Go to The Globe and Mail

 

Blogs

Featured:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is ferried to the HMCS Ville de Quebec frigate, which was anchored off Port of Spain, on Sunday, November 29, 2009.

Monday, November 30, 2009 8:34 AM

PM flouts law of the sea

Jane Taber

1. HST and the national unity card. There is much at stake when it comes to the controversial issue of the harmonized-sales tax: big decisions for political leaders but also a big decision for the country. Michael Ignatieff and his Liberals are still thinking about what they should do about the vote this week to give Ontario and British Columbia the ability to move forward on the controversial policy.

The NDP knows exactly what it will do and has for sometime now — vote against it. And the Bloc Québécois has an idea, too. It signaled late last week that it might support the government’s motion. And the Bloc’s support is creating much consternation.

Here is the problem: on CTV’s Question Period yesterday, Chris Delaney, a senior member of the B.C. Conservative Party, said he wants the Bloc to “abstain” from the vote. “I can’t imagine what that’s going to do to national unity if we have a separatist party voting to implement a tax in British Columbia without British Columbians having a say on it.” Interesting point.

2. The politics of the other football game. Environment Minister Jim Prentice will be wearing a Queen’s University jacket to the Commons today after losing a bet to his colleague and Queen’s alumnus, Transport Minister John Baird.

The two had wagered on the Vanier Cup — Mr. Prentice, a Calgary native (who was actually educated at the University of Alberta and Nova Scotia’s Dalhousie University) had bet that the University of Calgary Dinos would beat the Golden Gaels. No such luck. The underdog Gaels prevailed in a dramatic come-from-behind victory.

Not one to gloat, Mr. Baird sent a simple message on his BlackBerry to Mr. Prentice just after the game ended Saturday: 12 smiley faces. Mr. Prentice chuckled.

3. Stephen Harper: danger man. Our Prime Minister is a risk-taker — not just for the way in which he governs (his ideas can at times be politically risky but he pushes ahead anyway) but for the way in which he handles his personal life.

Yesterday, while attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Trinidad he took time to visit HMCS Ville de Quebec that was there providing security for the summit. But as he was being ferried across the open water on a dinghy, that appeared to be moving very quickly, he was photographed in his business suit, clearly not wearing a life jacket. The military officials with him, however, were wearing lifejackets.

"It wasn't obligatory," Dimitri Soudas, Mr. Harper's spokesman, told The Globe by way of explanation. "It depends on the craft that you're in."

Now, this is not the first time that the Prime Minister has cavalierly risked life and limb: A photo op for the home renovation tax credit in January showed him without protective eye gear while operating a nail gun. We have the pictures to prove it.

(Photo: The Prime Minister Stephen Harper is ferried to HMCS Ville de Quebec yesterday in Trinidad. Chris Wattie/Reuters)

Latest Comments

Latest posts from the Ottawa Notebook

Can MPs keep their snouts out of postal trough? Mar 12, 2010 7:46PM EST

More Canadians leaning right, poll finds Mar 12, 2010 4:53PM EST

Where would Dimitri Soudas have worn jersey if he lost? Mar 12, 2010 4:46PM EST

Grim 1940 warning surfaces amid rising native TB rates Mar 12, 2010 12:36PM EST

Statscan good, Kevin Page bad, PMO says Mar 12, 2010 9:33AM EST

Latest posts from the Ottawa Notebook

More posts from our political blogs

Blogolitics

'The Red & White House' Mar 12, 2010 4:07PM EST

Andrew Steele

Who leads Ontario’s NDP? Mar 11, 2010 5:40PM EST

Bruce Anderson

Harper's foreign-ownership math Mar 11, 2010 12:32PM EST

Blogolitics

In Quotes: Seal Meat Mar 11, 2010 8:12AM EST

Andrew Steele

The X-files approach Mar 10, 2010 5:48PM EST

Ottawa Notebook Contributors

Jane Taber, senior political writer

Jane Taber

Jane Taber has been on Parliament Hill since the Mulroney days, first writing for the Ottawa Citizen in 1986. Since then, she's reported for a small television network, WTN, and for the National Post before joining The Globe’s parliamentary bureau in 2002. She is the senior political writer and also co-host of Question Period, which airs Sundays on CTV.

 
John Ibbitson

John Ibbitson

John Ibbitson started at The Globe in 1999 and has been Queen's Park columnist and Ottawa political affairs correspondent. Most recently, he was a correspondent and columnist in Washington, where he wrote Open and Shut: Why America has Barack Obama and Canada has Stephen Harper. He returned to Ottawa as bureau chief in 2009. Before joining The Globe, he worked as a reporter, columnist and Queen’s Park correspondent for Southam papers.

 

Steven Chase

Steven Chase has covered federal politics in Ottawa for The Globe since mid-2001. He's previously worked in the paper's Vancouver and Calgary bureaus. Prior to that, he reported on Alberta politics for the Calgary Herald and the Calgary Sun, and on national issues for Alberta Report. He's had ink-stained hands for far longer though, having worked as a paperboy for the (now defunct) Montreal Star, the Winnipeg Free Press, the Vancouver Sun and the North Shore News.

 
Deputy Ottawa bureau chief Campbell Clark

Campbell Clark

Campbell Clark has been a political writer in The Globe and Mail’s Ottawa bureau since 2000. Before that he worked for The Montreal Gazette and the National Post. He writes about Canadian politics and foreign policy. He stopped being fascinated by ShamWow commercials after that guy’s nasty incident in Florida, but still wonders if one can really pull a truck with that Mighty Putty stuff.

 

Bill Curry

A member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery since 1999, Bill Curry worked for The Hill Times and the National Post prior to joining The Globe in Feb. 2005. Originally from North Bay, Ont., Bill reports on a wide range of topics on Parliament Hill. He is very protective of the office’s brand new copy of O’Brien & Bosc, the latest Parliamentary rule book.

 

Gloria Galloway

Gloria Galloway has been a journalist for almost 30 years. She worked at the Windsor Star, the Hamilton Spectator, the National Post, the Canadian Press and a number of small newspapers before being hired by The Globe and Mail as deputy national editor in 2001. Gloria returned to reporting two years later and joined the Ottawa bureau in 2004. She has covered every federal election since 1997 and has done several stints in Afghanistan.

 

Daniel Leblanc

Daniel Leblanc studied political science at the University of Ottawa and journalism at Carleton University. He became a full-time reporter in 1998, first at the Ottawa Citizen and then in the Ottawa bureau of The Globe and Mail. While he likes the occasional brown envelope, he is also open to anonymous emails.

 

Stephen Wicary

Stephen Wicary has been with The Globe since 2001, working on the news desk as a copy editor, page designer, production editor and front page editor. During the U.S invasion of Iraq, he pulled a three-month stint as overnight editor of the website. He moved to the parliamentary bureau at the end of 2008 to bolster online political coverage.