Month: September 2007

You have to a be Facebook member — and be accepted as Rick's Friend — in order to see this but, darn it, this is just too cute for words so I've copied it and pasted it here. Rick, forgive me, and please provide context and analysis.

Elections Canada has just published the preliminary estimates of voter turnout in advance polls for the three by-elections in Quebec.
Voting day is next Monday in Outremont. St. Hyacinthe-Bagot, and Roberval-Lac St. Jean.

In Roberval — a riding where the Bloc Quebecois is playing defence — nearly 4,000 people have already voted, according to Elections Canada estimates, with nearly a week to go until polling day. In the last general election, only 3,416 people voted in advance polls.

Advance poll turnout is also good in St. Hyacinthe, the other riding where the Bloc is playing defence. There, 3,190 have already put an 'x' beside someone's name, compared to 3,571 who did so in an advance poll in the last general election.

Calls are in to readers of political tea-leaves to see what they make of this. In Roberval, the Conservatives have high hopes of unseating the Bloc. In St. Hyacinthe, the other parties think they'll have a tough time beating the Block but the other federal parties want to have a strong second.

Meanwhile, in Outremont — a riding that's been Liberal for a century plus — the number of ballots already cast stand at 2,328 with a week to go, compared to 3,726 advance ballots in the last general election.
In that riding, the Liberals hope to fend off a strong challenge from the NDP.

Next February, a year before Canada's combat mission in Afghanistan is to end, Canada's top general, Rick Hillier, is scheduled to retire. Normally, Canada's Chiefs of Defence Staff serve for three years and then that's it.
But L. Ian Macdonald, a former speechwriter for Brian Mulroney who now edits Policy Options and does some commentary work for CTV and others, wonders if Hillier's tenure will be extended.
Writing in The Gazette Friday, MacDonald says:

So there are two questions, of equal importance, around this. On the one hand, is Hillier essential to the mission? On the other, if he is extended for another year, would that be an admission he is indispensable? One man bigger than the mission? That's not a good story line . . . So Harper is on the verge of two important decisions: What to do about Afghanistan after February 2009, and whether Hillier is the man to lead the Canadian Forces until then.

Macdonald also points to two heir apparents, Hillier's good friend and vice-chief Lt.-Gen. Walter Natynczyk and the youngish-looking 50-year-old up-and-comer Lt. Gen Andrew Leslie. Like Hillier, Natynczyk and Leslie are 'tankers', if I understand the term correctly, (and please be gentle in your corrections if I've messed this up) meaning that they are of that special Army breed that thinks a tank or other armoured vehicle is a highly useful, perhaps, the most useful, device a commander could have.

And, helpfully, a reader has sent me a note to clarify this issue of who’s a tanker and who isn’t. I am grateful for the corrective:

Gen. Hillier and LtGen. Natynczyk are armour officers, They both have commanded the Royal Canadian Dragoons in the past. LtGen. Leslie is an artillery officer. That being said, you do not get to command LFWA [Land Force Western Area] and then become Chief of the Land Staff without an appreciation and understanding of the capabilities and uses of  tanks on the battlefield.

Macdonald notes Natynczyk's service in Bosnia and Kosovo but doesn't note that Natynczyk also served with U.S. forces in Iraq, an experience which might be a bit of a help in Afghanistan.
The gossip in Ottawa — outside National Defence Headquarters, anyhow — is that Leslie is the most likely among the top generals, Hillier included, to go a long way in politics, if he so desires. But Leslie will likely want to make CDS before he jumps into a political career.
Now traditionally, the chances of either man succeeding Hillier should be discounted. That's because the top job in our combined forces normally rotates through the three services — Army, Air Force, Navy. Hillier, an Army man, succeeded Gen. Ray Henault, an Air Force man. But get this: Henault succeeded Gen. Maurice Baril, also an Army man. So the Navy guys could rightly be thinking that they got passed over once when Hillier was appointed and they might be thinking they are overdue for a turn at the top. (I've met the top Air Force general, Lt. Gen Angus Watt, just once and though he seems like a smart guy, he just started that job last month. He just might be on track, though, in terms of timing to succeed the guy — and it will be a guy, not a gal — who succeeds Hillier) The top navy guy in the forces is Vice-Admiral Drew Robertson. Can't say Robertson has a big profile on “The Hill” (or, just as plausibly, I'm not hanging out in the right committee rooms.) and I've never met him. So if I was a betting man, and if Hillier was to retire on schedule in February, I'd say an Army general stands to be elevated, tradition be damned.

