Liberal Minority Government 2019 - ????

[Remius]

No kidding.

I’m curious though what that actually breaks down to though.

Does the PM have weekends and holidays off?  Or is 91 and 41 separate from that and normal vacation.

 

[Donald H]

I'll be honest, he should have went and it doesn't look good that he stayed home.  Saying that, I don't see the point in asking these same questions over and over again and I would say it regardless of who it was.

I'll be honest too and suggest that you're being stomped on because of your support of the LPC. You're not alone in the real world and you could be a part of the majority of Canadians. And as to your behaviour here on this board, I would say you've been more compromising than being Trollish, of which you have been accused.

IMHO, Trudeau staying home is really no big deal to Canadians.

 

[QV]

I'll be honest too and suggest that you're being stomped on because of your support of the LPC. You're not alone in the real world and you could be a part of the majority of Canadians. And as to your behaviour here on this board, I would say you've been more compromising than being Trollish, of which you have been accused.

IMHO, Trudeau staying home is really no big deal to Canadians.

When you say majority, do you mean the 33% (give or take) of Canadians who voted Liberal last election?  Or are you suggesting the LPC now has over 50% support from all Canadians?

 

[Rifleman62]

From a fellow that keeps track:

48 Personal, 41 Private, 8 in Retreat, 30+ flights, 70 hiding in the cottage, out of 226 days.
Since July 4th, 20 Personal, 15 Private, 2 in Retreat. All year, 25 in Question Period.

 

[Donald H]

When you say majority, do you mean the 33% (give or take) of Canadians who voted Liberal last election?  Or are you suggesting the LPC now has over 50% support from all Canadians?

I would say that it's debatable that the LPC has/hasn't the support it needs to form another minority government. That with NDP support which can be mostly guaranteed on a lot of important issues. And perhaps even a majority government.

In accordance with our system, that could apparently be 33%.

So with that in mind, your challenge of my suggestion of the LPC having a majority is quite valid. But just beside the point when it comes to forming government.

 

[daftandbarmy]

From a fellow that keeps track:

He was being taken to task for the same thing in 2015, it seems....


In delivering his formal response to the Throne Speech at midday yesterday, Tom Mulcair had aimed a pair of pointed sentences at the idea of attendance. “In his last full year in the House, the outgoing prime minister only attended one-third of question periods,” the NDP leader said. “The best way to show respect for this institution is to show up in Parliament regularly and be answerable to Canadians.”

After QP, Mulcair was asked specifically about the Liberal proposal. “Having the Prime Minister show up less often to question period isn’t more accountability,” he said. “It’s less accountability.”

For good measure, the NDP leader added this bit of wordplay: “It’s interesting to hear them call it Prime Minister’s question period. It’s Canadians’ question period and Canadians are the ones who deserve answers.”

https://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/how-often-should-prime-minister-trudeau-be-at-qp/

 

[Blackadder1916]

No kidding.

I’m curious though what that actually breaks down to though.

Does the PM have weekends and holidays off?  Or is 91 and 41 separate from that and normal vacation.

No Member of Parliament receives statutorily allotted time off.  No vacation days, no weekends, no holidays.

In the Members’ Allowances and Services Manual (https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/MAS/mas-e.pdf), the only mention of vacation or time off is in relation to employees of MPs (those who work in MP's offices are direct employees of the MP and not Parliament or the GOC).

The only financial accounting for not attending a sitting in the Commons is:

Members’ attendance reporting: An amount of $120 is deducted from the sessional allowance for each
day, beyond 21 days in a session, that a Member does not attend a sitting of the House for reasons
other than:

• illness;
• public or official business;
• service in the Canadian Armed Forces;
• pregnancy (for up to 4 weeks before the expected childbirth); or
• care of a newborn or newly adopted child (for 12 months after the date of the child’s birth or
the date when the adopted child is placed with the Member).

For every month that the House is sitting, Members must provide Pay and Benefits with the Statement
of Attendance form that indicates the number of days they did not attend sittings for any of the reasons
listed above, or for other reasons. The days they did not attend sittings due to the reasons enumerated
above still count as days of attendance. No deductions are made from Presiding Officers’ and House
Officers’ additional salaries.

