, she
says, ahead of Access
to Information Act
review.
Ms. Legault was appointed
Canada’s information commissioner in 2010. But she has
worked in the office since 2007.
Treasury Board President Scott
Brison (King-Hants, N.S.) told an
open government conference at the
end of March that a comprehensive
review of access-to-information
law will begin in 2018, but that legislation including quick fixes and
election promises could be tabled
as soon as this year.
Promises in Mr. Brison’s
ministerial mandate letter include
ensuring the information commissioner can order government
information to be released, and
mandating that the law applies to
the prime minister’s and ministers’ offices, as well as administrative institutions that support
Parliament and the courts.
The latter will take a lot of
work, Ms. Legault told The Hill
Times. Offices should be given
three to six months to hire accessto-information officers and train
staff, she said. Legislation that
requires members of the House
of Commons Board of Internal
Economy to be sworn to secrecy
will have to be looked at, she
added.
In addition, not everything
that happens in a minister’s office should have to be disclosed,
warned Ms. Legault.“It would not
be appropriate, in my view, to have
that covered by the access-to-information legislation,” she said.
It will be a challenge to figure
out “how we segregate purely
political activity from activities
that relate to the administration
of government,” she said.
A House of Commons committee is currently studying potential
reforms to the Access to Information Act and will be holding
public consultations.
It has already heard from Ms.
Legault. She said she intends to
appear again before the committee to recommend changes
beyond what the government has
already promised.
The Hill Times asked Ms. Legault
about some of the problems with the
access-to-information system and
how they could change under a new
government. The following has been
edited for style and length.
What should the government prioritize beyond the mandate letter
promises?
“There is one thing that I have
been advocating for, that all of my
colleagues across Canada have
been advocating for, and that is
the duty to document.
“I think that this is an imperative now in terms of access
to information across the country.
All the commissioners issued a
joint resolution. We issued it Jan.
16 and essentially that’s really
to address what we’ve seen in
some very specific cases across
the country. We had the tripledelete issue in B.C., we had the
gas-plant emails in Ontario and
we conducted our own investigation with the use of BlackBerry
pin-to-pin.
“So we’re very concerned that
the new technology, the speed at
which information is being conveyed, all the various devices that
people are using, that there needs
to be a heightened legal duty to
document in order to preserve the
right of access. And that will definitely be in those quick fixes.
“It’s something that is a
concern around the world, by the
way, and to my knowledge this is
not something that exists in any
access-to-information legislation at this time. So when we talk
about Canada, you know, sort of
regaining its leadership in terms
of access-to-information legislation, I think that would be a key
component.”
What are some challenges in extending access to information to
ministers’ offices and the Prime
Minister’s Office?
“I think that it would be an opportunity for ministers and PMO
to really make sure that they have
the right information-management practices in place, that they
have the opportunity to equip
themselves to answer access-toinformation requests. It actually
does require some work.
“You need to have someone
that works in the ministers’
offices to respond to access-toinformation requests. You need
people to be trained. There is a
set-up time in order to be ready
to answer access-to-information
requests. That’s going to be one
challenge for sure.
“In terms of the administration
of Parliament and the Board of
Internal Economy, I think we’re
going to have to look at the legislation that applies to the Board of
Internal Economy because I think
members are sworn to secrecy
as part of the legislation. I think
that’s going to have to be looked
at. And also I think we’re going
to have to look at how we protect
parliamentary privilege in those
types of circumstances.”
Should the legislation be applied
retroactively?
“I think it should be prospective. It should move forward from
the time the legislation is in place.
I don’t think it would be fair to
basically apply something like
Information
Commissioner
Suzanne Legault
at her office in
Gatineau, Que. on
April 27. ‘We will
have to see whether
the sunny ways will
continue,’ she says.
The Hill Times photograph
by Marie-Danielle Smith
that retroactively.”
Does protecting parliamentary
privilege mean using exclusions?
“I’m not a big fan of exclusions
either because as you know exclusions mean that my office cannot
review the records. My experience is
that that is not a good idea in terms
of ensuring the effective oversight
and proper accountability.
“But certainly a mandatory
exemption for parliamentary
privilege would be appropriate,
or a discretionary exemption for
parliamentary privilege, one or
the other, but at least to provide
proper oversight.”
There seems to be a culture of
overusing exemptions. How
should this be dealt with?
“Well I do agree. I think that
there are some over-applications
of exemptions. You know, the
philosophy underlying the Act
and the purpose of the Act clearly
states that disclosure should be
had if it’s normal disclosure in
terms of government operations.
“What we do find is a lot of
application of exemption that is
not warranted. About 50 per cent
of the cases that we reviewed
that deal with the application of
exemptions, we find that there
was an over-application of the
exemptions, so that gives you a
sense. Basically half of the time in
the cases that we investigate, we
find that it’s over-applied.
“What can be done to change
it? Certainly the tone at the top
really makes a difference. The
prime minister has made some
strong statements, but that needs
to filter through to the deputy
ministers, the assistant deputy
ministers, has to filter down all
the way through the access-to-information professionals. Training
has to be done with that philosophy and those directions in mind.
“People have to be reassured
when they make decisions on
disclosure that they will not be
disciplined or sanctioned if they
allow disclosure of information
which potentially embarrasses
the government, so long as it’s
respectful of the legislation.
“So that really requires a
change of culture. A change of
culture is really like a change of
management within government
institutions, and it needs to be
done systematically. It needs to be
messaged, it needs to be reinforced, it needs to be ongoing.
“This is not necessarily something that occurs quickly and of
course a change of legislation—
if we were going to look more
substantively at the Act, if we
looked at the exemptions, if we
had a public interest override, a
stronger legislative framework
that favoured disclosure, more
so than secrecy—it would also
go a long way to change the
culture.”
Is the fear of being disciplined a
legitimate one? Have some staffers been disciplined after disclosing information?
“Not that I know of. But we
have seen public servants during
our investigations that are quite
fearful.”
Have you seen any concrete
changes take hold since the new
government came in?
“We have had some instances
since the new government has
been in place where there have
been quicker resolutions on some
files, and some very quick action.
So we have so far seen a change
in results. A change in tone.
“I received a response to a letter of recommendations recently
which was very positive. Very collaborative and really addressed
the recommendations. This is a
change of tone from certainly
the last few days of the previous
government, for sure.”
In what way were complaints resolved more quickly than usual?
“These were just a couple of
instances so far, where basically,
these were easier files. I thought
the information should be disclosed, essentially just picked
up the phone, and the files were
disclosed. That was very posi-
tive, and that was very quick, and
we’re seeing some movements as
well in terms of earlier resolution
of some files.
“The assistant commissioner
is working with assistant deputy
ministers across the system and
we’re seeing a lot more receptivity and a lot more collaboration
than we did in the last few days of
the previous government.”
Your office is still facing a significant backlog of complaints. Are
you looking for more resources?
“We did seek additional
funding through the budget. We
did not get additional funding
through the budget. We are still
in discussion with the government. We will see in the next few
months whether there will be
additional funding coming to the
office.
“We definitely need more staff
to deal with our files. Just to give
you a sense, this past year we
received over 2,000 complaints
and we were only able to close
not quite 1,300 this year. So
there’s already, just for this past
fiscal year, 700 complaints [in the]
backlog. Already. Just for this
year. So we’re at over 3,000 files
in inventory.
“On an ongoing basis, to
absorb this kind of volume, we
would need at least 20 new people, 20 new investigators. We’re
about 90 people, and out of that,
we have usually about 77 per cent
of the whole office that works on
investigations and 23 per cent
that works on corporate services.
“On investigations—because
some people are critical of
this—from my office, it’s not just
investigators that work on investigations. The lawyers work on
investigations, directors work on
investigations. We have an intake
unit—they work on the investigations. So that’s all part and
parcel of how the investigations
are managed, from the time that
someone files a complaint with
the office.”
[email protected]
The Hill Times
7
NEWS DIPLOMACY
The event could help to
‘soften the image of Saudi
Arabia’ in the minds of
federal politicians, says
one consultant.
Women, development on agenda
The public cultural event is intended to
“highlight the friendship between Saudi
Arabia and Canada,” according to an
emailed statement from Shaza Fahim, an
official in the Saudi Embassy.
The Saudi government held another
Cultural Days event in Indonesia earlier
this year, and has in the past held events
in countries including Syria, Brazil, and
Kyrgyzstan.
The event is scheduled to begin two
months after the embassy uncharacteristically opened its doors to a few journalists to witness the presentation of a
$31,000 cheque to the United Way Ottawa
in support of its work resettling Syrian
refugees in Ottawa. The embassy hosted
Mr. Dion, Senate Speaker George Furey,
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, officials from
Ottawa’s universities and members of
the press for dinner following the cheque
presentation. Saudi Ambassador Naif
Bin Bandir AlSudairy declined to answer
reporters’ questions about the arms sale
on that occasion.
The Saudi government also received a
trade delegation from Canada last month
that included Conservative MP Randy Hoback, former Conservative MP Ed Holder
(from General Dynamics’ Canadian home
TRAVERS
DEBATES
Is democracy in trouble with
the decline of legacy media?
on the Hill, the show will be held in the
Shaw Centre, the airy conference facility
at 55 Colonel By Dr. in downtown Ottawa.
The event will be open to the public and
“everything is free,” according to an official
in the Saudi Embassy.
The Saudi Cultural Days event is held
in various locations around the world each
year, but has not been in Canada since 1991,
according to the embassy. The cultural show
is being planned while Canadian Foreign
Minister Stéphane Dion (Saint-Laurent,
Que.) and the Liberal government are under
pressure for allowing the sale of armoured
and weaponized military vehicles to the
Saudi government, which has a history of
human rights abuse.
The sale was originally brokered under the previous Conservative government
in Canada.
The Saudi government has used what appears to be the same type of Canadian-made
vehicle, General Dynamics Land Systems’ light
armoured vehicle or LAV, in its intervention in
neighbouringYemen’s civil war, the Globe and
Mail reported. Mr. Dion has said“all the assessments that have been made up to today, since
1993, [have indicated] that the equipment has
been properly used.”
A coalition of non-governmental organizations including Amnesty International
Canada, Project Ploughshares, the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group,
and the Canadian Council for International
Co-operation (which in 2014-15 represented 73 members) sent an open letter to
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau,
Que.), Mr. Dion, and other ministers April
27 urging them to reconsider their decision
to issue export permits for the LAVs, calling it “immoral and unethical.”
TUESDAY, MAY 17 NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE
2016
Saudi government
sending huge cultural
delegation to Ottawa
Foreign Minister Stéphane Dion, right, joined
Saudi Ambassador Naif Bin Bandir AlSudairy
for dinner at the Saudi ambassador’s home in
March. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia
Challenges facing traditional media in a digital world have
some fearing for the democratic process itself, worrying
base in London, Ont.) and a range of business groups. Mr. Hoback (Prince Albert,
Sask.) said he believes “millions of dollars”
worth of business was done on the trip
between Canadian and Saudi companies.
Mr. Hoback said he raised the issue of
human rights with Mr. AlSudairy before
departing on the trade mission, and did so
with Saudi officials during the trip as well.
“I’m glad to see that they’re reaching
out and doing things like [the Cultural
Days] to help Canadians understand that
there’s more to the relationship between
Canada and Saudi Arabia than one deal,”
said Mr. Hoback.
Mr. AlSudairy will be attending the cultural event, which will include seminars on
Saudi-Canadian relations and on women
and development, according to the Saudi
Embassy.
The Saudi government has been consistently criticized in the West for its restrictions on women’s rights, which includes a
ban on driving and requirements for male
relatives to approve actions ranging from
marriage to obtaining a passport, according Human Rights Watch.
In a response to the Globe and Mail on
the arms deal controversy, the Saudi
Embassy in March criticized what it called
“sensationalized and politicized” coverage
of the $15-billion deal and outside attempts
to interfere with internal affairs.
The Saudi government plans its Cultural Days events at least three years ahead
of time, according to an emailed statement
from the Saudi Embassy. The event has
“nothing to do with the sale of armored
vehicles,” the statement said.
that every newspaper or broadcasting layoff lessens the
foundation of an informed public.
Bruce Anderson, Chairman,
Abacus Data, and Ed Greenspon,
President of the Public Policy
Forum, will debate whether this
is a valid concern, and whether
cutting edge new media are
changing the game in ways that
the old media will not be missed.
And join our fearless fun debate
teams as they tackle the
question of House decorum.
Scott Feschuk and Ruth Ellen
Brosseau trade trenchant bon
mots with Katie Simpson and
Rodger Cuzner in arguing the
pros and cons of the resolution
“Heckling is a parliamentary
privilege and should be
maintained.”
A softer side of Saudi Arabia
Whether it is or not, the event is a good
idea for an embassy tasked with promoting
close, positive ties with Canada, says John
Capobianco, Fleishman-Hillard’s national
lead consultant for public affairs.
“It never hurts countries to come in and
showcase themselves to decision-makers
within Canada,” said Mr. Capobianco.
The cultural event could help to “soften
the image of Saudi Arabia” in the minds of
federal politicians who must consider how
to approach the country as the arms sale
controversy swirls, he said.
The four-day showcase won’t make human rights concerns go away, but it’s a step
better than trying to improve the Saudi
government’s image with a simple meeting or phone call with a federal decisionmaker, he said.
If the event helps to move the needle
of public opinion on Saudi Arabia and
the arms sale, that will make it easier for
Canada’s government to look more favourably upon Saudi Arabia in turn, he said.
[email protected]
@PJMazereeuw
It’s all in aid of raising funds for the R. James Travers
Foreign Corresponding Fellowship, created to honour
the late Jim Travers. The last three Travers Debates have been
sell-outs and tickets are selling quickly again for this year.
Don’t be disappointed — buy today!
MAY 17
NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE
Tickets are $125 and
available only at
traversdebates.ca
PRESENTED BY
8
Editor Kate Malloy
Deputy Editor Derek Abma
Managing Editor Kristen Shane
Deputy Editor Peter Mazereeuw
Assistant Deputy Editor Abbas Rana
Online Editor, Power & Influence Editor Ally Foster
Publishers Anne Marie Creskey,
Jim Creskey, Ross Dickson
General Manager, CFO Andrew Morrow
Why the silence
on mining oversight?
EDITORIAL IMMIGRATION
CBSA oversight, and
more, needed
G
ood on Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale for recognizing the need to create a
new body to oversee Canada’s border agency.
Currently, there is no explicit review mechanism for it, he said.
He told The Hill Times this week that the
border agency “undoubtedly” needs a new
oversight mechanism, a tool that goes beyond
the parliamentary committee he’s promised to
set up to oversee a number of security agencies. He said the government is considering
several options, including mechanisms similar
to what already exist to review the RCMP and
Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
Fourteen immigration detainees have died
since 2000 while being held by the Canada
Border Services Agency. This includes two in
one week in March.
A coroner’s inquest into the death of 42-yearold Mexican migrant Lucia Vega Jimenez
recommended the appointment of an independent ombudsman to mediate complaints, and
a civilian body to investigate critical incidents
involving people in CBSA custody. Ms. Jimenez
hanged herself in December 2013 while detained in a Vancouver airport holding cell. She
had been facing removal to Mexico.
These deaths are horrific on their own.
They are also signs of deeper problems that
must be addressed by Mr. Goodale, in addition to the creation of an oversight body.
The border agency, for instance, was so
tight-lipped in the death of Abdurahman Ibrahim
Hassan, who died last June after four years at
the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay,
Ont., that it refused to release even his name.
It is bewildering that Mr. Hassan, who had
diabetes and bipolar disorder and who came
to Canada from Somalia in 1993, was detained for four years in a provincial jail.
Canada keeps thousands of immigrants
and asylum seekers locked up every year.
Some spend years imprisoned, despite having
committed no crime.
This is unconscionable for a country such as
Canada that now wishes to stand on a record of
fair treatment for migrants and asylum seekers.
Detainees need proper support to deal with
mental health conditions and other pressing
medical issues. Detention must be used as a last
resort and no one should be jailed for years on
end unless they are convicted of a crime.
Human rights groups, United Nations bodies, and others have implored Canada to follow these fair and humane recommendations.
Mr. Goodale is suggesting that he may be
listening and is willing to act, we hope, before
another detainee dies behind bars.
R
e:“Feds show little interest
in tougher oversight of
mining firms’ actions abroad,”
(The Hill Times, April 20, p. 1).
In March the UN Committee
on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights slammed Canada
on its failure to ensure that its
mining, oil, and gas companies
respect human rights in their
work abroad.
It joined a growing
chorus of international
bodies decrying the lack of
accountability regarding
Canadian companies that
work in countries where
environmental and human
rights protections are weak
or non-existent. (Case in
point: Honduras, which a
UN expert warned in March
was at risk of becoming “a
lawless killing zone for human rights defenders.” More
than 100 Hondurans speaking out against destructive
mining, dam, logging, and
agriculture projects have
been killed since 2010.)
The committee pointed
to the ineffectiveness of the
Office of the Extractive Sector
Corporate Social Responsibility Counsellor, a toothless
mechanism created by the
Harper government. It called
on Canada to pass laws
“requiring...corporations to
conduct human rights impact
assessments”before starting projects, create“effective
mechanisms to investigate
complaints,”and ensure“access to justice before domestic
courts by victims of the conduct of those corporations.”
Last month, we learned
that newly elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s ministers
are collectively mute on the
issue. Why the silence? We can
only hope they’re working out
the details of a real system of
oversight, one that will finally
create Canadian accountability that’s so urgently needed.
Karyn Keenan
Director, Above Ground
Ottawa, Ont
Let’s cut our sugar high
I
t is my observation that
our health-care system is
primarily reactive.
We want to contain escalating costs but do nothing
much in the form of prevention, which could ultimately
save billions.
It is common knowledge
that much of the food consumed is pure junk, but many
parents do not want to take
responsibility for what goes
into their bodies, let alone
their children. According to a
recent report from the World
Health Organization, diabetes
is rampant around the world,
as the United States continues
to export its junk-food ideas.
The government can influence this by designating what
goes into our food. The U.S.
tried to reduce sugar and ran
into the sugar lobby. We need
a strong government to act
on behalf of its citizens and
resist the lobbyists.
Ivor Green
Calgary, Alta.
Taiwan Night’s age
hardly lessens insult
R
e:“No reason for China
to be upset over Taiwan
Night”(The Hill Times, April
27, p. 14). With only a foreigner’s understanding, I will
try to answer Scott Simon’s
arguments in the article.
That Taiwan Night has
been an annual affront to
China for 20 years hardly
lessens the insult. Taking
Quebec, Scotland, Palestine
(The West Bank and Gaza),
First Nations’ territories,
Catalonia, and the Basque
EDITORIAL
SENIOR REPORTERS Tim Naumetz and Laura Ryckewaert
REPORTER, POWER & INFLUENCE ASSISTANT
EDITOR Rachel Aiello
NEWS REPORTER Chelsea Nash
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and Jake Wright
POWER & INFLUENCE ASSISTANT EDITOR
Christina Leadlay
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Smith, Evan Sotiropoulos, Scott Taylor, Ian Wayne, Nelson
Wiseman, Les Whittington and Armine Yalnizyan
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PUBLISHED EVERY MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY
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region of Spain as examples
of geographical areas whose
political status is a matter for referendums, what
makes a country is people.
Few countries still recognize
Taiwan as a country.
The government of China
is so sure of its right that it is
prepared to peacefully wait
for Taiwan to rejoin the motherland, as did Hong Kong and
Macau.
Andrew Romain
Ottawa, Ont.
Please send letters to the editor to the above street
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AUDITED
2012 Better
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Winner
9
INSIDE DEFENCE IRAQ MISSION
CTV cameras captured these
Canadian
soldiers
wearing the
Kurdish
flag on their
uniforms
while at
work in Iraq
last week.
Why are
Canadians in
Iraq wearing the
Kurdish flag?
