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Frank Rich, the unapologetic Democrat and influential columnist, figures that if it's Obama against McCain this fall, the G.O.P. is about to get thumped. McCain and the G.O.P., he argues, are simply too white. There is not, for example, a single black Republican in the Congress or Senate and black Republicans make up less than 4 per cent of G.O.P. primary voters. But it's not just Obama's color, it's his appeal – a result of his youth and rhetorical magic – to the so-called millennial generation. In Rich's view, that combination will be too much for Hillary and definitely too much for a “Grumpy Old White Guy” named McCain.

Almost certainly, there will soon be fewer U.S. airlines, as Delta, Northwest and many others, large and small, are driven to combine their businesses as a way to deal with high oil prices, a drooping U.S. dollar, and aggressive European competitors.

But the Europeans are not only trying to steal passengers from American carriers. Air France, Lufthansa, and British Airways will likely buy a piece of America's biggest airlines and may push U.S. lawmakers to lift limits that restrict foreign control to 25 per cent.

BusinessWeek reporter Dean Foust fingers cash-rich Air France as the most likely foreigner now looking at American opportunities. He thinks Air France will join in any Delta-Northwest combination; Lufthansa will want to be part of a United-Continental combination and British Airways could partner up with American Airlines or a regional carrier. Meanwhile, in Canada, ACE Aviation Holdings Inc., which owns Air Canada, is entertaining offers for that airline, believing that its stock market value does not reflect the value of the business. Canada, too, restricts foreign ownership of Air Canada to 25 per cent.

Richard Corliss indicts Oscar, arguing that the Academy Awards are lousy at picking what is best about film and not always that great even picking commercial hits. Corliss blames Oscar's 5,800 voters — the Academy membership — who, he says, are insular and aging, live mostly in Los Angeles, and seem to respond all too easily to studio politicking and lobbying. Corliss lists Oscar's biggest failures: Citizen Kane was nearly shut out (winning only best screenplay); no foreign film has ever won best picture; and Martin Scorsese took forever to win his first. For the millions who will watch Oscars awaded later this month, this is a great pre-program primer.

I think this info is already out there, but, in case it isn't …

Just had a chance to review a “House Card” prepared in the fall of 2006 for then-Foreign Affairs Minister MacKay but which was released to me under an Access to Information request more than a year later on Dec. 7, 2007. House Cards are 1-2 page briefing notes prepared by departmental staff each day on a 'hot' issue that bureaucrats believe the minister may be forced to talk about in the House of Commons during Question Period or in response to a question from a reporter. These cards relate to evacuation of Canadian citizens from Lebanon during the Israel-Lebanon war of 2006:

• What were the costs for the emergency evacuation of Canadian Citizens from Lebanon in the summer of 2006? From July 16 to August 15,2006, the GoC evacuated 14,982 people from Lebanon. At present, the Department estimates its total cost of the evacuation to be approximately $66 million.
• Additional costs of approximately $10 million were incurred by DND, PSEPC, CIC, CBSA, and the RCMP. The cost per person evacuated is approximately $4,400. The Government was fully aware that there would be significant costs associated with an evacuation effort of this magnitude. However, getting Canadians out of harm's way was a priority and it was the right thing to do. This was a tremendously successful effort accomplished under difficult circumstances. Will there be costs associated with the evacuation of Canadian citizens by other countries?.
• In the spirit of cooperation, 943 Canadians were evacuated by other countries and Canada evacuated 762 indivuduals from 28 countries. No costs are expected following the evacuation of Canadians by other countries nor will Canada charge for the use of available capacity to assist in the evacuation of other nationals.
• The costs to the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada are as follows:
• transportation (air planeslships charter) $57.0 million
• travel public servants 4.3 million
• salaries, wages, overtime 2.3 million
• rental of vehicles and other 0.6 million
• protection services 0.2 million
• health and welfare services 0.2 million
• contracted services 0.2 million
• telecommunications and other services 0.1 million
• Passport Canada expenses 0.1 million
• miscellaneous expenses 0.8 million

Earlier this year, Natural Resources Canada hired Ipsos-Reid to go find out how Canadians felt about nuclear energy, particularly in the context of finding a source of power that doesn't produce the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. The results, considering that Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn and many other Conservatives are unabashed fans of nuclear power, are not surprising:

“The findings of this research indicate some openness to the idea of nuclear energy as a part of addressing air quality issues. Half of Canadians agree that if we are to have cleaner air, we must increase the use of nuclear power in Canada, compared to one in three who disagree. The same proportion agree with the proposition that if we are to have reduced greenhouse gasses, we must increase the use of nuclear power in Canada, compared to one in three who disagree. Only in Quebec do more respondents disagree than agree with these two statements. In response to a specific scenario (the extraction of oil from Canada’s oil sands which requires a significant expenditure of energy that releases greenhouse gasses), two in three Canadians indicate that they would approve using nuclear power to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that result from the extraction of oil in the oil sands.”

This poll was conducted Feb. 16 to Feb. 22, 2007. The pollster says it surveyed 2,001 Canadians and that its results are accurate to within 2.2 percentage points.