 

[Remius]

Thanks Blackadder.

So a few things.

If he took a total of 91 days last year that doesn’t even amount to the total amount of weekends people get in a year. 

Also his itinerary is published unlike previous PMs who refused to do so.  Or the current opposition members. 

Now, I agree he should not be ducking out of question period but I’ve seen people here laugh at question period and it being a waste of time but now it’s a sacred cow.

I think it is important that he be there.  He should be in question period and should be held accountable.

But I won’t begrudge him him time off.  Now if he’s taking it to avoid difficult questions then yeah, but the total amount of time off does not seem that much when you look at it a bit closer.

Just the opposition twisting the numbers to make it look like he’s taking too many days off.

 

[brihard]

Realistically, any MP is never really ‘off the clock’, and outside of Parliamentary sittings there are Committee meetings, constituency meetings, work on legislation... It gets massively worse if sitting in cabinet and carrying a portfolio. They don’t get to leave work at work, they don’t clock out at the end of the day. Take it to the level of PM, and you’re looking at probably a ton of time reading and approving stuff that must be approved at your level; receiving briefings on domestic and international matters of concern; discussing pressing issues with appropriate cabinet ministers/senior civil servants, and potentially all of cabinet. There are caucus issues, there are still constituency matters to address, and at any point a new fire can spring up to distract. In this day and age much of this work can be and is done remotely.

So yeah, I don’t put much stock in who spends how many days where. I certainly don’t lend much weight to attendance in Question Period; it’s nothing more than a big gong show of the opposition seeking sound bytes. The real work is done in committee and to a lesser extent legislative debates. QP has long struck me as being an electoral game much more than a governmental or legislative one.

And yes, this applies regardless of who is in power of who was in opposition. QP is a stupid circus with the LPC in power and it was a stupid circus when the CPC were in power.

 

[Jarnhamar]

[quote author=Remius]
Now, I agree he should not be ducking out of question period but I’ve seen people here laugh at question period and it being a waste of time but now it’s a sacred cow.
[/quote]

The Question Period is truly pathetic.

What's even worse is that it's really the only venue for Canadians to see some form of accountability asked of the government. And we know how the answers to that go.

Maybe our country would be a better place if we ditched the question period and made an answer period where politicians had to actually answer the question with a legitimate and relevant answers or face administrative or disciplinary action against them.

 

[Donald H]

.

Maybe our country would be a better place if we ditched the question period and made an answer period where politicians had to actually answer the question with a legitimate and relevant answers or face administrative or disciplinary action against them.

Ideally that would be just great! But there's nobody who could be an impartial judge on whether or not a P.M. (for instance) actually gave a legitimate answer.

So for either Scheer or Trudeau, has there ever been an instance where either of them could be legitimately accused of not answering a question appropriately?

Nope! That's just politics. Someone's choice in the P.M. to support will determine for them that their P.M. has answered in a most pleasant and pleasing way!

 

[shawn5o]

I don't care for JT, however, the PM is overloaded.

Dealing with China (four CDNs incarcerated with two condemned to death, trade etc.) and dealing with an erratic president south of the border, the scandals, government debt, the Covid19 virus, systematic racism, the opposition, and everyday CDNs who just don't like him, world problems, etc.

I feel sympathy for the PM.

 

[Good2Golf]

I don't care for JT, however, the PM is overloaded.

Dealing with China (four CDNs incarcerated with two condemned to death, trade etc.) and dealing with an erratic president south of the border, the scandals, government debt, the Covid19 virus, systematic racism, the opposition, and everyday CDNs who just don't like him, world problems, etc.

I feel sympathy for the PM.

For someone who had not an inkling of the stress life as a PM could be, I might agree.

However...

Justin Trudeau spent 7 + 4 = 11 years in 24 Sussex, but I’ll even give him a waiver for his first seven years...so let’s call it four years of seeing what a PM’s home life is like from firsthand experience.

He went into politics with eyes wide open, and I will go out on a limb and posit that he saw himself as the PM one day.

He doesn’t need anyone’s sympathy, and he certainly does not have mine.

Regards
G2G

 

[Weinie]

I don't care for JT, however, the PM is overloaded.

