Read for yourself: The 80 pages that has Prime Minister Stephen Harper in a real political pickle:
"We are good to go from the PM"
Eighty pages of documents were placed in front of a judge today by RCMP investigators probing the senate scandal. In them, we learn that, in addition to Senator Mike Duffy, the RCMP now believe Nigel Wright, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s former chief of staff, also committed a fraud on the government and is guilty of breach of trust.
Nothing has been proven in court, yet, but there is much jaw-dropping information in them.
Here, though, are the bombshell quotes, given that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has personally and frequently told the House of Commons that, whatever happened involving Duffy, Wright, and that $90,000 cheque, Harper knew nothing about it. Continue reading "We are good to go from the PM"
Liberals ascendant in Atlantic Canada
There was a monster-sized voter turnout in the Newfoundland and Labrador leadership race which concluded over the weekend. As Liberal Matt Ostergard notes (in video above), the voter turnout amounted to nearly 5 per cent of the entire population of the province or nearly 24,000 votes cast. Dwight Ball was the eventual winner.
But voter turnout number is just the latest indicator of how ascendant Liberals are in Atlantic Canada politics these days. Continue reading Liberals ascendant in Atlantic Canada
I know you're gay but I'm Chrystia Freeland. And you're not.
I’m sure — in fact, I’m certain — that Toronto Centre Liberal candidate Chrystia Freeland meant this to sound better than it reads but, in an interview with the newspaper Xtra, that serves the largest gay and lesbian community in any riding in the country (I know Hedy Fry will quickly correct me if Vancouver Centre holds that title), Freeland sounds tremendously condescending. Example (my emphasis): Continue reading I know you're gay but I'm Chrystia Freeland. And you're not.
Canadian Cincinnatus: Oh noooo: John Tory is thinking abour running for mayor
If John Tory (and his backers) want to challenge for the mayor’s chair in Toronto, it’s arguments like this they need to overcome …
In many ways, John Tory is the mirror image of Rob Ford. Tory is sober, industrious, and conscientious, with a presidential bearing who is completely incompetent. Until Tory arrived on the scene, I had always believed Joe Clarke to be the most useless politician to ever exist – of any party, any level of government or even any country. But John Tory’s bungling reign as leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative party dethroned Clarke as the most useless political leader ever.
via Canadian Cincinnatus: Oh noooo: John Tory is thinking abour running for mayor.
The B.C. NDP hold their version of "Ladies Night". Cue the outrage.
The poster above, which I first saw when former Parliament Hill Liberal staffer Ben Parsons brought it to my attention on Twitter, is from the BC NDP.
It advertises a political fundraiser to be held this March. In fact, the B.C. NDP have been holding this annual event since 2003. Here’s the poster from the 2013 version. Over at the event’s 2013 Facebook page, it quite clearly says that this event was held to celebrate “International Women’s Day.” Continue reading The B.C. NDP hold their version of "Ladies Night". Cue the outrage.
The things politicians say to kids about drugs …
https://twitter.com/Monstereditor/statuses/400738484664545280
James O’Connor is a journalist, the managing editor of the Brandon Sun newspaper. As you can see from the picture above, he was in the room when Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau visited a school earlier this week.
The kids were curious about Trudeau’s stand on pot. One of them asked him about it. Continue reading The things politicians say to kids about drugs …
Caught on video: Liberals take down NDP sign in Bourassa
On Thursday afternoon, I received the video above from a source who requested anonymity in return for sharing it with me. You can quibble with my decision to accept those terms but, as the video shows an apparent breach of the Canada Elections Act, I thought it worth putting on the record.
The video was shot outside the rue de Charleroi campaign office for Emmanuel Dubourg, the Liberal candidate in the Montreal North riding of Bourassa. What it shows is two individuals removing an NDP election sign placed on a pole outside Dubourg’s office. This particular election sign from the NDP criticizes Dubourg for accepting a $100,000 taxpayer-funded severance after he quit Quebec’s National Assembly to run for the federal seat. This is what the poster looked like: Continue reading Caught on video: Liberals take down NDP sign in Bourassa
Senate Scandal? What scandal? We've got Trudeau to cover!
As we left the House of Commons last Friday before a “break week”, NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair — the leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition — had spent much of the week giving Prime Minister Stephen Harper the gears over the so-called Senate scandal. Noted curmudgeon political columnist Andrew Coyne called Mulcair’s performance the best he’d seen in Question Period.
But the triumph for Mulcair — and the doldrums for Harper — were to be shortlived.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau was hitting the road as “break week” opened up — and was ready to steal the headliness. Continue reading Senate Scandal? What scandal? We've got Trudeau to cover!
Trudeau tweet provokes debate on mandatory minimums
The first one to take a kick at this week’s political football was Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, who said on Twitter on Sunday he would be prepared to reconsider some of the mandatory minimum sentence provisions brought in by the Harper government over the last few years.
Ok. Interesting idea. Tell me more. Which, in Trudeau’s view would be the most likely mandatory minimum sentence (hereinfter known as MMS) provisions to roll back?
He didn’t expand on this on Twitter, so I e-mailed Trudeau’s press people yesterday morning with this message: Continue reading Trudeau tweet provokes debate on mandatory minimums