My colleague Andrew Mayeda reports that Conservative Jason Kenney, his party's point man in Canada's immigrant communities, accuses the Liberals of playing dirty pool when it comes to ethnic politics: Kenney slams Liberal ethnic outreach Tory accuses Grits of funneling grants to 'community godfathers' Andrew Mayeda , Canwest News Service Published: Thursday, July 31, 2008 LEVIS, Que. - The man charged with spearheading the Harper government's "ethnic-outreach" efforts has accused former Liberal governments of running "Tammany Hall"-style operations that funneled grants to local immigrant "godfathers." "Typically, I think, the Liberals pursued what some people have called an ethnic-brokerage model of outreach, where they would identify leaders of certain groups who somehow magically would become the recipients of substantial grants and subsidies for their community organizations," Jason Kenney, secretary of state for multiculturalism, said when asked how his government's approach differs from that of the Liberals.

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The Prime Minister, in a speech tonight at a BBQ in Québecm lays down his most explicit challenge yet to the Leader of the Official Opposition: FRIENDS, I SEE MR. DION IS CHALLENGING ME TO DEBATE HIS CARBON TAX.

...AND HE DOES EVERYTHING IN HIS POWER TO SLOW THE BUSINESS OF PARLIAMENT - OBSTRUCTION AFTER OBSTRUCTION, DELAY AFTER DELAY.... THEY WANT THE GOVERNMENT TO KEEP GOVERNING, TO ADDRESS ISSUES THAT MATTER TO THEM, TO KEEP THE COUNTRY MOVING FORWARD.

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Here's the blurb from the Liberal campaign: Mr. Valeriote and Mr. Brison took specific aim at Conservative Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, who earlier this year told a business audience that Ontario is “the last place” to invest.... He's up against NDP candidate Tom King -- he of CBC's Dead Dog Café fame -- as well as city councillor and Conservative candidate Gloria Kovach and the Green Party's environment critic Mike Nagy.... Kovach has been winning municipal elections for a long time in Guelph but the Conservatives put themselves behind the eight-ball when the national party stepped in earlier this year to fire the locally-chosen candidate Brett Barr.

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Just as there is a new top dog in the communications shop at Conservative PMO, there is a new communications top dog at the Conservative Party. Ryan Sparrow, I learned this afternoon, officially assumed the role of Director of Communications for the party on July 1. If there was a director of communications for the party before Ryan, I didn't know about it...   more »

Elections Canada today announced the "Preliminary Candidate Election Expenses" limit for the three byelections that will take place Sept. 8. This is the first of two spending limits that Elections Canada will establish for the byelections to take place in the ridings of Westmount-Ville-Marie and Saint-Lambert (both in Québec) and in Guelph (Ontario).... It will be the maximum that registered political parties can spend to support the candidates in these elections.   more »

The Greens were to meet in New Glasgow, NS from Sept. 5 to Sept. 7 but with the recent announcement that three byelections will be held on Sept. 8, the Greens have decided to move their convention to Sept. 19-21. From the Green Party news release: “When we learned that the by-elections would be the day after our national convention, we feared Greens would be forced to choose between the policy convention and campaigning on the last weekend before the by-elections,” said Green Party leader Elizabeth May. “With Deputy Leader Claude William Genest running in Westmount—Ville-Marie and Environment Critic Mike Nagy running in Guelph, moving the convention after the by-elections made sense.

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On holiday, finally getting a chance to read Jean Chrétien's My Years as Prime Minister.

After working on Bay Street, covering technology companies for nearly a decade, I moved to Ottawa to try my hand at political reporting in the winter of 2005, just as Paul Martin's tenure as PM was winding down. As a result, I missed the Chrétien years and, as I start to read his memoirs of his time in power, I'm keen to see what he has to say, particularly in light of what I know about the current incumbent and how he conducts himself in office..   more »

Conservatives hope summer spending wins votes OTTAWA -- Three weeks into their summer break, Conservative government MPs have been busy crossing the country handing out cash some hope will boost their party's political fortunes.... And, as soon aircraft maker Bombardier announced a new jet Sunday at an air show in England, Industry Minister Jim Prentice put out a news release reminding voters in Quebec that the federal government was giving the company $350 million to ensure it made those planes near Montreal. Prentice was among 62 Conservative MPs who have put their names on more than 130 news releases in which they announced, re-announced or otherwise took credit for nearly $3 billion in spending announcements that have gushed forth since MPs broke for summer recess 24 days ago. Read the full story ...

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Dave Batters, one of the cheeriest, up-tempo MPs you'll ever meet, is on medical leave, the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix reports.... Regina MP in hospital with ‘serious’ medical issue By Anne Kyle The StarPhoenix 10 Jul 2008 REGINA — Palliser MP Dave Batters confirmed Wednesday he is on medical leave dealing with “a serious issue.” “I would like to thank all the people who have wished me well during this difficult time,” Batters, 38, said in a prepared statement.   more »

On page 3 of that newsletter, riding association president Jane Cornelius included the following joke in a column she wrote: This story was sent to me with the comment — Enjoy!... One little boy stood up and offered: “If my best friend, who lives on a farm, is playing in the field and a tractor runs over him and kills him, that would be a tragedy.”... A little girl raised her hand: “If a school bus carrying 50 children drove over a cliff, killing everyone inside, that would be a tragedy.”

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