MP blasts Tories over Throne Speech plans and Liberals over sliding principles

The environment has long been main focus of Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen's time in Parliament. So it's not surprising that he would have a rather poor impression of the Conservatives thoughts on the environment, as delivered in the Speech from the Throne on Tuesday.

Cullen correctly points his finger at the Liberals for some culpability, as they scramble to avoid an election at all costs and seemingly at the expense of many of their once Holy Grails of Liberalism.

It's been a clever plan hatched by the Conservatives heading into the new session of Parliament, they are barging ahead with a much more aggressive agenda, more than aware of the problems that lurk within the opposition parties and in the necessity of the Liberals to avoid an election at all costs until they can regain control of their fractious party.

It leaves the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois in their traditional spots of providing the voice of opposition to the Conservatives, while the Liberals vacillate on where they want to stand and what they want to do.

Cullen outlined a number of his concerns about the Conservative blue print for the coming Parliament, they were collected and provided as the front page story in Wednesday's Daily News.

MP ANGRY AS TORIES THROW OUT KYOTO IN THRONE SPEECH
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Pages one and three

Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen was disappointed but not surprised when the Conservatives abandon Canada's Kyoto commitments in the throne speech yesterday, and he expects the Liberals to do likewise to avoid an election.

"If you don't do something about it for 13 years, and then do even less for 10 years, it's hard to do something about it at the last moment," said Cullen, who is also the NDPs environment critic.

"It's incredible but all indications are the Liberals are going to just throw away one of the few things Stephane Dion supposedly believes in."

He expects the Liberals will not show up when it comes to the vote. The country is 76 days away from the compliance period of the Kyoto Protocol.

"It is now widely understood that, because of inaction on greenhouse gases over the last decade, Canada's emissions cannot be brought to the level required under the Kyoto Protocol ..." reads the speech that delivered the Conservative's agenda.

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion has staked his reputation on his record as environment minister and on his passionate defence of the Kyoto Protocol - he even named his dog after the pact. Up until now, the Liberals have continued to insist that Canada should make every effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by six per cent below 1990 levels by 2012.

Cullen criticized the speech for containing little substance and failing to address the concerns of middle and lower income Canadians, such as child care and housing.

'They say they are for the middle class but it doesn't come out in the wash," he said. "They seem to have an ideology bent against all reasonable conversation."

The Conservatives also pledged to take a stand for Canada's fishery. Cullen hopes they actually follow through.

"Our fishing industry in the Northwest is in huge trouble," he said. "Words are not going to do it. We need some action."

In the throne speech, the minority government Conservatives also said Canada should stay directly involved in Afghanistan until at least 2011.

The new proposed deadline is two years beyond the current mandate approved by Parliament and repeats Prime Minister Stephen Harper's promise to put the future of the mission to a vote in the House of Commons.

The speech also tied Canada's eventual exit strategy from Afghanistan to the training of Afghan security forces, including the army and police, and their ability to stand on their own two feet in order to face threats from Taliban insurgents.

"This will not be completed by February 2009, but our government believes this objective should be achievable by 2011."

To Canadians already weary of war following the deaths of 71 soldiers and one diplomat, the Conservatives tried to steel public opinion to the road ahead.

"Progress will be slow, but our efforts are bearing fruit."

The throne speech declaration will likely also push the Liberals, who've called for an end to the combat mission on schedule, into a political corner.

With files from Canadian Press

Election winds begin to blow

The first sign of a potential election came earlier this week with the announcement by the Conservative government of a large surplus in federal finances, which may see small returns of money to Canada's overburdened taxpayers.

Another potential sign, some divisiveness on the Liberal caucus, as the associates of Stephane Dion fend off attacks from the dis-satisfied backroom and backbench supporters of former candidates. For the Conservatives a sudden and ugly internal war among the Liberals may provide enough of a distraction that the Conservatives could make use of to try and reach the lofty goal of a majority government.

However, the latest poll results show that voters may still entrust their vote with Mr. Dion's vision should an election be called soon. Something that the Prime Minister will no doubt study quite intensely as he waits to see what kind of reaction his speech receives.

The first test for Stephen Harper's government comes up shortly as the politicians prepare to head back to the rigorous days of Parliament starting with the speech from the throne, the normally lengthy blueprint of what the Conservatives will wish to achieve during the next session of Parliament.

That session is on the mind of Skeena Bulkley Valley MP, Nathan Cullen who outlined some of his thoughts on the upcoming session and what it may portend for a return to the ballot box.

MP weighs election prospect
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Friday, September 28, 2007

Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen believes the chances of a federal election being called next month are about 50/50.

It all hinges on whether opposition parties support or reject Prime Minister Stephen Harper's throne speech on Oct. 16.

"My instinct is there's a 50/50 chance," said Cullen. "The Liberals and Bloc Quebecois are in a lot of political trouble right now, so they will be unwilling to call an election and Mr. Harper's government is also polling deep into minority government territory."

Both the Conservative stance on Canada's participation in Afghanistan and its environmental policies continue to be points of contention with Canadians, keeping Harper away from a majority, he said.

