Northman's Fury

The Harper government is being accused of a machiavellian plot to wreak parliamentary havoc after a secret Tory handbook on obstructing and manipulating Commons committees was leaked to the press.

Opposition parties pounced on news reports Friday about the 200-page handbook as proof that the Conservatives are to blame for the toxic atmosphere that has paralyzed Parliament this week.

. . .

The handbook reportedly advises chairs on how to promote the government's agenda, select witnesses friendly to the Conservative party and coach them to give favourable testimony. It also reportedly instructs them on how to filibuster and otherwise disrupt committee proceedings and, if all else fails, how to shut committees down entirely.

. . .

Both Davies and Goodale agreed that the recent dysfunction may be part of a long term Tory strategy to persuade voters that minority Parliaments don't work, that they need to elect a majority next time.

And what a wonderful strategy it is. Deliberately muck up your own government's proceedings if things don't go totally your way and then blame it on the opposition and the fact that Canadians have a hard time trusting you with a majority as an argument for why you need that majority.

And I love the part where all the committee chairs are being asked to return their copies in an attempt to track down the leak, because the leaker probably just gave away their own copy instead of thinking to xerox it, right?

Anyway, the last point in the article did make me wonder:

Goodale predicted the ploy won't work because Canadians will realize that the Tories are the "authors of this stalemate."

Goodale said the manual also demonstrates that the government is in the grip of an "obsessive, manipulative mania," run by a prime minister who has "a kind of control fetish" in which there can't be "one comma or one sentence or one word uttered without his personal approval."

Do you really think so? I hate to say it, but even I'm having a hard time getting really worked up about parliamentary committees, particularly on a long weekend. I'm pretty sure the only way this gets brought up at work on Tuesday is if I mention it, and even then I'm betting I'll have a hard time explaining why its important.

On the other hand, it seems to me that the leaks are starting to multiply. Apparently being under the jackboots of Herr Harper is starting to grate on folks. I wonder if he can put together enough support for a majority government before his party implodes beneath him.

Ever since Stephan Dion became Liberal leader, the Conservatives have been doing everything in their power to try and undercut him by presenting themselves as a truly green governing party. The latest leak from the new Environment Minister’s office shows part of the strategy.

the documents don't reveal anything new about the government's environmental agenda, they offer a glimpse into Baird's strategy to beef up his environmental credibility. Upcoming events include a photo-op to show off the government's green fleet of vehicles on Clean Air Day, June 6,

Now as to why they might need such a strategy . . . well, that’s another story:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is poised to join President George W. Bush in scuttling or watering down any statement on climate change from the G-8 summit in Germany next month.

While European countries are pushing for their counterparts to recognize that a future climate change treaty must be designed to prevent average global temperatures from rising by more than 2 C - a dangerous threshold identified by leading climate experts - Canadian government officials, along with the Bush administration appear to be resisting.

Now, what’s that term for people who claim to be great environmental stewards while simultaneously trying to undercut any actual environmental action?

A key federal cabinet committee has given the go-ahead for a plan to construct six corvette-sized Arctic patrol vessels, the Canadian Press has learned.

The cabinet priorities and planning committee approved the program to build the 100-metre-long, 6,000-tonne warships within the last 10 days, according to defence and political sources.

The patrol vessels, which are almost as large as the navy's frigates, are a step down from the armed Arctic icebreakers that the Conservatives promised in the last election campaign and will likely not be in service before 2015.

Overall, this sounds like good news. The armed icebreakers always seemed a little grandiose in any case. Still, the critical point in defending northern sovereignty is having at least one port somewhere up here that those ships can dock at.

One other point deep down in the story also caught my eye. It’s another point about priorities and resources. In this case, the existing icebreaker fleet:

Rob Huebert, a professor of strategic studies at the University of Calgary, said the corvettes are a good step, but they cannot be the only solution for the Arctic.

"It makes sense only if the coast guard is getting its icebreaking fleet recapitalized," he said.

"If this is just a cheap buyout to allow the navy not to get icebreakers, and the coast guard does not get its very old icebreakers replenished, then we're going to be in a lot of hurt."

Last year, Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn, who is responsible for the Coast Guard, was warned that the agency's fleet was experiencing severe "rust out" and needed to be replaced. As it stands, Coast Guard icebreakers are not due to begin being replaced until 2017.

Basically, the patrol boats are only good news if they are in addition to the regular icebreaking fleet.

Then again, given that the Conservatives are marching in lockstep with the Global Warming deniers to the south, maybe they figure they won’t be needing those icebreakers in the future.