Until Canada
alters its policy of
reunifying Iraq after
the Islamic State’s
defeat, our soldiers
wearing those flags
sends the wrong
message.
SCOTT TAYLOR
O
TTAWA—Last Thursday, CTV
News broadcast a story from
the front lines in Kurdistan. The
hook for this feature was Chief of
Defence Staff General Jonathan
Vance’s surprise visit to liaise
with members of Canada’s special
operations forces. There are about
200 special-forces members being
deployed as trainers to assist in
preparing the Kurdish peshmerga
militia to combat Daesh, the
militant group also known as ISIL,
ISIS, and the Islamic State.
The site where Gen. Vance was
filmed was at a destroyed highway bridge on the road to Mosul.
The span over a muddy stream
was purportedly blown up when
defeated Daesh fighters withdrew
from the region.
In anticipation of Vance’s
arrival, the CTV crew filmed a
special-forces soldier securing
the northern side of the defunct
bridge. This rugged trooper was
decked out in full special-forces
gear, including a helmet, sunglasses, and beard. This soldier
emphasized to the assembled media team the numerous dangers
their close proximity to the actual
front lines posed.
The Kurdish media had openly
broadcast the location and timing of Vance’s visit, so there were
heightened fears that Daesh would
attempt an assault on such a highprofile target. However, as breathlessly as the CTV reporter tried to
torque up the drama, a handful of
Kurdish soldiers soon turned up on
the southern side of the bombed-
Screenshots
courtesy of
CTV/Toronto
Star
out bridge. Wearing only berets
and bereft of any body armour or
combat gear, the Kurds waved like
schoolboys to attract the camera’s
attention. Their light-hearted antics
quickly sucked the suspense out of
the moment.
A Kurdish general was soon
in front of the CTV camera lens,
praising Canada in one breath, and
then pleading with us to send more
weapons with the next. Thus when
Gen. Vance’s convoy rolled to a
stop at the bridge, one of the questions the reporter put to him was:
when will the Kurds get new weapons? Vance had to explain that it is
not Canada’s intention to re-equip
the Kurdish militia, but rather to
create an elite Kurdish commando
unit with specific capabilities.
Another question put to Vance
was when the offensive would
begin to recapture the Daesh-held
city of Mosul. Naturally enough,
Vance sidestepped the question,
as no one would really expect
him to telegraph the international
community’s strategic plans via a
media interview.
A better question for Vance
would have been: why are the
Canadian soldiers wearing the
distinctive Kurdistan flag on their
uniforms? The red, white, and
green striped flag with a yellow
sunburst in the middle is evident
everywhere throughout Iraqi Kurdistan and it is definitely not the red,
white, and black striped flag with
Arabic letters in the middle that is
the recognized flag of Iraq.
It remains Canada’s stated
position that we are in support
of a unified Iraq, under a central
Baghdad authority. The Kurdistan
flag—flown above all Kurdish
government buildings, many private homes, military checkpoints,
and on the uniforms of the peshmerga fighters—symbolizes the
Kurds’ quest for their own state.
We have deployed some of our
most capable soldiers to assist in
the training of the peshmerga, but
that does not explain why our Canadian soldiers would be authorized to wear the flag of Kurdistan on their combat uniforms.
Canada does not recognize
Kurdistan as a nation and, in
fact, the Kurdish flag is seen as a
provocation to central Iraqi authorities, but also in Turkey, Syria,
and Iran where they have large
Kurdish minorities and armed
separatist movements.
It may seem cool for our
soldiers to slap another Velcro
patch on their uniforms, and no
doubt the Kurdish peshmerga
would smile approvingly at seeing Canadians wearing a symbol
of an independent Kurdish state.
However, until such a time as the
Canadian government alters its
current stated policy of reunifying Iraq following the defeat of
Daesh, our soldiers wearing those
flags on their uniforms sends the
wrong message.
As Canadian soldiers, deployed by Canada, they should
wear the Canadian flag—and
only the Canadian flag—on their
uniforms.
Scott Taylor is editor and publisher of Esprit de Corps magazine.
[email protected]
The Hill Times
GLOBAL AFFAIRS PLURALISM
Bangladesh minorities at risk
Politics is keeping
the country’s PM
from doing more
to stop the killing
of secular bloggers
and liberals.
GWYNNE DYER
L
ONDON, U.K.—How’s this
for a staunch defence of free
speech in a secular state? Earlier this month, Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh
denounced anyone who criticized
religion or expressed their own
lack of religious faith in striking terms: “I don’t consider such
writings as freethinking but filthy
words. Why would anyone write
such words? It’s not at all acceptable if anyone writes against our
prophet or other religions.”
So does she mean that it’s
okay to kill people who write
such words? Hack them to death
with machetes, usually? She
didn’t say yes, but she didn’t
exactly say no either. And this is
regrettable, because quite a few
people are being hacked to death
in Bangladesh these days.
In the current wave of murders, most of the victims have
been “secular” bloggers who publicly stated that they were atheists
and offered reasons for their lack
of belief. They did not criticize or
mock Islam directly. But merely
insisting that religious faith was
not necessary or rational was
enough to “hurt religious sentiment.” For some people, it was
reason enough to kill them.
Four high-profile secular
bloggers were hacked to death in
separate attacks in Bangladesh
last year, in a campaign of murder
that was clearly more than just
random incidents of religious
rage. What was remarkable was
the response of the government—
or rather, its lack of response.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
leads a country of 160 million people
that is officially committed to defending the freedoms of speech and
belief of citizens of every religion
(and of no religion at all). But while
she publicly deplored the murders,
she was careful at the same time
to insinuate that the bloggers were
outrageous people who had in some
way deserved to be killed.
She also insisted that these
murders were the work of the
main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP),
or more precisely of its political
ally, the Jamaat-e-Islami, the
country’s largest Islamist party.
She firmly denied that foreign
extremist forces like Islamic
State or Al Qaeda (which would
certainly approve of the killings)
are active in the country.
This probably seems to Sheikh
Hasina to be sound politics in a
country where 90 percent of the
population is Muslim. So while
not openly approving of murder,
she publicly sympathizes with
conservative Muslims who think
they have the right to live in a society where their beliefs are never
publicly questioned.
It’s also good politics for her
to blame the violence exclusively
on the opposition parties, since
admitting that foreign Islamists
are involved would mean that she
was failing in her duty to defend
the country. But the result of her
pragmatism and passivity has
been a rapid expansion in the
range of targets that are coming
under attack by the extremists.
On April 23, Professor Rezaul
Karim Siddique, who edited a literary magazine and founded a music
school—and never blogged about
religion at all—was murdered by
machete-wielding men as he left
his home in the northern city of
Rajshahi to go to the university. He
was an observant Muslim, but he
was involved in cultural activities
that many hardline groups condemn as “un-Islamic.”
The following day, gay rights
activist Xulhaz Mannan, editor
of a LGBT magazine, and actor Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy were
hacked to death in the magazine’s
offices in the capital, Dhaka.
In other recent violence
religious minorities have been
attacked: Shia and Ahmadi
mosques, Christian priests and
Hindus. (Several of the murdered
bloggers belonged to the 10-per
cent Hindu minority, and their
issue was religious belief in general, not Islam in particular.)
So is Bangladeshi society
drifting into the chronic terrorism against minorities of all
sorts that afflicts its former ruler,
Pakistan? The answer, unfortunately, is probably yes. The blame
lies mainly with the two women
who have polarized Bangladesh’s
political life for so long.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
is one of only two survivors of the
family of Mujibur Rahman, the
leader of Bangladesh’s independence struggle and its first prime
minister. (He was massacred with
most of the rest of his family in a
military coup in 1975.) The opposition leader, Khaleda Zia, is the
widow of General Ziaur Rahman,
who led a subsequent military
coup and declared Islam to be the
state religion, only to be killed in
yet another coup in 1981.
In theory, at least, Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League represents the
ideal of a secular Bangladesh that
embraces its minorities, and Khaleda Zia’s BNP depends mainly on
the support of conservative Sunni
Muslims whose ideal society is explicitly Islamic. Such divisions exist
in every Muslim society, but they
are made far sharper by the mutual
hatred of the two women who have
utterly dominated Bangladesh’s
politics for the past 25 years.
The BNP’s alliance with
Islamist parties pushes it ever
closer to the religious extremists,
and Sheikh Hasina’s pandering to
conservative Islamic sentiment (in
order not to lose devout Muslim
voters to the BNP) is taking her
party in the same direction. And
Islamic State and Al Qaeda definitely are active in the country.
Bangladesh is in deep trouble.
Gwynne Dyer is a United Kingdom-based independent journalist.
[email protected]
The Hill Times
10
NEED TO KNOW MEDIA
Politics takes its
toll: Thoughts on
the Parliamentary
Press Gallery’s 150th
anniversary
From the elder Trudeau
to Harper, reporters
hold elected officials to
account, and let the chips
fall where they may.
LES WHITTINGTON
O
TTAWA—There’s an old saying about
the ivory-tower types who write
editorials for newspapers: they’re like the
people who ride down out of the mountains
after the battle and shoot the wounded.
Some politicians might say that applies
to all journalists, and it’s true public office
holders take a lot of punishment as they
carry on through the highs and lows of
their careers.
Of course, you won’t get any apologies
from the media. It goes without saying that
reporters and editors consider it their job
to try to hold elected officials to account,
and let the chips fall where they may.
While the Ottawa media’s commitment to doing so in an unrelenting way
may have waxed and waned over the 150
years of the Parliamentary Press Gallery—an anniversary being celebrated this
year—there’s no doubt political life at the
national level in Canada in recent decades
has been a perilous business.
Pierre Trudeau is remembered today
as one of the country’s modern heroes
because of his efforts to bring in the
Charter of Rights and Freedoms. But when
he stepped down from the prime minister’s job in 1984, he was widely disliked
as a leader who had left the country in a
shambles.
(Oh, speaking of politicians and the
media: what about the photographer who
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Reuters photographer Jim Young and other photojournalists take photos of former prime minister
Jean Chrétien as he answers questions at the Gomery commission in Ottawa on Feb. 8, 2005. The
fallout from the scandal knocked the Liberals into also-ran status in elections for years, says Les
Whittington. The Hill Times photographs by Jake Wright
took the 1974 picture of Robert Stanfield
fumbling a football, which put paid to the
Progressive Conservatives’ chances of winning power?)
As ill-fated politicians go, though, it’s
hard to top Joe Clark, who lasted only
nine months as prime minister and lost his
minority government because someone
neglected to count the likely opposition
numbers in a confidence vote on the federal budget in the Commons.
Pierre Trudeau’s successor, John Turner,
never seemed to find his way as Liberal
leader, suffering the unprecedented ignominy of a revolt against his leadership
within his own party right in the middle of
an election campaign.
Then there was Brian Mulroney, who
was probably fonder of journalists—at
least before he got to 24 Sussex—than
most politicos. As one who went from winning a huge majority in 1988 to widespread
unpopularity a few years later, it’s not surprising that he used to say, in an admirably
brief encapsulation, that Canada is a hard
country to govern.
The media hammered Mulroney’s
Progressive Conservatives, digging up a
series of spending outrages by his fellow
PCs and Mulroney cronies—a theme that
only got worse, unbelievably enough, after
Mulroney was gone from office. Who can
now forget the image of the former prime
minister taking wads of cash from a socalled arms merchant?
To his credit, Mulroney tried to address the glaring irregularity of having the
country’s second-most-populous province
holding out against signing the Constitution. But the whole project of course eventually backfired and nearly led to Canada’s
breakup.
Following Mulroney, Kim Campbell
never had a chance and the PCs suffered
a historical defeat, going into the 1993
election from 156 Commons seats to two—
prompting inevitable jokes about caucus
meetings in a phone booth.
Jean Chrétien, previously passed over
as party leader, went on to win three
majority elections as the Liberal standard
bearer. Despite that, he was undermined by
the power-hungry Paul Martin gang. Chrétien’s tenure was also marred of course by
the sponsorship scandal that emerged under his watch. The cascading scandal was a
field day for reporters month after month
and the fallout knocked the Liberals into
also-ran status in elections for years.
As theatre goes, it was unprecedented:
Chrétien left the whole country scratching heads when, testifying at the Gomery
commission, he opened his briefcase
and brought out golf balls signed by U.S.
presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clin-
ton, among others. In Chrétien’s typically
inimitable fashion, it was a rejoinder to a
comment that Justice John Gomery had
made to a journalist earlier in the sponsorship hearings, when the judge put down
Chrétien for being “small-town cheap.”
(And Chrétien got the last laugh over
Gomery’s totally unnecessary and illadvised comment. In 2010, an appeal court
upheld a ruling that Gomery had been
biased against the Liberal prime minister
and therefore vacated Gomery’s conclusion
that Chrétien had been responsible for the
sponsorship scandal.)
Based on his success as finance minister, Paul Martin enjoyed cross-country
acclaim that made him one of the most
popular Canadian politicians of modern
times. But as prime minister he appeared
to be spinning his wheels. He never overcame the nickname bestowed by journalists at The Economist, who labelled him
Mr. Dithers.
Who knows what to say about Stephen
Harper? I always had the impression he
thought the whole journalistic exercise,
with reporters raising questions in an adversarial manner, was beneath him—or at
least illegitimate in some way.
He certainly had the worst relations
with the Parliamentary Press Gallery of
any prime minister of recent decades.
Harper’s supporters thought the Ottawa
media were a bunch of left-wing hacks
who were out to get him. But in fact the
Conservative government received pretty
good coverage, on balance, during its years
in power. Overall, by the time Harper became prime minister, Canada’s news outlets were more conservative-minded than
they had been in several previous decades.
Harper had a good run, chalking up two
minority election victories and a majority
in 2011. His worst moment appears to have
come at the hands of reporter Bob Fife,
who uncovered the secret $90,000 cheque
Mr. Harper’s then-chief of staff Nigel
Wright wrote for Mike Duffy in an effort
to quash an embarrassing uproar over
Duffy’s expenses.
In the long run, Harper will probably be
remembered for being the prime minister
who presided over the decline of the Quebec separatist threat, which had preoccupied most of his recent predecessors.
But the unforgiving mills of history
caught up with him, too, as he lost in a
most unexpected and humiliating fashion
to the Liberals under the leadership, of all
people, of the son of the man whose national energy policies motivated Harper’s
entire political enterprise.
Les Whittington is an Ottawa journalist
and a regular contributor to The Hill Times.
The Hill Times
11
PLAIN SPEAK LEADERS’ SALARIES
So political parties top up leaders’
pay, what’s wrong with that?
How parties choose
to spend their
money is entirely
up to them if that
money is privately
raised and properly
disclosed.
TIM POWERS
O
TTAWA—Wood purchased.
Nails at the ready. I expect to
be crucified by some readers of
this column once they have finished reading. Why? Read on.
There seems to be a furor in
some quarters these days because, shockingly, some political
parties in this country are topping
up the salaries of their leaders.
Imagine that. Crazy stuff, really.
Yup, those schlep politicians
should get the square root of
shag-all for their services. The
British Columbia Liberals therefore must be utterly cracked for
giving Premier Christy Clark a
$50,000 stipend for her work as
party leader. Even that guy Brad
Wall in Saskatchewan is getting
some extra cash from his party;
utter madness on the Prairies.
If Christy and Brad want more
money, they should be organizing
bottle drives on their own time to
pick up a few extra nickels. It goes
without saying those empties must
have been personally purchased
and not cast-offs from government
receptions. And they better use
their own frigging vehicles to take
them to the beer store.
How political parties choose to
spend their money is entirely up
to political parties if that money is
privately raised. If the donors are
prepared to give and members
are prepared to support the allocation of those resources by the
parties then that is their business.
As long as the spending is legitimate, properly disclosed, subject
to proper financial controls, and
audited. Really, what is the issue?
British Columbia
Premier Christy Clark,
pictured speaking to
reporters in Ottawa
last November, is
under fire because
her party tops up
her salary, which
is already close to
$200,000.
The Hill Times photograph
by Jake Wright
Christy Clark got herself in
some trouble on the disclosure
front because she wasn’t as
forthcoming as she should have
been about her pay supplement.
Yet for some in the B.C. NDP to be
screaming bloody murder about it
is mind numbing given their leader
apparently received some form of
clothing allowance. The real crime
would have been if John Horgan,
the NDP leader, spent the money at
Moores; joking of course—that is a
fine haberdashery.
Frankly, wouldn’t you rather
have political parties looking after the political pay and expenses
of their leaders and other highprofile figures? Some people are
still rightly spitting mad because
a certain senator used our money
to expense a personal trainer. If
the Conservatives bought that
guy a Bowflex, no one would have
given a damn.
There always seems to be an
underlying tone when it comes to
the debate about leaders getting
top-ups from their parties. It is
as if offence is taken and senses
have been abandoned because
a politician is getting more than
they should. The expectation from
some is that politicians must take
a vow of poverty as a nun takes
an oath of chastity. But ultimately
we are screwing ourselves if we
don’t think money matters to
people who are in or contemplating public service.
Most people don’t go into politics to get rich. Some politicians
get very rich after their time in
office. Think of people like former
premiers Mike Harris and Frank
McKenna. Who is to say these two
wouldn’t have become wealthy
anyway, as they are all quite able.
But you need to pay reasonably
competitive salaries if you want to
hope that politics is in the mix for
all manner of job seekers.
We live in era when we should
take no offence to the question:
“Well, how much money can I
make being a politician?” Noble
callings are nice. Public service
as a vocation, even better. But
money does actually talk!
No one is arguing the nearly
$200,000 Christy Clark makes or
the about $175,000 or more MPs
get is chump change. But these
aren’t exorbitant wages either,
and much less than many privatesector equivalent positions.
And in the case of Clark, if her
party thinks she is worth more
because of all they ask of her,
then let them fill their boots. That
is their call. If you don’t support
that, then don’t donate, or vote
against her when the opportunity
presents itself. Take solace in how
nice John Horgan’s suit looks on
him when you do.
Tim Powers is vice-chairman
of Summa Strategies and managing director of Abacus Data.
The Hill Times
INSIDE POLITICS INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS
Trudeau sets himself a high bar
on promises to First Nations
Indigenous high
school students ask
pointed questions of
the PM.
TIM HARPER
O
TTAWA-Perhaps it was the
impatience of youth.
More likely, it was the impatience of a First Nations generation
meeting a prime minister who has
raised expectations sky high.
When Justin Trudeau visited
Saskatoon’s Oskayak High School
last week, he got his share of selfies and delighted squeals, but he
got something else—tough questions from First Nations teens on
their futures and his promises.
They were not smitten with
celebrity. They were showcasing
themselves as the potential leaders of a First Nations generation
that will hold Trudeau and his
successors at their word when
they speak of a new relationship.
They asked Trudeau about
First Nations suicides, genocide,
Third World living conditions, and
respect for treaties.
What are we physically going
to see with your budgetary investments, asked Mafif Singer.
Why is this taking so long,
asked Charisa Tootoosis.
When Tahris Bear, a 19-yearold from Sweetgrass First Nation
rose, she stumbled briefly, betraying her nervousness, before she
found her voice.
“How do you intend to honour
the promises your ancestors made
with mine exactly written in all
the signed treaties across Canada,
to make up and pay for the acts
of genocide our ancestors were
subject to long before and after
the signing of Treaty Six?
“How do you, Justin, with all
your politicians and representatives, plan to right the wrongs of
the past 22 elected prime ministers
who failed?”
“Are we not considered Canadians as well? If we are, why do
you allow the First People of this
land to endure and live in Third
World conditions?’’
Trudeau’s answer wasn’t bad,
but it was rambling, and as a general rule of thumb with this prime
minister (and most politicians)
the longer the answer, the less of
an answer it actually is.
Afterward, Bear told the
Saskatoon Star Phoenix she was
underwhelmed, that she received
a “politician’s answer.’’
The point is, Trudeau has
promised First Nations much and
he had better deliver.
