TWENTY-SEVENTH YEAR, NO. 1336 CANADA’S POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT NEWSWEEKLY WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2016 $5.00

EXCLUSIVE POLITICAL COVERAGE: NEWS, FEATURES, AND ANALYSIS INSIDE

INTERNATIONAL SECURITYPOLICY BRIEFING PP. 19-24

TRADE COMMITTEEBUCKS TREND P.5

HILLCLIMBERS P.25

PARTIES TOP UP LEADERS’ SALARIES, SO WHAT? P. 11

NEWS ACCESS TO INFORMATION NEWS DIPLOMACY

NEWS CITIZENSHIP

NEWS ENVIRONMENT

NEWS FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Feds’ approach to B.C. dam approvals ‘like the Saudi Arms deal’: Opponents

Liberals order investigation into possible citizenship fraud

Politician’s cancelled visit causes tension in Indo-Canadian communities

BY MARIE-DANIELLE SMITH

There has been a “change in tone” from the top, and a “very positive one,” when it comes to access to information, says Infor-mation Commissioner Suzanne Legault.

“This is somewhat of a honeymoon period,” the federal watchdog told The Hill Times in an April 27 interview. “We will have to see whether the sunny ways will continue.”

It’s early days, Ms. Legault said, and they’re full of a spirit of co-operation.

“It’s not unlike what we experienced in the early days of 2006 and 2007, with the previous government. So we will see how this unfolds. It is too early to tell,” she said. She later took the Conservative govern-ment to court over long-gun registry docu-ments it denied a requester.

BY PETER MAZEREEUW

The Saudi government is planning to send dancers to the lawns of Parliament Hill May 19 as part of a massive, four-day cultural show, while a range of rights groups and media pundits continue to pres-sure Canada’s government over arms sales to the Middle Eastern powerhouse.

A delegation of between 70 and 100 per-formers, artists, and other exhibitors are set to arrive in Ottawa to show off various aspects of Saudi culture—from Arabic cal-ligraphy to folk dances and Arab cuisine—from May 18 to 21. Apart from the dance

BY TIM NAUMETZ

Citizenship Minister John McCallum has ordered an investigation into Canadian citizenship approvals that might have been obtained fraudulently, following a scath-ing report from Auditor General Michael Ferguson.

Mr. Ferguson tabled an audit report in Parliament Tuesday that cited examples of crucial information not being passed from the RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency to the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Department as 106,271 foreign nationals who were permanent residents in Canada submitted citizenship applications in 2014 and had been granted citizenship by June 2015.

BY CHELSEA NASH

The federal government is coming up on what will be a litmus test of its com-mitment to nation-to-nation relations with First Nations and to the environment, say those advocating for the shutdown of the massive BC Hydro development known as Site C in northeastern British Columbia.

Ken Boon, president of the Peace Valley Landowner Association, and Rob Botterell, the lawyer representing the organization, visited Ottawa on April 27 to meet with offi cials from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans about their concerns of excessive sediment pollution caused by preparatory construction

BY CHELSEA NASH

The planned visit of an Indian politician to Canada to campaign to non-resident Indi-ans and its ensuing cancellation has caused tension in Indo-Canadian communities.

Amarinder Singh of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee had planned to visit Canada to hold rallies and events in the GTA and Vancouver, according to news reports out of India, but cancelled the visit after a complaint was made by a human rights group called Sikhs for Justice to Global Affairs Canada and the Indian High Commission in Canada.

Continued on page 6 Continued on page 7

Continued on page 16 Continued on page 4 Continued on page 12

‘Too early to tell’ if Liberals’ positive tone will last: Info czar

Trees are cleared last fall from the future site of the Site C dam along Peace River in northeastern British Columbia. Photograph courtesy of Garth Lenz

Saudi government sending huge cultural delegation to Ottawa, as arms deal concerns continue to swirl

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5

THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 20162FEATURE BUZZ

Public servants and embassy staff are sign-ing up once again to shed their business-

wear for life preservers and a chance at glory.Entries are already rolling in for the

annual Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival, a contest for bragging rights among 200 teams of paddlers at Ottawa’s Mooney’s Bay Park on Riverside Drive that will run from June 23 to 26 this year.

Dragon boat racing, a sport taken from Chinese tradition, involves teams of between 14 and 20 paddlers, one drummer and a steersperson guiding long, narrow boats in a race against each other and the clock. The Ottawa festival, which bills itself as North America’s largest, includes a special division for diplomatic missions

(won last year by a team from the Europe-an Union Delegation) and the federal gov-ernment (won last year by a team from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission).

The reigning champions from the Eu-ropean Union mission have already signed up for another go, as have teams from the Romanian Embassy and Taiwan’s economic and cultural offi ce. The former champs of the government division, which go by the name Panacea, are also coming back, and are now one of just two teams to take part in the festival every year since it began in 1994, according to Shelley Freake, the festival’s director of teams and fundraising.

The Canada Border Services Agency is entering a team for the fi rst time, she said.

Each team pays an entrance fee of $1,400, plus tax (less for teams from out of town), and many of the teams raise funds for charitable causes selected by the festival as well, though few embassy teams have done so in the past, said Ms. Freake.

This year, proceeds will go to the Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa, the Tim Horton Children’s Foundation and a Tim Hortons community fund for Ottawa, she said.

Braune publishes Arctic book

A press gallery veteran has published a German-language book on the Arctic—everything from polar bears to the Arctic Council and the seal hunt controversy.

Gerd Braune, who writes for about a dozen German-language publications, launched his book, Die Arktis—Porträt einer Weltregion (The Arctic—Portrait of a World Region) at the Leipzig Book Fair on March 18. Mr. Braune has covered Arctic policy and other issues as a freelance member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery since arriving in Canada in 1997.

The book introduces readers to the Arctic, covering plants and animals, indig-enous peoples, climate change, the Arctic Council and some of the biggest Arctic policy issues, and includes a chapter on Canada and its history in the Arctic, said Mr. Braune, who estimates he has travelled to the Arctic 15 times or more.

“It’s not a book that will fl y from the shelves. It’s a book for people who are interested in this issue,” he said.

The book is currently only available for purchase in German-language markets in Europe, but a Kindle edition of the book can be purchased via Amazon for $9.99. Mr. Braune is considering publishing the book in English as well.

Dragon boat season on the horizon

HEARD HILLONTHE

BY PETER MAZEREEUW

CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATION

Re: “AG denies Harper lawyer sug-gestion he will audit Duffy expenses with trial over,” (April 27, p. 1). The story said there were 69 days of hearings, from April 14, 2015 through to last Feb. 23. In fact, the trial lasted 64 days, start-ing April 7, 2015. The story mistakenly noted that Robert Staley began repre-senting Mr. Harper on the Duffy issue in mid-2014. It should have read mid-2013. And Nigel Wright was misquoted saying “stop the water torture” when he actually said “Chinese water torture.”

•Re: “Justice Minister Wilson-Ray-

bould hires Smith as policy director,” (May 2, p. 27). The photos accompany-ing the story were published by mis-take and were unrelated to the text.

•Re: “Five-year ban on lobbying exces-

sive, say former political Hill staffers,” (May 2, p. 1) Erik Waddell was mistak-enly identifi ed as having worked for former industry minister James Moore as industry minister. In fact, he worked for Tony Clement as industry minister, and later as president of the Treasury Board. Also, Mr. Waddell was quoted as indicat-ing that the lobbying ban only applies to former designated public offi ce holders (DPOHs) trying to lobby other DPOHs. It in fact bans former DPOHs from lobbying anyone in government for fi ve years post-employment. The Hill Times apologizes for these errors. Continued on page 29

Members of the European Union Delegation’s team prepare to paddle in the Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival on June 27, 2015 at Mooney’s Bay. From front left: captain Petra Auster and Annegret Hayward, EU assistant Mélina Chimal-Pilon, and Austrian assistant Annkathrin Diehl, Romanian second secretary Silvana Bolocan (turned head) and Portuguese deputy João Sabido Costa. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia

Press gallery veteran Gerd Braune has published a German-language book on the Arctic. Photograph courtesy of Gerd Braune

Diplomats flock to Cuban Embassy to meet foreign minister

Hungary marks memorial day for Holocaust victims

The Hill Times photographs by Sam Garcia

The Hill Times photographs by Ulle Baum

Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, Cuban Ambassador Julio Garmendia, and Chilean Ambassador Alfonso Silva at the May 3 reception.

Vietnamese Ambassador To Anh Dung with Senegalese Ambassador Ousmane Paye.

Liberal MP Anthony Housefather and Hungarian Ambassador Balint Odor at the April 18 reception at the embassy to recognize Hungarian Holocaust victims.

Floralove Katz with Barrick Gold founder Peter Munk and Conservative MP Ed Fast.

Mr. Odor with Mr. Munk and his wife, Melanie Munk.

Mr. Housefather with Liberal MP Michael Levitt, Supreme Court of Canada Justice Michael Moldaver and his wife, Riky Moldaver.

Kenyan High Commissioner John Lanyasunya, Dominican Republic counsellor Dulce Rosario, Miraly Gonzalez, wife of the Cuban ambassador, and Claudia Rocabado, chargé d’affaires of Bolivia.

Mr. Parrilla with Jamaican High Commissioner Janice Miller and Rwandan High Commissioner Shakilla Umutoni.

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THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 20164NEWS ENVIRONMENT

for the Site C dam, which, at a cost of close to $9 billion and a projected 10-year timeline, is described as one of the largest public infrastructure projects B.C. has ever seen.

The project has caused a stir among the First Nations groups who live in the area and use the land for gathering, trapping, fi sh-ing, and other cultural and spiri-tual practices, and landowners in the area who will be displaced as a result of the construction.

Mr. Boon is one of those land-owners.

He said if the Site C project is to continue, he and his wife will lose their home.

“My wife’s family lived there, we live in her grandfather’s old house, so we have deep roots there especially on my wife’s side of the family,” he told The Hill Times during his visit to Ottawa last week.

Mr. Boon and Mr. Botterell are concerned that the federal government is turning a blind eye to Site C, and said they felt they needed to meet with offi cials to inform them “so they can’t say their hands are tied,” said Mr. Boon.

The federal government is currently deciding on whether to issue a permit for civil works in relation to the hydroelectric dam to go ahead.

Mr. Boon said the government seems to be hiding behind the fact that there are several related cases currently before the courts.

The project was approved in October 2015 by both the pro-vincial and federal governments, after the application underwent a three-year joint review panel overseen by both governments.

Regarding fi sheries, the panel concluded, “the Project would cause signifi cant adverse effects

on fi sh and fi sh habitat,” and that “there would be a reduction to fi sh health and survival due to sedimentation during construc-tion and headpond and reservoir fi lling.”

Mr. Boon wanted to stress that the Peace Valley Landowner Association is not against energy development projects. But he said he has a lot to lose if this project goes ahead, and he doesn’t feel like anyone is being held account-able for potential infractions being committed at the site.

“What we are doing is look-ing out for the interests of the landowners in the valley...we want to know that if permits are being issued for this project that they are being reviewed properly and that this is being done right. I don’t feel it has to this point,” said Mr. Boon.

Green Party Leader Eliza-beth May, land advocate Helen Knott, and Mr. Boon all said they believe the warnings in the Joint Review Panel, including of damage to fi sh populations and infringements on indigenous treaty rights, were ignored by the previous federal government

when it decided to go ahead with the project anyway, citing eco-nomic benefi ts.

“I guess it was Stephen Harper trying to do [B.C. Premier] Chris-ty Clark a favour,” said Ms. May. “It’s all politics.”

The project opponents say the Liberal government should be held responsible for the current state of the project, even if it didn’t make the initial decision to allow the dam to be built.

“So you take all that together and you think...this new govern-ment is going to say: ‘This is like Saudi tanks, sorry the previous government made the decision, we’re just going along with it’? That won’t wash,” Ms. May told The Hill Times.

Foreign Minister Stéphane Dion has been under fi re for the way he and his government framed a deal to sell arms to Saudi Arabia. Initially, the gov-ernment claimed that its hands were tied because the deal had been approved by the previous Conservative government, but Mr. Dion was criticized when it was revealed he actually played a key role in confi rming the deal in April.

Mr. Botterell and Mr. Boon echoed Ms. May.

“I think what’s happening in the federal bureaucracy is ‘Oh, we’re done here. Too bad, but—sort of like the Saudi Arms deal—it was signed. We really feel for you, but that was then and this is now. And we’ll be different going forward.’ And what we’re saying is ‘No, no, going forward is right now,’” Mr. Botterell said. “The fi sh-ery is going to be ruined for the First Nations. You’d better be sure that this is the least impactful solution and you’ve got a chance right now to do it right,” said Mr. Botterell.

An emailed statement from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans reads: “DFO has received and is reviewing BC Hydro’s application for a Fisheries Act Section 35(2)(b) authorization for the Site C main civil works (i.e., dam, generating station, spillway, and associated works) and opera-tions. DFO is currently consulting potentially affected indigenous groups prior to making a decision on issuance of an authorization.”

Minister for Fisheries and Oceans Hunter Tootoo, in an interview with The Hill Times, reiterated the fact that the depart-ment would be consulting with First Nations groups before decid-ing whether to issue the permit to BC Hydro.

When asked whether he was considering denying the permit, he said: “My offi cials and chief of staff met with representatives from over there. There was infor-mation provided, we’re reviewing that information and, you know, part of the application from BC Hydro. We’ll follow the process, we’ll be consulting with the indig-enous groups over there before any decision is made whether to move forward or not.”

The Member of Parliament for the area, Conservative Bob Zim-mer (Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies, B.C.) did not respond to a request for com-ment.

While construction has al-ready started on the project, Mr. Boon remains hopeful it could still be halted.

“The activity that has hap-pened to date, it’s reversible,” he

said. “It’s just a small part of what will be needed for this project. There’s not a dam being built yet, it’s all prep work leading up to this project. Myself as an individ-ual, I’m still hopeful that a sober second thought will be done with this. And this is a key one, these federal permits.”

cnash@hilltimes.comThe Hill Times

Feds’ approach to B.C. dam approvals ‘like the Saudi Arms deal’: Opponents The fi sheries minister says his department will consult with First Nations groups before making permitting decision.

Continued from page 1

ENERGY

SITE C: A TIMELINE

MAY 2014: The federal-provincial joint

panel review, among other conclusions in a 473-page report, says if Site C goes forward, that there would be “signifi cant adverse effects of the Project on cultural heritage resources for both Aboriginal and non-Aborig-inal people.”

OCTOBER 2015:

The federal government is-sues 14 permits for work on Site C in the midst of an election.

DECEMBER 2015: BC Hydro signs a $1.75-billion

contract with its preferred bidder to construct the main civil works on the project. Clear-cutting and other preparatory work has started on Site C.

DECEMBER 31, 2015: A group calling itself

the Treaty 8 Stewards of the Land, referring to a treaty signed by First Nations and Queen Victo-ria in 1899, sets up camp on Site C to peacefully protest the devel-opment of the land. The camp is run by advocate Helen Knott and Mr. Boon.

FEBRUARY 2016: Lawyer Rob Botterell and

Ms. Knott come to Ottawa seek-ing meetings with the prime minister and cabinet ministers. They meet with Liberal MP Pamela Goldsmith-Jones (West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky County, B.C.), NDP justice critic Murray Rankin (Victoria, B.C.), and a junior policy adviser in Indigenous and Northern Af-fairs Minister Carolyn Bennett’s (Toronto-St. Paul’s, Ont.) offi ce. “It was like they were checking a box off,” Ms. Knott told The Hill Times after her meeting with Ms. Bennett’s staff.

FEBRUARY 29, 2016: The B.C. Supreme Court

grants BC Hydro an injunction, requiring all protesters to leave Site C by midnight, or face ar-rest. The court cited “irreparable harm” that it said was being done to the $9-billion project by the presence of the protesters.

APRIL 6, 2016: Ms. Clark announces a

$470-million turbine contract with BC Hydro for Site C.

APRIL 27, 2016: Mr. Botterell and Mr. Boon

visit Ottawa to meet with the fi sheries and oceans minister’s chief of staff, George Young, re-garding concerns over sediment pollution at the construction site and the process for issuance of new federal fi sheries permits by the Trudeau government.

Silt is stirred up in the Peace Valley River as a result of preparatory construction for the Site C dam. Photo courtesy of Garth Lenz

5THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2016

NEWS TPP

BY PETER MAZEREEUW

Wading through a prolonged study on the Trans-Pacifi c

Partnership Agreement, the House Trade Committee has taken the unusual step of passing a motion requiring that, “to the greatest possible extent,” each party with a seat at the table should be able to choose an equal number of wit-nesses to weigh in on the deal.

The motion is relatively unique, so far as a handful of cur-rent and former Members of Par-liament and staffers can recall, in that it puts in writing rules for a selection process for which few hard rules exist.

Though the motion was written to apply only to the committee’s TPP study, several members said they are open to continuing the practice of splitting up witness

slots equally. However, a pair of Liberal MPs left the door open to returning to the more typical prac-tice of giving the majority caucus more say over who gets to testify.

Minutes from a private por-tion of the committee’s March 8 meeting show it passed a motion laying out some of the terms of its TPP study, including a clause that requires clerk Rémi Bourgault, in consultation with committee chairperson and Liberal MP Mark Eyking (Sydney-Victoria, N.S.), to schedule witnesses “to the great-est possible extent, with witness slots apportioned equally among each caucus for each meeting.”

So far, that’s been the case, said Tracey Ramsey (Essex, Ont.), the committee’s sole NDP representative.

Ms. Ramsey said there hasn’t been a major difference so far in the sorts of witnesses testifying be-fore the committee during its TPP study meetings versus other meet-ings, but that the motion is a good way to ensure the committee mem-bers hear all perspectives as they evaluate the looming trade deal, on which the Liberal government has not yet taken a fi rm position.

Liberal MP Kyle Peterson (Newmarket-Aurora, Ont.), who said he proposed the motion, said the idea was to get the broadest possible cross-section of witness-es for the TPP study.

“We thought it was important, we as Liberals, because we had nothing to do with the negotia-tions of the deal at all,” he said.

The committee is taking the next few months to travel across the country to hear from Canadi-ans on the deal as well as ac-cept written submissions. The chair hopes to report back to the House about it by the end of the year.

Majority rulesThere are few hard rules about

the way in which witnesses are se-lected for a committee. Each caucus on the committee typically submits a list of desired witnesses ranked in order of preference. Members often put forward witnesses they know already. The committee clerk offi cially schedules witnesses to ap-pear based upon the time available, which witnesses can make it, and input from the committee chair. In practice, subcommittees on agenda and procedure often play a role in deciding which witnesses will be chosen.

The witness selection process for most committees has been loosely based upon a formula that allocates witness slots, or at least input into which names get chosen from the lists, based upon the makeup of the House of Com-mons. In other words, members of the party with the most MPs—

who also form a majority of the members on most committees—get to choose the most witnesses. The second-ranked party chooses fewer, and so on.

In practice, that’s not always the case, said Mr. Eyking, a veteran of numerous committees during his 15 years as an MP. In most cases, the majority caucus would only fl ex their muscle when the com-mittee was studying a particularly contentious issue, he said.

Mr. Eyking, Mr. Peterson, and Ms. Ramsey all said they were open to extending the equal selection of witnesses beyond the TPP study in the future, though the Liberal MPs stopped short of promising to do so in all cases.

“We’ve got to have a balanced approach and listen to everyone,” said Mr. Eyking, adding that the Liberal majority “might have to revisit it” if a contentious issue changed the committee’s rela-tively collegial atmosphere.

‘Exceptional circumstance’Writing out a rule for how

witnesses are selected is “a little un-conventional,” said Yaroslav Baran, a consultant lobbyist for Earn-scliffe Strategy Group and former chief of staff to a chief government whip and house leader under the Harper Conservatives.

In most cases, representatives of the different parties will engage in some “wheeling and dealing” to hash out a list of names, roughly half of which will be recommended by the majority, half by the opposi-tion caucuses, he said.

Members of different parties often want to hear from the same witnesses, and that overlap further stretches adherence to the prin-ciple of doling out witnesses based on representation in the House, said Robin MacLachlan, a consul-tant lobbyist for Summa Strategies and former legislative assistant to former NDP MP Paul Dewar.

The move to hear from more witnesses recommended by the opposition is likely a product of the “exceptional circumstance” of one government studying a trade deal negotiated by another, said Don Boudria, a consultant lobbyist for Hill and Knowlton Strategies and former Liberal cabinet minister.

“I wouldn’t call it earth-shat-tering, because it doesn’t affect the votes on the committee either way,” he said, adding that the majority on a committee should have more say in which witnesses appear in most cases by virtue of their mandate from the electorate.

Putting the motion in writing could be a case of “atypical behav-iour” more common now for commit-tees populated by more rookie MPs than usual, said Mr. MacLachlan.

There are fi ve rookies on the House Trade Committee—four of them Liberals—including Mr. Peterson, who worked as a com-mercial lawyer prior to winning his seat.

peter@hilltimes.com@PJMazereeuw

House Trade Committee agrees on equal witness selection A Liberal motion on the TPP study may be a product of ‘exceptional circumstance’ or rookies on the committee, say lobbyists.

