A constable killed, Ontario's education bets, and Alberta's premier shuns duck porn: Tuesday's A1 headlines and Parliamentary daybook

A constable killed; Ontario bets on education; and Alberta's premier shuns "duck porn". Listen to my four-minute audio roundup of what's on the front pages of the country's newspapers plus highlights from Tuesday's Parliamentary daybook by clicking on the link below.

Listen!

You can also get these audio summaries automatically every day via podcast from iTunes or via an RSS feed by subscribing to my AudioBoo stream. Both the iTunes link and the RSS link are at my profile at AudioBoo.fm. Lookin the top right corner of the "Boos" box.

Attention iTunes subscribers: If you had been subscribing to these Audioboos via iTunes, Audioboo has recently changed my status to be a "Featured User". That may have affected your iTunes subscription. You may wish to re-subscribe to my iTunes Audioboo feed by visiting my profile clicking on the iTunes button in the top-right hand corner

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Somali terrorists; Ontario's hospitals and Oscar history: Monday's A1 headlines and Parliamentary Daybook

Somali group outlawed; Ontario's hospitals; and a historic Oscar. Listen to my four-minute audio roundup of what's on the front pages of the country's newspapers plus highlights from Tuesday's Parliamentary daybook by clicking on the link below.

You can also get these audio summaries automatically every day via podcast from iTunes or via an RSS feed by subscribing to my AudioBoo stream. Both the iTunes link and the RSS link are at my profile at AudioBoo.fm. Lookin the top right corner of the "Boos" box.

Listen!

Attention iTunes subscribers: If you had been subscribing to these Audioboos via iTunes, Audioboo has recently changed my status to be a "Featured User". That may have affected your iTunes subscription. You may wish to re-subscribe to my iTunes Audioboo feed by visiting my profile clicking on the iTunes button in the top-right hand corner

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Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Hockey

Note to reader: Do click on the Flickr slide show, left, before you begin reading. I believe it will enhance your reading experience! 🙂
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, as everyone must surely know by now, is a big hockey fan. In that respect, he's just like millions of Canadians. But there's a big difference between Harper the hockey fan and the rest of us hockey fans. Generally speaking, we don't show up at the game with our videographer and photographer in tow with the idea of demonstrating that our love of the national game is one of the qualifications for the jobs we do.

Hockey has been a constant and frequent theme since his election as prime minister in 2006. I don't recall hockey having such a prominent role prior to 2006, in the 2004 election campaign or in his leadership campaigns or his fight to unite the right.

Presumably, hockey is a frequent theme because, in this country at least, hockey is a unifying force. From Chicoutimi to Calgary, Canadians can talk about hockey the way Canadians can talk about the weather. But unlike the weather, key hockey events — that gold medal game or a Stanley Cup final — are one of the few common shared experiences of the country. More than 25 million Canadians watched that gold medal game! That's a remarkable number in a country of 34 million people.

So if you're a politician, what's not to like about having your personal brand associated with hockey?

Still, for Harper, is it too much of what, for Conservatives, must seem like a good thing? Is the hockey connection overshadowing, by accident or design, Harper's connection to other important issues. Here's a quick stat:

The word "hockey" appears on 447 different pages at the prime minister's official Web site, pm.gc.ca, according to Google. The word "poverty" shows up on 504 pages. "Climate Change" shows up on 381 pages.

The Toronto Star's Susan Delacourt argues that Harper's image managers turn to hockey to avoid other substantive issues.

II suspect, however, that the PMO brand managers have long ago figured that it will be impossible to "over-brand" Harper as a hockey lover. And so I suspect that the official Flickr Photostream from the prime minister's office will continue to be stuffed with a ton of hockey-related pics (that's a Flickr slide-show above assembled from pics at Flickr which have a hockey connection.)