The leaders, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper (at the back on the left in this photo from APEC’s site), donned some ceremonial garb for their annual “family photo” taken today on the steps of the Opera House in Sydney, Australia.

Here’s the skinny on what they’re wearing:

All the leaders are wearing Driza-Bone (TM) jackets. The first Driza-Bone (as in “dry-as-a-bone”)  jackets were sewn more than 100 years ago by sailors. The sailors would use old windjammer sails as the material for these jackets. You’ll note that while the jackets are all the same colour, each leader has a colour lapel. The leaders were free to choose that colour and it looks like our man Harper chose blue.

The blue, APEC organizers say, is a slate blue, representing Australia’s vast coastline. The mustard yellow colour represents Australia’s sun and sand; the red ochre represents the colour of outback sand; and the green represents the famous Australian eucalyptus.

At lunch, on the of this photo, the leaders ate lunch at Guillaume at Bennelong. On the menu:

Barramundi with endives, mushrooms, pearl of vegetables, yabbies, scallops and a light ginger emulsion followed by Roasted Saddle of Lamb with field mushrooms, kipfler potatoes, confit of tomato and thyme jus and a selection of Australian fruit and cheese

The winelist (I’m pretty sure Harper drinks wine) 2004 Mount Pleasant ‘Maurice O’Shea’ (a single bottle costs about 50 Australian dollars) and 2004 Tyrell’s ‘Vat 47’ from the Hunter (about AUS$40 a bottle).

Now that was just lunch. Here’s what’s going down for dinner, which will be held at the Opera House itself:

The dinner setting features traditional Lady Jane Silver Cutlery and simple Waterford Crystal Glasses, dinner will be served on a classic white Villeroy & Boch dinner service.

 A cream and gold Jacquard table runner will run the length of the table over a white line table drop, which is complimented by golden Kingsgrove Jacquard dining chairs covered in an elegant Florence Broadhurst design especially adapted for this occasion.

The finishing touch of a gold tassle on the rear of each chair completes the setting. Flower arrangements give the setting an Australian native feel.

The Tracey Wan Quartet will perform for Leaders as they dine on a feast of Rolled Yellow Fin Tuna, Western Australian yabbies and Sterling caviar and Grainge Angus Black Label Wagyu Beef Striploin and on a bed of ratatouille and salsa verde.

2006 Cullen Sauvignon Blanc Semillon, 2004 Tarrawarra Chardonnay, 2004 Henschke Tappa Pass Shiraz, 2005 Stonier Reserve Pinot Noir and 2007 Mt Horrocks Cordon Cut Riesling will be served. Vanilla and nougatine semifreddo and raspberries and candied orange will be served for desert.

And when Prime Minister and Mrs. Harper leave Australia, they’ll be carrying back these gifts (which, incidentally, become the property of the Canadian people and not the personal property of the Harpers, according to the rules).

• Three limited edition prints by Australian artists. Selected with the assistance of the National Gallery of Australia, the artists are Tim Djandjomerr, Pamela Griffith and Peter Kingston.
• A specially designed and handcrafted identification pin by renowned jeweller Margaret Kirkwood. The pin is worn by Leaders whilst in Sydney and is an interpretation of the APEC Australia 2007 Star.
• An Akubra felt hat, the only complete fur-felt manufacturer left in Australia.

Keith McArthur was a colleague of mine at The Globe and Mail’s Report on Business. While I was there, he did some top-notch work reporting on Air Canada and other transportation matters. Keith recently left the Globe to join the communications and government relations firm Veritas Communications Inc., where he’ll be working on that firm’s new social media division.