Liberal
leader Justin
Trudeau greets
Elder Evelyn
CommandaDewache during
the closing
ceremony of
the Indian
Residential
Schools
Truth and
Reconciliation
Commission,
at Rideau Hall
in June 2015.
The Hill Times
photograph by Jake
Wright
He has backed much of it with
an $8.4-billion spending commitment over five years in the recent
federal budget.
He has promised to end boilwater advisories in five years.
Thursday he visited Shoal Lake,
a First Nations community on the
Manitoba-Ontario border that has
been under a boil-water advisory
for two decades. He was accompanied by a VICE News crew in a
private visit for a coming documentary, simultaneously showing
he believes he can deliver on his
promises, knows he has already
funded a road that will free up the
isolated community, understands
the value of the massively staged
photo-op, and doesn’t mind an-
gering other news organizations
barred from joining him.
He will convene an inquiry
into murdered and missing
indigenous women and girls. He
has promised to begin anew the
nation-to-nation relationship with
First Nations.
These are big promises and
events keep reminding how big
these challenges are.
The Canadian Human Rights
Tribunal has given the Liberals
two weeks to comply with its
January ruling, which said the
government discriminated against
First Nations children on reserves
by not providing them with the
same welfare services as exist
elsewhere.
Eleven suicide attempts in one
night in Attawapiskat highlighted
what some are calling a national
First Nations suicide epidemic and
a fire that claimed nine lives in
Pikangikum in northern Ontario
highlighted the substandard housing
and lack of services and running
water on First Nations reserves.
Trudeau told the Saskatoon
students that change is like turning
around an ocean liner and that
Ottawa can’t do it alone. It will take
billions of more dollars and many
more years to erase the scar of the
treatment of First Nations on the
Canadian morality, he said.
Indigenous Canadians, too,
have a lot of work to do, he told
them, and they and his government must work together.
If Trudeau cannot deliver,
it will be the next generation
embodied in Oskayak that will
hold him and his successors accountable. This is a school that is
a home to 300 students from 51
First Nations across Saskatchewan. Most of them live on their
own. Twenty per cent have children of their own.
These are teens who did not fit
in elsewhere, but now celebrate
their history and their culture and
daily discuss treaty rights, housing issues, homelessness, and
missing and murdered women.
The students demand that,
says principal Bernadette Laliberte. Such issues are never far
from their minds, she told me.
They had less than 24 hours
to prepare questions for Trudeau.
But this was not some social sciences class. These kids are living
this and this is the generation that
will keep our politicians honest.
Tim Harper is a national affairs
writer for The Toronto Star. This
column was released on April 29.
The Hill Times
12
NEWS FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Politician’s cancelled visit
causes tension in IndoCanadian communities
‘We welcome any
opportunity that politicians
have when they want to
come and engage with the
diaspora,’ says Minister
Navdeep Bains.
Mr. Singh’s North American political tour,
spokesperson Francois Lasalle pointed
to a government policy banning political
campaigning by foreigners, and wrote in an
email that “Global Affairs Canada has made
this policy very clear to all foreign missions
in Canada (including bringing it to the attention of the Indian High Commission in
Ottawa) and will continue to do so.”
Canada’s government enacted a policy in
September 2011 that reads “the Government
of Canada will continue to refuse requests
by foreign States to include Canada in their
respective extraterritorial electoral constituencies. Also, the Department will not allow
foreign governments to conduct election
campaigns in Canada or establish foreign
political parties and movements in Canada.”
Mr. Singh instead interacted with
Indo-Canadians and non-resident Indians known as ‘NRIs’ - via Skype.
When asked about the Canadian government’s involvement in the re-routing of
Minister of Innovation, Science and
Economic Development Navdeep Bains
(Mississauga-Malton, Ont.) appeared to
disagree with the government’s policy,
saying that his constituents are engaged
in international politics and that allowing
politicians to visit communities is a matter
of Charter rights.
“I think we have a very vibrant diaspora here in Canada that’s very engaged
in domestic and international politics.
I think we’re a country that supports a
Charter. Freedom of expression, freedom
of opinion, freedom of assembly. These are
all Canadian attributes and we welcome
any opportunity that politicians have when
they want to come and engage with the
diaspora, and I think that’s the message I
heard from my constituents and that’s the
message I relayed on to them,” he told The
Hill Times.
Mr. Singh himself characterized the ban
on his political action in much the same
way, writing a letter to Mr. Trudeau on the
matter. “It feels like a gag order that has
left a very bad taste,” he wrote, according
to a report from India Today.
Liberal MP Ramesh Sangha (Brampton Centre, Ont.), who was born in India
and represents a riding with many Indo-
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needs to be done. In this year’s budget speech, Finance Minister Hon. Bill Morneau announced his
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hilltimes.com/events
Canadians, was of a different opinion, and
said he did not think that too many of his
constituents were concerning themselves
with Indian politics.
“I don’t think people will be so crazy
to talk to him,” he said. “There’s Indian
politics there, this is here. People, sometimes they do have interest...back in their
country, because their hearts are there still.
But at the same time I don’t think they are
so crazy that they want him here.”
He did not specify whether he was in
support of the policy itself or not.
The office of Liberal MP Sonia Sidhu
(Brampton South, Ont.) said she did not
wish to comment on Indian politics because the issue was too divisive amongst
her constituents.
Amarinder Singh is an MP for Amritsar,
a constituency in the Indian province of
Punjab. He is currently the president of the
Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, the
provincial affiliate of the Indian National
Congress party, currently in opposition to
the government. He held the position of
Chief Minister of Punjab - the equivalent
to a premier in Canada - from 2002 to 2007.
He is seeking re-election to this position in
the 2017 Punjab election.
The Canadian policy banning political
campaigning by foreign politicians was put
in place by the Conservative government,
and was stressed by MP Jason Kenney
and former minister of multiculturalism
Tim Uppal. The Times of India reported
in July 2014 that Mr. Kenney said, “We’ll
encourage foreign visitors, if they are
politicians to come here on their private
visit or to promote bilateral relations, not
to get overtly mixed in their own country’s
domestic politics on Canadian soil.”
Gurpatwant Pannun, the legal representative for Sikhs for Justice, the group that
launched the complaint in the first place,
said Indian political leaders coming to
Canada end up dividing the community.
He said his group is actively trying to
keep Indian politicians out of Canada because they come here mainly for fundraising
purposes, and that it isn’t always fair.
“They make them do the gathering, then
they take their money, and if you speak
against them, then they openly threaten
you,” he said. “If anybody in Canada talks
about the policies of the political leaders
who come from Punjab, they fear repercussions for their families back home.”
Mr. Singh did not respond to a request
for comment by The Hill Times.
Mr. Pannun, who acquired the legal
services of Canadian law firm Goldblatt
Partners in his quest to block Indian politicians from campaigning here, has recently
submitted another complaint to Global
Affairs against Mr. Singh’s rival candidate:
Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party.
“We understand that Captain Amarinder Singh announced the cancellation of his
planned election activities in Canada after
being informed by the Indian government
that they were in violation of the Policy.
We commend GAC for its prompt action in
enforcing the Policy,” it reads.
“In the interest of consistent enforcement of the Policy, we are bringing to your
attention information that we recently
became aware of concerning activities of
representatives of another Indian political
party, Aam Aadmi Party.”
The letter cites several Indian news articles as its sources of information, one of
which states that Mr. Kejriwal is planning
trips to Vancouver and Toronto this year.
The letter, signed by civil rights lawyer
Louis Century, also referred to Mr. Singh’s
participation in Skype meetings with Canadians, and asked the department to “reiterate
its objections to the Indian government in
light of Amarinder’s subsequent statements.”
Mr. Singh went on to host political
events in Los Angeles, California.
Global Affairs Canada has previously
enforced this policy against politicians
from France and Tunisia who had planned
political efforts in Canada in 2014.
[email protected]
The Hill Times
13
OPINION ENVIRONMENT
European
Union
Ambassador
Marie-Anne
Coninsx
and Prime
Minister Justin
Trudeau enter
a reception
on Feb. 18
marking
the 40th
anniversary
of the EU’s
diplomatic
presence in
Canada. The
EU and Canada
face common
challenges
in crafting
climate
policies that
work for large
and diverse
jurisdictions,
say the
authors. The Hill
Times photograph
by Sam Garcia
What Canada can learn
from the EU’s climate policy
Europe’s experience
may offer guidance
as Canada starts
crafting climate
policy for a highly
diverse society.
MERRAN SMITH AND
TERESA RIBERA
O
utside our borders, Canada
is perhaps best known for its
spectacular wilderness: its lakes,
rivers, mountains, and coastlines
draw visitors from all over the
globe.
Canada’s new prime minister,
Justin Trudeau, pointed to that
same “rugged, natural beauty”
when he campaigned on making
environmental and clean energy
leadership a priority.
And with his new government
in place, Canada has launched an
unprecedented national project in
line with those campaign promises: crafting a climate plan that
the federal government and all
13 provinces and territories can
agree on.
Canada’s premiers and prime
minister said this new national
plan has to be strong enough
to—at least—respect our country’s regional differences and hit
Canada’s 2030 climate target. And
it has to come together before
October.
It’s a very tall order, especially
given the very different economic
makeup of Canada’s provinces.
Climate action in Quebec looks
very different than it does in Saskatchewan or in the Yukon.
But for any Canadians feeling
daunted by the task ahead, we
have good news: the European
Union took on the same assignment and emerged with a solid
package of climate and energy
commitments that all its member
countries agreed to.
What can Canada learn?
The EU’s experience offers four
lessons that may offer guidance
as Canada starts down the path
of crafting climate policy for a
highly diverse society.
First, set goals for what you
want to build, not just what you
want to cut. Setting clean energy
goals changes the conversation
from one about how to allocate
pain to one about cashing in on
benefits. The EU climate package for 2030 didn’t just tell the
world by how much the EU would
reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The agreements also contain
targets for the clean economy the
EU is building, emphasizing the
positive return from investments
in clean energy and efficiency.
Second, carbon pricing is necessary but not sufficient. A price on
carbon is an extremely effective
climate policy tool: it makes polluting choices more expensive, thus
rewarding clean choices throughout the economy. But the kinds of
prices that are politically feasible
today aren’t high enough to transform the way we use energy—and
clean energy faces barriers that
aren’t just related to price. So while
the EU has had a cap-and-trade
system in place for over a decade,
carbon pricing is a foundation that
supports many more layers of climate policies throughout the EU.
Third, agreeing on a policy
package is just the first step. Can-
ada’s governments have six tough
months of climate analysis and
negotiations ahead of them—and
then the real work begins. Having
a credible plan is essential, and
it would be a real breakthrough
in a country that’s never made a
serious national effort to achieve
a climate target. But implementing policy promises can be even
tougher than committing to them.
The EU’s experience shows
that governments need to be
in this for the long haul, as do
the businesses, experts, nongovernmental organizations, and
citizens who care about climate
action. We find that governments
are far more likely to stay on
track when they keep their eyes
firmly fixed on the rewards of the
clean energy transition—jobs,
GDP growth, and investment,
along with environmental and
reputational gains—than when
they’re arguing about how they
don’t need to do as much as their
neighbour.
So a final lesson from the
EU’s experience, one that the EU
itself is still working on: a good
planning process wraps up fairly
quickly, so that the lobbyists can
move over to make space for the
engineers. Once companies know
the rules of the game—and realize that they can’t avoid playing
it—experience shows that change
can happen at a far lower cost
than industry and government
predicted.
Today, the EU and Canada
face common challenges in crafting climate policies that work for
large and diverse jurisdictions.
Both governments see huge potential in the fast-growing clean
energy economy, and both want
to ensure they are positioned to
succeed in a clean energy world.
Both contributed to the
success of the Paris climate
negotiations, which resulted in
an agreement that brought the
world together in committing to
action to avoid dangerous climate
change. In the process, this gave
a worldwide boost to the clean
energy sector’s momentum.
But while the EU has been a
longtime leader, Canada’s federal
government spent most of the
past decade missing in action on
climate change and clean energy.
The one advantage of arriving
late at the party? We can learn
from those who came before us.
The lessons we’ve outlined here
are just the beginning of what
could be a very rich collaboration.
This year marks the 40th
anniversary of the EU’s diplomatic presence in Canada. With
Canada’s climate agenda finally
kicking into high gear, the timing is perfect to celebrate that
anniversary with a Canada-EU
dialogue on climate change and
clean energy—hopefully accompanied by an ambitious climate
plan in Canada.
Merran Smith is the executive
director of Clean Energy Canada.
Teresa Ribera is director of IDDRI, a Paris-based sustainable
development policy institute.
[email protected]
The Hill Times
14
OPINION FINANCE
China’s economy growing amid restructuring
The country is ready to
work with Canada to
negotiate a free trade deal
at an early date.
LUO ZHAOHUI
O
TTAWA—Given the sluggish growth
of the global economy, the economic
growth of China, the world’s second largest economy, is very much in the international spotlight.
According to statistics released by
China’s National Bureau of Statistics a few
days ago, China’s gross domestic product
grew 6.7 per cent year-on-year in the first
quarter of this year, slightly lower than last
year’s average of 6.9 per cent, but within the
6.5 per cent to seven per cent target range
for growth aimed by the Chinese government. China’s economic growth remains
one of the highest compared to the developed economies and other emerging economies, maintaining a medium-high speed.
The positive changes in China’s major
economic indicators, such as production,
demand, prices, and volume of physical
goods, demonstrate that the country’s economic performance in the first quarter was
better than expected.
China’s employment rate is stable and
increasing, with new jobs created in the
first quarter already meeting 31.8 per
cent of the annual target. The economic
structure is improving and the economy is
developing rapidly with new driving forces
for growth gaining momentum.
China’s new strategic industries have
grown 10 per cent and its high-tech industries expanded 9.2 per cent. Consumption
keeps going strong, with increased household spending on housing, transportation,
education, old-age care, social security,
health care, and tourism. Medium- to highend consumption is booming.
China’s imports and exports are gradually
picking up, especially its exports, which have
stopped falling and are starting to rise again.
All this has laid down a solid foundation for
economic growth throughout the year.
In April, while downgrading its global
economic growth outlook by 0.2 percentage points and cutting its forecast for
growth prospects of the United States and
euro area by 0.2 percentage points, the
International Monetary Fund upgraded
China’s economic growth outlook by 0.2
percentage points. Similarly, JP Morgan,
Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, and
other financial institutions have also raised
China’s economic growth forecast. This is
a strong indication that the international
community is optimistic about China’s
economic development.
As the Chinese economy grows in
size, it would be unrealistic and irrational always to maintain the double-digit
growth taken for granted in previous years.
China’s GDP totalled more than US$10 trillion in 2015. A mere one per cent growth
today is equal to 2.5 per cent 10 years ago.
China’s current annual GDP increment
in absolute terms is almost the size of a
medium-sized economy.
China’s GDP amounted to 15,852.6 billion
yuan (about US$2,443.3 billion) in the first
quarter of 2016. Calculated at 2015 prices,
the first-quarter GDP rose by 985.1 billion
yuan (about US$151.8 billion) year-on-year,
22.2 billion yuan (about US$3.42 billion)
more over the same period of last year. The
rate of China’s GDP growth may be lower
than before, but the real growth is more substantial and bigger in size than in the past.
China’s economy is now at a critical
juncture of transformation, and is going
through a transition shifting from traditional drivers of growth to new ones. The
economy is also grappling with the throes
of structural adjustment and considerable
downward pressure. The opportunities are
unprecedented, but so are the challenges.
Actions speak louder than words.
In the face of these challenges and the
complex economic situation, the Chinese
government has put forward the concept
of innovation-driven, co-ordinated, green,
open, and inclusive development. China
will improve its policies of macroeconomic
regulation and press ahead with supplyside structural reform.
China will vigorously implement the
strategy of innovation-driven growth and
promote industrial innovation and upgrading. China will cut overcapacity and excess
inventory, deleverage, reduce costs, and
strengthen weak links in development so
as to improve the quality and efficiency
of economic development, and strengthen
economic sustainability.
Skyscrapers
in Yuzhong
District in
Chongqing,
China.
China’s GDP
grew 6.7 per
cent year-onyear in the
first quarter
of this year,
according
to China’s
National
Bureau of
Statistics.
Flickr
photograph
by Thomas
Bächinger
According to the latest IMF World
Economic Outlook, China is navigating a
momentous but complex transition toward
more sustainable growth based on consumption and services. Ultimately, that
process will benefit both China and the
world.
China remains the world’s most important engine for global growth, contributing
up to 25 per cent of the world economic
growth. In the next five years, China’s economy will continue to grow at a minimum
rate of 6.5 per cent. Its imports are expected
to reach US$10 trillion and its outbound direct investment will exceed US$600 billion.
China will adhere to the policy of
reform and opening up, and promote common development and win-win co-operation with other countries.
China is advancing the Belt and Road
initiative (the development of a land-based
Silk Road Economic Belt and an oceangoing 21st Century Maritime Silk Road) and
developing international production capacity co-operation. The Asian Infrastructure
Investment Bank, established at China’s
initiative, is already up and running. The
New Development Bank BRICS has announced its first loan program.
China is Canada’s second largest trading partner. China’s development will provide opportunities for bilateral trade and
economic co-operation. The commonalities
between Chinese and Canadian development strategies and the complementarities
between our industrial structures promise
huge potential for trade and economic cooperation between our two countries.
China is ready to work closely with
Canada to promote greater progress in
bilateral trade and economic co-operation
through, among other things, the negotiation of a free trade agreement at an early
date; the development of large projects in
high-speed rail, nuclear energy, and liquefied natural gas; the building of a ChinaCanada maritime energy corridor; and the
creation and cultivation of new highlights
of co-operation in energy resources, infrastructure development, new manufacturing
industries, and the green economy.
Luo Zhaohui is China’s ambassador to
Canada.
The Hill Times
The timing for this training was good
since a meeting of Canadian foreign ministry representatives, diplomats, academics,
and former United Nations peacekeeping
officials was held at Global Affairs Canada
earlier this year to discuss a newly expanded peacekeeping role for Canada that
might also involve greater support for UN
mediation efforts.
During the two days of discussions a
couple weeks ago, participants agreed
that this is a good direction for Canada’s
foreign policy to take and that we can play
a helpful role. In fact, it was agreed that the
range of possibilities is huge and there are
many ways for Canada to show it is committed to mediating global conflicts. These
options range from supporting others
already actively mediating, to building and
supporting existing Canadian mediation
capacity, to just getting started with doing
the work ourselves.
Interestingly, it emerged over the course
of the workshop that there are indeed
many Canadians who have been or currently are working away quietly on numerous mediation efforts. In some cases we
are leading the process, and in many other
cases Canadians are playing helpful and
much-needed support roles.
While an answer to the question of
“what can and should Canada do?” wasn’t
decided at the training program, just the
fact that there were so many possible ways
forward identified was indeed a useful
exercise for moving this conversation
along. And, as one person remarked, no
matter what direction we eventually take
we should probably start by systematically
documenting, raising the profile of, and
celebrating the successes of Canadians
who are or have been mediating.
One thing is clear: the world needs
more Canada, and if we can find a place on
the global stage as a helpful player in preventing and resolving conflicts that builds
upon our existing strengths, past experience, and good reputation, then everyone
benefits.
Evan Hoffman is a senior associate at
the Canadian International Institute of
Applied Negotiation.
[email protected]
The Hill Times
OPINION CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Honest broker 2.0
Government officials
recently spent a couple
days brainstorming how
Canada can help mediate
global conflicts.
EVAN HOFFMAN
A
couple weeks ago, nearly 30 people
from Global Affairs Canada participated in two days of mediation training at
the Canadian Foreign Service Institute in
Gatineau. The focus was to introduce the
topic of formal and informal diplomacy in
political or armed conflict situations, plus
to take a look at some of the practical skills
required to help prevent or resolve these
types of conflicts. Government officials
participating in the training program also
had a chance to explore a possible new
global role for Canada as an “honest broker” on the world stage.
