Next week Parliament will sit for the first time following the May 2nd election. The first order of business will be the election of the Speaker on Thursday June 2nd. This will be followed by the Speech from the Throne on June 3rd. This speech lays out the government’s plans and will be the first chance for Canadians to see what they can expect from a Stephen Harper majority government. Indications during the month of May are that they should expect more of the same with an even more sardonic smile from the prime minister. Add into this mix the parting shots from retiring Auditor General Sheila Fraser and you are assured that June will be a lively month in federal politics.

Veteran Liberal Speaker Peter Milliken retired with the election call in March. The race to replace him will mirror the dramatically changed line up in the House of Commons. Victoria NDP MP Denise Savoie served as a Deputy Speaker in the last Parliament and is expected to take a run at the top job. It will likely be the first vote in which the Conservatives flex their majority muscles by installing one of their own to preside over the House of Commons.

Flexing their majority muscles is likely to become an overworked descriptor very quickly once Parliament gets down to work. The Harper government has indicated that it is anxious to get on with its agenda and is promising a busy session before the summer break. Top of their list are items like eliminating the long gun registry which they failed to achieve in a minority government.

In terms of attitude, not much has changed in what Harper has unveiled so far. His reappointment of Bev Oda as Minister of International Cooperation demonstrated that he still does not recognize any impropriety in her misleading testimony to a House of Commons committee. The ruckus Oda’s actions caused contributed to the dysfunctional climate in which the government was eventually defeated for being in contempt of Parliament. Her reappointment was the first “so there” move by Harper since the election. The second one revolved around his May 18th reappointment of two Senators, Larry Smith and Fabian Manning. Both men had resigned from the Senate to run in the election campaign and both were defeated. Harper also appointed Josée Verner a defeated Quebec cabinet minister. Goes to show I guess that some people can’t lose.

Opposition leader Jack Layton has said the NDP will try to make Parliament a more respectful place. They will have a tough task maintaining their cool in the face of what is certain to be a lot of Conservative “so there” and “take that” moves. Bob Rae, the Liberal’s new interim leader, will likely have to resort to playing the piano and singing silly ditties about Stephen Harper to get much attention for his party which was reduced to only 34 MPs. Rae was renowned for his humorous songs when he was first elected to the House of Commons in 1978.

Within this context it is most unfortunate that one of our finest federal government watchdogs is retiring. Auditor General Sheila Fraser’s ten year term ended in May. Her appointment in 2001 likely got little fanfare but the way she dealt with the Liberal sponsorship scandal definitely did. Her plain language and no nonsense demeanour while holding the government’s feet to the fire have propelled Canada’s first female Auditor General to star status.

May 25th Sheila Fraser gave her last official speech and press conference. As she reports to Parliament, Fraser would not release her audits of the G8/G20 summit until Parliament was in session following the election. Unfortunately that means she won’t be there in person to add her clarity to the analysis of that Conservative fiasco. However, Fraser obviously felt the need to clarify a few other things. Her exit strategy included an interesting mix of recapping her accomplishments and warning Canadians about several issues including attempts to diminish the power and independence of the Auditor General’s office. In her May 25th press release she notes that generally Canada’s fiscal management is good, but, there are some other areas of concern. Fraser stated:

“So let me turn now to the important challenges that remain.

Among these are long-term fiscal pressures. I am not referring to the deficit. I am talking about the pressures that stem from an aging population, the costs we will incur in adapting to the impact of climate change, and shoring up our aging federal infrastructure.

I encourage the government to provide Canadians with long-term fiscal projections so they can see the impact of these challenges. I also encourage the government to engage Canadians in a national discussion about how we will meet these challenges.

Finally, I am also very concerned about the lack of progress in improving living conditions in First Nations communities. Not only have living conditions not improved, they have gotten worse.
Unless First Nations and the federal government find new ways of working together to address many obstacles, living conditions on reserves will lag behind the rest of Canada for generations to come.”

Fraser also released a publication called Serving Parliament through a Decade of Change. It is an interesting analysis of her time in the job and the job itself. What will be even more interesting reading is a second publication, Matters of Special Importance, which should be released this month. Fraser refers to the second publication as part of a status report which “reflects on progress made by government over the course of my term as Auditor General and on some key areas where improvement is still needed.”

Go Sheila! Err, well, actually we’d all be better off if you could stay. Outspoken, fearless, articulate government watchdogs will be needed more than ever now that the Conservatives have majority muscles to flex in Ottawa.

Jane E. Burton is a freelance writer who operates her company Memorable Lines from her home in Fanny Bay. For more information on the services offered please visit her website at www.memorablelines.com.