Date: September 8, 2014
To: Bryan Walton, National Cattle Feeders’ Association Casey Vander Ploeg, National Cattle Feeders’ Association
From: Cathy Jo Noble & Peter Brackenridge
Parliamentary Update
Summer recess for parliamentarians is coming to a close as the House and Senate are scheduled to return back on September 15.
While buoyed by the promise of a $6.4-billion budget surplus, there’s some uneasiness for Conservative MPs heading into the fall after a tough summer. By several markers it’s been a bumpy summer for the governing Conservative caucus. The party has been consistently trailing in political polls; a former caucus member was criminally charged while a former staffer was found guilty of preventing or trying to prevent voters from casting ballots. In addition, nineteen Conservative MPs have already announced they won’t run for re-election. Due to a electoral redistribution process since the last election, a total of 30 new federal ridings will also be in play in the next election, with six new ridings in British Columbia, six in Alberta, three in Quebec, and 15 in Ontario.
Pundits suggest that MPs are going to be on their best behavior this fall because the government will run a surplus for the first time in a long time and everybody wants to see how that is spent and help determine the priorities. But that once the budget planning is over, the nitty-gritty of election 2015, will begin and the gloves will come off in terms of politics.
Comment: FYI
Political Update
Mulcair to Release Platform NDP Leader, Tom Mulcair intends to start this fall by nailing down some key planks in the NDP's election platform — a full year before the next scheduled federal vote.
The NDP leader says he'll be unveiling "some very concrete" proposals on child care, infrastructure investment, health care funding and re-instituting a federal minimum wage, among other issues.
Ordinarily, political parties keep their platforms under tight wraps until a campaign begins, to avoid giving rival parties a target or an opportunity to steal their best ideas.
But New Democrats are willing to take that risk as they fight to reassert themselves as the real alternative to Stephen Harper's ruling Conservatives, a role usurped by the third-place Liberals since Justin Trudeau took the helm 18 months ago.
They're gambling that the benefits of early disclosure — demonstrating how an NDP government would be different than the Harper regime and contrasting their substance with Trudeau's refusal to be nailed down on important policy question – will outweigh the disadvantages.
Comment: Noblepath will monitor the platform once released for issues of interest to NCFA.
Prentice New Premier of Alberta
Jim Prentice swept to victory Saturday in the Alberta Progressive Conservative party's leadership vote, promising to clean up a government bludgeoned and demoralized by scandal.
The 58-year-old former Calgary Conservative MP and cabinet minister handily defeated former provincial cabinet ministers Ric McIver and Thomas Lukaszuk in a vote overshadowed by computer and phone foul-ups that left some members saying they were unable to cast a ballot.
Prentice takes over a PC government that has fallen sharply in the polls this year following the travel and spending controversies of former premier Alison Redford.
Prentice captured almost 77 per cent of the 23,386 votes cast, well over the 50 per cent plus one needed to avoid a run-off vote.
His pedigree is in federal politics. He served as minister of environment, aboriginal affairs and industry while in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government. Prentice now needs to gain a seat in the legislature. He has already promised to call a by-election as soon as possible.
The next general election is slated for the spring of 2016.
Comment: FYI
Announcements of Interests
Parliamentary Delegation Strengthens Ties with South Korea
September 5, 2014 - Seoul, South Korea - Erin O’Toole, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade, Senator Yonah Martin and Barry Devolin, Member of Parliament for Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock, today concluded a five-day parliamentary delegation visit to Seoul, South Korea, liaising with senior government officials, Korean National Assembly members and business officials about the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement (CKFTA), which is scheduled for legislative review this fall.
The Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, is also in South Korea to explore opportunities and benefits from the CKFTA and promote Canada’s fish and seafood sector. She met with local distributors of Canadian fish and seafood products to discuss Canadian seafood sustainability and benefits from the CKFTA.
Parliamentary Secretary O’Toole also met with Canadian companies including Scotiabank and the Montréal-based company CAE at the latter’s new flight simulator training centre outside Seoul. He discussed the companies’ successes in the Korean market and the new opportunities of the CKFTA—Canada’s first agreement in Asia—which will serve as a gateway to the Asia-Pacific region.
Through the government’s ambitious pro-trade, pro-export plan, Canada’s Global Market Action Plan, Canadian businesses have the tools to grow, export and build their success at home and abroad. These tools include free trade agreements, foreign investment promotion and protection agreements, sector-based trade missions to priority and emerging markets, and the support of the Trade Commissioner Service, Export Development Canada, Canadian Commercial Corporation and the Business Development Bank of Canada.
Comment: FYI