Dealing with China (four CDNs incarcerated with two condemned to death, trade etc.) and dealing with an erratic president south of the border, the scandals, government debt, the Covid19 virus, systematic racism, the opposition, and everyday CDNs who just don't like him, world problems, etc.

I feel sympathy for the PM.

He can always quit.

 

[Remius]

For someone who had not an inkling of the stress life as a PM could be, I might agree.

However...

Justin Trudeau spent 7 + 4 = 11 years in 24 Sussex, but I’ll even give him a waiver for his first seven years...so let’s call it four years of seeing what a PM’s home life is like from firsthand experience.

He went into politics with eyes wide open, and I will go out on a limb and posit that he saw himself as the PM one day.

He doesn’t need anyone’s sympathy, and he certainly does not have mine.

Regards
G2G

Same here.  But like I said.  I don’t begrudge him his time off.

 

[Stoker]

Same here.  But like I said.  I don’t begrudge him his time off.

The PM is entitled to days off however the issue for some is these days seem to follow negative stories where he would be put in the hot seat or some other time such as the limited sitting in parliament. Seems to fit a pattern of avoidance in some cases 

 

[YZT580]

there are only what, 4 scheduled times all summer when parliament meets.  Surely he could have arranged his days at the cottage around parliament's schedule considering that parliament is our with the emphasis on our as the Canadian people's voice in how we are governed.  He is not just avoiding question period he is insulting every Canadian by saying our voice is irrelevant and of no importance in his decision making. 

 

[Haggis]

I don't care for JT, however, the PM is overloaded.

Dealing with China (four CDNs incarcerated with two condemned to death, trade etc.) and dealing with an erratic president south of the border, the scandals, government debt, the Covid19 virus, systematic racism, the opposition, and everyday CDNs who just don't like him, world problems, etc.

I feel sympathy for the PM.

Sorry, no sympathy from me.

He knew in advance what it meant to be PM from his dad and a lifetime in the political sphere.

The scandals are of his own making.

We were almost $30B in debt before COVID and his budget was not going to balance itself.  COVID was unforeseen and required a response from government, any government, not just his Liberal one.

The opposition is doing it's job in challenging him and his policies.  Had he been in opposition, he would do the same.  Nothing unique about that.

He is not a lone figure.  He has the whole of government at his disposal to deal with the aforementioned job challenges and advise him on the best COAs.  (Whether he accepts those COAs is on him entirely.)  He is the face of the government .  He is not the government.

He likely cares little to naught about those Canadians who don't like him.  He cares deeply about those who do and who will fuel his re-election. He answers to no one, as he rarely gives a straight, complete and fulsome answer to any question from anyone.

He is well compensated for what (little?) he does.  He has lived a life of privilege and luxury most Canadians cannot even begin to imagine. 

Nope, no sympathy here.

 

[OldSolduer]

For someone who had not an inkling of the stress life as a PM could be, I might agree.

However...

Justin Trudeau spent 7 + 4 = 11 years in 24 Sussex, but I’ll even give him a waiver for his first seven years...so let’s call it four years of seeing what a PM’s home life is like from firsthand experience.

He went into politics with eyes wide open, and I will go out on a limb and posit that he saw himself as the PM one day.

He doesn’t need anyone’s sympathy, and he certainly does not have mine.

Regards
G2G

To add he has Ministers and DMs to handle their various departments.

Just to add some advice from the many mentors I've had over the years - "you can delegate authority but you can't delegate responsibility"

 

[daftandbarmy]

For someone who had not an inkling of the stress life as a PM could be, I might agree.

However...

Justin Trudeau spent 7 + 4 = 11 years in 24 Sussex, but I’ll even give him a waiver for his first seven years...so let’s call it four years of seeing what a PM’s home life is like from firsthand experience.

He went into politics with eyes wide open, and I will go out on a limb and posit that he saw himself as the PM one day.

He doesn’t need anyone’s sympathy, and he certainly does not have mine.

Regards
G2G

Prophetic, indeed, Tricky Dicky

"Richard Nixon made a toast to me as a future Prime Minister of Canada when I was 4 months old, sitting as a centerpiece in the middle of a table as my father had plonked me down there. It was more about politeness than any great vision."

Justin Trudeau