Category: Politics

Elections Canada today announced the “Preliminary Candidate Election Expenses” limit for the three byelections that will take place Sept. 8.

This is the first of two spending limits that Elections Canada will establish for the byelections to take place in the ridings of Westmount-Ville-Marie and Saint-Lambert (both in Québec) and in Guelph (Ontario). This first limit applies to candidates. As they begin distributing lawn signs, printing flyers and buying ad space, this would be their budget.

A second limit will soon be announced as well. This limit will apply to national parties. It will be the maximum that registered political parties can spend to support the candidates in these elections.

Both limits could vary from riding to riding as they are based on a number of factors including the number of voters in each riding, the riding's population density and so on. Here's the candidate limits:

• Guelph: $90,955.32
• Saint-Lambert: $81,679.80
• Westmount-Ville-Marie: $83,320.51

Technorati Tags: elections

The Green Party of Canada today said it will postpone its planned national policy convention by two weeks.

The Greens were to meet in New Glasgow, NS from Sept. 5 to Sept. 7 but with the recent announcement that three byelections will be held on Sept. 8, the Greens have decided to move their convention to Sept. 19-21.

From the Green Party news release:

“When we learned that the by-elections would be the day after our national convention, we feared Greens would be forced to choose between the policy convention and campaigning on the last weekend before the by-elections,” said Green Party leader Elizabeth May. “With Deputy Leader Claude William Genest running in Westmount—Ville-Marie and Environment Critic Mike Nagy running in Guelph, moving the convention after the by-elections made sense. We can now ensure that Mr. Genest and Mr. Nagy will be there, along with their campaign teams.

“A strong showing for the Green Party in these by-elections can change everything. Electing Canada’s first Green MP in a by-election would guarantee my inclusion in the televised debates in the next election. Greens across the country will now be able to focus 100 percent of their energy on campaigning in these by-elections.”

Technorati Tags: elections, Elizabeth May, Green Party

Just out on the Web, a look at the spending announcements Conservative MPs have made since breaking for the summer on June 21. Conservatives need to boost support in Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada. Guess where most of the spending announcements have been happening?

Conservatives hope summer spending wins votes

OTTAWA — Three weeks into their summer break, Conservative government MPs have been busy crossing the country handing out cash some hope will boost their party's political fortunes.

On Sunday, for example, the Conservatives announced they'd sealed a deal with Nova Scotia that will see the province keep $867 million in energy royalties that otherwise would have gone to Ottawa.

And, as soon aircraft maker Bombardier announced a new jet Sunday at an air show in England, Industry Minister Jim Prentice put out a news release reminding voters in Quebec that the federal government was giving the company $350 million to ensure it made those planes near Montreal.

Prentice was among 62 Conservative MPs who have put their names on more than 130 news releases in which they announced, re-announced or otherwise took credit for nearly $3 billion in spending announcements that have gushed forth since MPs broke for summer recess 24 days ago.

Read the full story …

Technorati Tags: conservatives

In mid-April, the Liberal Riding Association in St. Catherines put out an eight-page newsletter. On page 3 of that newsletter, riding association president Jane Cornelius included the following joke in a column she wrote:

This story was sent to me with the comment — Enjoy! I hope this brings a smile and a chuckle:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was visiting a primary school and he visited one of the classes. They were in the middle of a discussion related to words and their meanings.

The teacher asked the PM if he would like to lead the discussion on the word “tragedy.” So the illustrious leader asked the class for an example of a “tragedy.”

One little boy stood up and offered: “If my best friend, who lives on a farm, is playing in the field and a tractor runs over him and kills him, that would be a tragedy.”

“No,” said Harper, “that would be an accident.”

A little girl raised her hand: “If a school bus carrying 50 children drove over a cliff, killing everyone inside, that would be a tragedy.”

“I’m afraid not,” explained Harper. “That’s what we would call great loss.”

The room went silent. No other children volunteered. Harper searched the room. “Isn’t there someone here who can give me an example of a tragedy?”

Finally at the back of the room, Little Johnny raised his hand … In a quiet voice he said: “If the plane carrying you and Mrs. Harper was struck by a ‘friendly fire’ missile and blown to smithereens that would be a tragedy.”