In Veritas weekly newsletter “Touchdowns and Fumbles”, Keith takes a look at Deputy Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff’s recent musings on how the puffin ought to the official bird of his party:

Every once in a while a story comes along that forces you to stop and check if you're reading a serious publication or a satirical one like The Onion. Millions of Canadians went through this last week when reports came out that Michael Ignatieff, the former-next leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, suggested that the Atlantic Puffin should be his party's official bird. Why? Well, it has good family values, Ignatieff said. Puffin couples stay together for 30 years. Oh, and another thing: They “hide their excrement.” Really. He said it. Conservative bloggers, predictably, are having a field day with the comment, tying puffin poop to the sponsorship scandal, the human resources “boondoggle” and so on. Another take we're seeing is that the Chrétienites and the Martinites should have done a better job of hiding the fecal matter between them. At the risk of sounding obvious, this puffin business serves as a reminder of one of the most basic rules of talking to the media: Think about what you're going to say before you say it. Or as my colleague Janine Allen put it: “Note to self: do not include word “excrement” in any context when speaking to media.”

Last night, on CTV National News, we showed an excerpt from some extended interviews Lloyd Robertson did with former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Mulroney had some harsh things to say about Trudeau. Today, Liberal leader Stephane Dion issued this statement in reaction to Mulroney’s comments:

It is regrettable that, after attending Prime Minister Trudeau’s funeral and praising him as “an exceptional individual who served his country effectively and well … a gallant political warrior who loved his country,” Mr. Mulroney would seem to be at such odds with his own views.

One wonders whether Canadians will gain any genuine insight from Mr. Mulroney's book if the former Prime Minister himself is unable to provide a reliable account of his public sentiments towards past rivals such as Mr. Trudeau.

Finally, while Mr. Mulroney's track record in politics may indeed explain his frustrations with Prime Minister Trudeau, they do not qualify him as a historian.

Adversary or not, one cannot ignore Mr. Trudeau's contributions to Canada. In bringing us the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Prime Minister Trudeau ensured that the human rights of all our citizens would be protected.

Surely Mr. Mulroney wouldn't dispute that in so doing, Prime Minister Trudeau earned the respect of all Canadians.

“Plamen Kozarov,” writes Federal Court Judge The Honourable Sean Harrington, “is a Canadian citizen; not a very good one, but a citizen nevertheless. He is a convicted drug dealer. He is currently serving a sentence in the United States for having distributed not less than 100 kilos of cocaine, 100 kilos of marijuana and 97,000 units of Ecstasy.”

Kozarov, 52, was born in Bulgaria but came to Canada as a refugee in 1977 and became a Canadian citizen in 1982.

He now finds himself behind bars in Florida serving a sentence of 5 years and 10 months on the drug trafficking charges. Kozarov, though, would prefer to serve his sentence back in Canada and asked to do so.

Canada and the U.S. have agreements for this sort of thing. First, the Canadian prisoner must ask the U.S.  authorities for permission to serve out his sentence in Canada. In this case, the U.S. said yes. Then the Canadian prisoner must ask Canadian authorities for permission. Corrections Canada officials reviewed the case and recommended that Stockwell Day, the Minister for Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada, grant Kozarov’s request.

But Day said no. And he said no, not once, but twice.

Kozarov asked for a judicial review of Day’s decision — alleging that Day had some sort of agenda against him. Judge Harrington, in his decision, comes down on the side of the Minister.

If you have a few minutes, the Judge’s decision makes for some interesting reading on an interesting case.

This press release pretty much speaks for itself — and do read the story!!

CTV News Reveals Brian Mulroney's Comments About Pierre Trudeau
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Just moments ago, CTV National News with Lloyd Robertson revealed some of the comments that former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney made about his predecessor, the late Pierre Elliott Trudeau. The comments were made during an interview with CTV's Chief Anchor Lloyd Robertson for the exclusive CTV special, Triumph & Treachery: The Brian Mulroney Story. During the interview, Mr. Mulroney commented on the former Liberal Prime Minster's moral leadership, his refusal to serve in the Second World War and his opposition to the Allied effort against the Nazi regime – see transcript below.
Mulroney's remarks will air as part of CTV's landmark political special Triumph & Treachery: The Brian Mulroney Story airing on Sunday, September 9 at 7 p.m. CTV has also confirmed that the special has now been extended and will run for two-hours between 7 and 9 p.m. (check CTV.ca for local broadcast times)
Mulroney's comments about Trudeau come in a portion of the documentary that reviews the failure of the Meech Lake Accord. As Lloyd Robertson reports in Triumph & Treachery: The Brian Mulroney Story, Mulroney sees Trudeau as the hidden architect behind the defeat of the agreement that would have brought Quebec into the Constitution.
Transcript excerpts from CTV's Triumph & Treachery: The Brian Mulroney Story:

