{"id":95999,"date":"2020-10-23T15:15:57","date_gmt":"2020-10-23T12:15:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/the-publics-right-to-know-is-apparently-not-patty-hajdus-priority\/"},"modified":"2020-10-23T15:15:57","modified_gmt":"2020-10-23T12:15:57","slug":"the-publics-right-to-know-is-apparently-not-patty-hajdus-priority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-publics-right-to-know-is-apparently-not-patty-hajdus-priority\/","title":{"rendered":"#The public’s right to know is apparently not Patty Hajdu’s priority"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#The public’s right to know is app<\/a>arently not Patty Hajdu’s priority<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n Politics Insider for Oct. 23: The Liberals table more spending for parliamentary approval, the health minister pooh-poohs freedom of information and some Canadian travel<\/a>lers will soon avoid 14-day quarantine\n <\/div>\n
\n Welcome to a sneak peek of the\u00a0<\/em>Maclean\u2019s\u00a0Politics Insider\u00a0news<\/a>letter.\u00a0Sign up to get it delivered\u00a0straight to your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sure, the Supplementary Estimates aren\u2019t designed to excite the typical taxpayer. But when Treasury Board President Jean-Yves Duclos<\/strong> tables his government\u2019s planned spending, the documents contain price tags in the billions that require\u00a0parliamentary approval<\/strong>\u2014a vote on new expenditures that is considered a matter of confidence<\/strong>. Yesterday, Duclos tabled the latest estimates<\/a>. So what\u2019s in there?<\/p>\n

Most of those billions have already received statutory approval, which means their funding is embedded in laws already on the books. But more than\u00a0$20 billion<\/strong> in proposed spending was voted on by the cabinet members who sit on the Treasury Board. They\u2019re asking MPs to okay $5.3 billion<\/strong> in vaccine development, $2.2 billion<\/strong> for PPE and testing kits, $1 billion<\/strong> to help Alberta close and clean up orphan wells, and\u00a0$760.1 million<\/strong> for compensation to First Nations in accordance with settlement agreements. There\u2019s a lot more, too, including millions to \u201cenhance the integrity\u201d of Canada\u2019s asylum system<\/strong> and help\u00a0Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia phase out their coal industries<\/strong>. And another 22 million bucks on government advertising<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Speaking of parliamentary showdowns, Tory MP\u00a0Michelle Rempel Garner<\/strong> tabled a motion<\/a> that demanded reams of documents<\/strong> related to the government\u2019s stewardship of the COVID-19 crisis. Same as her party leader\u2019s motion earlier this week, Rempel Garner\u2019s proposal included 28 clauses. Several of them resembled access-to-information requests likely already filed by journalists or opposition researchers. They demand, for example, \u201call memoranda, e-mails, documents, notes and other records relating to\u201d a wide variety of pandemic response measures<\/strong>. O\u2019Toole insisted this one, which could come to a vote early next week,\u00a0isn\u2019t a confidence motion<\/a>. And it appears no such drama will play out<\/a> (this time).<\/p>\n

The public\u2019s right to know:<\/strong>\u00a0Yesterday, the\u00a0Winnipeg Free Press<\/em>\u2018s Dylan Robertson reported<\/a> that two-thirds of federal access-to-information offices were deemed non-essential at the pandemic\u2019s onset, and less than half are operating at full capacity. Rempel Garner half-joked to Health Minister\u00a0Patty Hajdu<\/strong>\u00a0that some of those public servants could work on her motion\u2019s disclosure demands. Hajdu appeared to downplay the federal transparency law<\/a> in her reply: \u201cNot once has a Canadian asked me to put more resources into freedom-of-information officers.\u201d The minister\u2019s response might offer clues as to why Canada\u2019s system of disclosure is, as journalists keep<\/a> saying<\/a>, more broken than ever before<\/strong>. For the record, a former commander of the Navy<\/strong> called for more ATIP resources<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bids close today on the RCMP Musical Ride horse auction<\/strong>. One of the most competitive bidding wars is fighting over Lawman<\/a>, a\u00a0six-year-old Hanoverian Gelding with a \u201cloving personality\u201d and \u201cpotential as an upper level sport horse.\u201d Dozens of bids late into last night pushed Lawman\u2019s price tag to more than $25,000<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Five takeaways from the final presidential debate:<\/strong>\u00a0Marie-Danielle Smith watched the second U.S. presidential debate just in case you weren\u2019t keen on making it a priority. She wrote about the most important moments in the relatively subdued clash of septuagenarians<\/strong>\u2014and kept a close eye on Trump\u2019s demeanour.<\/p>\n

Well, colour us absolutely shocked that Trump lost sight of that advice as the night went on. Although he came out of the gate much milder<\/strong> than in his pre-coronavirus-diagnosis performance and maintained a higher level of decorum throughout, that newfound civility frayed<\/strong> into the evening. By the 45-minute mark, his relatively cordial tone toward Welker\u2014who firmly commanded the situation\u2014became much more combative<\/strong>. By an hour in, he got bolder with his interruptions, and the debate began to look more like what we saw earlier this month.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Weekend voting:<\/strong> Stephane Perreault, the country\u2019s chief electoral officer, is hoping the feds can tweak election laws. Perreault testified<\/a> at the Commons procedure and House affairs committee yesterday, where he advocated for a two-day weekend vote instead of the 12-hour period traditionally scheduled on Mondays. He also predicted that millions more Canadians<\/strong> would mail in their votes. He flagged no safety concerns<\/strong> even with such a massive influx.<\/p>\n

The public inquiry into the Nova Scotia shooting that claimed 22 lives in April is officially on. The feds published an order-in-council<\/a> that launched the federal-provincial initiative, and named a third commissioner.\u00a0Kim Stanton<\/strong>, a Nova Scotia lawyer<\/a>\u00a0who specializes<\/a> in Indigenous issues, will replace Anne McLellan<\/strong>, the former Liberal cabinet minister who stepped down over the summer. She\u2019ll join Michael MacDonald, the chief\u00a0commissioner, and Leanne J. Fitch.<\/p>\n

An Alberta<\/strong> pilot project<\/a>\u00a0starting next month will reduce the mandatory 14-day quarantine for border-crossers at two ports of entry: the Coutts land border crossing (check it out<\/a> on Google Streetview) and Calgary International Airport. If participants test negative for COVID-19 at the border, they\u2019ll be able to forego the quarantine<\/strong> \u201cso long as they commit to getting a second test on day six or seven after arrival\u201d at a pharmacy that\u2019s part of the pilot. They\u2019ll also be \u201cclosely monitored\u201d for symptoms.<\/p>\n

Indigenous Services Canada posted updated numbers on COVID-19\u2019s spread in Indigenous communities<\/a><\/strong>. The cumulative case count as of Oct. 21 was 1,100, including 322 active cases, 72 hospitalizations and 15 deaths<\/strong>. The highest case count was in Alberta (386), followed by Saskatchewan (212) and B.C. (176). Federal figures say the positivity rate and case fatality rate on reserves is about one-third<\/strong> the rate of Canada\u2019s general<\/a> population.<\/p>\n

In remembrance:<\/strong>\u00a0Yesterday marked six years since the Parliament Hill shooting that took the life of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo<\/strong>. The popular @CAFinUS (profiled here) re-shared cartoonist Bruce McKinnon\u2019s heart-wrenching tribute to Cirillo<\/strong><\/a> published on Oct. 23, 2014 in the\u00a0Halifax Chronicle-Herald.<\/em>
\n<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n