For a long time in the Democratic race, there was a feeling that, if the goal was taking the White House back from the Republicans, then Hillary Clinton was the best candidate to do that. Not any more. Pollster John Zogby says “Obama would defeat both McCain and Huckabee, while Clinton would lose to McCain and only defeat Huckabee by a small margin.”

So, if a presidential race were held today, here's the pairings and the results:

McCain: 42% beats Clinton: 37%

Obama: 47% beats McCain: 36%

Clinton: 40% beats Huckabee: 37%

Obama: 49% beats Huckabee: 34%

Zogby surveyed 7,468 “likely voters” in an online poll conducted Feb. 8-11. The pollster says the results have a margin of error of +/- 1.2 per centage points.

While the Conservatives were throwing mud at the Liberals over their fundraising practices, the Liberals and NDP were throwing a little mud themselves at the Tories. The Tories last night held a fundraiser for their candidate in Ottawa Centre. Here’s the pitch (I have put some parts in bold as they’d be the key things to zero in on here):

Friends and Colleagues:

I have the honour and pleasure of hosting a small Reception and Dinner with the Honourable Jim Flaherty, M.P. on Tuesday, February 12th, 2008 from 6-8 pm at the Rideau Club. [Ed note: The Ottawa Rideau Club is a swanky private club that costs thousands to join and counts many of the country’s movers and shakers among its members. ]

Minister Flaherty has generously given us his time to discuss directly the Government’s outlook on our economy, its plans for our financial future and the fiscal direction the Government will be taking over the course of its mandate.  As you are aware, this is a very busy time for the Minister as Budget Day approaches so his offer to join with us is even that much more appreciated.   

As you are aware, we are constantly facing the possibility of a general election in a minority government.  It is imperative we prepare for this election immediately and to accomplish that,     I need your financial support. Your attendance at this event will help us achieve our financial targets for the next campaign.  

I look forward to seeing you at the Jim Flaherty event and hearing from you over the course of the next few days. Thank you, in advance, for your support.

Sincerely,

Brian McGarry

Conservative Party of Canada

Candidate – Ottawa Centre

O  YES, I WILL ATTEND THE MINISTER FLAHERTY RECEPTION AND DINNER 

Please call Michael McNeil to reserve your ticket(s) @ $500.00 each.

I asked Minister Flaherty on his way into the House if the Conservatives were, in fact, “selling access” to him, something the Conservatives in opposition often criticized the Liberals for doing with their Laurier Club events. Flaherty said that such a suggestion was “complete nonsense” and that he does hundreds of these a year.

Still, the promo pitch did promise those who ponied up $500 the chance to hear from the guy who is working ont the federal budget, “the Government’s outlook on our economy [and] its plans for our financial future” so we asked the NDP’s Pat Martin what he thought about it:

“Well so much for taking big money out of politics.  I thought the whole idea was you weren't supposed to be able to buy access just because you had a big enough bank roll.  I mean that's good old fashioned tollgating and I find them both offensive.  SO you've got both the Liberals and the Tories in the weeks leading to a federal election campaign violating both the spirit and the letter of the law in terms of election financing.”

Liberal finance critic John McCallum was pretty critical, too:

Well I think the idea that a Finance Minister just 10 days or so before his budget should ask people to come and listen to his views on his own budget for $500 a person, I think that is highly inappropriate because essentially what he's doing is selling access.  And we don't know what he said, we don't know what they said, but clearly the people paying $500 a person, why don't they get a little bit of tidbit, of inside information from the Finance Minister himself.  So I think it was entirely inappropriate.

And finally, Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre and I had a discussion about this:

AKIN:   So now you have some objections with the Liberal fundraiser tonight.

POILIEVRE:  That's right.

AKIN:   Can you explain why?

POILIEVRE:  Well, the idea that politicians could auction themselves off, that is allow people to pay them for the privilege of eating in their company or playing tennis together really means that all the politicians in this place are for sale.

AKIN:   Last night you auctioned off Jim Flaherty, the Finance Minister, in the Rideau Club, access to the Finance Minister two weeks before —

POILIEVRE:  How much?

AKIN:   Five hundred bucks.

POILIEVRE:  That's right and that's —

AKIN:  You could only get in if you paid 500 bucks.  Isn't that selling access?

POILIEVRE:  That's under the thousand — the $1,100 donation limit in the law.

AKIN:  Politicians still for sale.

POILIEVRE:  Under —

AKIN:   Still for sale. Finance Minister!

POILIEVRE:  Whenever you're ready for me to answer, I'm ready to go.

AKIN:   Go ahead.

POILIEVRE:  I'm very proud that Jim Flaherty held a fundraiser that followed the law.  The Liberal Party did not follow the law with its fundraiser.  That is the difference.  We follow the law.  They're breaking the law.

AKIN:   But doesn’t it violate the spirit of the Accountability Act?  You've been on about the spirit of the Act and here Jim Flaherty is selling access.  That's breaking the spirit.  You're selling access to, of all people, the Finance Minister two weeks before the budget.

POILIEVRE:  You are the finance journalist for CTV, right?

AKIN::   Mm hm. 

