David Akin’s On The Hill

I’m waiting for the most well-connected Iranian I know personally to blog about the remarkable report — apparently unverified — that the Iranian Parliament is considering a law which would require non-Muslims — i.e. Jews and Christians — to wear a coloured label on their clothing. Until Hoder chimes in, (Hoder has, in fact chimed in with a great post), I have some back-and-forth between reporters and Sean McCormack, the spokesman for the U.S. State Department. Prime Minister Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke about this today during a scrum with reporters (a scrum, I might add, in which journalists decided who gets to ask the questions — but I digresss). The reports from Iran were also a subject of a inquiry at Question Period in the House of Commons today. And Antonia Zerbisias, the Toronto Star's media columnist has an extensive post on this, noting that the Iranian embassy in Ottawa denies this story. Zerbisias also puts together some theories on how this became fodder for official comment by the U.S. State Dept., the Prime Minister, and the House of Commons. First: here’s McCormack and an unknown reporter

QUESTION: On Iran, are you aware or is the Department aware of published reports stating that the Iranian parliament this week passed a measure that would require non-Muslims to wear badges that identify them as such?

MR. MCCORMACK: I have seen the news reports. These have, I think, recycled over time. There is — as I understand it, there is a — some law currently in the parliament, the exact nature of which is unclear, so I'm not going to try to delve into giving a definitive comment or a detailed comment about something about which I don't have all the facts.

That said, if you did have such an occurrence, whether it was in Iran or elsewhere, it would certainly be despicable.

QUESTION: Can I just follow up for a second on it?

MR. MCCORMACK: Go ahead.

QUESTION: You said that it's been something that, to your understanding, has been recycled over time. How long has the Department been following it or did you just become aware of these reports today for the first time?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, I've seen various news — similar news reports and I can't give you the exact dates, you know months ago, and they seem to be coming up again, based on the progression of — well, I guess, for lack of a better term — law through the Iranian parliament. The exact nature of that law is a little bit unclear and the exact motivations behind that are a little unclear. So I can't offer, like I said, a detailed comment about it.

QUESTION: Two more questions, if I might. What is the — what kinds of means does the Department have at its disposal for verifying the passage of laws in the Iranian parliament?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, certainly we have access to open source material and we also talk frequently with other countries who have diplomatic representation in Iran.

QUESTION: And is there an effort underway right now to ascertain more about this?

MR. MCCORMACK: Yes.

QUESTION: And why would it be despicable, if it were true?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, I think it has clear echoes, James, of Germany in the -– under Hitler, so I think that that's pretty clear. But again, you know, I don't want to delve too deeply into that because we don't have the facts.

Yes.

And now to the House of Commons, were this issue also came up:

Hon. Karen Redman (Kitchener Centre, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, Canadians were shocked and appalled to hear reports today that indicate Iran is about to pass a law requiring non-Muslims to wear coloured badges identifying their religious beliefs. Jews would have to sew yellow strips of cloth on the front of their clothes, while Christians would wear red badges. This kind of state-run bigotry is both disgusting and frightening to Canadians and all citizens of the world who believe in tolerance and religious freedom. What steps is the government taking to protest the actions of this rogue state?

Mr. Jason Kenney (Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada is obviously deeply concerned about these reports. We have been unable at this point to independently verify the reports. Our officials are working diligently in Iran to establish independent verification of these deeply troubling reports. Should these reports turn out to be true, and we all hope they are not, this government will condemn, in the strongest terms possible, this kind of revisiting of the darkest period of the last century. If this turns out to be true, it is something that the entire civilized world must condemn.

For fiscal 2007, the Department of Finance will seek Parliament’s approval to spend $73.7–billion. (p455).

Here are the big ticket items in that request:

• Interest and service costs related to the public debt plus funding for Canada Investment and Savings will be $34.4–billion.*
• Health Canada transfer costs $20.1–billion
• Fiscal Equalization costs $11.3–billion.
• Canada Social Transfer – $8.5–billion

The actual operating costs of the department will likely come in somewhere around $93–million.

