David Akin's On the Hill

Liberal lines on H1N1

2009-11-05T17:10:58-05:00

The federal Liberal Party was distributing the following this afternoon: "Both the Auditor General and the Chief Public Health Officer have said that pandemic planning falls under general emergency preparedness. The Conservatives have failed to plan and this is a national disgrace."

What a (Liberal) Woman Wants: The Pink Books

2009-10-20T21:27:07-04:00

The Liberals will release Pink Book III tomorrow at 1145 at an event on Parliament Hill. The Pink Book is the policy ideas developed and advanced by the Liberal Women's Caucus and forms part of the party's platform during a federal election.

Here's a look back at the first two ...

Missouri Republican Williams wants Ignatieff "guarding our northern flank"

2009-08-30T17:37:40-04:00

Meet your first Republican for Ignatieff: Yancy Williams of Jefferson City, Mo. Williams wants the Liberal leader, not the Conservative one, to lead Canada. He loves Iggy's anti-terrorism credentials - " I want that guy guarding American’s northern flank"- and says Iggy gets it on energy security - "Drill, Iggy, Drill!"

The latest Conservative attack that taxpayers get to pay for

2009-08-01T10:55:37-04:00

A new version is now being sent out to thousands of Canadian households -- at public expense -- which takes on the same format but adds a new twist, a kind of soft-sell on the "Just Visiting" idea. The copy in the ad attacks Ignatieff for his time spent outside Canada but, perhaps sensitive to backlash from first-generation Canadians that someone ought not be criticized for spending part of their life outside Canada, the Tories try to soft-pedal the criticism by suggesting there's nothing wrong or illegal with working outside Canada - unless you want to be prime minister. Here's the Conservative wording:

The Queen likes the little guy from Shawinigan - a lot apparently

2009-07-13T12:44:31-04:00

I do believe, looking through the current list of recipients, that Jean Chrétien will be the only Canadian (and certainly the only Quebecer) to have received this honour. Other recipients include Sigmund Freud, Tim Berners-Lee (he invented a little software application called The World Wide Web) and playwright Tom Stoppard.

The Colonel Behind Republicans for Ignatieff

2009-07-13T11:50:15-04:00

Republicans for Ignatieff's "The Colonel": "I should tell you right off the top that I am not a media savvy individual nor do I crave media attention for myself. This is not about me it's about Michael Ignatieff. Our group is small (but growing) and members live in both the United States and Canada."

For the record: Harper's misguided attack on Ignatieff

2009-07-10T11:30:25-04:00

At his closing press conference in Italy at the G8, the question of the future relevance of the G8 came up. Here is an unofficial transcript of the question Harper was asked and his English-language response. (He responded somewhat similarly in French). The attack on Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff came, unprompted by reporters I should point out, at the end of his comments to a question about the future of the G8...

NDP got billions; Libs got a working group

2009-06-17T11:16:16-04:00

In 2005, Jack Layton won $4.6 billion in new investments in housing and transit in exchange for supporting the minority government of Paul Martin. In 2009, Michael Ignatieff got a working group and an opposition day for supporting the minority government of Stephen Harper.

Liberal press release: Ignatieff and Harper come to terms

2009-06-17T11:04:14-04:00

This just in from the Liberals, spelling out the deal that has been struck. One key to note -- Liberals get a chance in late September to table a non-confidence motion so if they want a fall election, that will give them the opportunity. Otherwise, Liberals would not have had that chance until the fall:

No money to paint Peggy's Cove's lighthouse? Cuzner has an idea..

2009-06-12T13:15:59-04:00

"Being a good Nova Scotian, I will offer them a few ideas. I will offer them a few suggestions. How about this? Fire the republican spin doctors they hired for one month's work. That is $25,000 right there."

The Liberal endgame on the election staredown

2009-06-12T10:44:29-04:00

Layton: "if the Liberals are counting on the NDP in some way, I think they should just look at our record over the last 71 confidence motions and they'll get an idea of where we're coming from. "

"Flagrant examples of incompetence" could provoke election, says Ignatieff

2009-06-02T21:46:24-04:00

Will Canadians be going to polls this summer? Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said Tuesday he will make "a serene and clear decision" on that question — likely by June 12.