Mulroney:
“…(Trudeau) is far from a perfect man, this is a man who questioned the Allies when the Jews were being sacrificed and when the great extermination program was on he was marching around Outremont (Montreal) on the other side of the issue.
Robertson:
But how much of that past Mr. Mulroney, would be part of youthful exuberance? He was a rebellious youth, and a lot of people in Quebec were against conscription, he wasn't alone there.
Mulroney:
Of course he wasn't. But they aren't they aren't around 50 years later to say I'm Captain Canada. Look, out of 11 million citizens of this country, there were a million people – young men from British Columbia to Newfoundland – who rose to fight the Nazis. The most evil machine ever known to man, trying to exterminate the Jews, everybody knew that, and all these young Canadians rose and went overseas to fight them. Pierre Trudeau was not among them. That's a decision he made. He's entitled to make that kind of decision. But it doesn't qualify him for any position of moral leadership in our society.

Parliament has just been prorogued and here’s some reaction.

From the Leader of the Official Opposition, Stéphane Dion:

Dion Wants a Throne Speech that Reflects the Interests of Canadians

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to prorogue the House and deliver a Throne Speech on October 16 is yet another example of his government's lack of accountability, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said today.

“It's unfortunate that Prime Minister Harper decided to prorogue the Parliament after failing to address issues such as climate change, Canada's mission in Afghanistan, or his record of broken promises on matters such as income trusts or Equalization” said Mr. Dion.

“There are a number of important pieces of legislation that will be lost because of the Prime Minister's decision, including the Clean Air and Climate Change Act, which has taken months of work in committee to amend to make it a valuable tool to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and put Canada's industrial emitters on a carbon budget.”

Mr. Dion said that if Mr. Harper is genuinely committed to letting the Parliament work for all Canadians, he will use the upcoming Throne Speech to:

– Announce, without equivocation, that Canada will notify its allies in NATO that it is putting an end to the combat mission in Kandahar Afghanistan, in February 2009.  If there is to be a vote, the government must make clear the wording of the motion, and confirm how it will vote;
– Commit to reintroducing Bill C-30, which is the best tool Canadians have to effectively protect the environment and fight the effects of climate change, in the new session;
– Address the challenges facing Canada's economy, particularly on issues such as manufacturing;
– Set out a plan to combat poverty in Canada; and
– Show that he is worthy of Canadians' trust.

“Mr. Harper must work to regain Canadians' trust by honouring the ruling on the Canadian Wheat Board; explaining his broken promises on Equalization; and now – in light of the very troubling revelations about the alleged in-and-out scheme being investigated by Elections Canada – opening his party's books to public scrutiny and making it clear the Conservatives will not use the scheme in the Quebec by-elections or the next national campaign,” said Mr. Dion.

“We have serious doubts about Mr. Harper's ability to act on these matters but the ball is now in his court,” concluded Mr. Dion.

From NDP Leader Jack Layton:

STEPHEN HARPER IS WRONG TO LOCK OUT MPS

TIMMINS – Prime Minister Stephen Harper is wrong to postpone MPs’ return to work by proroguing the House of Commons until mid October, declared NDP Leader Jack Layton today.

“By his actions, Stephen Harper is effectively locking out MPs. We have work to do. Everyday families are counting on us, but Stephen Harper is preventing us from getting down to work,” said Layton.

Harper is wasting time on important files such as climate change and urgent infrastructure needs. The last sitting of the House was in June, and parliamentarians are supposed to be back on September 17.

“Students have gone back to class. Working families are back from vacation. Why is Stephen Harper locking MPs out? Why is he stopping us from getting back to work for students and families? Why is he stopping MPs from debating what to do with the budget surplus? The prime minister should be ashamed for shutting the doors of Parliament,” added Layton.

