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."

Ontario not seeing co-operation from feds on H1N1

2009-11-05T16:39:24-05:00

"I've stressed to her how important it is that we at the provincial level know how much vaccine we're getting and when we're going to get it, so we can plan. So far we're not seeing that cooperation that we need. I hope that it will be better as time goes on." Mathews said.

Tory MP gets what I'm pretty sure is the wrong answer from constitutents

2009-11-05T13:07:58-05:00

James Bezan, the Conservative MP for the Manitoba riding of Selkirk Interlake, put up an online poll at his Web site.

He wanted his Web site visitors to sound off on the record of his government, asking them: "Do you think Stephen Harper and the Conservative Government should be commended for doing a great job at managing our economy through the current fiscal crisis?"

Nanos ends CPAC relationship, turns to "free agency"

2009-11-05T13:01:32-05:00

For the last little while, Nanos Research has been the pollster for CPAC, the public affairs channel. This relationship had evolved to the point where the affable Nik Nanos was hosting a 30 minute weekly television show on CPAC. That relationship -- and the TV show -- has now ended and Nanos is a "free agent" so far as media partners go.

Facebook follies: Canadian diplomat leaves Facebook wall wide open - and he ain't so diplomatic

2009-11-05T08:49:55-05:00

Steven Rheault-Kihara is a 46-year-old veteran diplomat and Canada's public relations attache in Bangkok who may soon be an ex-veteran diplomat. As my friend Greg Weston reports in this morning's Sun papes, Rheault-Kihara did not put up any privacy fences on his Facebook account. Weston had a flip through the 36 pages of musings and exchanges posted there over the last 18 months.

Where's the cash? Doctors tell Flaherty to cough up promised $500 million

2009-11-05T08:18:49-05:00

Health-care professionals called on the federal government Wednesday to proceed with shelved plans to give $500 million to Canada Health Infoway, a federal agency that this week, received a clean bill of managerial health from Auditor General Sheila Fraser.

Feds insist on a separate sign - that cities must pay for - promoting its stimulus plan

2009-11-05T08:16:03-05:00

Municipalities are being told if they want federal infrastructure cash, they have to pay for and install additional signs at each project promoting the federal government's economic action plan.

Public Safety, Immigration dept get failing Auditor General failing grades

2009-11-03T14:01:11-05:00

Here's my bottom line take on the Auditor General's report just tabled in the House of Commons.

Tories continue to dominate political financing

2009-10-30T20:19:03-04:00

Canadians are putting their money where their mouths are when it comes to political preferences. Data published late Friday by Elections Canada show the Conservative Party of Canada continues to dominate its political rivals when it comes to fundraising, just as the party dominates its rivals in opinion polls. For the three-month period ending September 30 — a period when it appeared the country was headed for yet another general election — nearly 40,000 Canadians wrote a cheque for the Tories. The total value of their contributions was about $3.8 million.

Mike Weir, Buzz, Mansbridge and yer full list of Order of Canada recipients, ceremony next week

2009-10-30T10:53:43-04:00

Governor General Michaelle Jean announced the list this morning of those who will receive next Thursday Canada's highest civilian honour, the Order of Canada. The order was created in 1967 and, since then more than 5,000 noteworthy Canadians have received it. This time around, Jean is lifting three exceptional types from the Officer class up to the top spot -- the Companion. The ceremony honouring the 3 new companions, 11 new officers, and 21 new members will be held at Rideau Hall in Ottawa next Thursday morning.

Jack Layton decries "sexist" heckling from Conservatives in the Commons

2009-10-28T16:47:27-04:00

As a parliamentarian, as a man, a father, a grandfather, I call on the government's leadership to really get a grip on its members and set a higher standard.

Integrity of lobbying watchdog threatened by PMO: Opposition

2009-10-28T07:32:35-04:00

Opposition politicians accused officials in the Prime Minister's Office of threatening the integrity of the independent Commissioner of Lobbying, in the wake of revelations that the watchdog was investigating a lobbyist firm with close connections to senior Ottawa Conservatives.

Pandemic planning gap: Can the Internet handle everyone working from home?

2009-10-26T19:53:52-04:00

The Government Accountability Office -- Washington's rough equivalent to Canada's Office of the Auditor General -- gave itself what you might think is an esoteric question: If a global pandemic like the H1N1 flu forces a whole pile of to stay home and telecommute using our home Internet services, could the Internet handle the extra traffic and, more importantly, could financial markets continue to function given their dependency on the availability of plenty of bandwidth?

More on KIP grants: Addressing the issue of university money skewing results

2009-10-26T10:59:04-04:00

Three universities are in CPC ridings; three are in Liberal ridings; two are in NDP ridings, one is a BQ riding and 1 -- the University of Toronto, received money for three campuses, in NDP, Liberal, and CPC territories. Based on that sample, I'm not so sure excluding universities would show a much different trend.

Knowledge Infrastructure Program: Libs and NDP getting more and I get attacked for saying so

2009-10-25T21:10:50-04:00

I should also note that last week, there were perfectly appropriate and defensible analyses of other infrastructure programs that did not look at "qualifying institutions". I've adopted some of the basic methodologies and assumptions of some of my colleagues who did those analsyses and I plan to continue with the same "rules" as I look at other programs or -- if Prime Minister Stephen Harper ever keeps his word and releases the entire list of infrastructure spending -- as I look at the thousands of projects funded by the entire $62 billion economic stimulus plan.

Gasp! The Atlas of Canada has made a grievous error!

