The complex politics of taxes and pipelines
Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr is hitting back against Saskatchewan's premier who lambasted the federal government for the cancellation of the Energy East pipeline, and called it a West versus East issue.
"I'm not interested in divisive politics," Carr said in an interview with The House.
"I'm not interested in pitting one region against the other. I'm not interested in pitting one sector of the economy against the other," he said. "It's our job to find policy that's in the national interest."
On Thursday, TransCanada announced its plans to cancel the Energy East pipeline project, which was proposed in 2013 when the price of oil was about $100 a barrel.
The project would have carried more than one million barrels of oil every day from Alberta eastward, to be refined in New Brunswick and Quebec, and exported.
Market conditions seem to be a big part of TransCanada's decision to abdandon Energy East, Carr said.
"There is nothing a government can do to control a business decision that's entirely in the hands of shareholders, and those who are responsible to shareholders."
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall was scathing in his criticism against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government after news TransCanada would be cancelling the Energy East pipeline project.
Wall said the lengthy regulatory process, which includes greater emissions assessments than what was in place in 2013, was to blame for the pipeline's demise.
"TransCanada made the decision to cancel Energy East — but make no mistake, the reasons for it fall at the feet of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the federal government," Wall wrote on Facebook.
Morneau working on fixing controversial tax changes
Canada's finance minister has returned to the drawing board to fix some aspects of his controversial tax proposals.
But Bill Morneau says his resolve to push for a "fairer" tax system hasn't been affected by weeks of sometimes harsh criticism.
"I've seen through this process that when you introduce prospective tax changes, people can get riled up," Morneau told The House.
Even if he claims his resolve is the same, the finance minister now admits changes are needed.
"Changes are going to be required — as we move forward we will have more information on timing," Morneau said in an interview after facing questions in the Senate this week.
Those changes will be based on five principles:
- Support small businesses.
- Keep small business taxes low while supporting owners who invest and create jobs.
- Avoid creating unnecessary red tape for small businesses.
- Recognize the importance of family farms, and ensure tax changes do not affect the transfer of family businesses to the next generation.
- Ensure any changes to the tax system promote gender equity.
The details are still being worked out.
"We have some ideas in how we can get at some of these things, not things that we've finished with yet," he told The House.
"There were things we heard in each area and we are taking those issues into account to make sure we move forward, but we move forward without unintended consequences."
When the government launched its consultation over the proposed changes in the summer, it argued the tax system is unfair because it encourages wealthy professionals and business owners to incorporate to pay lower taxes.
Manitoba Premier warns Ottawa to 'stay the heck out' of pot taxing debate
Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister is warning Ottawa to "stay the heck out" of the province's work on marijuana, joining the chorus of premiers unhappy with the Liberal government's proposal to split pot tax revenues.
"Let the provinces do the heavy lifting, which they have to do, on this massively complex file," Pallister told CBC Radio's The House.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the pitch of creating a 10 per cent excise tax to recreational marijuana sales when pot becomes legal next July 1, and splitting the revenue 50-50 with provinces and territories, to premiers at the first ministers' meeting in Ottawa in early October.
- Premiers resist federal proposals for excise tax on legal cannabis
- Ottawa wants provinces to keep pot tax low
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Premiers cried foul over the proposal, saying provinces have to do the brunt of work on the marijuana file. Since provinces and territories will be doing most of the work in regulating and enforcing legalization of marijuana, they should be getting most of the revenue, they argued.
Pallister said provinces will have to deal with many social costs related to marijuana use. They'll need to figure out how to protect drivers and educate young people about the dangers of driving stoned, for example.
"There's a tremendous amount of work to be done, tremendous amount of costs that have to be incurred at the provincial level, not federally," he said.
"Talking about taking half of anything at this point is really a distraction away from the work that we have to do to get ready on a really short timeline."
The Insiders: Is Jagmeet Singh's victory a political game changer?
"The NDP in choosing Mr. Singh have taken a gamble, I think it's a calculated and strategic gamble, but they're really reshaping their coalition," said David Herle of the Gandolf group.
Herle added the party has decided, whether consciously or not, "that the road ahead for them does not lie in reclaiming the once hallowed ground of Manitoba or Saskatchewan, nor does it primarily lie through Quebec as they thought for the last couple of elections, but it lies through urban and suburban Canada. That changes the battlegrounds for all the parties."
Herle said that a stronger NDP in those areas might weaken the Liberals, and lead to Conservative gains.
Something Kathleen Monk from Earnscliffe disagrees with.
"Liberals are used to having this fear mongering that we can't let the NDP get too strong because that elects Conservatives. I don't think that's true," she said.
"And I think you've got blinders on if you think that he can't have greater appeal beyond urban and suburban areas."
But for Jaime Watt of Navigator Ltd., there's no doubt the choice made by the members of the NDP could benefit Andrew Scheer's troops.
"I think the Conservatives hope this will trigger a bun fight on the left between the Liberals and the New Democrats," he said.
"I think the Conservatives hope that Jagmeet will eat into some of that young charismatic following that the Prime Minister has at the moment."
While Jagmeet Singh will likely spend a fair bit of time on the road and not in the House of Commons, the voice of the NDP in Ottawa will be that of MP, and defeated leadership candidate, Guy Caron.
Singh tapped the Quebec MP to be the party's parliamentary leader this week.
"His views will be heard in the House through my voice, while at the same time he will do the work that he said he would do, which is reconnecting with Canadians," Caron told The House.
Caron said Singh has brought energy back to the NDP caucus. MPs are "ready to go on the attack" after more than a year of wondering who would lead them next.
"I'll be honest, it's been trying that year, when you're not sure exactly where we're going," he said. "It's not necessarily easy on the morale."
But Caron said the NDP team in Ottawa, under Singh's leadership, will be more effective leading up to the next federal election in 2019.