“By locking MPs out, Stephen Harper is showing utter disregard for the work that has already been done, especially on the climate change and clean air bill. Stephen Harper is wasting another month while we could be fighting climate change in order to write an unnecessary Throne Speech,” concluded Layton. 

From the Prime Minister’s Office:

Jean Chretien prorogued Parliament four times during his time as Prime Minister: February 5, 1996; September 18, 1999; September 16, 2002; and November 12, 2003.

*           On each occasion, the Liberals killed their own legislation.  Several bills ended up dying over and over again due to Liberals proroguing Parliament or calling early elections.

*           September 16, 2002 – After a summer of Liberal in-fighting and Jean Chretien being forced to announce his planned retirement date in August, Chretien prorogued Parliament, killing legislation so that he could unveil his legacy agenda. 

*           According [to] Eddie Goldenberg, Chretien decided to have a Throne Speech just to test the will of the Martinite forces who were trying to push him out early: Chretien was happy.  “I like that.  It is exactly what we just discussed.  Prepare me a statement.  But just one more thing,” said the old fox.  “I want a Throne Speech in the fall.  The government will stand or fall on it.  If they want to vote against me on it, then it is the one case in which I will run again.” (Eddie Goldenberg, The Way it Works, p. 380)

*           November 12, 2003 – Jean Chretien announced that Parliament was prorogued on the eve of the Liberal leadership convention (so Chretien and Martin didn’t have to sit together in the House of Commons and face a dispute over who was Prime Minister).   Martin did not become Prime Minister until December 12, 2003 and Parliament did not resume until February 2, 2004 – almost four months later

*           The current session has lasted as long as many comparable sessions under the Liberals, and longer than several of the sessions under Jean Chretien and Paul Martin.

The Prime Minister’s Office just confirmed what we first reported earlier today on CTV Newsnet: Prime Minister Stephen Harper will recommend to the Governor General that she prorogue Parliament until October.

That means that all the government legislation on the order paper — Bill C-30 (the revamped Clean Air Act) plus the pile of government-sponsored justice bills — dies and it’s back to square one for each bill. Notably, private member’s bills survive the prorogation which means Bill C-288 — the bill introduced by Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez requiring the government to deal with Kyoto somehow — is still on the books. I'm a blockhead for typing too fast. As as has been pointed out to me elsewhere, C-288 is already the law of the land.

Also, prorogation means that all Standing Committees of the House are dissolved and cannot meet or transact any business until the House is recalled in October.

Harper also said there will be a Throne Speech when the house sits again. A vote on a Throne Speech is, by definition, a confidence vote.

The Prime Minister was in Meech Lake all day meeting with his cabinet’s Priorities and Planning Committee and will get on a plane late this evening for the APEC meetings in Australia. The PM is making no comment on the prorogation other than what is in the following release:

PRIME MINISTER STEPHEN HARPER ANNOUNCES INTENTION TO PROROGUE PARLIAMENT
September 4, 2007
Ottawa, Ontario

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced today that he will be recommending to Governor General Michaëlle Jean that Parliament be prorogued, thus ending the First Session of the 39th Parliament. Parliament will be recalled on October 16 to commence the Second Session with a Speech from the Throne.

“The First Session of the 39th Parliament was exceptionally productive, especially for a Government in a minority situation,” Prime Minister Harper said. “We delivered on all the major commitments we made to Canadians during the 2006 election. After our first 19 months in office,” added the Prime Minister, “I’m pleased to report that Canada is united, our government is clean and our economy is strong.”

“Now it’s time to launch the next phase of our mandate,” the Prime Minister continued. “Strong leadership, focussed on results, will continue to guide our Government as we work to make our country even stronger, and even better for all of Canada’s families.”

“Canadians gave us a mandate for change,” Prime Minister Harper said. “But we’re just getting started. We will seize the opportunities that lie before us, and rise to the challenges that confront us. I invite the other parties to join with us to make the Second Session even more successful than the First. There is much more we can and will do to make Canada stronger, safer and better for all of us.”