News

Monday, October 26, 2009 11:46 AM

Carolyn Parrish lauds stimulus

Jane Taber

After seven years of writing the Ottawa Notebook for the Saturday newspaper, I'm taking it online every day of the week. We hope to make it a must-read for political junkies by setting up the issues of the day, providing a behind-the-scenes look at some of the players on the Hill and giving you a sense of how the day is unfolding. I hope you enjoy it.

- Jane Taber

* * * * *

The morning buzz: What people are talking about today on Parliament Hill

1. With a little help from their (Liberal) friends.Last week, Jean Chrétien’s past musings were used to bolster the Harper government’s defence of stimulus. Over the weekend, Tories were clutching a missive from none other than former Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish, now a councilor in Mississauga, Ont. In a letter to the editor (it’s not clear to what newspaper), Ms. Parrish defends the Tory stimulus spending: “As a former Liberal MP I recognize that federal politics, can, at times, take on the rythmn and colour of a stage play,” she writes. (Recall that Ms. Parrish was kicked out of Paul Martin's caucus after she stomped on a George Bush doll as a part of a skit on CBC’s This Hour has 22 Minutes. She also called Americans “bastards.”) She continues: “I understand the dramatic cries of outrage that must be flung at the government in power – often backed by somewhat scrambled statistics. But is infrastructure stimulus money being distributed unfairly? NOT!” She says that having first-hand knowledge of political “spin” and the “slings and arrows of the press,” she is a non-partisan now who can set the record straight. Ms. Parrish says that Mississauga is receiving a huge amount of dollars from various stimulus programs and it was city staff, not federal and provincial politicians, who decided which projects to fund. So there! “The feds and the province decided how much we’d get. Council decided where it would be spent. And we are grateful for that autonomy,” she writes. Meanwhile, last week, Infrastructure John Baird mischievously quoted Mr. Chrétien in an exchange over stimulus funding with Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff: “Here is what the Prime Minister said,” Mr. Baird said. “‘Listen. We are the government. I don’t see why we can’t try to get credit for what we do. I hope we do so. There is nothing to be ashamed in that.’ Do members know who said that? It was Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.” Funny.

2. Not a great way to begin your week.Michael Ignatieff woke up this morning to another discouraging national opinion poll. This one shows Stephen Harper's Conservatives with a 15 point leadover Mr. Ignatieff's Liberals and again in majority government territory at 40 per cent support. The Liberals are at 25 per cent, which is the lowest point since Nov. 12, 2008 when Stéphane Dion was still leader, according to the Ipsos-Reid poll conducted for Canwest News Service and Global TV. The NDP are at 13 per cent, the Greens at 11 per cent and the Bloc at 11 per cent nationally but 42 per cent in Quebec - well ahead of the Liberals (22 per cent) and Tories (18 per cent) in the province. The poll notes that Mr. Ignatieff’s strategy to try to bring down the government as soon as possible has backfired and that the Liberals have also paid a price for the internal battles in Quebec. “Ignatieff has to certainly back down now,” Ipsos-Reid’s Darrell Bricker told The Globe. “If these numbers continue to hold up, the Tories will be asking themselves how soon canthey bring in their budget. That's when the true test will come. And, that's when we'll really see if Ignatieff is really the leader of the Liberal Party."

3. Our drowsy capital.The Drowsy Chaperone, the Canadian musical that wowed Broadway audiences several years ago, is attracting lots of attention and the A-list crowd in Ottawa. On Saturday night, new U.S. Ambassador David Jacobson and his wife, Julie, were at the National Arts Centre for the performance. They were there with NAC board of trustees member Adrian Burns and her husband, lawyer Gregory Kane. Also spotted in the audience was Labour Minister Rona Ambrose, who had already seen the musical at the Citadel Theatre in her hometown of Edmonton, which is co-producing the show wit the NAC. Meanwhile, Supreme Court of Canada Justice Rosalie Abella attended the performance on opening night, and one of the musical’s writers, Bob Martin, who also starred in the Broadway production, was there for the preview. The NAC invited Laureen Harper but she declined, having already seen it on Broadway.

4. Hot: Olivia Chow.The Toronto MP was modeling to raise money for the Stephen Lewis Foundation while her husband, NDP Leader Jack Layton, was busking on Danforth Avenue - just another weekend for the political couple. Ms. Chow modeled a coat and dress by designer Kingi Carpenter of Toronto’s Peach Berserk. It featured the faces of grandmothers on chiffon, which is the overlay for a hand silkscreened dress with children’s faces. All of the fabric for the event was sourced in Africa by the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Ms. Chow modeled the outfit Friday night for the Dare to Wear LOVE fashion show fundraiser. It was the closing event for Toronto’s LG Fashion Week.

