Canada failing to meet 2020 emissions targets
Canada will fail to meet its 2020 greenhouse gas reductions targets under the Copenhagen Accord even with more regulation of the oil and gas sector, according to a new report and internal government analysis obtained by CBC News.
Liberal support in polls highest since 2009: Nanos Number
Harper and Trudeau tied when Canadians asked who has the qualities of a good leader. Liberal support is the highest it has been since the summer of 2009, when Michael Ignatieff took over the leadership, according to the latest tracking numbers by Nanos Research. The research was done before Senator Mike Duffy made some extraordinary […]
Senior Conservative senator ready to take on Mike Duffy allegations
The Senate Thursday entered a third day of heated debate about the political futures of three senators, with a top Tory in the upper chamber preparing to defend herself against serious allegations levelled by Sen. Mike Duffy. Duffy accused Sen. Marjory LeBreton of involvement in an alleged scheme, orchestrated out of the Prime Minister’s Office, […]
Senators could vote today on a motion to suspend Pamela Wallin, Mike Duffy and Patrick Brazeau from the upper chamber, without pay, for “gross negligence” regarding their Senate expense claims.
Read MoreA retired Liberal senator from Manitoba believes Prime Minister Stephen Harper has no one to blame but himself for the Senate expense scandal. Sharon Carstairs said when she entered the Senate almost 20 years ago, no clear information was given on how senators were expected to file claims if they were appointed from other provinces.
Read MoreIn the tsunami of media coverage of Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau, Canadians may have missed the other Senate story unfolding this week. Long-time Liberal Senator Colin Kenny came under scrutiny when a former aide went public with claims that, when she worked for Kenny, she spent half her time taking care of […]
Read MoreA Liberal private member’s bill has been tabled in the House of Commons that, if passed, could limit both the partisan tenor and volume of federal government advertising. Ottawa MP David McGuinty says the legislation is modelled on a decade-old Ontario provincial law that ensures all government ads are vetted by the auditor general’s office […]
Read MoreThe bungalow where Mayor Rob Ford was photographed with three alleged gang members is described as a “drug house” in an official Toronto Police Services document. Detectives from the organized crime enforcement unit, working on the gangs and gun probe Project Traveller, were watching the house on April 9 “for the purpose of intelligence gathering,” […]
Read MoreStatistics Canada says 511,900 people were getting regular employment insurance benefits in August, up 1.5 per cent, or 7,800, from July. However, the agency says the number of beneficiaries was down 7.8 per cent compared with August 2012.
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How the Liberals and NDP could win or lose the Duffy affair
Remember the Throne Speech? That was eight days ago. The Canada-EU trade deal? Six. “A week is a long time in politics,” quipped British prime minister Harold Wilson in the mid-1960s, and truer words were never spoken. Ask Stephen Harper: his Conservatives are now grasping for the end of this one.
Tory government becoming less and less adept at managing itself
Out of the wreckage of the Senate spending showdown, Stephen Harper found the planks of a reconstructed Conservative narrative on Wednesday. It goes like this: yes former Conservative senator Mike Duffy is being truthful when he says the prime minister ordered him to repay the housing allowance he had received for a P.E.I. cottage he […]
Why would anyone risk so much over a senator’s expenses?
I bought a newspaper this morning. The lady at the counter asked if I wanted a receipt. I said no, but it occurred to me: there must be people who expense these things. That’s why she asked. A newspaper! The kind of people who think it fit to claim a newspaper, or a stick of […]
The Duffy affair: The record speaks volumes
The prime minister’s shop and a fellow called Truth have had a very interesting relationship over the years. It hasn’t always been an easy one. Truth has been taken out to the woodshed on more than a few occasions. The relationship between the two is being closely examined now on account of the sordid portrait […]
More union-bashing as Stephen Harper tries to deflect attention from Senate
Stephen Harper has a tried and true formula to placate his political base: When in trouble, attack either sex offenders or unions. This month, it was Canada’s federal public sector unions who drew the short straw. Under the gun for his handling of the Senate expense scandal, the prime minister has come up with yet […]
Wallin paints a toxic picture of the Tories in her Senate speech
“This is what happens when you are too mean, to too many people, for too long,” said one Conservative. He was speaking with a sense of foreboding, ahead of Pamela Wallin’s speech in the Senate, which was expected to add to the party’s woes. In a sense it did. Ms. Wallin was as elegant as […]
Why Harper will fight Duffy to the bitter end
Senator Mike Duffy had better watch his back. For the federal Conservatives, he has become Public Enemy Number One, a threat to their integrity, electability, and, for some in the Prime Minister’s Office, even their personal liberty. If pursued by the RCMP, Mr. Duffy’s blustery allegations of bribery and extortion (assuming they have any substance) […]
Tales of blackmail and betrayal on the Rideau
If you ever doubted that the Canadian Senate is a toxic institution, doubt no more. Pamela Wallin, now on the verge of expulsion, got up Wednesday and made an impassioned argument that she is being railroaded without due process. Which is absolutely correct. She went on to accuse two diehard Conservative party loyalists, Marjory LeBreton […]
Senate circus a farcical sideshow
Last week Prime Minister Stephen Harper scored his greatest victory to date with the Canada — EU trade deal. This week he’s dragged down into the gutter of Canadian politics by the Senate expense scandal. Or perhaps he dragged himself down. That’s what Sen. Mike Duffy’s incendiary allegations against the prime minister and his office […]
Questions about Senate’s rush to expel
Senators Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau are not exactly figures of public sympathy, to say the least. All were ordered by the Senate to repay tens of thousands of dollars in expenses judged ineligible by independent audits. But the Senate’s move this week — still being debated — to suspend all three without […]
British Columbians can either make their peace with oil pipelines or learn to tolerate even riskier options, watching as crude moves to the coast by railcar and truck. That was the message contained in a recent Fraser Institute report, titled Intermodal Safety in the Transport of Oil. Ironically, the report was issued last week, just […]
Read MoreBy joining the court challenge last week of the democratic rule of 50% plus one in a referendum on Quebec’s secession, Stephen Harper’s government opened up a can of worms it won’t be able to close anytime soon. Nobody is talking about Quebec’s independence anymore in La Belle Province.
Read MoreBank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz changed the direction of Canadian central banking Wednesday, back to what it once was — an international bellwether of cautious common sense focused on inflation. It can also be said that in his first personally stamped Monetary Policy Report since his appointment, Mr. Poloz looked uncannily like the unCarney, […]
Read MoreSometimes accused of political dithering, John Tory has finally made a decision about entering the 2014 Toronto mayoral race. In classic Tory style, though, what he’s decided is to wait until next February before making a final decision on whether to challenge Mayor Rob Ford and NDP MP Olivia Chow in the next election.
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Bruce Jenner — Not Invited to Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s Engagement Surprise
Bruce Jenner was NOT invited to AT&T Park when Kanye West popped the question to Kim Kardashian … in fact, he had no idea his step-daughter was getting engaged until AFTER the fact — TMZ has learned.