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The Hudak App goes live: Thoughts about mobile apps and politics

Ontario's Progressive Conservatives are holding their annual general meeting in Ottawa today and, as part of the festivities later today, the party will announce that leader Tim Hudak now has his own iPhone application, the first leader of a Canadian political party, so far as I know, to have his own app delivered through Apple's iTunes store to iPhones around the country.

Good for the Ontario PCs for being a first mover, if you will, on the iPhone, but the real innovation will come with its use. Can this app, and others that will surely follow for Android, BlackBerry and other mobile operating systems, be an effective tool to help organize, fundraise, track voters, promote and publicize, and get elected? Personally, I think the answer is yes and that mobile apps will eventually be a must-have tool for political organizations.

They'll become must-haves because:

  • Mobile political apps give grassroots supporters to self-mobilize. The geolocation feature of a good mobile app is the secret sauce to harnessing this power. People can find other people who are physically near them. They don't need permission from the party brass to do so. They can talk. They can trade ideas. They can figure things out. This was the key lesson from the Howard Dean campaign and his senior Internet advisor David Weinberger.
  • Mobile apps are about sharing, on all platforms, from anywhere, anytime. Did you watch the 2006 Liberal Leadership convention, the one that Dion one? I wonder if the voting right at the end might have been different had one group or another been organized and better able to share intelligence about what was happening within their own camp elsehwere.
  • Mobile apps can help with organizational velocity. In other words, as a group, you can do the same stuff faster and react more quickly. There was a provincial byelection in Ottawa this week. As expected Liberal Bob Chiarelli, a former mayor and former MPP, won. He was replacing Jim Watson, who wants to run for mayor, who won in the last general election by 18 or 19 points. Chiarelli won by about 4 points. Hudak's PCs are pleased that they closed the gap but they also wonder what might have been had all their workers, organizers, and campaigners got together for one final push. Some said had the campaign been two weeks longer, Chiarelli might have been upset. Take two weeks and now think: Two days.  I think mobile apps can help with the velocity.
  • Developed properly, mobile apps help political organizations gather intelligence. Version 1.0 of Hudak App has a built-in survey function (a function the app's developer Purple Forge Software has built into many apps for its politcal clients in the U.S.) This goes beyond simple polling because, again, you're able to get some geolocation data with your survey results.

The Liberal Party of Canada also has an iPhone app and I'm certain that it will want to build on what is a really thin app right now. It's only at version 0.3 right now so let's assume they have some plans to build out the app as it gets up to version 1.0.  Like the official app from The White House, the Liberal app is really just a newsletter. The Hudak app also provides news about Hudak and his party but it goes beyond that and has the building blocks to become a tool to gather and mobilize political intelligence. Let's see if they know what to do with it.

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Love it or leave it? Federal Budget: The Day After

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty started selling the budget bright and early Friday, hours after he tabled the 2010 Federal Budget in the House of Commons.

The big event of the day for Flaherty is a lunchtime speech at the London (Ont.) Chamber of Commerce. His speech there begins at about 12:20 pm local time.

On the way there early this morning, he did a radio interview with 680 News from his car. That was followed with another radio interview with CJAD. He then arrived at a Tim Horton's in London and, from that location, did some television appearances on CTV's Canada AM, the Business News Network, A Channel and CBC News Network.

Still at Tim's, he did more radio interviews with CFRB and CBC Toronto's Metro Morning. Then, on the way to his hotel, he did another radio interview, withToronto station AM 640. At the hotel he did CHML in Hamilton, The House for CBC, John Gormley's radio show in Saskatchewan, local Oshawa CHEX TV, CJOB from Winnipeg, Maritime Morning from Halifax, The Dave Rutherford Show from Calgary and Bill Good's Radio Show from Vancouver

Meanwhile, my e-mail inbox like, I suspect, most reporters on the Hill, is filling up with reaction from dozens of groups, pundits, and other interested parties. So far, here's the pile I've divided them up into:

Like it:

