David Akin’s On The Hill

Here, then, is a list of holidays, religious and otherwise, between now and the end of January culled from that list and a variety of other sources. Let me know if you see something that's incorrect or missing:

The NDP just distributed the text of a statement leader Jack Layton read in Vancouver today:

 “I’d like to propose a common sense solution to the situation before Parliament today. In the spring, we kept Parliament going because the Liberals agreed to some of our good ideas. This fall, we put forward proposals but unfortunately the Liberals chose not to work with us to get things done for people.

The NDP cannot and will not express confidence in a government that won’t get things done. And we cannot condone the Liberal Party’s unethical conduct as outlined by Justice Gomery.

Nobody wants a Christmas election. I don’t want one. Canadians don’t want one, and it shouldn’t happen.
Nor has the Liberal Party earned the right to decide for itself the timing of when it should be judged. People didn’t elect an unaccountable majority, and all parties need to show compromise.

I believe there’s a common sense solution. There are other choices before us than a Christmas election nobody wants and the Liberal Party believing it has the sole right to determine when its conduct is judged.

The New Democratic Party is prepared to introduce a motion on November 24 on our opposition day. We cannot express confidence in this government’s inaction on things that matter. Cannot condone its record.

In that motion, we will call for an election to be called in early January for an election in mid-February.
This avoids the Christmas election nobody wants. I believe that’s important.
It allows Parliament to pass the housekeeping laws before it and for the First Ministers’ Meeting on Aboriginal issues to occur.

And it provides the needed opportunity to clean up Canadian politics so it can get back to what it should be about: Getting things done for people.

That’s what the NDP did in this Parliament and we’re proud of it. We will be asking for your vote so we can get more done for you. If our proposal is accepted, we won’t be doing that over Christmas and that’s a good thing.”

Layton then answer questions from some media attending the event.

Some notes from the 2005 Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, released Sept. 29. The commissioner is Johanne Gelinas (left), currently in the fifth year of her term.

“A recurring theme throughout this year's Report is that the federal government suffers from a chronic inability to see its own initiatives to completion; it starts out but rarely, if ever, reaches the finish line” [The Commissioner’s Perspective, p. 4]

“Safe drinking water is a basic requirement of human health, and Canadians assume that the water they drink will be of high quality in a developed country like ours. The truth, however, is that when federal responsibility is involved, not all Canadians can assume that their drinking water is always safe. The government is not working hard enough to protect Canadians from unsafe drinking water.” [The Commissioner’s Perspective,  p. 5]

“In examining federal responsibilities for the safety of drinking water, we found gaps that may put people's health at risk. “ [The Commissioner’s Perspective,  p. 5]

Gelinas says that in 2001, an audit by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada found a significant risk to the quality or safety of drinking water in three-quarters of the water systems in First Nations Communities. The feds approved a First Nations Water Management Strategy in 2003. This five-year initiative was funded with $600–million.

“Expectations were raised that the 1996 Oceans Act and the 2002 Canada's Oceans Strategy would help solve these problems; however, those expectations have not been met. The main tools of the Oceans Act—integrated management plans and marine protected areas—have not accomplished the desired results. Fisheries and Oceans Canada has fallen far short of meeting its commitments to develop and implement these tools.” [

[The Commissioner’s Perspective,  p. 5]

Coming out of Question Period in the House of Commons today, Finance Minister Ralph Goodale said he was canning new corporate tax cuts because he didn’t believe he could push them through a minority Parliament — a Parliament where he’ll need support of at least one, and likely two, opposition parties isn order to get any tax cuts passed. Goodale said, essentially, that he could not trust the Conservative Party to vote in favour of corporate tax cuts:

“Would you trust them after what they did in the spring?  For heaven’s sake, give your head a shake.  There’s nothing to be trusted in that gaggle of silly people.”