“Fantastic!” exclaimed Harper. “That’s right. And can you tell me why that would be tragedy?”

“Well,” says the boy, “It has to be a tragedy, because it certainly wouldn’t be a great loss … and it probably wouldn’t be an accident either.”

 

I've got a PDF of the page from the newsletter so you can see the whole thing in context.

I got this PDF from the Conservatives in St. Catharines. Thought it's been kicking around St. Catharines for more than two months, they sent it out, coincedentally enough,  on the same day Dion is in St. Catharines.

Here's a brief story on this.

Technorati Tags: conservatives, Liberals

My colleague John Ivison has all the intrigue involved with the calling of byelections but the word on the Hill right now is that byelections in Guelph, Westmount, and Saint Lambert will be called on July 20 with a vote set for Monday, September 8. Liberals are the incumbents and favourites in Guelph and Westmount; the Bloc Quebecois holds Saint Lambert and it is theirs to lose.

Technorati Tags: elections

Elections Canada announced today that the five registered political parties who met the criteria for public funding laid down by Jean Chrétien are about to get their quarterly cheques:

Bloc Québécois $758,350.39

Conservative Party of Canada $2,623,890.17

Green Party of Canada $324,231.20

Liberal Party of Canada $2,187,074.37

New Democratic Party $1,264,370.74

Technorati Tags: election finances

I have to read things like this for a living but do the folks who write these on behalf of their vainglorious masters really believe they're passing on important information with opening lines like this?

DISRAELI, QUEBEC–(Marketwire – June 30, 2008) – The Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada, Secretary of State for Agriculture and MP for Megantic-L'Erable, the Honourable Christian Paradis, on behalf of the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, the Honourable Lawrence Cannon, and the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Minister responsible for the Chaudiere-Appalaches Region and MNA for Frontenac, Laurent Lessard, on behalf of the Deputy Premier and Minister of Municipal Affairs and Regions, Nathalie Normandeau, announced today . . .[here's the rest of that release]

Wow. Not entirely unexpected.

Conservative blogger Stephen Taylor breaks the news:

Today, Sandra Buckler (left) informed her friends and colleagues that she’ll be leaving the Prime Minister’s office as Director of Communications. Buckler started with the PMO shortly after the Conservatives took power in February 2006 and has served the PM for 28 months. She served in the Conservative war-room during the election and was one of the most effective communicators during that time. Her skills impressed Stephen Harper and the Prime-Minister-elect hired her on as his Comms boss.

When she took the job of communications director to Harper in March of 2006, few members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery knew who she was and almost all gave her a few months — tops — before Harper would fire her, as he had done to William Stairs (the comms director who got him through the election successfully), or Geoff Norquay before him (technically quit but the Grewal affair may have exhausted him) or Jim Armour before him. Harper was getting a reputation with Comms Directors that George Steinbrenner had with managers.

In any event, she defied the pundits and lasted on the job longer than just about anyone thought she would.

Harper's chief of staff Ian Brodie is also departing at the end of this month. Presumably, it will be up to his replacement, Guy Giorno, to name a replacement for Buckler.

Technorati Tags: Stephen Harper

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's micro-shuffle today involved David Emerson, Michael Fortier, Christian Paradis, and James Moore. It is Harper's fourth cabinet configuration. Here's some numbers on the current set-up:

Positions:

Prime Minister: 1

Ministers: 26

Secretarys of State: 5

Gender:

Men: 25

Women: 7

Stability:

There are nine ministers who have the same jobs they had from Harper's original cabinet of February, 2006: Harper (PM), Blackburn (Labour), Thompson (Veterans Affairs), Lunn (Natural Resources), Clement (Health), Flaherty (Finance), Hearn (Fisheries), Day (Public Safety), Cannon (Transport).

Provincial breakdown:

Ontario: 10

B.C.: 6

Alberta: 6

Quebec: 5

Saskatchewan: 1

Manitoba: 1

Nova Scotia: 1

New Brunswick: 1

Newfoundland: 1

PEI: 0

Nunavut: 0

Technorati Tags: cabinet shuffles, Stephen Harper