XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, ab.politics   
   XPost: man.politics, sk.politics   
   From: Panca@nyet.ca   
      
   Talk about reaching for a new low . . .  the Harper government has decided that   
   they will actually RELEASE sensitive financial information for a price.   
   Remembering that those at the tables are in a position to make huge changes in   
   investments or share sell-offs of major corporations and industries.   
      
   The Harper gang is playing semantics in saying 'this is not a Budget report' .   
   . .  it has the same potential impact as any leaked Budget report.   
   Mulcair is right to be outraged.  The Harper government has reached a new low   
   for lack of ethics.  They would likely rent out their kids for prostitution if   
   it profited them as much as these campaign-fund raisers.  Watch some big   
   corporate moves and bank investments after these Canadian Club revelations.   
   _______________________________________________   
   CBC News Posted: Nov 17, 2014   
      
      
   Joe Oliver's $800-per-table fiscal update raises NDP ire   
      
   NDP finance critic Nathan Cullen calls last week's event 'simply outrageous'   
      
      
   Finance Minister Joe Oliver's decision to deliver his fall economic update in   
   front of an $800-per-table Canadian Club crowd has raised the ire of the   
   opposition New Democrats, who say the move could constitute contempt of   
   Parliament.   
      
   "As legislators, MPs must have access to this information to be able to do   
   their job," Cullen told the House of Commons Monday. "We must be able to   
   analyze the state of the finances of this country."   
      
   By sharing the details of those finances at a private lunch, Cullen said, the   
   minister not only "impeded our access" to the information, but also "flouted   
   the democratic principle stating that elected officials should have access to   
   this information before bankers and other financiers."   
      
   Among the revelations aired before the blue-chip crowd, according to Cullen,   
   were the potential risk of falling oil prices to the treasury, as well as the   
   projected rise in personal income tax as a percentage of the GDP.   
      
   That, Cullen said, is information that should have been shared in the Commons   
   and not at an "exclusive" Bay Street event.   
   'Standards of truthfulness'   
      
   In front of an $800-a-table group of Bay Street bigwigs, the finance minister   
   is not even held to the same standards of truthfulness as he is in this place,   
   Cullen argued.   
      
   "For him to choose to deliver such an important economic update when we, as   
   parliamentarians, cannot ask questions, cannot examine the information in the   
   presence of the minister and Finance Canada representatives, cannot even hear   
   for ourselves these important declarations, forced to rely on a press release   
   and media coverage, is simply outrageous."   
      
   Cullen wants House Speaker Andrew Scheer to send the matter to the procedure   
   and House affairs committee for further study, which could result in a   
   recommendation that Oliver's out-of-town appearance be formally sanctioned by   
   the House.   
      
   In response, government House leader Peter Van Loan pointed out that a fiscal   
   update "is not a budget," and pointed to past examples of such information   
   being made public outside the House, including at the House finance committee.   
      
   "It's not a budget or a ways and means motion," he said, nor are any such   
   motions expected to flow from what was announced in the minister's speech.   
      
   He also reminded the House MPs are free to question the minister — and other   
   members of government — on the federal books during question period.   
      
   Van Loan also reserved the right to return to the Commons with additional   
   arguments, as he said he wasn't given notice that the point of privilege was   
   coming.   
      
   For his part, deputy Speaker Joe Comartin took the matter under advisement, and   
   promised to return to the House as soon as possible.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)