Denis Coderre, yesterday: "People are going to starve this summer and they want to know what will be done about employment insurance. What is [the Human Resources Minister] waiting for?
Our report, today: "Stephen Harper and Michael Ignatieff have reached a tentative deal to spare Canadians from a summer election that would see them appoint a blue-ribbon panel to help resolve their differences over boosting employment insurance benefits."
Now, I'm no expert on blue-ribbon panels, never having been asked to sit on one. But I'm pretty sure that it takes them more than a few hours - more than a few days, even - to reach their findings. So if I were to go out on a limb, I would guess that we're not going to see any legislated changes to EI until after this summer, starving children or not.
To be clear, a panel of Liberals and Conservatives taking a step back and deciding how best to reform the program sounds like an excellent idea. It's the sort of thing that, if this Parliament were remotely functional, would have happened without this week's silliness.
If that had been the case, those Canadians who hadn't already averted their eyes would have had reason to believe there are adults running the show. Instead, they've only been given yet more evidence that nothing they hear out of Ottawa should be taken remotely seriously.
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Update: Lest you get the false impression that today's agreement could herald the start of a newly mature, cooperative effort to make minority parliament work, CP offers the following:
In an internal memo circulated within Tory ranks, the Prime Minister's Office appeared to be claiming victory over Ignatieff.
"The Liberals have reversed themselves on EI reform (their 360-hour demand has been abandoned) and withdrawn the threat to force an unnecessary summer election," the memo said.
"Instead, the Liberals will vote for the next round of stimulus in our Economic Action Plan."
