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Shake and quake; a confused spy chief; and tennis history: Thursday's A1 headlines and political daybook

Shake and quake; Canada's confused spy chief; and a tennis match you won't believe: Listen to my four-minute audio roundup of what's on the front pages of the country's newspapers plus highlights from Thursday's political 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.

Hey buddy — wanna buy a car company? Canada to sell Chrysler

This 'order-in-council' has just popped up at the Privy Council's office Web site:

Whereas the Governor in Council, pursuant to subsection 91(6) of the Financial Administration Act, is satisfied that Canada CH Investment Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Canada Development Investment Corporation, is empowered to undertake the transaction referred to in this Order;

Therefore, Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Finance and the Treasury Board, pursuant to paragraph 91(3)(b) of the Financial Administration Act, hereby authorizes Canada CH Investment Corporation to sell or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of its assets, being its shares in Chrysler Group LLC or its successors.

IT's OIC 2010-0808 if you're looking for your copy.

Harper's "danger" warning; billions for jails; new Oilers coach: Wednesday's A1 headlines and political daybook

Harper on edge over global economy; billions for jails; and the Oilers get a new coach: Listen to my four-minute audio roundup of what's on the front pages of the country's newspapers plus highlights from Wednesday's political daybook by clicking on the link below.

The Interview with Harper: We talk about China, the Arctic and foreign policy

Ahead of the G8 and G20 summits which he's hosting, Prime Minister Stephen Harper did four (so far as I know) media interviews. ON Monday of this week, he spoke to Reuters' David Ljunggren, to Theo Argitis for Bloomberg Television, to Joel-Denis Bellavance of La Presse and to me.

The transcript of my interview is online here.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is scared that “next-to-non existent” job creation and growth in Canada's most important trading partners threatens Canada's otherwise robust economic recovery.

In an exclusive interview with QMI Agency, as he prepares to host this weekend's G8 and G20 summits, Harper voiced his fears about debt crises in Europe and an American economy that could take years to recover.

“This is going to remain a very delicate, a very dangerous situation,” Harper said.

“I think what Canadians really need to understand – I think they do but let me punch it home – how fragile the global recovery really is. And Canada really is an exception where we have strong growth and strong job creation …

Read the full story:

And we squeezed one more story out of that interview:

When Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Chinese President Hu Jintao meet here in Ottawa Thursday, one of them will be able to talk about the new Arctic icebreaker his country will launch in a couple of years.
It won’t be Harper.
…
China is playing for keeps when it comes to vast natural resources that lie under the Arctic Ocean. A top Chinese admiral said earlier this year that, by his reasoning, because one-fifth of the world’s population lives in China, China was entitled to one-fifth of the resources that lie in the Arctic’s international waters.
“The Arctic belongs to all the people around the world as no nation has sovereignty over it,” Rear Admiral Yin Zhuo said in the spring. “China must play an indispensable role in Arctic exploration as we have one-fifth of the world's population.”

Read the full story:

Death on the front lines; sizing up G20 protests; and the HST PR battle: Tuesday's A1 headlines and daybook

Death on the front lines – in Afghanistan and in Edmonton; sizing up G20 protests; and the HST PR battle: Listen to my four-minute audio roundup of what's on the front pages of the country's newspapers plus highlights from Tuesday's political daybook by clicking on the link below.

Mr. President? I've got Prime Minister Harper on line 1 …

Like any good host, Prime Minister Stephen Harper wants to make sure the guests he's hosting in Huntsville, Ont. and in Toronto this weekend know what's expected of them and what kind of small talk they'll be expected to engage in. So, in the last couple of weeks, Harper's either travelled to meet those guests — France's Nicolas Sarkozy and the UK's David Cameron — or rung them up to have a chat about the upcoming G8 and G20 summits.

Today, Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama got on the phone. The helpful folks in his office provided the following account of the phone call:

The two leaders discussed the upcoming G-8 and G-20 summits.

President Obama welcomed Prime Minister Harper’s call for accountability at the G-8, and looked forward to a productive discussion on Iran and other global security challenges.

On the G-20, Prime Minister Harper and President Obama agreed with the need for G-20 countries to follow through on their stimulus plans, while also presenting credible plans on fiscal consolidation. Both leaders welcomed China’s recent action on its exchange rate.

Prime Minister Harper and President Obama agreed with the need to focus on reforms to bank capital levels and leverage ratios in order to prevent another crisis.

Prime Minister Harper ended the call by telling President Obama that he looked forward to welcoming him to Muskoka and Toronto at the end of the week.

China's currency pledge; Montreal traffic chaos and Justin Bieber!: Monday's A1 headlines and political daybook

China's currency pledge; traffic chaos in Montreal; and Justin Bieber!: Listen to my four-minute audio roundup of what's on the front pages of the country's newspapers plus highlights from Monday's political daybook by clicking on the link below.

Our readers write: And they have a dim view of us and their neighbours …

Quebecor — my corporate parent for all of one week now — owns a heckuva lot of papers (you can check out the variety of papers here). Earlier today, an editor at one of those papers received the following e-mail from a reader. I pass it along without comment:

After reading your paper I thought you might have an opening for a proof-reader, but since half of this town can't read anyway I guess spelling, grammar or even an interesting story are not all that important.

This, in our business, is the kind of letter, incidentally, that keeps us going. Thank you, H.P.!

Giorno stays in PMO; Dugas, Froggatt, Reid, Penner hang it up

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s top aide is telling friends and colleagues to gird themselves for what could be a tough political season next fall, one that could include a general election.

Guy Giorno, Harper’s notoriously media-shy chief of staff, has told friends he’ll stay as chief of staff at least until next winter, Sun Media has learned.

There had been speculation that Giorno, already with two years in the post and a young family, might return to his law firm.

Several other top Conservative aides, however, moved on last week, knowing that if they don’t go now they’ll be expected to put on their game faces in case the government is defeated in the fall . . . They include PMO staffers Darrel Reid, Dave Penner, Jason Plotz and key ministerial staffer Chris Froggatt and Dan Dugas . . .[Read the rest]

Also: See former PMO staffer Keith Beardsley's post on the same issue.

Air India; Zoo deaths; and a hero in Winnipeg: Friday's A1 headlines and political daybook

Air India; zoo deaths and a hero in Winnipeg: Listen to my four-minute audio roundup of what's on the front pages of the country's newspapers plus highlights from Friday's political daybook by clicking on the link below.