Mediaboss Marketing

Not many people can make the nation's leaders sit down quietly and listen to their wide-ranging thoughts on whatever their pet issue might be.

But political conferences are pretty weird things.

Today, the Prime Minister, Treasurer, Liberal state premiers and a bunch of ordinary Liberal Party members are gathering in Canberra for the Federal Council.

The party comes together and talks about where it is going, and where it stands on a whole bunch of hot-button issues.

On the sidelines, deals are cut, numbers are counted and hands are shaken.

Does any of it matter? Sort of yes, and sort of no.

A few years ago, headlines blared that the Liberal Party wanted to sell the ABC.

And look, it did. The 2018 Federal Council voted for a "full privatisation of the ABC, except for services into regional areas".

But three years on, under a Coalition government, the ABC remains firmly in public hands.

At every conference, dozens of motions are put up for debate by various state branches, the Young Liberals and the Women's Committee.

They might be out of step with existing party policy (that's often the point) and they might be endorsed.

But as the ABC example shows, while those in power have to listen, they do not have to act.

Not every controversial idea is ignored.

Julie Bishop and Mitch Fifield are forced to pour cold water on motions passed at the Liberal Party's federal council, which insiders claim signify the "ascendancy of the conservatives" in the party.

The same 2018 Federal Council endorsed an idea to move Australia's embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

That idea has since been adopted, with West Jerusalem recognised as Israel's capital, but the embassy is yet to actually move.

And even if those controversial motions do not wind up becoming reality, it is not like party leaders can just ignore their existence.

Politicians are forced to answer questions about why they "respectfully disagree"with the party membership.

If the party leadership really does not want to talk about some topics, they can be shuffled elsewhere for another time.

A 2015 motion calling for a parliamentary inquiry into the science behind climate change was sent off to an internal policy committee but the party denies that was to avoid a public discussion.

There is not anything as controversial as climate science or ABC funding coming out of this conference, and that is probably deliberate.

An election is due either late this year or early next year, so the Liberals (like Labor at their party conference earlier this year) are keen to avoid damaging headlines on sensitive topics.

It is not entirely free of contentious issues the Israel-Gaza conflict has already come up (the council actually began late yesterday), with a motion passed calling on the party to reject unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. But that is already in line with existing policy.

Motions calling for inquiries into 'Big Tech' and the introduction of voter ID laws passed too.

And the NSW Branch put up a motion on criminalising coercive control, which was also endorsed.

There are some more niche issues the Young Liberals want vaping legalised, which will come up today.

Over in the West, the WA Liberals want a renewed commitment to their minimum share of the GST pool.

All of which are interesting, some even provocative, but nothing that should have the Prime Minister answering extremely awkward questions next week.

These sorts of things are as much about the sideshows as the main event.

Factions get together themselves in private, and factional leaders meet to quietly broker arrangements and with an election on the horizon, there is plenty to talk about.

Talk has already begun of possible pre-selection challenges faced by four MP's in New South Wales, including two female MP's.

The Prime Minister has made it clear internally he would like see all four MP's re-endorsed, and the matter is almost certainly going to come up in private.

Pre-selection is a matter for state divisions neither the Prime Minister, nor the federal executive of the Liberals can formally dictate who is pre-selected where.

But those at the top of the party are very keen to avoid ugly pre-selection battles, particularly involving sitting female MP's.

With a weekend in Canberra with most of the party in town, it is one issue many would like to see resolved

See the original post here:
Middle East politics, climate science and selling the ABC: why the Liberals' annual get-together does (and definitely doesn't) matter - ABC News

Breadcrumb Trail Links

Author of the article:

Publishing date:

Even with the dog days of summer still a good month away, Ontario Premier Doug Ford already finds himself in the doghouse.

Polling shows the Liberal Party reduced in the election of 2018 to seven sad-sack seats, then gaining one in a byelection is apparently now a mere sniff away from possibly regaining power if an election were held now.

This is too quick a forgiveness.

The Liberals deserve to be stinking up the bottom of the barrel for much longer considering the fiscal damage inflicted on the electorate when one of the survivors, Kathleen Wynne, was premier.