Canada at the World Humanitarian Summit:

Opportunities for Leadership & Legacy Join us for a dynamic and thought-provoking discussion on today's global humanitarian challenges! Panelists will unpack the humanitarian space, highlight key concerns and challenges, make humanitarian policy and practice recommendations for the Canadian Government, and provide guid-ance on the World Humanitarian Summit objectives.

Introductory remarks by H.E. Selçuk Ünal, Turkish Ambassador to Canada Moderated by Susan Ormiston , Senior Correspondent | CBC

Humanitarian expert panel Susan Johnson: Vice President and Director General International Operations & Movement Relations | Canada Red Cross Dr. James Orbinksi:

Political response panel

Pamela Goldsmith-Jones: | Liberal Party of Canada Tony Clement: Hélène Laverdière: Elizabeth May: Leader | Green Party of Canada

May 10th, 2016 5:30-9:00PM

Library & Archives 395 Wellington St.

FREE Public Event

REGISTER! Eventbrite:

“Humanitarian Public Event”

Reception & Humanitarian Fair

5:30-6:30PM

Expert & Political Panels 6:30-8:00PM

Reception & Humanitarian Fair

8:00-9:00PM

THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 20166NEWS ACCESS TO INFORMATION

Ms. Legault was appointed Canada’s information com-missioner in 2010. But she has worked in the offi ce since 2007.

Treasury Board President Scott Brison (King-Hants, N.S.) told an open government conference at the end of March that a comprehensive review of access-to-information law will begin in 2018, but that leg-islation including quick fi xes and election promises could be tabled as soon as this year.

Promises in Mr. Brison’s ministerial mandate letter include ensuring the information com-missioner can order government information to be released, and mandating that the law applies to the prime minister’s and minis-ters’ offi ces, as well as adminis-trative institutions that support Parliament and the courts.

The latter will take a lot of work, Ms. Legault told The Hill Times. Offi ces should be given three to six months to hire access-to-information offi cers and train staff, she said. Legislation that requires members of the House of Commons Board of Internal Economy to be sworn to secrecy will have to be looked at, she added.

In addition, not everything that happens in a minister’s of-fi ce should have to be disclosed, warned Ms. Legault. “It would not be appropriate, in my view, to have that covered by the access-to-infor-mation legislation,” she said.

It will be a challenge to fi gure out “how we segregate purely political activity from activities that relate to the administration of government,” she said.

A House of Commons commit-tee is currently studying potential reforms to the Access to Infor-mation Act and will be holding public consultations.

It has already heard from Ms. Legault. She said she intends to appear again before the com-mittee to recommend changes beyond what the government has already promised.

The Hill Times asked Ms. Legault about some of the problems with the access-to-information system and how they could change under a new government. The following has been edited for style and length.

What should the government pri-oritize beyond the mandate letter promises?

“There is one thing that I have been advocating for, that all of my

colleagues across Canada have been advocating for, and that is the duty to document.

“I think that this is an im-perative now in terms of access to information across the country. All the commissioners issued a joint resolution. We issued it Jan. 16 and essentially that’s really to address what we’ve seen in some very specifi c cases across the country. We had the triple-delete issue in B.C., we had the gas-plant emails in Ontario and we conducted our own investiga-tion with the use of BlackBerry pin-to-pin.

“So we’re very concerned that the new technology, the speed at which information is being con-veyed, all the various devices that people are using, that there needs to be a heightened legal duty to document in order to preserve the right of access. And that will defi -nitely be in those quick fi xes.

“It’s something that is a concern around the world, by the way, and to my knowledge this is not something that exists in any access-to-information legisla-tion at this time. So when we talk about Canada, you know, sort of regaining its leadership in terms of access-to-information legisla-tion, I think that would be a key component.”

What are some challenges in ex-tending access to information to ministers’ offi ces and the Prime Minister’s Offi ce?

“I think that it would be an op-portunity for ministers and PMO to really make sure that they have the right information-manage-ment practices in place, that they have the opportunity to equip themselves to answer access-to-information requests. It actually does require some work.

“You need to have someone that works in the ministers’ offi ces to respond to access-to-information requests. You need people to be trained. There is a set-up time in order to be ready to answer access-to-information requests. That’s going to be one challenge for sure.

“In terms of the administration of Parliament and the Board of Internal Economy, I think we’re going to have to look at the legis-lation that applies to the Board of Internal Economy because I think members are sworn to secrecy as part of the legislation. I think that’s going to have to be looked at. And also I think we’re going to have to look at how we protect parliamentary privilege in those types of circumstances.”

Should the legislation be applied retroactively?

“I think it should be prospec-tive. It should move forward from the time the legislation is in place. I don’t think it would be fair to basically apply something like

that retroactively.”Does protecting parliamentary privilege mean using exclusions?

“I’m not a big fan of exclusions either because as you know exclu-sions mean that my offi ce cannot review the records. My experience is that that is not a good idea in terms of ensuring the effective oversight and proper accountability.

“But certainly a mandatory exemption for parliamentary privilege would be appropriate, or a discretionary exemption for parliamentary privilege, one or the other, but at least to provide proper oversight.”

There seems to be a culture of overusing exemptions. How should this be dealt with?

“Well I do agree. I think that there are some over-applications of exemptions. You know, the philosophy underlying the Act and the purpose of the Act clearly states that disclosure should be had if it’s normal disclosure in terms of government operations.

“What we do fi nd is a lot of application of exemption that is not warranted. About 50 per cent of the cases that we reviewed that deal with the application of exemptions, we fi nd that there was an over-application of the exemptions, so that gives you a sense. Basically half of the time in the cases that we investigate, we fi nd that it’s over-applied.

“What can be done to change it? Certainly the tone at the top really makes a difference. The prime minister has made some strong statements, but that needs to fi lter through to the deputy ministers, the assistant deputy ministers, has to fi lter down all the way through the access-to-in-formation professionals. Training has to be done with that philoso-phy and those directions in mind.

“People have to be reassured when they make decisions on disclosure that they will not be disciplined or sanctioned if they allow disclosure of information which potentially embarrasses the government, so long as it’s

respectful of the legislation.“So that really requires a

change of culture. A change of culture is really like a change of management within government institutions, and it needs to be done systematically. It needs to be messaged, it needs to be rein-forced, it needs to be ongoing.

“This is not necessarily some-thing that occurs quickly and of course a change of legislation—if we were going to look more substantively at the Act, if we looked at the exemptions, if we had a public interest override, a stronger legislative framework that favoured disclosure, more so than secrecy—it would also go a long way to change the culture.”

Is the fear of being disciplined a legitimate one? Have some staff-ers been disciplined after disclos-ing information?

“Not that I know of. But we have seen public servants during our investigations that are quite fearful.”

Have you seen any concrete changes take hold since the new government came in?

“We have had some instances since the new government has been in place where there have been quicker resolutions on some fi les, and some very quick action. So we have so far seen a change in results. A change in tone.

“I received a response to a let-ter of recommendations recently which was very positive. Very col-laborative and really addressed the recommendations. This is a change of tone from certainly the last few days of the previous government, for sure.”

In what way were complaints re-solved more quickly than usual?

“These were just a couple of instances so far, where basically, these were easier fi les. I thought the information should be dis-closed, essentially just picked up the phone, and the fi les were disclosed. That was very posi-

tive, and that was very quick, and we’re seeing some movements as well in terms of earlier resolution of some fi les.

“The assistant commissioner is working with assistant deputy ministers across the system and we’re seeing a lot more receptiv-ity and a lot more collaboration than we did in the last few days of the previous government.”

Your offi ce is still facing a signifi -cant backlog of complaints. Are you looking for more resources?

“We did seek additional funding through the budget. We did not get additional funding through the budget. We are still in discussion with the govern-ment. We will see in the next few months whether there will be additional funding coming to the offi ce.

“We defi nitely need more staff to deal with our fi les. Just to give you a sense, this past year we received over 2,000 complaints and we were only able to close not quite 1,300 this year. So there’s already, just for this past fi scal year, 700 complaints [in the] backlog. Already. Just for this year. So we’re at over 3,000 fi les in inventory.

“On an ongoing basis, to absorb this kind of volume, we would need at least 20 new peo-ple, 20 new investigators. We’re about 90 people, and out of that, we have usually about 77 per cent of the whole offi ce that works on investigations and 23 per cent that works on corporate services.

“On investigations—because some people are critical of this—from my offi ce, it’s not just investigators that work on inves-tigations. The lawyers work on investigations, directors work on investigations. We have an intake unit—they work on the inves-tigations. So that’s all part and parcel of how the investigations are managed, from the time that someone fi les a complaint with the offi ce.”

news@hilltimes.comThe Hill Times

‘Too early to tell’ if Liberals’ positive tone will last: Info czar ‘Honeymoon’ period is in full swing, she says, ahead of Access to Information Act review.

Continued from page 1

Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault at her offi ce in Gatineau, Que. on April 27. ‘We will have to see whether the sunny ways will continue,’ she says. The Hill Times photograph by Marie-Danielle Smith

7THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2016

NEWS DIPLOMACY

on the Hill, the show will be held in the Shaw Centre, the airy conference facility at 55 Colonel By Dr. in downtown Ottawa. The event will be open to the public and “everything is free,” according to an offi cial in the Saudi Embassy.

The Saudi Cultural Days event is held in various locations around the world each year, but has not been in Canada since 1991, according to the embassy. The cultural show is being planned while Canadian Foreign Minister Stéphane Dion (Saint-Laurent, Que.) and the Liberal government are under pressure for allowing the sale of armoured and weaponized military vehicles to the Saudi government, which has a history of human rights abuse.

The sale was originally brokered un-der the previous Conservative government in Canada.

The Saudi government has used what ap-pears to be the same type of Canadian-made vehicle, General Dynamics Land Systems’ light armoured vehicle or LAV, in its intervention in neighbouring Yemen’s civil war, the Globe and Mail reported. Mr. Dion has said “all the assess-ments that have been made up to today, since 1993, [have indicated] that the equipment has been properly used.”

A coalition of non-governmental orga-nizations including Amnesty International Canada, Project Ploughshares, the Inter-national Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, and the Canadian Council for International Co-operation (which in 2014-15 repre-sented 73 members) sent an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.), Mr. Dion, and other ministers April 27 urging them to reconsider their decision to issue export permits for the LAVs, call-ing it “immoral and unethical.”

Women, development on agendaThe public cultural event is intended to

“highlight the friendship between Saudi Arabia and Canada,” according to an emailed statement from Shaza Fahim, an offi cial in the Saudi Embassy.

The Saudi government held another Cultural Days event in Indonesia earlier this year, and has in the past held events in countries including Syria, Brazil, and Kyrgyzstan.

The event is scheduled to begin two months after the embassy uncharacteris-tically opened its doors to a few jour-nalists to witness the presentation of a $31,000 cheque to the United Way Ottawa in support of its work resettling Syrian refugees in Ottawa. The embassy hosted Mr. Dion, Senate Speaker George Furey, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, offi cials from Ottawa’s universities and members of the press for dinner following the cheque presentation. Saudi Ambassador Naif Bin Bandir AlSudairy declined to answer reporters’ questions about the arms sale on that occasion.

The Saudi government also received a trade delegation from Canada last month that included Conservative MP Randy Ho-back, former Conservative MP Ed Holder (from General Dynamics’ Canadian home

base in London, Ont.) and a range of busi-ness groups. Mr. Hoback (Prince Albert, Sask.) said he believes “millions of dollars” worth of business was done on the trip between Canadian and Saudi companies.

Mr. Hoback said he raised the issue of human rights with Mr. AlSudairy before departing on the trade mission, and did so with Saudi offi cials during the trip as well.

“I’m glad to see that they’re reaching out and doing things like [the Cultural Days] to help Canadians understand that there’s more to the relationship between Canada and Saudi Arabia than one deal,” said Mr. Hoback.

Mr. AlSudairy will be attending the cul-tural event, which will include seminars on Saudi-Canadian relations and on women and development, according to the Saudi Embassy.

The Saudi government has been consis-tently criticized in the West for its restric-tions on women’s rights, which includes a ban on driving and requirements for male relatives to approve actions ranging from marriage to obtaining a passport, accord-ing Human Rights Watch.

In a response to the Globe and Mail on the arms deal controversy, the Saudi Embassy in March criticized what it called “sensationalized and politicized” coverage of the $15-billion deal and outside attempts to interfere with internal affairs.

The Saudi government plans its Cultur-al Days events at least three years ahead of time, according to an emailed statement from the Saudi Embassy. The event has “nothing to do with the sale of armored vehicles,” the statement said.

A softer side of Saudi ArabiaWhether it is or not, the event is a good

idea for an embassy tasked with promoting close, positive ties with Canada, says John Capobianco, Fleishman-Hillard’s national lead consultant for public affairs.

“It never hurts countries to come in and showcase themselves to decision-makers within Canada,” said Mr. Capobianco.

The cultural event could help to “soften the image of Saudi Arabia” in the minds of federal politicians who must consider how to approach the country as the arms sale controversy swirls, he said.

The four-day showcase won’t make hu-man rights concerns go away, but it’s a step better than trying to improve the Saudi government’s image with a simple meet-ing or phone call with a federal decision-maker, he said.

If the event helps to move the needle of public opinion on Saudi Arabia and the arms sale, that will make it easier for Canada’s government to look more favour-ably upon Saudi Arabia in turn, he said.

peter@hilltimes.com@PJMazereeuw

Saudi government sending huge cultural delegation to OttawaThe event could help to ‘soften the image of Saudi Arabia’ in the minds of federal politicians, says one consultant.

TUESDAY, MAY 17 NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE

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teams as they tackle the

question of House decorum.

Scott Feschuk and Ruth Ellen

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Continued from page 1

Foreign Minister Stéphane Dion, right, joined Saudi Ambassador Naif Bin Bandir AlSudairy for dinner at the Saudi ambassador’s home in March. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia

Re: “Feds show little interest in tougher oversight of

mining fi rms’ actions abroad,” (The Hill Times, April 20, p. 1). In March the UN Committee on Economic, Social, and Cul-tural Rights slammed Canada on its failure to ensure that its mining, oil, and gas companies respect human rights in their work abroad.

It joined a growing chorus of international bodies decrying the lack of accountability regarding Canadian companies that work in countries where environmental and human rights protections are weak or non-existent. (Case in point: Honduras, which a UN expert warned in March was at risk of becoming “a lawless killing zone for hu-man rights defenders.” More than 100 Hondurans speak-ing out against destructive mining, dam, logging, and agriculture projects have been killed since 2010.)

The committee pointed to the ineffectiveness of the Offi ce of the Extractive Sector Corporate Social Responsi-bility Counsellor, a toothless mechanism created by the Harper government. It called on Canada to pass laws “requiring...corporations to conduct human rights impact assessments” before start-ing projects, create “effective mechanisms to investigate complaints,” and ensure “ac-cess to justice before domestic courts by victims of the con-duct of those corporations.”

Last month, we learned that newly elected Prime Min-ister Justin Trudeau’s ministers are collectively mute on the issue. Why the silence? We can only hope they’re working out the details of a real system of oversight, one that will fi nally create Canadian accountabil-ity that’s so urgently needed.

Karyn Keenan Director, Above Ground

Ottawa, Ont

It is my observation that our health-care system is

primarily reactive.We want to contain esca-

lating costs but do nothing much in the form of preven-tion, which could ultimately save billions.

It is common knowledge that much of the food con-sumed is pure junk, but many parents do not want to take responsibility for what goes into their bodies, let alone their children. According to a

recent report from the World Health Organization, diabetes is rampant around the world, as the United States continues to export its junk-food ideas.

The government can infl u-ence this by designating what goes into our food. The U.S. tried to reduce sugar and ran into the sugar lobby. We need a strong government to act on behalf of its citizens and resist the lobbyists.

Ivor GreenCalgary, Alta.

Re: “No reason for China to be upset over Taiwan

Night” (The Hill Times, April 27, p. 14). With only a for-eigner’s understanding, I will try to answer Scott Simon’s arguments in the article.

That Taiwan Night has been an annual affront to China for 20 years hardly lessens the insult. Taking Quebec, Scotland, Palestine (The West Bank and Gaza), First Nations’ territories, Catalonia, and the Basque

region of Spain as examples of geographical areas whose political status is a mat-ter for referendums, what makes a country is people. Few countries still recognize Taiwan as a country.

The government of China is so sure of its right that it is prepared to peacefully wait for Taiwan to rejoin the moth-erland, as did Hong Kong and Macau.

Andrew RomainOttawa, Ont.

Why the silence on mining oversight?

Let’s cut our sugar high

Taiwan Night’s age hardly lessens insult

THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 20168

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Good on Public Safety Minister Ralph Goo-dale for recognizing the need to create a

new body to oversee Canada’s border agency. Currently, there is no explicit review mecha-nism for it, he said.

He told The Hill Times this week that the border agency “undoubtedly” needs a new oversight mechanism, a tool that goes beyond the parliamentary committee he’s promised to set up to oversee a number of security agen-cies. He said the government is considering several options, including mechanisms similar to what already exist to review the RCMP and Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

Fourteen immigration detainees have died since 2000 while being held by the Canada Border Services Agency. This includes two in one week in March.

A coroner’s inquest into the death of 42-year-old Mexican migrant Lucia Vega Jimenez recommended the appointment of an indepen-dent ombudsman to mediate complaints, and a civilian body to investigate critical incidents involving people in CBSA custody. Ms. Jimenez hanged herself in December 2013 while de-tained in a Vancouver airport holding cell. She had been facing removal to Mexico.

These deaths are horrifi c on their own. They are also signs of deeper problems that

must be addressed by Mr. Goodale, in addi-tion to the creation of an oversight body.

The border agency, for instance, was so tight-lipped in the death of Abdurahman Ibrahim Hassan, who died last June after four years at the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Ont., that it refused to release even his name.

It is bewildering that Mr. Hassan, who had diabetes and bipolar disorder and who came to Canada from Somalia in 1993, was de-tained for four years in a provincial jail.

Canada keeps thousands of immigrants and asylum seekers locked up every year. Some spend years imprisoned, despite having committed no crime.

This is unconscionable for a country such as Canada that now wishes to stand on a record of fair treatment for migrants and asylum seekers. Detainees need proper support to deal with mental health conditions and other pressing medical issues. Detention must be used as a last resort and no one should be jailed for years on end unless they are convicted of a crime.

Human rights groups, United Nations bod-ies, and others have implored Canada to fol-low these fair and humane recommendations. Mr. Goodale is suggesting that he may be listening and is willing to act, we hope, before another detainee dies behind bars.

CBSA oversight, and more, needed

9THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2016

INSIDE DEFENCE IRAQ MISSION

OTTAWA—Last Thursday, CTV News broadcast a story from

the front lines in Kurdistan. The hook for this feature was Chief of Defence Staff General Jonathan Vance’s surprise visit to liaise with members of Canada’s special operations forces. There are about 200 special-forces members being deployed as trainers to assist in

preparing the Kurdish peshmerga militia to combat Daesh, the militant group also known as ISIL, ISIS, and the Islamic State.

The site where Gen. Vance was fi lmed was at a destroyed high-way bridge on the road to Mosul. The span over a muddy stream was purportedly blown up when defeated Daesh fi ghters withdrew from the region.

In anticipation of Vance’s arrival, the CTV crew fi lmed a special-forces soldier securing the northern side of the defunct bridge. This rugged trooper was decked out in full special-forces gear, including a helmet, sun-glasses, and beard. This soldier emphasized to the assembled me-dia team the numerous dangers their close proximity to the actual front lines posed.

The Kurdish media had openly broadcast the location and tim-ing of Vance’s visit, so there were heightened fears that Daesh would attempt an assault on such a high-profi le target. However, as breath-lessly as the CTV reporter tried to torque up the drama, a handful of Kurdish soldiers soon turned up on the southern side of the bombed-

out bridge. Wearing only berets and bereft of any body armour or combat gear, the Kurds waved like schoolboys to attract the camera’s attention. Their light-hearted antics quickly sucked the suspense out of the moment.

A Kurdish general was soon in front of the CTV camera lens, praising Canada in one breath, and then pleading with us to send more weapons with the next. Thus when Gen. Vance’s convoy rolled to a stop at the bridge, one of the ques-tions the reporter put to him was: when will the Kurds get new weap-ons? Vance had to explain that it is not Canada’s intention to re-equip the Kurdish militia, but rather to create an elite Kurdish commando unit with specifi c capabilities.

Another question put to Vance was when the offensive would begin to recapture the Daesh-held city of Mosul. Naturally enough, Vance sidestepped the question, as no one would really expect him to telegraph the international community’s strategic plans via a media interview.

A better question for Vance would have been: why are the Canadian soldiers wearing the distinctive Kurdistan fl ag on their uniforms? The red, white, and green striped fl ag with a yellow sunburst in the middle is evident everywhere throughout Iraqi Kurd-istan and it is defi nitely not the red, white, and black striped fl ag with Arabic letters in the middle that is the recognized fl ag of Iraq.

It remains Canada’s stated position that we are in support of a unifi ed Iraq, under a central Baghdad authority. The Kurdistan fl ag—fl own above all Kurdish government buildings, many pri-vate homes, military checkpoints, and on the uniforms of the pesh-merga fi ghters—symbolizes the Kurds’ quest for their own state.