5. Not: Pension security.Canadians are scared stiff right now about jobs and their future. A protest on Parliament Hill last Wednesday by former Nortel workers and union leaders certainly underscored the concerns. Pension reform is quickly becoming a huge issue among politicians from all parties. Later today, MPs John McCallum and Judy Sgro are holding a press conference to talk about the National Pension Forum, which is being put on by the Liberal Party. This comes as The Globe and Mail reports the federal government is "looking at overhauling tax lawto encourage bigger pension-fund surpluses, as part of a series of reforms to the country's crumbling pension regime to be introduced this fall." Yesterday, on CTV's Question Period, Liberal MP Wayne Easter said that this issue will "certainly be an election issue." "But it is an election into the future," he said. "This is a pre-eminent issue as we start to, as more people, retire and pensions is their security." Tory MP and chairman of the powerful all-party Commons finance committee James Rajotte said that there will be a meeting of federal/provincial finance ministers in December and the issue will be addressed there. "This is a big challenge going forward," he said.

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Friday, October 23, 2009 04:44 PM

Maxime Bernier redeemed

Jane Taber

Maxime Bernier is back in the Prime Minister’s good books.

Stephen Harper toured the Conservative MP’s Quebec riding of Beauce today, marking the first time he has been there since Mr. Bernier was banished to the backbenches after resigning his post as Foreign Affairs minister nearly two years ago.

Mr. Bernier had left secret documents in the apartment of his ex-girlfriend, Julie Couillard, who had ties to the Hell’s Angels. But, all that was forgotten today.

In his remarks as he announced funding for infrastructure upgrades at the local CEGEP, Mr. Harper said that “Max is a great friend and a great member of my team.” He also said that Mr. Bernier had made a mistake a couple of years ago but had owned up to it.

The Prime Minister said Mr. Bernier was “extremely valued” by himself and other Conservative caucus members.

Can a Mr. Bernier's return to cabinet be far off?

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Friday, October 23, 2009 02:24 PM

Harper's bad TV habit

Jane Taber

Stephen Harper says he doesn’t watch Canadian news to avoid all the bad stuff about him and his government. Instead, he gets his political fix from the American networks.

Mr. Harper made his comments at a Q & A session at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce Convention in Toronto this week. But it's a familiar refrain from prime ministers.

Jean Chrétien used to say the same thing, too, arguing that he didn’t want to hear how horrible he was, especially before going to sleep at night. The former Liberal prime minister always awoke well-rested.

“The difference is, unlike Harper, he didn't say he watched American news,” says Strategic Counsel pollster Peter Donolo, who served as communications director to Mr. Chrétien.

“That's unfortunate for Harper because it plays into the impression that he thinks that things American are somewhat more worthy than Canadian. A bit like Mulroney, he seems to have his nose pressed up against the U.S. window, and that understandably irritates Canadians,” Mr. Donolo added.

Indeed, Mr. Harper has appeared frequently on American networks, including CNN and the hyper right-wing network, Fox News.

And it’s Fox News that has been making headlines of late after the Obama Administration declared war on the network, saying that no White House official would appear on it.

White House communications director Anita Dunn referred to Fox News as “opinion journalism masquerading as news.”

A recent Angus Reid on-line poll of 1,009 adult Americans asked whether they believed Fox News “was a political or news organization.” The survey found that nearly one third, or 32 per cent, of the respondents believed that Fox News was political rather than journalistic.

Opinions differed, however, according to region and income and education levels. About three-quarters of Americans from the South believed Fox was a news organization but better educated and more prosperous Americans were “skeptical” that it was an unbiased source of news.

And the poll found that “only 56 per cent” of regular Fox viewers, compared to 70 per cent of Americans, believe that Barack Obama was born in the United States.

Given those statistics, you can see why the Obama White House has turned its back on Fox News. But is this a wise strategy? Is it smart for a political leader to ignore an entire news network?

Mr. Donolo doesn’t think it is. “I think the problem with the approach is that the White House has pumped up the importance of Fox, Glenn Beck et al, and given fuel to the Obama-haters.”

He believes that Fox “would surely see this as a victory” and “a confirmation that they have got under Obama’s skin and made him lose his much-vaunted, almost mystical cool.”

