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Politics on TV: Mortgage wars, Aboriginal policing, and Christy Clark’s scandal

The three things you need to see

Here are the three things you should not have missed:

  1. MPs talk about a looming “mortgage war”
  2. First Nations policing
  3. Christy Clark’s ethnic outreach scandal

Mortgage wars:

After BMO cut their mortgage rate, sparking fears of a possible mortgage war on the horizon, Power & Politics spoke with an MP panel of Shelly Glover, Peggy Nash and Scott Brison. Glover repeated Flaherty’s comments about how they want to prevent a race to the bottom that created the US subprime mortgage crisis. Nash said that the government had previously brought into American practices, and segued into the government’s corporate tax cuts. Brison said that low rates were a good story until they go up, at which point those who are over-leveraged become a threat to financial security, and quipped “You don’t know who’s naked until the tide goes out.”

First Nations policing:

Power Play spoke with AFN National Chief Shawn Atleo about the announcement that First Nations policing funds will be renewed for another five years. Atleo said that it has been an annual frustration trying to ensure adequate funding, as it affects over 400 communities, but this long-term predictable funding shows progress on issues they raised with the Prime Minister at the meeting in January. Atleo said that it is cheaper to educate than to incarcerate, but they need to ensure that the resources are there and that the First Nations drive the process.

Christy Clark:

As the scandal of the leaked memo on an ethnic outreach strategy continues to reverberate in BC, Evan Solomon spoke with BC Liberal MLA Dave Hayer, who said that it was wrong to have that strategy, that all of his colleagues condemned it, and that the premier apologized, promising a full investigation. Hayer said that he believes Clark’s statement that she didn’t know about it, and that they don’t believe that any taxpayer funds were used  but that the people would hold them to account in ten weeks. University of Victoria professor James Lawson told Don Martin that the scandal was part of a wider story of a government that has been in power too long, and noted that Clark didn’t have a lot of caucus support to start with. Lawson added that the political sin was looking at ways to make a mockery of apologies for historical wrongs.

Worth Noting:

  • Hannah Thibedeau broke a story about a federally funded literacy program using partisan references (that are also factually incorrect).
  • Peter Kent reminisced about the first televised Question Period, for which he was an anchor covering it. Here’s a clip of that first QP:

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