We have deployed some of our most capable soldiers to assist in the training of the peshmerga, but that does not explain why our Ca-nadian soldiers would be autho-rized to wear the fl ag of Kurdis-tan on their combat uniforms.

Canada does not recognize

Kurdistan as a nation and, in fact, the Kurdish fl ag is seen as a provocation to central Iraqi au-thorities, but also in Turkey, Syria, and Iran where they have large Kurdish minorities and armed separatist movements.

It may seem cool for our soldiers to slap another Velcro patch on their uniforms, and no doubt the Kurdish peshmerga would smile approvingly at see-ing Canadians wearing a symbol of an independent Kurdish state. However, until such a time as the Canadian government alters its current stated policy of reunify-ing Iraq following the defeat of Daesh, our soldiers wearing those fl ags on their uniforms sends the wrong message.

As Canadian soldiers, de-ployed by Canada, they should wear the Canadian fl ag—and only the Canadian fl ag—on their uniforms.

Scott Taylor is editor and pub-lisher of Esprit de Corps magazine.

news@hilltimes.comThe Hill Times

LONDON, U.K.—How’s this for a staunch defence of free

speech in a secular state? Ear-lier this month, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh denounced anyone who criticized religion or expressed their own lack of religious faith in strik-ing terms: “I don’t consider such writings as freethinking but fi lthy words. Why would anyone write such words? It’s not at all accept-able if anyone writes against our prophet or other religions.”

So does she mean that it’s okay to kill people who write

such words? Hack them to death with machetes, usually? She didn’t say yes, but she didn’t exactly say no either. And this is regrettable, because quite a few people are being hacked to death in Bangladesh these days.

In the current wave of mur-ders, most of the victims have been “secular” bloggers who pub-licly stated that they were atheists and offered reasons for their lack of belief. They did not criticize or mock Islam directly. But merely insisting that religious faith was not necessary or rational was enough to “hurt religious senti-ment.” For some people, it was reason enough to kill them.

Four high-profi le secular bloggers were hacked to death in separate attacks in Bangladesh last year, in a campaign of murder that was clearly more than just random incidents of religious rage. What was remarkable was the response of the government—or rather, its lack of response.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina leads a country of 160 million people that is offi cially committed to de-fending the freedoms of speech and belief of citizens of every religion (and of no religion at all). But while she publicly deplored the murders, she was careful at the same time

to insinuate that the bloggers were outrageous people who had in some way deserved to be killed.

She also insisted that these murders were the work of the main opposition party, the Ban-gladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), or more precisely of its political ally, the Jamaat-e-Islami, the country’s largest Islamist party. She fi rmly denied that foreign extremist forces like Islamic State or Al Qaeda (which would certainly approve of the killings) are active in the country.

This probably seems to Sheikh Hasina to be sound politics in a country where 90 percent of the population is Muslim. So while not openly approving of murder, she publicly sympathizes with conservative Muslims who think they have the right to live in a so-ciety where their beliefs are never publicly questioned.

It’s also good politics for her to blame the violence exclusively on the opposition parties, since admitting that foreign Islamists are involved would mean that she was failing in her duty to defend the country. But the result of her pragmatism and passivity has been a rapid expansion in the range of targets that are coming under attack by the extremists.

On April 23, Professor Rezaul Karim Siddique, who edited a liter-ary magazine and founded a music school—and never blogged about religion at all—was murdered by machete-wielding men as he left his home in the northern city of Rajshahi to go to the university. He was an observant Muslim, but he was involved in cultural activities that many hardline groups con-demn as “un-Islamic.”

The following day, gay rights activist Xulhaz Mannan, editor of a LGBT magazine, and ac-tor Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy were hacked to death in the magazine’s offi ces in the capital, Dhaka.

In other recent violence religious minorities have been attacked: Shia and Ahmadi mosques, Christian priests and Hindus. (Several of the murdered bloggers belonged to the 10-per cent Hindu minority, and their issue was religious belief in gen-eral, not Islam in particular.)

So is Bangladeshi society drifting into the chronic ter-rorism against minorities of all sorts that affl icts its former ruler, Pakistan? The answer, unfortu-nately, is probably yes. The blame lies mainly with the two women who have polarized Bangladesh’s political life for so long.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is one of only two survivors of the family of Mujibur Rahman, the leader of Bangladesh’s indepen-dence struggle and its fi rst prime minister. (He was massacred with most of the rest of his family in a military coup in 1975.) The oppo-sition leader, Khaleda Zia, is the widow of General Ziaur Rahman, who led a subsequent military coup and declared Islam to be the state religion, only to be killed in yet another coup in 1981.

In theory, at least, Sheikh Ha-sina’s Awami League represents the ideal of a secular Bangladesh that embraces its minorities, and Khale-da Zia’s BNP depends mainly on the support of conservative Sunni Muslims whose ideal society is ex-plicitly Islamic. Such divisions exist in every Muslim society, but they are made far sharper by the mutual hatred of the two women who have utterly dominated Bangladesh’s politics for the past 25 years.

The BNP’s alliance with Islamist parties pushes it ever closer to the religious extremists, and Sheikh Hasina’s pandering to conservative Islamic sentiment (in order not to lose devout Muslim voters to the BNP) is taking her party in the same direction. And Islamic State and Al Qaeda defi -nitely are active in the country. Bangladesh is in deep trouble.

Gwynne Dyer is a United King-dom-based independent journalist.

news@hilltimes.comThe Hill Times

Why are Canadians in Iraq wearing the Kurdish fl ag?

Bangladesh minorities at risk

Until Canada alters its policy of reunifying Iraq after the Islamic State’s defeat, our soldiers wearing those fl ags sends the wrong message.

Politics is keeping the country’s PM from doing more to stop the killing of secular bloggers and liberals.

GLOBAL AFFAIRS PLURALISM

SCOTT TAYLOR

GWYNNE DYER

CTV cam-eras cap-tured these Canadian soldiers wearing the Kurdish fl ag on their uniforms while at work in Iraq last week. Screenshots courtesy of CTV/Toronto Star

THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 201610NEED TO KNOW MEDIA

OTTAWA—There’s an old saying about the ivory-tower types who write

editorials for newspapers: they’re like the people who ride down out of the mountains after the battle and shoot the wounded.

Some politicians might say that applies to all journalists, and it’s true public offi ce

holders take a lot of punishment as they carry on through the highs and lows of their careers.

Of course, you won’t get any apologies from the media. It goes without saying that reporters and editors consider it their job to try to hold elected offi cials to account, and let the chips fall where they may.

While the Ottawa media’s commit-ment to doing so in an unrelenting way may have waxed and waned over the 150 years of the Parliamentary Press Gal-lery—an anniversary being celebrated this year—there’s no doubt political life at the national level in Canada in recent decades has been a perilous business.

Pierre Trudeau is remembered today as one of the country’s modern heroes because of his efforts to bring in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. But when he stepped down from the prime minis-ter’s job in 1984, he was widely disliked as a leader who had left the country in a shambles.

(Oh, speaking of politicians and the media: what about the photographer who

took the 1974 picture of Robert Stanfi eld fumbling a football, which put paid to the Progressive Conservatives’ chances of win-ning power?)

As ill-fated politicians go, though, it’s hard to top Joe Clark, who lasted only nine months as prime minister and lost his minority government because someone neglected to count the likely opposition numbers in a confi dence vote on the fed-eral budget in the Commons.

Pierre Trudeau’s successor, John Turner, never seemed to fi nd his way as Liberal leader, suffering the unprecedented ig-nominy of a revolt against his leadership within his own party right in the middle of an election campaign.

Then there was Brian Mulroney, who was probably fonder of journalists—at least before he got to 24 Sussex—than most politicos. As one who went from win-ning a huge majority in 1988 to widespread unpopularity a few years later, it’s not sur-prising that he used to say, in an admirably brief encapsulation, that Canada is a hard country to govern.

The media hammered Mulroney’s Progressive Conservatives, digging up a series of spending outrages by his fellow PCs and Mulroney cronies—a theme that only got worse, unbelievably enough, after Mulroney was gone from offi ce. Who can now forget the image of the former prime minister taking wads of cash from a so-called arms merchant?

To his credit, Mulroney tried to ad-dress the glaring irregularity of having the country’s second-most-populous province holding out against signing the Constitu-tion. But the whole project of course even-tually backfi red and nearly led to Canada’s breakup.

Following Mulroney, Kim Campbell never had a chance and the PCs suffered a historical defeat, going into the 1993 election from 156 Commons seats to two—prompting inevitable jokes about caucus meetings in a phone booth.

Jean Chrétien, previously passed over as party leader, went on to win three majority elections as the Liberal standard bearer. Despite that, he was undermined by the power-hungry Paul Martin gang. Chré-tien’s tenure was also marred of course by the sponsorship scandal that emerged un-der his watch. The cascading scandal was a fi eld day for reporters month after month and the fallout knocked the Liberals into also-ran status in elections for years.

As theatre goes, it was unprecedented: Chrétien left the whole country scratch-ing heads when, testifying at the Gomery commission, he opened his briefcase and brought out golf balls signed by U.S. presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clin-

ton, among others. In Chrétien’s typically inimitable fashion, it was a rejoinder to a comment that Justice John Gomery had made to a journalist earlier in the sponsor-ship hearings, when the judge put down Chrétien for being “small-town cheap.”

(And Chrétien got the last laugh over Gomery’s totally unnecessary and ill-advised comment. In 2010, an appeal court upheld a ruling that Gomery had been biased against the Liberal prime minister and therefore vacated Gomery’s conclusion that Chrétien had been responsible for the sponsorship scandal.)

Based on his success as fi nance min-ister, Paul Martin enjoyed cross-country acclaim that made him one of the most popular Canadian politicians of modern times. But as prime minister he appeared to be spinning his wheels. He never over-came the nickname bestowed by journal-ists at The Economist, who labelled him Mr. Dithers.

Who knows what to say about Stephen Harper? I always had the impression he thought the whole journalistic exercise, with reporters raising questions in an ad-versarial manner, was beneath him—or at least illegitimate in some way.

He certainly had the worst relations with the Parliamentary Press Gallery of any prime minister of recent decades. Harper’s supporters thought the Ottawa media were a bunch of left-wing hacks who were out to get him. But in fact the Conservative government received pretty good coverage, on balance, during its years in power. Overall, by the time Harper be-came prime minister, Canada’s news out-lets were more conservative-minded than they had been in several previous decades.

Harper had a good run, chalking up two minority election victories and a majority in 2011. His worst moment appears to have come at the hands of reporter Bob Fife, who uncovered the secret $90,000 cheque Mr. Harper’s then-chief of staff Nigel Wright wrote for Mike Duffy in an effort to quash an embarrassing uproar over Duffy’s expenses.

In the long run, Harper will probably be remembered for being the prime minister who presided over the decline of the Que-bec separatist threat, which had preoccu-pied most of his recent predecessors.

But the unforgiving mills of history caught up with him, too, as he lost in a most unexpected and humiliating fashion to the Liberals under the leadership, of all people, of the son of the man whose na-tional energy policies motivated Harper’s entire political enterprise.

Les Whittington is an Ottawa journalist and a regular contributor to The Hill Times.

The Hill Times

Politics takes its toll: Thoughts on the Parliamentary Press Gallery’s 150th anniversary From the elder Trudeau to Harper, reporters hold elected offi cials to account, and let the chips fall where they may.

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LES WHITTINGTON

Reuters photographer Jim Young and other photojournalists take photos of former prime minister Jean Chrétien as he answers questions at the Gomery commission in Ottawa on Feb. 8, 2005. The fallout from the scandal knocked the Liberals into also-ran status in elections for years, says Les Whittington. The Hill Times photographs by Jake Wright

11THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2016

PLAIN SPEAK LEADERS’ SALARIES

OTTAWA—Wood purchased. Nails at the ready. I expect to

be crucifi ed by some readers of this column once they have fi n-ished reading. Why? Read on.

There seems to be a furor in some quarters these days be-cause, shockingly, some political parties in this country are topping up the salaries of their leaders. Imagine that. Crazy stuff, really.

Yup, those schlep politicians should get the square root of shag-all for their services. The British Columbia Liberals there-fore must be utterly cracked for giving Premier Christy Clark a $50,000 stipend for her work as party leader. Even that guy Brad Wall in Saskatchewan is getting some extra cash from his party; utter madness on the Prairies.

If Christy and Brad want more money, they should be organizing bottle drives on their own time to pick up a few extra nickels. It goes without saying those empties must have been personally purchased and not cast-offs from government receptions. And they better use their own frigging vehicles to take them to the beer store.

How political parties choose to spend their money is entirely up to political parties if that money is privately raised. If the donors are prepared to give and members are prepared to support the al-location of those resources by the parties then that is their business. As long as the spending is legiti-mate, properly disclosed, subject to proper fi nancial controls, and audited. Really, what is the issue?

Christy Clark got herself in some trouble on the disclosure front because she wasn’t as forthcoming as she should have been about her pay supplement. Yet for some in the B.C. NDP to be screaming bloody murder about it is mind numbing given their leader apparently received some form of clothing allowance. The real crime would have been if John Horgan, the NDP leader, spent the money at Moores; joking of course—that is a fi ne haberdashery.

Frankly, wouldn’t you rather have political parties looking af-ter the political pay and expenses of their leaders and other high-profi le fi gures? Some people are

still rightly spitting mad because a certain senator used our money to expense a personal trainer. If the Conservatives bought that guy a Bowfl ex, no one would have given a damn.

There always seems to be an underlying tone when it comes to the debate about leaders getting top-ups from their parties. It is as if offence is taken and senses have been abandoned because a politician is getting more than they should. The expectation from some is that politicians must take a vow of poverty as a nun takes an oath of chastity. But ultimately we are screwing ourselves if we don’t think money matters to

people who are in or contemplat-ing public service.

Most people don’t go into poli-tics to get rich. Some politicians get very rich after their time in offi ce. Think of people like former premiers Mike Harris and Frank McKenna. Who is to say these two wouldn’t have become wealthy anyway, as they are all quite able. But you need to pay reasonably competitive salaries if you want to hope that politics is in the mix for all manner of job seekers.

We live in era when we should take no offence to the question: “Well, how much money can I make being a politician?” Noble callings are nice. Public service as a vocation, even better. But money does actually talk!

No one is arguing the nearly $200,000 Christy Clark makes or the about $175,000 or more MPs get is chump change. But these aren’t exorbitant wages either, and much less than many private-sector equivalent positions.

And in the case of Clark, if her party thinks she is worth more because of all they ask of her, then let them fi ll their boots. That is their call. If you don’t support that, then don’t donate, or vote against her when the opportunity presents itself. Take solace in how nice John Horgan’s suit looks on him when you do.

Tim Powers is vice-chairman of Summa Strategies and manag-ing director of Abacus Data.

The Hill Times

OTTAWA-Perhaps it was the impatience of youth.

More likely, it was the impa-tience of a First Nations generation meeting a prime minister who has raised expectations sky high.

When Justin Trudeau visited Saskatoon’s Oskayak High School last week, he got his share of self-ies and delighted squeals, but he got something else—tough ques-tions from First Nations teens on their futures and his promises.

They were not smitten with celebrity. They were showcasing themselves as the potential lead-ers of a First Nations generation that will hold Trudeau and his successors at their word when they speak of a new relationship.

They asked Trudeau about First Nations suicides, genocide, Third World living conditions, and respect for treaties.

What are we physically going to see with your budgetary invest-ments, asked Mafi f Singer.

Why is this taking so long, asked Charisa Tootoosis.

When Tahris Bear, a 19-year-old from Sweetgrass First Nation rose, she stumbled briefl y, betray-ing her nervousness, before she found her voice.

“How do you intend to honour the promises your ancestors made with mine exactly written in all the signed treaties across Canada, to make up and pay for the acts of genocide our ancestors were subject to long before and after the signing of Treaty Six?

“How do you, Justin, with all your politicians and representa-tives, plan to right the wrongs of the past 22 elected prime ministers who failed?”

“Are we not considered Cana-dians as well? If we are, why do you allow the First People of this land to endure and live in Third World conditions?’’

Trudeau’s answer wasn’t bad, but it was rambling, and as a gen-eral rule of thumb with this prime minister (and most politicians) the longer the answer, the less of an answer it actually is.

Afterward, Bear told the Saskatoon Star Phoenix she was underwhelmed, that she received a “politician’s answer.’’

The point is, Trudeau has promised First Nations much and he had better deliver.

He has backed much of it with an $8.4-billion spending commit-ment over fi ve years in the recent federal budget.

He has promised to end boil-water advisories in fi ve years. Thursday he visited Shoal Lake, a First Nations community on the Manitoba-Ontario border that has been under a boil-water advisory for two decades. He was accom-panied by a VICE News crew in a private visit for a coming docu-mentary, simultaneously showing he believes he can deliver on his promises, knows he has already funded a road that will free up the isolated community, understands the value of the massively staged photo-op, and doesn’t mind an-

gering other news organizations barred from joining him.

He will convene an inquiry into murdered and missing indigenous women and girls. He has promised to begin anew the nation-to-nation relationship with First Nations.

These are big promises and events keep reminding how big these challenges are.

The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has given the Liberals two weeks to comply with its January ruling, which said the government discriminated against First Nations children on reserves by not providing them with the same welfare services as exist elsewhere.

Eleven suicide attempts in one night in Attawapiskat highlighted what some are calling a national First Nations suicide epidemic and a fi re that claimed nine lives in Pikangikum in northern Ontario highlighted the substandard housing and lack of services and running water on First Nations reserves.

Trudeau told the Saskatoon students that change is like turning around an ocean liner and that Ottawa can’t do it alone. It will take billions of more dollars and many more years to erase the scar of the treatment of First Nations on the Canadian morality, he said.

Indigenous Canadians, too, have a lot of work to do, he told them, and they and his govern-ment must work together.

If Trudeau cannot deliver, it will be the next generation embodied in Oskayak that will hold him and his successors ac-countable. This is a school that is a home to 300 students from 51 First Nations across Saskatch-ewan. Most of them live on their own. Twenty per cent have chil-dren of their own.

These are teens who did not fi t in elsewhere, but now celebrate their history and their culture and daily discuss treaty rights, hous-ing issues, homelessness, and missing and murdered women.

The students demand that, says principal Bernadette Lal-iberte. Such issues are never far from their minds, she told me.

They had less than 24 hours to prepare questions for Trudeau. But this was not some social sci-ences class. These kids are living this and this is the generation that will keep our politicians honest.

Tim Harper is a national affairs writer for The Toronto Star. This column was released on April 29.

The Hill Times

So political parties top up leaders’ pay, what’s wrong with that?

Trudeau sets himself a high bar on promises to First Nations

How parties choose to spend their money is entirely up to them if that money is privately raised and properly disclosed.

Indigenous high school students ask pointed questions of the PM.

INSIDE POLITICS INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS

TIM HARPER

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau greets Elder Evelyn Commanda-Dewache during the closing ceremony of the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission, at Rideau Hall in June 2015. The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright

TIM POWERS

British Columbia Premier Christy Clark, pictured speaking to reporters in Ottawa last November, is under fi re because her party tops up her salary, which is already close to $200,000. The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright

THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 201612NEWS FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Mr. Singh instead interacted with Indo-Canadians and non-resident Indians - known as ‘NRIs’ - via Skype.

When asked about the Canadian govern-ment’s involvement in the re-routing of

Mr. Singh’s North American political tour, spokesperson Francois Lasalle pointed to a government policy banning political campaigning by foreigners, and wrote in an email that “Global Affairs Canada has made this policy very clear to all foreign missions in Canada (including bringing it to the at-tention of the Indian High Commission in Ottawa) and will continue to do so.”

Canada’s government enacted a policy in September 2011 that reads “the Government of Canada will continue to refuse requests by foreign States to include Canada in their respective extraterritorial electoral constitu-encies. Also, the Department will not allow foreign governments to conduct election campaigns in Canada or establish foreign political parties and movements in Canada.”

Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains (Mississauga-Malton, Ont.) appeared to disagree with the government’s policy, saying that his constituents are engaged in international politics and that allowing politicians to visit communities is a matter of Charter rights.

“I think we have a very vibrant dias-pora here in Canada that’s very engaged in domestic and international politics. I think we’re a country that supports a Charter. Freedom of expression, freedom of opinion, freedom of assembly. These are all Canadian attributes and we welcome any opportunity that politicians have when they want to come and engage with the diaspora, and I think that’s the message I heard from my constituents and that’s the message I relayed on to them,” he told The Hill Times.

Mr. Singh himself characterized the ban on his political action in much the same way, writing a letter to Mr. Trudeau on the matter. “It feels like a gag order that has left a very bad taste,” he wrote, according to a report from India Today.

Liberal MP Ramesh Sangha (Bramp-ton Centre, Ont.), who was born in India and represents a riding with many Indo-

Canadians, was of a different opinion, and said he did not think that too many of his constituents were concerning themselves with Indian politics.

“I don’t think people will be so crazy to talk to him,” he said. “There’s Indian politics there, this is here. People, some-times they do have interest...back in their country, because their hearts are there still. But at the same time I don’t think they are so crazy that they want him here.”

He did not specify whether he was in support of the policy itself or not.

