Ottawa

Politics on TV (and radio): Carney, Wall, and Senate concerns

The three things you need to see (and hear)

Here are the three things you should not have missed:

  1. Mark Carney’s “first exit interview”
  2. Premier Brad Wall on Keystone XL
  3. Senator Cowan versus Charlie Angus on the Senate

Mark Carney:

CTV’s Question Period had a sit-down interview with outgoing Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney about his new position in England, and his time in his current role. Carney said that there are high expectations of the Bank of England with regards to helping the UK avoid another recession, and his job will be to get the power of that institution focused on the right things. Carney spoke about his concerns in 2008 in the run-up to the financial crisis, where he could see the various stresses on the global financial system, not being sure which one would break, and how it was a period in which he barely slept.

Premier Brad Wall:

CBC Radio’s The House spoke with Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall (first 13:25), who has concerns about the links being suggested between approval of the Keystone XL pipeline and Canadian environmental policy, even though the US Ambassador to Canada, David Jacobson, expressly said there was no link. Wall says that Canada has a communications challenge of getting out the message stateside that we have made good climate progress, such as the “cap-and-cut” legislation in his own province. Wall also promulgated the rather absurd notion that the provinces were acting as a de facto “Triple E “ Senate, as though they were revising federal legislation or conducting high-level policy studies.

The Senate:

The West Block spoke with Liberal Senate leader James Cowan, who said that talk about Senate reform has been around since 1867, and that democracy wouldn’t be improved by abolishing the institution because of its useful work. Cowan noted that the Commons has had its own spending problems in the past, as have provinces, so this current bout of bad press is not indicative about the Senate itself. NDP ethics critic Charlie Angus dubiously asserted that the Senate can’t be touched and allows “convicted criminals” to sit in the chamber, and that he wants a referendum on abolishing the Senate, which he believes Canadians will agree to when they see that it “provides no value.”

Worth Noting:

  • Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird spoke from Lima, Peru, about his upcoming trip to Venezuela, and the importance to engage that country as an oil producer. Baird also spoke about his visit to Cuba, where he talked about economic liberalization.

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