The workshop facilitators included a
number of Canadian mediation experts
from PeaceBuild, the Canadian International Institute of Applied Negotiation,
Partnership Africa Canada, and the University of Ottawa. Additionally, retired general John De Chastelain spoke of his extensive experience working for many years on
the Northern Ireland peace process and, in
particular, the difficulties of building trust
between long-time foes.
15
OPINION SECURITY
Rhetoric
and reality in
public policy
Leaders should
avoid rhetoric and
work quietly to
bring Canadian
hostages home.
GAR PARDY
R
hetoric and reality are often
seen as opposites when issues
of public policy are discussed.
For many, rhetoric is the favourite
instrument of those who wish to
bedazzle and mislead in order
to confuse when serious issues
are at hand. Reality, on the other
hand, is seen as the ultimate
check on those who launch highflying statements—non-answers
for serious questions.
For the most part this dichotomy is tolerated as a useful aspect
of public discourse. Rhetoric is
accepted for what it is; knowing
reality will intervene and provide
all with the needed answers.
Of course, there are always
situations when rhetoric is acceptable not only for leaders but
also followers, as reality is not a
palatable nor understandable answer. Accordingly, rhetoric with
all of its inherent contradictions
becomes the basis on which large
issues of public policy are debated, decided, and programmed.
Nowhere is this more apparent than when democratic
leaders lead us to the barricades
with sound bites that are both
beguiling and confusing. We
can all remember the Nixon era
“War on Drugs” which, with more
rhetoric than reality, had a world
marching largely together to
defeat “public enemy number
one.” Nearly fifty years later,
and with spending by the United
States alone estimated at over
U.S. $50-billion annually, the
global policy based largely on
rhetoric has come to an end.
The United Nations hosted a
conference last month in New
York to try and introduce some
measure of reality into the “War
on Drugs.” The conference was
largely initiated by a report by
the Global Commission on Drug
Policy which, using some rhetoric
to obtain attention stated, “The
global war on drugs has failed,
with devastating consequences
for individuals and societies around the world.” Canada
participated and announced its
legalization of marijuana.
Lest we dismiss that disaster, it
is again time to remember another
rhetorical-based policy, the “Global
War on Terror” launched by
former president George W. Bush
in the immediate aftermath of the
Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New
York and northern Virginia.
The launch of this “war” was
initially lumbered by the use of the
word “crusade” by the president, but
additional rhetoric soon corrected
things. Instead, he told the public
that the “War on Terror begins with
al-Qaeda, but it does not end there.
It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been
found, stopped, and defeated.”
It took less than a decade
for a new president to declare
the rhetorical flourishes of the
War on Terror as being counterproductive and before long the
U.S. Department of Defence
replaced the “Global War on Terror” with “Overseas Contingency
Operation.” Today it is “Countering Violent Extremism.” Not many
flourishes there.
One aspect of those “contingency” operations has been the
effort to create a common policy
on how to deal with kidnappings by those who want to do us
harm. The common policy of “no
negotiations, no ransoms” predates 9/11, but it is a policy that
is largely rhetorical. It assumes
countries are willing to sacrifice
citizens who are victims, or more
accurately, pawns in the many
insurgencies around the world.
Just as there is no one answer
in dealing with these insurgencies,
there is no one answer in dealing with the collateral victims. To
suggest to an attentive public that
a government is not willing at the
rhetorical level to offer assistance
is to use rhetoric in a most dangerous and unhelpful way. Rhetoric
at times when citizen’s lives are
in direct danger requires the most
circumspect, not only of comment,
but of action as well.
Unfortunately, the lure of
rhetoric is ever present. But it is
not too much to expect leaders,
in situations such as we are now
facing in the Philippines, to ignore
this lure and get on with the business of seeing the safe return of
a Canadian home. This requires
quiet work in the shadows, not as
the lead item in our media.
Gar Pardy is retired from the
foreign service and comments
on issues of public policy. He has
just published Afterwords From a
Foreign Service Odyssey, available from Amazon.
The Hill Times
OPINION DEMOCRACY
The system is rigged…really?
Politicians committed to
democracy should engage
the people directly and
meaningfully, particularly
when deciding on major
changes to the electoral
system.
PASCAL DESBIENS
U
.S. presidential contenders Donald
Trump and Bernie Sanders are talking
about the “rigged system.” Are they reaching a new low or an interesting high in
U.S. politics? This systemic discussion has
implications on international relations and
future reforms in Canada.
Adam Smith addressed systemic issues
when he wrote The Wealth of Nations,
the seminal book first published in March
1776, a few months before the U.S. colonies
declared independence.
Referring to the “invisible hand,” Smith
argued that an individual “pursuing (his or
her) own interest frequently promotes that
of the society more effectually than when
(he or she) really intends to promote it.”
This was 240 years ago, before economics and political science further considered
game theory, public goods, social choices,
and dynamic maximization.
In 2016, U.S. presidential contenders state
that the system is rigged. Are they naively
convinced about their argument or, for political expediency, just simplifying a complex
idea about the “system” and its evolution?
Such a statement resonates well among
voters who perceive social, economic or
political rules (or their application) as unfair,
dysfunctional or incoherent.
U.S. presidential candidates
Bernie Sanders and Donald
Trump have
both claimed
that their party’s
nomination
processes were
‘rigged.’ Gage
Skidmore Photo &
Wikimedia Photo:
Michael Vadon
A troubling aspect of this claim is its
broad and trans-boundary application.
Anyone may understand it her own way.
Other nations’ citizens and leaders also
have reasons to consider that their own
national system or the international architecture is rigged against them, which may
or not be the case. In diplomatic language,
making such statements is toxic.
Also, breaking down the so-called
“system” into sub-elements is endless. Using this political strategy may be a winning
proposition, as there is always another
example to reinforce the claim. It polarizes
and antagonizes the “satisfied” and the “dissatisfied,” which potentially feeds interminable debates.
Ill-conceived discussions are not conducive to building social consensus around
public policy issues that are difficult to address in media-intensive political campaigns.
For instance, issues such as setting
firewalls between public and private interests, establishing boundaries to legal
actions corporate entities may undertake against sovereign governments or
containing rent-seeking behaviours that
undermine the productive foundation of
the economy, while protecting the less
fortunate, arguably are not what town hall
participants are interested in hearing, at
least not for too long.
Meanwhile, statements about the rigged
system are useful in terms of public policy
if discussions lead to actionable conclusions.
What is presumably rigged?
Sanders and Mr. Trump’s political message respectively focuses on two broad
components of the system: the economic
part, arguably rigged by those who benefit
from financial and free trade rules and
the lobbyists; and the political part, rigged
by establishments controlling barriers to
entry of “uninitiated” political contenders. These establishments are said to be
financed and controlled by those who rig
the economic system. It’s kind of a mutually beneficial “public-private partnership,”
as the argument goes.
These classical concerns relate to reasoning symmetrically equivalent to Adam
Smith’s notorious idea of a “constructive”
invisible hand, namely another invisible
hand “less constructive” leading self-interested individuals to more effectively hinder
the interest of the society as a whole, when
the system of checks and balances and
self-restraint become ineffective.
As check and balance is what a democratic system and a free economy are all
about, with core rules about free speech,
well-functioning markets, human rights,
rule of law, ethics, protection of minorities,
and effective public institutions, Mr. Sanders and Trump implicitly put the whole
system on trial.
Arguably, they don’t question its basic design as much as social choices, distribution
of benefits, governance rules as well as integrity and ethics of agents on whom it rests.
A concrete application to Canada
The eventual reform of Canada’s
electoral rules and the rethinking of the
“first-past-the-post electoral system” is a
case in point.
Indeed, a democratic government
should be elected to represent the broadest
range of interests in society, but achieving that goal is not limited to the electoral
process. Democratic representation is not
merely a numerical issue, but has other
important qualitative features.
Parties best positioned to influence the
electoral rules are obviously those who
won within these rules, and human nature
suggests they are more likely to propose
new rules securing their position rather
than undermining it.
Why would they propose rules undermining their current legitimacy to govern?
To do so, they must be convinced that other
rules will better serve the common good.
But if they succeeded in being elected to
serve it, doesn’t that mean that the current
rules already work?
This logical loop projects the appearance of a rigged system, whereas those
working to improve it gradually undermine
it through a series of self-interested actions
or mere inaction.
Advocates of, and opponents to, fundamental reforms such as electoral or constitutional changes, and redesign of the political
or economic systems, reveal their political
motivation and risk tolerance partly through
their positions on decision-rules. Politicians
committed to democracy should not hesitate
to engage the people directly and meaningfully, particularly when deciding on major
changes to the electoral system or the economic and social landscape.
Former prime minister Pierre Trudeau
said in his 1984 farewell speech “we have
much more building to do”. Seven prime
ministers and five U.S. presidents later,
political debates in the U.S. and Canada
suggest that his last words were pretty
accurate.
Pascal Desbiens is a former counsellor
at the Permanent Mission of Canada to
the UN, foreign and defence policy adviser
in the Privy Council Office, and policy
and program planner and manager at the
former CIDA.
The Hill Times
16
The Hill Times, wednesday, May 4, 2016
news citizenship
Liberals order investigation
into possible citizenship fraud
central database for managing citizenship
cases, resulting in an oversight by citizenship officers responsible for verifying
addresses, a requirement for obtaining
citizenship, before citizenship was granted.
The results prompted the auditors to scrutinize another 150 addresses out of the test
pool of 9,778 adults who had been granted
citizenship, finding 102 other addresses
with inconsistencies, with one address that
had 13 different versions in the departmental database, which the report said
increased the risk that “problem addresses”
in citizenship applications from permanent
residents could be missed.
Further review by Mr. Ferguson’s auditors of two recent Canada Border Services
Agency fraud investigations found the
CBSA had not consistently updated the
central Citizenship department database
‘Simple’ work by the
AG’s office found
fraud overlooked or
not communicated by
government departments
and agencies.
From a sample of nearly 10,000 of the
permanent residents who had been granted
citizenship, Mr. Ferguson’s audit team
found initial indications that the Canadian
addresses of six citizenship applicants
had not been flagged by the department’s
with problem addresses CBSA officers
discovered, which increased the likelihood
of the department missing flags for possible fraud by citizenship applicants.
In one of the investigations, CBSA officers found 16 different individuals had used
two addresses during the year and a half
that citizenship applications went through
and “half of these addresses had not been
added to the department’s list of problem
addresses,” Mr. Ferguson’s report said.
A second CBSA investigation linked
21 problem addresses to “multiple individuals,” but three of those addresses
had not been added to the Citizenship
department’s database of problem addresses, one of the most common factors
in fraudulent applications.
The audit also examined questionable
address information on citizenship ap-
EVENTS
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INNOVATION
MAY 18 | 7:30-9:00 AM
DELTA OTTAWA CITY CENTRE
PRESENTED BY:
On May 18, join Hill Times Events for the release of a new survey on applied research produced by Colleges and Institutes Canada. Presenting the report findings will be Colleges and Institutes Canada president and CEO Denise Amyot.
Earlier this year in the 2016 budget speech, the government reaffirmed its support to invest in universities, colleges and
institutions to create ‘hubs of discovery and innovation’. How do these hubs create and add value to Canadian business
and help transform the economy?
Following Denise Amyot’s remarks a distinguished panel will weigh in with their thoughts on how applied research can
contribute to the government’s innovation agenda and help answer the question. Discussants include: Kenneth Knox,
chair of the Science, Technology & Innovation Council, Guy Levesque, vice president programs and performance, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Bettina Hamelin, vice-president, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
of Canada, and Marc Fares, vice president digital technologies and innovation, Algonquin College. Veteran broadcaster
Catherine Clark will moderate the session.
This is a FREE event. Advance registration is required.
hilltimes.com/events/SI.html
plicants that the RCMP had provided to
the department.
“We found an example where the
RCMP provided the department with a
list of [eight] problem addresses linked
to a residency fraud investigation but
only [one] address was ever added to the
department’s list of problem addresses and
flagged on the database,” the report said.
Of seven other addresses Mr. Ferguson’s
office audited, three citizenship applicants
had used one of them as part of their proof
of residency, and been granted citizenship
after the information was provided to the
department.
The auditors found that in 18 out of a
further 49 citizenship application cases
that had been flagged as potential address
fraud, citizenship officers did not request
additional evidence to verify whether the
applicant met citizenship requirements.
The auditors also found “many applicants” used the same address over several
years, but none of the citizenship offices in
charge of their applications noticed.
“For example, one address was used
by at least 50 different applicants during
overlapping time periods between 2008
and 2015,” the report said.
Seven of those applicants became Canadian citizens.
Mr. Ferguson was unable to say, in
response to questions at a news conference
after he tabled his report, how extensive
fraud might be in Canadian citizenship
applications.
“We were able to identify about 50 cases
of people where there were indications
they were trying to obtain their citizenship
fraudulently,” Mr. Ferguson said.
“It’s not really possible to say how widespread, but I think what is possible to say
is the steps that we took to try to identify
cases of citizenship fraud were not complicated,” the auditor general said.
“We’re not talking here about indications, necessarily, of very sophisticated
fraud; it was fairly simple for us to find
these 50 cases, and fundamentally, I think
that means it’s 50 cases too many,” said Mr.
Ferguson.
The report also found examples where
the RCMP had failed to forward information to the Citizenship department that
would have been important for decisions to
grant citizenship or not.
From a sample of 38 cases where permanent residents or foreign nationals had
been charged with serious crimes—such as
drug trafficking and assault—Mr. Ferguson’s auditors found the RCMP shared the
required information in only two of the 38
cases.
Of the 36 cases where the RCMP did
not forward information about criminal
charges, four involved people seeking Canadian citizenship.
The department did receive information
from CBSA in 19 of the 38 cases, and the
department became aware through that
route of one more of the applicants who
had been charged.
Among the remaining three who had
been charged, two applicants received
citizenship and a third did not, but only
because the applicant had failed a test on
knowledge of Canada.
Mr. McCallum said the government
had already responded with a call for an
investigation, and also has instructed the
Citizenship Department, RCMP and CBSA
to improve communications.
“I wasn’t happy to see that and as I said
I immediately responded by starting an
investigation into people who may have
committed fraud,” Mr. McCallum said.
He added the government has instructed the RCMP, CBSA and citizenship authorities to improve communications and
entry of data into the central case management system.
“In every case, we will be responding
immediately. We’ve already begun that
work and after a certain number of months
we will have completed those improvements,” said Mr. McCallum.
[email protected]
The Hill Times
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
THE HILL TIMES POLICY BRIEFING • MAY 4, 2016
The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia
MINISTER Q&A
C-51
ANTI-TERRORISM
PUBLIC SAFETY
More oversight coming
for CBSA, says Public
Safety Minister Goodale
Changes in
‘talks-about-talks’
phase: Advocacy
group
Repealing
the law is
essential
The government needs
to co-operate with the
opposition
By Conservative MP
Erin O’Toole
PAGE 22
By Peter Mazereeuw
By Yael Berger
Green Party Leader
Elizabeth May
PAGE 18
PAGE 20
PAGE 23
BORDER
CYBER SECURITY
C-51
TERRORISM
Stalled info-sharing
regime with U.S. now
Liberal ‘priority’
Ahead of cyber
security review,
minister warned of
spying, sabotage
Almost a year after
it passed, Liberals
slow to fix law
Security oversight
committee should
include Senators, MPs
By Carl Meyer
By Marie-Danielle Smith
By NDP MP Randall
Garrison
By Conservative
Senator Daniel Lang
PAGE 19
PAGE 21
PAGE 22
PAGE 24
18
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY POLICY BRIEFING
FEATURE MINISTER Q&A
Public Safety
Minister Ralph
Goodale says all
options are on the
table for improving oversight of
the Canada Border
Services Agency.
More oversight
coming for
CBSA, says
Goodale
Feds will find a
way to keep tabs
on border agency
beyond promised
all-party committee,
says the public
safety minister.
BY PETER MAZEREEUW
C
anada’s border agency
“undoubtedly” needs a new
oversight mechanism, Public Safety
Minister Ralph Goodale told The
Hill Times in a wide-ranging interview on his role guiding the government’s public safety priorities.
Mr. Goodale (Regina-Wascana,
Sask.) said April 30 that his government will create “another tool” for
keeping an eye on the Canada Border Services Agency, beyond the
promised all-party parliamentary
oversight committee for Canada’s
intelligence and security agencies.
He noted the public outcry over
the lack of supervision for CBSA,
which became louder following the
deaths of two immigration detainees in the agency’s custody within
one week in March.
Mr. Goodale promised to listen
to the public during consultations
on reforming Bill C-51, the socalled anti-terrorism act passed
by the previous government that
granted the government’s security
agencies more powers.
The minister also said he’s
considering a long list of people to
head a new counter-radicalization
co-ordinator’s office, set to get off
the ground this year.
The following interview has
been edited for length and style.
When do you plan to bring forward the legislation to change
and repeal parts of Bill C-51?
“I would hope that we would
see that later on this year.
“There are four really important responses to C-51. The first
one, and the flagship commitment
that we made: establish a committee of Parliamentarians to provide
a new dimension in review and
scrutiny that we have not had
before. Other countries have had
this, all of the Five Eyes countries
have a parliamentary mechanism.
Most of the democracies in the
Western world have that kind of
a mechanism. Canada has been
the anomaly. So that legislation is
being drafted now, and we hope
to have that in the public domain
by the time Parliament rises for
the summer.
“The second element is the
creation of our new Office of the
Community Outreach and Counter-Radicalization Co-ordinator.
We will have that operation up and
running later on this year. There’s
some consultation to be done with
provinces and local communities
and NGOs and so forth, but that
work is getting underway.
“A third element is the review
of cyber security, which is extremely important.
“The fourth piece, which is
really critical, is addressing the
specific legislative defects that remain in the law as a result of C-51
being put forward in a very faulty
manner, and without adequate
consultation of Canadians. We will
have that kind of consultation, in
fact it’s underway right now. But
we’ve identified already some of
the things that need to be fixed.”
The Liberal campaign platform
included promises to address several issues in its review of C-51,
including no-fly lists, the right to
take part in lawful protests, requiring warrants for the Communications Security Establishment,
and more. Should Canadians
expect that the government’s legislation is going to address each
and every one of those promises?
“They are very much a part of
our plan, that’s what we intend
to do. There will be a variety of
consultations undertaken; some
of them are already underway. We
will obviously listen to what we
are told in that consultative process. But, based on what I’ve heard
so far, I would expect to hear
people commenting on all of the
issues I’ve mentioned here, saying
that the changes have to be made,
as we indicated in our platform.
And there may well be others that
they would want to raise.
“One suggestion that’s made
frequently, for example, is that
we need to fix some of the oversight gaps with respect to some
existing security agencies and
organizations, like the CBSA,
for example. Currently, there is
no explicit review mechanism
with respect to the CBSA. It will
be covered by the committee
of parliamentarians, but there
will undoubtedly be a need for
another tool in addition to that,
specifically in reference to CBSA.”
What could that tool look like?
“It could take several forms.
It might be an agency that would
resemble the Security Intelligence
The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright
Review Committee, for example.
It might be an agency that would
resemble the two internal and
external review agencies that deal
with the RCMP. There’s a proposal
in the Senate right now for a model
that’s along the lines of an inspector general. We’re considering all of
those options right now, we haven’t
settled on the right tool for making
sure that there’s the proper review
and scrutiny of CBSA. All of these
techniques are under consideration.”
Have you heard any different or
dissenting opinions from within
the Liberal caucus about the government’s plans for C-51?
“No. What I’ve heard is a tremendous amount of reinforcement.
We need the committee of Parliamentarians. We need the office on
outreach and counter-radicalization.
We need to make serious advancements with respect to cyber security, and we need to fix the specific
defects that we’ve discussed here
in relation to the legislation. The
consultation within the caucus has
tended to reinforce the direction
that was laid out in the platform and
in my mandate letter.”
