Just in from Fred DeLorey, the spokesman for the Conservative Party of Canada
In regards to the calls last week that went into Saskatchewan concerning redistribution, the calls came from the Conservative Party.
There was an internal miscommunication on the matter, and the calls should have been identified as coming from the Conservative Party.
Continue reading Federal Conservatives admit to SK robocalls on riding boundaries
We now have Hansard for the first week of 2013 in the House of Commons. Each day, there is a 45-minute Question Period. You’ve seen this. It generally gets the most media attention of any daily event on the Hill.
But just before Question Period gets underway (at 2:15 pm ET M-TH and 11:15 am on Fri) there is a 15-minute period for Members’ Statements. This period is provided for under Standing Order 31 so these statements are often referred to on the Hill as “S.O. 31s.” The Conservatives mostly, but exclusively, are now using this period to bludgeon their opponents. (See my earlier post for more explanations: “The evolution of the SO31: From happy thoughts to political mud fights”) Used to be that Michael Ignatieff and the Liberals were the objects of the Conservative SO 31 ire. No more. Here’s what those of us who are paid to watch that 15-minute period of SO 31s have been suffering through for the first five days of this year in Parliament (and have every expectation of suffering through for many more days to come). I’ve excerpted just the juicy “carbon tax” bits … Continue reading The job-killing carbon tax. Again and again and again.
Are you kidding me, Joshua Keating?
Keating writes:
Hockey, the British-invented, Canadian-developed national sport of Russia…
British-invented? We invented it! Continue reading Hockey: Invented by the British, now Russia's national sport, says US writer
Marketing professors at the University of Texas at Austin have a great (and timely) post up in which they assess Super Bowl advertising. Canadian readers ( who may have trouble seeing the American ads on Canadian networks) can get some sneak peeks of what the big ads will be during tonight’s big game.:
Remember the ad where a little kid dressed up as Darth Vader uses “the force” to turn on his dad’s car? That Volkwagen spot was among the most-talked-about commercials during the 2011 Super Bowl.
The annual National Football League championship is not only a contest between the two best teams, it’s also a venue for advertisers to capture the attention of millions of viewers. The rise of social media has amplified the annual commercial fest as people take to cyberspace to express their opinions about the much-anticipated ads.
“For many — not only those teaching and practicing advertising — the ads on the Super Bowl have become a major reason for watching,” says advertising professor Neal Burns. “Social network technology lets us all participate in a meaningful and fulfilling way.”
Burns (whose Twitter handle is @berryboy316) and three other advertising experts from the University of Texas at Austin will be joining the virtual water cooler during the game, live-tweeting their thoughts using the hashtag #SBAdJudge. Burns will be joined by assistant professors Kevin Thomas, (@kevin_d_thomas), Angeline Close (@angelineclose) and Robert Lewis (@robertjoellewis).
Because several ads have been released on YouTube before the game this year, we’ve got a preview of their expert opinions.
About 400 Liberals and their supporters paid $20 each Saturday afternoon to watch a Liberal leadership event in which a failed Liberal candidate (Harvey Locke, last seen coming in a respectable second to Joan Crockatt in a Calgary Centre byelection) read largely the same questions to the nine leadership contestants in separate 11-minute long “interviews.” The biggest revelation after two hours of this was that Marc Garneau enjoys cooking — and frittatas specifically — and he also enjoys vacuuming. Martha Hall Findlay, on the other hand, Continue reading Liberals, household chores and fickle TV program directors
I think the TV program I host on Sun News Network, Battleground, is unique and important to Canadians. Help us stay on air reporting on the political battles across the country:
I’m certain this post will be read by only the most die-hard of political geeks and, if so, welcome: You’re among friends here.
And so, for you, we present changes adopted this week by the House of Commons to the rosters of the various standing committees of the House of Commons, recently switched up as new MPs arrived in the House courtesy of last fall’s by-elections but also because one party, the Liberals, has three of its caucus members busy trying to become the leader. The official report here and here has the changes broken down by each committee but here, in this post, I’m breaking it down by party and MP: Continue reading Shuffling the deck at House of Commons committees
In the most recent Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada (that would be the numbers for December 2012), we find the country has 4.46 million people who are between the ages of 15 and 24. Of those, 2.83 million are “in the labour force”, that is to say, they either have jobs or they are looking for jobs.