The offi ce of Liberal MP Sonia Sidhu (Brampton South, Ont.) said she did not wish to comment on Indian politics be-cause the issue was too divisive amongst her constituents.

Amarinder Singh is an MP for Amritsar, a constituency in the Indian province of Punjab. He is currently the president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, the provincial affi liate of the Indian National Congress party, currently in opposition to the government. He held the position of Chief Minister of Punjab - the equivalent to a premier in Canada - from 2002 to 2007. He is seeking re-election to this position in the 2017 Punjab election.

The Canadian policy banning political campaigning by foreign politicians was put in place by the Conservative government, and was stressed by MP Jason Kenney and former minister of multiculturalism Tim Uppal. The Times of India reported in July 2014 that Mr. Kenney said, “We’ll encourage foreign visitors, if they are politicians to come here on their private visit or to promote bilateral relations, not to get overtly mixed in their own country’s domestic politics on Canadian soil.”

Gurpatwant Pannun, the legal represen-tative for Sikhs for Justice, the group that launched the complaint in the fi rst place, said Indian political leaders coming to Canada end up dividing the community.

He said his group is actively trying to keep Indian politicians out of Canada be-cause they come here mainly for fundraising purposes, and that it isn’t always fair.

“They make them do the gathering, then they take their money, and if you speak against them, then they openly threaten you,” he said. “If anybody in Canada talks about the policies of the political leaders who come from Punjab, they fear repercus-sions for their families back home.”

Mr. Singh did not respond to a request for comment by The Hill Times.

Mr. Pannun, who acquired the legal services of Canadian law fi rm Goldblatt Partners in his quest to block Indian politi-cians from campaigning here, has recently submitted another complaint to Global Affairs against Mr. Singh’s rival candidate: Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party.

“We understand that Captain Amarind-er Singh announced the cancellation of his planned election activities in Canada after being informed by the Indian government that they were in violation of the Policy. We commend GAC for its prompt action in enforcing the Policy,” it reads.

“In the interest of consistent enforce-ment of the Policy, we are bringing to your attention information that we recently became aware of concerning activities of representatives of another Indian political party, Aam Aadmi Party.”

The letter cites several Indian news ar-ticles as its sources of information, one of which states that Mr. Kejriwal is planning trips to Vancouver and Toronto this year.

The letter, signed by civil rights lawyer Louis Century, also referred to Mr. Singh’s participation in Skype meetings with Cana-dians, and asked the department to “reiterate its objections to the Indian government in light of Amarinder’s subsequent statements.”

Mr. Singh went on to host political events in Los Angeles, California.

Global Affairs Canada has previously enforced this policy against politicians from France and Tunisia who had planned political efforts in Canada in 2014.

cnash@hilltimes.comThe Hill Times

Politician’s cancelled visit causes tension in Indo-Canadian communities ‘We welcome any opportunity that politicians have when they want to come and engage with the diaspora,’ says Minister Navdeep Bains.

INNOVATION IN SENIORS

CAREJUNE 2, 2016 | 11:30AM - 5PM

SHAW CENTRE

EVENTS

PRESENTED BY:

On June 2, join the discussion on innovative practices and policies for an aging population

The federal government’s commitment to a new Health Accord is considered to be essential to the sustainability of Canada’s health care system. As provinces and territories struggle to meet the health care needs of their ageing population, the Forum addresses opportunities to be able to deliver a health system for all Canadians.

Seniors today account for 14 percent of Canada’s population. It is expected to increase to more than a quarter of the population by 2036. The new Liberal government has recognized that something needs to be done. In this year’s budget speech, Finance Minister Hon. Bill Morneau announced his intent invest in innovative practices to protect the integrity of the health care system and find ways to work with partners to identify solutions.

hilltimes.com/events

Continued from page 1

13THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2016

OPINION ENVIRONMENT

Outside our borders, Canada is perhaps best known for its

spectacular wilderness: its lakes, rivers, mountains, and coastlines draw visitors from all over the globe.

Canada’s new prime minister, Justin Trudeau, pointed to that same “rugged, natural beauty” when he campaigned on making environmental and clean energy leadership a priority.

And with his new government in place, Canada has launched an

unprecedented national project in line with those campaign prom-ises: crafting a climate plan that the federal government and all 13 provinces and territories can agree on.

Canada’s premiers and prime minister said this new national plan has to be strong enough to—at least—respect our coun-try’s regional differences and hit Canada’s 2030 climate target. And it has to come together before October.

It’s a very tall order, especially given the very different economic makeup of Canada’s provinces. Climate action in Quebec looks very different than it does in Sas-katchewan or in the Yukon.

But for any Canadians feeling daunted by the task ahead, we have good news: the European Union took on the same assign-ment and emerged with a solid package of climate and energy commitments that all its member countries agreed to.

What can Canada learn? The EU’s experience offers four lessons that may offer guidance as Canada starts down the path of crafting climate policy for a highly diverse society.

First, set goals for what you want to build, not just what you want to cut. Setting clean energy goals changes the conversation from one about how to allocate pain to one about cashing in on benefi ts. The EU climate pack-age for 2030 didn’t just tell the world by how much the EU would reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The agreements also contain targets for the clean economy the EU is building, emphasizing the positive return from investments in clean energy and effi ciency.

Second, carbon pricing is neces-sary but not suffi cient. A price on carbon is an extremely effective climate policy tool: it makes pollut-ing choices more expensive, thus rewarding clean choices through-out the economy. But the kinds of prices that are politically feasible today aren’t high enough to trans-form the way we use energy—and clean energy faces barriers that aren’t just related to price. So while the EU has had a cap-and-trade system in place for over a decade, carbon pricing is a foundation that supports many more layers of cli-mate policies throughout the EU.

Third, agreeing on a policy package is just the fi rst step. Can-

ada’s governments have six tough months of climate analysis and negotiations ahead of them—and then the real work begins. Having a credible plan is essential, and it would be a real breakthrough in a country that’s never made a serious national effort to achieve a climate target. But implement-ing policy promises can be even tougher than committing to them.

The EU’s experience shows that governments need to be in this for the long haul, as do the businesses, experts, non-governmental organizations, and citizens who care about climate action. We fi nd that governments are far more likely to stay on track when they keep their eyes fi rmly fi xed on the rewards of the clean energy transition—jobs, GDP growth, and investment, along with environmental and reputational gains—than when they’re arguing about how they don’t need to do as much as their neighbour.

So a fi nal lesson from the EU’s experience, one that the EU itself is still working on: a good planning process wraps up fairly quickly, so that the lobbyists can move over to make space for the engineers. Once companies know the rules of the game—and real-ize that they can’t avoid playing it—experience shows that change can happen at a far lower cost than industry and government predicted.

Today, the EU and Canada face common challenges in craft-ing climate policies that work for

large and diverse jurisdictions. Both governments see huge po-tential in the fast-growing clean energy economy, and both want to ensure they are positioned to succeed in a clean energy world.

Both contributed to the success of the Paris climate negotiations, which resulted in an agreement that brought the world together in committing to action to avoid dangerous climate change. In the process, this gave a worldwide boost to the clean energy sector’s momentum.

But while the EU has been a longtime leader, Canada’s federal government spent most of the past decade missing in action on climate change and clean energy. The one advantage of arriving late at the party? We can learn from those who came before us. The lessons we’ve outlined here are just the beginning of what could be a very rich collaboration.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the EU’s diplo-matic presence in Canada. With Canada’s climate agenda fi nally kicking into high gear, the tim-ing is perfect to celebrate that anniversary with a Canada-EU dialogue on climate change and clean energy—hopefully accom-panied by an ambitious climate plan in Canada.

Merran Smith is the executive director of Clean Energy Canada. Teresa Ribera is director of ID-DRI, a Paris-based sustainable development policy institute.

news@hilltimes.comThe Hill Times

What Canada can learn from the EU’s climate policy Europe’s experience may offer guidance as Canada starts crafting climate policy for a highly diverse society.

MERRAN SMITH ANDTERESA RIBERA

European Union Ambassador Marie-Anne Coninsx and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau enter a reception on Feb. 18 marking the 40th anniversary of the EU’s diplomatic presence in Canada. The EU and Canada face common challenges in crafting climate policies that work for large and diverse jurisdictions, say the authors. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia

THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 201614OPINION FINANCE

OTTAWA—Given the sluggish growth of the global economy, the economic

growth of China, the world’s second larg-est economy, is very much in the interna-tional spotlight.

According to statistics released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics a few days ago, China’s gross domestic product grew 6.7 per cent year-on-year in the fi rst quarter of this year, slightly lower than last year’s average of 6.9 per cent, but within the 6.5 per cent to seven per cent target range for growth aimed by the Chinese govern-ment. China’s economic growth remains one of the highest compared to the devel-oped economies and other emerging econo-mies, maintaining a medium-high speed.

The positive changes in China’s major economic indicators, such as production, demand, prices, and volume of physical goods, demonstrate that the country’s eco-nomic performance in the fi rst quarter was better than expected.

China’s employment rate is stable and increasing, with new jobs created in the fi rst quarter already meeting 31.8 per cent of the annual target. The economic structure is improving and the economy is developing rapidly with new driving forces for growth gaining momentum.

China’s new strategic industries have grown 10 per cent and its high-tech indus-tries expanded 9.2 per cent. Consumption keeps going strong, with increased house-hold spending on housing, transportation, education, old-age care, social security, health care, and tourism. Medium- to high-end consumption is booming.

China’s imports and exports are gradually picking up, especially its exports, which have stopped falling and are starting to rise again. All this has laid down a solid foundation for economic growth throughout the year.

In April, while downgrading its global economic growth outlook by 0.2 percent-age points and cutting its forecast for growth prospects of the United States and euro area by 0.2 percentage points, the International Monetary Fund upgraded China’s economic growth outlook by 0.2 percentage points. Similarly, JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, and other fi nancial institutions have also raised China’s economic growth forecast. This is a strong indication that the international community is optimistic about China’s economic development.

As the Chinese economy grows in size, it would be unrealistic and irratio-nal always to maintain the double-digit growth taken for granted in previous years. China’s GDP totalled more than US$10 tril-lion in 2015. A mere one per cent growth today is equal to 2.5 per cent 10 years ago. China’s current annual GDP increment in absolute terms is almost the size of a medium-sized economy.

China’s GDP amounted to 15,852.6 billion yuan (about US$2,443.3 billion) in the fi rst quarter of 2016. Calculated at 2015 prices, the fi rst-quarter GDP rose by 985.1 billion yuan (about US$151.8 billion) year-on-year, 22.2 billion yuan (about US$3.42 billion) more over the same period of last year. The rate of China’s GDP growth may be lower than before, but the real growth is more sub-stantial and bigger in size than in the past.

China’s economy is now at a critical juncture of transformation, and is going through a transition shifting from tradi-tional drivers of growth to new ones. The economy is also grappling with the throes of structural adjustment and considerable downward pressure. The opportunities are unprecedented, but so are the challenges.

Actions speak louder than words. In the face of these challenges and the complex economic situation, the Chinese government has put forward the concept of innovation-driven, co-ordinated, green, open, and inclusive development. China will improve its policies of macroeconomic regulation and press ahead with supply-side structural reform.

China will vigorously implement the strategy of innovation-driven growth and promote industrial innovation and upgrad-ing. China will cut overcapacity and excess inventory, deleverage, reduce costs, and strengthen weak links in development so as to improve the quality and effi ciency of economic development, and strengthen economic sustainability.

According to the latest IMF World Economic Outlook, China is navigating a momentous but complex transition toward more sustainable growth based on con-sumption and services. Ultimately, that process will benefi t both China and the world.

China remains the world’s most impor-tant engine for global growth, contributing up to 25 per cent of the world economic growth. In the next fi ve years, China’s econ-omy will continue to grow at a minimum rate of 6.5 per cent. Its imports are expected to reach US$10 trillion and its outbound di-rect investment will exceed US$600 billion.

China will adhere to the policy of reform and opening up, and promote com-mon development and win-win co-opera-tion with other countries.

China is advancing the Belt and Road initiative (the development of a land-based Silk Road Economic Belt and an oceango-ing 21st Century Maritime Silk Road) and developing international production capac-ity co-operation. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, established at China’s initiative, is already up and running. The

New Development Bank BRICS has an-nounced its fi rst loan program.

China is Canada’s second largest trad-ing partner. China’s development will pro-vide opportunities for bilateral trade and economic co-operation. The commonalities between Chinese and Canadian develop-ment strategies and the complementarities between our industrial structures promise huge potential for trade and economic co-operation between our two countries.

China is ready to work closely with Canada to promote greater progress in bilateral trade and economic co-operation through, among other things, the negotia-tion of a free trade agreement at an early date; the development of large projects in high-speed rail, nuclear energy, and lique-fi ed natural gas; the building of a China-Canada maritime energy corridor; and the creation and cultivation of new highlights of co-operation in energy resources, infra-structure development, new manufacturing industries, and the green economy.

Luo Zhaohui is China’s ambassador to Canada.

The Hill Times

A couple weeks ago, nearly 30 people from Global Affairs Canada partici-

pated in two days of mediation training at

the Canadian Foreign Service Institute in Gatineau. The focus was to introduce the topic of formal and informal diplomacy in political or armed confl ict situations, plus to take a look at some of the practical skills required to help prevent or resolve these types of confl icts. Government offi cials participating in the training program also had a chance to explore a possible new global role for Canada as an “honest bro-ker” on the world stage.

The workshop facilitators included a number of Canadian mediation experts from PeaceBuild, the Canadian Interna-tional Institute of Applied Negotiation, Partnership Africa Canada, and the Uni-versity of Ottawa. Additionally, retired gen-eral John De Chastelain spoke of his exten-sive experience working for many years on the Northern Ireland peace process and, in particular, the diffi culties of building trust between long-time foes.

The timing for this training was good since a meeting of Canadian foreign minis-try representatives, diplomats, academics, and former United Nations peacekeeping offi cials was held at Global Affairs Canada earlier this year to discuss a newly ex-panded peacekeeping role for Canada that might also involve greater support for UN mediation efforts.

During the two days of discussions a couple weeks ago, participants agreed that this is a good direction for Canada’s foreign policy to take and that we can play a helpful role. In fact, it was agreed that the range of possibilities is huge and there are many ways for Canada to show it is com-mitted to mediating global confl icts. These options range from supporting others already actively mediating, to building and supporting existing Canadian mediation capacity, to just getting started with doing the work ourselves.

Interestingly, it emerged over the course of the workshop that there are indeed many Canadians who have been or cur-rently are working away quietly on numer-ous mediation efforts. In some cases we

are leading the process, and in many other cases Canadians are playing helpful and much-needed support roles.

While an answer to the question of “what can and should Canada do?” wasn’t decided at the training program, just the fact that there were so many possible ways forward identifi ed was indeed a useful exercise for moving this conversation along. And, as one person remarked, no matter what direction we eventually take we should probably start by systematically documenting, raising the profi le of, and celebrating the successes of Canadians who are or have been mediating.

One thing is clear: the world needs more Canada, and if we can fi nd a place on the global stage as a helpful player in pre-venting and resolving confl icts that builds upon our existing strengths, past experi-ence, and good reputation, then everyone benefi ts.

Evan Hoffman is a senior associate at the Canadian International Institute of Applied Negotiation.

news@hilltimes.comThe Hill Times

China’s economy growing amid restructuring

Honest broker 2.0

The country is ready to work with Canada to negotiate a free trade deal at an early date.

Government offi cials recently spent a couple days brainstorming how Canada can help mediate global confl icts.

OPINION CONFLICT RESOLUTION

LUO ZHAOHUI

EVAN HOFFMAN

Skyscrapers in Yuzhong District in Chongqing, China. China’s GDP grew 6.7 per cent year-on-year in the fi rst quarter of this year, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics. Flickr photograph by Thomas Bä chinger

15THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2016

OPINION SECURITY

Rhetoric and reality are often seen as opposites when issues

of public policy are discussed. For many, rhetoric is the favourite

instrument of those who wish to bedazzle and mislead in order to confuse when serious issues are at hand. Reality, on the other hand, is seen as the ultimate check on those who launch high-fl ying statements—non-answers for serious questions.

For the most part this dichoto-my is tolerated as a useful aspect of public discourse. Rhetoric is accepted for what it is; knowing reality will intervene and provide all with the needed answers.

Of course, there are always situations when rhetoric is ac-ceptable not only for leaders but also followers, as reality is not a palatable nor understandable an-swer. Accordingly, rhetoric with all of its inherent contradictions becomes the basis on which large

issues of public policy are de-bated, decided, and programmed.

Nowhere is this more ap-parent than when democratic leaders lead us to the barricades with sound bites that are both beguiling and confusing. We can all remember the Nixon era “War on Drugs” which, with more rhetoric than reality, had a world marching largely together to defeat “public enemy number one.” Nearly fi fty years later, and with spending by the United States alone estimated at over U.S. $50-billion annually, the global policy based largely on rhetoric has come to an end.

The United Nations hosted a conference last month in New York to try and introduce some measure of reality into the “War on Drugs.” The conference was largely initiated by a report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy which, using some rhetoric to obtain attention stated, “The global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societ-ies around the world.” Canada participated and announced its legalization of marijuana.

Lest we dismiss that disaster, it is again time to remember another

rhetorical-based policy, the “Global War on Terror” launched by former president George W. Bush in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and northern Virginia.

The launch of this “war” was initially lumbered by the use of the word “crusade” by the president, but additional rhetoric soon corrected things. Instead, he told the public that the “War on Terror begins with al-Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terror-ist group of global reach has been found, stopped, and defeated.”

It took less than a decade for a new president to declare the rhetorical fl ourishes of the War on Terror as being counter-productive and before long the U.S. Department of Defence replaced the “Global War on Ter-ror” with “Overseas Contingency Operation.” Today it is “Counter-ing Violent Extremism.” Not many fl ourishes there.

One aspect of those “contin-gency” operations has been the effort to create a common policy on how to deal with kidnap-pings by those who want to do us harm. The common policy of “no negotiations, no ransoms” pre-dates 9/11, but it is a policy that

is largely rhetorical. It assumes countries are willing to sacrifi ce citizens who are victims, or more accurately, pawns in the many insurgencies around the world.

Just as there is no one answer in dealing with these insurgencies, there is no one answer in deal-ing with the collateral victims. To suggest to an attentive public that a government is not willing at the rhetorical level to offer assistance is to use rhetoric in a most danger-ous and unhelpful way. Rhetoric at times when citizen’s lives are in direct danger requires the most circumspect, not only of comment, but of action as well.

Unfortunately, the lure of rhetoric is ever present. But it is not too much to expect leaders, in situations such as we are now facing in the Philippines, to ignore this lure and get on with the busi-ness of seeing the safe return of a Canadian home. This requires quiet work in the shadows, not as the lead item in our media.

Gar Pardy is retired from the foreign service and comments on issues of public policy. He has just published Afterwords From a Foreign Service Odyssey, avail-able from Amazon.

The Hill Times

Rhetoric and reality in public policy Leaders should avoid rhetoric and work quietly to bring Canadian hostages home.

U.S. presidential contenders Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are talking

about the “rigged system.” Are they reach-ing a new low or an interesting high in U.S. politics? This systemic discussion has implications on international relations and future reforms in Canada.

Adam Smith addressed systemic issues when he wrote The Wealth of Nations, the seminal book fi rst published in March 1776, a few months before the U.S. colonies declared independence.

Referring to the “invisible hand,” Smith argued that an individual “pursuing (his or her) own interest frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when (he or she) really intends to promote it.”

This was 240 years ago, before econom-ics and political science further considered game theory, public goods, social choices, and dynamic maximization.

In 2016, U.S. presidential contenders state that the system is rigged. Are they naively convinced about their argument or, for politi-cal expediency, just simplifying a complex idea about the “system” and its evolution? Such a statement resonates well among voters who perceive social, economic or political rules (or their application) as unfair, dysfunctional or incoherent.

A troubling aspect of this claim is its broad and trans-boundary application. Anyone may understand it her own way. Other nations’ citizens and leaders also have reasons to consider that their own national system or the international archi-tecture is rigged against them, which may or not be the case. In diplomatic language, making such statements is toxic.

Also, breaking down the so-called “system” into sub-elements is endless. Us-ing this political strategy may be a winning proposition, as there is always another example to reinforce the claim. It polarizes and antagonizes the “satisfi ed” and the “dis-satisfi ed,” which potentially feeds intermi-nable debates.

Ill-conceived discussions are not con-ducive to building social consensus around public policy issues that are diffi cult to ad-dress in media-intensive political campaigns.

For instance, issues such as setting fi rewalls between public and private in-terests, establishing boundaries to legal actions corporate entities may under-take against sovereign governments or containing rent-seeking behaviours that undermine the productive foundation of the economy, while protecting the less fortunate, arguably are not what town hall participants are interested in hearing, at least not for too long.

Meanwhile, statements about the rigged system are useful in terms of public policy

if discussions lead to actionable conclusions.What is presumably rigged?Sanders and Mr. Trump’s political mes-

sage respectively focuses on two broad components of the system: the economic part, arguably rigged by those who benefi t from fi nancial and free trade rules and the lobbyists; and the political part, rigged by establishments controlling barriers to entry of “uninitiated” political contend-ers. These establishments are said to be fi nanced and controlled by those who rig the economic system. It’s kind of a mutu-ally benefi cial “public-private partnership,” as the argument goes.

