Harper Deserves Credit on Mental Health Commission

OK - when Mr. Harper gets it right we need to say so. This time he has done just that...gotten it right. The big event today is the announcement today of the National Mental Health Commission. Look ignored and swept under the policy carpet -Canadians with mental health issue needs attention and support...as do their families.

More kudos for Mr. Harper for appointing former Liberal Senator Michael Kirby to head it up. the Kirby Commission on health reform coming out of the Senate was the most comprehensive, intelligent and practical review of heath care reform for the country.

So one example of a nonpartisan, non patronage appointment does not absolve but it is evidence of hope for enlightened change from other recent appointments.

Good on ya Mr. Prime Minister.

Wrap-Up of an Interesting Week

It and been an interesting week where issues posted in this Blog have changed and evolved.

Why Trust Harper?
Harper flaunts his campaign promise to set up a public appointments commission to take patronage and partisanship out of federal appointments (see Aug 30 post). This past week he rigs the Bank of Canada replacement process and follow that up with Conservative and former Mulroney MP and PEI Premier and loyal Harper election campaigner, Mr. Pat Binns as Ambassador to Ireland. Tacky Mr Prime Minister …very tacky!

Feds Face the Supreme Court on Allegations of Breach of Trust for First Nations.
The SCC has agreed to hear an appeal by a number of Bands over mismanagement and breach of trust over oil and gas revenues belonging to the from reserve lands. (See posting August 30).At least three actions are involved in this matter. By the time this get to court Harper will realize just how much he needs and misses Jim Prentice in these issues. Expect the new Ministers involved, the Hon. Chuck Strahl to make stupid comments any day now.

Harper’s Version of Ad-scam is Getting a Life of Its Own.
The Globe and Mail Editorial Board is writing today about this Harper hypocrisy and in the same context as our postings of August 29 and 30. This election advertising scheme and the litigious response by Harper is a crystallizing moment. He is going to pay in public trust and credibility. He has also abused volunteer campaign workers by putting some of them at least as parties to a law suit they did not even know was happening. Arrogance they name is Harper.

Peter Lougheed Predicts and Defines a New Alberta/Ottawa Jurisdictional Fight.
Citizens are looking for statesmen with courage, conviction and character and with a concern for the nation. Peter Lougheed and Preston Manning have emerged as those kinds of people (Brian Mulroney not so much). Expect the Lougheed speech to the Canadian Bar Association AGM this week to be a milestone in the evolving reality of and integration of the environment and the economy. If it turns into a pissing contest between Ottawa and Alberta we will all be the lesser for it.

It has been quite a week. I can't wait until the next one starts.

Is Harper Fixing the Bank of Canada Appointment Process?

Reports out of the American news source Bloomberg.com today says Mr. Harper is stacking the panel to review the new Bank of Canada head. Interesting this story is coming out of the States and not Canadian media. I am no conspiracy theorists but it makes you wonder.

Even more interesting is the tactics used by the Prime Minister - stack the committee to get the nominee you want because you can’t hand pick you favourite directly. The Bloomberg story says:

“Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who can't choose a new central bank chief himself, has done the next-best thing: stacked the panel that nominates David Dodge's successor. Since taking office in 2006, Harper's government has replaced eight of 12 Bank of Canada board directors, instead of reappointing them when their three-year terms expired.”

Remember the high minded Harper rhetoric about the Accountability Act? Democracy Watch notes 15 of the 30 measures in the Act have not yet been approved by Cabinet. The Bill failed to include another 22 promised provisions too.

The most notable key provision of the Accountability Act still awaiting Cabinet approval are the measures that establish the Public Appointments Commission to help ensure Cabinet appointments are made based on merit. No wonder that Public Appointments Commission has not been approved. If it were law - as it should be - Mr. Harper would not be able to manipulate the Bank of Canada appointment process like he is. Remember – he plans to do the same kind of power tripping trickery with the judicial appoint process too.

Harper’s political campaign for the 2006 election provided a policy pronouncement a day. Once elected, he culled that do a policy agenda of only five issues – the Federal Accountability Act being one of them. Harper obviously started off governing slowly and has tapered down. Now he is manipulating our democracy to further control and centralize power in himself.

Supreme Court to Hear Aboriginal Claim of How Feds Dealt With Band Monies From Oil and Gas Revenues

The Supreme Court of Canada has allowed an Appeal on the Crown’s handling of oil and gas royalties paid to the Feds on behalf of the Pigeon Lake Reserve pursuant to Treaty 6. The issue is around common law trust obligation of the Crown for the control and management of the Band’s funds from oil and gas under Reserve lands.

This is going to be a case worth following!

Here is the Note from Eugene Meehan of the law firm of Lang Michener on the case:

The Applicants commenced an action against the Crown respecting its management of royalties and interest on those royalties from an oil and gas field underlying the Pigeon Lake Reserve. The Applicants submitted that the Crown breached trust obligations relating to the control and management of their monies. The action against the Crown was dismissed on the basis that the Crown met all of its obligations as trustee of the Applicants’ royalties. A majority of the Fed. C.A. dismissed the appeals. Issues here include: did the Treaty give rise to common law trust obligations; did the provisions of ss. 61 to 68 of the Indian Act and Orders-in-Council under s. 61(2) infringe or are inconsistent with the constitutionalized treaty rights of the Indian parties to Treaty No. 6; does s. 15 of the Charter protect only “personal rights” as distinct from collective or communal rights of First Nation members; what is the duty of the Crown to consult with First Nations.Chief Victor Buffalo, et al. v. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada et al.(Fed. C.A., December 20, 2006) (31869) "with costs".

Harper's Ad-scam Money Went to Promote Conservative Candidates in Quebec

The Harper Con Adscam gets curiouser and curiouser. The Conservative Party of Canada launched a lawsuit against the campaign watchdog Elections Canada. This was over the party’s spending in the 2006 campaign to try and squeeze more taxpayer money out of the system to pay for their advertising costs.

Newspaper reports today say the Cons have dropped almost all of the original 34 applicants from the action leaving only two people to take the fight forward. Looks like the CPC Politburo are having some trouble keeping the party faithful faithful. Apparently some former candidates and their official agents are publicly disavowing the advertising scheme.

Other former candidate’s official agents who were named as applicants in the law suit did not even know their names were being used and were never asked for permission to use their names. Others claimed the central party funds were just deposited into local candidate campaign accounts and pulled out again the same day. You gotta wonder how that happens without permission.

One former candidate is quoted as saying $26,000.00 was put in and out of his campaign account and used for advertising “…that was not specifically related to his own campaign.” Opps!

Here is the big kicker. Guess where the additional advertising money was spent! It apparently all went to buying advertising in Quebec. It was targeted to bolster the Harper’s promise of “freer federalism” and in specific support of close races in 10 Quebec ridings the Cons eventually won.

Does this smell like the Conservative version of an Adscam to you too? Party money that is subsidized by the taxpayer used to curry favour with Quebec to save the country? It is not a perfect fit because there is no fraud involved but there is a fit nevertheless.

Check out Impolitical for another take on this issue.