StatsCan says 1.28 million of them have a full-time job, 1.16 million have a part-time job while 398,000 of these young people say they can’t find any work. That means the unemployment rate among Canada’s young people in December was 14 per cent. By comparison, the unemployment rate for men 25 years of age and older was 7.6 per cent. For women 25+, it was 5.6 per cent.
This relatively higher unemployment youth rate has been a leading topic for the opposition parties in the House of Commons this week. Indeed, it was the first question the Leader of the Official Opposition, Thomas Mulcair, put to Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Question Period on Wednesday. Here’s the exchange from Hansard:
Hon. Thomas Mulcair (Leader of the Opposition, NDP): Mr. Speaker, more than five years after the recession hit in 2008, Canada’s youth unemployment rate is still sitting at 15%, double the national average. According to a report by TD Bank, this represents lost earnings of $11 billion to date, which will take a generation to recover. The high youth unemployment rate obviously has significant consequences for our economy. Why are our young people not one of the Prime Minister‘s four priorities?
Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC): Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, job creation and economic prosperity are our top priorities. In fact, the Canadian economy has created more than 900,000 net new jobs since the end of the recession. That is the best record of all G7 countries. There are obviously still challenges in this regard, especially for some young people. That is why our budgets include specific measures for youth. I encourage the NDP to support these measures.Hon. Thomas Mulcair (Leader of the Opposition, NDP): Mr. Speaker, young people suffered more than half of all the job losses during the 2008 recession. Nearly 280,000 jobs were lost among Canadian young people and to this day only about 30,000 have been recovered. Almost half of all young people who lose a job are not even eligible for EI. That is in the government’s budget, which we will not support. That situation is made even worse by the Prime Minister’s latest rounds of EI cuts. Does the Prime Minister understand the devastating impact his failed policies are having on an entire generation of Canadian youth?
Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC): Of course, Mr. Speaker, it is completely to the contrary. Since the recession ended we have created 900,000 net new jobs in this country, the best track record in the G7. There is no better place for a young person to be today than in Canada. Challenges obviously still exist in the labour market and for young people. That is why the government has addressed this in a series of budgetary measures, things like the youth employment strategy that has created over 50,000 positions, the Canada summer jobs program and others, which the NDP unfortunately always votes against.
Notably, on Friday, the government will have something to say about the Canada Summer Jobs Program. Human Resources Minister Diane Finley has a press conference scheduled in Ottawa and Public Safety Minister Vic Toews will have the mirror version in Winnipeg.
As we get set for those press conference, here’s a couple of tweets from Laval University economist Stephen Gordon which help add some context to the StatsCan numbers and ensuing political exchange:
Number of months since Labour Force Survey began: 444. Number of months where 15-24 unemployment rate was lower than what it is now: 219
— Stephen Gordon (@stephenfgordon) February 1, 2013
So for most of the last 37 years, youth unemployment has been worse than it is now.
— Stephen Gordon (@stephenfgordon) February 1, 2013
I don’t know about you but I am constantly finding neat, new things at the Parliamentary Web site. It’s invaluable for political journalists and, I assume, teachers, researchers and others who want to know more about federal politics.
Well, here’s some good news — all of Hansard for both the House of Commons and the Senate will be making its way online over the next couple of years.
Right now, Hansards dating back to 1994 for the House of Commons and to 1996 for the Senate are already online and are searchable. Continue reading Hansard geeks rejoice! It's all going online!
MPs return to Ottawa and the House of Commons Monday after a Christmas break which began on Dec. 12. Back in their ridings, government MPs handed out more than 150 cheques for new highways, curling club improvements, training for the disabled, marina improvements and all sorts of other things. The grand total for all those cheque presentations? $1.5 billion. So, for the sake of the federal treasury if nothing else, let me be the first to welcome the country’s MPs back to the House of Commons.
While they were gone, incidentally, students from Queen’s University moved in to hold their annual Model Parliament. Continue reading Parliament back Monday, Or, "How I Kept Speaker Scheer's chair warm"
