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Tobacco and bubble gum don’t mix
01/31/2012 5:04 PM
A few years ago, now former Manitoba NDP Judy Wasylycia-Leis introduced a private members bill to go after flavoured mini-cigars. These products were often wrapped in bright colours, flavoured to make the cigars taste like bubble gum, fruit or chocolate, and were pretty popular with teenagers.
The government picked up on Wasylycia-Leis’s bill during the 2008 election and Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq passed legislation banning flavoured mini-cigars in 2009. The ban also prevented mini-cigars from being packaged in groups of anything smaller than 20. (Critics complained the mini-cigars were often sold individually or in groups of three or four at a time, which made them more affordable for kids to buy). The law took effect in June 2010.
Today the government showed the ban has some teeth as Health Canada seized more than 25 million of the mini cigars at three warehouses in Montreal belonging to Casa Cubana, Groupe Tabac Scandinave, and Distribution GVA Inc.
It was the first time the government has seized the products since the bill came into force and came after two warning letters were issued.
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Growing support in 'Toba town
01/17/2012 12:49 PM
Paul Dewar may not be from Manitoba but his list of endorsements from Manitoba’s NDP keeps growing.
Today Justice Minister Andrew Swan added his name to those who back Dewar for the NDP leadership. So did MPs Matt Wiebe and Deanne Crothers.
Already in Dewar’s corner were cabinet ministers Dave Chomiak (minister of innovation and mines), Jennifer Howard (minister of family services), Theresa Oswald (health minister), Kerri Irvin-Ross (minister of housing), Nancy Allan (minister of education), Kevin Chief (minister of children), Stan Struthers (minister of finance) and Erin Selby (minister of advanced education). MLAs Greg Dewar and Dave Gaudreau are also in the Dewar camp.
It’s not all that surprising. Dewar’s family has deep roots in the Manitoba NDP, and while some in the Manitoba arm of the party might not have known Dewar himself all that well, they are certainly well versed in the politics of his brother, Bob Dewar and of course Michael Balagus.
They are helping run Paul Dewar’s campaign.
Together Bob Dewar and Balagaus are largely responsible for giving the NDP all four of their majority governments. Bob Dewar ran Gary Doer’s campaigns in 1999 and 2003 and Balagus ran the NDP campaigns in 2007 and 2011. Bob Dewar is now a senior executive with the Manitoba Government and General Employees Union. Balagus, until yesterday, was Premier Greg Selinger’s chief of staff. He just resigned.
Niki Ashton, the sole Manitoban in the race, has a decent list of Manitoba endorsements; but if cabinet ministers hold more cache, her list is not on par with Dewar's. She has four cabinet ministers including her father, Transportation Minister Steve Ashton, Deputy Premier and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Eric Robinson, Culture Minister Flor Marcelino and Trade Minister Peter Bjornson. She also has MLAs Bidhu Jha, Drew Caldwell, Tom Nevakshonoff, Frank Witehead, Clarence Petterson and Ted Marcelino, and Winnipeg city councilor Ross Eadie.
The biggest question from all this might be just what impact endorsements can have on the outcome of a campaign. Do rank-and-file members really fall into line behind their favourite politicians? Does Dewar’s growing list of endorsements in Manitoba mean he has a healthy shot at securing the votes from the 10,000 or so Manitoba members of the NDP? Do any candidates other than Dewar or Ashton have a chance with Manitoba voters?
Yes and no. Certainly some members will see that the provincial politicians they respect and admire are in Dewar’s camp and at the very least it will ensure they take a serious look at what he has to offer. But this is a one-member one-vote election, and members have access to information about the candidates and their campaigns like they never have before. The last time the NDP picked a leader, in 2003, neither Facebook nor Twitter had even hit the Internet yet.
Even websites were barely used by politicians to spread their words of wisdom.
Now the Internet dominates the way candidates communicate. Rank and file members can watch live debates not happening in their own city, they can get up to the minute updates about policy ideas and platforms, compare and contrast them and even communicate directly with them via Twitter or Facebook or email.