POILIEVRE:  Is 1,100 bigger than 500?

AKIN:   Yeah, sure.

POILIEVRE:  Okay, that's right.  So he's six hundred dollars —

AKIN:   I can't afford either!

POILIEVRE:  — less than the limit.  And Jim Flaherty has held a perfectly legal fundraiser, the kind of which is permitted under the law and no one contests that.  However, Liberals have said they will take corporate money, lobbyists' money.  They will take any kind of money and as much as you want to give.  And they're prepared to keep it a secret.  That's what their fundraiser tonight pledges to do.  It's a violation of the law.  They should cancel the fundraiser altogether, apologize and explain to the Chief Elector Officer what it is they were trying to get away with here.

The federal Liberal party changed the rules on a fundraiser being held in Ottawa tonight. Originally, the Liberals were going to auction off things like a round of golf with former PM Paul Martin or lunch with Michael Ignatieff. The Liberal flyer advertising the event  with the “sky being the limit” and encouraging corporations and unions to bid as the purchase of an auctioned item was not going to be considered by the Liberals as a political donation. 

The Conservatives and others howled that the Liberals were trying to get around election finance laws that prevent donations from corporations or unions and limit individual donations to $1,100 a year. Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe got a good zinger in by deftly linking in the Liberal sponsorshop scandal: “Je pense qu'ils sont passés de Groupe Action à Group Auction!”

Well, a purchase of those auction items will count as political donations, the Liberals have decided. Here’s Liberal spokesperson Elizabeth Whiting on the reasoning behind the change:

We didn’t believe that this fundraising activity contravene the Canada Elections Act.  We chose this morning to modify the auction rules to avoid any perception of wrongdoing or impropriety.  Only bids from individuals were to be accepted, and only to their maximum contributions.

In addition, it was our intention that, pending clarification from Elections Canada, proceeds from the auction would be put aside and would be returned or donated to a local charity should the auction be found to contravene the Canada Elections Act.

We have since gotten confirmation from Elections Canada that they consider donations of this kind in an auction to be contributions for the purposes of the Canada Elections Act. 

The Liberal Party of Canada respects the role of Elections Canada in applying and enforcing the Canada Elections Act and will, of course, follow all regulations.

This is in contrast to the Conservative Party of Canada who, when challenged by Elections Canada on their election spending practices, publicly smeared the Chief Electoral Officer and took the regulatory body to court.

Meanwhile, Whiting’s counterpart at the Conservative Party, Ryan Sparrow, quickly sent around this “Reality Check” trying to make the point that the Liberals should have know all along how auction items ought to be treated:

Strangely, while Liberals are holding their fundraising auction tonight in Ottawa, their own Deputy Leader previously said that auctions were indeed covered by donation limits!:

The facts:

• Michael Ignatieff Campaign Previously: “Please note that individuals can donate a maximum of $5400 to all leadership campaigns combined.  In additional, an individual can donate an additional $5400 to the Liberal Party of Canada or a riding association.  To qualify, bids must not exceed $5400 or any other amount that would disqualify an individual’s donation to the Michael Ignatieff Campaign.” (http://auction.michaelignatieff.ca/, August 28, 2006)
• Liberal Party Today: “The sky is the limit during this auction! A successful bid is not a political  contribution and is not eligible for a receipt for income tax purposes. Your successful bid will not affect your annual political contribution limit of $1100. As such, individuals, partnerships, corporations, and associations are free to bid as high as they want.” (Liberal Party Flyer for Eight Riding Cocktail to be held in Ottawa, February 13, 2008)
• Among the items up for auction tonight is lunch with none other than Michael Ignatieff
• Why would Michael Ignatieff participate in an event that he obviously knows was violating election financing rules?

And, the NDP’s Pat Martin, knowing a juicy target when he sees one, chimed in as well:

Well if they're willing to play by the rules, we have very little criticism.  That doesn't explain the fact that we no sooner plug one loophole than the Liberals are trying to find another.  I mean, they were clearly contemplating ways to circumvent the election financing laws and if we hadn't caught them, presumably that's what they'd be doing.  So you know, why do they only comply with the law when they get caught?  And how many of these, how many other fundraisers like this are going around, around the country that we don't know about. 

 

Garth Turner, the MP for the Ontario riding of Halton, was elected to the House of Commons as a Conservative, was turfed from that caucus, sat as an independent, and is now a member of the Liberal caucus. As a Liberal, Turner was behind closed doors (with BlackBerrys ordered shut off) last night as that group weighed their options on Afghanistan. Turner has an illuminating post at his blog about the differences between what life is like at a Liberal caucus and what life is like across the hall in the Conservative caucus room:

Every voice was heard spontaneously within this national Liberal caucus. To speak, one needed only raise a hand. In the Conservative caucus, advance permission to rise must be granted in advance by a subordinate caucus group. In this caucus, the leader is among the first to enter and the last to leave. In the Conservative caucus, Stephen Harper makes an entrance and MPs must stand. In this caucus, policy is formulated, changed, vetted by the representatives of the people. In the Harper caucus, elected people are told, often by PMO staff, what they will do, say, support and believe.