Have you held any technical briefings on what’s a fairly complex
subject for the Liberal caucus?
“No, but we plan to. We’ve
had general discussions, but we
haven’t had a clause-by-clause
analysis. But that is something
that we intend to undertake, and
not just for our caucus, but for
all Parliamentarians. And also, if
people are interested in this, for
the general public, so that we all
know the baseline starting point:
what the law does, what it doesn’t
do. What issues it raises, what issues it doesn’t raise, and so forth.
“It’s very important to make
sure that as you embark upon this
kind of examination and ultimately, new legislation, that everybody
understands where you’re starting
from.You’re going to spend a lot of
time debating issues that don’t exist if you’re not always operating
from the same fact base.”
The Conservative public safety
critic recently criticized your approach to the all-party parliamentary committee, arguing that the
government’s failure to get the
opposition parties involved runs
contrary to the government’s
promises to be open and transparent, and hurts the credibility
of the committee before it’s even
been created. Why haven’t you
worked more with the opposition
on creating this committee?
“I think the criticism is just a
bit premature. We’re embarking
on what is likely to be the most
comprehensive re-examination of
Canadian security law and procedure that there has ever been. So
there will be ample opportunities
for consultation with Parliamentarians in both houses and across
all party lines, with subject matter
experts and with the Canadian
public generally. Both the Conservatives and the NDP have written
letters with some of their suggestions. We are examining all of
those recommendations thus far.
But it’s still very early in the going.
“We don’t regard this as something that should have any kind of
a partisan divide. National security,
public safety, getting this right, is
critically important to all Canadians across every kind of political
distinction. We don’t anticipate and
we certainly don’t want any kind of
partisan dust-up here.”
When will you appoint the Community Outreach and Counter-Radicalization Co-ordinator? Do you have
anyone in mind for the job, and
how exactly do you envision this
person will go about the job?
“What we propose to do is to
create an office that would be
vested within the department
of Public Safety, but it would
be under the direction of a very
independent and distinguished
expert in this field of counterradicalization.
“We are currently in the process
of examining a long list of possibilities in terms of who that person
might be, and where they would go
for their advice, and so forth.
“We’ve got to understand the
nature of radicalization: what
causes it, where it comes from,
what makes people vulnerable to
it, what can you do in an intelligent way to counteract all of those
negative and insidious messages
that draw people in. That is going
to take a lot of research, and sharing of research with other countries around the world, and a lot
of collaboration at the local level,
because the ability to intervene
in the right way at the right time
with the right tools and resources
will largely be within provincial
and municipal jurisdictions. So
this has to be a very collabora-
tive effort. And I’m very pleased
that thus far that we have had
absolutely nothing but support
and encouragement from all of the
provinces and from the Federation
of Canadian Municipalities.”
On the subject of sharing information about Canadian travellers
to the U.S. with the U.S. government: how will that move actually benefit Canadians, and how
can you be sure it won’t lead to
more Canadians being mistakenly detained or otherwise hassled
by U.S. authorities?
“In terms of exit information,
which has not been collected in the
past, it’s the basic tombstone information that you’ll find on page two
of your passport, which everybody
shares with the United States when
they cross the border in any event.
What we don’t have now is records
of people leaving the country, and
that leaves a hole in our cross-border
security arrangements: for tracking
down Amber Alerts, for example,
for dealing with human trafficking,
for dealing with parents that are absconding from their family support
obligations, and so forth. And also,
those who might be trying to leave
the country for the purpose of travelling to become involved in terrorism
in some other part of the world.
“The new arrangement will allow us to have a more comprehensive record of who is in the country
at any moment in time, and who
has departed the country. That will
make the border more secure, it
will make law enforcement initiatives more effective, and it will
prevent the thickening of the border, which could become a major
economic problem for Canada.
“The other information sharing
arrangement that we are working on has to do with the no-fly
list. And in that regard, we have
worked very carefully with the Department of Justice to ensure that
we are consistent with the Charter
of Rights, and we have had close
consultations with the office of
the privacy commissioner to make
sure that those arrangements are
appropriate within the rules of
privacy. What we want to ensure is
that our air travel system is safe,
and that we are preventing those
who would travel for the purposes
of terrorism from being able to do
so. At the same time, we are respecting people’s privacy and their
basic rights under the Charter.”
[email protected]
19
NEWS BORDER
Info-sharing regime with U.S. now Liberal ‘priority’
Privacy commissioner’s
office awaits legislation.
BY CARL MEYER
T
he federal privacy commissioner’s office is keeping an eye out for expected
legislation from the Trudeau government
that will cement into place the final bricks
of a controversial personal informationsharing regime with the United States.
The system, which trades personal
identifying information back and forth when
individuals enter or leave either country, was
first proposed in 2011 as part of the thenConservative government’s sweeping Beyond the Border security and trade initiative.
But privacy concerns have since stalled it.
Now, the Liberals under Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) appear to have
grabbed the baton and are running with it.
In March, when Mr. Trudeau visited
United States President Barack Obama in
Washington, the White House said Canada
had “assured” the U.S. it would complete
the final phases of the entry-exit system.
Canada’s border agency has confirmed to
The Hill Times it’s a central focus for the
Liberals.
“While there is no specific timeline, this is a
priority for the government of Canada,”wrote
Canada Border Services Agency senior media
spokesperson Esme Bailey in an email.
She said the CBSA is expecting “legislative amendments.” A government website
on the program also notes that “legislative
and regulatory changes are required.”
The Privacy Commissioner’s Office
says it has been expecting legislation. In
its 2014-15 report to Parliament, the office stated that it was waiting for privacy
impact assessments from the CBSA as well
as five other departments or agencies with
regards to the info-sharing regime. Those
assessments haven’t yet come, said spokesperson Tobi Cohen.
“While we look forward to the opportunity to advise Parliament on the legislation,
we would not expect to receive [privacy
impact assessments] until that legislative
process is complete,” she wrote in an email.
The CBSA says the system is meant to
identify visitors who potentially overstay
their allowed time in either country, better
monitor that people ordered to leave actually do, and ensure immigrants meet residency requirements that may be needed.
that was to govern personal informationsharing between the two countries. The
statement quickly became contentious as
it allowed information to be sent to a third
country under certain circumstances.
After a judicial inquiry into the case of
Maher Arar, who was found to have been
tortured in Syria, had concluded that he
was a victim of bad Canadian intelligence,
the idea of personal information being sent
to third countries by governments became
a serious concern for privacy and civil
liberties organizations.
The 2012 statement granted that information could be transferred to a third country in
the absence of “international agreements and
arrangements” if certain rules were followed.
Today, the Privacy Commissioner’s Office says there are inherent hazards in any
such program.
Tories, manufacturers on board
Mr. Trost said his party remains on board
with an info-sharing deal with the U.S.
“I don’t think there’s any ideology, or
any major philosophical point behind this,”
he said.
“It’s just a very practical, nuts-and-bolts
issue. The U.S. is our biggest market, we
need access to it, [and] if we don’t deal
with security issues in a proper way, we
will lose access to it. At the same time, we
want as smooth a transition as possible.”
Mathew Wilson, Canadian Manufacturers
& Exporters vice-president of national policy,
said his organization was also in favour.
“The idea of sharing data does not scare
us from an industry association perspective,” he said.
“We’re concerned more about flow of
people and goods across the border, and if
this can help facilitate the flow of individuals
for work purposes or for personal reasons
then it’s a good thing...from a trade facilitation or border facilitation standpoint, the
concept is the right concept.”
The Hill Times
Y
‘A little bit of slow-walking’
The Conservatives already put in place
a testing program on third-country nationals, and then an expansion of that program
to all border crossings over land and to
permanent residents who are not citizens
of either Canada or the U.S.
But the phases of the regime that would
have brought in Canadian and American citizens are nearly two years delayed. They have
not been implemented, though they were
supposed to have been in place by June 30,
2014. Information such as a person’s name,
birthday, and citizenship is set to be shared,
according to the CBSA.
Conservative MP Brad Trost (Saskatoon-University, Sask.), his party’s critic for
Canada-U.S. relations, said the Conservative government had understood that there
were concerns and had been deliberately
proceeding slowly as a result.
“When we were in government, we were
doing a little bit of slow walking on this one,
because we were trying to figure out people’s
privacy concerns,” he said in an interview.
In 2012, Canada and the U.S. released
a Joint Statement of Privacy Principles
“Cross-border sharing of personal information, while necessary for border management, clearly raises risks for privacy,”
wrote Ms. Cohen. “Therefore, it is important to have privacy protections in place.”
This includes, she said, “developing
written information sharing agreements,
ensuring the accuracy of the personal information shared, implementing appropriate safeguards, protecting against further
use of the data, establishing appropriate
retention periods, and creating strong oversight and redress mechanisms.”
you can count on
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halfway around
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20
NEWS LEGISLATION
People
protest
Bill C-51
on Parliament Hill
on May
6, 2015.
The bill
became
law last
June.
Though
Liberal MPs
voted for
it, they’re
looking to
change it
now that
they’re in
government. The
Hill Times
photograph by
Andrew
Meade
C-51 changes in ‘talksabout-talks’ phase,
says advocacy group
Critics and supporters
of the bill are looking
to shape how public
consultations on
changes unfold.
BY YAEL BERGER
Formal public consultations
on changes to the controversial
anti-terror law known a Bill C-51
have yet to begin, but an advocacy
group is set to discuss with Public
Safety Minister Ralph Goodale
this week how the government
should organize the talks.
OpenMedia expects to meet
with Mr. Goodale (Regina-Wascana, Sask.) on May 5 in Ottawa.
The meeting will not be part of the
Liberal government’s formal consultation process. Rather the talks
will be the topic of the meeting,
OpenMedia spokesperson David
Christopher said in an interview.
“I think we’re still kind of at
the talks-about-talks stage of the
process,” he said.
OpenMedia wants to see the entire law repealed and is pushing for
a public consultation process that is
open and accessible to Canadians.
The previous Conservative
government introduced Bill C-51,
which it called the Anti-Terrorism
Act, 2015, within months of the
attacks in October 2014 that
killed Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent in Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu,
Que. and Cpl. Nathan Cirillo in
Ottawa. The bill became law last
June.
Privacy and civil liberties advocates criticized the legislation
because they said it allowed for
excessive information sharing;
made a new, vague offence for
terrorism promotion; and gave
Canada’s spy agency power to
disrupt perceived terrorist activity
even if that violated the Charter
of Rights and Freedoms.
The NDP voted against the bill.
Liberal MPs called for more robust
oversight of the country’s intelligence agencies and opted to vote in
favour of the legislation. But they
promised Canadians that, if they
formed government, they would
establish an all-party parliamentary committee to monitor national
security agencies, and would strike
a balance between security and
Canadians’ Charter rights.
Mr. Goodale’s mandate letter
from the prime minister instructs
him to repeal the “problematic
elements” of Bill C-51, introduce
a new law that boosts national
security accountability and “better
balances collective security with
rights and freedoms.”
It’s not just critics of the antiterror law looking to talk to government about the consultation
process. Supporters of the new
security powers are also looking
to shape how public consultations
on changes will unfold.
The Canadian Association of
Chiefs of Police also hopes to be
in Ottawa in the coming days to
meet with the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public
Safety, Michel Picard (Montarville, Que.), said Didier Deramond, deputy chief of Montreal’s
police department and co-chair of
the CACP Counter Terrorism and
National Security Committee.
Mr. Deramond said the upcoming meeting in Ottawa would
be an opportunity to talk about
changes to Canada’s anti-terror
laws and the collective vision
of police and intelligence agencies regarding Canada’s national
security.
He said he’s in favour of public
consultations on changes to C-51,
but that security agencies are the
ones using the legislation.
“Every opinion is important,
but we do have to deal with those
agencies,” he said. “If there is new
legislation, those agencies will be
the ones implementing it and we
have to connect those dots.”
Consultations in ‘medium term’
The clock is ticking if the
Liberal government is going to
introduce legislation before the
summer to set up an all-party
parliamentary review committee
to monitor the country’s intelligence agencies, and opposition
MPs are eager to be consulted on
details of how the committee will
be structured.
“The Minister has said that he
hopes to introduce legislation to
create the Committee of Parliamentarians before summer,” Scott
Bardsley, the minister’s press
secretary, wrote in an emailed
statement to The Hill Times.
The Liberal government has
promised to consult with Canadians and experts on Canada’s
national security framework, but
Minister Goodale’s office has
been vague about the timeline.
“Work to achieve these objectives is underway and will be
informed by our government’s
forthcoming consultations with
Canadians and experts on our
national security framework,” Mr.
Bardsley said in the email.
No specific date has been announced for when consultations will
begin. Mr. Bardsley suggested they
could be weeks or months away, not
days or years.“They will be held in
the medium term,” he said.
“I think the government decided
this was not a priority it could easily solve or address in 100 days,”
said Christian Leuprecht, a political science professor at Queen’s
University. He said the government
should give the legislation the attention it requires.
Mr. Leuprecht said he expects
the Liberals to announce some sort
of plan before the summer as to how
the government will move forward.
He said the announcement could
be about how the consultations will
unfold or how the parliamentary
committee might be structured.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
(Papineau, Que.) appointed Liberal MP David McGuinty (Ottawa
South, Ont.) in January to chair the
committee. Mr. Goodale and Mr.
McGuinty travelled to the United
Kingdom that month to learn about
the U.K.’s Intelligence and Security
Committee of Parliament.
Opposition MPs are disappointed that they were not brought
along on the trip or given a report
on the findings, and have yet to be
consulted on how the parliamentary committee will function.
Conservative public safety
critic Erin O’Toole (Durham, Ont.)
said in an interview with The Hill
Times that he has written two letters to Mr. Goodale with recommendations on the new parliamentary committee to review
national security agencies.
He received a response from
Mr. Goodale to his first letter, he
said.
Mr. Goodale’s letter, dated April
20, said that he has taken “careful
note of suggestions” and will reach
out to opposition parties.
Mr. Leuprecht said the prime
minister could set up the committee through an executive
order, in which case he wouldn’t
require a legislative change. The
government also wouldn’t necessarily need to consult anyone on
structuring the committee, Mr.
Leuprecht said.
Mr. O’Toole said a divided Liberal
caucus and the confusion of many
new rookie MPs around the antiterrorism law are slowing down the
government’s consultations.
“Most people have no clue
what C-51 is all about, even some
of the critics—even some of the
new MPs on the Hill—when I talk
to them about C-51 it’s clear they
don’t even understand what powers were provided to law enforcement,” he said.
Mr. Goodale said in an interview with The Hill Times that he
hasn’t heard dissenting opinions
from within his caucus.
“The consultation within the
caucus has tended to reinforce
the direction that was laid out in
the platform and in my mandate
letter,” he said.
The minister also said he
hasn’t held any technical briefings yet to bring his caucus up to
speed, but he intends to.
“We’ve had general discussions, but we haven’t had, sort of,
a clause-by-clause analysis. But
that is something that we intend
to undertake, and not just for our
caucus, but for all Parliamentarians,” he said. “So that we all know
the baseline starting point, what
the law does, what it doesn’t do.”
[email protected]
The Hill Times
21
NEWS CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
‘Under constant attack,’ minister warned of
spying, sabotage ahead of cyber security review
BY MARIE-DANIELLE SMITH
A
s the public safety minister
promises to talk to Canadians
about and put more money into cyber security, opposition parties are
criticizing the Liberals for being
too vague about their plans to
secure Canadian cyberspace.
Briefing documents prepared
for when Public Safety Minister
Ralph Goodale (Regina-Wascana,
Sask.) started on the job last November say government systems
are “under constant attack.”
“Critical infrastructure is being targeted for exploitation,” says
the briefing material. “The intellectual property and trade secrets
of our companies are being stolen
by our adversaries.”
But before any significant
changes are made to how Canada
handles cyber security issues,
Mr. Goodale is planning a policy
review, including the launch of
public consultation—another in
a series of reviews promised by
Liberal cabinet ministers on everything from defence to foreign aid.
This review of cyber security
policy will be launched“shortly,”Mr.
Goodale’s office told The Hill Times.
It will“seek feedback from
citizens and stakeholders on how
Canada can best address the challenge of cyber security, and keep our
citizens, businesses, and critical infrastructure safe in an online world,”
said press secretary Scott Bardsley.
The government has been
working on such issues for years.
Bureaucrats write in the briefing
book,“the low cost and high impact
of cyber attack tools means that
cyber espionage and sabotage will
continue to be attractive to states
and non-state actors that otherwise
would be unable to mount direct
attacks against Canada.”
Threat actors have the “capability and willingness to disrupt
Canada’s critical infrastructure and
economic assets” and “organized
crime and lone hackers are using
many of the same tools to target Canadian businesses and individuals.”
Besides the promised review,
the federal government in its March
budget pledged $77.4-million in new
funding for cyber security.
The 2016 budget document
says new money will be used “to
improve the security of govern-
The cyber security policy review will be launched ‘shortly,’ according to Public
Safety Minister Ralph Goodale’s office. The Hill Times photograph by Steve Gerecke
ment networks and information
technology systems.”
Michael Geist, a University of
Ottawa law professor who writes
about cyber issues, said in a recent
blog post that the budget’s digital
promises are underfunded. He
said the dollars are backloaded:
the $77.4-million is allotted for the
next five years, but only $12-million is reserved for the first year,
and $15-million the year after that.
Critics underwhelmed
Funding announced in the
2016 budget doesn’t include any
of the money announced by the
previous government last year.
It included $142.6-million announced in July and $94.4-million
announced in the 2015 budget,
with both amounts spread out
Universities Canada and Simon Fraser University present
Cybersecurity:
You will be breached
A dialogue on cybersecurity featuring Ray Boisvert, former
assistant director at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service
(CSIS) and now president and CEO of I-Sec Integrated Strategies
Asia Pacific Hall • Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue
580 West Hastings Street • Vancouver, B.C.
Thursday, May 12, 2016, 9:00AM - 10:30AM
Or watch the livestream on our Facebook page: facebook.com/univcanada
For more information on this event, visit: univcan.ca/mindshare
Mindshare is a national speaker series promoting fresh thinking on policy issues
critical to Canada’s future, hosted by universities across Canada in 2016.
1965
2015
over the next five years. That
funding will still be in place, Mr.
Goodale’s office confirmed.
The NDP’s public safety critic,
Randall Garrison (EsquimaltSaanich-Sooke, B.C.) told The Hill
Times he sees nothing innovative
in the way the Liberals are framing cyber security funding.
“Concern levels are very high,
and I just don’t see that reflected
in this government,” he said.
“There’s no new plan. They’re apparently still working on the basis
of the 2010 plan that the Conservatives put out, which everybody
criticized [as] inadequate.”
Conservative public safety critic
Erin O’Toole (Durham, Ont.) said
he’s concerned the Liberals won’t
see through the entirety of his
party’s cyber plan.“I think they’re
continuing on the work from the
Harper government,” he said.
But it seems the new government
is“stepping back”from the industryfocused approach of the Conservatives, Mr. O’Toole suggested, with
more money for securing government systems but no word on how
22
OPINION PUBLIC SAFETY
Governing in reality
The government
needs to co-operate
with the opposition,
starting with its
security oversight
committee of
Parliamentarians
role as an opportunity to leverage
my background in the military
and as a lawyer. In many ways,
the intersection of security issues
and our laws represents the true
challenge facing any government
charged with keeping our communities safe and preserving our
rights and way of life. There must
be a balance struck between the
security Canadians expect in the
towns and cities of the country
and the freedoms they also expect
as a fundamental aspect of living
in Canada.
Balance can only be achieved
however, when a government is
realistic about the threats facing
Canada and our way of life. Unfortunately, the “sunny ways”
rhetoric of the Liberal government often has it governing in the
world as it would like it to be, as
opposed to the realities facing the
present world. The “sunny ways”
language also obscures the fact
that the government has refused
several attempts to de-politicize
aspects of the public safety file
and that is disappointing.
