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Just out from Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall:

Statement from Premier Wall:

I am deeply troubled by Mr. Ignatieff’s assertion that he may choose to overturn the democratic result of the federal election.

While I understand that the scenario spelled out by Mr. Ignatieff is within the conventions of our Parliamentary tradition, the last thing our country and our still fragile economic recovery need right now is a period of instability caused by a constitutional dispute over who should be the government.

Morever, Canada is poised to solidify its position as an economic leader in a world that needs the food security and the energy security we can provide.  How can we take full advantage of this reality if we are distracted by interminable national political machinations and constitutional wrangling?

The party that wins the most seats on May 2 should be recognized as the government, period.  If that were to be the Liberals, I would join with other Canadians in accepting this result and recognizing Mr. Ignatieff as our next Prime Minister.  However, if the Conservatives win the most seats but come up short of a majority, I would expect Mr. Ignatieff and his party to accept that result.

The notion that Mr. Ignatieff may choose to not recognize the democratic result of the election and may try to seize power with the support of the other parties, including a party dedicated to the breakup of Canada, is offensive to me and I believe, to most fair-minded Canadians. Voters should choose the government, not separatist MPs.

Ironically, this election was caused by a confidence vote over “contempt for Parliament.”  I can think of no greater contempt for Parliament or for Canadian voters than the spectre of a party leader refusing to recognize the democratic outcome of the election.

Healthcare

• Conservative Party Press Release: Harper to Fund Brain Research
• CMA Press Release: Federal leaders must respond to Canada Health Act attack
• Biography of Dr. Jeff Turnbull, president, Canadian Medical Association [PDF]

Election Issues

• David Coletto of Abacus Data is Sun News Network's pollster. Find his latest polls here.
• Find the latest stories from our reporters travelling with the leaders' campaigns here.

Inflation

• Statistics Canada: Latest Release from the Consumer Price Index
• Inflation rate shoots up as gas, food prices jump

Public Transit and Commuting

• Statistics Canada: Commuting Patterns and Places of Work of Canadians, 2006 Census: Highlights
• Federation of Canadian Municipalities: MUNICIPALITIES´ #CUTMYCOMMUTE CAMPAIGN CHALLENGES ALL PARTIES TO FIX GRIDLOCK
• Vancouver Translink: Notice to users of spring service changes beginning April 18

Refugee fights deportation

• Career criminal fights deportation

Brief Word:

• Councillors push to lift road hockey ban

Sun News Network will debut Monday afternoon at 1630 and, as the host of one of the network's prime-time shows (The Daily Brief airing M-F 1800 ET) on that network, I'm surprised to read that, though we've not yet aired a single minute, we are going to disappoint Antonia Maioni, a professor at McGill University, who told my former colleague Kim Covert: “I don’t think it’s going to actually raise the level of civilized debate.”

Really?

How's this for civilized debate? This evening, I tweeted a promotional video of our daytime news anchor team which features some of the excellent journalists — many of them female — who you will see on the network. The promo video was titled: “Meet the Sun News hard news team.”

Here's the “civilized debate” coming from those who've never ever seen a single minute of our programming:

David Evans, who says he fixes “PCs, homes, and psyches” from London, Ont. tweeted:

“And looks has nothing to do with it. What dogs.”

Nice.

Here's Stuart Trew, the trade campaigner with the Council of Canadians:

Wow. The Council of Canadians. Maude Barlow's group. Even if I was mistaken that the Council of Canadians stood for advancing the cause of social justice in Canada and around the world, I'm certain that those who campaign on its behalf aren't supposed to be laughing at journalists — just because they are women.

Here's Jean Proulx, an aide to Liberal MP Marc Garneau:

@davidakin Well that looks about as appalling as I expected, Hope you're well compensated Mr. Aiken #elxn41 #FoxNewsNorth #lipgloss #garbage

I'll forgive the spelling mistake — I realize how taxing it can be to get all of four letters in a row correctly to spell A-K-I-N — but, really, are those small-l liberal ideals? I thought small-l liberals were about freedom of expression. That more voices were always better than fewer voices. The arrogance of Proulx and Maioni is precisely what animates many of those who thought it a good idea to start up this kind of network.

And I am further saddened to observe that I have watched with anger and disappointment over the years as my friends  Krista Erickson (while she was at CBC), Susan Delacourt, Gloria Galloway, Jennifer Ditchburn and many other female journalists of the Parliamentary Press Gallery were singled out — precisely becuase they were female — for a unique kind of vicious insults from right-wing “haters” in the blogosphere, on Twitter and elsewhere — simply for their journalism. I suppose I was naive to believe that such mysogny and arrogance did not exist at the other end of the political spectrum.

Antonia: How am I doing now for civilized debate?

