Battles loom in House of Commons
EXPECT SOME BATTLES DURING QUESTION PERIOD
NOUR GOAL MUST BE TO CHALLENGE THE LIBERALS FROM DAY ONE. — ERIN O’TOOLE, CONSERVATIVE MP, IN A POSTELECTION MESSAGE TO HIS CAUCUS COLLEAGUES
o matter how much the federal parties insist they’ll behave in the new House of Commons, expect some pitched battles between Liberal cabinet ministers and opposition critics. Here are a few matchups to watch during question period.
THE LEADERS
Justin Trudeau versus Rona Ambrose (Con.) versus Tom Mulcair (NDP)
Trudeau’s strength was never in the Commons, where he laboured in the shadow of Mulcair when it came to holding the last government’s feet to the fire. But the new prime minister has set a torrid pace since his Oct. 19 election victory, and vows to continue his “sunny ways” approach to politics.
Ambrose, similarly, was not considered a question period heavyweight in the previous government, though she has held many senior portfolios. But since it’s, you know, 2015, a woman running the Official Opposition could bring a very different dynamic to the cut and thrust of debate.
Mulcair was so effective as inquisitor-in-chief in the last Parliament, it’s hard to see him improving, particularly from the corner of the House the NDP now occupies.
Advantage: Trudeau. The Conservatives and NDP are still wobbling after the election. Trudeau has momentum and an agenda.
THE MINISTERS
Global Affairs: Stéphane Dion versus Tony Clement (Con.) versus Hélène Laverdière (NDP)
Twenty years in federal politics, including several stints in cabinet and a turn as party leader have done nothing to erase Dion’s professorial persona: He remains among the most cerebral and unrelentingly earnest MPs on Parliament Hill.
Clement couldn’t be more different: The former federal and Ontario cabinet minister loves to use his quick wit and sharp tongue to amuse, engage and cajole. Laverdière is somewhere in-between, though the former Canadian diplomat shares more of Dion’s earnestness than Clement’s love of the game.
Advantage: Clement’s ability to mix it up could give him the edge.
Immigration: John McCallum versus Michelle Rempel (Con.) versus Jenny Kwan (NDP)
McCallum’s folksy style belies a sharp political mind; the former bank economist has served in cabinet before and is well tested.
Calgary MP Rempel doesn’t have the same level of experience, but she is respected and can be a fierce opponent.
Kwan, meanwhile, was a Vancouver city councillor and minister in the B.C. legislature, but she is new to Ottawa. Still, she has firsthand experience with immigration, having moved from Hong Kong to Canada at the age of nine.
Advantage: McCallum has hit the ground running on the refugee file. Rempel and Kwan will have to sprint to catch up.
Justice: Jody Wilson-Raybould versus Rob Nicholson (Con.) versus Murray Rankin (NDP)
Vancouver MP Wilson-Raybould has a lengthy record as a spirited community activist and regional chief for the B.C. Assembly of First Nations. Her performance will be under the spotlight as she pushes an ambitious agenda, from reforming the criminal justice system to legalizing marijuana.
Nicholson is a clever and knowledgeable adversary, having held portfolios, including justice, in three Conservative governments. Rankin has a sharp legal intellect, the product of a Harvard law education and law practice before becoming the MP for Victoria in 2012.
Advantage: Wilson-Raybould honed her debating skills as a one-time Crown prosecutor in Vancouver. She won’t be easy to throw off balance.
Public Safety: Ralph Goodale versus Erin O’Toole (Con.) versus Randall Garrison (NDP)
Goodale is unflappable, having served under three prime ministers (one of whom was Pierre Trudeau). He’ll bring a firm hand to a hectic and high-profile portfolio, ranging from security services to refugee screening to the promised overhaul of the Conservatives’ national security Bill C-51.
O’Toole cut his chops at parliamentary debating beginning last January when he replaced the failing Julian Fantino as minister of veteran affairs. Soon after the election, the former air force officer and lawyer wrote to his caucus colleagues saying, “Our goal must be to challenge the Liberals from day one.”
Garrison has been an informed, outspoken and combative opposition voice. His growing knowledge of Canada’s national security apparatus should make him an effective critic.
Advantage: Goodale, with his combination of charm and experience, will be tough to take down.
Defence: Harjit Sajjan versus James Bezan (Con.) versus Randall Garrison (NDP)
Sajjan is new to the Commons but served in the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan, so he’ll get up to speed quickly. He’s already a social media star, with his “bad ass” defence minister label.
Bezan served as parliamentary secretary to former defence minister Jason Kenney and on the Commons defence committee, so he comes with experience, too. Garrison, first elected in 2011, is also familiar with the defence file, as CFB Esquimalt is in his riding. Mind you, he’s juggling this critic role with the public security file, so his hands are full.
