We’re one year from the 42nd general election in Canada’s history. A new poll from the folks at Ekos Sunday says the Liberals start this 365-day countdown well out in front but that the NDP may be the party to watch.
In any event, all parties are blitzing their volunteers looking for the money they’ll need — the national campaign will need an estimated $22 million alone during the four or five week writ period — and here’s what landed in the inboxes of supporters Sunday:
Her latest statement on that topic, issued tonight at about 1840 ET:
Statement from the Minister of Health on Ebola
October 15, 2014
Ottawa, ON
The Public Health Agency of Canada is meeting with provinces and territories on a weekly basis to support their readiness. In the event of an Ebola case in Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada is ready to respond with a team of public health experts and epidemiologists experienced in infectious disease outbreak management to support the investigation and contact tracing, provide laboratory expertise to quickly confirm diagnosis, and any supplies that may be needed from the National Emergency Strategic Stockpile System, such as masks, gloves, and face shields. Continue reading Minister Ambrose: Is Canada safe from Ebola?
New Brunswick held a general election as per its fixed election date law on Sept. 22. Because it’s a fixed-date election, none of the parties or candidates were surprised by the date of this election. The result? The New Brunswick Liberals, led by 32-year-old Brian Gallant, would oust the incumbent Progressive Conservatives led by David Alward and win a majority government.
In the riding of Saint John East, it was a very close battle but Liberal Gary Keating (pictured above) won by nine votes, a victory that only a judicial recount would certify. Keating scored 2,332 votes to incumbent Progressive Conservative MLA Glen Savoie who had 2,323 votes.
At its Flickr page, the NDP have posted this pic of Leader Thomas Mulcair campaigning in Iqaluit earlier this year.
Last week, the economists at TD Bank put out a helpful paper in which they tried to calculate a) how much extra money the federal government is likely to have between now and March 31, 2020 and b) how much it will cost the federal treasury to do the things Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised to do during the 2011 election once the budget was in balance.
The result of their number-crunching? From the 2014 fiscal year through to the 2020 fiscal year, Ottawa should post a combined surplus of $71.1 billion. (Reminder: Ottawa’s fiscal year ends on March 31 so “fiscal year 2015 or FY15” is the current fiscal year which began on April 1, 2014 and ends on March 31, 2015. By convention, fiscal years are denominated in the year they end.)
Of course, it wasn’t money from the bank account of the federal Conservatives that MP Gerald Keddy (left) was handing over. It was money from all of us, given on behalf of the Government of Canada. Keddy got in a spot of trouble for this when he did it in 2009. Keddy has handed out dozens of such cheques, worth millions, and is on tap to do it again Tuesday as part of a cross-country blitz of cheque handouts by Conservative MPs. The party logo may no longer be there but the political point is the same: Conservatives are your pals!.
Government MPs though, get some additional work next week, handing out cheques.
Handing out cheques, of course, is one of the chief duties of government MPs — opposition MPs are never given the opportunity to hand out a government cheque — and this is done typically during weeks when MPs are away from the House of Commons on a constituency week as they are next week.
Here’s the lineup, so far, for cheque handouts on Tuesday. This is Tuesday only. It is also not an unusually busy first day of a “constituency week”. This is what government MPs do when in their ridings. Since the May 2011 election, we’ve had 5,300 cheque handouts for billions of dollars. Most happen on so-caNlled “break weeks”: Continue reading On this Thanksgiving, we are grateful for Ottawa's handout!
Earlier today, the 300 or so members of Canada’s Parliamentary Press Gallery received the following notice in their e-mail inboxes:
CANADIAN COPYRIGHT LAWS
Ottawa, Ontario
October 9, 2014
The Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery is troubled by reports the government is considering an exception to Canadian copyright laws that would give parties free reign in using news content for political advertisements.
Journalists report facts and balance them with context to ensure their stories are fair. Political ads, particularly during election campaigns, are by nature one-sided. Giving political parties the ability to selectively use news stories runs counter to the neutrality we strive to provide to Canadians every day.
The proposal is not yet formal. We await further details.
Laura Payton President, Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery
Liberal leader Justin Trudeau (C) stands to vote against a government motion to participate in U.S.-led air strikes against Islamic State militants operating in Iraq, The motion passed 157 to 134. (REUTERS/Chris Wattie)
Justin Trudeau is facing the first serious test of his leadership of Canada’s Liberals in the wake of a parliamentary vote to send Canadian fighter jets to Iraq.
Trudeau and most Liberal MPs voted agains the idea.
But Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, a former justice minister and a globally recognized human rights defender, abstained from the vote, saying in a statement that his “principled absention”, as he called it, was a result of his recognition that military intervention against Islamic terrorists in Iraq and Syria is required but that the Harper government’s proposal lacked “clarity.”
The deficit/Surplus chart from the February budget. Bay Street economists are radically re-drawing this.
Last week in Brampton, Ont., Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered some good, if surprising news, about Canada’s fiscal situation. Here’s the transcript (my emphasis):
I want to draw your particular attention to the numbers, the one between the dotted lines there for last year, the year completed, 2013-2014. That has been our estimate until today. That has been our estimate of the deficit last year and coming up after that of course this year, 2014-15, we still have a small deficit and are projecting surpluses after that. Continue reading The funny thing about surpluses …
Some in Canada will think it perfectly appropriate that Canadian governments have paid little heed to Canada’s environment commissioner annual warnings that Canada just hasn’t been getting it done when it comes to climate change. Others will find this review depressing that we have not got it done on climate change.
Whatever your view: Given the fact that we’ve had five general elections since 2000 (2 won by the Liberals, three by the Conservatives) and no party has been punished for failing to meet their own targets, it’s pretty clear that our politicians have gotten the message about how much heed they should pay the Environment Commissioner: Continue reading For 15 years, voters and those they elect have ignored the Environment Commissioner