Chris Waddell, the acting director of Carleton University's journalism school, says what the White House has to watch out for is appearing “petty and mean-spirited.”

It’s doubtful, he says, that it will cost the Mr. Obama any votes, given that Fox viewers would be unlikely to support a Democrat.

As for our Canadian-news-averse Prime Minister, Mr. Waddell says that trying to bypass the media or certain parts of it is an age-old practice.

He recalls that former Conservative prime minister Kim Campbell traveled with her own satellite dish in the 1993 election campaign as a way to get her message out directly to the regions. Mr. Harper also gives preference to local media when he travels outside of Ottawa.

Mr. Donolo, meanwhile, says boycotting a network here - such as CBC, which has taken its lumps from the Harper Tories - would backfire because it represents too much of the marketplace. “Fox, by its own definition, is more of a niche operation,” he says.

But there is one former leader who never missed a report. Bob Rae, former NDP Ontario premier and now Liberal MP, says he saw all the newspaper and television reports about him, even in his darkest days.

When asked if he still watched, the silver-topped MP shot back: “Well, look at the colour of my hair.”

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Friday, October 23, 2009 11:58 AM

The word from Bratislava

Jane Taber

Defence Minister Peter MacKay says the Americans and some other NATO countries will wait until the results of next month’s run-off election in Afghanistan before committing more troops.

“The elephant that everyone knew was in the room is the outcome of the election and this November 7th election was going to be of great importance for all,” Mr. MacKay said, speaking on the telephone from Bratislava this morning where NATO defence ministers have been meeting for the past two days

Mr. MacKay said the run-off ballot has to be as clean, transparent and as fair as possible, noting that the initial election in August was marred by fraud and discrepancies. “There is no amount of underscoring that would be too much as far as the importance of this election process.”

Mr. MacKay said U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to wait until after the results of the run-off election to announce details of his troop surge.

The President is under pressure to commit more troops to Afghanistan but has so far refused to make a decision. He is also under pressure to bring troops home. His lack of decision-making has provoked criticism: former U.S. vice-president Dick Cheney accused him of being a “ditherer” this week.

“Make no mistake," Mr. Cheney said, "signals of indecision out of Washington hurt our allies and embolden our adversaries. Waffling, while our troops on the ground face an emboldened enemy, endangers them and hurts our cause."

Meanwhile, Mr. MacKay said Friday that U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who was also at the meeting, left the impression that “it’s not a question of if but how many” troops the Americans will commit.

“There was a lot of discussions both in the hall and the back halls between countries as to what others might be able to do in terms of troop commitments,” he said, noting that the Slovakians are doubling their commitment to 400 troops.

The ministers were briefed by General Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan. He has asked for as many as 80,000 troops.

“He gave a very concise and detailed overview of his recommendations,” Mr. MacKay said. “And there was virtual unanimity in accepting these recommendations as having been the result of a tremendous amount of on-the-ground inclusive consultation with military participants as well as the Afghans.”

Canada is committed to ending its combat operations in 2011; it has not been asked for more troops.

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Friday, October 23, 2009 08:34 AM

Snowboard vs. jet ski

Jane Taber

The morning buzz: What people are talking about today on Parliament Hill.

1. A cautionary tale. The Harper Conservatives are riding high. National opinion poll after poll, including two new surveys yesterday consistently put the Tories in majority government territory. The big spread between the Tories and Liberals - about 9 to 10 points - also bodes well for the Tories, who have not yet been able to form a majority government since they were first elected in 2006. So, the advice (or warning?) to Conservative MPs and senators at this week’s caucus meeting? Don’t brag, don’t be smug, “a suggestion we don’t become arrogant because of the rising polls,” according to one insider.

2. Back in favour? Prime Minister Stephen Harper is visiting Maxime Bernier’s riding today. It is the first time he has been there since Mr. Bernier was forced to resign as Foreign Affairs Minister nearly two years ago. Remember, the Conservative MP from Beauce, Que., stepped down after he left secret documents in the apartment of his girlfriend, Julie Couillard, who had ties to the Hell’s Angels. But he did not let that sideline him and he remains a powerful Quebec MP, working hard in the background. Now, his efforts are beginning to pay off. Last weekend in Ottawa he came back into the spotlight with his appearance at the Press Gallery dinner. The dinner is an event where members of the national media invite politicians to attend and make fun of themselves. Mr. Bernier delivered in spades, coming up to the microphone to give out an award and then spending several minutes, patting his pockets of his tux as he searched for his notes. It was hilarious and earned him notice. Indeed, today Mr. Harper, with Mr. Bernier at his side, will be making announcements on the economy and investments to help young students. He will be posing with Mr. Bernier for photos. There would be little surprise if he is eventually returned to cabinet.