 

Statement from Elections Canada:

OTTAWA, April 15, 2011 – The Special Voting Rules of the Canada Elections Act provide for the use of the special ballot to assist electors in a range of situations. Certain electors, including members of the Canadian Forces serving abroad and electors away from their ridings during a federal election (eg. snowbirds), can vote only by special ballot. The special ballot is also available to all electors who wish to vote by mail or at the local Elections Canada office. Because the rules governing the use of the special ballot are different from those for standard voting methods, Elections Canada generally uses the special ballot outside the local Elections Canada office in defmed circumstances to assist electors who face barriers to voting, such as electors in acute care hospitals or in isolated work camps in locations like Fort McMurray in northern Alberta.

“Initiatives of this nature are expected to be planned well ahead of the election,” said Chief Electoral Officer of Canada Marc Mayrand. “Parties are consulted, to avoid any confusion and to give them an opportunity to raise any possible concerns so that these may be considered and, where appropriate, addressed prior to conducting such initiatives.”

In light of the focus on youth and student electoral participation at the 41 st general election, and on efforts to increase voter interest and turnout among this group, a well-intentioned returning officer undertook a special initiative to create an opportunity for students at the University of Guelph to vote by special ballot. Once Elections Canada officials were made aware of the local initiative in Guelph, the returning officer was instructed not to engage in any further activities of a similar nature. All returning officers have received this instruction.

While the initiative at the University of Guelph was not pre-authorized by the Chief Electoral Officer, the Canada Elections Act provides that electors may apply for and vote by special ballot. A special ballot coordinator, appointed by the local returning officer, oversaw the activities at the University of Guelph. All information at our disposal indicates that the votes were cast in a manner that respects the Canada Elections Act and are valid.

–

UPDATE: Shortly after Elections Canada issued this statement, the Conservative Party issued the following:

Statement by the Conservative Campaign

We welcome the statement by Elections Canada concerning voting on campuses and in the electoral district of Guelph.

As we observed this morning, voting is a democratic right and a fair election process is an equally important democratic right.

While the Elections Canada statement confirms that what happened in Guelph lacked proper authorization, we applaud the decision not to disenfranchise University of Guelph students because of errors by the local Returning Officer. These student voters should not suffer because of mistakes by the local election officials.

At the same time, we are pleased that the rules for special ballotting have been clarified and reconfirmed. The same rules should apply everywhere and be applied consistently across the country.

We urge all Canadians to vote, whether by special ballot, at advance polls, or on May 2.

 

Get the back story to this issue here.

Economist Joseph Stiglitz argues that America's growing inequality looks a lot like the kind of inequality that is one of the root causes of the Arab Spring uprisings. Some excerpts:

Economists long ago tried to justify the vast inequalities that seemed so troubling in the mid-19th century—inequalities that are but a pale shadow of what we are seeing in America today. The justification they came up with was called “marginal-productivity theory.” In a nutshell, this theory associated higher incomes with higher productivity and a greater contribution to society. It is a theory that has always been cherished by the rich. Evidence for its validity, however, remains thin . . .

… what happens when a society’s wealth distribution becomes lopsided. The more divided a society becomes in terms of wealth, the more reluctant the wealthy become to spend money on common needs. The rich don’t need to rely on government for parks or education or medical care or personal security—they can buy all these things for themselves. In the process, they become more distant from ordinary people, losing whatever empathy they may once have had. They also worry about strong government—one that could use its powers to adjust the balance, take some of their wealth, and invest it for the common good. The top 1 percent may complain about the kind of government we have in America, but in truth they like it just fine: too gridlocked to re-distribute, too divided toa do anything but lower taxes . . .

Virtually all U.S. senators, and most of the representatives in the House, are members of the top 1 percent when they arrive, are kept in office by money from the top 1 percent, and know that if they serve the top 1 percent well they will be rewarded by the top 1 percent when they leave office . . .

When you look at the sheer volume of wealth controlled by the top 1 percent in this country, it’s tempting to see our growing inequality as a quintessentially American achievement—we started way behind the pack, but now we’re doing inequality on a world-class level . . .

The rules of economic globalization are likewise designed to benefit the rich: they encourage competition among countries for business, which drives down taxes on corporations, weakens health and environmental protections, and undermines what used to be viewed as the “core” labor rights, which include the right to collective bargaining. Imagine what the world might look like if the rules were designed instead to encourage competition among countries for workers. Governments would compete in providing economic security, low taxes on ordinary wage earners, good education, and a clean environment—things workers care about.

With much ado about the bubble Stephen Harper is travelling around in — kicking would-be rally attendees out and so on — there is a report that some Liberal supporters were angry that they could not get into a Michael Ignatieff event in Quebec City.

The Liberal war room provides this explanation this morning:

We were delighted to have supporters greet the arrival of our tour bus. We were meeting local social advocacy groups in their very small office space. Media were pooled (and we held a scrum outdoors after the event for all) and due to very tight space constraints, we couldn't bring our supporters inside their offices. This was not a rally or a town hall event.

On Sunday, in London, Ont., people who were signed up to attend a Conservative rally with

Harper were forcibly removed, apparently because of a perceived association with another party:

About 30 minutes after arriving and signing in, the two girls were asked by a man to follow him out of the rally, Aslam said. Though confused, they complied.