Liberals roll out new fundraising, membership drives, aim for $25 million a year

2009-05-29T16:04:22-04:00

At the risk of offending more readers like this one, I call your attention to the following press release this afternoon from the Liberal Party of Canada. That party -- once known as the Big Red Machine -- has been barely pale pink when it comes to finding new members or raising money in the last two or three years. Meanwhile, the Big Blue Machine has steamrolled all comers, consistently raising twice as much than all other federal parties combined from twice as many donors as all other parties combined. Liberals know that their political survival, let alone success, depends on them being able to at least do as well as the New Democrats when it comes to filling a war chest. That is precisely why Rocco Rossi was named the party's exec director and why Bay Street lawyer Alfred Apps easily won the party's presidency. Both men have a long history of finding money for this cause or that one.

The daily snowball fight between Liberals and Conservatives

2009-05-28T16:58:57-04:00

Members Statements has become a daily partisan battleground as Conservatives and Liberals throw verbal snowballs back and forth at each other across the aisle. Here's today's snowball fight

The most important paragraphs in Budget 2009

2009-05-27T13:21:21-04:00

On the issue of timely: This document was tabled on January 27, 2009. That would be 120 days ago. Conservatives hve already tried to convince me that they really meant 120 days from April 1, the beginning of the budget year, but I see no such qualifier in the budget document.

"I don't want to die with a black mark on my name"

2009-05-21T21:30:10-04:00

Doing what good journalists are supposed to do: Though we've had this letter since yesterday, we did our due diligence today, checking its bona fides which, as it turns out, are both bona and fide. As a result, my colleague Juliet O'Neill is able to update an earlier post here and report a rather sad story about a hyper-ambitious MP and an sad and scared 81-year-old Filipina.

Iggy, Gandhi -- both were "Just Visiting"!

2009-05-21T13:21:01-04:00

It seems clear that Liberals (I assume they are Liberals) are having a certain amount of fun riffing off of the Conservative "Just Visiting" attack ads. Here's one from the Libs that accuses Mahatma Gandhi of being a mere arriviste for Indian independence.

Ignatieff: "I'm not the issue"

2009-05-20T22:04:44-04:00

Liberal attack ads strike back. First, leader Michael Ignatieff speaks to camera for 1:40, sounding reasonable and so on (left). Then, in some others, Liberals turn the Conservative attack ad grahics back at Harper. Instead of the Conservative's "Just Visiting" tag, they tag Harper with "Just Leaving", noting how he's the first PM in history to avoid a confidence vote by proroguing Parliament.

Liberals ask for cash to fend off Tory attacks

2009-05-14T13:58:01-04:00

The Liberal Party of Canada has sent the following out to its members:

Trust the Conservatives to get attack ads out faster than they can deliver their promised stimulus funding. Unable to provide leadership himself, Stephen Harper has launched new ads attempting to divert attention away from his government's failures to fix the economy and to undermine the credibility of the one leader he knows can take his place - Michael Ignatieff . . .

Dhalla lawyer hints at political motivation to scandal

2009-05-08T21:28:00-04:00

A lawyer representing embattled Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla said allegations levelled at her and her family that they mistreated three Filipinas hired as domestic workers are false and suggested they were made as a part of an organized campaign by Dhalla's political opponents to discredit her . . .

Ignatieff and Dhalla statements

2009-05-08T17:56:13-04:00

Earlier this week, Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla and her family were accused of mistreating some domestic workers. She held a press conference about it earlier today. It was the first time we've seen her since the accusations were levelled against her family. Her lawyer prevented her from answering questions from reporters. Similarly, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has been underground since the accusations came forth until today. He gathered reporters at Convocation Hall in Toronto to say this...

Nannies alleging mistreatment by MP's family called to testify

2009-05-07T19:51:52-04:00

The two nannies who allege mistreatment by the family of Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla are expected to testify about their experiences in front of a parliamentary committee next week.