"Although in New York this week, Mr. Harper said he expects a minority government, so maybe he has lowered his expectations," said Cullen.

However, Cullen said his focus remains working on projects in the riding not preparing for an election.

Most of the parties in the riding do have candidates. Cullen will stand again for the NDP, hoping for a third term. Mayor Sharon Smith of Houston has been nominated for the Conservatives, while Prince Rupert resident Corinna Morhart has been nominated for the Liberals. Rod Taylor will again stand for the Christian Heritage Party. The Green Party is yet to officially announce its candidate.

If an election goes ahead, this would be the second winter election in a row.

In the last election, candidates in Cullen's northern riding faced wind and snow storms, flight delays and a narrow brush with injury as Conservative candidate Mike Scott totaled a truck after running into a moose on a dark, windy night.

"I don't think the brain trust in Ottawa gives a lot of thought to northern MPs and candidates. It's not ideal," said Cullen.

Prince George-Peace River MP Jay Hill said a federal election comes down to whether Liberal leader Stephane Dion decides to "roll the dice" and force an election by refusing to support the throne speech or whether he abstains from the vote to buy more time and get ready for a campaign.

Holding 126 seats in the 308-seat House, the Conservatives have stayed in power for more than 500 days, largely thanks to the support of the Bloc Quebecois, which has 49 MPs.

But the Bloc has issued a set of "non-negotiable" conditions for continuing to support the government and it is likely the Conservatives will refuse to comply with all the demands.
That means the final decision rests with Dion.

Hill said the Liberals, who have 96 seats, could abstain from voting on the throne speech, something the Conservatives did back in 2005 to keep the Paul Martin government in power because Canadians did not want an election at the time.

But Hill said he's also heard rumblings that Dion may vote against the throne speech at the request of his own party following the poor performances in the recent Quebec by-elections.
Traditionally, Liberals don't change leaders until they've gone through a nationwide election.
"I think he's under intense criticism, so he might end up capitulating to the views of many in his party," he said. "If it's a widely-held view that he's not going to dramatically improve and therefore become more popular with Canadians, they might as well roll the dice now and get it over with."

With files from the Prince George Citizen.

No need to retire to the dog house for McKay

The speaker has spoken and he's not inclined to let out any more leash on the Great Dog Debate of the House of Commons.

Stating that; "The official record is not helpful", Milliken closed the book on any further parliamentary action regarding what McKay may or may not have said, in regard to Liberal member (and former girlfriend) Belinda Stronach.

Last week the issue became the tempest of the session, as Liberals claimed that McKay seemed to refer to Ms. Stronach as a dog. A toss away line thrown out in the heat of a highly emotional debate over climactic change.

At the height of the rhetoric over the remarks in the Commons, calls were made for McKay to be censured or forced to resign. Some Liberals suggested that should he come forward and say that the reports were indeed true, then he should be brought up on charges of lying to Parliament.

Which probably accounts for why he's not inclined to dig a ditch any deeper for himself.

Speaking of digging, if Ms. Stronach was upset with the comments attributed to McKay, wait til she gets word of the ramblings of Norman Spector (who writes a weekly column for the Globe and Mail) on the Bill Good Show on Monday morning.

Spector as part of the Monday Morning quarterback session on CKNW, used a most unparliamentary term to refer to his impression of the MP who seems to find herself at the centre of many a public storm. (Listen in to the heated opinion from the NW Audio Vault, Monday, 10-11 am)

If nothing else Spector will have taken the heat off of McKays reported slight. Which if combined with last weeks report over the obvious lack of work going on on the Hill these days, leads us to believe that late October is now officially the Dog Days of Parliament?

The east-west divide of Northern BC

The EI system in the northern part of the province once again finds itself under the microscope, with a hot economy in the east and a lukewarm if not outright cold on in the west. The system is in need of an overhaul according to the local MP Nathan Cullen, who calls on the federal government to take a longer look at the current crisis in the area.

Suggesting that the reporting area be divided into Northwest and Northeast sections, Cullen feels that once that technical matter is acted upon, the Northwest will gain better access to job retraining funding.

He also touched on the second reading of the anti replacement worker bill currently working its way through the House of Commons, though his comparison of the House of Commons, to a “house of Pastry” as reported in the final paragraph of the story kind of leaves you wondering what it is that he’s trying to get across. Unless of course he’s comparing MP’s to apple turnovers, cream puffs or possibly hot cross buns, which might work, we guess.

The Daily News had the details in its Friday edition

CULLEN CALLING FOR EI REGION TO BE SPLIT
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Friday, October 27, 2006
Pages one and two

Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen is looking at shorter term solutions to fix the Employment Insurance (EI) system in northern B. C. while a bill to overhaul the system works its way through the House of Commons.

“We are trying to work on a specific measure right now to separate the region. The region as it’s designed right now, goes from the Queen Charlotte Islands all the way to For St. John, with obviously a huge stretch of economies. We want the federal government to split the region into a ‘northwest’ and ‘northeast’, much the way the federal ridings are,” said Cullen. “We are also looking for serious training dollars from EI and Western Economic Diversification in Prince Rupert and this riding area.”