She deserved to lose her seat, but the riding of Don Valley West, established in 1999, has elected only one Tory, David Turnbull, and that goes back to its inaugural election in 1999.

Since then, its been all Kathleen Wynne, despite her fiscal incompetence.

The riding was particularly notable in the 2007 election because the seatless John Tory, then leader of the Progressive Conservatives, wrongly thought he could defeat his entrenched Liberal opponent.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

The NDP, forever an also-ran since the Rae Days of the early 90s, is in dire need of a leadership change because Andrea Horwath is as musty a leader as they come and needs to be replaced with a fresher model.

She must love forever being the brides maid, but now she more resembles someones lavender aunt.

These are not personal attacks. These are truths.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Despite his fumbles, Ontarians should be happy that Doug Ford, a first-time politician, is in charge of the provinces COVID-19 response because a seasoned politician would be greasing his words with snake oil.

Seasoned politicians rarely tell the whole truth.

Doug Ford has his emotions written all over his face.

Hed be a lousy poker player but a great drinking buddy.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

The last time Mainstreet Research took a poll of Ontario voters, which was back in February, Doug Fords Progressive Conservatives had a colossal 18-point lead over its rivals, the level of support even surpassing the partys 2018 majority victory.

By late May, however, Mainstreet said the PCs had shed considerable support since that 18-point crusher, with both the Ontario Liberals and Ontario NDP gaining ground in what is now improbably a horse race.

The PCs lead is now down to 26% support, with the NDP and Liberals tied for second place at 23% and 22% respectively. The Greens are a distant fourth with 5%. However, 20% of the polls respondents claim to be undecided.

Considering the polls margin of error, what we have here is essentially a statistical tie between the main three parties.

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

It seems inconceivable that the remains of the Wynne Liberals have so quickly risen from the dead, considering the injuries inflicted on Ontario residents by a party more concerned with making sure their friends made money than the populace had reduced taxes.

Think solar panels and wind turbines, just for starters, and the $1-billion cost of cancelling a gas power plant to save the political career of one of its cabinet ministers.

Blood should still be boiling and blood pressures red-lining.

The COVID-19 pandemic will likely end this year. Vaccinations, with no thanks to the Trudeau Liberals, now appear to have rhyme and reason and are moving into faster second doses.

But the last thing Ontarians need is the return of the Liberals to power, let alone the NDP. The Liberals got too much forgiveness during their last run, even getting a majority after years of cock-ups.

The electorate needs to give its head a shake.

markbonokoski@gmail.com

This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

Sign up to receive daily headline news from the Toronto SUN, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.

A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.

The next issue of The Toronto Sun Headline News will soon be in your inbox.

We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notificationsyou will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.

Go here to read the rest:
BONOKOSKI: Kick the remnants of the Wynne Liberals to the curb - Toronto Sun

The first sitting of the newly elected Yukon Legislative Assemblycentred on big trade-offs included in the confidence and supply agreement between the Liberal government and NDP.

It's best to start with the territorial budget, which passed Monday. Lacking a majority, the Liberal governmentneeded the NDP to put its weight behind the budget and vote yay.And the NDP did, unanimously.

This meant certain compromises. For starters, the budget reflects NDP commitments made during the campaign trail money is earmarked for the development of a safe drug supply and supervised consumption program, along with a public dental plan.

There are other trade-offs, perhaps most noteworthy, the one per cent rent capwhich took effect last month.

Continue reading the confidence and supply agreement and you'll land on a shared prioritymining reform. The parties committed to develop and implement new mining legislation by early 2023, subject to negotiations with First Nations.

These are big issues to wade into and all of them surfaced during the sitting. The agreement touches on each. So, how did it go?

"So far so good," Premier Sandy Silver told reporters after question period Monday. "We'll continue to make sure that we move forward on the agreement pieces, because there is a lot of work to do this summer."

Silver said the passage of the budget is proof the agreement is working.

"Yukoners definitely sent us a clear message that all members of the Legislative Assembly need to work together for the benefit of the territory, and that is what my colleagues and I have committed to doing," he said.

