Category: Politics

Ontario MP Barry Devolin (left) is telling MPs today about this three-point plan to to make the House of Commons work better. This comes hot on the heels of news from my colleague's in Canada's flattest province that Andrew Scheer is also running for Speaker.

DEVOLIN HAS 3 POINT PLAN TO IMPROVE DECORUM IN THE HOUSE

OTTAWA – Barry Devolin, Member of Parliament for Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock and candidate for Speaker of the House of Commons, today announced details of his 3 Point Plan to improve decorum in the House.

“Ever since I was first elected, I have heard Members of Parliament talk about raising the level of debate in the House,” said Devolin. “I believe there is an appetite for change among Members of Parliament from all parties. This is not a partisan issue.”

“The tone of debate in the House is set by the Speaker, the same as the tone of play in a hockey game is set by the referee,” explained Devolin. “If you want a new tone, you need to find a new referee.”

Devolin’s plan is based on 3 points:

1. Assemble a team for the Speaker's chair committed to improving decorum. “My first act as Speaker will be to ask House Leaders to appoint three Members of Parliament committed to working with me to improve decorum to serve as Deputy Speaker, and as Deputy and Assistant Deputy Chairpersons of Committees of the Whole. To be successful, we need consistency in the chair.”

2. Start on the periphery of House activities; then move towards the centre – Question Period. “I believe the best time to introduce a new tone in the House is during the least stressful activities, such as private members’ business or routine debate. Subsequently, this more respectful tone could be expanded to include more stressful activities, such as Question Period. Starting with Question Period won’t work.”

3. Establish a Special Committee to develop a “Members' Code of Mutual Respect”. “I will ask the House Leaders to appoint a caucus member each to a Special Committee, to be chaired by the Deputy Speaker, which will draft a statement of reasonable expectations for Members’ conduct in the House. This special committee will consult with Members while drafting a high level, one page document to be tabled when the House returns in January.”

“Every M.P. deserves respect from their colleagues, the same as they would get in any other workplace in Canada,” said Devolin. “I look forward to the day when I can be proud to welcome a group of school children to attend Question Period.”

I've put up some more photos from this morning's Remembrance Day ceremonies in the capital online at my Facebook site.

Whether you're a Facebooker or not, you should be able to see them here.

Here's a pic of our top general, Walt Natynczyk, reviewing the troops as they parade past following the ceremony.

Maclean's Kady O'Malley reports that Merv Tweed has some competition – from another Conservative MP and from an NDPer …

…. nobody!

Upon taking office, the Conservatives said they were prepared to establish a National Portrait Gallery in some city other than the national capital and called for proposals from the private sector to build and house Canada's collection of portraits.

But after looking at the proposals that came in, Heritage Minister James Moore announced minutes ago that none of them were good enough.

“A number of developers submitted proposals to house the public programming and exhibitions of the Portrait Gallery of Canada. Unfortunately, none of these proposals met the Government's requirements, and we are therefore terminating the selection process,” said Minister Moore. “In this time of global economic instability, it is important that the federal government continue to manage its own affairs prudently and pragmatically. The selection process failed to meet the best interests of both the Portrait Gallery and taxpayers. We have therefore decided not to pursue this project further at this time.”

The collection will continue to be housed in Ottawa in the Library and Archives Building (where you have to go through hoops to be able to see some of the collection's remarkable pieces).

Now that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has named his cabinet, other leadership positions within the House of Commons will soon emerge. I suspect by the end of the week, for example, we might learn who gets to be a Parliamentary Secretary. One who will not be a PS is Guy Lauzon (left), the former Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture. Lauzon today was named the chair of the Conservative national caucus, succeeding Rahim Jaffer, who was defeated in the last election.

The Conservatives are the only one of the parties in Parliament whose caucus chair is appointed by the leader. Every other caucus elects its own leader.

Also today: Opposition leader Stéphane Dion annnounced some leadership positions within his own caucus, namely:

• Ralph Goodale and Marlene Jennings continue their roles as House Leader and Deputy House Leader respectively.

• Rodger Cuzner takes up new responsibilities as the Liberal Whip, succeeding Karen Redman, who also went down to to defeat in the Oct. 14 election. Marcel Proulx is the deputy whip.

• In the Senate, Senator Jim Cowan will lead the Liberals and Senator Claudette Tardif will be his deputy. Senator Jim Munson is the Liberal whip in the Senate.

Wow. Liberals +1. BQ -1. Judicial recount turns the results around in Brossard-La Prairie.

Elections Canada Announces Results of Judicial Recount
in the Electoral District of Brossard–La Prairie
OTTAWA, Friday, October 24, 2008 – The Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, Marc Mayrand, announced today that Alexandra Mendes has been declared elected in the electoral district of Brossard–La Prairie (Quebec), following a judicial recount completed on October 24, 2008, by Mr. Justice Michel A. Caron of the Quebec Superior Court.
At the 40th general election held on October 14, 2008, the difference between the Bloc Québécois candidate, Marcel Lussier, and the Liberal Party of Canada candidate, Alexandra Mendes, was 143 votes in favour of Mr. Lussier. Following the judicial recount, the difference between the two candidates is 69 votes in favour of Ms. Mendes.

Technorati Tags:
bloc quebecois, elections, liberals, quebec

Yesterday, the parliamentary/prime ministerial calendar was starting to come into focus. It's still a bit blurry but, with the news today that the Prime Minister's Peru trip to attend the annual APEC summit will have him out of the country from Nov. 21 (a Friday) to Nov. 24 (a Monday), it's possible we could see a Throne Speech slightly earlier than I'd originally pencilled in.
I'd now say the smart money should be placed on a bet that sees the Throne Speech (and, hence, the opening of the 40th Parliament, happening sometime between Monday, Nov. 17 and Thursday, Nov. 20. One of my government-type contacts was saying earlier this week that a Throne Speech was going to be tough to do before the 20th.
So it still could be the week Harper returns from Peru, but it would not be Monday, Nov. 24 as Harper (and I, for that matter) will be on a long flight from South America.

… and they all are men — white men — from famed New York investment bank Goldman Sachs who, for no clear reason, seem to end up playing key roles in central banks and finance departments around the world, a phenomenon which gets a fresh look from Julie Cresswell and Ben White in today's NY Times.
The Bank of Canada governor, Mark Carney, for example, is a Goldman Sachs alumni as is U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson:

. . . Goldman’s presence in the department and around the federal response to the financial crisis is so ubiquitous that other bankers and competitors have given the star-studded firm a new nickname: Government Sachs.
The power and influence that Goldman wields at the nexus of politics and finance is no accident. Long regarded as the savviest and most admired firm among the ranks — now decimated — of Wall Street investment banks, it has a history and culture of encouraging its partners to take leadership roles in public service.
It is a widely held view within the bank that no matter how much money you pile up, you are not a true Goldman star until you make your mark in the political sphere. While Goldman sees this as little more than giving back to the financial world, outside executives and analysts wonder about potential conflicts of interest presented by the firm’s unique perch.

Technorati Tags:
mark carney, economy, central banks