Iggy vs Harper: Day one of the rest of the Michael Ignatieff's (political) life

2009-05-04T17:06:52-04:00

A few minutes before Question Period got underway in the House of Commons today, as MPs were arriving and settling into their seats, Prime Minister Stephen Harper walked across the green-carpeted aisle that divides the House of Commons and, warmly smiling, reached out to shake Michael Ignatieff's hand, presumably to congratulate him on the results of the Liberal convention over the weekend in Vancouver at which Iggy officially became the Leader of the Opposition. BQ Leader Gilles Duceppe and Transport Minister John Baird also walked over to shake Iggy's hand. And then, it was game on. Here's the play-by-play:

Liberals publish roadmap to rebuild party

2009-04-16T12:41:50-04:00

The Liberal Party of Canada this morning released Every Voter Counts: The 308 Riding Strategy, a "frank and honest report ... to make the Liberal Party of Canada more efficient, democratic and election ready." The very title of the report, written by a committee that was co-chaired by Brampton, Ont. MP Navdeep Bains and Martin-era party director and Ignatieff supporter Steven MacKinnon, lets everyone know that things are now different under the current leadership....

Shea gets grilled on anti-Liberal press releases

2009-04-04T13:07:53-04:00

A month or so ago, Liberal Senator Mac Harb introduced a private members' bill in the Senate that would have effectively ended the seal hunt in Atlantic Canada. Not a single Senator, Liberal or Conservative, would second that bill and, as a result, it died.

Conservative Fisheries Minister Gail Shea and Conservative Senator Fabian Manning issued press releases on government letterhead and at government expense denouncing Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff and his "hidden agenda" on the seal hunt.

Shea's officials would subsequently concede that these press releases were issued in error.

Earlier this week, Minister Shea made her first appearance in front of the Senate's Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. Liberal Senator Bill Rompkey is the chair of that committee. Here is an excerpt of an exchange between Shea, who represents a PEI riding, and Senator James Cowan of Nova Scotia ...

Liberals to Conservatives: Been there, done that

2009-04-03T16:01:14-04:00

Liberal infrastructure critic Gerard Kennedy tells Infrastructure Minister John Baird that a couple of announcements from Baird's office today look awfully familiar..

Himelfarb to be Iggy's Chief of Staff?

2009-03-25T13:46:40-04:00

--No Content--

Grassroots Tory annoyed at plea for cash from Tory war room

2009-03-19T19:02:50-04:00

From the inbox today (names removed). Noteworthy because I tend not to get many like this. But I can tell you I have had an increasing number of complaints from grassroots Tories about giving money to their party: "This annoys me. I have been giving to the Conservative Party for years, but it seems like the guys running the show there has just been waiting for an excuse to ask for more cash, to play more ads, and so on. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Is Rick Hillier declaring himself a Conservative tonight?

2009-03-12T16:52:10-04:00

The former chief of defence staff and Canada's Most Popular General (TM) gives a speech tonight at a fundraising dinner for the Manning Centre for Democracy. The speech kicks off a three-day conference the Manning Centre is organizing with an A-list crowd of Canadian conservatives in attendance. So, is Hillier's speech his first-ever declaration he's rooting for the blue team (actually, he does root for a blue team -- The Toronto Maple Leafs)?

Kinsella gets a Kramp

2009-03-11T17:01:13-04:00

You may have heard that Warren Kinsella, Michael Ignatieff's election war room general, is suing Public Works Minister Christian Paradis and the Conservative Party of Canada. He says they've defamed him. Today, as on several other occasions, a Conservative MP used his time in Members Statements -- the 15 minutes just prior to Question Period where MPs can stand up and make a one-minute long statement on anything they want -- to press Ignatieff to fire Kinsella. In the House of Commons, MPs have "privilege" which means that, though they must use Parliamentary langauge, i.e. no calling someone a liar, they cannot be sued for libel or slander so long as they say what they say in the House of Commons. Today it was Ontario Conservative MP Darryl Kramp's turn...