NDP Leader Kate White appeared a little more forthcoming about the parameters of the agreement. She said it's unrealistic to assume both parties have "carbon copy ideals." While there are differences of opinion, Whitesaid she's confident the agreement will hold up.

"It's like any relationship. It requires work, and it doesn't always mean you smile at the end of meetings, but both the NDP and the Liberals are committed to working together."

White said there's a conflict resolution component to the agreement.

"There's no ability for someone just to throw their hands up and say, 'I quit,'" she said. "We have to go through certain steps before we get to that point, and part of that is to ensure cooler heads prevail."

The Yukon Party pounced on the agreement during the sitting. Leader Currie Dixon said doing sowas a no-brainer.

"The implementation of that agreement has been driving the government's agenda for the last number of weeks, since the election," said Dixon. "We've done our best to ask questions about the aspects of that agreement and how it's going to affect public policy."

The spring sitting rana short 11 days.

Dixon said this wasn't nearly enough time to wage debate on the budget alone.

"That's disappointing, of course," he said.

"If the premier doesn't like being in the Legislative Assembly, I think it's likely because his ministers are so unable to answer basic questions, and that's shone through this sitting."

Silver clapped back, sayingthe budget was tabled twice and,with that,two opportunities for debate.

"It's always interesting that we hear they want time to debate the budget," he said. "[The Yukon Party] doesn't get into the details of the budget, the way the NDP would do their research."

Go here to read the rest:
Yukon's Liberal minority gov't was put to the test this spring. How did it work? - CBC.ca

Energy Minister Andrew Parsons said Monday a comprehensive review of Nalcor Energy will be conducted, though he refused to say whether the Crown corporation will be eliminated, as recommended in a recent report. (Patrick Butler/CBC)

The future of the Crown corporation behind the controversial Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project is under review, the Newfoundland and Labrador government announced Monday.

But Energy Minister Andrew Parsons stopped short of saying whether Nalcor Energy will be eliminated, which was a recommendation of the Greeneeconomic recovery report released earlier this month.

"Now is the perfect time to look at the future of Nalcor," Parsons told reporters Monday before the Liberal government released its budget for the2021-22 fiscal year, which revealed a dire financial situation that was partly offset byhigher than expected oil royalties, and increased transfers from the federal government.

When asked why the he could notsay whether Nalcor would be shut down and its operations merged with its subsidiary Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro, Parsons said "there's a lot of things I would love to say," but cited "contractual arrangements" and legal complications for his cautious tone.

The government is promising an "analysis and reorganization" of Nalcor in order to "streamline, remove duplication and save money."

It's the latest scrutiny for a controversial Crown corporation that was heavily criticized duringa public inquiry into the Muskrat Falls project. Commissioner Justice Richard LeBlanc finding that some Nalcor leaders took "unprincipled steps" to get the project sanctioned.

Nalcor's review is part of a larger transformation announced in the budget that also includes the merging of two other agencies theCentre for Health Information and the 911 emergency calling service into core government.

The Newfoundland and Labrador English School District will also be integrated into the Department of Education, though no formal timeline was revealed.

Nalcor was created in 2007, during the government of then premier Danny Williams, with an objective of managingand developing the province's hydroelectric and oil and gas resources.

The corporation has an estimated 1,600 employees, and spearheaded the development of the Lower Churchill Project, which includes the power generating station at Muskrat Falls, and a transmission line from Labrador to Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula.

The project was sanctioned in 2012 at an all-in cost of $7.4 billion, but the price tag has ballooned to more than $13 billion, and threatens to double electricity costs when it is commissioned later this year.

Nalcor also has ownership stakes in some offshore oil projects, including Hebron and the Hibernia South Extension.

Salaries at Nalcor have been a source of irritation for government leaders trying to deal with a financial crisis, with Parsons ordering Nalcor earlier this year to end the practice of paying bonuses to employees.

And current and past finance ministers have raised concerns about compensation rates for employees of agencies, boards and commissions that are higher than those working for government departments.

Earlier this month, the premier's economic recovery team, chaired by Moya Greene, released a report called The Big Reset, which recommended Nalcor's elimination.