In the short life of the 42nd Parliament, nothing has demonstrated
the disconnect of this government
from the reality of the world we
live in more than budget day. Finance Minister Bill Morneau began
his budget speech by expressing
the concern and support from all
Canadians in light of the horrific
terror attacks in Brussels earlier
that day. Most MPs wore a special
Belgian pin in the House that day
to show our solidarity with our
friend and ally. However, despite
starting his speech by recognizing
the profound risks facing countries
like Canada in the face of global
terrorism, the budget provided no
new funds for front-line security
and intelligence agencies. In a
budget replete with billions in new
spending in a range of areas, the
lack of support for public safety
agencies spoke volumes about the
priorities of the new government.
In the first year of this new
Parliament, the Conservative opposition has attempted on several
occasions to work with the government to ensure that critical issues
of public safety are not subject to
the normal cut and thrust of partisan politics. I expressed public
support for the government’s proposal for a Counter-Radicalization
Coordinator and office to examine
strategies and tools to help communities combat the isolated but real
threat of radicalization in Canada.
Despite this support for their position, the Liberal majority on the
Public Safety Committee refused
to study the issue. Similarly, while
the government has talked about a
committee of Parliamentarians to
examine security oversight, Public
Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has
not engaged with the opposition on
the composition and character of
this unique and important commit-
Conservative
public safety
critic Erin
O’Toole says the
government’s
budget should
have included
more money for
front-line security
and intelligence
agencies. The Hill
Times photograph by
Andrew Meade
tee. Surprisingly, he also proposed
a chair of this committee without
any terms of reference for the committee itself. I have written twice to
the minister to urge more collaboration on this important initiative,
which the Conservatives support in
principle.
When I began my work on
the public safety file I was taken
back to first year university at
the Royal Military College where
we studied Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs for a society. Right there
on the bottom of the Maslow pyramid, just above the essentials of
life, is the need for physical safety
and security. It is a given in
Canada that families and seniors
expect their personal safety and
the security of their property and
institutions to be a fundamental
matter for their government.
This means trying to ensure law
enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies have the tools
and ability to fulfill their mandate
in a balanced fashion. These
tools and a legal framework must
not be frozen in time and must
acknowledge modern threats
and new technologies. I believe
that the Harper government accomplished this balance working alongside law enforcement
agencies and ensuring balance
and legal oversight was part of all
aspects of public safety laws. The
Liberal government must demonstrate that it is prepared to work
with this Parliament proactively
and collaboratively and must
articulate policy that addresses
the real risks facing Canada. Taking two positions on an issue, like
they did in the last Parliament on
Bill C-51, is not leadership, but is
avoiding fundamental issues that
Canadians expect their government to tackle. I look forward
to holding the government to account and working collaboratively when possible on these critical
policy matters.
Conservative public safety
critic Erin O’Toole is the MP for
Durham, Ont.
[email protected]
The Hill Times
Almost a year after it became law,
Liberals slow to fix C-51
limited debate with time allocation and rushed C-51 off to the
Senate where it was expedited
and passed.
Now that the Liberals are the
government, they are still choosing to ignore the legal experts on
the facts surrounding C-51. They
haven’t expressed any urgency
to act, despite the fact that the
provisions of the bill will have
already been in force for a year
come June. The Liberals have yet
to present any specific proposals
to revise the bill nor any specific
plan for the proposed new oversight mechanisms.
New Democrats remain convinced that the best path forward
remains to repeal C-51 in full.
We continue to be disappointed
with the failure of the Liberals to
consult opposition members as
promised and with their statement that they will not re-open
the issue until fall at the earliest.
New Democrats believe that governments can and must protect
both civil liberties and public
safety at the same time and any
changes moving forward must
respect the will of Canadians and
the full democratic process.
Randall Garrison is the Member of Parliament for EsquimaltSaanich-Sooke, B.C. and is the
NDP critic for public safety and
for national defence.
[email protected]
The Hill Times
CONSERVATIVE MP
ERIN O’TOOLE
W
hen the interim leader of
the Conservative Party,
Rona Ambrose, gave me the responsibility for the public safety
and emergency preparedness file,
I viewed it as a unique opportunity to play a critical role in the
safety and security of Canadians.
As official opposition critic, my
primary role will be to hold the
government to account for its actions, or for inaction in the face of
threats to Canadians. I will also
have the opportunity to provide
advice and insight to the government as they manage the issues
and agencies charged with keeping us safe. I also viewed this
OPINION PUBLIC SAFETY
New Democrats
remain convinced
that the best path
forward is to repeal
C-51 in full.
NDP MP RANDALL GARRISON
M
ore than a year ago, New
Democrats stood virtually
alone in taking on the challenge of
opposing Bill C-51 and suggesting
better ways to keep Canadians safe
in a world beset with terrorism and
violent extremism. At the time the
Liberals voted with the Conservatives but suggested C-51 needed
some changes and better oversight.
Since then, Bill C-51 has become
law while Canadians wait for the
Liberals to act on their promises.
New Democrats stand ready
as Parliamentarians to come
together to meet threats to our
security with responsible and
thoughtful measures that do not
erode the fundamental freedoms
that generations of Canadians
worked so hard to protect.
The former Conservative
government took Canadians down
the road of the politics of hate and
division. The Conservatives justified introducing sweeping changes
to Canada’s security apparatus
by using fear to pit Canadians
against each other, rather than
taking concrete actions to keep us
safer. The result was Bill C-51.
This bill brought forward
greater information-sharing
practices between government
agencies that violate Canadian
privacy rights, granted dangerous new powers to the Canadian
Security Intelligence Service,
created a new and vague offence
for the promotion of terrorism,
lowered the standard for judges
to authorize preventative arrests,
and expanded the No-Fly List
without any measures to make it
more effective or to allow timely
appeals.
While no Parliamentarian
disagrees that terrorism is a real
threat and that there is a need for
concrete and effective measures
to keep Canadians safe, the contents of C-51 and the way it was
rushed through Parliament without careful and thoughtful study
and debate remain problematic.
In the limited number of hearings that the House Public Safety
Committee held, expert witnesses
from across the political spectrum
near-unanimously told the committee that the bill was fundamentally flawed and threatened
the rights of Canadians without
actually improving our security.
Almost all of the witnesses were
concerned with the virtually
unlimited sharing of personal
information amongst Canadian
government agencies and the very
real possibility of that information
being shared with foreign powers.
The privacy commissioner even
stated that C-51 potentially allows
the government to compile personal profiles on all Canadians.
The greater powers given to
CSIS to disrupt suspected terrorist activities in secret were very
alarming to the expert witnesses
because such actions would not
only be in violation of the law, but
also potentially of the Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Witnesses also noted that the
bill failed to improve existing
oversight mechanisms, let alone
provide new oversight to match
CSIS’ new powers. The Security
Intelligence Review Committee was not given an increased
role and instead remained as an
after-the-fact review agency with
limited scope and budget.
Based on witness testimony,
New Democrats put forward a
comprehensive amendment package aimed at removing the worst
aspects of the bill. The Liberals
argued that C-51 could be fixed
later and so allowed the Conservatives to railroad the bill through
the committee and the House of
Commons. After our amendments
were defeated, New Democrats
attempted to delete Bill C-51 in
its entirety but the Conservatives
23
OPINION TERRORISM
Repealing C-51: an essential step
in public safety and security
GREEN PARTY LEADER
ELIZABETH MAY
I
t is one of the stickier aspects of
former prime minister Stephen
Harper’s omnibus-bill strategy:
legislation rammed through
Parliament as omnibus bills are
harder to repeal and reform than
stand-alone legislation.
After passage, C-51 ceased to
exist. It was an omnibus bill in five
parts. Some of those parts touched
on dozens of bills. Bill C-51 cannot
be repealed, but eliminating 90 per
cent of it is necessary.
The Liberals are pledging to get
rid of any sections that are dangerous. That’s pretty much the whole
bill. Here are its five parts and a
rough sketch of what they do:
1. Information sharing. This
is not about information sharing
between spy agencies working
together to stop criminal elements.
That would have been a good idea,
but it’s not in C-51. This so-called
information sharing is about
disclosing personal information
about any Canadian to anyone who
wants it. This gives rise to the very
scary deflection of those who seem
to oppose civil liberties: “this does
not worry me; I have nothing to
hide.” But you do have something to
defend, and it’s called “your rights.”
2. No-Fly List provisions. Pretty
straightforward, but this puts
tremendous burdens on airlines to
control the work of airport screening conducted by the Canadian
Air Transport Security Authority,
a group they do not manage or
control. This could be put down to
bad drafting, but legislators were
in such a rush to pass the bill,
they could not be bothered to fix
this. It also does nothing to reduce
the confusion and inconvenience
suffered by people with names
similar to suspected terrorists.
3. The thought-chill section.
This one purports to deal with
the promotion of terrorism on
websites. It adopted the unheardof notion of promotion of “terror-
ism offences in general.” No one
knows what that means, but the
descriptors are so over-broad they
could include a single image—a
raised fist, a Che Guevara poster—
as promotion of terrorism in general. The impact of the limitations
on even personal communication
exceed other similar laws such as
those to deal with hate speech and
pornography on the Internet. C-51
does not exclude private communication and as a result it could
put a chill on speech intended to
persuade someone not to engage
in terrorism. Anti-radicalization
efforts would be compromised.
4. Part 4 is the most dangerous.
It transforms the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, an agency
designed to collect intelligence and
share it with those who can act, to an
agency empowered to disrupt plots.
Worse, it sets up a private hearing
before a sole judge, with no publicinterest advocate present, to grant
warrants for constitutional breach.
5. Then there’s the final section. It
is so opaque and incomprehensible
that it received virtually no attention in committee. It changes the
way information going to a judge
in support of a security certificate is
handled. Only Prof Donald Galloway
of the University of Victoria’s law
school figured out what its purpose
was: to allow the use of evidence obtained by torture to be submitted to a
judge, without disclosing that fact.
While the previous government
claimed that we needed the extreme
measures of C-51 to keep us safe
from terrorism, the truth is that C-51
makes us less safe. The approach
of C-51—empowering CSIS agents
to take action to disrupt plots, and
allowing the various security agencies of Canada to operate independently of each other—runs directly
contrary to the advice of public
security experts and to the conclusions of the Air India Inquiry. So
too is the Arar Commission report
ignored in setting up the “information sharing” provisions of Part 1 of
the bill, allowing virtually any information about any Canadian to be
shared between and among federal
agencies and departments, as well
as with foreign governments. None
of this makes sense, and none of it
makes us safer.
Universités Canada et la Simon Fraser University présentent
Cybersécurité :
Nous sommes tous à risque
Un dialogue sur la cybersécurité avec Ray Boisvert, ancien directeur
adjoint du Service canadien du renseignement de sécurité (SCRS), et
actuel président de I-Sec Integrated Strategies (ISECIS)
Asia Pacific Hall • Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue
580, rue West Hastings • Vancouver, C.-B.
Jeudi 12 mai 2016, de 9 h à 10 h 30 (HP)
Suivez la discussion en direct sur notre page Facebook à facebook.com/univcanada
Pour obtenir un complément d’information, veuillez consulter univcan.ca/convergences
La série de conférences Convergences est conçue de façon à favoriser une nouvelle
réflexion sur les enjeux stratégiques essentiels pour l’avenir du Canada. Les conférences
seront présentées en 2016 dans des universités d’un peu partout au Canada.
1965
2015
In fact, according to Joe Fogarty,
a security expert from the United
Kingdom who testified at the
Senate on C-51, the way the bill is
structured makes Canada’s security law a “tragedy waiting to happen.” Mr. Fogarty gave specific recent examples of times when CSIS
knew the RCMP was tracking the
wrong people, but opted not to tell
them. Or when CSIS discovered a
terror group in formation and also
decided not to tell the RCMP.
As former Supreme Court
justice John Major testified to the
House of Commons committee on
C-51, it is an absolute certainty that
security agencies will not share intelligence. Major put it down to “human nature.” But when CSIS agents
are also empowered to give out getout-of-jail-free cards to people they
are tracking, without warning the
RCMP, or when CSIS agents have
the right to get an exemption from
the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
in order to violate Canadian laws
and/or Charter rights, the dangers
of C-51 should be very clear.
The Liberals in opposition made
a calculated political decision to vote
for C-51. Their most knowledgeable
Members of Parliament, such as Irwin Cotler, supported my opposition
in the House and on the record. They
can leave in place and reform much
of Part 2; but the rest has to go.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth
May represents Saanich-Gulf
Islands, B.C.
The Hill Times
24
NEWS CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
OPINION TERRORISM
Grits have no new,
clear cyber policy
beyond: opposition
Security oversight committee
should include Senators, MPs
the private sector could get involved.
That’s important because private
infrastructure, such as online banking systems, form the backdrop for
much of what Canadians do online,
he said. A co-ordinated cyber attack
on a bank would be more of a risk
“at the dinner table” for most Canadians than a breach of government
information, added Mr. O’Toole.
Still, Mr. Bardsley said, funding announced by the Conservatives is going towards its original
purpose—much of it to “enhance
collaboration with the private sector and critical infrastructure.”
But bureaucrats warned Mr.
Goodale in the briefing book that
“there are no legal requirements
for operators of vital cyber systems
to protect their systems or report
cyber incidents affecting their systems to government, which could
impact the national security and
public safety of Canada.”
The 2015 budget had specifically set aside $36.4 million over
five years for the protection of
“vital cyber systems,” but the 2016
budget funding wasn’t as specific.
Neither Mr. O’Toole nor Mr.
Garrison seemed particularly
keen to push the Liberals on a
legislative instrument, despite the
briefing book’s emphasis on a
legal requirement, and Mr. Bardsley did not respond to a question
about whether Mr. Goodale was
planning to introduce legislation.
Mr. Garrison ventured that the
new funding offered in the Liberal
budget sounded “bland,” like it was
just for “routine system upgrades.”
He said he wants to see the
government produce a new road
map that will address the many cyber threats facing Canada—rather
than just following in the previous
government’s footsteps.
China concerns spy agency
Independent of political announcements, some government
agencies have been pursuing their
own cyber security solutions.
It all fits into the government’s
overall Cyber Security Strategy,
which continued to chug along in
the background during last year’s
lengthy election campaign.
For example, last fall, Communications Security Establishment Canada announced it was partnering
with industry to update information
assurance across the government.
The director general of the
CSE’s Cyber Protection Branch
told industry groups at the Government Technology Exhibition
and Conference in October that
there’s an “awful lot” of overclassified information within the
Canadian government.
Internal documents released through access-to-information legislation show that in 2012-
13, CSE was worrying about
the “exponential scale of cyber
threats and espionage that are
being conducted against Western
targets by the People’s Republic
of China’s military, the People’s
Liberation Army.”
The following year’s report
shows the agency’s work was
being challenged by “continued
unauthorized disclosures of classified information.”
It was China that got promptly
blamed after cyber attacks on the National Research Council in July 2014
that forced it to shut down its systems, though the Chinese Embassy
was quick to deny any involvement.
In the summer of 2015, including on Canada Day, some Canadian government websites went out
of service after distributed denialof-service attacks blamed on the
hacktivist group Anonymous.
Shared Services had bumpy
start: Tory MP
Many agencies and departments are involved in cyber security, according to Mr. Goodale’s
briefing binder.
Cyber initiatives are overseen
by Public Safety Canada, which
houses the Canadian Cyber
Incident Response Centre. The
Treasury Board Secretariat has a
hand in management.
While Global Affairs Canada
charges itself with “the international dimension of cyber security,” Industry Canada looks after
telecommunications and the
marketplace. The Cyber Threat
Evaluation Centre inside of CSE
has its own mandate to investigate incidents, as do CSIS and the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Meanwhile, National Defence
and the Canadian Armed Forces
keep networks separate from the
others, meaning they have their
own ways of securing them. They
also exchange “cyber best practices” with allied militaries.
That’s not to mention an
entirely separate Canadian AntiFraud Centre and the Canadian
Cyber Threat Exchange, a joint
government-private sector initiative established Dec. 11.
Shared Services Canada, a
department the Conservative government created in 2011, which
was supposed to streamline all of
the above processes.
A belaboured implementation
and major bugs in how it works
have been the subject of recent
scrutiny. Though some money in
this year’s budget was set aside
for improving Shared Services
Canada, there are fears that dollars just won’t be enough to fix it.
Mr. O’Toole admitted that
it hasn’t had “the best rollout,”
though “the rationale that we
started at was sound.”
@mariedanielles
The Hill Times
CONSERVATIVE SENATOR
DANIEL LANG
D
uring the past three years
that I have chaired the Senate
Standing Committee on National
Security and Defence, we have
studied and reported on the
threats to national security.
Our committee has noted that
there remain areas for improvement in our national security strategy, particularly in the
realms of: information sharing,
review and accountability, and
public communication and education. The government must address these to maintain the public
confidence and the social licence
our security organizations and
government depend on to act.
After nine months of hearings
and testimony from more than
100 witnesses, which included
government agencies, security officials, academics, and members
of various religious communities,
including imams, we learned that:
• By late 2014, authorities
identified 318 radical Canadian
jihadists: 93 of them were seeking to travel abroad, 145 were
overseas, and 80 had returned.
CSIS director Michel Coulombe
confirmed a few months later that
these numbers were increasing.
• There were 683 identified
cases of terrorist financing in five
years, but to our knowledge no
specific charges or prosecutions
were initiated.
• Foreign funds had entered
Canada for religious-oriented
programming despite their donors and recipients being linked
to radicalization.
• Eight Canadian charities had
their charitable status revoked
because of indirect or direct
connections to terrorism—yet no
members of their executive or
staff faced criminal prosecution.
• The Muslim Brotherhood and
entities closely associated with
it are a problem; the committee
recommended that CSIS review
it as a priority with the intent of
determining whether it should be
designated a terrorist entity.
• Terrorist promotion and
radicalization remain a concern
in many areas of Canadian society, including at schools and in
religious facilities.
• Government agencies and
political leaders conduct outreach
to some disturbing individuals
and organizations linked to terrorism and radicalization.
• The government was failing
to communicate clearly with
Canadians about the scope of the
terrorist threat.
• Emergency preparedness at
the municipal, provincial, and federal levels required enhancement,
in view of the threat we face.
• The government must communicate in a
clear, quantitative,
and unambiguous
manner about the
national security
situation in Canada and abroad,
including the
true number of
people directly or
indirectly involved
in supporting
Liberal Senator Grant Mitchell and Conservative
radicalization and
Senator Daniel Lang, the vice-chair and chair of the
terrorist activity.
Senate National Security and Defence Committee
• We must
last year, are seen speaking in March 2015. The Hill
aggressively
Times photograph by Jake Wright
prosecute those
who violate our
national security law. Public
While our committee heard
confidence relies on respect for
from informed sources about
the rule of law and the principle
radicalization and terrorism, I
of equal application of law. The
would be remiss if I did not address the view in some of national relatively administrative and
secret character of peace bonds is
security and political quarters
no substitute for a public trial.
that suggests jihadi terrorism
• As recommended by the
is essentially caused by mental
Senate committee, we need to
health and drug issues.
empower local police and prosJocelyn Bélanger, a professor of
ecutors to proceed with terrorism
psychology who appeared before
cases, without requiring the atour committee, testified: “[t]o
torney general’s consent, as is the
believe that radicalized individuals
case in other areas of criminal law.
are crazy or are not playing with a
• We need to work closely with
full deck would be our first mistake
municipalities, provinces, and terin developing effective counterritories to prevent radicalization.
terrorism strategies. The mental-in• We need to enhance emergency
stability hypothesis rather reflects
preparedness, especially in relation
our profound misunderstanding of
to our critical national infrastructure.
the process of radicalization.”
• We need to fully screen for
Going forward, national secusecurity the more than 500,000
rity agencies and experts must
immigrants and visa holders we
begin to take seriously the issue of
receive each year.
immigration and demographics.
