Opposition Leader Stephane Dion just announced a mini-shuffle of his critics. Montreal MP Marlene Jennings becomes deputy house leader taking over from fellow Montreal Lucienne Robillard, who is retiring. There is no missing Jennings in the House, if you ever have the chance to visit during QP: She is a ...   more »

One of the reasons, some market experts believe, for the monster selloff yesterday (and future selloffs down the road) was a concern that the large 're-insurers" of mortgages were having their credit rating downgraded.

One of those is Ambac Financial Group Inc. of New York. Here's how it Ambac fits into the ecosystem:...   more »

The morning after I reported on yesterday’s stock market carnage, there have been a few developments. The U.S. Federal Reserve surprised some by cutting its key interest rate by 75 basis points. The Bank of Canada cut, too, but while some thought it ought to be aggressive ...   more »

Former Liberal deputy prime minister John Manley today presented his panel’s report on Afghanistan to Prime Minister Harper. From the panel’s press release:

"We owe it to the Afghans, to our allies and to our own future security needs to give this mission every possible chance to succeed," says John ...   more »

The Australian Air Force this week took delivery Friday of its fourth and final Boeing C-17 Globemaster (left), the very same plane that the Canadian Air Force is buying: "Just two years after Australia decided to purchase four Globemasters for the heavy air lift role, the accelerated acquisition program has delivered the giant aircraft on time and on budget . . .
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First, U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates had to mend fences here after he seemed to criticize Canadian troops in Afghanistan. Now, Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier is paying back the favour, mending fences with the U.S. after we reported on Wednesday night that Canadian diplomats had a “Torture Awareness” training ...   more »

I just came back from the House of Commons foyer where I was taping a segment for broadcast this weekend on CTV Ottawa and noticed that the Commons was filled with university students from Queen’s University in Kingston, holding what is, I understand, a model  Parliament.

As I peeked in, ...   more »

Liberal leader Stephane Dion made his ill-advised comments Wednesday in Quebec City. We reported them on our national newscast that night. The Prime Minister and the Pakistan high commissioner reacted to them Thursday. Now, in what is beginning to look like piling on — perhaps in order to keep voter ...   more »

Here are the lines the Opposition Leader’s Office (OLO) is sending out in the wake of the brushback from Pakistan, the Prime Minister, and others to a comment made earlier this week in Quebec City in which Liberal Leader Stephane Dion made it sound an awful lot like ...   more »

Earlier this week at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, I reported on the activities of Chinese car makers eager to crack the North American market. China had four car makers and an importer at the show including Chamco (that’s its SUV, right), BYD, Changfeng and ...   more »