2009-10-23T12:46:24-04:00

But the Atlas of Canada, normally as an authoritative reference work as you can get, has Lebel's riding of Roberval-Lac Saint Jean coloured Bloc Quebecois-blue.

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 ...

The coming era of fiscal restraint

2009-10-20T15:43:55-04:00

TD Bank's chief economist Don Drummond and his director of ecnomic analysis Derek Burleton take a look today at the books of federal and provincial governments [PDF] and, though they've been among the gloomiest of forecasters during this recession, their latest report, while grim, is not the most dire in the world. They conclude that, if federal and provincial governments want to get back in the black by fiscal 2016 -- which they believe to be an ambitious target -- it can be done but governments will have to slow growth in government spending to 2 per cent year. Of course, as they point out, no government in office has demonstrated anything close to that kind of discipline.

Can we go off the record? No. Here's the ground rules

2009-10-19T17:52:08-04:00

I've tried to be up-front and clear with all my sources on one crucial point: If you are a politician, a political staffer or a political appointee, you should always consider yourself on-the-record at all times if you're talking to me. That said, I tell my sources when I meet them for the first time, there is still a way for us to have a frank, candid conversation where you could have a reasonable expectation your name and the things you say won't be all over the paper (or Twitter or this blog) shortly after.

Coming soon? Five bucks just ain't what it used to be...

2009-10-17T08:48:10-04:00

Yer editorial cartoon in this morning's Regina Leader-Post

From Mr. Angry to the Piano Man: Can Canadians like the prime minister?

2009-10-17T08:19:38-04:00

It may seem crass or shallow, but a politician's "likability" can be the extra intangible that, in Canadian politics, can mean the difference between minority and majority governments. "Absolutely," said Darrell Bricker, CEO of polling firm Ipsos Reid. "When you take a look at a guy like (former Liberal prime minister Jean) Chretien, that was clearly the case. People liked him. They saw him as a guy just like them. But that has always been the missing factor with Harper. He was seen almost like an accountant or a funeral director, very mannered and cold." ...

Conservatives and their cheques: "the potential to do tremendous damage" to their standing

2009-10-15T06:57:14-04:00

Ivison: "This has the potential to do tremendous damage to the Conservatives. All the polling shows that their Achilles' Heel is the perception that they have a tendency to put their party's interests ahead of the country's."

Conservatives and government advertising: What are the rules?

2009-10-14T13:26:50-04:00

The Liberals also accused the Harper government of violating federal advertising guidelines in cheque presentation ceremonies — the "grip-and-grin" media events where a local MP hands over an oversized cheque to a local group. The Liberals say they have more than 50 examples where a Conservative MP hands over what Easter called "Government of Canada cheques disguised as Conservative cheques."

Tutu, Sarkozy thumbs up; Taliban thumbs down on Obama's Nobel Peace Prize

2009-10-09T10:10:04-04:00

The Taliban says:

"We have seen no change in his strategy for peace. He has done nothing for peace in Afghanistan," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Agence France Presse. "We condemn the award of the Nobel Peace Prize for Obama,'" he said by telephone from an undisclosed location. "When Obama was elected president, we were hopeful he would keep his promise to bring change. But he brought no change, he has continued the same old strategy as (President George W.) Bush."

GG v. PM: I'm the Head of State. No, you're not. Yes, I am ...

2009-10-09T08:55:51-04:00

And now, a freshly updated GG Web site (according to Maclean's John Geddes) makes the case that, yes, the GG is the head of state:

In 1947, the Letters Patent of King George VI transferred all the duties of Head of State of Canada to the Governor General and the new Commission of Appointment referred to the Office of Governor General and Commander-in-Chief in and over Canada...

More Tory Patronage: Finley makes 12 friends happy

2009-10-08T12:02:11-04:00

Going through e-mail this morning that has piled up over the last couple of days, I came upon a message from Mike Savage, the Liberal MP from Dartmouth, NS, who is also his party's critic on Human Resources and Social Development Canada. Diane Finley is that department's minister. Savage's office reviewed some recent appointments Finley made to Canada Pension Plan Review Tribunals and to Employment Insurance Act Board of Referees. Lo and behold, Savage finds that 12 appointees have close ties to the Conservative party of Canada.

News flash! Conservatives and Liberals united on tough-on-crime bill

2009-10-07T17:44:46-04:00

Bill C-25 has just cleared the House of Commons and is off to the House of Sober Second Thought. This bill would "limit the credit a judge may allow for any time spent in pre-sentencing custody in order to reduce the punishment to be imposed at sentencing, commonly called credit for time served." It is known by its shorthand as the "two-for-one" bill because judges would often give a criminal two days credit for every day spent in jail before conviction. Some smart criminals (isn't that an oxymoron? - ed), knowing that they face certain conviction would take advantage of that by forgoing bail and delaying trial. Then, as soon as they knew they'd been in jail long enough, they'd plead guilty and get their lawyer to convince a judge to apply the two-for-one rule. The Conservatives want to put an end to that . . .

Gilles Duceppe on Prime Minister Ringo Starr: Try Canadian Idol!

2009-10-05T17:39:49-04:00

Duceppe: Well, I think he was a good singer. And now if he could start answering questions in the House he could be a good Prime Minister. It's not the case yet.

Ottawa spends millions on high-ethanol vehicles that don't cut emissions

2009-10-03T08:58:20-04:00

Ottawa's push to use high-level ethanol fuel in cars is doing little or nothing to cut Canada's greenhouse gas emissions nor will it, says a government briefing note prepared for Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt and obtained by Canwest News Service.