• When it comes to earning the
Most Canadians are not aware
public’s confidence, we need to
that Canada welcomes more than
establish, by statute and other500,000 immigrants and tempowise, national security review
rary visa holders each year, the
bodies and systems that boost
vast majority of whom do not face
comprehensive security screening. review capabilities and public accountability, especially in security
This has to be a serious
domains where none currently
concern, when we consider the
exists, such as in relation to the
reality that terrorists are freely
Canada Border Services Agency.
moving across borders in Europe
• In line with public accountto carry out attacks in Paris and
ability, the proposed parliamentary
elsewhere on the continent.
committee on security and intelliIn Canada, the RCMP has
gence must not be seen as a partisan
redeployed more than 600 officers
body dominated by governmentto deal with terrorism cases. That
friendly appointees. To address this
means 600 officers are not doing
possibility, I would recommend that
other important police work. And
it be a joint parliamentary commitas our committee was told, it takes
tee where both houses of Parliament
25 to 30 officers to monitor one
would be represented.
radicalized jihadist. Resources must
The government must allow our
go up significantly across the board
agencies to execute their responfor the foreseeable future if we are
sibilities—whether identifying
to effectively manage the growing
threats, laying charges, or prosecutnational security threats we face.
ing—without preoccupying themTo ensure a comprehensive naselves with accommodating aggrestional security strategy is tailored
sive lobbies or catering to politics
to meet this problem, we should
and political correctness. If we were
consider the following:
to do this, I am confident we would
• Improve intragovernmental
earn the public confidence necesinformation-sharing and leverage
sary to address the threats to our
the role of the national security
national security. Canadians want
adviser to ensure timely, accountand need us to succeed.
able co-ordination.
Yukon Conservative Senator
• Provide sufficient resources
Daniel Lang is chair of the Senate
or tools to allow CSIS and the
Standing Committee on National
RCMP to be able to effectively
Security and Defence.
monitor low-level threats and
[email protected]
targets, as well as higher-level
The Hill Times
threats.
25
HILL CLIMBERS POLITICAL STAFFERS
Elyse Banham, left, is now a special assistant to National Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, as is Anthony Di Carlo.
Photographs courtesy of LinkedIn
Yanique Williams is a policy adviser for small
business and Ontario desk adviser to Small
Business and Tourism Minister Bardish Chagger.
Photograph courtesy of LinkedIn
Ariel Gough, left, is a policy adviser to Families, Children and Social Development Minister Jean-Yves
Duclos, while Emilie Gauducon is now the minister’s press secretary. Photographs courtesy of LinkedIn
John Gosal is now a senior policy adviser to Mr.
Sajjan. Photograph courtesy of LinkedIn
HILL CLIMBERS
B Y L AU R A R Y C K E WA E RT
Families and Social
Development Minister
Duclos hires press secretary
Meanwhile, Defence
Minister Harjit
Sajjan hires a reserve
infantry officer and
a midwife as special
assistants.
F
amilies, Children, and Social
Development Minister JeanYves Duclos was set to welcome
a press secretary to his ministerial staff this week, Hill Climbers
has learned.
Emilie Gauduchon was expected to mark her first day in
Mr. Duclos’ ministerial office on
May 3. She will work closely with
communications director Mathieu
Filion in her new role as press
secretary.
Until recently, she was co-ordinating graduation ceremonies at
the Université de Montreal, her
alma mater, since February 2015.
In 2013, she worked as a coordinator for public relations and
protocol in the university’s communications and public relations
office. In 2009, she was a project
co-ordinator with the school’s
Montreal Centre for International
Research, also known by the
French acronym CERIUM.
Ms. Gauduchon has also previously been a communications
manager at the Unité de santé
international in Montreal, Que. She
is a former communications manager with the International Centre
for the Prevention of Crime in the
city. And she has worked for ERAI
Canada, an economic development agency promoting the French
region of Rhône-Alpes in Canada,
among other experience indicated
in her LinkedIn profile. She’s also
previously worked for the European Commission in Geneva and the
French Embassy in Ecuador.
Ariel Gough, meanwhile,
joined Mr. Duclos’ ministerial
team last month as a policy adviser and Atlantic desk adviser.
Until the beginning of this year,
she was a communications officer
for the Nova Scotia Liberal Caucus office in Halifax, N.S.
Ms. Gough has previously
worked as a social media manager for Miss Mediosa, a social
media management company in
Halifax. In December 2012 and
January 2013 she interned at The
Chronicle Herald in Halifax. She’s
also briefly worked as a production assistant for Eastlink, a cable
TV and telecommunications company, in Lower Sackville, N.S.
Ms. Gough has been involved
with the Nova Scotia Young
Liberals in recent years, as well
as serving as youth liaison for
the Halifax West Liberal Association. She spent a year studying
journalism at City University
London, and her LinkedIn account indicates she’s in the midst
of a bachelor’s degree in business
administration and marketing at
Mount Saint Vincent University
(having started in 2014 and set to
graduate in 2017).
In other news, Science Minister Kirsty Duncan has hired
Christopher Ethier as her director
of parliamentary affairs, according to the government’s online
staff directory.
Mr. Ethier previously worked
for Ms. Duncan last Parliament in
her capacity as the Liberal MP for
Etobicoke North, Ont. and worked
on her 2015 re-election campaign.
His LinkedIn profile indicates he
also helps with operations and
issues management in the office,
and studied for his undergrad in
commerce at Ryerson University,
focusing on business management
and business law.
Defence Minister Sajjan
bolsters team
National Defence Minister
Harjit Sajjan has welcomed a
number of interesting new staff
to his ministerial team, including John Gosal, a senior policy
adviser who joined the office in
February.
Until then, Mr. Gosal had spent
roughly the last eight years working in various roles for Canada’s
foreign ministry, starting in 2007.
He worked at the Canadian
High Commission in Islamabad,
Pakistan, ultimately under the
title of head of trade, commercial,
and economic affairs. Before that,
Mr. Gosal spent three months
with the India Unit of the foreign
ministry’s South Asia Commercial Relations Division, after
briefly working with the division’s Pakistan Unit.
His first placement with the
department in 2007 was in Vienna,
Austria, as a counsellor at the
Canadian Embassy in Austria,
during which time he was part of
the Canadian delegation to the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Mr. Gosal is also a former second secretary as part of Canada’s
permanent mission to the UN,
according to his LinkedIn profile,
which indicates he has a master’s degree in war studies from
King’s College London and an
undergraduate degree in political
science and history from Simon
Fraser University in B.C.
Anthony Di Carlo is now a
special assistant in Mr. Sajjan’s
office. Since 2008, he’s been an
infantry officer (a lieutenant)
with the primary reserve of Les
Fusiliers Mont-Royal, supervising
“more than 30 active members
in their Infantry trade professional development as platoon
commander,” reads his LinkedIn
account.
For a year starting in January
2013, he was in Port-au-Prince,
Haiti serving as assistant finance
officer for the United Nations
Stabilization Mission in Haiti. He
earned an award in recognition
of his work from the Brazilian
Armed Forces during this time as
part of professional interaction
between the Canadian Armed
Forces and the BAF.
Before that, he was a senior
associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Montreal, Que., starting
in 2008. Prior to that, he was a
project manager at Les Industries
Certico Inc.
He studied toward an undergrad in economics and finance at
McGill University, where he later
earned a diploma in accounting
before studying chartered accounting at Concordia University
(later earning his CPA and CMA
professional designation). While at
McGill, he for a time was vice-president of finance and operations at
the university’s students’ society.
Among a long list of volunteer
experience, Mr. Di Carlo has been
involved with CPA Sans Frontières Canada; was project manager for Running for Athletes, a
program of the Canadian Athletes
Now Fund; and has volunteered
as a project manager for Canada
150 plans put forward by the
community of Papineau, Que. on
behalf of the Liberal Party. He’s
also been a blogger for Huffington Post Canada.
Elyse Banham has also joined
Mr. Sajjan’s ministerial team as
a special assistant. Until recently,
she was working as a registered
midwife with the Midwifery
Group of Ottawa since 2014.
She’s a former student employee
with the Hamilton Family Health
Team, and is a former writer and
political operations aide to thenOfficial Opposition Liberal leader
Michael Ignatieff on the Hill, in
which capacity she did tour, correspondence, youth engagement,
operations, and stakeholder relations work.
She studied political science
and later midwifery at McMaster
University in Hamilton, Ont., and
is a former board of directors
member of the Association of
Ontario Midwives.
Finally, Small Business and
Tourism Minister Bardish Chagger has hired Yanique Williams as
a policy adviser for small business and Ontario desk adviser.
Before joining the minister’s
team in March, Ms. Williams was
a special assistant for policy and
executive assistant to the principal secretary in Ontario Liberal
Premier Kathleen Wynne’s office
in Toronto. Previously, she worked
at Queen’s Park as scheduler and
office manager to then-Ontario
Citizenship, Immigration, and
International Trade minister Michael Coteau.
She previously founded theCOR, a former blog described as
an online community resource focused on celebrating “all aspects
of the African and Caribbean
Communities,” on her LinkedIn
profile.
In 2012, Ms. Williams interned
as a policy adviser with the
Ontario Ministry of Economic
Development and Innovation,
and previously has worked for
the Ontario Council of Agencies
Serving Immigrants, starting off
as a project assistant for the organizational standards initiative
in December 2010, amongst her
other past experience.
She studied toward a master’s
in public administration in public
and international affairs at York
University’s Glendon College,
during which time she spent a
year studying international relations at the Institute d’Etudes
politiques de Paris in France
(Sciences Po Paris). Ms. Williams
has an undergrad in political science and philosophy at Queen’s
University
[email protected]
The Hill Times
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28
FEATURE PARTIES
PARTY CENTRAL
W E D N E S DAY
BY
E D I T I O N
CHELSEA NASH
A party fit for a king
Dutch
Ambassador
Cees
Kole with
Museum of
History CEO
Mark O’Neill
at the
King’s Day
celebration
on April 26.
Kazakhstan’s ambassador, Konstantin Zhigalov, Mr. Monji, Ms. Isarabhakdi, EU Ambassador Marie-Anne Coninsx, Ms.
Monji, Slovak Ambassador Andrej Droba and his wife, Daniela Droba, Mr. Zhigaov’s wife Indira Zhigalova and the Egyptian
ambassador’s wife, Hala Youssef.
The Hill Times
photograph by
Sam Garcia
A table adorned with cheese, wooden clogs, and tulips.
Mr. Kole with his wife, Saskia Kole-Jordans, greet ViceChief of Defence Staff Lt.-Gen. Guy Thibault.
Piles of cheese, kegs of
Heineken, and a special
stained-glass window
marked the national day of
the Netherlands.
A
soundtrack of smooth jazz was the
backdrop to the constant chatter of
diplomats, military attachés, and other
guests at the Canadian Museum of History
on April 26 for the Netherlands’ King’s Day
celebration.
Perhaps it was the piles of cheese, or
maybe the kegs of Heineken. Either way,
the celebration in honour of Dutch King
Willem-Alexander drew people in droves.
The date of the event is based on WillemAlexander ascending the throne on April
30, 2013.
Slovak Ambassador Andrej Droba and
his wife Daniela arrived early, which was
lucky because an extensive line quickly
wrapped around the escalators in the
Grand Hall while diplomats and other
guests alike waited to greet the ambassador, his wife, and the Dutch military
attaché. Former MP Peter Stoffer (who was
born in the Netherlands) was spotted in
the lineup, as was EU Ambassador MarieAnne Coninsx.
“We make friends with everybody,” said
Dutch Ambassador Cees Kole. “I think I
can safely say that you have one million
Canadians of Dutch descent; that means
many friends.”
The feature of the evening was a colourful stained-glass window, created by the
late Dutch artist Theo Lubbers, which he
originally presented in 1992 to the newly
opened Dutch consulate general in Montreal. The window was donated to the Canadian Museum of History by the embassy
of the Netherlands as a “natural token of
friendship of Canada and the Netherlands,”
said Mr. Kole, to be added to the perennial
gift of tulips that bloom every year during May’s Tulip Festival in Ottawa. They
will hopefully be popping up soon despite
this very long Canadian spring, joked the
ambassador. Museum CEO Mark O’Neill
accepted the window on behalf of the museum and Canada.
The iconic symbol of tulips, representative of Canada and the Netherlands’
friendship, adorned the room as accents on
tables and lined the walls.
In addition to all of the diplomats, a few
Canadians with special ties to the Netherlands were in attendance.
Patrick Kelly, of the RCD regiment in
Petawawa, was there with his wife and
father-in-law, Joanna and Louis Zwanenbeek, to meet the ambassador. At the
end of the Second World War, Mr. Kelly’s
regiment liberated a town in Holland
called Leeuwarden. It just so happened
that the town was the same one that Mr.
Zwanenbeek lived in. He later immigrated
to Canada, and his daughter and Mr. Kelly
met and married by chance.
“It’s just kind of a way of coming full
circle to do what I can to bring a little bit of
Holland back for him, and, in a way, to try
and get us together. I appreciate my fatherin-law and my wife’s heritage very much,
and I just want to be a part of it,” said Mr.
Kelly.
Guests mingled over wine, beer, and
spritzers, while specialty Dutch hors
d’oeuvres, including bitterballen, the classic Dutch pub food in the form of bite-sized
croquettes stuffed with beef, veal, and
ragu, were served.
There was a table about six metres long
that was almost entirely filled with piles of
Dutch cheese, which was the highlight of
the night for Party Central.
Werner Wnendt, ambassador of Germany, chatted with Teuku Faizasyah of
Indonesia over some wine and gouda.
“The Netherlands is our neighbour and
good friend. This is a wonderful spring day
and a wonderful place that I like to come
[to] again and again. It’s always important
to show our support for our neighbours
and friends,” said Mr. Wnendt.
[email protected]
The Hill Times
The Hill Times photographs by
Sam Garcia
Author Margaret Dickenson and her husband, former diplomat Larry Dickenson, with Japanese Ambassador Kenjiro Monji
and his wife, Etsuko Monji.
Thai Ambassador Vijavat Isarabhakdi, his wife Wannipa and Belgian Ambassador Raoul Delcorde.
Indonesian Ambassador Teuku Faizasyah, left, his wife, Andis, Ms. and Mr. Isarabhakdi.
29
ENVOYS
DIPLOMATIC
CIRCLES
B Y C H EL S EA N AS H
Canada welcomes new top
diplomats; Dion hiring
Canada welcomed three new heads of
mission on April 26 when they formally
presented their letters of credence to Governor General David Johnston.
Clarissa Sabita Riehl, the new high commissioner for the Cooperative Republic of
Guyana, succeeded Harry Narine Nawbatt.
Ms. Riehl was the one of the first female
military officers in Guyana when she joined
in 1966, the same year Guyana achieved independence. She eventually entered the political
world in 1992, when she was became a member of the People’s National Congress, and also
served as deputy speaker for 14 years.
The other two heads of mission are
posted in the United States, but will serve
Canada from there. Hassana Alidou will
be the new ambassador of the Republic
of Niger. She presented her credentials to
U.S. President Barack Obama on February
23. Her background is in education, with
a specific emphasis on educating African
children in their native language rather
than colonial English or French.
The third head of mission, Elisenda
Vives Balmaa, is the new ambassador of
Andorra. She holds six degrees, including
two postgraduate degrees in law and comparative politics and a PhD in history and a
master’s in gender differences. She speaks
four languages: Catalan, Spanish, English
and French. Previously, she was posted to
UNESCO as the president of the Andorran
National Commission and as the permanent
representative of Andorra to the United Nations. She is posted to New York, N.Y.
Dion looking for new policy advisers:
Middle East and Latin America
Minister Stéphane Dion’s office is apparently looking for a new policy adviser.
Former Canadian diplomat and current
Canadian Global Affairs Institute fellow
Colin Robertson told The Hill Times that
he was approached by director of policy
Christopher Berzins about possible suggestions for people who might be knowledgeable about the Middle East and/or the
Americas.
“Because we have extensive networks
through our fellows, and they’re looking
for someone with specific research skills,
so that’s why...They just asked if I knew
anybody,” he said.
He said he thinks they’re looking for
“various positions,” and that the areas they
inquired about included Latin America and
the Middle East.
He said he just spoke to the policy director as recently as two weeks ago.
Joseph Pickerill, Mr. Dion’s communications director, said in an email,“All I can say
at this point is that we’re always looking for
good people to cover policy in both geographic and thematic areas but we do not elaborate
further on human resource decisions.”
Currently, the office has two policy advisers in addition to three senior positions.
Julian Ovens, the minister’s chief of staff,
has extensive experience working in the
mining industry. Christopher Berzins, director of policy, is well-versed in Europe and
the United States, having spent the past two
and a half years at the Canadian embassy in
Washington, and was the deputy director for
North and South Europe at Foreign Affairs
and International Trade Canada, which has
since been renamed Global Affairs Canada.
Jocelyn Coulon is the senior policy adviser, and according to Mr. Robertson, was
brought on for his expertise in peacekeeping. He is a former journalist and was on
the board of governors for the International Development Research Centre, and has
written several books on peacekeeping.
The remaining two policy advisers have
expertise in China and the environment.
Pascale Massot has a PhD specializing in
the political economy of China, and Jean
Boutet worked in the public service at the
environment department.
Carlo Dade, director for the Canada West
Foundation’s Centre for Trade and Investment Policy, said if Dion’s office was looking,
Mr. Robertson is who they should go to.
“Colin’s an old hand. He’s kind of the dean
on North American issues, foreign policy issues...He’s more of an insider,” he said.
Asked whether or not six months into its
mandate was a long time for Mr. Dion’s office to still be looking for policy advisers, Mr.
Dade said he “wouldn’t read too much into it.”
He said that while the Conservatives may
have had trouble finding self-identified Conservative experts in foreign policy, he’s“not too
worried that [the Liberals] haven’t had access
to people who have some background.”
However, he said that when it comes to
policy on Latin America, he could see the
Liberals having trouble finding someone
who is moderate enough.
“A lot of the Latin Amerincanists are left
of centre, to be blunt about it,” he told The
Hill Times.“This government is centrist. I
don’t think they’re going to want someone
who’s said that NAFTA’s been terrible and
that trade agreements are terrible,” he said.
This future policy adviser, whether it’s
one person or more, has potential to shape
Canada’s foreign policy in these regions.
“Trudeau appears to be letting his
ministers have free rein,” Mr. Dade said. “So
this person could actually have some influence rather than just executing.”
A former adviser to multiple Conservative ministers, who spoke under the
condition of anonymity due to his current
political position, said that political staff
can develop the ability to influence what a
minister might decide to do because they
“know where the minister’s head is.”
While a junior policy adviser might not
have that much influence, having the minister’s trust can mean you develop some
influence, he said.
He also said that when it comes to the
different file assignments, “you don’t always have to have a neat, cookie-cutter approach to ‘this is what this person is doing.’
That works in the civil service, but in the
political world, it’s more fluid than that.”
If Dion is looking for one person to fill both
files, it’s likely because all the other files have
already been spoken for, said Dade. That specific combination of regions would be hard to
find in one person in academia, though would
be more common in someone with a background in the foreign service, he said.
“Stéphane Dion kind of knows his way
around internationally, and he has some
very strong opinions. So it will be interesting,” Mr. Dade said.
[email protected]
ambassador said that has been raised with
him on a couple of occasions already, after
only a couple months on the job. He said
Canada could help its allies by “bringing
China more into the normal international
trade behaviour” and keeping in contact
with the United States while it did so.
It’s not clear whether Mr. MacNaughton’s remarks about “spectacular new trade
deals” was a reference to starting up trade
talks with China, or to the Trans-Pacific
Partnership agreement that Canada and
the United States have signed, but which
has been denounced by several leading
U.S. presidential candidates, and to which
the Canadian government remains officially uncommitted.
It’s also possible Mr. MacNaughton was
referring to hypothetical future trade deals
that would somehow tie in both Canada
and the United States, though none have
been seriously proposed. Canada’s embassy in Washington did not respond when
asked for clarification.
which also proposed a hockey arena as
well as a walk-through “linear” park, a
skate park, and other attractions.