  • TRIUMF: “This federal budget highlights Canada’s commitment to putting Canadians at the international forefronts of research and innovation.”
  • University of Western Ontario: “We appreciate the strong signal the federal government continues to send that research and innovation are important to building Canada’s future, particularly in these challenging economic times.”
  • Conference Board of Canada: “Budget 2010 steers the federal government back onto the straight and narrow road toward fiscal balance.”
  • Polytechnics Canada: “… appreciates the federal government's new investments in applied research, development and commercialization, particularly the sustaining funding for the very successful College and Community Innovation Program.”
  • Certified Management Accountants
  • BIOTECanada [PDF]: “Removing administrative barriers under the Canada-US Tax Treaty for investors such as non-resident venture capital funds are a welcome change.”
  • Native Women's Association of Canada: “… is encouraged by the federal government’s pledge of 10 million dollars in funding over a period of two years, to address the disturbingly high number of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada.”
  • Certified General Accountants Association of Canada: “Although it includes no major initiatives, the Finance Minister introduced a budget that lays the groundwork for economic recovery and emphasizes productivity and innovation.”
  • Canadian Arts Coalition: “…pleased to see that arts and culture investment has been sustained in Budget 2010 and that the Government will continue to deliver on stimulus measures for the cultural sector identified in the Economic Action Plan.”
  • Deloitte: “The changes in tax legislation announced in today’s budget are among the most significant changes to capital gains taxation since the introduction of taxation of capital gains in 1972.”
  • Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada: “It shows that the government recognizes the vital role universities play in creating opportunities for Canadians in the new economy.”
  • MITACS: “The R&D funding in this budget demonstrates the government’s commitment to ensuring Canada is a leader in innovation.”
  • Federation of Canadian Municipalities: “FCM applauds the federal government for protecting core investments in cities and communities as it reduces the federal budget deficit.”
  • Association of Canadian Community Colleges: “The budget demonstrates an understanding that colleges, institutes and polytechnics are integrated with the industrial and technological drivers of the economy”
  • Canadian Council of Chief Executives: “We support the government’s intent to implement the fiscal stimulus measures contained in the second half of its two-year Economic Action Plan.”

Not bad, but could use improvement:

  • Canadian Healthcare Association: “Canadians ‘get it’ that there is no longer a surplus. They also understand that now is the time to deliver health differently.
  • Mowat Centre for Policy and Innovation: “This is a status quo budget. While there are no unpleasant surprises for Ontario or provincial governments generally, long-standing structural shortcomings in programs such as Employment Insurance (EI) continue to fester.”
  • Canadian Bankers Association: “On the one hand, we’re pleased to see measures that will help all businesses and contribute to Canada’s long-term economic growth. Unfortunately, there are some proposed new measures that were introduced today that lead us to question whether they will have the intended benefits for consumers and bank customers.”  
  • Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami: “In many areas, this budget leaves much room for interpretation and implementation.”
  • Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters: ““This budget helps manufacturers, but more targeted measures are still needed to sustain innovation, investment and growth.”
  • The Canadian Artists’ Representation: “Visual artists are encouraged to see that the 2010 federal budget will maintain support for the Canada Council for the Arts but are concerned about cuts to the Department of Canadian Heritage.”
  • Canadian Urban Transit Association: “If transit is to perform at its optimal level, we are going to need long-term, dedicated funding for public transit.”
  • The Institute of Marriage and Family Canada: “While there are some positive steps for families in this budget, we reiterate the need for continued broad based income tax relief for families, which could be achieved through family income splitting.”

