Main Page – Page 27 – David Akin’s On The Hill

"These kids think tweets twit themselves"

The Washington Post's legendary Bob Woodward and Ben Bradlee star in the new ad for the Post's iPad app. Very clever.

Behind-the-scenes at the G20 Facility: No fake lake but there is a giant – I mean, giant – TV screen

The setup, security, and layout for this weekend's G20 summit in Seoul, Korea is very different than what was laid on by Toronto last summer:

New Af'stan mission; mob boss hit; and Remembrance Day

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New Afghanistan mission; mob boss hit; and Remembrance Day, Get a four-minute audio summary of what's topping the front pages of Thursday's papers across the country by clicking on the “AudioBoo” link (left).

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. Look in the top right corner of the “Boos” box.

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Harper on China, the U.S. and the coming currency war

Prime Minister Stephen Harper took two questions from Canadian reporters just ahead of the opening of the G20 summit here in Seoul, South Korea. One key issue here is the coming showdown between the U.S. and China over currency and global economic leadership. China is devaluing its currency which makes its exports cheaper. The U.S. Federal Reserve, earlier this week, pumped $600 billion into the U.S. market — something central bankers call quantitative easing but which most might call printing money. Whatever it's called, the U.S. action helped devalue the American dollar, making American exports cheaper. When countries artificially fool around with their exchange rates and push them down that, in turn, makes Canadian goods more expensive and can hurt our economy. So, we asked Harper, is China wrong and will you back the U.S.? Here's what he said:

On the question of China, let me answer it a little more broadly which is that I believe, we believe, the government of Canada believes, that a global economy as a smooth functioning open-trading global economy requires flexible exchange rates and to the extent that the buildup of structural imbalances in the global economy was part of the reason that we had the recession in the first place, I think the persistence of these imbalances is a problem in the long-term and I think these things have to be addressed.

If you look at the statements we've made in Toronto, some of the statements made by the finance ministers recently, I think all have acknowledged, broadly speaking, these things and they have to be addressed. So I think they do have to be addressed. Will they be addressed at this conference? I'm not so sure but I think we're getting a more frank discussion on some of these matters. They do have to be resolved.

Specifically, on the question of U.S. policy — I don't normally weigh in on the policy of another country. But those who are criticizing the policy of the Federal Reserve, I'm not sure what alternative they're suggesting. The United States economy has a very slow rate of growth. The United States economy also has interest rates that are virtually at zero. Nobody is urging the United States to engage in fiscal expansion. In fact, in Toronto, we all agreed at goals towards fiscal consolidation. So I think under the circumstances, the quantitative easing policy is in the short-term the only option available to the federal reserve and I'm not sure anyone else has provided any compelling argument as to what alternative policy they would pursue at least in the short-term.

Now: Even without quantitative easing one has observed that there has been a depreciation in the American dollar and an appreciation in other currencies including our own. That is not particularly surprising given the relative state of these economies. The problem, in my judgment, for Canada is not the depreciation of the American dollar it's the fact that Canadian currency is accepting a disproportionate burden of the appreciation becuase other currencies are not appreciating the way they should.

Canada top G8 country on commitment to aid, says NGO on eve of G20

On the eve of the G20 summit here in Seoul, Korea, the Washington-based Center for Global Development has released it latest “Commitment To Development” Index, a ranking of G20 countries its says shows how rich countries are living up to their potential to help developing and poor countries.

Canada ranks 9th overall, ahead of the U.S., the UK and all other G8 nations. It has a ranking of 5.5 on the index, an improvement of 0.6 compared to 2003. Sweden is tops with a ranking of 7.0 and South Korea is at the bottom with a ranking of 3.1.

Nonetheless, the CGD reports that there is room for Canada to improve: :

Canada ranks 9th overall in 2010. Canada’s main contributions to the development of poor countries come through its strong support of technological innovation and dissemination, its low barriers against developing country exports, and its policies that promote productive investment in poor countries. Canada also bears a large burden of refugees in humanitarian emergencies. But the Canadian government's positive impact is reduced by its aid to less poor and relatively less democratic governments, its relatively small contributions to international peacekeeping efforts, and its poor environmental record from the standpoint of developing countries.

Remembrance at Korea's War Memorial

For the first time since he's become prime minister, Stephen Harper will not be in Canada for Remembrance Day. He and other G20 leaders are in Seoul, Korea to talk about the world's economy. But, before the G20 summit begins, (at about 9 am Toronto time) Harper, along with UK PM David Cameron and Australian PM Julia Gillard will participate in a Remembrance Day ceremony at the War Memorial of Korea.

Korea's national war memorial is different than Canada's national war memorial in Ottawa in that it serves as a museum and a memorial and, in that sense, has both a commemorative objective as well as an educational one.

The PMO just provided reporters travelling with Harper (I'm one of them) with some background on the Korean memorial:

The War Memorial of Korea in Seoul, South Korea, serves as Korea’s war history museum, highlighting 5,000 years of military history and honouring the soldiers who served and sacrificed their lives during various conflicts which occurred in Korea, including the 1950-1953 Korean War.