The NCC also released the names last
week of 12 diplomatic missions that would
show their stuff in its new building in the
ByWard Market, as part of a showcase for
the 150th anniversary of Confederation in
Canada.
The United States, Mongolia, Cuba,
Germany, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, the Philippines, Switzerland, Hungary, and Israel will each take a
turn transforming the new International
Pavilion building at 7 Clarence St. into an
exhibition of its culture and relationship
with Canada, beginning in February 2017
and ending in December of the same year,
according to an NCC press release.
The host countries were determined
by the NCC “on a first come first serve
basis, based on availability of dates and
the ability of the embassies to develop
programming for the space,” according to
an emailed statement from spokesperson
Cédric Pelletier.
Finally, the NCC approved an application from the federal government to build
the controversial memorial for victims of
communism in the Garden of the Provinces
and Territories, a park not far from the
LeBreton Flats and west of the Parliament
Buildings.
A plan under the previous federal
government to build a much larger memorial on space that had been reserved for a
new Federal Court building on Wellington
Street had been blocked by the NCC after
it drew criticism from Ottawa residents
and a lawsuit from the Royal Architectural
Institute of Canada.
[email protected]
@PJMazereeuw
FEATURE BUZZ
HEARD
ON
THE
HILL
B Y P ETER M A Z E RE E U W
This is no time for
‘spectacular new trade
deals’: MacNaughton
Canadian
Ambassador to
the U.S. David
MacNaughton.
Photograph
courtesy of
StrategyCorp
Canada’s ambassador to the United
States had some interesting things to say
about international trade during an April
26 interview with Bloomberg TV. David
MacNaughton says Canada could help to
bring China closer to “normal” international trade practices through potential free
trade talks, then, in response to another
question, poured cold water on the possibility of “spectacular new trade deals.”
When asked to reveal his biggest goal as
ambassador to the U.S., Mr. MacNaughton
said he would be trying to “make the things
that are working really well now” to “work
better.” He then referred to “some of the
discussion that’s going on in the U.S. general
election,” before saying, “I don’t think it’s a
time for spectacular new trade deals to happen. I think we’re going to go through a couple
of years where, anybody who’s proposing that
might get shut down fairly quickly.”
Mr. MacNaughton’s remarks came after
another question about whether Canada’s
rumoured free trade negotiations with China might “frustrate” the United States. The
NCC clears its desk
The National Capital Commission had a
busy week, making a long-awaited decision
on the future of the LeBreton Flats lands in
Ottawa and a pair of other announcements.
The NCC said it would begin negotiations
with RendezVous LeBreton on the business
group’s plan to redevelop the LeBreton Flats
area. The RendezVous LeBreton team is
backed by Ottawa Senators owner Eugene
Melnyk, and the bid includes a plan to build
an NHL-calibre hockey arena in which the
hockey team could play, as well as housing
and public spaces.
The NCC chose that plan over another
bid by the Devcore Canderel DLS Group,
30
FEATURE EVENTS
Parliamentary
Calendar
Former
U.K. foreign
secretary
and EU
peace
negotiator
Lord David
Owen will
explain why
he thinks the
U.K. should
leave the
European
Union in a
May 4 talk
organized by
the Canadian
International
Council
National
Capital
Branch.
British exforeign
secretary to
talk Brexit
May 4 at the
Sheraton
WEDNESDAY, MAY 4
Liberal Caucus Meeting—The Liberals will meet in
Room 237-C Centre Block on Parliament Hill. For more
information, please call Liberal Party media relations at
[email protected] or 613-627-2384.
Conservative Caucus Meeting—The Conservatives
will meet for their national caucus meeting. For more
information, contact Cory Hann, director of communications, Conservative Party of Canada at coryhann@
conservative.ca
NDP Caucus Meeting—The NDP caucus will meet
from 9:15 a.m.-11 a.m. in Room 112-N Centre Block,
on Wednesday. Please call the NDP Media Centre at
613-222-2351 or [email protected]
The Canadian International Council (CIC) National
Capital Branch: An Evening with Lord David Owen on
Why the UK Should Leave the European Union—David
Owen is one of the U.K.’s most distinguished political
figures and public intellectuals. He is a former U.K.
foreign secretary and EU peace negotiator in the former
Yugoslavia. It is a significant development in the current U.K. referendum campaign that he has decided
his country should leave the EU. June 23 is the date
of the referendum, and Lord Owen has dramatically
entered the debate with a new book Europe Restructured, Vote to Leave. May 4, 5 p.m. (registration and
cash bar); 6 p.m. (presentation begins), Rideau Room,
Sheraton Hotel, 150 Albert Street, Ottawa, ottawa@
thecic.org or 613-903-4011
Avoiding Catastrophe: Linking Armed Conflict Harm
to Ecosystems and Public Health—From May 4-6 in
Montreal, join experts from the medical, epidemiological, veterinary, conflict management, biodiversity
conservation, climate change and political science
communities for this conference hosted by the Loyola
Sustainability Research Centre. The event kicks off
with keynote speakers Dr. Keith Martin (Consortium of
Universities of Global Health) and Adan Suazo Morazán
(Embassy of Honduras in Brazil) on May 4, from 6-9
p.m. at 1400 de Maisonneuve St., room LB-125. Free.
For more information, see eventbrite.com/e/avoidingcatastrophe-linking-armed-conflict-harm-to-ecosystemsand-public-health-tickets-21273132512
The Ottawa-Orleans PC Association Reception—The
Ottawa-Orleans PC Association is holding a reception featuring Conservative MPs Jason Kenney and
Tony Clement. The event will take place at the HMCS
Photo courtesy
of Chatham
House
Bytown Naval Mess 78 Lisgar St., May 4, 6 p.m. For
tickets go to www.orleanspc.com. Contact: [email protected] for more information.
THURSDAY, MAY 5
The Canadian Nurses Foundation—will host its annual Nightingale Gala to celebrate Canada’s nurses and
support indigenous nursing education and research on
May 5 at the Shaw Centre. The reception takes place at
5:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 7 p.m. Sophie Grégoire
Trudeau is an honorary patron and will speak at the
gala. For more information please visit: http://cnf-fiic.
ca/2016-gala/
Building Capacity, Fostering Collaboration: The
Best Defence Against Dangerous Pathogens in Africa—Award-winning scientist Gary Kobinger, with the
National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg and the
World Health Organization’s Collaborating Centre for
Emerging and Zoonotic Diseases Detection, outlines
his approach to combating infectious disease in Africa.
Hosted by the International Development Research
Centre at the Delta Ottawa City Centre Hotel, 101 Lyon
St., Panorama Room, from 2-3:30 p.m. See idrc.ca for
more information.
FRIDAY, MAY 6
Nobel Peace Laureate lecture—Hosted by Alex
Trebek, the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Liberian
peace activist Leymah Gbowee, speaks on the topic of
“Crossing borders to find common ground.” Cocktail
reception at 6 p.m. and lecture at 7 p.m., Trillium Ballroom, Shaw Centre. Tickets (including hors d’oeuvres
and one drink) $15 for University of Ottawa alumni and
students; $20 for the general public. Register online by
visiting alumni.uottawa.ca/en/gbowee.
SATURDAY, MAY 7
Second Annual Anti-Corruption Symposium—
Organized by the Canadians for Accountability, the
symposium is free. The day starts at 9 a.m. and ends at
2:45 p.m. Speakers include Peter Mantas, Dr. Youssef
Youssef, David Kilgour, Allan Cutler, Cindy Blackstock,
and Andy Bryce. For more information, call Allan Cutler
at 613-293-4671.
MONDAY, MAY 9
EU and Canada Strategic Partners: Towards a
New Generation Relationship—To celebrate 40 years
WANT TO
LEARN
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SINCE 1905
REGISTER NOW: WWW.AF.CA /OTTAWA | 613-234-9470
of the European Union in Canada, the EU Delegation to Canada hosts a conference at the National
Gallery of Canada, 1-5:30 p.m. Speakers include EU
ambassador Marie-Anne Coninsx, French ambassador Nicolas Chapuis, Liberal MP Jonathan Wilkinson
(North Vancouver, B.C.) and the former trade minister,
Conservative MP Ed Fast (Abbotsford, B.C.). For more
information, and to register, visit eucanada40.ca
TUESDAY, MAY 10
Hill Times Event: Women in Finance—Small Business and Tourism Minister Bardish Chagger will speak
at this event. 7:30 a.m.-9 a.m., Ottawa Marriott Hotel,
100 Kent St., Ottawa. Free for Hill Times subscribers
and $20 for non-subscribers. Panellists include: Caroline Hubberstey, head of external relations at Acxsys
Corporation/Interac Association; Caroline Riseboro, CEO
Plan Canada International; Victoria Lennox, co-founder
and CEO Startup Canada; and Sharon Connolly, vicepresident Business Development Bank of Canada. The
discussion will be moderated by Power & Influence
editor Ally Foster.
CCSA Hosting Communications Services Reception—The Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA),
which represents 120 independent and entrepreneurial
cable, telephone and internet companies, is hosting a
reception in the Commonwealth Room in Centre Block,
May 10, from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. All Senators, Members of
Parliament and staff are invited to attend and better familiarize themselves with our nation’s communications
service providers. For more information or to RSVP,
please contact Cynthia Waldmeier at 613-233-8906 or
[email protected].
Canada at the World Humanitarian Summit: Opportunities for Leadership & Legacy—The Canadian
Council for International Co-operation (CCIC), the
Canadian Association of International Development Professionals (CAIDP), and the School of International Development and Global Studies (SIDGS) are co-hosting a
public event at the Library & Archives (395 Wellington
St.), May 10, 5:30 p.m.-9 p.m. The event includes a
humanitarian expert panel, a political response panel,
networking reception, and a humanitarian fair. The
event is free and open to the public –register on Eventbrite. For more information please contact Sara Thaw
([email protected]).
The Canadian Dental Association’s (CDA) Days
on the Hill—May 10 and 11. CDA’s Days on the Hill
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connects leaders from Canada’s 21,000 dentists with
parliamentarians to discuss important issues pertaining to oral health. The CDA is the national voice for
dentistry in Canada and is dedicated to the promotion
of optimal oral health for Canadians. For further information, please contact Bonnie Kirkwood at bkirkwood@
cda-adc.ca
An Evening with the Canadian Dental Association
Tuesday May 10—The Canadian Dental Association
(CDA) invites you to its annual Parliamentary reception
for friends of the dental profession, parliamentarians,
and staff on Tuesday May 10th at 5:30 p.m. at the Métropolitain restaurant. Refreshments will be provided. To
RSVP, please contact Bonnie Kirkwood at bkirkwood@
cda-adc.ca
Launch of the Rio Tinto Award for Indigenous
Students—A reception co-hosted by Rio Tinto, Canada’s
largest mining and metals business, and Indspire, an
indigenous-led charity that invests in the education of
indigenous people, celebrating the launch of the Rio Tinto
Award for Indigenous Students. The reception is a chance
for parliamentarians and industry stakeholders to meet
and mingle with indigenous financial award recipients in
order to learn their experiences and celebrate indigenous
education in Canada. Alfredo Barrios, chief executive of
Rio Tinto Aluminum; Roberta Jamieson, president and
CEO of Indspire; Indspire financial award recipients;
MPs and Senators; industry stakeholders, May 10, 5:30
p.m.-7:30 p.m. Drawing Room, Fairmont Chateau Laurier
Hotel, 1 Rideau St. Ottawa.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 11
Liberal Caucus Meeting—The Liberals will meet in
Room 237-C Centre Block on Parliament Hill. For more
information, please call Liberal Party media relations at
[email protected] or 613-627-2384.
Conservative Caucus Meeting—The Conservatives
will meet for their national caucus meeting. For more
information, contact Cory Hann, director of communications, Conservative Party of Canada at coryhann@
conservative.ca
NDP Caucus Meeting—The NDP caucus will meet
from 9:15 a.m.-11 a.m. in Room 112-N Centre Block,
on Wednesday. Please call the NDP Media Centre at
613-222-2351 or [email protected]
Canadian Rail Summit 2016—Canadian Rail
Summit 2016, Canada’s leading rail event. Explore
cutting-edge products and services from 50 tradeshow
exhibitors, and choose from a wide variety of technical
and conference sessions on key industry issues such
as competitiveness, safety and emerging technologies. Register at www.railcan.ca/crs2016 and for more
information, contact Janet Greene at 613-564-8109
[email protected] or Lynn Raby at 613-237-3888 or
[email protected]
Fit for purpose? CSO Transformation for Agenda
2030—The Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC) is hosting its annual conference
on May 11 and May 12 at the Wabano Centre for
Aboriginal Health. The 2016 CCIC annual conference
seeks to raise the profile of the Canadian international
development and humanitarian assistance sector
and its important work. This landmark event brings
together stakeholders from international development
and humanitarian civil society organizations (CSOs),
key government officials, relevant policy makers and
academics from Canada and abroad. ‘Fit for purpose:
CSO transformation for Agenda 2030’ will examine the
challenges and opportunities facing CSOs in this new
era of global development cooperation. For more info
see: www.ccic.ca. Follow #intlcoopdays on Twitter.
Talent for Innovation: Harnessing Canada’s Research Advantage—Join Mitacs and leaders from business, government, and academia to examine strategies
to effectively engage and employ research innovators.
Tuesday, May 11, National Arts Centre, Ottawa. Forum:
1 p.m.-4:30 p.m., and reception 4:30 p.m.-6 p.m.
31
FEATURE EVENTS
Parliamentary
Calendar
Former MP
David Kilgour
is set to speak
at the Second
Annual AntiCorruption
Symposium,
organized
by the
Canadians for
Accountability,
on May 7. The
Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada. NAC director of
communications Rosemary Thompson will emcee. The
event is sold out.
Digital Governance Forum—The Institute on
Governance, in partnership with the Centre for Public
Impact, presents its second annual Digital Governance
Forum, with the theme “Democratic Governance in a
Networked Age.” May 12-13, at the Adobe Conference
Centre, 343 Preston St., Ottawa. Contact Franca Palazzo, [email protected] or 613-562-0090 x 218.
TUESDAY, MAY 17
Kilgour, Cutler,
Blackstock to
speak at anticorruption
summit May 7
Travers Debates—Maclean’s iconoclastic humourist
Scott Feschuk, journalist Katie Simpson, and Liberal
MP Rodger Cuzner and NDP MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau
are all going to be on the same stage May 17, at the
NAC. Register at www.traversdebates.ca
Merit Canada Reception—Métropolitain Brasserie
& Restaurant, 700 Sussex Dr., May 17, 5 p.m.-8 p.m.
RSVP to [email protected]
The Forest Sector: Contributing to Climate Change
Solutions—The Forest Products Association of Canada and
FPInnovations will be holding a reception on Wednesday,
May 18 to showcase how the forest products industry is
using clean tech and innovation to pave the way to a lowcarbon economy. The event, which will include leaders from
industry and government, will be held at the Rideau Club,
99 Bank St., Ottawa, between 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. For
more information, please contact [email protected]
Hill Times file
photograph
THURSDAY, MAY 26
THURSDAY, MAY 12
Bacon & Eggheads Breakfast, Thursday May 12—
PAGSE presents a bilingual talk ‘Keeping Food Available
and Affordable: A 21st Century Challenge’ with Jean
Caron, Université Laval. Thursday, May 12, 7:30 a.m.
Parliamentary Dining Room, Centre Block. No charge to
MPs, Senators , and media. All others, $25. Pre-registration required by Monday, May 9 by contacting Donna
Boag, PAGSE [email protected] or call 613-991-6369.
Polytechnics Canada Annual Policy Conference—
This year’s conference theme is “Learning that Works:
Polytechnic Education.” Speakers include disruptive
innovation expert Michael Horn, best-selling higher
education author Jeff Selingo and ESDC deputy minister Ian Shugart. The conference will be held on May 12
and 13, 2016 at Humber College in Toronto, Ont. For
more information visit polytechnicscanada.ca.
Ottawa Branch Monarchist League of Canada
Celebrates Queen’s 90th Birthday—Senator Serge Joyal
will deliver an address ‘Canada’s Constitutional Monarchy: Honougin a Lifetime of Service by Her Majesty,
Liberal Biennial Convention—The federal Liberals
will hold their convention in Winnipeg, Man., Thursday,
May 26, to Sunday, May 29, 2016.
Conservative Convention—The federal Conservatives will hold their convention in Vancouver, B.C., May
26 to May 29, 2016.
SUNDAY, MAY 29
Taiwan Film Screening: Together—Seventeen should
be a carefree age, but Yang gets to see the complexities of
love involving his friends and family. Should he just stand
aside and watch or should he risk himself to help? Presented
by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Canada in
collaboration with Ottawa Asian Heritage Month Society.
Sunday, May 29, begins 2:10 p.m. with a complimentary
reception and film starts at 2:45 p.m., Chamber at Ben
Franklin Place, 101 Centrepointe Drive, Nepean, Ottawa. In
mandarin Chinese with English subtitles. Free admission.
SATURDAY, JUNE 4
Parliamentary Press Gallery Dinner—It’s the 150th
Anniversary of the Press Gallery at its Annual Gallery
Dinner, Saturday, June 4, 5:30 p.m., Canadian Museum
of History, River View Salon. The dinner will be held in
the Grand Hall at 7 p.m. Dress: cocktail elegant (black tie
optional). For press gallery members and guests only.
TUESDAY, JUNE 7
Registration Now Open CIPMM’s 27th Annual National Workshop—June 7-8, 2016. The workshop fee is
$875 plus HST and includes access to all keynote and
breakout sessions. More than 400 delegates from PWGSC, ESD, DND, HC, RCMP, CSEC, DFATD, DFO, TBS,
NRCan, IC, AAND, CIC, and LAC. Senior government
officials from the lead departments and agencies will
be at the networking reception. There will be exhibitors,
subject matter experts representing both the public and
private sectors. Please contact CIPMM Secretariat at
[email protected] or at 613-725-0980.
MAY 2017
Conservative Party Leadership Convention—The Conservatives will elect their next leader on May 27, 2017,
Dan Nowlan, chair of the party’s leadership election
organizing committee announced last week. The party is
urging Conservative Party members to buy memberships
or renew them in order to vote. For more information, contact Cory Hann, director of communications, Conservative
Party of Canada, at 613-697-5614.
The Parliamentary Calendar is a free listing. Send
in your political, cultural, diplomatic or governmental
event in a paragraph with all the relevant details under
the subject line ‘Parliamentary Calendar’ to news@
hilltimes.com by Wednesday at noon before the Monday
paper or Friday at noon before the Wednesday edition.
Or fax it to 613-232-9055. We can’t guarantee inclusion of every event, but we will definitely do our best.
[email protected]
The Hill Times
CELEBRATING CANADA’S HIGHEST HONOUR IN THE PERFORMING ARTS
CONGRATULATIONS, SUSAN AGLUKARK,
2016 GOVERNOR GENERAL’S PERFORMING ARTS AWARD LAUREATE
“I love the North, I love being an Inuk, I love
that history. That’s what I write about.”
- Susan Aglukark, singer-songwriter and humanitarian
TICKETS NOW ON SALE
rrr;QWTVKEMGVKPENWFGU
ROCocktails and Canapés
RO Gala Tribute Performance
ROChampagne, Desserts, Dancing
NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE
SATURDAY, JUNE 11
0#%$QZ1HƂEGQTPCEEPCECIICYCTFU
PRESENTED BY
PRODUCED BY
Photo: Denise Grant
Enjoy the red carpet reception,
the spectacular tribute show with
surprise performers, and the
champagne after party!
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
@govgpaa #ggawards
WITH THE SUPPORT OF
MAJOR SPONSOR
ASSOCIATE SPONSORS
MEDIA PARTNER

parties top up leaders` salaries, so what? p. 11

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