Mark Warner, who had won the right to lead what would most likely have been a futile Conservative charge against Bog Rae in the riding of Toronto Centre, has been told that his services are no longer required. In Guelph, Brent Barr won the CPC nomination but head office told him he can't have it ...   more »

And, if that's not bad enough, there were a lot more Canadians in the three month period ending Sept. 30 willing to cut a cheque to Jack Layton's party than to Stephane Dion's party. Elections Canada released third quarter party financial return transactions a few minutes ago. I've got lots of number-crunching to go through but here's the basic scorecard: When it comes to contributions from individuals, it's probably about time to talk about the Big Blue Machine: The Conservative Party of Canada found more than 32,800 people who would write a cheque to Stephen Harper's team and the party collected a total of $3.15-million from those individuals.

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I got three questions in the q-and-a that followed and here they are: Akin: Your party said during the election campaign you would never tax income trusts.... So as soon as we get into the new year and people get their T4's and so on they can go ahead and get more money than they would have had, assuming our notice of Ways and Means Motion passes in the House of Commons.

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This just in from the Forest Products Association of Canada:

The Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) announced today that Canada’s forest products industry, a global leader in sustainable forest management, is setting a new bar for environmental responsibility and action on climate change: industry-wide carbon-neutrality by 2015 without ...   more »

Today in the House of Commons, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced that he will present the government’s annual economic update at 4 pm Ottawa time tomorrow. The fact that he is presenting this update after the markets closed has not gone unnoticed.

The federal budget, for example, is announced after ...   more »

The Vancouver Province devoted several full pages on over the last two days detailing an investigation into Liberal MP’s Blair Wilson’s financial history.

Among the allegations against Wilson, The Province has learned:

• Wilson did not report campaign expenses to Elections Canada and paid for supplies off the books, in cash, ...   more »

For the last several  days, the Liberals have used much of their time during Question Period to suggest that the Conservatives violated election spending laws. Something tells me we may hear about a different topic today:

Statement by the Honourable Stéphane Dion, Leader of the Official Opposition, on the Resignation ...   more »

Urgent call for help!!!!

Next month, I'll be one of the rookies on a an award-winning trivia team that will be participating in World Trivia Night here in Ottawa. This event raises a lot of money for a children's charity.
One of the pre-event competitions has our team frantically trying ...   more »

From today's Washington Post: NATO Conflicted Over Afghanistan As War-Torn Country Backslides, Allies Differ on How to Stabilize It KABUL -- Four years after NATO began an expanded mission in Afghanistan, members of the 26-nation alliance are divided over anti-drug and reconstruction policies, rising civilian casualties and what some say is heavy-handed U.S. leadership, according to interviews with military officials and diplomats.... NATO's internal conflicts are playing out against a background of increasing violence in Afghanistan, where the extremist Taliban group is resurgent, suicide attacks and roadside bombings are on the rise, and opium production is at an all-time high.

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...six weeks after the 17-city “reasonable accommodation” road show got under way and derogatory remarks against Jews, Muslims, Sikhs and other religious minorities started flying – it seems that Quebecers think the chairmen were right to worry. In a new poll, 62 per cent – rising to 74 per cent in central Quebec, scene of the Hérouxville controversy – said the commission should have done something from the outset to prevent racist and anti-Semitic statements from being expressed.

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