Parliament In Review: October 3, 2011

Monday, October 3 saw another day dedicated largely to debate of the Cons' anti-refugee bill.

The Big Issue

As might be expected after several days of debate, the Cons' single set of poorly-reasoned talking points was beginning to get stale. And Kevin Lamoureux nicely highlighted the absurdity of the Cons' reading off scripted messages rather than participating in a debate over a serious policy issue.

But the opposition parties weren't without some more important points to make.

The most important observation may have been Glenn Thibault's commentary on how the anti-refugee bill also attacks current Canadian residents, allowing for the indefinite detention of any foreign national based on mere "suspicion" of a crime:

Think carefully about what this would mean. This provision would mean that any person in Canada who is not a citizen can become detained on the mere suspicion of criminality, with no need for proof or evidence. Simple suspicion would become enough to not only arrest but to also indefinitely detain people.

The rule of law in a democracy is founded on the principle that the police's powers of arrest and detention are only legitimate if there are reasonable grounds for arrest; specifically, the notion of reasonable grounds means that there must be an objective component to the notion of suspicion. This objective component is met by evidence. Suspicion alone is subjective. There would be no way to prove whether that suspicion is warranted or not, and this would leave the system open to abuse.

Meanwhile, Francois Lapointe challenged the Cons to put more effort into catching actual smugglers rather than attacking the refugees who are all too easily exploited, then pointed out that an Australian process which similarly failed to provide any appeal for refugee claimants was found to be illegal. Ted Hsu and Jean Crowder duly mocked the Cons' argument that refugees fleeing an abusive government would read up on Canadian legislation or base their decision on price points, while Dennis Bevington pointed out the real damage to Canada's reputation if we're seen as disapproving of immigrants. Hsu also questioned the cost involved in what's sure to be a legal challenge to the Cons' bill. Paulina Ayala noted that immigrant communities are in fact relatively safe and productive rather than posing the threat claimed by the Cons. And Jinny Sims noted that actual smugglers aren't targeted at all by the bill, since they already face the maximum possible penalty under Canadian law.

Upper Chamber Music

The other bill discussed on the day was the Cons' Senate tinkering bill, which also featured a few noteworthy interventions. Claude Gravelle documented a few of Stephen Harper's past criticisms of the chamber he's now seeking to further empower, and highlighted the abuse of public money by senators working as fund-raisers and campaign managers. Stephane Dion pointed out that a provincial-based system for electing senators would likely lead Senate elections to be funded by the corporate cash that's been removed from the federal electoral system. Hsu and Dennis Bevington both noted that the provision to have the Prime Minister consider the results of an election provides exactly zero substantive change from the status quo. And Randall Garrison repeatedly questioned who in the world would consider a costly and unfairly-distributed second chamber as a plus if they had the opportunity to design an electoral system from scratch.

From the Cons' side, James Bexan and Blaine Calkins slammed the concept of proportional representation as the "worst thing that could happen to democracy". And Calkins apparently considers the fact that NDP and Lib candidates haven't run in Senate elections as a reason to favour them.

Back and Forth

The Cons presented a ways and means motion to implement their budget. And after confusing matters by briefly opposing the Cons' budget legislation, the Bloc resumed their previous support of the Cons.

Still No Apologies

In case anybody thought the Cons might concede some mistake in trying to drag a sitting judge in front of a Parliamentary committee, Dean Del Mastro made clear that they'll do no such thing.

In Brief

Chris Charlton introduced a private member's bill to protect seniors' benefits by ensuring that cost-of-living increases in CPP payments aren't then deducted from GIS benefits. Jean Crowder challenged the Cons to provide an actual plan to make child care better available to Canadian families. Jean Rousseau presented a private member's bill to protect Quebec's relative representation while allowing for redistribution of seats in the House of Commons to better reflect population shifts. Charlie Angus continued to point out examples of rule-breaking and political distribution of public money by Tony Clement.