It gives individuals a much better way to hear directly from candidates all through the campaign rather than relying on the advice from the higher ups who have endorsed someone.
That’s not to say that endorsements don’t matter.
They just matter less.
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Unparliamentary language
12/14/2011 2:58 PM
Question Period in Ottawa is seldom the kind of civilized debate one might expect from their elected officials. But today was one of the worst days in recent memory with one MP (Justin Trudeau) shouting an obscenity at a cabinet minister (Peter Kent) and said cabinet minister issuing the most graceless response he possibly could have when Trudeau later stood to apologize.
(Kent actually demanded Trudeau apologize after Trudeau had, in fact, already apologized. Speaker Andrew Scheer had to tell Kent, uh, you already got your apology.)
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Then there was NDP MP Ryan Cleary, who called fisheries minister Keith Ashfield a bully, then stood up and said he was only answering Ashfield (who had asked "Do I look like a bully?") and would say the same thing again if Ashfield asked the same question again.
Speaker Andrew Scheer, who continues to show himself to be a serious upholder of the rules, told Cleary he’d probably find it difficult to be recognized to speak in the house until he actually apologized. So finally Cleary did.
This comes at the end of a session where the speaker has had to warn MPs not to call each other fruits and vegetables after various references were made to potatoes, lemons and blueberries. A session when the speaker ruled as "reprehensible" that the Conservatives were calling into the riding of a Liberal MP telling voters the MP was resigning. A session which, if I remember correctly, was supposed to bring back civility to the house?
Amid the feverish responses to the events of today’s QP, someone tweeted a story by Elizabeth Thompson from ipolitics, who in September found out just exactly what you can and can’t say in the House of Commons, as ruled on by speakers since 1875.
So if you feel the need to toss an insult across the floor, don’t follow Trudeau’s lead and scream "piece of (insert four letter word here that rhymes with pit)". Also avoid "bag of wind", "trickster" and "evil genius."
Instead use "phony", "stinker" or "the pig has nothing left but a squeak."
Or hey, here’s an idea. Let’s not call each other names. At all.
At least Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird was able to break the tension. After the back and forth of points of order and apologies, Baird stood himself on a point of order. But it was only to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and peace on earth.
Peace in the House of Commons might have to wait.
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About Mia Rabson
Mia Rabson is a born and bred Winnipegger whose interest in politics seemed clear when she dressed up as Prime Minister Brian Mulroney for Halloween in the 7th grade.
Her interest in writing was no surprise to her parents, who learned early in Mia’s life that no piece of blank paper — or wall, for that matter — was safe in her hands.
She holds an honours BA in English from Queen’s University, a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Western Ontario, and has completed a political journalism fellowship in Washington, D.C. with the Washington Centre for Politics and Journalism.
Prior to working for the Winnipeg Free Press, Mia briefly worked for the Detroit News in the paper’s Washington bureau.
Mia joined the Free Press team in February 2001, and in April 2001 was appointed to the Manitoba legislature bureau. In December 2004, she was appointed bureau chief at the legislature. She became the newspaper’s parliamentary bureau chief/national reporter in Ottawa in January 2008.
In 2008 she was nominated for a Michener Award with a team of reporters from the Free Press for its coverage of the province’s child welfare system.
She counts reliving the invasion at Dieppe, France, with veterans of the failed Second World War expedition and overcoming her fear of heights to touch the Golden Boy statue atop the Legislative Building among her favourite experiences as a reporter.
Recent Posts:
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Tobacco and bubble gum don’t mix01/31/2012 5:04 PM
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Growing support in 'Toba town01/17/2012 12:49 PM
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Unparliamentary language12/14/2011 2:58 PM
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Reprehensible but not unparliamentary12/13/2011 5:20 PM
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Hillyer sticks to his 'guns'12/7/2011 4:44 PM
