CETA and its tough lessons for the European Union
After going through a last-minute obstacle course courtesy of Belgium's Wallonia region, the European Union will finally be able to host Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this weekend to sign the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement.
But Germany's ambassador to Canada says the EU has some serious lessons to learn from the "rather unnecessary" episode of the past few days.
"This is now the European Union that has to deal with the consequences of this and change the decision making process in the European Union, or adapt it, adjust it, in a way that this cannot happen," Werner Wnendt told The House.
Originally, Trudeau was planning to go to Europe on Thursday, but Wallonia had been blocking the adoption of a EU-Canada free trade agreement. On Friday the Walloons reversed their earlier decision to block the deal.
Wnendt argued Belgium should have dealt with Wallonia's concerns earlier, the way Germany did with its internal objections.
"I think that there could have been an opportunity way before the actual summit meeting date that this could have been sorted out," he said.
"It was probably waiting too long to discuss it with Wallonia in that case."
Wnendt said there's a clear need to develop a better way to handle mixed agreements, where both the European Union members and subnational governments are involved.
Germany's ambassador to Canada added that the EU has to learn another lesson from the debacle about the need to be transparent, especially given the ongoing free trade negotiations with the United States.
"We need to take the concerns of people seriously and it needs to be transparent. That was probably a mistake that was made at the very beginning on the European Union side of the negotiations, that it wasn't seen that there was such interest among people and that people from the very beginning onwards they wanted to know what was going on, actually," he said.
Access to info laws coming to reflect 'culture shift'
Treasury Board president Scott Brison says his government will introduce legislation to update Canada's Access to Information Act in early 2017, following concerns from the Information Commissioner that the Liberal government is moving too slowly to make data "open by default."
Last week on the show, Suzanne Legault told host Chris Hall that she was concerned that the first full review of the act would be in 2018.
"I'm not sure reading that timeline that we're going to see a substantive review before the next election," she said.
Brison said legislation is coming in the next few months, including applying it to the offices of ministers and the prime minister.
"The onus is on government to demonstrate why information should not be made public as opposed to the onus being on citizens," he said. "We've had a culture shift in terms of how citizens view information and their access to information.
"There will be a full legislative review every five years of the Access to Information Act and the first one will be mandatory in 2018...It will also increase the powers of the information commissioner, granting her the power to order the release of government information."
Legault also told The House she'd also like to see reforms around disclosure, including the protection around cabinet confidences and advice to ministers.
"That's one of the things we're looking at," said Brison.
Brian Mulroney urges 'prudence' on carbon price decision
The man once voted Canada's "greenest" prime minister says there's a potential danger for this country to force a price on carbon if the United States doesn't follow suit.
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Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal doomed, ex-PM Brian Mulroney predicts
"We know that as soon as we render ourselves uncompetitive and our neighbours ready to pounce, then we're in difficulty at home," Brian Mulroney told CBC's The House host Chris Hall after he unveiled plans for a new institute and hall named in his honour at St. Francis Xavier University this week.
Earlier this month Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that provinces and territories would have until 2018 to adopt a carbon pricing scheme, or the federal government will step in and impose a price for them. Provinces have the option of crafting a cap-and-trade system or put a direct price on carbon pollution.
Mulroney said Canada should move with "prudence" on the file and "keep a close eye on what's happening in the United States of America," where neither Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump or Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton is interested in introducing a national price on carbon.
"Geography can't stop the flow of air and the movements of the waters and the oceans. What we do has to be in communion with other great trading nations," said Canada's 18th prime minister.
"I am for a pristine environment, always have been and am ready to listen to any reasonable arguments."
Has the Senate finally changed?
Both In House panelists Laura Stone with the Globe and Mail and John Geddes of Maclean's say this week's announcement of nine new independent senators is a step in changing the oft-maligned red chamber, but say the newbies face real disadvantages standing outside of a caucus.
"How are they going to find space on Senate committees for all these independents? Right now their point process is controlled by old-fashioned Tories and Liberals and they're not eager to give up the power to get their people on those key committee places," said Geddes. "I feel like a conflict is coming."
Stone pointed out the Senate is already looking at changes now that more independence or sitting in the red chamber.
"I think there will be power in numbers on this. And when independence finally of the majority in the Senate that's when Peter Harder [the government's representative] can get a move on some of these changes," she said.