These classical concerns relate to rea-soning symmetrically equivalent to Adam Smith’s notorious idea of a “constructive” invisible hand, namely another invisible hand “less constructive” leading self-inter-ested individuals to more effectively hinder the interest of the society as a whole, when the system of checks and balances and self-restraint become ineffective.

As check and balance is what a demo-cratic system and a free economy are all about, with core rules about free speech, well-functioning markets, human rights, rule of law, ethics, protection of minorities, and effective public institutions, Mr. Sand-ers and Trump implicitly put the whole system on trial.

Arguably, they don’t question its basic de-sign as much as social choices, distribution

of benefi ts, governance rules as well as integ-rity and ethics of agents on whom it rests.

A concrete application to CanadaThe eventual reform of Canada’s

electoral rules and the rethinking of the “fi rst-past-the-post electoral system” is a case in point.

Indeed, a democratic government should be elected to represent the broadest range of interests in society, but achiev-ing that goal is not limited to the electoral process. Democratic representation is not merely a numerical issue, but has other important qualitative features.

Parties best positioned to infl uence the electoral rules are obviously those who won within these rules, and human nature suggests they are more likely to propose new rules securing their position rather than undermining it.

Why would they propose rules under-mining their current legitimacy to govern? To do so, they must be convinced that other rules will better serve the common good. But if they succeeded in being elected to serve it, doesn’t that mean that the current rules already work?

This logical loop projects the appear-ance of a rigged system, whereas those working to improve it gradually undermine it through a series of self-interested actions or mere inaction.

Advocates of, and opponents to, funda-mental reforms such as electoral or constitu-tional changes, and redesign of the political or economic systems, reveal their political motivation and risk tolerance partly through their positions on decision-rules. Politicians committed to democracy should not hesitate to engage the people directly and meaning-fully, particularly when deciding on major changes to the electoral system or the eco-nomic and social landscape.

Former prime minister Pierre Trudeau said in his 1984 farewell speech “we have much more building to do”. Seven prime ministers and fi ve U.S. presidents later, political debates in the U.S. and Canada suggest that his last words were pretty accurate.

Pascal Desbiens is a former counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Canada to the UN, foreign and defence policy adviser in the Privy Council Offi ce, and policy and program planner and manager at the former CIDA.

The Hill Times

The system is rigged…really?Politicians committed to democracy should engage the people directly and meaningfully, particularly when deciding on major changes to the electoral system.

OPINION DEMOCRACY

GAR PARDY

PASCAL DESBIENS

U.S. presiden-tial candidates Bernie Sand-ers and Donald Trump have both claimed that their party’s nomination processes were ‘rigged.’ Gage Skidmore Photo & Wikimedia Photo: Michael Vadon

More oversight coming for CBSA, says Public

Safety Minister Goodale

PAGE 18By Peter Mazereeuw

MINISTER Q&A

Stalled info-sharing regime with U.S. now

Liberal ‘priority’

PAGE 19By Carl Meyer

BORDERAhead of cyber security review,

minister warned of spying, sabotage

PAGE 21By Marie-Danielle Smith

CYBER SECURITY

Changes in ‘talks-about-talks’ phase: Advocacy

group

PAGE 20By Yael Berger

C-51Repealing the law is essential

PAGE 23

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May

ANTI-TERRORISM

Almost a year after it passed, Liberals

slow to fi x law

PAGE 22

By NDP MP Randall Garrison

C-51

The government needs to co-operate with the

opposition

PAGE 22

By Conservative MP Erin O’Toole

PUBLIC SAFETY

Security oversight committee should

include Senators, MPs

PAGE 24

By Conservative Senator Daniel Lang

TERRORISM

INTERNATIONAL SECURITYTHE HILL TIMES POLICY BRIEFING • MAY 4, 2016

The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia

18 THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2016

FEATURE MINISTER Q&A

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY POLICY BRIEFING

BY PETER MAZEREEUW

Canada’s border agency “undoubtedly” needs a new

oversight mechanism, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale told The Hill Times in a wide-ranging inter-view on his role guiding the govern-ment’s public safety priorities.

Mr. Goodale (Regina-Wascana, Sask.) said April 30 that his govern-ment will create “another tool” for keeping an eye on the Canada Bor-der Services Agency, beyond the promised all-party parliamentary oversight committee for Canada’s intelligence and security agencies. He noted the public outcry over the lack of supervision for CBSA, which became louder following the deaths of two immigration detain-ees in the agency’s custody within one week in March.

Mr. Goodale promised to listen to the public during consultations on reforming Bill C-51, the so-called anti-terrorism act passed by the previous government that granted the government’s security agencies more powers.

The minister also said he’s considering a long list of people to head a new counter-radicalization co-ordinator’s offi ce, set to get off the ground this year.

The following interview has been edited for length and style.

When do you plan to bring for-ward the legislation to change and repeal parts of Bill C-51?

“I would hope that we would see that later on this year.

“There are four really impor-tant responses to C-51. The fi rst one, and the fl agship commitment that we made: establish a commit-tee of Parliamentarians to provide a new dimension in review and scrutiny that we have not had before. Other countries have had this, all of the Five Eyes countries have a parliamentary mechanism. Most of the democracies in the Western world have that kind of a mechanism. Canada has been the anomaly. So that legislation is being drafted now, and we hope to have that in the public domain

by the time Parliament rises for the summer.

“The second element is the creation of our new Offi ce of the Community Outreach and Coun-ter-Radicalization Co-ordinator. We will have that operation up and running later on this year. There’s some consultation to be done with provinces and local communities and NGOs and so forth, but that work is getting underway.

“A third element is the review of cyber security, which is ex-tremely important.

“The fourth piece, which is really critical, is addressing the specifi c legislative defects that re-main in the law as a result of C-51 being put forward in a very faulty manner, and without adequate consultation of Canadians. We will have that kind of consultation, in fact it’s underway right now. But we’ve identifi ed already some of the things that need to be fi xed.”

The Liberal campaign platform included promises to address sev-eral issues in its review of C-51, including no-fl y lists, the right to take part in lawful protests, re-quiring warrants for the Commu-nications Security Establishment, and more. Should Canadians expect that the government’s leg-islation is going to address each and every one of those promises?

“They are very much a part of our plan, that’s what we intend to do. There will be a variety of consultations undertaken; some of them are already underway. We will obviously listen to what we are told in that consultative pro-cess. But, based on what I’ve heard so far, I would expect to hear people commenting on all of the issues I’ve mentioned here, saying that the changes have to be made, as we indicated in our platform. And there may well be others that they would want to raise.

“One suggestion that’s made frequently, for example, is that we need to fi x some of the over-sight gaps with respect to some existing security agencies and organizations, like the CBSA, for example. Currently, there is no explicit review mechanism with respect to the CBSA. It will be covered by the committee of parliamentarians, but there will undoubtedly be a need for another tool in addition to that, specifi cally in reference to CBSA.”

What could that tool look like?“It could take several forms.

It might be an agency that would resemble the Security Intelligence

Review Committee, for example. It might be an agency that would resemble the two internal and external review agencies that deal with the RCMP. There’s a proposal in the Senate right now for a model that’s along the lines of an inspec-tor general. We’re considering all of those options right now, we haven’t settled on the right tool for making sure that there’s the proper review and scrutiny of CBSA. All of these techniques are under consideration.”

Have you heard any different or dissenting opinions from within the Liberal caucus about the gov-ernment’s plans for C-51?

“No. What I’ve heard is a tre-mendous amount of reinforcement. We need the committee of Parlia-mentarians. We need the offi ce on outreach and counter-radicalization. We need to make serious advance-ments with respect to cyber secu-rity, and we need to fi x the specifi c defects that we’ve discussed here in relation to the legislation. The consultation within the caucus has tended to reinforce the direction that was laid out in the platform and in my mandate letter.”

Have you held any technical brief-ings on what’s a fairly complex subject for the Liberal caucus?

“No, but we plan to. We’ve had general discussions, but we haven’t had a clause-by-clause analysis. But that is something that we intend to undertake, and not just for our caucus, but for all Parliamentarians. And also, if people are interested in this, for the general public, so that we all know the baseline starting point: what the law does, what it doesn’t do. What issues it raises, what is-sues it doesn’t raise, and so forth.

“It’s very important to make sure that as you embark upon this kind of examination and ultimate-ly, new legislation, that everybody understands where you’re starting from. You’re going to spend a lot of time debating issues that don’t ex-ist if you’re not always operating from the same fact base.”

The Conservative public safety critic recently criticized your ap-proach to the all-party parliamen-tary committee, arguing that the government’s failure to get the opposition parties involved runs contrary to the government’s promises to be open and trans-parent, and hurts the credibility

of the committee before it’s even been created. Why haven’t you worked more with the opposition on creating this committee?

“I think the criticism is just a bit premature. We’re embarking on what is likely to be the most comprehensive re-examination of Canadian security law and proce-dure that there has ever been. So there will be ample opportunities for consultation with Parliamen-tarians in both houses and across all party lines, with subject matter experts and with the Canadian public generally. Both the Conser-vatives and the NDP have written letters with some of their sug-gestions. We are examining all of those recommendations thus far. But it’s still very early in the going.

“We don’t regard this as some-thing that should have any kind of a partisan divide. National security, public safety, getting this right, is critically important to all Canadi-ans across every kind of political distinction. We don’t anticipate and we certainly don’t want any kind of partisan dust-up here.”

When will you appoint the Commu-nity Outreach and Counter-Radical-ization Co-ordinator? Do you have anyone in mind for the job, and how exactly do you envision this person will go about the job?

“What we propose to do is to create an offi ce that would be vested within the department of Public Safety, but it would be under the direction of a very independent and distinguished expert in this fi eld of counter-radicalization.

“We are currently in the process of examining a long list of possi-bilities in terms of who that person might be, and where they would go for their advice, and so forth.

“We’ve got to understand the nature of radicalization: what causes it, where it comes from, what makes people vulnerable to it, what can you do in an intelli-gent way to counteract all of those negative and insidious messages that draw people in. That is going to take a lot of research, and shar-ing of research with other coun-tries around the world, and a lot of collaboration at the local level, because the ability to intervene in the right way at the right time with the right tools and resources will largely be within provincial and municipal jurisdictions. So this has to be a very collabora-

tive effort. And I’m very pleased that thus far that we have had absolutely nothing but support and encouragement from all of the provinces and from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.”

On the subject of sharing infor-mation about Canadian travellers to the U.S. with the U.S. govern-ment: how will that move actu-ally benefi t Canadians, and how can you be sure it won’t lead to more Canadians being mistaken-ly detained or otherwise hassled by U.S. authorities?

“In terms of exit information, which has not been collected in the past, it’s the basic tombstone infor-mation that you’ll fi nd on page two of your passport, which everybody shares with the United States when they cross the border in any event. What we don’t have now is records of people leaving the country, and that leaves a hole in our cross-border security arrangements: for tracking down Amber Alerts, for example, for dealing with human traffi cking, for dealing with parents that are ab-sconding from their family support obligations, and so forth. And also, those who might be trying to leave the country for the purpose of travel-ling to become involved in terrorism in some other part of the world.

“The new arrangement will al-low us to have a more comprehen-sive record of who is in the country at any moment in time, and who has departed the country. That will make the border more secure, it will make law enforcement initia-tives more effective, and it will prevent the thickening of the bor-der, which could become a major economic problem for Canada.

“The other information sharing arrangement that we are work-ing on has to do with the no-fl y list. And in that regard, we have worked very carefully with the De-partment of Justice to ensure that we are consistent with the Charter of Rights, and we have had close consultations with the offi ce of the privacy commissioner to make sure that those arrangements are appropriate within the rules of privacy. What we want to ensure is that our air travel system is safe, and that we are preventing those who would travel for the purposes of terrorism from being able to do so. At the same time, we are re-specting people’s privacy and their basic rights under the Charter.”

peter@hilltimes.com

More oversight coming for CBSA, says GoodaleFeds will fi nd a way to keep tabs on border agency beyond promised all-party committee, says the public safety minister.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale says all options are on the table for improv-ing oversight of the Canada Border Services Agency. The Hill Times photo-graph by Jake Wright

19THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2016

NEWS BORDER

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY POLICY BRIEFING

Info-sharing regime with U.S. now Liberal ‘priority’

BY CARL MEYER

The federal privacy commissioner’s of-fi ce is keeping an eye out for expected

legislation from the Trudeau government that will cement into place the fi nal bricks of a controversial personal information-sharing regime with the United States.

The system, which trades personal identifying information back and forth when individuals enter or leave either country, was fi rst proposed in 2011 as part of the then-Conservative government’s sweeping Be-yond the Border security and trade initiative. But privacy concerns have since stalled it.

Now, the Liberals under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) appear to have grabbed the baton and are running with it.

In March, when Mr. Trudeau visited United States President Barack Obama in Washington, the White House said Canada had “assured” the U.S. it would complete the fi nal phases of the entry-exit system. Canada’s border agency has confi rmed to The Hill Times it’s a central focus for the Liberals.

“While there is no specifi c timeline, this is a priority for the government of Canada,” wrote Canada Border Services Agency senior media spokesperson Esme Bailey in an email.

She said the CBSA is expecting “legisla-tive amendments.” A government website on the program also notes that “legislative and regulatory changes are required.”

The Privacy Commissioner’s Offi ce says it has been expecting legislation. In its 2014-15 report to Parliament, the of-fi ce stated that it was waiting for privacy impact assessments from the CBSA as well as fi ve other departments or agencies with regards to the info-sharing regime. Those assessments haven’t yet come, said spokes-person Tobi Cohen.

“While we look forward to the opportu-nity to advise Parliament on the legislation, we would not expect to receive [privacy impact assessments] until that legislative process is complete,” she wrote in an email.

The CBSA says the system is meant to identify visitors who potentially overstay their allowed time in either country, better monitor that people ordered to leave actu-ally do, and ensure immigrants meet resi-dency requirements that may be needed.

‘A little bit of slow-walking’The Conservatives already put in place

a testing program on third-country nation-als, and then an expansion of that program to all border crossings over land and to permanent residents who are not citizens of either Canada or the U.S.

But the phases of the regime that would have brought in Canadian and American citi-zens are nearly two years delayed. They have not been implemented, though they were supposed to have been in place by June 30, 2014. Information such as a person’s name, birthday, and citizenship is set to be shared, according to the CBSA.

Conservative MP Brad Trost (Saska-toon-University, Sask.), his party’s critic for Canada-U.S. relations, said the Conserva-tive government had understood that there were concerns and had been deliberately proceeding slowly as a result.

“When we were in government, we were doing a little bit of slow walking on this one, because we were trying to fi gure out people’s privacy concerns,” he said in an interview.

In 2012, Canada and the U.S. released a Joint Statement of Privacy Principles

that was to govern personal information-sharing between the two countries. The statement quickly became contentious as it allowed information to be sent to a third country under certain circumstances.

After a judicial inquiry into the case of Maher Arar, who was found to have been tortured in Syria, had concluded that he was a victim of bad Canadian intelligence, the idea of personal information being sent to third countries by governments became a serious concern for privacy and civil liberties organizations.

The 2012 statement granted that informa-tion could be transferred to a third country in the absence of “international agreements and arrangements” if certain rules were followed.

Today, the Privacy Commissioner’s Of-fi ce says there are inherent hazards in any such program.

“Cross-border sharing of personal in-formation, while necessary for border man-agement, clearly raises risks for privacy,” wrote Ms. Cohen. “Therefore, it is impor-tant to have privacy protections in place.”

This includes, she said, “developing written information sharing agreements, ensuring the accuracy of the personal in-formation shared, implementing appropri-ate safeguards, protecting against further use of the data, establishing appropriate retention periods, and creating strong over-sight and redress mechanisms.”

Tories, manufacturers on boardMr. Trost said his party remains on board

with an info-sharing deal with the U.S.“I don’t think there’s any ideology, or

any major philosophical point behind this,” he said.

“It’s just a very practical, nuts-and-bolts issue. The U.S. is our biggest market, we need access to it, [and] if we don’t deal with security issues in a proper way, we will lose access to it. At the same time, we want as smooth a transition as possible.”

Mathew Wilson, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters vice-president of national policy, said his organization was also in favour.

“The idea of sharing data does not scare us from an industry association perspec-tive,” he said.

“We’re concerned more about fl ow of people and goods across the border, and if this can help facilitate the fl ow of individuals for work purposes or for personal reasons then it’s a good thing...from a trade facilita-tion or border facilitation standpoint, the concept is the right concept.”

The Hill Times

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CANADASAIRPORTS.COM

Privacy commissioner’s offi ce awaits legislation.

20 THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2016

NEWS LEGISLATION

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY POLICY BRIEFING

BY YAEL BERGER

Formal public consultations on changes to the controversial anti-terror law known a Bill C-51 have yet to begin, but an advocacy group is set to discuss with Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale this week how the government should organize the talks.

OpenMedia expects to meet with Mr. Goodale (Regina-Was-cana, Sask.) on May 5 in Ottawa. The meeting will not be part of the Liberal government’s formal con-sultation process. Rather the talks will be the topic of the meeting, OpenMedia spokesperson David Christopher said in an interview.

“I think we’re still kind of at the talks-about-talks stage of the process,” he said.

OpenMedia wants to see the en-tire law repealed and is pushing for

a public consultation process that is open and accessible to Canadians.

The previous Conservative government introduced Bill C-51, which it called the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2015, within months of the attacks in October 2014 that killed Warrant Offi cer Patrice Vin-cent in Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que. and Cpl. Nathan Cirillo in Ottawa. The bill became law last June.

Privacy and civil liberties ad-vocates criticized the legislation because they said it allowed for excessive information sharing; made a new, vague offence for terrorism promotion; and gave Canada’s spy agency power to disrupt perceived terrorist activity even if that violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The NDP voted against the bill. Liberal MPs called for more robust oversight of the country’s intelli-gence agencies and opted to vote in favour of the legislation. But they promised Canadians that, if they formed government, they would establish an all-party parliamen-tary committee to monitor national security agencies, and would strike a balance between security and Canadians’ Charter rights.

Mr. Goodale’s mandate letter from the prime minister instructs him to repeal the “problematic elements” of Bill C-51, introduce a new law that boosts national security accountability and “better balances collective security with rights and freedoms.”

It’s not just critics of the anti-terror law looking to talk to gov-ernment about the consultation process. Supporters of the new security powers are also looking to shape how public consultations on changes will unfold.

The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police also hopes to be in Ottawa in the coming days to meet with the Parliamentary Sec-retary to the Minister of Public Safety, Michel Picard (Montar-ville, Que.), said Didier Dera-mond, deputy chief of Montreal’s police department and co-chair of the CACP Counter Terrorism and National Security Committee.

Mr. Deramond said the upcom-ing meeting in Ottawa would be an opportunity to talk about changes to Canada’s anti-terror laws and the collective vision of police and intelligence agen-cies regarding Canada’s national security.

He said he’s in favour of public consultations on changes to C-51, but that security agencies are the ones using the legislation.

“Every opinion is important, but we do have to deal with those agencies,” he said. “If there is new legislation, those agencies will be the ones implementing it and we have to connect those dots.”

Consultations in ‘medium term’The clock is ticking if the

Liberal government is going to introduce legislation before the summer to set up an all-party parliamentary review committee to monitor the country’s intel-ligence agencies, and opposition MPs are eager to be consulted on details of how the committee will be structured.

“The Minister has said that he hopes to introduce legislation to create the Committee of Parlia-mentarians before summer,” Scott Bardsley, the minister’s press secretary, wrote in an emailed statement to The Hill Times.

The Liberal government has promised to consult with Cana-dians and experts on Canada’s national security framework, but Minister Goodale’s offi ce has been vague about the timeline.

“Work to achieve these objec-tives is underway and will be informed by our government’s forthcoming consultations with Canadians and experts on our national security framework,” Mr. Bardsley said in the email.

No specifi c date has been an-nounced for when consultations will begin. Mr. Bardsley suggested they could be weeks or months away, not days or years. “They will be held in the medium term,” he said.

“I think the government decided this was not a priority it could eas-ily solve or address in 100 days,” said Christian Leuprecht, a politi-cal science professor at Queen’s University. He said the government should give the legislation the at-tention it requires.

Mr. Leuprecht said he expects the Liberals to announce some sort of plan before the summer as to how the government will move forward. He said the announcement could be about how the consultations will unfold or how the parliamentary committee might be structured.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) appointed Lib-eral MP David McGuinty (Ottawa South, Ont.) in January to chair the committee. Mr. Goodale and Mr. McGuinty travelled to the United Kingdom that month to learn about the U.K.’s Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament.

Opposition MPs are disap-pointed that they were not brought along on the trip or given a report on the fi ndings, and have yet to be consulted on how the parliamen-tary committee will function.

Conservative public safety critic Erin O’Toole (Durham, Ont.) said in an interview with The Hill Times that he has written two let-ters to Mr. Goodale with recom-mendations on the new parlia-mentary committee to review national security agencies.

He received a response from Mr. Goodale to his fi rst letter, he said.

Mr. Goodale’s letter, dated April 20, said that he has taken “careful note of suggestions” and will reach out to opposition parties.