Composed of both indoor and outdoor exhibition space, the Memorial follows Korea’s war history from prehistoric times to the modern period, and houses a stunning display of sculptures, artifacts and information. Six indoor exhibition rooms display over 9,000 exhibits under the following themes: Memorial Hall, War History, Korean War, Expeditionary Forces Room, Republic of Korea Armed Forces Room, and Large Equipment Room.

The Memorial’s impressive outdoor exhibit displays large military equipment used during the Korean War and monuments which depict the human impact of the most tragic war in South Korea’s history. A memorial pays tribute to fallen soldiers, accompanied by plaques which express gratitude towards the soldiers from participating UN countries, including Canada, who served during the Korean War.

For an interactive experience, the museum includes the Combat Experience Room where visitors can simulate life and death situations in night combat similar to those experienced by soldiers during the Korean War. Realistic effects such as audiovisual effects, lighting, vibration, and gunpowder make for a high-paced, vivid and more comprehensive experience. The War Memorial of Korea has been welcoming local and international visitors since it opened in 1994.

7-day Remembrance Vigil; Israel and Canada; and Where's Your Poppy?

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7-day Remembrance Vigil; Israel and Canada; and Where's Your Poppy? Get a four-minute audio summary of what's topping the front pages of Tuesday's papers across the country by clicking on the “AudioBoo” link (left).

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New Af'stan mission; Vancouver's popular mayor; Star Academie winners

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New Af'stan mission; Vancouver's popular mayor; Star Academie winners; get a four-minute audio summary of what's topping the front pages of Monday's papers across the country by clicking on the “AudioBoo” link (left).

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Welcome Back Khadr: The Conservative record on international prison transfers

My colleague Brian Lilley reports on some discord — a polite way of saying yelling and screaming — within the federal cabinet about Canada's acquiescence to the U.S. request that convicted Canadian terrorist Omar Khadr be allowed to serve most of his 8-year sentence in Canada. He'll serve at least a year in the U.S., likely at his current facility at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Station. (That's me, by the way, left, standing outside Camp 4, the facility Khadr was being held in when I toured the camp earlier this year.)

Khadr will have to apply to Canada's public safety minister, Vic Toews, for a transfer to Canada.

I wondered about the Conservative record on these applications.

The received wisdom in Ottawa's political and journalism circles is that since the Conservatives formed the government in early 2006, they planned to differentiate themselves from their predecessors — and demonstrate just how tough on crime they could be — by declining applications from Canadians sentenced to jail times in other countries who wanted to do their time in a Canadian facility. “If you do the crime there, you'll do the time there,” was the prevailing attitude.

But I've just crunched the stats, found in the most recent annual report international prison transfers, and it's not so clear that the Conservatives have, in fact, declined that many.

In other words: They appear to be as tough/soft on crime, in this respect at least, as many other governments.

Certainly, for the first three years of the Conservative administration the overall number of transferred from prisoners are down compared to the last three years of the previous Liberal administration. Meanwhile the new applications for transfer has remained fairly steady over the last five years (more on this below). That said: The Tory record on approved transfers for the last three years seems to be roughly comparable to the Liberal administrations of Jean Chretien in the 1990s. Here's the bar chart showing the total number of Canadians transferred from a jail in another country to a Canadian jail and the total of number of Canadians transferred from a U.S. jail to a Canadian jail:

Transfers to Canada Chart

It's difficult to say precisely, from the statistics Corrections Canada compiles, exactly how many applications for transfer were approved by the public safety minister in any of Stephen Harper's cabinets. (The fiscal years used for reporting purposes here end on March 31 and the Harper government was sworn in on January 26, 2006.) But let's say that the Harper government's tenure really began in fiscal 2007 (the year from April 1, 2006 to March 31, 2007). That means that, since taking office, Conservative public safety ministers (Vic Toews currently has that job but it has been Stockwell Day's and Peter Van Loan's) have approved the transfer of 359 Canadians jailed in the U.S. and abroad to do their time in Canada.

Corrections Canada reports that it can take between 6-9 months from the date an inmate applies for transfer to the decision by the minister to approve the transfer. Canada and the U.S. have four set “transfers” each year so, presumably, after the transfer is approved, the inmate waits until the next batch of inmates are transferred.

Also of some note: The efficiency with which applications for transfer are disposed of seems to have improved under the Conservatives.

Corrections Canada reports that, since 2004-05, there were between 262 and 274 applications each year from a Canadian jailed abroad to come home. Under the last two years of Liberal Paul Martin's government, nearly 350 applications were still outstanding at the end of the fiscal year and had to be carried over to the following year. The Conservatives, in their first year, have done much better clearing the paperwork with just 306 cases carried over to the next year in 2008-2009 and a low of 242 cases carried over in their first year of office.

Khadr's sentence; deadly Hallowe'en; cute Panda Pix

A1 Headlines and Political Daybook

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Khadr's sentence; a deadly Hallowe'en; and cute Panda pix; get a four-minute audio summary of what's topping the front pages of Monday's papers across the country by clicking on the “AudioBoo” link (left).

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