Conservative Finance Critic Monte Solberg, one of the “silly people” sitting opposite to Goodale,  had this to say:

“In the spring, when the government was trying to take corporate tax cuts out of its own budget bill, we fought to keep them in. We are there to keep corporate tax cuts in because it means jobs for large employers. We want to see jobs created. Ralph Goodale says he supports productivity. Well, because of our productivity, how can he delay tax relief for large employers in one hand and say he is committed to productivity on the other hand? It is ridiculous. “

Goodale, in the QP scrum as well as in a statement issued later today said his government would not be proceed with the issue of bank mergers and blamed that, too, on opposition parties:

“Earlier this summer, I wrote to the finance critics in the three opposition parties, asking whether we can proceed in a serious fashion to deal with the issue of large-scale bank mergers. After reviewing the responses, I do not believe it would be appropriate to bring forward guidelines on such an important issue in this environment, where it runs the risk of being politicized, “ Goodale said in a statement.

And now for something very un-Canadian — a little bragging.

Shows on CTV — including our dinner-hour news shows and the National News — have dominated the competition recently.

Here’s a press release from the CTV brass:

CTV Ratings Advisory – Sept. 26, 2005

 Last night, CTV’s powerhouse Sunday night line-up debuted to take every primetime spot on Canadian television:

1. At 9 p.m., the ladies of Wisteria Lane returned with 2.8 million viewers as Desperate Housewives became the most-watched program of the night, topping Family Guy and American Dad (Global, 763,000 viewers) by 261 per cent.
2. Break-out mid-season hit Grey’s Anatomy returned at 10 p.m. with 1.8 million viewers to place second, its biggest audience ever. Grey’s Anatomy bested Crossing Jordan (Global, 793,000) by 122 per cent.
3. Earlier in the evening, the new season of Cold Case debuted in third place, winning the 8 p.m. timeslot with 1.7 million viewers against The Simpsons (Global, 1.4 million) despite being out of simulcast in Toronto.
4. In fourth place, Law and Order returned for its 16th season at 7 p.m. with 1.6 million viewers.

On Saturday night, a one-hour documentary about the Corner Gas phenomenon delivered 745,000 viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research: 

1. Head to head against CFL Football (CBC, 436,000), viewers chose Beyond Corner Gas: Tales from Dog River (578,000) on CTV.

Two more premieres on Friday night also performed well on CTV. 

2. At 8 p.m., Ghost Whisperer attracted 1.4 million viewers, crushing Malcolm in the Middle (Global, 381,000) by a whopping 271 per cent and becoming the second most-watched show of the night after the CTV Evening News (1.5 million). Ghost Whisperer also won its timeslot in Toronto and Vancouver.
3. The 90-minute, third season premiere of Nip/Tuck won the 9 p.m. timeslot with just over one million viewers, up 66 per cent over Threshold (Global).
4. Earlier in the evening at 7 p.m., CTV’s eTalk Daily (477,000) once again bested ET Canada (Global, 436,000).
5. CTV had the Top Four programs of the night: 1. CTV Evening News, 2. Ghost Whisperer, 3. Nip/Tuck and 4. CTV National News.

All figures, unless otherwise cited, are courtesy BBM and represent a nation-wide picture of television viewing in Canada. All times stated are Eastern Standard Time.

–

Got the first one as it made its way around the Internet via e-mail. It ended up in the hands of Robin Ollerhead, a friend of our family's and Professor Emeritus in the physics department at the University of Guelph. He took the first trick and made one of his own. They're both reproduced here:
Here's the original:
1 GRAB A CALCULATOR. (YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO DO THIS ONE IN YOUR HEAD).
2 KEY IN THE FIRST THREE DIGITS OF YOUR PHONE NUMBER (NOT THE AREA CODE).
3 MULTIPLY BY 80.
4 ADD 1.
5 MULTIPLY BY 250.
6 ADD THE LAST 4 DIGITS OF YOUR PHONE NUMBER.
7 ADD THE LAST 4 DIGITS OF YOUR PHONE NUMBER AGAIN!
8 SUBTRACT 250.
9 DIVIDE NUMBER BY 2.
DO YOU RECOGNIZE THE ANSWER?
Here's Robin's:
1. Grab a calculator.
2. Key in the first three digits of your telephone number (not the area code).
3. Multiply by 400.
4. Add 2.
5. Multiply by 75.
6. Take the last 4 digits of your telephone number, multiply by 2, and add to your previous answer.
7. Take the last 4 digits of your telephone number, subtract 150, and add to your previous answer.
8. Divide this rather large number by 3.
What have you got?