ROYAL CHAIN GANG
Black Rod finally gets chain of office
Only people in risky trades need spy cams
It didn’t take long for the Prime Minister’s Office to prod backbencher Peter Goldring into apologizing for the now-infamous body-camera press release. Goldring, you’ll recall, suggested this week that MPs should consider “body-worn video recording equipment” in order to “prevent besmirchment when encounters run awry.” His hasty followup grovel dubbed his initial remarks “completely inappropriate.” Oh, yes. Still, The Gargoyle wondered what sort of hidden bodywear a slightly paranoid politician might actually sport. In Ottawa, Mike Noorishad at Electro Pulse on Gladstone Avenue, a longtime area business that mostly focuses on computers, showed us some samples. For example, the “minipen interview recorder” retails for $115 plus tax and clips onto a pocket, facing outward. “It’s great for use as a hidden cam, spy cam etc.,” says the packaging. It offers eight gigs of memory and it has a USB plug-in for your computer when you want to review the evidence later. You can also order eyeglasses with mini-cams, key chains and other tiny covert recording devices. Who uses them? Noorishad says folks in risky trades, such as taxi drivers, show interest. But, he adds, he has sold a pen to at least one politician.
— Christina Spencer
Women power three union negotiations
It hasn’t been a great few weeks for women on the Hill. So here’s some booster news, sisters: For the first time, women are running the three largest unions representing employees in Canada’s public service. Emmanuelle Tremblay, a senior analyst at Foreign Affairs Trade and Development Canada, has been elected president of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees (CAPE). She joins Robyn Benson, president of the giant Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), and Debi Daviau, who heads the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC). The three unions represent more than 90 per cent of public servants. The emergence of this trio comes during tense bargaining; labour relations with the government have rarely been worse. Tremblay is expected to steer the union to the left, to work with PSAC and PIPSC, which are trying to mobilize their own members for more radical measures in fighting government cuts and sick leave proposals. — Kathryn May
4 down, 5 to go, for women on top court
Just prior to the naming of Suzanne Côté to the Supreme Court of Canada, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin delivered a breakfast speech to the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce. Among issues raised, from the history of the Supreme Court building to the court’s decision-making process, she also broached the number of women on the Supreme Court bench. “When I was sworn in, I became the third woman on the court,” she told her audience. “And ( justice) Bertha Wilson — some of you will remember her, wonderful feisty lady with (a) Scottish accent — she leaned over and whispered to me at the ceremony, she says: ‘Three down, six to go!’ That may have scandalized some of the men.” As of Thursday, it’s now four down, five to go. Maybe not such a bad few weeks for women, after all.
— Joanne Chianello
Cleaning up your act during those ‘lockups’
A few times a year, bleary-eyed scribes drag themselves to earlymorning media “lockups” at the offices of the federal auditor general, whose careful and thorough investigations uncover misspent tax dollars. Those auditors are a meticulous bunch. How meticulous? Here’s our report on the spotless women’s washrooms (hey — it’s a four-hour lockup). Inside each stall, visitors are, um, privy to a neatly posted 11-part illustrated instruction sheet on “handwashing with soap and water” — followed by instructions, in eight separate illustrated steps, on “Disinfecting with alcohol sanitizer.” Escape the stall, and the sign over the hand dryer reminds users about the office’s “Scent Reduction Initiative.” A final reminder of the AG’s attention to detail: all these signs are in both official languages. — Christina Spencer
Unlucky question about ‘getting lucky’
Parliamentary interpreters have been officially reminded to watch their words around microphones, after one candid conversation caught the unwanted attention this week of MPs and Hill watchers. A team of two House of Commons interpreters had been duly translating members’ snorey statements in the House Tuesday when the English-translation feed fell silent. Instead of hearing a speech being delivered by MP John Carmichael, listeners suddenly heard cackling laughs through their earbuds, before an upbeat voice from among the translation team chirped, presumably to the other bilingual bureaucrat: “What’s with you? Did you get good news? You get laid last night?” The remarks ran live on CPAC’s parliamentary channel, and were heard by those in the House of Commons. The interpreters’ bosses have now told their blabby employees to knock it off. “This was an unfortunate incident where interpretation procedures and protocols were not followed. Employees have been reminded of protocols and procedures associated with interpretation equipment,” Annie Joannette, a spokeswoman for Public Works and Government Services Canada, told The Gargoyle. Citing “privacy reasons,” she wouldn’t say whether the pair was punished. — Dylan Robertson
Black Rod finally gets his own chain of office
The Sergeant-at-Arms in the House of Commons has had a chain of office since Confederation. So naturally, The Usher of the Black Rod in the Senate might have wondered why he didn’t. That’s all taken care of now. After years of discussions, the current Black Rod, Greg Peters, finally received his chain at a ceremony in Windsor Castle, where the Queen herself placed it around his neck. The silver chain features a pendant on the front with the symbol of the Crown, bearing the phrase “a mari usque ad mare” (“from sea to sea”) in gold letters on a blue background, with several maple leaves at the base. The back of the chain shows the badge of Parliament and the shield of the Royal Arms of Canada in front of the maces of the Senate and House of Commons, all golden. Peters will get to wear the chain dur- ing certain ceremonies such as a throne speech, the installation of a new governor general, and official welcomes for visiting heads of state. — Jordan Press
Officer probing Senate promoted to sergeant
When it comes to RCMP employees around Parliament Hill, one name rises above the rest: Cpl. Greg Horton. Horton was the lead investigator on the unit that probed the Senate expenses of Mike Duffy, Mac Harb and Patrick Brazeau. Each case is working its way through the justice system, with Duffy first up in April. Horton will likely be there to testify — but he will do so as a sergeant. Sources tell The Gargoyle that after years of being passed over, Horton was recently promoted, largely on the strength of his work on the Senate file. It helps that his careful court documents, laying out details of the investigation, were so well written that his superiors didn’t make any edits. — Jordan Press
The high price of Canadian democracy
Come the 2015 election, the House of Commons will expand to 338 MPs from the current 308. Riding redistribution was deemed necessary because, currently, some MPs represent 150,000 constituents and others have only 80,000. Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer, appearing before a parliamentary committee, told MPs it will cost $25 million annually to add those extra MPs. That covers everything from salaries and pensions, to phones and offices. The current cost of 308 MPs annually is $434.6 million. Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux says the money would be better spent on seniors’ pensions and health care than on adding honourable members. Conservative MP Tom Lukiwski had a different view, saying the country is growing and “representation by population” is a fundamental concept. “There is always a cost to democracy,” he intoned. — Mark Kennedy