For fiscal 2007, the Department of Finance will seek Parliament’s approval to spend $73.7–billion. (p455).

Here are the big ticket items in that request:

• Interest and service costs related to the public debt plus funding for Canada Investment and Savings will be $34.4–billion.*
• Health Canada transfer costs $20.1–billion
• Fiscal Equalization ...   more »

One of the most popular items that gets “A-TIPPED” — this weird word is used as a verb and it means “filing a request under federal Access to Information and Protection of Privacy legislation” — are the briefing books that newly sworn in cabinet ministers get. When you A-TIP or ATIP ...   more »

I learned today (and reported on CTV Newsnet a few minutes ago) that the Prime Minister may ramp up his confrontation with the Parliamentary Press Gallery by refusing to attend the annual Parliamentary Press Gallery Dinner.

My sources indicate that Stephen Harper plans to tell his caucus at a future ...   more »

The Canadian Forces public relations personnel issued this note this afternoon, in the wake of Capt. Goddard’s death.

Today, women represent approximately 15% of the Canadian Forces population. More than 7900 women are currently serving in the regular force and more than 4800 women are serving in the primary ...   more »

Minutes before Canada’s MPs began debating the idea of extending Canada’s mission in Afghanistan, the news reached Ottawa that a Canadian soldier was killed in a firefight earlier in the day south of Kandahar. The dead soldier is Captain Nichola Goddard (left).

Here is part of the text ...   more »

Liberal MPs spent a long time at their national caucus meeting. When it finished, interim Leader Bill Graham had this to say about tonight’s debate and vote on whether to extend Canada’s mission in Afghanistan:

Our caucus is totally and utterly united around that mission and around that objective.  The ...   more »

One of the hot topics in U.S. politics right now is claims, first reported in USA Today, that the government is eavesdropping on the phone calls made by Americans between other Americans living in America.

Today, Verizon, one of the largest phone companies in the U.S. issued a statement...   more »

The Akin family stops a couple of times a year in Blind River, on Lake Huron’s north shore, most often for coffee at the Tim Horton’s there, but sometimes for an overnight stay or a meal. We do this because my wife is from Nipigon, Ont. and, as she hates flying, ...   more »

I realize it's halfway through May but I'm finally able to find the time to look at what April's readers of this blog found most popular.
In April, 2004, I was thrilled to see 5,000 unique visitors to this blog, most of whom seemed to enjoy a post spoofing ...   more »

As I reported last night, there are a group of MPs from only — so far as I can tell — the Conservative and Liberal parties who would push for a vote in the House of Commons on any issue that would lead to the restriction or elimination of abortion ...   more »