Don't like it:

  • Heritage Canada Foundation
  • Sierra Club: “The federal government continued its attack on environmental protection using the 2010 budget to begin dismantling the Environmental Assessment Agency.”
  • Canadian Association of Social Workers: “The federal budget simply ignores key poverty issues facing our country and totally disregards whole segments of our population that are excluded from any of the major government stimulus initiatives.”
  • Canadian Labour Congress: “…no plan to create jobs for 1.5 million unemployed Canadians and provides no road map to a prosperous economy.”
  • National Aboriginal Caucus of the Canadian Federation of Students: “Today's federal budget fails to address the significant gap in post-secondary participation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples.”
  • Clean Air Renewable Energy Coalition: “The Harper government missed the mark entirely when it came to clean, green, renewable power.”
  • Greenpeace Canada: “The budget failed to make any meaningful investment in renewable energy..”
  • Canadian Council for International Cooperation: “Canada is turning its back on the world’s poor.”
  • Fraser Institute: “The 2010 federal budget does little to strengthen the Canadian economy. By putting off balancing the books for at least five years, the federal government is sacrificing Canadian competitiveness.”
  • National Graduate Caucus of the Canadian Federation of Students: The budget continues to follow the misguided science and technology policy that has left Canada ranked near the bottom of industrialised countries in innovation.”
  • Green Party of Canada: “The only new thing in this budget is an accelerated attack on Canada’s environment and commitment to development assistance.”
  • Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives: “The Harper government’s budget fails to measure up to its own job creation promises.”
  • Make Poverty History: “Now is not the time to cap aid when the economic crisis and climate change are reversing global progress on poverty reduction.”
  • Pembina Institute: “Federal budget hits rock bottom for investments in environment “
  • Canadian Federation of Students: “…no measures to address record high tuition fees and the student debt crisis.”
  • Canadian Taxpayers Federation: “… expressing with great dismay that the Harper government continues to delay efforts to balance the federal budget.”

Layton tries, fails, to force emergency debate on prorogation

Jack Layton House of Commons

The federal opposition parties want to continue to exploit significant public dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision last December to prorogue Parliament and, now that Parliament is back in session, they plan to keep that issue as much as possible in front of the public.

NDP Leader Jack Layton this morning tried to convince Commons Speaker Peter Milliken that he ought to convene an “emergency debate” in the House on the issue of prorogation. First, Layton sent Milliken a letter outlining his case. [PDF]. Then, standing up in his place at about 10:30 a.m. today, Layton said:

Mr Speaker,

I rise today to request an emergency debate on recent advice given by the Prime Minister to Her Excellency, the Governor General, requesting that the second session of the 40th parliament be prorogued.

To be clear, Mr. Speaker, I do not make this request out of any question of the role of Her Excellency, but rather because I believe the judgement of the Prime Minister in offering such advice was deeply flawed and we need to debate it here. Such faulty logic could be used again by the prime minister on any given day to prorogue.

Comme vous le savez, la Gouverneure générale n’avait pas vraiment de choix. Mais la grave erreur de jugement commise par le Premier ministre en demandant cette prorogation doit être discutée. Il s’agit de la deuxième prorogation demandée par le Premier ministre, la première ayant été faite en décembre 2008 afin d’éviter un vote de censure qui devait être débattu et mis aux voix.

As I am sure you are aware, this is the second recent prorogation requested by the Prime Minister—the first one was to avoid a vote of non-confidence which was scheduled for debate and decision. The latest prorogation seemed to have been another attempt by the Prime Minister to avoid accountability on matters that are inconvenient to the government.

Ad you are aware, our system is one where the government exists because the Governor General decides it has the support of the House of Commons. It is therefore a fundamental character of our democracy that when a government is appointed, it is to be held directly accountable to the House of Commons.

I submit to you that the recent advice of the Prime Minister to the Governor General to prorogue the second session raises serious questions about the Prime Minister’s commitment to the House of Commons and suggests he believes that this Chamber should exist at the convenience of his government, and not the other way around.

Notre démocratie a comme caractéristique fondamentale qu’un gouvernement élu doit rendre des comptes directement à la Chambre des communes. L’utilisation du pouvoir de prorogation pour se soustraire à cette responsabilité est fort problématique et démontre un manque de respect envers la démocratie canadienne.