Now, with Muskrat Falls just months away from completion, Parsons said a review is timely.

"It's a huge issue," Parsons said of Muskrat Falls, which was labelled a boondoggle by Stan Marshall when he took over as Nalcor CEO in 2016.

Once Muskrat is commissioned, the provincial government will have to find some $600 million annually to prevent electricity rates from soaring from 13.5 cents to 24 cents per kilowatt hour. Negotiations with the federal government over a strategy to prevent that from happening has been ongoing for months.

Like Parsons, Finance Minister Siobhan Coady was also evasive when asked whether Nalcor will exist in 12 to 18 months.

"We're going to be looking at how we ensure we have the best means and mechanism for developing our energy services in the province," she said.

But even before any decision, big changes are occurring at Nalcor, with Marshall set to vacate the CEO's position in mid-June, and several other top executives have also left, or are about to leave.

With the Muskrat Falls project close to collapse, and costs spiralling out of control, Marshall was hired by former premier Dwight Ball in April 2016 to lead Nalcor and stabilize the project.

As for the hundreds of Nalcor employees, Parsons said the review "is not meant to drive fear into them."

Parsons and other government officials were careful Monday to avoid any talk of large-scale layoffs.

"We will need to hold onto people," said Parsons.

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador

More here:
Budget 2021: Nalcor to be reviewed, but Liberals will not commit to eliminating it - CBC.ca

OTTAWA Green Party of Canada Leader Annamie Paul says important climate legislation is failing to get the scrutiny it deserves because the Liberal government and NDP are ramming it through Parliament.

Paul accuses the two sides of striking a deal to ensure the passage of Bill C-12, which promises more accountability around Canadas goals to reduce its carbon-related emissions.

If passed, the legislation would require Canada to set rolling, five-year targets to cut greenhouse gas pollution until 2050, the date Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has set for the country to achieve net-zero emissions.

New Democrats pledged their support for the bill to get to the Senate after saying the government accepted its suggestions requiring it to do more reporting on the progress made up until 2030.

The NDP has said the Liberal piece of legislation is too important to let fail and that climate accountability has been a priority since the leadership of the late Jack Layton.

But Paul says the current bill falls short of similar measures other countries have put in place.

She says these include a hard emissions-reduction target within five years of a bills passage, and the introduction of a carbon budget for how many tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions can be released during that time.

There have been no Indigenous witnesses, no climate scientists and no young climate advocates who have had the opportunity to testify, Paul said during a news conference Monday.

She also underscored how more review is needed, saying, We are one of the top five worst greenhouse-gas polluters per capita in the world. We have the worst record in the G7.

The Greens have so far voted against the Liberal legislation, as have the Conservatives, who say the influence of climate activists on an government-appointed advisory panel could harm the oil and gas sector.

Parliamentarians are set to discuss the bill at a committee later Monday and vote on proposed amendments.

Although both the Greens and Conservatives accuse the government and NDP of rushing the bill, the environmental law charity Ecojustice welcomes the collaboration.

In a statement, it says it plans to look carefully at the bill, but believes by parties working together the law could be strengthened so that Canada can actually meet its climate goals.

By 2030, Trudeau has committed the country to reducing its levels of greenhouse gas emissions by between 40 to 45 per cent below 2005 levels at a recent summit with other world leaders, where some also unveiled renewed goals.

The Liberal government says its currently on track to slash this pollution by 36 per cent and needs to come up with a plan detailing how more will be cut over the next nine years.

Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says ultimately, keeping the Canadian government accountable for meeting its climate goals is up to voters if Canadians care about climate change.

What this bill does is it essentially makes very public the work that governments are doing to achieve the climate target and move us towards net-zero by 2050. It makes it very public, given that you must report on progress, you must actually update your plans if youre not on track, he said in a recent interview.

And essentially, it ensures that all future governments will actually have to be very transparent to the will of the electors.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 31, 2021.

Conservative Party of CanadaEnvironmentGreen Party

Excerpt from:
Greens join Tories to say Liberals, NDP pushing through new net-zero climate bill - Red Deer Advocate