[This is a note from a briefing book]

 

One of the most popular items that gets “A-TIPPED” — this weird word is used as a verb and it means “filing a request under federal Access to Information and Protection of Privacy legislation” — are the briefing books that newly sworn in cabinet ministers get. When you A-TIP or ATIP something, the government has 30 days to respond. But the ATIP rules allow for the responding department to abitrarily grant itself an extension of that time limit, so long as it cites one of the legislated reasons for an extension. Typically, the most often cited reason for an extension is that the government department has to “consult” with another government department to determine if the record requested can, in fact, be released. These extensions can be anywhere from 30 to 90 days.

So: With that preamble —– about 90 days ago or so, a new cabinet was sworn and I, like dozens of reporters, filed our ATIP requests to get at those briefing books. (We really do try to “dig” out the facts, dear reader, and we’re not always just moping about at the bar complaining about Harper and his press conference lists 🙂 ) Many of those briefing books, or at least parts of them, are now getting released.

What you find in these briefing books varies between departments but there is a general template:

• Describe the department
• Let the new minister know what legislation they’re responsible for
• Describe the “hot” or active issues
• Provide the basic policy framework for some of the policy discussions and, eventually, choices the Minister might make.

For the next few weeks, then, I’ll be going through briefing books and jotting down some notes here.

 

I learned today (and reported on CTV Newsnet a few minutes ago) that the Prime Minister may ramp up his confrontation with the Parliamentary Press Gallery by refusing to attend the annual Parliamentary Press Gallery Dinner.

My sources indicate that Stephen Harper plans to tell his caucus at a future meeting that he will not attend the dinner, which is to be held this year on Nov. 25 at the Canadian Museum of Civilization.

A senior PMO official, when asked about this, would only smile and say, “His schedule is not set that far out.”

Harper is to tell his caucus that while he is not going, caucus members are free to attend. And yet, many caucus members and almost all cabinet members may consider it a bit of a career-ending move to be seen at the PPG dinner because it might be interpreted by some as siding with the PPG rather than the PMO.

Pierre Trudeau is believed to be the last Prime Minister to snub the PPG dinner, an event which the press gallery says has been held since Confederation.

[Susan Delacourt, the bureau chief of the Toronto Star here in Ottawa, writes to say that Brian Mulroney would not attend press gallery dinners for a few years in the early 1990s. I have asked Sen. Marjory LeBreton about this. She served in Mulroney’s office at the time. She believes Mulroney was forced to cancel one appearance because his father-in-law was seriously ill but doesn’t believe he ever snubbed a dinner to spite the Gallery. Nonetheless, she said she’ll ask the former PM whether he ever snubbed a dinner and report back.]

Harper attended last year’s dinner (he was Leader of the Official Opposition at the time) and was a (surprisingly) big hit. He did a fabulous John McCallum impression, among other things.

The spat between the PPG and the PMO has boiled down, essentially, to a fight over who gets to decide who will ask the questions when the Prime Minister holds a press conference. The PMO communications staff prefers to canvas reporters ahead of the press conference, note the names of the reporters who wish to ask a question and then, once the Prime Minister arrives, a PMO official calls out a reporter’s name based on the list. It is not a first-come, first-serve sort of thing. Generally, the names called out alternate between reporters for the French-language outlets and reporters for English-language papers. Some print reporters complain that electronic media seem to get more questions than print reporters.

In any event, so far as I’m aware, there have not yet been any accusations that some reporter or organization is getting frozen out because the PMO doesn’t like someone’s reporting. That said, the concern that this could happen is reason enough, the Parliamentary Press Gallery believes, that a representative of the PMO ought not to be the one deciding who gets to ask the questions. The Press Gallery stands ready to maintain its own list — as has always been the practice for any press conference at the National Press Theatre — and moderate a press conference in a professional and dignified manner. When that happens, the outcome is the same — a politicians answers questions put to him or her by a reporter and the reporter gets a chance to ask the question once he or she is recognized by another journalist who acts as the moderator of the press conference.

