David Akin's On the Hill

Liberal lines on H1N1

2009-11-05T17:10:00-05:00

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

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

"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

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

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"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Gun registry, H1N1 and Dalton Days: Thursday's audio summary of newspaper headlines and Parliamentary daybook

2009-11-05T08:12:00-05:00

The gun registry, H1N1, and 'Dalton Days': Listen to my three-minute audio summary of leading front page headlines plus highlights from Thursday''s Parliamentary daybook by clicking on the link below

GM, H1N1, and the AG: Wednesday's Top Newspaper headlines read for you

2009-11-04T07:53:00-05:00

General Motors, H1N1, and the Auditor General: Listen to my three-minute audio summary of leading front page headlines plus highlights from Wednesday's Parliamentary daybook by clicking on the link below. You can also get these audio summaries via podcast from iTunes or via an RSS feed by subscribing to my ...

Public Safety, Immigration dept get failing Auditor General failing grades

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

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

H1N1, Montreal politics and goats in Tuesday's front page summaries

2009-11-03T06:33:00-05:00

H1N1, Montreal politics, and a goat story: Listen to my four-minute audio roundup of what's on the front pages of the country's newspapers plus highlights from Tuesday's Parliamentary daybook by clicking on the link below

Reaction to the Apps 'Katrina' letter

2009-11-02T21:22:00-05:00

Alf Apps himself called me to say that, despite what a network broadcaster reported upon reading the letter posted here, this was most definitely not a fundraising letter. Apps, in fact, was incensed that his letter was misreported that way. We suggested no such thing here but I'm happy to help set straight whatever record needs to be set straight.

Liberal Party prez says H1N1 is Harper's "Hurricane Katrina"

2009-11-02T17:19:00-05:00

This morning, Liberal Party President Alfred Apps circulated the following letter, saying Prime Minister Stephen Harper has "spun the roulette wheel" in relation to public health and then aks "Is the H1N1 pandemic the "Hurricane Katrina" of our own laissez-faire, fend for yourself government??

Monday's top newspaper headlines + Parliamentary daybook

2009-11-02T06:51:00-05:00

Afghanistan, car insurance, and H1N1: Listen to my four-minute audio summary of leading front page headlines plus highlights from Friday's Parliamentary daybook by clicking on the link below. You can also get these audio summaries via podcast from iTunes or via an RSS feed by subscribing to my AudioBoo stream. ...

Progressive blogger join White House press pool; Republicans raise eyebrows

2009-10-31T19:55:00-04:00

Progressive (i.e. liberal) online-only outlets Talking Points Memo, Salon and Ebony are joining the White House Press Pool. The Huffington Post will soon join as well. It wasn't the Obama administration that approved their application to join this group; it was other reporters, through the White House Correspondents Association.

Tories continue to dominate political financing

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

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

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

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.

Top Headlines for Fri Oct 30 plus Parliamentary Datebook

2009-10-30T08:59:00-04:00

N1, the Olympic Torch, and 58-year-old politician who fights off carjackers: Listen to my three-minute audio summary of leading front page headlines plus highlights from Friday's Parliamentary daybook by clicking on the link below.

Khadr, H1N1 top front pages + Parliamentary daybook for Thursday

2009-10-29T07:02:00-04:00

An exclusive on the Omar Khadr story and lots of H1N1 news: Listen to my three audio summary of leading front page headlines plus highlights from Thursday's Parliamentary daybook by clicking on the link below. You can also get these audio summaries via podcast from iTunes or via an RSS feed by subscribing to my AudioBoo stream. Both the iTunes link and the RSS link are at my profile at AudioBoo.fm.

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

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

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

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

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.

Top newspaper headlines and your Parliamentary daybook for Wednesday

2009-10-28T07:29:00-04:00

--No Content--

Happy birthday National Post - from a day-oner back on page C13

2009-10-27T23:17:00-04:00

I was a day-oner at National Post, which celebrated its 11th anniversary today. Actually I wasn't so much a day-oner as a day-minus-121'er. My first day in the only newsroom the Post has ever known, in Don Mills in Toronto's northeast end, was in mid-summer four months or so ...

The Colours of (Stephen Harper's) Canada: That would be Pantone #333399

2009-10-27T13:43:00-04:00

Liberal researches are distributing the following images, which I pass along without comment, other than to say the top image compares covers of the printed copy of the Governor General's Throne Speech to the cover of the Conservative Party platform document from the last election. The bottom compares colour schemes ...

Yes. I saw Custer bleeding

2009-10-27T13:08:00-04:00

Now, is it possible that, in the melee as 120 people were being physically thrown out of the House of Commons, that Custer punched himself in the face to produce that blood. I guess he could have but he was bleeding from the mouth and it seems to me you'd really have to whack yourself to get your mouth bleeding. Did I see him getting punched by security personnel, as he says? No. But, as I said, I did seem in handcuffs with two RCMP officers on either side of him with a line of blood coming out of his mouth.

Outburst in the House of Commons: A bloody, noisy protest

2009-10-27T06:34:00-04:00

Six people were arrested and released, and two were injured — one bleeding from his mouth — after more than 120 people were forcibly removed from the House of Commons on Monday after interrupting question period with a climate-change protest - with audio files of what it sounded like.

An audio tour of top headlines in the country's top papers plus the Parliamentary daybook

2009-10-27T06:27:00-04:00

Peril for the pipeline project; H1N1 stories everywhere -- and the National Post's 11th birthday! Get my three-and-a-half-minute audio summary of leading front page headlines plus highlights from Tuesday's Parliamentary daybook by clicking on the link below. You can get these summaries via podcast from iTunes incidentally by subscribing to my AudioBoo stream. You can also get an RSS feed for my audio updates. Both the iTunes link and the RSS link are at my profile at AudioBoo.fm. Look under my picture on the left hand side of the page.

Listen!

h1n1, mackenzie valley pipeline, newspapers, national post

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.