3. Cultural philanthropist takes Hollywood. Billionaire Michael Potter plays two-time Academy Award winner Hilary Swank’s double in Amelia, the film about female flyer Amelia Earhart, which hits theatres today. So how did this happen? The high-tech billionaire is an avid flyer and collector of vintage airplanes. One of his planes, the Waco Taperwing, is used in the film. And Mr. Potter, wearing a bigger version of Ms. Swank’s costume, flew his plane for some scenes, according to reports. Now, Mr. Potter may not be well-known nationally but in official Ottawa he is famous for his support of arts and culture, especially the National Arts Centre. As well, he has been awarded Philanthropist of the Year; he will be honoured at an event Nov 4. Meanwhile, Canada AM’s film reviewer, Richard Crouse, gave the film one star. “This will not be Hilary Swank’s third Oscar win,” he said. “It is nothing but platitudes.” And he notes she has an “unfortunate hairdo that makes her face look about three feet long.” Mr. Crouse did not mention the flying scenes. Heritage Minister James Moore, meanwhile, had this to say: "I'm looking forward to watching Michael Potter do his best Amelia Earhart impersonation in his Waco Taperwing. Filming must have been an amazing experience."

4. Hot: Snowboarder takes on jet skier. Former Olympic gold medal snowboarder Ross Rebagliati is trading racing down a mountain for the thrill of politics. The British Columbia native, who has lived in Whistler (home of the 2010 Olympics) has announced he will seek the Liberal nomination in Okanagan-Coquihalla. “Since Nagano [where he wone his gold medal in 1998] I have dedicated my life to furthering amateur sport and youth issues,” he says in a press release. “This desire to make a difference, combined with my long-theld Liberal values and great respect for Michael Ignatieff, have led to my decision to seek the nomination …” Not surprisingly, the 38-year-old who temporarily lost his medal after drug testing showed he had marijuana in his system, has no competition for the nomination. The riding is represented by International Trade Minister Stockwell Day. Mr. Day, who has held the riding since 2000, once conducted a press conference in a wet suit, having arrived on a jet ski.

5. Not: Michael Ignatieff. Did he diss Toronto? Read on: The Liberal Leader was on The O'Regan Files, a Bravo show hosted by Seamus O'Regan from CTV's Canada AM, recently. Mr. O’Regan asked him about how he as a political leader deals with the “increasing divide between the rural romanticism that we latch on to and the urban reality we have.” In his reply, Mr. Ignatieff said “rural Canada and remote Canada are among the parts of Canada that define us most clearly as Canada. I mean, Toronto can look a lot like Cleveland. But Cartwright, Labrador, looks like nowhere else on earth, right?” Wrong. Toronto looks like Cleveland? Cleveland is known as the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Cuyahoga River, which caught fire in 1969. Mr. Ignatieff represents a riding in Toronto but has been trying of late to distance himself from that city as he has been accused of having too many staffers from the centre of the universe.

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Thursday, October 22, 2009 04:51 PM

Hints of progress amid heckling

Jane Taber

Full of fury and outrage, Ralph Goodale took on Stephen Harper today, accusing the government of favouring a disabled child in Whitby, which is Conservative-held riding, over a disabled child in the Liberal-held riding of Dartmouth.

A stretch, perhaps, but the Opposition House Leader - who was standing in for a traveling Michael Ignatieff - was trying to make the point that the Conservative stimulus-funding controversy involves putting Tory ridings head of those held by MPs from other parties.

“The Conservatives taint themselves with their abusive tactics, corrupt advertising, phony cheques, partisan logos, billboards on doorknobs, untendered contracts, worst of all the twisted distribution of infrastructure money to discriminate on a partisan basis against millions of honest, hardworking Canadians,” Mr. Goodale said, taking about one breath to get all that out.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was not impressed: “I guess when he is stuck in a party that is talking only to itself he can whip himself into that kind of lather.”

Mr. Harper dismissed Mr. Goodale’s allegations, arguing that the Liberal government of Ontario has supported the way in which federal infrastructure money is being doled out.

Toronto Liberal MP Gerard Kennedy went back at the government over the issue of two-tier stimulus spending, arguing that some Northern Ontarians are being “shortchanged” to “give a double helping” Industry Minister Tony Clement’s riding and those of other Conservative members.