Mr. Leuprecht said the prime minister could set up the com-mittee through an executive order, in which case he wouldn’t require a legislative change. The government also wouldn’t neces-sarily need to consult anyone on structuring the committee, Mr. Leuprecht said.

Mr. O’Toole said a divided Liberal caucus and the confusion of many new rookie MPs around the anti-terrorism law are slowing down the government’s consultations.

“Most people have no clue what C-51 is all about, even some of the critics—even some of the new MPs on the Hill—when I talk to them about C-51 it’s clear they don’t even understand what pow-ers were provided to law enforce-ment,” he said.

Mr. Goodale said in an inter-view with The Hill Times that he hasn’t heard dissenting opinions from within his caucus.

“The consultation within the caucus has tended to reinforce the direction that was laid out in the platform and in my mandate letter,” he said.

The minister also said he hasn’t held any technical brief-ings yet to bring his caucus up to speed, but he intends to.

“We’ve had general discus-sions, but we haven’t had, sort of, a clause-by-clause analysis. But that is something that we intend to undertake, and not just for our caucus, but for all Parliamentari-ans,” he said. “So that we all know the baseline starting point, what the law does, what it doesn’t do.”

news@hilltimes.comThe Hill Times

Critics and supporters of the bill are looking to shape how public consultations on changes unfold.

People protest Bill C-51 on Parlia-ment Hill on May 6, 2015. The bill became law last June. Though Lib-eral MPs voted for it, they’re looking to change it now that they’re in govern-ment. The Hill Times photo-graph by Andrew Meade

C-51 changes in ‘talks-about-talks’ phase, says advocacy group

21THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2016

NEWS CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY POLICY BRIEFING

BY MARIE-DANIELLE SMITH

As the public safety minister promises to talk to Canadians

about and put more money into cy-ber security, opposition parties are criticizing the Liberals for being too vague about their plans to secure Canadian cyberspace.

Briefi ng documents prepared for when Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale (Regina-Wascana, Sask.) started on the job last No-vember say government systems are “under constant attack.”

“Critical infrastructure is be-ing targeted for exploitation,” says the briefi ng material. “The intel-lectual property and trade secrets of our companies are being stolen by our adversaries.”

But before any signifi cant changes are made to how Canada handles cyber security issues, Mr. Goodale is planning a policy review, including the launch of public consultation—another in a series of reviews promised by Liberal cabinet ministers on every-thing from defence to foreign aid.

This review of cyber security policy will be launched “shortly,” Mr.

Goodale’s offi ce told The Hill Times.It will “seek feedback from

citizens and stakeholders on how Canada can best address the chal-lenge of cyber security, and keep our citizens, businesses, and critical in-frastructure safe in an online world,” said press secretary Scott Bardsley.

The government has been working on such issues for years. Bureaucrats write in the briefi ng book, “the low cost and high impact of cyber attack tools means that cyber espionage and sabotage will continue to be attractive to states and non-state actors that otherwise would be unable to mount direct attacks against Canada.”

Threat actors have the “capa-bility and willingness to disrupt Canada’s critical infrastructure and economic assets” and “organized crime and lone hackers are using many of the same tools to target Ca-nadian businesses and individuals.”

Besides the promised review, the federal government in its March budget pledged $77.4-million in new funding for cyber security.

The 2016 budget document says new money will be used “to improve the security of govern-

ment networks and information technology systems.”

Michael Geist, a University of Ottawa law professor who writes about cyber issues, said in a recent blog post that the budget’s digital promises are underfunded. He said the dollars are backloaded: the $77.4-million is allotted for the next fi ve years, but only $12-mil-lion is reserved for the fi rst year,

and $15-million the year after that.

Critics underwhelmedFunding announced in the

2016 budget doesn’t include any of the money announced by the previous government last year.

It included $142.6-million an-nounced in July and $94.4-million announced in the 2015 budget, with both amounts spread out

over the next fi ve years. That funding will still be in place, Mr. Goodale’s offi ce confi rmed.

The NDP’s public safety critic, Randall Garrison (Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke, B.C.) told The Hill Times he sees nothing innovative in the way the Liberals are fram-ing cyber security funding.

“Concern levels are very high, and I just don’t see that refl ected in this government,” he said. “There’s no new plan. They’re ap-parently still working on the basis of the 2010 plan that the Conser-vatives put out, which everybody criticized [as] inadequate.”

Conservative public safety critic Erin O’Toole (Durham, Ont.) said he’s concerned the Liberals won’t see through the entirety of his party’s cyber plan. “I think they’re continuing on the work from the Harper government,” he said.

But it seems the new government is “stepping back” from the industry-focused approach of the Conserva-tives, Mr. O’Toole suggested, with more money for securing govern-ment systems but no word on how

Universities Canada and Simon Fraser University present

Cybersecurity: You will be breachedA dialogue on cybersecurity featuring Ray Boisvert, former assistant director at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and now president and CEO of I-Sec Integrated Strategies

Asia Pacific Hall • Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue580 West Hastings Street • Vancouver, B.C.Thursday, May 12, 2016, 9:00AM - 10:30AM

Or watch the livestream on our Facebook page: facebook.com/univcanada

For more information on this event, visit: univcan.ca/mindshare

Mindshare is a national speaker series promoting fresh thinking on policy issues critical to Canada’s future, hosted by universities across Canada in 2016.

19652015

‘Under constant attack,’ minister warned of spying, sabotage ahead of cyber security review

Continued on page 24

The cyber security policy review will be launched ‘shortly,’ according to Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale’s offi ce. The Hill Times photograph by Steve Gerecke

When the interim leader of the Conservative Party,

Rona Ambrose, gave me the re-sponsibility for the public safety and emergency preparedness fi le, I viewed it as a unique opportu-nity to play a critical role in the safety and security of Canadians. As offi cial opposition critic, my primary role will be to hold the government to account for its ac-tions, or for inaction in the face of threats to Canadians. I will also have the opportunity to provide advice and insight to the govern-ment as they manage the issues and agencies charged with keep-ing us safe. I also viewed this

role as an opportunity to leverage my background in the military and as a lawyer. In many ways, the intersection of security issues and our laws represents the true challenge facing any government charged with keeping our com-munities safe and preserving our rights and way of life. There must be a balance struck between the security Canadians expect in the towns and cities of the country and the freedoms they also expect as a fundamental aspect of living in Canada.

Balance can only be achieved however, when a government is realistic about the threats facing Canada and our way of life. Un-fortunately, the “sunny ways” rhetoric of the Liberal govern-ment often has it governing in the world as it would like it to be, as opposed to the realities facing the present world. The “sunny ways” language also obscures the fact that the government has refused several attempts to de-politicize aspects of the public safety fi le and that is disappointing.

In the short life of the 42nd Par-liament, nothing has demonstrated the disconnect of this government from the reality of the world we live in more than budget day. Fi-nance Minister Bill Morneau began his budget speech by expressing the concern and support from all Canadians in light of the horrifi c terror attacks in Brussels earlier

that day. Most MPs wore a special Belgian pin in the House that day to show our solidarity with our friend and ally. However, despite starting his speech by recognizing the profound risks facing countries like Canada in the face of global terrorism, the budget provided no new funds for front-line security and intelligence agencies. In a budget replete with billions in new spending in a range of areas, the lack of support for public safety agencies spoke volumes about the priorities of the new government.

In the fi rst year of this new Parliament, the Conservative op-position has attempted on several occasions to work with the govern-ment to ensure that critical issues of public safety are not subject to the normal cut and thrust of par-tisan politics. I expressed public support for the government’s pro-posal for a Counter-Radicalization Coordinator and offi ce to examine strategies and tools to help commu-nities combat the isolated but real threat of radicalization in Canada. Despite this support for their posi-tion, the Liberal majority on the Public Safety Committee refused to study the issue. Similarly, while the government has talked about a committee of Parliamentarians to examine security oversight, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has not engaged with the opposition on the composition and character of this unique and important commit-

tee. Surprisingly, he also proposed a chair of this committee without any terms of reference for the com-mittee itself. I have written twice to the minister to urge more collabo-ration on this important initiative, which the Conservatives support in principle.

When I began my work on the public safety fi le I was taken back to fi rst year university at the Royal Military College where we studied Maslow’s hierarchy of needs for a society. Right there on the bottom of the Maslow pyr-amid, just above the essentials of life, is the need for physical safety and security. It is a given in Canada that families and seniors expect their personal safety and the security of their property and institutions to be a fundamental matter for their government. This means trying to ensure law enforcement agencies and intel-ligence agencies have the tools and ability to fulfi ll their mandate in a balanced fashion. These tools and a legal framework must not be frozen in time and must

acknowledge modern threats and new technologies. I believe that the Harper government ac-complished this balance work-ing alongside law enforcement agencies and ensuring balance and legal oversight was part of all aspects of public safety laws. The Liberal government must demon-strate that it is prepared to work with this Parliament proactively and collaboratively and must articulate policy that addresses the real risks facing Canada. Tak-ing two positions on an issue, like they did in the last Parliament on Bill C-51, is not leadership, but is avoiding fundamental issues that Canadians expect their govern-ment to tackle. I look forward to holding the government to ac-count and working collaborative-ly when possible on these critical policy matters.

Conservative public safety critic Erin O’Toole is the MP for Durham, Ont.

news@hilltimes.comThe Hill Times

22 THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2016

OPINION PUBLIC SAFETY

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY POLICY BRIEFING

Governing in reality The government needs to co-operate with the opposition, starting with its security oversight committee of Parliamentarians

More than a year ago, New Democrats stood virtually

alone in taking on the challenge of opposing Bill C-51 and suggesting better ways to keep Canadians safe in a world beset with terrorism and violent extremism. At the time the Liberals voted with the Conserva-tives but suggested C-51 needed some changes and better oversight. Since then, Bill C-51 has become law while Canadians wait for the Liberals to act on their promises.

New Democrats stand ready as Parliamentarians to come together to meet threats to our security with responsible and thoughtful measures that do not erode the fundamental freedoms that generations of Canadians worked so hard to protect.

The former Conservative government took Canadians down the road of the politics of hate and division. The Conservatives justi-fi ed introducing sweeping changes to Canada’s security apparatus by using fear to pit Canadians against each other, rather than taking concrete actions to keep us safer. The result was Bill C-51.

This bill brought forward greater information-sharing practices between government agencies that violate Canadian privacy rights, granted danger-ous new powers to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, created a new and vague offence for the promotion of terrorism, lowered the standard for judges to authorize preventative arrests, and expanded the No-Fly List without any measures to make it

more effective or to allow timely appeals.

While no Parliamentarian disagrees that terrorism is a real threat and that there is a need for concrete and effective measures to keep Canadians safe, the con-tents of C-51 and the way it was rushed through Parliament with-out careful and thoughtful study and debate remain problematic.

In the limited number of hear-ings that the House Public Safety Committee held, expert witnesses from across the political spectrum near-unanimously told the com-mittee that the bill was funda-mentally fl awed and threatened the rights of Canadians without actually improving our security. Almost all of the witnesses were concerned with the virtually unlimited sharing of personal information amongst Canadian government agencies and the very real possibility of that information being shared with foreign powers. The privacy commissioner even stated that C-51 potentially allows the government to compile per-sonal profi les on all Canadians.

The greater powers given to CSIS to disrupt suspected terror-ist activities in secret were very alarming to the expert witnesses because such actions would not only be in violation of the law, but also potentially of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Witnesses also noted that the bill failed to improve existing oversight mechanisms, let alone provide new oversight to match CSIS’ new powers. The Security Intelligence Review Commit-tee was not given an increased role and instead remained as an after-the-fact review agency with limited scope and budget.

Based on witness testimony, New Democrats put forward a comprehensive amendment pack-age aimed at removing the worst aspects of the bill. The Liberals argued that C-51 could be fi xed later and so allowed the Conser-vatives to railroad the bill through the committee and the House of Commons. After our amendments were defeated, New Democrats attempted to delete Bill C-51 in its entirety but the Conservatives

limited debate with time alloca-tion and rushed C-51 off to the Senate where it was expedited and passed.

Now that the Liberals are the government, they are still choos-ing to ignore the legal experts on the facts surrounding C-51. They haven’t expressed any urgency to act, despite the fact that the provisions of the bill will have already been in force for a year come June. The Liberals have yet to present any specifi c proposals to revise the bill nor any specifi c plan for the proposed new over-sight mechanisms.

New Democrats remain con-vinced that the best path forward remains to repeal C-51 in full. We continue to be disappointed with the failure of the Liberals to consult opposition members as promised and with their state-ment that they will not re-open the issue until fall at the earliest. New Democrats believe that gov-ernments can and must protect both civil liberties and public safety at the same time and any changes moving forward must respect the will of Canadians and the full democratic process.

Randall Garrison is the Mem-ber of Parliament for Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke, B.C. and is the NDP critic for public safety and for national defence.

news@hilltimes.comThe Hill Times

Almost a year after it became law, Liberals slow to fi x C-51 New Democrats remain convinced that the best path forward is to repeal C-51 in full.

OPINION PUBLIC SAFETY

NDP MP RANDALL GARRISON

Conservative public safety critic Erin O’Toole says the government’s budget should have included more money for front-line security and intelligence agencies. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

CONSERVATIVE MP ERIN O’TOOLE

23THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2016

OPINION TERRORISM

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY POLICY BRIEFING

It is one of the stickier aspects of former prime minister Stephen

Harper’s omnibus-bill strategy: legislation rammed through Parliament as omnibus bills are harder to repeal and reform than stand-alone legislation.

After passage, C-51 ceased to exist. It was an omnibus bill in fi ve parts. Some of those parts touched on dozens of bills. Bill C-51 cannot be repealed, but eliminating 90 per cent of it is necessary.

The Liberals are pledging to get rid of any sections that are danger-ous. That’s pretty much the whole bill. Here are its fi ve parts and a rough sketch of what they do:

1. Information sharing. This is not about information sharing between spy agencies working together to stop criminal elements.

That would have been a good idea, but it’s not in C-51. This so-called information sharing is about disclosing personal information about any Canadian to anyone who wants it. This gives rise to the very scary defl ection of those who seem to oppose civil liberties: “this does not worry me; I have nothing to hide.” But you do have something to defend, and it’s called “your rights.”

2. No-Fly List provisions. Pretty straightforward, but this puts tremendous burdens on airlines to control the work of airport screen-ing conducted by the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, a group they do not manage or control. This could be put down to bad drafting, but legislators were in such a rush to pass the bill, they could not be bothered to fi x this. It also does nothing to reduce the confusion and inconvenience suffered by people with names similar to suspected terrorists.

3. The thought-chill section. This one purports to deal with the promotion of terrorism on websites. It adopted the unheard-of notion of promotion of “terror-

ism offences in general.” No one knows what that means, but the descriptors are so over-broad they could include a single image—a raised fi st, a Che Guevara poster—as promotion of terrorism in gen-eral. The impact of the limitations on even personal communication exceed other similar laws such as those to deal with hate speech and pornography on the Internet. C-51 does not exclude private commu-nication and as a result it could put a chill on speech intended to persuade someone not to engage in terrorism. Anti-radicalization efforts would be compromised.

4. Part 4 is the most dangerous. It transforms the Canadian Secu-rity Intelligence Service, an agency designed to collect intelligence and share it with those who can act, to an agency empowered to disrupt plots. Worse, it sets up a private hearing before a sole judge, with no public-interest advocate present, to grant warrants for constitutional breach.

5. Then there’s the fi nal section. It is so opaque and incomprehensible that it received virtually no atten-tion in committee. It changes the

way information going to a judge in support of a security certifi cate is handled. Only Prof Donald Galloway of the University of Victoria’s law school fi gured out what its purpose was: to allow the use of evidence ob-tained by torture to be submitted to a judge, without disclosing that fact.

While the previous government claimed that we needed the extreme measures of C-51 to keep us safe from terrorism, the truth is that C-51 makes us less safe. The approach of C-51—empowering CSIS agents to take action to disrupt plots, and allowing the various security agen-cies of Canada to operate indepen-dently of each other—runs directly contrary to the advice of public security experts and to the conclu-sions of the Air India Inquiry. So too is the Arar Commission report ignored in setting up the “informa-tion sharing” provisions of Part 1 of the bill, allowing virtually any infor-mation about any Canadian to be shared between and among federal agencies and departments, as well as with foreign governments. None of this makes sense, and none of it makes us safer.

In fact, according to Joe Fogarty, a security expert from the United Kingdom who testifi ed at the Senate on C-51, the way the bill is structured makes Canada’s secu-rity law a “tragedy waiting to hap-pen.” Mr. Fogarty gave specifi c re-cent examples of times when CSIS knew the RCMP was tracking the wrong people, but opted not to tell them. Or when CSIS discovered a terror group in formation and also decided not to tell the RCMP.

As former Supreme Court justice John Major testifi ed to the House of Commons committee on C-51, it is an absolute certainty that security agencies will not share in-telligence. Major put it down to “hu-man nature.” But when CSIS agents are also empowered to give out get-out-of-jail-free cards to people they are tracking, without warning the RCMP, or when CSIS agents have the right to get an exemption from the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in order to violate Canadian laws and/or Charter rights, the dangers of C-51 should be very clear.

The Liberals in opposition made a calculated political decision to vote for C-51. Their most knowledgeable Members of Parliament, such as Ir-win Cotler, supported my opposition in the House and on the record. They can leave in place and reform much of Part 2; but the rest has to go.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May represents Saanich-Gulf Islands, B.C.

The Hill Times

Universités Canada et la Simon Fraser University présentent

Cybersécurité : Nous sommes tous à risqueUn dialogue sur la cybersécurité avec Ray Boisvert, ancien directeur adjoint du Service canadien du renseignement de sécurité (SCRS), et actuel président de I-Sec Integrated Strategies (ISECIS)

Asia Pacific Hall • Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue580, rue West Hastings • Vancouver, C.-B.Jeudi 12 mai 2016, de 9 h à 10 h 30 (HP)

Suivez la discussion en direct sur notre page Facebook à facebook.com/univcanada

Pour obtenir un complément d’information, veuillez consulter univcan.ca/convergences

La série de conférences Convergences est conçue de façon à favoriser une nouvelle réflexion sur les enjeux stratégiques essentiels pour l’avenir du Canada. Les conférences seront présentées en 2016 dans des universités d’un peu partout au Canada.

19652015

Repealing C-51: an essential step in public safety and security

GREEN PARTY LEADER ELIZABETH MAY

24 THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2016

NEWS CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE OPINION TERRORISM

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY POLICY BRIEFING

the private sector could get involved.That’s important because private

infrastructure, such as online bank-ing systems, form the backdrop for much of what Canadians do online, he said. A co-ordinated cyber attack on a bank would be more of a risk “at the dinner table” for most Cana-dians than a breach of government information, added Mr. O’Toole.

Still, Mr. Bardsley said, fund-ing announced by the Conserva-tives is going towards its original purpose—much of it to “enhance collaboration with the private sec-tor and critical infrastructure.”

But bureaucrats warned Mr. Goodale in the briefi ng book that “there are no legal requirements for operators of vital cyber systems to protect their systems or report cyber incidents affecting their sys-tems to government, which could impact the national security and public safety of Canada.”

The 2015 budget had specifi -cally set aside $36.4 million over fi ve years for the protection of “vital cyber systems,” but the 2016 budget funding wasn’t as specifi c.

Neither Mr. O’Toole nor Mr. Garrison seemed particularly keen to push the Liberals on a legislative instrument, despite the briefi ng book’s emphasis on a legal requirement, and Mr. Bards-ley did not respond to a question about whether Mr. Goodale was planning to introduce legislation.

Mr. Garrison ventured that the new funding offered in the Liberal budget sounded “bland,” like it was just for “routine system upgrades.”

He said he wants to see the government produce a new road map that will address the many cy-ber threats facing Canada—rather than just following in the previous government’s footsteps.

China concerns spy agencyIndependent of political an-

nouncements, some government agencies have been pursuing their own cyber security solutions.

It all fi ts into the government’s overall Cyber Security Strategy, which continued to chug along in the background during last year’s lengthy election campaign.

For example, last fall, Communi-cations Security Establishment Can-ada announced it was partnering with industry to update information assurance across the government.

The director general of the CSE’s Cyber Protection Branch told industry groups at the Gov-ernment Technology Exhibition and Conference in October that there’s an “awful lot” of over-classifi ed information within the Canadian government.

Internal documents re-leased through access-to-informa-tion legislation show that in 2012-

13, CSE was worrying about the “exponential scale of cyber threats and espionage that are being conducted against Western targets by the People’s Republic of China’s military, the People’s Liberation Army.”

The following year’s report shows the agency’s work was being challenged by “continued unauthorized disclosures of clas-sifi ed information.”

It was China that got promptly blamed after cyber attacks on the Na-tional Research Council in July 2014 that forced it to shut down its sys-tems, though the Chinese Embassy was quick to deny any involvement.

In the summer of 2015, includ-ing on Canada Day, some Canadi-an government websites went out of service after distributed denial-of-service attacks blamed on the hacktivist group Anonymous.

Shared Services had bumpy start: Tory MP

Many agencies and depart-ments are involved in cyber secu-rity, according to Mr. Goodale’s briefi ng binder.

Cyber initiatives are overseen by Public Safety Canada, which houses the Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre. The Treasury Board Secretariat has a hand in management.