Advantage: Sajjan. As they say, he’s a “bad ass.”
Veterans Affairs: Kent Hehr versus Alupa Clarke (Con) versus Irene Mathyssen (NDP)
Both Hehr and the Conservative’s Clarke are newcomers to the Commons. Clarke, a reservist in the Canadian Forces, has an understanding of the military and veterans system. Hehr, the victim of a driveby shooting that left him in a wheelchair, points out he has dealt with situations like those veterans face when it comes to government redtape and other hurdles.
Mathyssen, a veteran politician, served previously as the NDP deputy critic for veterans affairs. In 2014, the Royal Canadian Legion honoured her with its Friendship Award in recognition of her advocacy on behalf of Canada’s veterans.
Advantage: Mathyssen, but Hehr will grow quickly into his role.
Health: Jane Philpott versus Kellie Leitch (Con.) versus Don Davies (NDP)
Philpott is a political rookie facing several hot issues: physician-assisted suicide; medicare reform; legalization of marijuana. Her strength? She’s a doctor. Her weakness? She’s never answered a question in the Commons.
Leitch is also a doctor, first elected in 2011. She was labour minister and minister for status of women — and has leadership ambitions in her own party, which give her something to prove in the Commons. Davies is a solid performer who has held critic posts for public safety, immigration and international trade.
Advantage: Watch for the matchup of the two physicians.
Indigenous Affairs: Carolyn Bennett versus Cathy McLeod (Con.) versus Charlie Angus (NDP)
Political veteran Bennett served in Paul Martin’s cabinet, and knows her file, having been aboriginal affairs critic in opposition. McLeod never made cabinet in the Conservative government, though she was parliamentary secretary.
Angus, first elected in northern Ontario in 2004, is a solid, witty and fierce critic, with a sense of humour and a keen interest in aboriginal issues thanks in part to some of the crisis that have struck aboriginal communities in his riding.
Advantage: Watch the battle between Bennett and Angus. Both are passionate, and occasionally overwrought.
Treasury Board: Scott Brison versus Pierre Poilievre (Con.) versus Daniel Blaikie (NDP)
Brison has to manage the Liberals’ spending promises, look for savings, and make nice with the public service — while stickhandling a tense round of contract talks over sick leave.
If that’s not enough, he faces attack-dog Poilievre, who earned his stripes as a loyal foot solder for Stephen Harper. For the NDP, rookie MP Daniel Blaikie, son of legendary MP Bill Blaikie, will handle the questioning.
Advantage: Brison, for his experience, but expect Poilievre to land some blows.
Canadian Heritage: Mélanie Joly versus Peter Van Loan (Con.) versus Pierre Nantel (NDP)
Joly made a name for herself when she ran for Montreal mayor in 2013 and finished second to former Liberal cabinet minister Denis Coderre. The lawyer and communications expert, who has promised to restore funding in the arts, will square off against Peter Van Loan, former Tory House leader, whose take-no-prisoners-style sometimes irked even fellow caucus members. The NDP has named Pierre Nantel as its main Heritage critic.
Advantage: Van Loan, who knows the ways of the Commons intimately.
Finance: Bill Morneau versus Lisa Raitt (Con.) versus Guy Caron (NDP)
Morneau is well qualified: he’s a longtime business executive who has advised the Ontario government on pension investments and retirement income. But he’s a political neophyte.
Raitt is one of the Conservative party’s most seasoned and respected MPs, a former minister with both a strong grasp of policy and a human touch. She’s also considered a likely candidate for the permanent Tory leadership.
Caron, an economist by training, served as assistant finance critic for more than three years when the NDP was the Official Opposition and sat on the House of Commons finance committee.
Advantage: Raitt: The right combination of savvy, tough and friendly.
Environment and Climate Change: Catherine McKenna versus Ed Fast (Con.) versus Nathan Cullen (NDP) versus Elizabeth May (Green party)
McKenna is a rookie thrown into the deep end early on, having to join the climate change talks in Paris and help craft a climate strategy with the provinces.
Fast travelled the globe negotiating trade deals during his four years as international trade minister. But his appointment as the face for the Conservatives on the environmental file has perplexed those who believe the party should have gone with someone less partisan.
Cullen is one of the strongest performing MPs in the Commons, charismatic and quick on his feet. He served as House leader and finance critic in the last Parliament, and has extensive experience with environmental and energy issues.
May, the only Green party MP, is an encyclopedia on the science of climate change. However, being a party of one MP, she may find her voice lost behind other opposition parties.
Advantage: Slight edge to Cullen over McKenna and May.
GOODALE IS UNFLAPPABLE, HAVING SERVED UNDER THREE PRIME MINISTERS (ONE OF WHOM WAS PIERRE TRUDEAU).