Whispering
in the Wind (WITW 14) February 5, 2014
There is a
lot to talk and write about when it comes to recent events in national
politics. Here are some recent headlines
and my views on the issues:
“Keystone XL gets environmental OK
from U.S. State Dept.” (CBC News, January 31, 2014)
The U.S.
State Department has given approval for the Keystone XL Pipeline project saying
that it has no major environmental concerns regarding the construction of the
$7 billion project. A few points need to
be considered – this latest review is the fifth environmental assessment done
on the project – the southern portion of the pipeline is already operating and
moving oil from Oklahoma to Gulf Coast refineries - U.S. industry is claiming
that the U.S. has an oil surplus, with some firms now applying for export
permits – the final decision, regarding the application to move Alberta’s
product will be made by the President of the United States and for the present,
no timeline has been set for a final decision.
My view is the Democratic base supporting President Obama doesn’t want
the northern portion of the Keystone XL project undertaken and the U.S. doesn’t
need Alberta’s oil, at least for the time being. It adds up to be very bad news for Prime
Minister Harper who has championed the project from the start and considers
Keystone a major plank in the Conservative’s Economic Action Plan. According to a number of observers a decision
on the pipeline will not be made by the U.S. president until late 2014 and if Democratic
politics in the U.S. remains as it is today, the likely answer will be a major
delay if not an outright no – hope I’m wrong.
“Liberals will reopen closed
Veterans’ offices” (NL News Now, February 3, 2014)
The
Conservative government has again been plagued with a public relations disaster
– this time the focus is on Veteran’s Affairs Minister Julian Fantino, the
closing of eight regional Veterans Affairs offices and Mr. Fantino’s apparent inappropriate
attitude at a single meeting with veterans last week. With the help of the union movement protests
have blossomed across the country with the public and veterans asking for Mr.
Fantino’s resignation from his portfolio.
Thomas Mulcair has called Mr. Fantino’s actions disgraceful and the minister
should be fired. Liberal leader Justin
Trudeau has taken a more calculated, astute political perspective by saying; when
the Liberals form government he will not only re-open any offices closed by the
Conservatives but expand services to ensure veterans receive the help they so
desperately need and deserve.
Trudeau’s Senate Idea fresh, brave –
and worth considering (The Globe and Mail, January 30, 2014)
The Globe
and Mail columnist Jeffery Simpson has likened the current debate on reforming
the broken Senate to be a “puzzle without a solution”. From my perspective if there is to be a
solution one first has to clearly identify the problem or problems plaguing the
Red Chamber. From my perspective there are
three clear problems associated with the Senate mess, two of which are being
addressed, at least in part. The first problem
has two issues; the loose, uncontrolled expenses and residency guidelines. The audit underway is reviewing all expenses
for all Senators and the report is expected to be released soon with specific
control measures recommended. The second
problem is the role, influence and misdeeds of the Prime Minister’s Office in
the operations of the Senate. The RCMP
is investigating possible illegal activity undertaken by individuals but the
police will not address the paramount issue of having or building an
“independent” Senate free from the influences of party politics and party
leadership – so what is the solution, or is it truly a puzzle without a
solution? This all leads to the third
major issue – can the Senate be rebuilt to become an “independent” chamber that
offers parliament sober, second thought?
It might be Pollyannaish but Justin Trudeau just declared the Liberal
Party members sitting in the Senate to be “independent”. Mr. Trudeau also suggested that the selection
of future Senators be taken away from the sitting prime minister – it’s that
simple, it’s revolutionary and it just might work.
About the
author – For the past six years Ed Shaske has written a political column for
one of Alberta’s rural, weekly newspapers, the Smoky Lake Signal. Mr. Shaske has accumulated 40 years of
experience in both the public and private sectors, as a market analyst,
economist and an international trade negotiator – read more at: edshaske@blogspot.com
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