Category: Politics

Who has the most ministers? Harper or Mulroney?

With the elevation Monday of MP Erin O’Toole into Stephen Harper’s cabinet, where O’Toole will serve as the minister for veterans affairs, the size of Harper’s current ministry is now at 40 members. A “ministry” is made up of all of those MPs who are, to use the Parliamentary language, styled as Ministers or as Ministers of State. Each of these individuals gets a significant salary boost, a car, a driver, and some extra political staff.

A ministry of 40 is pretty big. Some would say you could cut the size in half and no one would notice. Some complain about such a bloated cabinet. In fact, for a time yesterday, I thought that Harper — the leader of what some have been sold as the “Small-government Government” — had actually set the all-time record for the size of a ministry.

Why did I (and some others) come to that conclusion? Well, we did what we usually do when we need some numbers for historical perspective looked it up at the Parliamentary Web Site — parl.gc.ca — where you can find a page that lists “Size of Ministries”, a page compiled by the smart folks at the Library of Parliament, that goes all the way back to Macdonald.

If you look at that page, you’ll see that both Brian Mulroney and Paul Martin had ministries of 39 individuals. With Harper hitting 40 ministers, it was easy enough to say Harper was now the proud owner of the biggest minister of all time.

Not so fast, a friend e-mailed me.  Continue reading Who has the most ministers? Harper or Mulroney?

Pop Star to Liberals: Do as I say (please) not as I do

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Juno Award-winner Chantal Kreviazuk prior to her May 23, 2013 appearance at Lindsay’s Academy Theatre. (LISA GERVAIS/The Lindsay Post)

All federal parties are in a mad push these final few days of the year to boost their fundraising numbers before the quarter ends. So far, the only pitch I’ve seen to use a “celebrity” came, today, from the Liberals, over the signature of  “Chantal Kreviazuk, Juno Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter” (whose music I quite admire, I must say). Kreviazuk says she supports Trudeau and while she does not say “join me in making a donation”, you will see (below) that there is a pitch from the party for cash is between her endorsement and her signature. Thing is, I can find no record in Elections Canada’s database of any donation by any Kreviazuk in Canada to any Liberal anywhere. More here .. Continue reading Pop Star to Liberals: Do as I say (please) not as I do

Liberals race to match Conservatives on fundraising with hours to go

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Christmas is over and there’s just four days (and counting) till the fiscal quarter closes for every political party at midnight eastern on Dec. 31. And that means those, like me, who are on e-mail fundraising lists for our major political parties can expect a steady stream of pitches for the next 96 hours. Let’s start with the one, above, from Liberal Party HQ, issued in the name of Christina Topp, the party’s senior director of fundraising. She says the party has already raised $4 million this quarter but she wants at least $1.4 million in the next four days to match what the Liberals estimate the Conseratives will take in. Mark Jarvis, on Twitter notes: Continue reading Liberals race to match Conservatives on fundraising with hours to go

Environmental History: Finally, we catch the Swedes …

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ON FROBISHER BAY NEAR IQALUIT, NUNAVUT — It’s been too long since I was north of 60 but here’s the last time: February, 2012 while covering one of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s visit to Iqaluit. We were snowmobiled out onto Frobisher Bay (that’s Iqaluit in the background) to witness a PM photo opp. This was, arguably, the coldest I’ve ever been.

The latest issue of The Canadian Historical Review has as its theme: Environmental History. The issue, and this essay by Swedish environmental historian Sverker Sörlin, look to be an interesting read: Continue reading Environmental History: Finally, we catch the Swedes …

Spirit of Radio: Ad wars pitch Conservatives versus Liberals

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Across the country this holiday season, voters who listen to radio will be hearing pitches from Prime Minister Stephen Harper and from Liberal leader Justin Trudeau.

Maybe.

The Liberals have announced that they have two different radio ads ready to go. You can listen to them on their Web site but, so far at least, I have no reports that anyone has actually heard them in the wild. Continue reading Spirit of Radio: Ad wars pitch Conservatives versus Liberals

I am a traitorous self-hating Ghomeshi-like fiend for shopping in New York!

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Earlier this week, Industry Minister James Moore announced new measures the government hopes will eliminate the cross-border price differential. I believe this initiative will do little to to close that gap and that if it was useful at all, it was useful politically to the Conservatives who hope to be seen by voters as more consumer-friendly than the alternative. I tried to connect the politics of Moore’s announcement with my recent purchase of a snow blower, a purchase I made in the United States after discovering a significant cross-border price difference, in a column published in most of our newspapers Wednesday.

For my troubles — trying to explain Conservative consumer-first politics and my snowblower purhase — readers of our newspapers are accusing me of terrible things.  For example, Barry R. from Kingston, Ont. says: Continue reading I am a traitorous self-hating Ghomeshi-like fiend for shopping in New York!

How much to spend to create one job? Kenney's benchmark different than Goodyear's

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Last week in the House of Commons, Employment Minister Jason Kenney was asked why his department did not renew funding for a Halifax agency that helps at-risk young people find and hold on to jobs. The program had been in operation for a decade and, as CBC News reported, had followed all the rules to qualify for the $191,105 it was seeking this time around.

It did not get the money. Continue reading How much to spend to create one job? Kenney's benchmark different than Goodyear's

Voter preference by household income: Parties of the rich and poor

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The Liberals have just released a new online video (see below) arguing against the Harper government’s income splitting plan. Liberal Justin Trudeau has vowed to roll back income splitting for parents if he’s elected PM.  Thomas Mulcair this week has vowed the NDP will fight the plan thought he was a bit more cagey about what he’d do if he became PM and income splitting was still in place. Given these arguments, I wondered about how income levels matched up to political preference. David Coletto, CEO of pollster Abacus Data, sent me this data set, Continue reading Voter preference by household income: Parties of the rich and poor

The nasty Vancouver election! An incumbent apologizes!

Left-leaning, progressive Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson has twice won at the polls but this time, it appears he’s in tough against challenger Kirk LaPointe, the former journalist (who was my boss at not one, not two, but three different news organizations in my career) who is the candidate in this race for the Non-Partisan Association. Check out the latest accusation from Robertson against LaPointe.  Some — but not me, of course — might say this sounds like a desperate accusation from an incumbent feeling the heat from a challenger. Here it is, as reported on Twitter by former CTV journalist Kai Nagata

 

That “DPinBC” is Dimitri Pantazopoulos, the pollster who was instrumental in Christy Clark’s big “upset” win — a win which defied all public pollsters predications. And, yes, Dimitri has been a “Harper advisor” at some points. But here’s what “DPinBC” tweeted in response to Nagata’s tweet:

Meanwhile, as we reported on my program, Battleground, on Sun News Network tonight (above), Robertson is now apologizing to voters for not getting it done the first time they elected him mayor and the second time they elected him mayor. But he promises that if he gets a third chance, by golly, he’ll make it all right.

Wait a minute: Mulcair's NDP says Andrea Horwath's NDP beat Christine Elliott?

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Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and Whitby-Oshawa Liberal candidate Celina Caesar-Chavannes (right) meet constituents at the Whitby Go Train station on October 30, 2014. (Photo by Trudeau official photo Adam Scotti from this Flickr Gallery https://www.flickr.com/photos/justintrudeau/sets/72157649013377706 )

Oh dear. I think the federal NDP has mixed things up terribly. Continue reading Wait a minute: Mulcair's NDP says Andrea Horwath's NDP beat Christine Elliott?