OGGO Committee Report

Bloc Québécois supplementary opinion

The federal government continues to demonstrate its inability to properly manage issues within its jurisdiction. The list of files under federal jurisdiction where there have been management problems include:

• Phoenix pay system;
• Canada Post (access to services in rural/remote/isolated regions, closing of postal outlets, etc.);
• National defence;
• Passports;
• Immigration;
• Services to veterans;
• Border control;
• Lack of surveillance at the Port of Montreal;
• Public Service Health Care Plan;
• Gun smuggling;
• Etc.

These files and so many others speak volumes about how dysfunctional the federal government has become, despite the fact that the public service has grown by more than 40%.

The Sun Life to Canada Life fiasco is another example of the federal government’s abysmal incompetence in managing files under its jurisdiction. Current federal management is a last-minute effort, done in response to newspaper articles. There is a glaring lack of monitoring and supervision, as well as overall planning, which is necessary for the long-term management of a government.

Paradoxically, while the government is completely incapable of managing its own files, it has increased its level of interference in areas of provincial jurisdiction. The list grows almost by the day, but here are a few examples:

• Dental care;
• Health;
• Housing;
• Education,
• Etc.

Even more worrisome are the words of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who publicly said that respecting jurisdictions was not that important to him: “I always respect the Constitution, but my primary responsibility is to ensure that all Canadians have a bright future.” He went on to say, speaking of the provinces, “If we have to, I will bypass them.”1 These statements are contradictory in themselves, since the Prime Minister claims to “always respect the Constitution” but adds that he will bypass the provinces. The Constitution, however, is clear on the rights and powers of the federal government and those of the governments of Quebec and the Canadian provinces. “Bypassing the provinces” is not a demonstration of respect for the Constitution. The premiers wrote him a letter denouncing these intrusions, but the Prime Minister dismissed these criticisms out of hand with inelegant arrogance, saying that he did not have to respect the Constitution when he thinks he can do better.

This response is further proof of the refusal by the federal government and the Prime Minister in particular to respect the Law of Laws, the Canadian Constitution. While this government is failing miserably on every issue, it is trying to extend its incompetence to the provinces. For these reasons, the Bloc Québécois would like to remind the government of its poor record and ask it to take care of its own files instead of looking for new ways to encroach on the provinces. Canada Life, as a reminder, is one of those areas of federal jurisdiction that should have been properly monitored and managed.

Additional Bloc Québécois recommendation: “That the federal government look for ways to pay its employees, to provide them with the health care they are entitled to and to properly manage its own files rather than enter into an open conflict with the provinces by refusing to offer compensatory opting-out and increasing intrusions into their areas of jurisdiction.”