Here’s Lance Hornby with the game preview.
And if you’re looking for a little back story on that Toronto Sun cover, here’s colleague Tony Spears: Ottawa Senators move to keep Toronto Maple Leafs fans out of the Bank
Trudeau earned thousands from speeches while missing House business
Catching up on Trudeau and his speaking fees? Here’s the most recent file from Saturday’s papers:
Trudeau missed House business while earning thousands on speakers circuit
Justin Trudeau is one of just three MPs – all of them Liberals – to report extra income from speaking engagements in the last five years.
And, in Trudeau’s case, it appears he missed debates, votes and possibly one of his party’s caucus meetings so he could earn tens of thousands on the speaking circuit.
The other two Liberal MPs to earn speaking fees are Trudeau’s Liberal leadership rival, Marc Garneau, and Toronto-area MP Kirsty Duncan. Continue reading Trudeau earned thousands from speeches while missing House business
Not often seen in Question Period: Zombies
Can’t say I’ve seen this subject come up in the House of Commons before. From today’s Question Period …
Mr. Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre, NDP) : Mr. Speaker, I rise today to salute the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta and the province of Quebec for putting in place emergency measures to deal with the possibility of an invasion of zombies. Continue reading Not often seen in Question Period: Zombies
Marc Garneau takes dead aim at Justin Trudeau
Right now on Parliament Hill, Liberal leadership candidate Marc Garneau is taking dead aim at the front runner in that race, Justin Trudeau:
In the recent past, we put our faith as a party in one individual without asking the tough questions.
The result was that we chose our leader through a coronation rather than a contest.
It was a mistake.
[Read the rest of the statement Marc Garneau made.
A magical future awaits B.C. thanks to natural gas!
British Columbia’s Lt Gov Judith Guichon delivered a rather remarkable Speech from the Throne this afternoon in Victoria. After failing to meet for than eight months, the government of B.C. Liberal Christy Clark convened this afternoon for what will be a very short session ahead of a May 14 provincial election.
It was remarkable because, within only a handful of sitting days ahead of it, this speech from the throne could not do what most speeches from the throne do, namely lay out what kind of legislation the government will present to the legislature. Instead it was largely aspirational, looking ahead to a future in B.C. when natural gas has done for that province what oil has done for Alberta. Continue reading A magical future awaits B.C. thanks to natural gas!
B.C.'s Clark pitches for women: Will it work?
British Columbians go to the polls in mid-May. It’s now almost mid-February. The incumbent premier, B.C. Liberal Christy Clark, continues to trail badly in the polls and she polls particularly badly among female voters. Here’s a new ad that, it seems to me, is aimed at female voters. Think it’ll help?
Continue reading B.C.'s Clark pitches for women: Will it work?
Can Brazeau be automatically suspended from the senate? Probably not.
Senator Patrick Brazeau was charged this morning with assault and sexual assault. The Crown prosecutor indicated in court that he would not proceed by indictment but would instead try to obtain a summary conviction. (What’s the difference? Read this explainer.)
This afternoon, many senators were muttering that they can suspend Brazeau. I’m not sure how for there does not appear to be an provision in the rules of the senate to automatically suspend any senator unless they’ve been charged with an indictable offence, which Brazeau has not. Here’s the rules. Read for yourself: Continue reading Can Brazeau be automatically suspended from the senate? Probably not.
Sun columnist figured Justin would win the leadership — in 2001!
The Sun columnist in question was none other than legendary Parliamentary Press Gallery journalist (and former NDP MP) Douglas Fisher. His son, Tobias, is now my colleague and co-pilot in Sun Media’s Parliamentary Bureau and it was Tobias who put this column, written by his dad in 2001, under my nose a few weeks ago. Doug Fisher wrote this column as Jean Chretien was retiring. And though this piece was published nearly a dozen years ago, much of it rings remarkably true. Remarkable, don’t you think? Continue reading Sun columnist figured Justin would win the leadership — in 2001!
Christy Clark: Arrogant? Secretive?
Angus Reid says voters in BC think Premier Christy Clark is “out-of-touch”, “arrogant” and “secretive “. [Here’s the poll – PDF] On my show Battleground last night, Alise Mills thinks Clark is wearing the rep for years of Liberal rule in BC.
Dairy farmers flex some political muscle
As colleague Jessica Murphy reported, Liberal MP Wayne Easter – a former dairy farmer — sent a sharp letter to leadership candidate Martha Hall Findlay pretty much telling her to back off on her call to dismantle the so-called “supply management” system which protects the Canadian dairy industry from foreign competition. (For more on the issue of supply managementand the fight for cheap cheese, see my blog post “The continuing fight for cheap cheese and innovation in agriculture”) Hall Findlay, above, responds to Easter’s argument on my program, Battleground, last night.
During our discussion, Continue reading Dairy farmers flex some political muscle