It is a fundamental breach of the Prime Minister’s duty to be accountable to the elected representatives of the Canadian people, and as such constitutes an urgent situation. As a former House Leader for my party, Stanley Knowles, is quoted as saying in the second edition of House of Commons Procedure and Practice on page 677, “Debate is not a sin, a mistake, an error or something to be put up with in parliament, debate is the essence of parliament.” I make this request in that spirit.

Au nom des centaines des milliers de canadiens qui se sont exprimés en manifestant leur désaccord face à la prorogation, j’espère, Monsieur le Président, que vous considérerez cette requête favorablement.

In an interview outside the House of Commons after that ruling, Layton said, “We have the full arsenal of Parliamentary tools and instruments available to us and, in light of this particular ruling, we'll go back and review them. Fortunately, we know the court of public opinion doesn't agree with the prime minister on this.”

Green groups give Avatar Oscar for "exposing the Tar Sands"

AVATARSANDS_Variety_Final_PRINT.jpg Canadian and world environmental groups have taken out a full-page ad (left) in Variety, the Hollywood trade magazine, to endorse the movie Avatar for the best picture Oscar. The green groups say the ad is part of a campaign, largely being mounted in the United States, to halt expansion of Alberta's oil sands.

“We want Hollywood, and the powerful thought leaders there, to know Avatar does a great job of exposing the Tar Sands,” said Rick Smith, executive director of Environmental Defence Canada, one of 55 groups that signed the ad. “It's the world's most destructive project – Pandora's unobtanium is Canada's Tar Sands.”

One of the images in the ad is a 797B Heavy Hauler, one of the first trucks used to mine the oil sands, which the green groups say is identical to some of the trucks used in Avatar. The ad “also shows the vast open pit mines and tailings ponds that cut across what was once pristine Boreal forest – the same forest that stretched across [Canadian-born Avatar director James] Cameron's hometown in Ontario.”

Speech from the Throne, Douglas Cardinal's sporty idea, and a mailman under attack: Thursday's A1 headlines and Parliamentary daybook

The Speech from the Throne; a Douglas Cardinal sports stadium; and a mailman under attack. Listen to my four-minute audio roundup of what's on the front pages of the country's newspapers plus highlights from Thursday's Parliamentary daybook by clicking on the link below.

You can also get these audio summaries automatically every day via podcast from iTunes or via an RSS feed by subscribing to my AudioBoo stream. Both the iTunes link and the RSS link are at my profile at AudioBoo.fm. Lookin the top right corner of the "Boos" box.

Listen!

Attention iTunes subscribers: If you had been subscribing to these Audioboos via iTunes, Audioboo has recently changed my status to be a "Featured User". That may have affected your iTunes subscription. You may wish to re-subscribe to my iTunes Audioboo feed by visiting my profile clicking on the iTunes button in the top-right hand corner

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A bounce for the Tories; budget predictions; and a new stadium for Regina: A1 headlines and Parliamentary daybook

A new poll finds more support the Tories; predictions for the budget and throne speech; and Regina learns of new stadium plans; Listen to my four-minute audio roundup of what's on the front pages of the country's newspapers plus highlights from Tuesday's Parliamentary daybook by clicking on the link below.

You can also get these audio summaries automatically every day via podcast from iTunes or via an RSS feed by subscribing to my AudioBoo stream. Both the iTunes link and the RSS link are at my profile at AudioBoo.fm. Lookin the top right corner of the "Boos" box.

Listen!

Attention iTunes subscribers: If you had been subscribing to these Audioboos via iTunes, Audioboo has recently changed my status to be a "Featured User". That may have affected your iTunes subscription. You may wish to re-subscribe to my iTunes Audioboo feed by visiting my profile clicking on the iTunes button in the top-right hand corner

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AppleScript gurus: Need your help with an Entourage problem

Hey geeks! Need a hand. For some reason, Entourage has just gone and duplicated a pile of my contacts. There's got to be an AppleScript out there that will seek out duplicates, isolate them, and let me dispose of them either all at once or in some other efficient manner.

Running Entourage 2004 (v 11.4.x) on Mac OS 10.5.8

Thanks!

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