Prime Minister and wife:
Compare and contrast: RT @pmharper Happy Valentine’s Day to my wife @laureen_harper_ 1 of fave photos of us together ow.ly/hIiyl
— David Akin (@davidakin) April 7, 2013
Hopeful-of-being-prime-minister and wife:
Compare and contrast: MT @justintrudeau: Here’s Sophie and me getting our groove on to Martina Sorbara.. twitter.com/JustinTrudeau/…
— David Akin (@davidakin) April 7, 2013
Answer:
Sent this note to @justintrudeau on a plane just now. Cool response! #NSpoli twitter.com/Kydder/status/…
— Michael Kydd (@Kydder) March 20, 2013
@davidakin @susandelacourt Yup, it was me. Late night flight back on Porter from Halifax, escaping the storm.
— Justin Trudeau, MP (@JustinTrudeau) March 20, 2013
Today, in St. Hyacinthe, QC, our reporters asked Liberal leadership candidate more questions about the $277,000 he says he has earned in speaking fees since becoming an MP in 2008. You can watch one of his answers in the video above but I’ve also reproduced here below. If I parse it back correctly, Trudeau is saying his speaking tour has been necessary because Canadians are tuning out what happens in Parliament — and that, of course, is the fault of the current Conservative government — which means that if MPs, like Trudeau, want to talk to Canadians about their ideas and policies they advocated, well, the House of Commons is no longer the place to do that: Continue reading Trudeau: "Ottawa is less and less relevant to Canadians"
A clip from Battleground on Sun News Network tonight — our reporter Kristy Kirkup shows two highlights from Saturday’s Liberal leadership debate in Mississauga, Ont., the opening Garneau vs. Trudeau bit and then, the comments Martha Hall Findlay made that prompted her apology the next day. Then, Liberal strategist Lisa Kirbie and I assess the field after Saturday’s race. I argue that, for all intents and purposes, there are now just three candidates who have any chance of winning this race. And one of them is not Martha Hall Findlay.
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
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!
Hate to steal again from the Instagram feed of Gerry Butts, an advisor to the Justin Trudeau for Leader campaign, but he gives us this picture tonight from Kelowna where, shortly after it was taken, his candidate spoke to the crowd. Butts, on Twitter reported:
600 people to see justintrudeau in #Kamloops, BC. Six. Hundred. People. For a #Liberal. #lpcldr instagr.am/p/UxKx8KJNpu/
— Gerald Butts (@gmbutts) January 22, 2013
Now, Butts is certainly not a disinterested party here, of course, [UPDATE: The Kamloops Daily News goes with 600 as well in “Trudeau wows Grand Hall Crowd“] but that certainly looks a rather full house to me and it’s worth pointing out the following: Continue reading In Conservative Kamloops, 600 show up for the next leader of Parliament's third party
On Friday in Ontario, Liberal Leadership candidate Justin Trudeau had this to say about the long gun registry. [Trudeau Transcript: Long gun registry “a failure”] On Monday, in Quebec he had something a bit different to say. Listen to what he said in Quebec: Continue reading Audio and transcript: Trudeau's comments Monday on the gun registry he'd now vote for
Wonder what Alex Burton might say about his rival for the Liberal leadership, Justin Trudeau?
In any event, here’s an “open letter” to Ottawa South MP David McGuinty about his anti-Alberta comments:
Honourable David McGuinty, M.P.
House of Commons
111 Justice Building
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
Dear David,As I sat in an RV park in Grande Prairie, AB, early this morning, I took some time to reflect upon your recent comments. Continue reading Leadership candidate Burton "extremely disappointed" about McGuinty