In a back room, Aslam said he ripped off their name tags, tore them up and ordered them out.

“We were confused. He said, 'We know you guys have ties to the Liberal party through Facebook'. He said … 'You are no longer welcome here.'”

Another attendee, Ali Aref Hamadi, said he was asked by an organizer to leave the same rally because of an NDP bumper sticker on his vehicle.

Dimitri Soudas, the prime minister's chief spokesman, apologized, telling the London Free Press, “”I will personally apologize to them,” he said. “We should be encouraging young people to get involved in politics.” But the next day in Guelph, Ont., it happened again. Conservative campaign organizers prevented students from entering the Harper rally even though they had pre-registered. Their offence this time? They had participated in a “Get Out the Vote” demonstration to encourage young people to pay attention to politics and vote.

Several of the peaceful mob participants had registered to attend the Harper event, but they were turned away by RCMP officers. Cara Dawson and Izzy Hirji were among those asked to leave the venue.

A Conservative Party of Canada official approached them and indicated they were not welcome because of their involvement in an action that was perceived as a protest by party insiders. Dawson and Hirji tried to explain that it was not a protest and that they had registered to attend the campaign event, but the official could not be persuaded.

RCMP Cpl. Tony Fowler of the “O” Division/VIP Security Section told the students the event was by invitation only and they would have to leave. Outside the venue, Hirji said because he and Dawson had exercised their democratic right to express themselves in a peaceful fashion, they were barred from entry. That was unfair and disheartening, they said.

“All I want to do is hear all of the political platforms of the various parties,” said Hirji. “So, why am I not allowed to attend.”

Last week in Halifax, the Harper campaign prevented a man who is an advocate for homeless veterans from attending a Harper rally.

 

The NDP Leader's tour travelled from Halifax to home base in Ottawa this evening to conclude Week 1 of the federal election campaign and, while in the air, leader Jack Layton picked up the guitar and led anyone interested in a sing-a-long. He's done this before on election campaigns and it's a nice — I daresay, — welcome diversion. Here's a a bit of video shot by Sun Media's reporter with the NDP campaign Kristy Kirkup. It's Layton channelling Stan Rodgers .. [Click on the pic below to start the video file].

I write in the paper's today:

The majorities of conservative prime ministers Macdonald, Borden, Bennett, Diefenbaker and Mulroney were transformative ones for the country. If Harper is to take his place among those Conservative leaders, what legacy will he strive for? Does he seek to match any of their accomplishments?

And yet, the Conservative campaign does not seem to understand the significance of the stakes for which they themselves say they are playing.

The campaign script so far has been an uninspiring pablum of items from their stillborn federal budget. One of the budget highlights Harper singled out last week called attention to a tax credit to businesses to cover the extra costs of his own employment insurance premium hike. A tax credit for his tax hike. Thanks. That ought to go down in history.

Read the full column

I spent nine wonderful years at the University of Guelph in the 1980s meandering my way towards a four-year degree. The student newspaper there was one of the things that distracted me from my studies and thank heavens  it did because I'm sure that experience, more than the history degree I earned, got me my first job as a reporter.

Guelph in my day was a real “leftie” school. (Is it still? In the 80s, Guelph and Trent were the real radicals at CFS conferences while Queen's, Toronto, and Western were the buttoned-down establishment types) U of Guelph was so left that we had two communist clubs on campus — the Marxist-Leninists (the M-Ls) and the Maoists. (Or was it Trotskyites? I can' t remember. Too many nights here.) In any event: People talked a lot about politics. Which is a good thing when you're young. One guy who was at Guelph while I was there is now in the House of Commons. The woman I ran against for student government president back in the 80s (and who trounced me cuz she was a much better candidate) is now on Toronto City Council. And I'm pretty sure Guelph's current mayor and I were students at about the same time.

So now we're into a federal election. And the whole country should be talking about politics.

But you know what? Too many young people not only don't want to talk about politics, they don't want to even vote.

Back at the U of Goo, some students have put together this video (left) to do something about that. They want to get out the vote.

I largely approve of this video. Always great to see Johnston Green and U of Goo energy. But I got one tiny beef with the vid: The link to the CBC Compass poll. Our reporters have questioned the tool's abilities and so have those who hang out at rabble.ca. But even if the tool worked fine you should toss things like that in the dustbin. If you need a software tool to tell you where you are on the political spectrum, then our democracy is in big trouble.

Politics is about people. You need to feel it. Smell it. If you're a 20-year-old at college, you need to stay up late in all-nite coffee shops and argue about it. Have your world challenged by people who grew up somewhere where you didn't. Then go see your grandmother and ask her what's up. Write up what you've learned. Be honest with yourself about what you don't know. Then tell your friends what you do, in fact, know. Don't be a bully. But be confident. Then volunteer. Read more. Challenge the media. Challenge politicians. Challenge your professors.  Then you go and vote.

Cool video.

Note: The music for this video is “Dog Days Are Over” from the album Lungs by Florence and the Machine. Here's the iTunes link if you want to buy the single.