During the last election campaign, incidentally, the Prime Minister Paul Martin’s communications staff kept a list of reporters who wanted to ask questions and then they would call out a reporter from that list — just like the current PM is doing. During the week I was with him, covering the Martin for CTV News, I got all of two questions. We learned later that Martin’s team was very unhappy with our coverage of his campaign. Mind you, we weren’t as bad apparently in Martin’s eyes as The Toronto Star. During the week I was on the campaign with Martin, the Toronto Star reporter that week, Sean Gordon, got precisely zero chances to put a question to the Liberal candidate.

So that’s why the PPG believes that it’s more appropriate for journalists to decide who gets to ask the questions and the PPG executive stands prepared to conduct a dignified, professional news conference but one in which the list of reporters who will ask questions is maintained by the Press Gallery and not by a politician.

While I am a member of the Press Gallery — CTV pays my PPG dues on my behalf — I am not a member of the Press Gallery executive.

 

 

 

The Canadian Forces public relations personnel issued this note this afternoon, in the wake of Capt. Goddard’s death.

Today, women represent approximately 15% of the Canadian Forces population. More than 7900 women are currently serving in the regular force and more than 4800 women are serving in the primary reserve.

We opened all occupations to women in 1989 and throughout the 90's encouraged women to join the combat arms. The introduction of women to the combat arms increases our potential recruiting pool by about 100 per cent. It also provides for opportunities for all persons to serve their country to the best of their abilities.

The Canadian Forces is a world leader in terms of the proportion of women in its military, and the areas in which they can serve. The CF is highly regarded as one of the nations with the most advanced policies and highest representation of women.

Please find attached current statistics (as of 31 Mar 06) regarding serving in combat arms:

REGULAR FORCE COMBAT ARMS

• Total 12054
• Male 11829
• Female 225 = 1.9%

Reg Force Officers

• Total 2640
• Male 2541
• Female 99 = 3.75%

Reg Force NCM

• Total 9414
• Male 9288
• Female 126 = 1.34%

Primary Reserve combat arms

• Total 13897
• Male 12972
• Female 925 = 6.7%

Primary Reserve Officers

• Total 1909
• Male 1832
• Female 77 = 4.0%

Primary Reserve NCM

• Total 11988
• Male 11140
• Female 848 = 7.1%

Minutes before Canada’s MPs began debating the idea of extending Canada’s mission in Afghanistan, the news reached Ottawa that a Canadian soldier was killed in a firefight earlier in the day south of Kandahar. The dead soldier is Captain Nichola Goddard (left). It is believed to be the first time a Canadian female soldier has been killed while in a combat role. “I believe it's safe to say she was the first woman in a combat arms military occupation (such as artillery, infantry, or armoured) killed in front-line combat,” said Lt. Morgan Bailey, a spokesperson for the Canadian Forces at National Defence headquarters in Ottawa.

Here is part of the text of a release from the Department of National Defence:

OTTAWA – A Canadian soldier was killed during a firefight with insurgents that occurred approximately 24 kilometres west of Kandahar. The incident occurred at approximately 6:55 p.m. Kandahar time (10: 25 a.m. EDT) on 17 May.
Killed was Captain Nichola Kathleen Sarah Goddard who was serving with Task Force Afghanistan as part of the 1st Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (1 PPCLI) Battle Group. Captain Goddard was stationed with the 1st Regiment Royal Canadian Horse Artillery in Shilo, Manitoba; her next-of-kin have been notified.
 The repatriation of Captain Goddard's remains is now being planned.
Capt Goddard was engaged in a significant operation, one in which Canadian soldiers were in support of Afghan authorities, when she was killed. That operation was a clearance operation by Afghan security personnel in Kandahar province north of the Arghandab River and west of Kandahar City.

 

Liberal MPs spent a long time at their national caucus meeting. When it finished, interim Leader Bill Graham had this to say about tonight’s debate and vote on whether to extend Canada’s mission in Afghanistan:

Our caucus is totally and utterly united around that mission and around that objective.  The problem that the caucus has ­and …­ is that we’ve had a gun put to our head and without knowing all the details of why a two-year prolongation is being made at this time. We are being told we will have a vote tonight.  We find this process abusive.  We find this process strange. 

We find it difficult to ask parliamentarians to go into the House tonight and say we must listen to this government and in the course of a debate of a few hours in the House make up our minds on an issue of this importance to Canada and Canadians and to our troops. But that is the situation we are in. 

