David Akin's On the Hill

How to fix forestry, manufacturing, etc.: No political consensus

2009-06-28T18:07:21-04:00

A special subcommittee of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology (Twitter hashtag: #CINDU) spend the last several weeks hearing from witnesses in forestry, aerospace, mining, manufacturing, and other ailing industrial sectors in the Canadian economy. The subcommittee's report, just out last week, provides a good, conventional and relatively brief summary of how we got here, separating out factors that we can chalk up to the recession and factors that we can chalk up to ongoing structural change some of these sectors. The recommendations, however, were not unanimous among the parties. Here's some of the things that stood out for me . . .

Jane's just plain wrong: Lots of influential women in Harper's PMO

2009-06-26T23:15:21-04:00

But other staffers, even those who have come in for a dressing-down by Byrne on those conference calls, says she has to be that tough because the meeting after her daily 7:15 a.m. call with staffers is with the prime minister and it's her job to make sure he is not surprised by anything a reporter or opposition politician might say that day. When Sandra Buckler (another woman) was Harper''s director of communications, I'm told that she and Byrne often tussled over what the message of the day ought to be and then Buckler would decide how that message would be delivered.

Regina, Toronto, St. John's top the list of metropolitan economic engines

2009-06-24T09:42:41-04:00

Regina and Saskatoon placed 1 and 4 on the list, a sign of Saskatchewan's new title as economic wunderkid among the provinces. Both cities have the highest population growth right now in Canada, Regina's employment growth is second only to St. John's and it has the lowest unemployment rate in the country at 4 per cent.

Weather forecasters do important work, says study by weather forecasters

2009-06-23T10:22:58-04:00

The press release also has this paragraph which I'm quite sure even a non-scientist could have concluded:

Many people use forecasts for planning specific activities, such as vacations, and routine daily activities, such as deciding what to wear and how to get to work or school. The peak periods for accessing forecasts are the early morning, early evening, and late evening, says (Lazo's co-author Julie) Demuth.

Ottawa gives group handout so group can promote life without handouts

2009-06-22T21:51:31-04:00

I always thought that being an entrepreneur meant you didn't need government handouts? Am I missing something here?

Iran, embassies, and Italy: The latest rxn from Ottawa

2009-06-22T21:38:26-04:00

... please note that reports that the Canadian Embassy in Iran was turning away people seeking sanctuary are false. Embassy staff are making every attempt to ensure services provided, particular consular services, remain unaffected by the situation. To our knowledge, no embassies in Tehran have provided shelter to injured foreign nationals. We are aware of media reports that Italy may open its embassy to wounded protesters ...

World Bank vs TD Bank: Who's more of a bear?

2009-06-22T20:49:29-04:00

In fact, according to the TD number crunchers, when it and the World Bank uses the same forecasting model, the World Bank has the global economy shrinking by just 1.7 per cent next year compared to 1.9 per cent for the TD guys.

Feel better now?

Note to Minister: Please wear blue shirt and khaki pants

2009-06-22T20:08:44-04:00

So you can understand how relieved I was when the Prime Minister's Office e-mailed their handout photo-du-jour to press gallery reporters. It is a picture of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty reviewing Important Documents today at Willson House which overlooks beautiful Meech Lake, Quebec....

Canada's info commish quits

2009-06-22T12:10:50-04:00

Canada's fourth and current Information Commissioner, Robert Marleau, announced today his retirement from public life effective June 29, 2009. In a letter to notify the Governor in Council of his decision, he explained that his reasons for doing so are entirely personal and of a private nature.

Coming back to Canada's tech leaders, it feels a little too familiar

2009-06-22T10:19:49-04:00

The core complaints of the industry have not changed. Not enough angel investors. We don't support venture capitalists well enough. Government and other industry sectors don't buy enough tech stuff from Canadian companies. Canadian companies spend next to nothing (relatively speaking) on research and development. . . .

Minister uses Twitter to spread the word on Canada's embassy in Iran

2009-06-21T22:10:36-04:00

[Tweet at 1842 Sunday night] Some posters mistakingly believe that western embassies are sheltering wounded protestors in Tehran, except Canada. I've looked into this ...

[Tweet at 1843 Sunday night] ... and its completely untrue. Canada has contacted all relevant embassies in Tehran to enquire. None are doing so: they ca

Scientists on MAPLEs: Don't let this be another Avro Arrow

2009-06-19T16:20:57-04:00

A parallel path followed with urgency can bring the already built MAPLE reactors to an operating state or perhaps the next six to eighteen months. And such a strategy offers the best prospect for putting Canada on a firm footing for assurance of supply.[of medical isotopes] ... there are two MAPLE reactors, each with the capacity to deliver more than the current world requirement. Positive PCR requires a relatively simple engineering fix to restrain the bowing of the elements and to reduce the PCR to approximately zero. I thank you for your attention, and I hope this doesn't turn into another Avro Arrow.

MAPLEs were four months away from working

2009-06-19T13:25:29-04:00

The engineering team that built the MAPLE nuclear reactors at Chalk River, Ont., was four months away from fixing a technical problem that had kept them from getting a licence when the project was cancelled, MPs were told Thursday...

