Category: Politics/Liberals

This just in from the Liberals, spelling out the deal that has been struck. One key to note — Liberals get a chance in late September to table a non-confidence motion so if they want a fall election, that will give them the opportunity. Otherwise, Liberals would not have had that chance until the fall:

For Immediate Release

June 17, 2009

Liberals announce Employment Insurance working group and fall accountability framework

OTTAWA – The Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition today agreed to form a working group to develop proposals for Employment Insurance eligibility reform that will:

(a) allow self-employed Canadians to participate voluntarily in the Employment Insurance system; and

(b) improve eligibility requirements in order to ensure regional fairness.

The working group will consist of three appointees of the Prime Minister and three appointees of the Leader of the Opposition.

The working group will have access to briefings and data provided by the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development. It may consult such other sources as deemed necessary.

The working group will deliver recommendations to the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and Canadians by September 28, 2009.

The parties will work in good faith to implement any consensus recommendations made by the working group.

In addition, the Liberals will support the main and supplementary estimates this Friday.

The Conservatives will support the Liberal opposition day motion (a draft copy of which is attached), also this Friday.

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Contact:

Press Office

Office of the Leader of the Opposition

613-996-6740

DRAFT MOTION

THAT this House recognizes that its constitutional role of holding the government to account requires regular, orderly, timely, and clearly understood procedural opportunities for doing so, while not unduly restricting the ability of the government to manage its legislative program, and therefore, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of this House, when the House adjourns on Friday, June 19th, 2009, it shall stand adjourned until 11:00 a.m. on Monday, September 14th, 2009, whereupon it will commence its fall sittings for the Supply Period ending on December 10th, 2009; provided that:

(i) the House will not sit the week beginning September 21st 2009 to avoid conflicts with G-20 meetings;

(ii) in addition to the accountability reports already required by the Liberal amendment to the 2009 Budget motion, the Government will prepare a further accountability report, meeting all the requirements of that said Liberal amendment, and table it in Parliament during the week of September 28th, 2009, to be followed by an allotted day for the Official Opposition two sitting days later; and

(iii) this House orders that section (10) of Standing Order 81 be amended by adding, immediately after paragraph (c) thereof, the following:

   ” (d) In each of the supply periods described in paragraph (a), the first allotted day shall be no earlier than the eighth sitting day and no later than the twelfth sitting day in that period; and no fewer than four nor more than seven sitting days shall be permitted to pass between allotted days within each period, provided that, in any case, the last allotted day in each period shall not be more than seven sitting days before the last sitting day in that period.”

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Will Canadians be going to polls this summer? Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said Tuesday he will make “a serene and clear decision” on that question — likely by June 12.

He cited the health crisis sparked by the shutdown of the nuclear reactor at Chalk River, Ont., which produces medical isotopes used to treat and diagnose 5,000 Canadians a day, as the latest of several “flagrant examples of incompetence” by the federal government.

After question period Tuesday, Ignatieff reeled off a growing list of what, to him, are irritants that could lead the Liberals to try to force an election. “I don't want an election. Canadians don't want an election,” Ignatieff told reporters outside the House of Commons. “But here's where I am . . . I'm trying to make Parliament work with a government that every day is displaying more flagrant examples of incompetence.

“We've got a major medical crisis with the isotopes. They've got no plan. Toronto Dominion Bank just announced that the deficit over five years will be $168 billion. That's the biggest number anybody has ever heard of. The public finances of this country are not under control.

“Third, we've got an unemployment crisis with unemployment surging across the country. We've got (three premiers) saying let's do something about a national standard for EI. We've got stimulus that needs to get out the door and only six per cent of the stimulus has actually reached the country in the middle of the construction season.” [Read the rest of the story]

At the risk of offending more readers like this one, I call your attention to the following press release this afternoon from the Liberal Party of Canada. That party — once known as the Big Red Machine — has been barely pale pink when it comes to finding new members or raising money in the last two or three years. Meanwhile, the Big Blue Machine has steamrolled all comers, consistently raising twice as much than all other federal parties combined from twice as many donors as all other parties combined. Liberals know that their political survival, let alone success, depends on them being able to at least do as well as the New Democrats when it comes to filling a war chest.

That is precisely why Rocco Rossi was named the party's exec director and why Bay Street lawyer Alfred Apps easily won the party's presidency. Both men have a long history of finding money for this cause or that one.