Currently, shore workers in Prince Rupert are having trouble accessing EI because of the failure of the pink salmon run this summer and the fact that the EI region includes the booming economies of Fort St. John and Prince George.

Last weekend, shoreworkers held a rally, barbecue and letter writing campaign at Fishermen’s Hall to try and keep their spirits up.

Cullen said he doesn’t know yet where the best boundary split would be but its clear things can’t stay the dame.

“We have to talk with some communities and people who follow the employment numbers to see what the natural fit is (to split the region.) The federal boundaries might make sense, they might not,” he said.

“I think the main point is to get the federal government to understand you can’t mix apples and oranges and have one program that fits both of them and that’s what we have.”

“When Rupert is doing as well as Fort St. John, then we can talk, but it hasn’t been that way for a long time and it shows how out of touch the program is with the reality on the ground.”

In the meantime, Cullen said he was pleased a second reading of what he called an “anti-scab” bill was passed Wednesday evening in the House of Commons.

Bill C-257 is the third legislative attempt to outlaw the use of replacement workers at the federal level.

“The bill got through and it came through resoundingly. It exists in B. C. and Quebec already and we are looking to make it happen right across the country. It has been shown to lower labour disputes’ intensity and length,” said Cullen.

He said amending the Canada Labour Code to ban replacement workers during disputes will help bring balance, fairness and economic stability to the workplace and the country.

“Labour disputes are also prolonged, making strikes and lockouts even more costly to the Canadian economy in the short term an, as a result, lingering animosity can infect workplaces for years.”

Cullen said that removing the ability to use replacement workers results in smoother labour relations and shorter labour disputes with less risk to everyone involved.

“Watching the labour movement come on the hill and get second reading of the anti-scab bill really showed the House of Commons has the potential to return back to a House of Commons, as opposed to a house of pastry, and listen to average working folks." he said.

Kind of like a parliamentary swear jar

The NDP have called for Members of Parliament to show a little decorum while conducting the nation’s business in the House of Commons. Going so far as to suggest that MP’s be docked a days pay for every day that they refuse to apoligize after having made any unparliamentarily remarks or gestures.

Which would make for a noble cause, even if in the past the parties’ own members have a bit of a history of having been less than parliamentary or polite while in the House. One need only think back to the days of Svend Robinson’s many outbursts, or the still remembered Jim Fulton’s fish market scene to realize that stones can be thrown by many participants.

The current debate over civility revolves around Peter McKay’s commentary in the heat of debate last week, where it is alleged that he referred to the Member from Aurora, Liberal MP Belinda Stronach, as a dog.

It’s been a most tempestuous affair in the Commons ever since, with daily demands by the opposition for a resignation or at least an apology and staunch statements by the Conservatives that McKay has done nothing wrong and need not apologize.

McKay conveniently has been out of the country ever since, on official business in Hungary attending commemorations of the Hungarian revolution. While he’s been away, the Conservatives have basically circled the wagons and basically said lets go to the record or the tape.

The Conservatives suggest that since there is no record in Hansard of McKay’s supposedly rude comment, and in their opinion no conclusive audio proof of misbheaviour, therefore it did not happen. An interesting concept, which while technically correct we guess, still doesn’t quite pass the smell test.

The irony of the situation is that the comments came about during a debate over clean air, which is just a wonderful bit of theatre, that of the parliamentary air itself polluted by unkind comments and snide remarks.

Of course the House of Common’s has a history of controversial utterances by our elected officials, from the days of Fuddle Duddle, to Pass the Tequila Sheila, the cut and thrust of parliamentary debate has brought out the best and at times the worst of our leaders. Check back to the days of Sir John A or Dief and Pearson and you’ll find that as a chamber of civil debate, it sometimes isn’t very civil.

If McKay did say what he is accused of he should apologize. Claim he was overcome by the heat of the debate if he must and offer up a mea culpa. It certainly won’t mark the high water point of his time in the House (and may cause Condi Rice to wonder about her friend from Nova Scotia), but will at least allow these overly loquacious deputies to get back to maybe trying to solve the issues of the day, which at last report was why we send them to Ottawa for in the first place.

However, we doubt that anything good is going to come from all of this, the Liberals have already suggested that if McKay apologizes, they then will puruse him over lying to the House. Not ruling out the option of slowing down the work of Parliament (would we notice?) or as they put it "examining our parliamentary tools" until the matter is resolved. And on and on it shall go.

As for the NDP proposal for a system of fines, it’s doubtful that it will work, and really only means that Canadian taxpayers have the odious task of covering the fines, paying for the foul mouths of their representatives. In fact will only highlight the already prevalent belief that NDP want to tax everything in sight, the air we breathe and even the words we use!

Instead we submit perhaps offending MP’s should just publicly wash their mouths out with soap, it’s environmentally friendly and may help us achieve those ambitious Conservative goals of cleaner air by 2050!