Twitter pointers for Canada and U.S. political junkies

2009-06-18T23:05:31-04:00

If you want to see what official Ottawa is doing on Twitter, I'm trying to maintain a directory of what I call Political Twits. It ain't pretty, but there you'll find the Twitter handles of any MP I find on Twitter, any Parliament Hill staffer, Hill journalist, or Hill hanger-on. You'll also find a links to institutions in official Ottawa -- the Canadian War Museum is a good example -- as well as any hashtag I can find or create associated with the work of the federal government. My directory is not for people talking about federal politics, it's a directory of the people actually engaged in federal politics -- the primary sources. As it says on the home page of that directory, if you've got something send it along.

NDP got billions; Libs got a working group

2009-06-17T11:16:16-04:00

In 2005, Jack Layton won $4.6 billion in new investments in housing and transit in exchange for supporting the minority government of Paul Martin. In 2009, Michael Ignatieff got a working group and an opposition day for supporting the minority government of Stephen Harper.

Liberal press release: Ignatieff and Harper come to terms

2009-06-17T11:04:14-04:00

This just in from the Liberals, spelling out the deal that has been struck. One key to note -- Liberals get a chance in late September to table a non-confidence motion so if they want a fall election, that will give them the opportunity. Otherwise, Liberals would not have had that chance until the fall:

Jeff Jarvis' Twitter pic

2009-06-17T00:06:42-04:00

What is Jarvis signalling to his blog readers/tweeps with that kind of photo? I'll guess: He's important enough to get on MSNBC and you're not. He's saying: My opinion's more important than yours because I get to go on TV and talk about the dolts who go on TV to talk about what dolts you see on TV

Liberals duel with Flaherty on deficit

2009-06-16T23:18:28-04:00

Flaherty insists once normal growth resumes, tax revenues will naturally rise even as the extra spending required during a recession eases and that will let the government of the day balance the budget without tax increases or spending cuts. The government predicts a balanced budget by the end of 2014, a forecast Flaherty stuck to Tuesday. The Liberals say he's dreaming.

Nortel CEO will explain bonuses to MPs

2009-06-16T23:16:25-04:00

The chief executive officer of Nortel Networks Corp., has been summoned to appear before a House of Commons committee Thursday to explain how he and other senior managers qualified for millions of dollars in bonus payments as pensioners and employees were having their benefits cut or delayed while the company restructures under bankruptcy protection.

Hamilton's reactor ready to step up and replace NRU

2009-06-16T23:14:01-04:00

But Christopher Heysel said a speedy transformation of the McMaster reactor from a multi-purpose research machine to a high-volume isotope producer needs co-operation of other "stakeholders," including Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., the federal government and the nuclear safety regulator. The transformation would be relatively cheap as well, just $30 million over five years, Heysel said.

$1 billion to fix the isotope-producing MAPLEs

2009-06-14T16:58:28-04:00

Raitt: "You know what solves this problem? Money. And if it’s just about money, we’ll figure it out."

How much would it cost to fix the MAPLEs?

AECL: All in, the cost was in excess of $1 billion.

Parliamentary Budget Officer says deficit disappears only with "significant discretionary actions"

2009-06-12T18:20:29-04:00

"Based on our analysis, even the analysis we did a few months ago, it will be very difficult to see a surplus within the next five years without significant discretionary actions," Page said in an interview with Canwest News Service and Global National.

No money to paint Peggy's Cove's lighthouse? Cuzner has an idea..

2009-06-12T13:15:59-04:00

"Being a good Nova Scotian, I will offer them a few ideas. I will offer them a few suggestions. How about this? Fire the republican spin doctors they hired for one month's work. That is $25,000 right there."

The Liberal endgame on the election staredown

2009-06-12T10:44:29-04:00

Layton: "if the Liberals are counting on the NDP in some way, I think they should just look at our record over the last 71 confidence motions and they'll get an idea of where we're coming from. "

Senator Brazeau and his drive-by smear

2009-06-12T10:08:53-04:00

Apparently Senator Patrick Brazeau, who, prior to his appointment to the Senate by Stephen Harper, was chief of the Congress of Aboroginal People's which was often was at odds with the Assembly of First Nations, is not ready for reconciliation with Phil Fontaine for yesterday, Brazeau, in the Senate, accused Fontaine of using his position to benefit family and friends.

Backup MAPLE reactors produced isotopes - plenty of 'em

2009-06-11T22:46:16-04:00

A brand-new backup nuclear reactor at Chalk River, Ont. produced enough medical isotopes during some test runs to supply the needs of every Canadian hospital and clinic, a parliamentary committee was told Thursday, putting a dent in one argument the Conservatives have been using to defend their decision last spring to mothball that backup plan.

MDS Nordion on cancelling MAPLEs: Wrong for Canada

2009-06-11T15:43:18-04:00

"The cancellation of the MAPLE project is a detrimental loss to Canada. The Government of Canada agreed with AECL's decision to abandon the MAPLEs. It was not a reasonable public policy for Canada or the world."

MDS announces financial results and tells a prime minister he's wrong

2009-06-11T08:38:21-04:00

"MDS invested over $350 million in the MAPLE project, and believes that the completion of the MAPLE reactors is the best solution to provide global medical isotope supply."

The transcript: Lisa Raitt apologizes

2009-06-10T13:38:27-04:00

"Today I want to personally communicate my deep regret for wording I used in a private discussion earlier this year which was inadvertently recorded."

PM stands by Raitt despite tape's revelations that she could solve

2009-06-09T07:31:36-04:00

Raitt: "..when we win on this, we get all the credit. I'm ready to roll the dice on this. This is an easy one. You know what solves this problem? Money. And if it's just about money, we'll figure it out. It's not a moral issue.