Mr. Apps explained that there are two main aspects to the fundraising plan, which was approved by the National Board of Directors, in consultation with the Council of Presidents. The first, to be called “The Leader’s Circle”, will create a group of existing donors responsible for encouraging the recruitment of new Laurier Club members. The second, designed to mark the first anniversary of the Victory Fund, will kick-start a two-year drive for growth in grassroots fundraising.

In addition to these fundraising initiatives, the plan also includes efforts to double the Party’s membership by Labour Day. This program, dubbed “The Power of One”, calls on every current member to recruit just one new member – a tradition the Party hopes will continue for generations of Liberals to come.

“What sets this membership and fundraising drive apart from others is the ambition, leadership and organizational strength of our Board of Directors,” said Rocco Rossi, National Director of the Liberal Party. “The energy and enthusiasm of our team will secure the long-term stable funding our Party needs to hold the Conservative to account, and to form the next government of Canada.”

These programs include a grassroots campaign which will capitalize on web-based social media to reach out to potential members and donors. In addition to more than doubling the membership, the Party hopes these initiatives increase fundraising levels to over $25 million on an annualized basis by 2011.

The Budget Plan is a 360-page document that contains everything you need to know about Budget 2009, tabled Jan. 27 by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty in the the House of Commons. The Plan contains all the background, rationale and details on how the government intends to collect and spend more than $200 billion between April 1, 2009 and April 1, 2010.

And while there are lots of important paragraphs in that document, I'm going to suggest that, politically at least, these paragraphs, found on page 10 of the hard-copy version, and found here on line, are now the most important:

Budget 2009 reflects a strong consensus among Canadians that the Government must deliver a potent economic stimulus to encourage growth and restore confidence in our economy. The Economic Action Plan is based on three guiding principles—that stimulus should be timely, targeted and temporary.

Timely. Canada is in recession today. Measures to support the economy must begin within the next 120 days to be most effective.

Targeted. Measures that target Canadian businesses and families most in need will trigger the largest increase in Canadian jobs and output.

Temporary. The stimulus plan should be phased out when the economy recovers to avoid long-term structural deficits.

The Government’s Economic Action Plan will provide almost $30 billion in support to the Canadian economy, or 1.9 per cent of our gross domestic product.

It will create or maintain close to 190,000 Canadian jobs.

These paragraphs contain a lot of the benchmarks that the opposition Liberals will hold Flaherty and the government to as the government presents its quarterly reports. The next quarterly report, as I report today, could be out as early as next week. So let's check in:

On the issue of timely: This document was tabled on January 27, 2009. That would be 120 days ago. Conservatives hve already tried to convince me that they really meant 120 days from April 1, the beginning of the budget year, but I see no such qualifier in the budget document.

On the issue of targeted. Liberals argue making it easier for more “families most in need” to qualify for EI is best.

On the issue of temporary. Liberals — and man Bay Street market watchers — would like some more explanation about how Flaherty gets us to deficit of $50 billion this year and then would like to hear some details on how he thinks this could be temporary.

The last point is also crucial: This is the line in which government commits to a certain job creation figure. The government gives itself an out when its says “create or maintain” but, still, Liberals will keep circling that number and will want to see progress on job creation.

Doing what good journalists are supposed to do: Though we've had this letter since yesterday, we did our due diligence today, checking its bona fides which, as it turns out, are both bona and fide. As a result, my colleague Juliet O'Neill is able to update an earlier post here and report that:

A distraught 81-year-old Filipina is accusing embattled Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla (left) of “taking advantage” of her to falsely claim the support of the Brampton Filipino Seniors Club.

“They took my signature,” Aurora Villanueva, 2007-2008 president of the Ontario club, said in an interview Thursday. “I need to clear my name. I don't want to die with a black mark on my name.”

Ms. Villanueva says she wrote a letter on May 13th to the Commons immigration committee retracting a May 7th letter that said Ms. Dhalla had been “unjustly smeared” by allegations of mistreating caregivers, had a character of the highest integrity and had the support of the club.

Ms. Dhalla “took advantage of my being an old lady and being friendly” to secure her signature on a prepared letter a Ms. Dhalla representative brought to her home two weeks ago, when she was ill and unaware of the caregivers' allegations, she said.  

[Read the rest of the story]