While Global Affairs Canada charges itself with “the interna-tional dimension of cyber secu-rity,” Industry Canada looks after telecommunications and the marketplace. The Cyber Threat Evaluation Centre inside of CSE has its own mandate to investi-gate incidents, as do CSIS and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Meanwhile, National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces keep networks separate from the others, meaning they have their own ways of securing them. They also exchange “cyber best prac-tices” with allied militaries.

That’s not to mention an entirely separate Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and the Canadian Cyber Threat Exchange, a joint government-private sector initia-tive established Dec. 11.

Shared Services Canada, a department the Conservative gov-ernment created in 2011, which was supposed to streamline all of the above processes.

A belaboured implementation and major bugs in how it works have been the subject of recent scrutiny. Though some money in this year’s budget was set aside for improving Shared Services Canada, there are fears that dol-lars just won’t be enough to fi x it.

Mr. O’Toole admitted that it hasn’t had “the best rollout,” though “the rationale that we started at was sound.”

@mariedaniellesThe Hill Times

During the past three years that I have chaired the Senate

Standing Committee on National Security and Defence, we have studied and reported on the threats to national security.

Our committee has noted that there remain areas for improve-ment in our national secu-rity strategy, particularly in the realms of: information sharing, review and accountability, and public communication and educa-tion. The government must ad-dress these to maintain the public confi dence and the social licence our security organizations and government depend on to act.

After nine months of hearings and testimony from more than 100 witnesses, which included government agencies, security of-fi cials, academics, and members of various religious communities, including imams, we learned that:

• By late 2014, authorities identifi ed 318 radical Canadian jihadists: 93 of them were seek-ing to travel abroad, 145 were overseas, and 80 had returned. CSIS director Michel Coulombe confi rmed a few months later that these numbers were increasing.

• There were 683 identifi ed cases of terrorist fi nancing in fi ve years, but to our knowledge no specifi c charges or prosecutions were initiated.

• Foreign funds had entered Canada for religious-oriented programming despite their do-nors and recipients being linked to radicalization.

• Eight Canadian charities had their charitable status revoked because of indirect or direct connections to terrorism—yet no members of their executive or staff faced criminal prosecution.

• The Muslim Brotherhood and entities closely associated with it are a problem; the committee recommended that CSIS review it as a priority with the intent of determining whether it should be designated a terrorist entity.

• Terrorist promotion and radicalization remain a concern in many areas of Canadian soci-ety, including at schools and in religious facilities.

• Government agencies and political leaders conduct outreach to some disturbing individuals and organizations linked to ter-rorism and radicalization.

• The government was failing to communicate clearly with Canadians about the scope of the terrorist threat.

• Emergency preparedness at the municipal, provincial, and fed-eral levels required enhancement, in view of the threat we face.

While our committee heard from informed sources about radicalization and terrorism, I would be remiss if I did not ad-dress the view in some of national security and political quarters that suggests jihadi terrorism is essentially caused by mental health and drug issues.

Jocelyn Bélanger, a professor of psychology who appeared before our committee, testifi ed: “[t]o believe that radicalized individuals are crazy or are not playing with a full deck would be our fi rst mistake in developing effective counter-terrorism strategies. The mental-in-stability hypothesis rather refl ects our profound misunderstanding of the process of radicalization.”

Going forward, national secu-rity agencies and experts must begin to take seriously the issue of immigration and demographics.

Most Canadians are not aware that Canada welcomes more than 500,000 immigrants and tempo-rary visa holders each year, the vast majority of whom do not face comprehensive security screening.

This has to be a serious concern, when we consider the reality that terrorists are freely moving across borders in Europe to carry out attacks in Paris and elsewhere on the continent.

In Canada, the RCMP has redeployed more than 600 offi cers to deal with terrorism cases. That means 600 offi cers are not doing other important police work. And as our committee was told, it takes 25 to 30 offi cers to monitor one radicalized jihadist. Resources must go up signifi cantly across the board for the foreseeable future if we are to effectively manage the growing national security threats we face.

To ensure a comprehensive na-tional security strategy is tailored to meet this problem, we should consider the following:

• Improve intragovernmental information-sharing and leverage the role of the national security adviser to ensure timely, account-able co-ordination.

• Provide suffi cient resources or tools to allow CSIS and the RCMP to be able to effectively monitor low-level threats and targets, as well as higher-level threats.

• The govern-ment must com-municate in a clear, quantitative, and unambiguous manner about the national security situation in Can-ada and abroad, including the true number of people directly or indirectly involved in supporting radicalization and terrorist activity.

• We must aggressively prosecute those who violate our

national security law. Public confi dence relies on respect for the rule of law and the principle of equal application of law. The relatively administrative and secret character of peace bonds is no substitute for a public trial.

• As recommended by the Senate committee, we need to empower local police and pros-ecutors to proceed with terrorism cases, without requiring the at-torney general’s consent, as is the case in other areas of criminal law.

• We need to work closely with municipalities, provinces, and ter-ritories to prevent radicalization.

• We need to enhance emergency preparedness, especially in relation to our critical national infrastructure.

• We need to fully screen for security the more than 500,000 immigrants and visa holders we receive each year.

• When it comes to earning the public’s confi dence, we need to establish, by statute and other-wise, national security review bodies and systems that boost review capabilities and public ac-countability, especially in security domains where none currently exists, such as in relation to the Canada Border Services Agency.

• In line with public account-ability, the proposed parliamentary committee on security and intelli-gence must not be seen as a partisan body dominated by government-friendly appointees. To address this possibility, I would recommend that it be a joint parliamentary commit-tee where both houses of Parliament would be represented.

The government must allow our agencies to execute their respon-sibilities—whether identifying threats, laying charges, or prosecut-ing—without preoccupying them-selves with accommodating aggres-sive lobbies or catering to politics and political correctness. If we were to do this, I am confi dent we would earn the public confi dence neces-sary to address the threats to our national security. Canadians want and need us to succeed.

Yukon Conservative Senator Daniel Lang is chair of the Senate Standing Committee on National Security and Defence.

news@hilltimes.comThe Hill Times

Security oversight committee should include Senators, MPs

CONSERVATIVE SENATOR DANIEL LANG

Grits have no new, clear cyber policy beyond: opposition

Continued from page 21

Liberal Senator Grant Mitchell and Conservative Senator Daniel Lang, the vice-chair and chair of the Senate National Security and Defence Committee last year, are seen speaking in March 2015. The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright

25THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2016

HILL CLIMBERS POLITICAL STAFFERS

Families, Children, and Social Development Minister Jean-

Yves Duclos was set to welcome a press secretary to his ministe-rial staff this week, Hill Climbers has learned.

Emilie Gauduchon was ex-pected to mark her fi rst day in Mr. Duclos’ ministerial offi ce on May 3. She will work closely with communications director Mathieu Filion in her new role as press secretary.

Until recently, she was co-ordi-nating graduation ceremonies at the Université de Montreal, her alma mater, since February 2015. In 2013, she worked as a co-ordinator for public relations and protocol in the university’s com-munications and public relations offi ce. In 2009, she was a project co-ordinator with the school’s Montreal Centre for International Research, also known by the French acronym CERIUM.

Ms. Gauduchon has also previ-ously been a communications manager at the Unité de santé international in Montreal, Que. She is a former communications man-ager with the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime in the city. And she has worked for ERAI Canada, an economic develop-ment agency promoting the French region of Rhône-Alpes in Canada, among other experience indicated in her LinkedIn profi le. She’s also previously worked for the Europe-an Commission in Geneva and the French Embassy in Ecuador.

Ariel Gough, meanwhile, joined Mr. Duclos’ ministerial team last month as a policy ad-viser and Atlantic desk adviser. Until the beginning of this year, she was a communications offi cer for the Nova Scotia Liberal Cau-cus offi ce in Halifax, N.S.

Ms. Gough has previously worked as a social media man-ager for Miss Mediosa, a social media management company in Halifax. In December 2012 and January 2013 she interned at The Chronicle Herald in Halifax. She’s also briefl y worked as a produc-tion assistant for Eastlink, a cable TV and telecommunications com-pany, in Lower Sackville, N.S.

Ms. Gough has been involved with the Nova Scotia Young

Liberals in recent years, as well as serving as youth liaison for the Halifax West Liberal Associa-tion. She spent a year studying journalism at City University London, and her LinkedIn ac-count indicates she’s in the midst of a bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing at Mount Saint Vincent University (having started in 2014 and set to graduate in 2017).

In other news, Science Min-ister Kirsty Duncan has hired Christopher Ethier as her director of parliamentary affairs, accord-ing to the government’s online staff directory.

Mr. Ethier previously worked for Ms. Duncan last Parliament in her capacity as the Liberal MP for Etobicoke North, Ont. and worked on her 2015 re-election campaign. His LinkedIn profi le indicates he also helps with operations and issues management in the offi ce, and studied for his undergrad in commerce at Ryerson University, focusing on business management and business law.

Defence Minister Sajjan bolsters team

National Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has welcomed a number of interesting new staff

to his ministerial team, includ-ing John Gosal, a senior policy adviser who joined the offi ce in February.

Until then, Mr. Gosal had spent roughly the last eight years work-ing in various roles for Canada’s foreign ministry, starting in 2007.

He worked at the Canadian High Commission in Islamabad, Pakistan, ultimately under the title of head of trade, commercial, and economic affairs. Before that, Mr. Gosal spent three months with the India Unit of the foreign ministry’s South Asia Commer-cial Relations Division, after briefl y working with the divi-sion’s Pakistan Unit.

His fi rst placement with the department in 2007 was in Vienna, Austria, as a counsellor at the Canadian Embassy in Austria, during which time he was part of the Canadian delegation to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

Mr. Gosal is also a former sec-ond secretary as part of Canada’s permanent mission to the UN, according to his LinkedIn profi le, which indicates he has a mas-ter’s degree in war studies from King’s College London and an undergraduate degree in political science and history from Simon Fraser University in B.C.

Anthony Di Carlo is now a special assistant in Mr. Sajjan’s offi ce. Since 2008, he’s been an infantry offi cer (a lieutenant) with the primary reserve of Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal, supervising “more than 30 active members in their Infantry trade profes-sional development as platoon commander,” reads his LinkedIn account.

For a year starting in January 2013, he was in Port-au-Prince, Haiti serving as assistant fi nance offi cer for the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti. He earned an award in recognition of his work from the Brazilian Armed Forces during this time as part of professional interaction between the Canadian Armed Forces and the BAF.

Before that, he was a senior associate at PricewaterhouseC-oopers in Montreal, Que., starting

in 2008. Prior to that, he was a project manager at Les Industries Certico Inc.

He studied toward an under-grad in economics and fi nance at McGill University, where he later earned a diploma in accounting before studying chartered ac-counting at Concordia University (later earning his CPA and CMA professional designation). While at McGill, he for a time was vice-pres-ident of fi nance and operations at the university’s students’ society.

Among a long list of volunteer experience, Mr. Di Carlo has been involved with CPA Sans Fron-tières Canada; was project man-ager for Running for Athletes, a program of the Canadian Athletes Now Fund; and has volunteered as a project manager for Canada 150 plans put forward by the community of Papineau, Que. on behalf of the Liberal Party. He’s also been a blogger for Huffi ng-ton Post Canada.

Elyse Banham has also joined Mr. Sajjan’s ministerial team as a special assistant. Until recently, she was working as a registered midwife with the Midwifery Group of Ottawa since 2014. She’s a former student employee with the Hamilton Family Health Team, and is a former writer and political operations aide to then-Offi cial Opposition Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff on the Hill, in which capacity she did tour, cor-respondence, youth engagement, operations, and stakeholder rela-tions work.

She studied political science and later midwifery at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont., and is a former board of directors member of the Association of Ontario Midwives.

Finally, Small Business and Tourism Minister Bardish Chag-ger has hired Yanique Williams as a policy adviser for small busi-ness and Ontario desk adviser.

Before joining the minister’s team in March, Ms. Williams was a special assistant for policy and executive assistant to the princi-pal secretary in Ontario Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne’s offi ce in Toronto. Previously, she worked at Queen’s Park as scheduler and offi ce manager to then-Ontario Citizenship, Immigration, and International Trade minister Mi-chael Coteau.

She previously founded the-COR, a former blog described as an online community resource fo-cused on celebrating “all aspects of the African and Caribbean Communities,” on her LinkedIn profi le.

In 2012, Ms. Williams interned as a policy adviser with the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation, and previously has worked for the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, starting off as a project assistant for the or-ganizational standards initiative in December 2010, amongst her other past experience.

She studied toward a master’s in public administration in public and international affairs at York University’s Glendon College, during which time she spent a year studying international rela-tions at the Institute d’Etudes politiques de Paris in France (Sciences Po Paris). Ms. Williams has an undergrad in political sci-ence and philosophy at Queen’s University

lryckeweaert@hilltimes.comThe Hill Times

Families and Social Development Minister

Duclos hires press secretary

HILL CLIMBERSBY LAURA RYCKEWAERT

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan hires a reserve infantry offi cer and a midwife as special assistants.

Elyse Banham, left, is now a special assistant to National Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, as is Anthony Di Carlo. Photographs courtesy of LinkedIn

Yanique Williams is a policy adviser for small business and Ontario desk adviser to Small Business and Tourism Minister Bardish Chagger. Photograph courtesy of LinkedIn

Ariel Gough, left, is a policy adviser to Families, Children and Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, while Emilie Gauducon is now the minister’s press secretary. Photographs courtesy of LinkedIn

John Gosal is now a senior policy adviser to Mr. Sajjan. Photograph courtesy of LinkedIn

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THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2016 27

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THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 201628FEATURE PARTIES

A soundtrack of smooth jazz was the backdrop to the constant chatter of

diplomats, military attachés, and other guests at the Canadian Museum of History on April 26 for the Netherlands’ King’s Day celebration.

Perhaps it was the piles of cheese, or maybe the kegs of Heineken. Either way, the celebration in honour of Dutch King Willem-Alexander drew people in droves. The date of the event is based on Willem-Alexander ascending the throne on April 30, 2013.

Slovak Ambassador Andrej Droba and his wife Daniela arrived early, which was lucky because an extensive line quickly wrapped around the escalators in the Grand Hall while diplomats and other guests alike waited to greet the ambas-sador, his wife, and the Dutch military attaché. Former MP Peter Stoffer (who was born in the Netherlands) was spotted in the lineup, as was EU Ambassador Marie-Anne Coninsx.

“We make friends with everybody,” said Dutch Ambassador Cees Kole. “I think I can safely say that you have one million Canadians of Dutch descent; that means many friends.”

The feature of the evening was a colour-ful stained-glass window, created by the late Dutch artist Theo Lubbers, which he originally presented in 1992 to the newly opened Dutch consulate general in Mon-treal. The window was donated to the Ca-nadian Museum of History by the embassy of the Netherlands as a “natural token of friendship of Canada and the Netherlands,” said Mr. Kole, to be added to the perennial gift of tulips that bloom every year dur-ing May’s Tulip Festival in Ottawa. They

will hopefully be popping up soon despite this very long Canadian spring, joked the ambassador. Museum CEO Mark O’Neill accepted the window on behalf of the mu-seum and Canada.

The iconic symbol of tulips, represen-tative of Canada and the Netherlands’ friendship, adorned the room as accents on tables and lined the walls.

In addition to all of the diplomats, a few Canadians with special ties to the Nether-lands were in attendance.

Patrick Kelly, of the RCD regiment in Petawawa, was there with his wife and father-in-law, Joanna and Louis Zwanen-beek, to meet the ambassador. At the end of the Second World War, Mr. Kelly’s regiment liberated a town in Holland called Leeuwarden. It just so happened that the town was the same one that Mr. Zwanenbeek lived in. He later immigrated to Canada, and his daughter and Mr. Kelly met and married by chance.

“It’s just kind of a way of coming full circle to do what I can to bring a little bit of Holland back for him, and, in a way, to try and get us together. I appreciate my father-in-law and my wife’s heritage very much, and I just want to be a part of it,” said Mr. Kelly.

Guests mingled over wine, beer, and spritzers, while specialty Dutch hors d’oeuvres, including bitterballen, the clas-sic Dutch pub food in the form of bite-sized croquettes stuffed with beef, veal, and ragu, were served.

There was a table about six metres long that was almost entirely fi lled with piles of Dutch cheese, which was the highlight of the night for Party Central.

Werner Wnendt, ambassador of Ger-many, chatted with Teuku Faizasyah of Indonesia over some wine and gouda.

“The Netherlands is our neighbour and good friend. This is a wonderful spring day and a wonderful place that I like to come [to] again and again. It’s always important to show our support for our neighbours and friends,” said Mr. Wnendt.

cnash@hilltimes.comThe Hill Times

A party fi t for a king

PARTY CENTRALB Y C H E L S E A N A S H

W E D N E S D A Y E D I T I O N

Piles of cheese, kegs of Heineken, and a special stained-glass window marked the national day of the Netherlands.

The Hill Times photographs by Sam Garcia

Dutch Ambassador Cees Kole with Museum of History CEO Mark O’Neill at the King’s Day celebration on April 26. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia

Kazakhstan’s ambassador, Konstantin Zhigalov, Mr. Monji, Ms. Isarabhakdi, EU Ambassador Marie-Anne Coninsx, Ms. Monji, Slovak Ambassador Andrej Droba and his wife, Daniela Droba, Mr. Zhigaov’s wife Indira Zhigalova and the Egyptian ambassador’s wife, Hala Youssef.

Author Margaret Dickenson and her husband, former diplomat Larry Dickenson, with Japanese Ambassador Kenjiro Monji and his wife, Etsuko Monji.

Thai Ambassador Vijavat Isarabhakdi, his wife Wannipa and Belgian Ambassador Raoul Delcorde.

Indonesian Ambassador Teuku Faizasyah, left, his wife, Andis, Ms. and Mr. Isarabhakdi.

Mr. Kole with his wife, Saskia Kole-Jordans, greet Vice-Chief of Defence Staff Lt.-Gen. Guy Thibault.

A table adorned with cheese, wooden clogs, and tulips.

29THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2016

ENVOYS

Canada welcomed three new heads of mission on April 26 when they formally presented their letters of credence to Gov-ernor General David Johnston.

Clarissa Sabita Riehl, the new high com-missioner for the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, succeeded Harry Narine Nawbatt.

Ms. Riehl was the one of the fi rst female military offi cers in Guyana when she joined in 1966, the same year Guyana achieved inde-pendence. She eventually entered the political world in 1992, when she was became a mem-ber of the People’s National Congress, and also served as deputy speaker for 14 years.

The other two heads of mission are posted in the United States, but will serve Canada from there. Hassana Alidou will be the new ambassador of the Republic of Niger. She presented her credentials to U.S. President Barack Obama on February 23. Her background is in education, with a specifi c emphasis on educating African children in their native language rather than colonial English or French.

The third head of mission, Elisenda Vives Balmaa, is the new ambassador of

Andorra. She holds six degrees, including two postgraduate degrees in law and com-parative politics and a PhD in history and a master’s in gender differences. She speaks four languages: Catalan, Spanish, English and French. Previously, she was posted to UNESCO as the president of the Andorran National Commission and as the permanent representative of Andorra to the United Na-tions. She is posted to New York, N.Y.

Dion looking for new policy advisers: Middle East and Latin America

Minister Stéphane Dion’s offi ce is ap-parently looking for a new policy adviser.

Former Canadian diplomat and current Canadian Global Affairs Institute fellow Colin Robertson told The Hill Times that he was approached by director of policy Christopher Berzins about possible sug-gestions for people who might be knowl-edgeable about the Middle East and/or the Americas.

“Because we have extensive networks through our fellows, and they’re looking

for someone with specifi c research skills, so that’s why...They just asked if I knew anybody,” he said.

He said he thinks they’re looking for “various positions,” and that the areas they inquired about included Latin America and the Middle East.

He said he just spoke to the policy di-rector as recently as two weeks ago.

Joseph Pickerill, Mr. Dion’s communica-tions director, said in an email, “All I can say at this point is that we’re always looking for good people to cover policy in both geograph-ic and thematic areas but we do not elaborate further on human resource decisions.”

Currently, the offi ce has two policy advis-ers in addition to three senior positions. Julian Ovens, the minister’s chief of staff, has extensive experience working in the mining industry. Christopher Berzins, direc-tor of policy, is well-versed in Europe and the United States, having spent the past two and a half years at the Canadian embassy in Washington, and was the deputy director for North and South Europe at Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, which has since been renamed Global Affairs Canada.

Jocelyn Coulon is the senior policy ad-viser, and according to Mr. Robertson, was brought on for his expertise in peacekeep-ing. He is a former journalist and was on the board of governors for the Internation-al Development Research Centre, and has written several books on peacekeeping.

The remaining two policy advisers have expertise in China and the environment. Pascale Massot has a PhD specializing in the political economy of China, and Jean Boutet worked in the public service at the environment department.

Carlo Dade, director for the Canada West Foundation’s Centre for Trade and Invest-ment Policy, said if Dion’s offi ce was looking, Mr. Robertson is who they should go to.

“Colin’s an old hand. He’s kind of the dean on North American issues, foreign policy is-sues...He’s more of an insider,” he said.