We will not play politics with this and we will attend the debate in the House tonight and our members will listen and our members will consider what the government says and those members who believe that the government has made a case that the prolongation must be decided at this time by this House will vote in accordance with that.  And for others who believe that it is not appropriate to be doing it at this time we must give them an opportunity to vote with their conscience as well.

One of the hot topics in U.S. politics right now is claims, first reported in USA Today, that the government is eavesdropping on the phone calls made by Americans between other Americans living in America.

Today, Verizon, one of the largest phone companies in the U.S. issued a statement, which included the following:

One of the most glaring and repeated falsehoods in the media reporting is the assertion that, in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Verizon was approached by NSA and entered into an arrangement to provide the NSA with data from its customers’ domestic calls.

This is false . . . Verizon was not asked by [National Security Agency] to provide, nor did Verizon provide, customer phone records from any of these businesses, or any call data from those records.

Verizon is following the lead of BellSouth, another U.S. phone giant, which says it never turned over phone records to the government.

USA Today has an article responding to these responses’. A USA Today spokesman said:  “We’re confident in our coverage of the phone database story. We will look closely into the issues raised by the Bell South's and Verizon’s statements.”

 

The Akin family stops a couple of times a year in Blind River, on Lake Huron’s north shore, most often for coffee at the Tim Horton’s there, but sometimes for an overnight stay or a meal. We do this because my wife is from Nipigon, Ont. and, as she hates flying, we make the 16–hour drive from southern Ontario to visit her family, now in Thunder Bay, once or twice a year.

That’s about the only connection I have with Blind River (photo, left, of the upper Blind River by Victor Hackett) but it was enough that I’m happy to see Blind River is celebrating 100 years of existence. The town’s MP, Liberal Brent St. Denis, had this to say about the centenary in the House of Commons today:

Mr. Brent St. Denis (Algoma – Manitoulin – Kapuskasing): Mr. Speaker, yesterday, May 14, marked the 100th anniversary of the incorporation of Blind River as a town. For 100 years locals and visitors have enjoyed Blind River's beautiful natural surroundings and legendary norther Ontario hospitality. Even Canadian singing start, Neil Young, has immortalized Blind River in one of his famous songs.

The community's history has included forestry, being on the cross-Canada Voyageur route, tourism and an excellent history of relations with the neighbouring Mississauga First Nation.

I was born in Blind River (downtown pictured right) and as such it holds a special place in my heart. Located on the north shore of Lake Huron between Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie, Blind River picturesque and friendly.

The town is famous for its community celebrations which have included being named one of the top 50 festivals in Ontario. The committee with a lot of volunteer help plans many special activities for this summer.

On behalf of town council, Mayor Gallagher and the residents of Blind River, and all of the north shore indeed who share this time, I invite all members, senators and Canadians to visit and celebrate with us. Please join me in saying:

Giv'er, Giv'er Blind River

I realize it's halfway through May but I'm finally able to find the time to look at what April's readers of this blog found most popular.
In April, 2004, I was thrilled to see 5,000 unique visitors to this blog, most of whom seemed to enjoy a post spoofing Tim Horton's Roll Up the Rim contest.
In April of 2006, there were just shy of 31,000 unique visitors who took a look at more than 106,000 pages.
Thanks for dropping by and Happy Mother's Day!
The most popular pages here are listed in order of popularity — in other words, these were the most viewed pages here for the month of April — with the date they first appeared here (only one post from April made the list):

1. A Porsche moment – Mon 10 Jan 2005
2. Hard at work – 05 Mar 2005
3. Air Canada and a new Celine Dion video — right here! – 01 Nov 2004
4. A tax break for hybrid car owners? – Mon 28 Feb 2005
5. The new Dodge Charger – Mon 17 Jan 2005
6. A hot morning in Cancun – Thu 30 Mar 2006
7. Gerard Kennedy jumps into federal Liberal race – Wed 05 Apr 2006
8. Ignatieff speech in Ottawa – Thu 30 Mar 2006
9. Who pays for this blog? Some disclaimers – Fri 13 Aug 2004
10. The New Air Canada uniforms – 01 Nov 2004