Asked whether or not six months into its mandate was a long time for Mr. Dion’s of-fi ce to still be looking for policy advisers, Mr. Dade said he “wouldn’t read too much into it.”

He said that while the Conservatives may have had trouble fi nding self-identifi ed Con-servative experts in foreign policy, he’s “not too worried that [the Liberals] haven’t had access to people who have some background.”

However, he said that when it comes to policy on Latin America, he could see the Liberals having trouble fi nding someone who is moderate enough.

“A lot of the Latin Amerincanists are left of centre, to be blunt about it,” he told The Hill Times. “This government is centrist. I don’t think they’re going to want someone who’s said that NAFTA’s been terrible and that trade agreements are terrible,” he said.

This future policy adviser, whether it’s one person or more, has potential to shape Canada’s foreign policy in these regions.

“Trudeau appears to be letting his ministers have free rein,” Mr. Dade said. “So this person could actually have some infl u-ence rather than just executing.”

A former adviser to multiple Conser-vative ministers, who spoke under the condition of anonymity due to his current political position, said that political staff can develop the ability to infl uence what a minister might decide to do because they “know where the minister’s head is.”

While a junior policy adviser might not have that much infl uence, having the min-ister’s trust can mean you develop some infl uence, he said.

He also said that when it comes to the different fi le assignments, “you don’t al-ways have to have a neat, cookie-cutter ap-proach to ‘this is what this person is doing.’ That works in the civil service, but in the political world, it’s more fl uid than that.”

If Dion is looking for one person to fi ll both fi les, it’s likely because all the other fi les have already been spoken for, said Dade. That spe-cifi c combination of regions would be hard to fi nd in one person in academia, though would be more common in someone with a back-ground in the foreign service, he said.

“Stéphane Dion kind of knows his way around internationally, and he has some very strong opinions. So it will be interest-ing,” Mr. Dade said.

cnash@hilltimes.com

Canada’s ambassador to the United States had some interesting things to say about international trade during an April 26 interview with Bloomberg TV. David

MacNaughton says Canada could help to bring China closer to “normal” internation-al trade practices through potential free trade talks, then, in response to another question, poured cold water on the possi-bility of “spectacular new trade deals.”

When asked to reveal his biggest goal as ambassador to the U.S., Mr. MacNaughton said he would be trying to “make the things that are working really well now” to “work better.” He then referred to “some of the discussion that’s going on in the U.S. general election,” before saying, “I don’t think it’s a time for spectacular new trade deals to hap-pen. I think we’re going to go through a couple of years where, anybody who’s proposing that might get shut down fairly quickly.”

Mr. MacNaughton’s remarks came after another question about whether Canada’s rumoured free trade negotiations with Chi-na might “frustrate” the United States. The

ambassador said that has been raised with him on a couple of occasions already, after only a couple months on the job. He said Canada could help its allies by “bringing China more into the normal international trade behaviour” and keeping in contact with the United States while it did so.

It’s not clear whether Mr. MacNaugh-ton’s remarks about “spectacular new trade deals” was a reference to starting up trade talks with China, or to the Trans-Pacifi c Partnership agreement that Canada and the United States have signed, but which has been denounced by several leading U.S. presidential candidates, and to which the Canadian government remains offi -cially uncommitted.

It’s also possible Mr. MacNaughton was referring to hypothetical future trade deals that would somehow tie in both Canada and the United States, though none have been seriously proposed. Canada’s em-bassy in Washington did not respond when asked for clarifi cation.

NCC clears its deskThe National Capital Commission had a

busy week, making a long-awaited decision on the future of the LeBreton Flats lands in Ottawa and a pair of other announcements.

The NCC said it would begin negotiations with RendezVous LeBreton on the business group’s plan to redevelop the LeBreton Flats area. The RendezVous LeBreton team is backed by Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk, and the bid includes a plan to build an NHL-calibre hockey arena in which the hockey team could play, as well as housing and public spaces.

The NCC chose that plan over another bid by the Devcore Canderel DLS Group,

which also proposed a hockey arena as well as a walk-through “linear” park, a skate park, and other attractions.

The NCC also released the names last week of 12 diplomatic missions that would show their stuff in its new building in the ByWard Market, as part of a showcase for the 150th anniversary of Confederation in Canada.

The United States, Mongolia, Cuba, Germany, Ireland, Belgium, the Nether-lands, Poland, the Philippines, Switzer-land, Hungary, and Israel will each take a turn transforming the new International Pavilion building at 7 Clarence St. into an exhibition of its culture and relationship with Canada, beginning in February 2017 and ending in December of the same year, according to an NCC press release.

The host countries were determined by the NCC “on a fi rst come fi rst serve basis, based on availability of dates and the ability of the embassies to develop programming for the space,” according to an emailed statement from spokesperson Cédric Pelletier.

Finally, the NCC approved an applica-tion from the federal government to build the controversial memorial for victims of communism in the Garden of the Provinces and Territories, a park not far from the LeBreton Flats and west of the Parliament Buildings.

A plan under the previous federal government to build a much larger memo-rial on space that had been reserved for a new Federal Court building on Wellington Street had been blocked by the NCC after it drew criticism from Ottawa residents and a lawsuit from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.

peter@hilltimes.com@PJMazereeuw

Canada welcomes new top diplomats; Dion hiring

DIPLOMATIC CIRCLES

BY CHELSEA NASH

FEATURE BUZZ

This is no time for ‘spectacular new trade deals’: MacNaughton

HEARD HILLONTHE

BY PETER MAZEREEUW

Continued from page 2

Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. David MacNaughton. Photograph courtesy of StrategyCorp

30 THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2016

FEATURE EVENTS

WEDNESDAY, MAY 4 Liberal Caucus Meeting—The Liberals will meet in

Room 237-C Centre Block on Parliament Hill. For more information, please call Liberal Party media relations at media@liberal.ca or 613-627-2384.

Conservative Caucus Meeting—The Conservatives will meet for their national caucus meeting. For more information, contact Cory Hann, director of commu-nications, Conservative Party of Canada at coryhann@conservative.ca

NDP Caucus Meeting—The NDP caucus will meet from 9:15 a.m.-11 a.m. in Room 112-N Centre Block, on Wednesday. Please call the NDP Media Centre at 613-222-2351 or ndpcom@parl.gc.ca

The Canadian International Council (CIC) National Capital Branch: An Evening with Lord David Owen on Why the UK Should Leave the European Union—David Owen is one of the U.K.’s most distinguished political fi gures and public intellectuals. He is a former U.K. foreign secretary and EU peace negotiator in the former Yugoslavia. It is a signifi cant development in the cur-rent U.K. referendum campaign that he has decided his country should leave the EU. June 23 is the date of the referendum, and Lord Owen has dramatically entered the debate with a new book Europe Restruc-tured, Vote to Leave. May 4, 5 p.m. (registration and cash bar); 6 p.m. (presentation begins), Rideau Room, Sheraton Hotel, 150 Albert Street, Ottawa, ottawa@thecic.org or 613-903-4011

Avoiding Catastrophe: Linking Armed Confl ict Harm to Ecosystems and Public Health—From May 4-6 in Montreal, join experts from the medical, epidemio-logical, veterinary, confl ict management, biodiversity conservation, climate change and political science communities for this conference hosted by the Loyola Sustainability Research Centre. The event kicks off with keynote speakers Dr. Keith Martin (Consortium of Universities of Global Health) and Adan Suazo Morazán (Embassy of Honduras in Brazil) on May 4, from 6-9 p.m. at 1400 de Maisonneuve St., room LB-125. Free. For more information, see eventbrite.com/e/avoiding-catastrophe-linking-armed-confl ict-harm-to-ecosystems-and-public-health-tickets-21273132512

The Ottawa-Orleans PC Association Reception—The Ottawa-Orleans PC Association is holding a recep-tion featuring Conservative MPs Jason Kenney and Tony Clement. The event will take place at the HMCS

Bytown Naval Mess 78 Lisgar St., May 4, 6 p.m. For tickets go to www.orleanspc.com. Contact: parkinsonda-vid44@gmail.com for more information.

THURSDAY, MAY 5 The Canadian Nurses Foundation—will host its an-

nual Nightingale Gala to celebrate Canada’s nurses and support indigenous nursing education and research on May 5 at the Shaw Centre. The reception takes place at 5:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 7 p.m. Sophie Grégoire Trudeau is an honorary patron and will speak at the gala. For more information please visit: http://cnf-fi ic.ca/2016-gala/

Building Capacity, Fostering Collaboration: The Best Defence Against Dangerous Pathogens in Af-rica—Award-winning scientist Gary Kobinger, with the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg and the World Health Organization’s Collaborating Centre for Emerging and Zoonotic Diseases Detection, outlines his approach to combating infectious disease in Africa. Hosted by the International Development Research Centre at the Delta Ottawa City Centre Hotel, 101 Lyon St., Panorama Room, from 2-3:30 p.m. See idrc.ca for more information.

FRIDAY, MAY 6Nobel Peace Laureate lecture—Hosted by Alex

Trebek, the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee, speaks on the topic of “Crossing borders to fi nd common ground.” Cocktail reception at 6 p.m. and lecture at 7 p.m., Trillium Ball-room, Shaw Centre. Tickets (including hors d’oeuvres and one drink) $15 for University of Ottawa alumni and students; $20 for the general public. Register online by visiting alumni.uottawa.ca/en/gbowee.

SATURDAY, MAY 7Second Annual Anti-Corruption Symposium—

Organized by the Canadians for Accountability, the symposium is free. The day starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 2:45 p.m. Speakers include Peter Mantas, Dr. Youssef Youssef, David Kilgour, Allan Cutler, Cindy Blackstock, and Andy Bryce. For more information, call Allan Cutler at 613-293-4671.

MONDAY, MAY 9EU and Canada Strategic Partners: Towards a

New Generation Relationship—To celebrate 40 years

of the European Union in Canada, the EU Delega-tion to Canada hosts a conference at the National Gallery of Canada, 1-5:30 p.m. Speakers include EU ambassador Marie-Anne Coninsx, French ambassa-dor Nicolas Chapuis, Liberal MP Jonathan Wilkinson (North Vancouver, B.C.) and the former trade minister, Conservative MP Ed Fast (Abbotsford, B.C.). For more information, and to register, visit eucanada40.ca

TUESDAY, MAY 10Hill Times Event: Women in Finance—Small Busi-

ness and Tourism Minister Bardish Chagger will speak at this event. 7:30 a.m.-9 a.m., Ottawa Marriott Hotel, 100 Kent St., Ottawa. Free for Hill Times subscribers and $20 for non-subscribers. Panellists include: Caro-line Hubberstey, head of external relations at Acxsys Corporation/Interac Association; Caroline Riseboro, CEO Plan Canada International; Victoria Lennox, co-founder and CEO Startup Canada; and Sharon Connolly, vice-president Business Development Bank of Canada. The discussion will be moderated by Power & Infl uence editor Ally Foster.

CCSA Hosting Communications Services Recep-tion—The Canadian Cable Systems Alliance (CCSA), which represents 120 independent and entrepreneurial cable, telephone and internet companies, is hosting a reception in the Commonwealth Room in Centre Block, May 10, from 5 p.m.-7 p.m. All Senators, Members of Parliament and staff are invited to attend and better fa-miliarize themselves with our nation’s communications service providers. For more information or to RSVP, please contact Cynthia Waldmeier at 613-233-8906 or cynthia@impactcanada.com.

Canada at the World Humanitarian Summit: Op-portunities for Leadership & Legacy—The Canadian Council for International Co-operation (CCIC), the Canadian Association of International Development Pro-fessionals (CAIDP), and the School of International De-velopment and Global Studies (SIDGS) are co-hosting a public event at the Library & Archives (395 Wellington St.), May 10, 5:30 p.m.-9 p.m. The event includes a humanitarian expert panel, a political response panel, networking reception, and a humanitarian fair. The event is free and open to the public –register on Event-brite. For more information please contact Sara Thaw (sthaw@ccic.ca).

The Canadian Dental Association’s (CDA) Days on the Hill—May 10 and 11. CDA’s Days on the Hill

connects leaders from Canada’s 21,000 dentists with parliamentarians to discuss important issues pertain-ing to oral health. The CDA is the national voice for dentistry in Canada and is dedicated to the promotion of optimal oral health for Canadians. For further infor-mation, please contact Bonnie Kirkwood at bkirkwood@cda-adc.ca

An Evening with the Canadian Dental Association Tuesday May 10—The Canadian Dental Association (CDA) invites you to its annual Parliamentary reception for friends of the dental profession, parliamentarians, and staff on Tuesday May 10th at 5:30 p.m. at the Mét-ropolitain restaurant. Refreshments will be provided. To RSVP, please contact Bonnie Kirkwood at bkirkwood@cda-adc.ca

Launch of the Rio Tinto Award for Indigenous Students—A reception co-hosted by Rio Tinto, Canada’s largest mining and metals business, and Indspire, an indigenous-led charity that invests in the education of indigenous people, celebrating the launch of the Rio Tinto Award for Indigenous Students. The reception is a chance for parliamentarians and industry stakeholders to meet and mingle with indigenous fi nancial award recipients in order to learn their experiences and celebrate indigenous education in Canada. Alfredo Barrios, chief executive of Rio Tinto Aluminum; Roberta Jamieson, president and CEO of Indspire; Indspire fi nancial award recipients; MPs and Senators; industry stakeholders, May 10, 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Drawing Room, Fairmont Chateau Laurier Hotel, 1 Rideau St. Ottawa.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 11 Liberal Caucus Meeting—The Liberals will meet in

Room 237-C Centre Block on Parliament Hill. For more information, please call Liberal Party media relations at media@liberal.ca or 613-627-2384.

Conservative Caucus Meeting—The Conservatives will meet for their national caucus meeting. For more information, contact Cory Hann, director of commu-nications, Conservative Party of Canada at coryhann@conservative.ca

NDP Caucus Meeting—The NDP caucus will meet from 9:15 a.m.-11 a.m. in Room 112-N Centre Block, on Wednesday. Please call the NDP Media Centre at 613-222-2351 or ndpcom@parl.gc.ca

Canadian Rail Summit 2016—Canadian Rail Summit 2016, Canada’s leading rail event. Explore cutting-edge products and services from 50 tradeshow exhibitors, and choose from a wide variety of technical and conference sessions on key industry issues such as competitiveness, safety and emerging technolo-gies. Register at www.railcan.ca/crs2016 and for more information, contact Janet Greene at 613-564-8109 jgreene@railcan.ca or Lynn Raby at 613-237-3888 or lyn_raby@railwaysuppliers.ca

Fit for purpose? CSO Transformation for Agenda 2030—The Canadian Council for International Co-operation (CCIC) is hosting its annual conference on May 11 and May 12 at the Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health. The 2016 CCIC annual conference seeks to raise the profi le of the Canadian international development and humanitarian assistance sector and its important work. This landmark event brings together stakeholders from international development and humanitarian civil society organizations (CSOs), key government offi cials, relevant policy makers and academics from Canada and abroad. ‘Fit for purpose: CSO transformation for Agenda 2030’ will examine the challenges and opportunities facing CSOs in this new era of global development cooperation. For more info see: www.ccic.ca. Follow #intlcoopdays on Twitter.

Talent for Innovation: Harnessing Canada’s Re-search Advantage—Join Mitacs and leaders from busi-ness, government, and academia to examine strategies to effectively engage and employ research innovators. Tuesday, May 11, National Arts Centre, Ottawa. Forum: 1 p.m.-4:30 p.m., and reception 4:30 p.m.-6 p.m.

Parliamentary Calendar

British ex-foreign secretary to talk Brexit May 4 at the Sheraton

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Former U.K. foreign secretary and EU peace negotiator Lord David Owen will explain why he thinks the U.K. should leave the European Union in a May 4 talk organized by the Canadian International Council National Capital Branch. Photo courtesy of Chatham House

31THE HILL TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MAY 4, 2016

FEATURE EVENTS

THURSDAY, MAY 12 Bacon & Eggheads Breakfast, Thursday May 12—

PAGSE presents a bilingual talk ‘Keeping Food Available and Affordable: A 21st Century Challenge’ with Jean Caron, Université Laval. Thursday, May 12, 7:30 a.m. Parliamentary Dining Room, Centre Block. No charge to MPs, Senators , and media. All others, $25. Pre-regis-tration required by Monday, May 9 by contacting Donna Boag, PAGSE pagse@rsc-src.ca or call 613-991-6369.

Polytechnics Canada Annual Policy Conference—This year’s conference theme is “Learning that Works: Polytechnic Education.” Speakers include disruptive innovation expert Michael Horn, best-selling higher education author Jeff Selingo and ESDC deputy minis-ter Ian Shugart. The conference will be held on May 12 and 13, 2016 at Humber College in Toronto, Ont. For more information visit polytechnicscanada.ca.

Ottawa Branch Monarchist League of Canada Celebrates Queen’s 90th Birthday—Senator Serge Joyal will deliver an address ‘Canada’s Constitutional Mon-archy: Honougin a Lifetime of Service by Her Majesty,

Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada. NAC director of communications Rosemary Thompson will emcee. The event is sold out.

Digital Governance Forum—The Institute on Governance, in partnership with the Centre for Public Impact, presents its second annual Digital Governance Forum, with the theme “Democratic Governance in a Networked Age.” May 12-13, at the Adobe Conference Centre, 343 Preston St., Ottawa. Contact Franca Pala-zzo, fpalazzo@iog.ca or 613-562-0090 x 218.

TUESDAY, MAY 17 Travers Debates—Maclean’s iconoclastic humourist

Scott Feschuk, journalist Katie Simpson, and Liberal MP Rodger Cuzner and NDP MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau are all going to be on the same stage May 17, at the NAC. Register at www.traversdebates.ca

Merit Canada Reception—Métropolitain Brasserie & Restaurant, 700 Sussex Dr., May 17, 5 p.m.-8 p.m. RSVP to merit@tsa.ca

The Forest Sector: Contributing to Climate Change Solutions—The Forest Products Association of Canada and FPInnovations will be holding a reception on Wednesday, May 18 to showcase how the forest products industry is using clean tech and innovation to pave the way to a low-carbon economy. The event, which will include leaders from industry and government, will be held at the Rideau Club, 99 Bank St., Ottawa, between 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. For more information, please contact fmcdonald@fpac.ca

THURSDAY, MAY 26 Liberal Biennial Convention—The federal Liberals

will hold their convention in Winnipeg, Man., Thursday, May 26, to Sunday, May 29, 2016.

Conservative Convention—The federal Conserva-tives will hold their convention in Vancouver, B.C., May 26 to May 29, 2016.

SUNDAY, MAY 29Taiwan Film Screening: Together—Seventeen should

be a carefree age, but Yang gets to see the complexities of love involving his friends and family. Should he just stand aside and watch or should he risk himself to help? Presented by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Offi ce in Canada in collaboration with Ottawa Asian Heritage Month Society. Sunday, May 29, begins 2:10 p.m. with a complimentary reception and fi lm starts at 2:45 p.m., Chamber at Ben Franklin Place, 101 Centrepointe Drive, Nepean, Ottawa. In mandarin Chinese with English subtitles. Free admission.

SATURDAY, JUNE 4 Parliamentary Press Gallery Dinner—It’s the 150th

Anniversary of the Press Gallery at its Annual Gallery Dinner, Saturday, June 4, 5:30 p.m., Canadian Museum

of History, River View Salon. The dinner will be held in the Grand Hall at 7 p.m. Dress: cocktail elegant (black tie optional). For press gallery members and guests only.

TUESDAY, JUNE 7Registration Now Open CIPMM’s 27th Annual Na-

tional Workshop—June 7-8, 2016. The workshop fee is $875 plus HST and includes access to all keynote and breakout sessions. More than 400 delegates from PW-GSC, ESD, DND, HC, RCMP, CSEC, DFATD, DFO, TBS, NRCan, IC, AAND, CIC, and LAC. Senior government offi cials from the lead departments and agencies will be at the networking reception. There will be exhibitors, subject matter experts representing both the public and private sectors. Please contact CIPMM Secretariat at admin@cipmm-icagm.ca or at 613-725-0980.

MAY 2017

Conservative Party Leadership Convention—The Con-servatives will elect their next leader on May 27, 2017, Dan Nowlan, chair of the party’s leadership election organizing committee announced last week. The party is urging Conservative Party members to buy memberships or renew them in order to vote. For more information, con-tact Cory Hann, director of communications, Conservative Party of Canada, at 613-697-5614.

The Parliamentary Calendar is a free listing. Send in your political, cultural, diplomatic or governmental event in a paragraph with all the relevant details under the subject line ‘Parliamentary Calendar’ to news@hilltimes.com by Wednesday at noon before the Monday paper or Friday at noon before the Wednesday edition. Or fax it to 613-232-9055. We can’t guarantee inclu-sion of every event, but we will defi nitely do our best.

news@hilltimes.comThe Hill Times

Parliamentary Calendar

Kilgour, Cutler, Blackstock to speak at anti-corruption summit May 7

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“I love the North, I love being an Inuk, I love that history. That’s what I write about.”

- Susan Aglukark, singer-songwriter and humanitarian

Former MP David Kilgour is set to speak at the Second Annual Anti-Corruption Symposium, organized by the Canadians for Accountability, on May 7. The Hill Times fi le photograph