“Can the Prime Minister explain to hard-working unemployed people elsewhere in the north why he thinks they are only worth half as much assistance as those in his Conservative ridings?”

Mr. Clement borrowed a line from the Prime Minister, saying that the Liberal government in Ontario felt the distribution was fair.

All this was going on amid heckling from all sides. The most enthusiastic today was Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc, who accused launched this assault: “The Conservatives put the ‘us’ in stimulus.” His colleagues laughed; his opponents sneered.

It was a take-no-prisoners kind of Question Period.

By the time NDP Leader Jack Layton was up, however, the tone had certainly improved. Mr. Layton was concerned about pensions, quizzing the Prime Minister about making pensions more secure in the wake of company bankruptcies.

Demanding that action be taken now, Mr. Layton called on the Conservative government to adopt a number of measures, including establishing a pension insurance program.

Interestingly, Mr. Harper did not dismiss Mr. Layton’s ideas, saying that the “government is looking closely” at various measures for pension reform.

An NDP official noted later that the Prime Minister’s tone was measured when he answered Mr. Layton’s question and that he may have left another door open for keeping Parliament working.

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Thursday, October 22, 2009 11:20 AM

'The new normal' in polls

Jane Taber

Door knobs, super-sized cheques with Tory logos and largesse going disproportionately into Conservative ridings have helped to change the narrative away from the Liberals in the last week. No longer is the story that of the Grits gunning to force an unwanted federal election.

And this plot switch is reflected in at least one of two new national opinion polls released Thursday. Both polls, however, show the Harper Conservatives in majority government territory, a place they have been consistently for the last few weeks.

This consistency, pollster Nik Nanos says, may just be the “new normal.”

His latest survey shows the Conservatives with 39.8 per cent support of Canadians compared to 30 per cent for the Ignatieff Liberals, 16.6 per cent for the NDP, the Greens are at 4.6 per cent and the Bloc at 8.9 per cent.

“I think what we are seeing now is possibly a new trend where the Conservatives are able to stay in majority territory for more than a week,” Mr. Nanos said. “And the key thing to watch is how long can they sustain themselves in the high 30s, low 40s?”

The Conservative lead is based on Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s recent performances on the international stage, his stable handling of the economy and his “mantra” that now is not a good time for an election, Mr. Nanos said. He warned, however, that the numbers are volatile and could change dramatically if the Conservatives make a major blunder.

A second poll today, from EKOS, has the Harper Conservatives supported by 38.3 per cent of Canadians compared to 27.1 per cent for the Ignatieff Liberals. The NDP are at 14.5 per cent, the Green Party is at 11 per cent and the Bloc is at 9 per cent.

This is a change from last week’s EKOS survey in which the Tories were at a high of 40.7 per cent and the Liberals at 25.5 per cent.

In his analysis of this latest poll, EKOS president Frank Graves noted last week’s news was dominated more by the Tories and their stimulus strategy than “on Liberal attempts to bring down the minority Conservative government.”

But while the Conservative focus may be the reason for the Tory’s slight decline in the EKOS poll, Mr. Nanos says that in the end the Tory stimulus strategy might just work in their favour.

He said the “unspoken subtext” of the stories pointing out that big beautiful new hockey rinks and other infrastructure is going into Tory ridings is that it’s good to vote for the Conservatives because they deliver.

“If you are in a Conservative riding perhaps you are getting a better share of the stimulus focus,” Mr. Nanos said.

This is a variation on “the old road-paving” way of garnering votes, which Mr. Nanos said works especially well in Quebec where even sovereignists like to get their fair share from the federal government.

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Thursday, October 22, 2009 08:33 AM

Olympic pride 'off the scale'

Jane Taber

The morning buzz: Five things on the go on Parliament Hill today

1. Games on. Gary Lunn says “it was the most powerful thing” he has ever witnessed. “It was just incredible.” In a telephone interview from Greece this morning, the Minister of State for Sports described the emotion and pride he felt when he watched the lighting of the 2010 Vancouver Games torch in Olympia. He was in the Ancient Stadium for the hour-long ceremony. As he saw the torch erupt into flames, he said, “Right then it struck me that our time has begun. Our moment is here.” Indeed, the flame will be in Greece for another week and then come back to Canada for the beginning of a huge cross-country relay. “We are going to welcome the world for the longest torch run in Canadian history. … Our athletes, they are on fire in every single discipline and there is not going to be a dry eye in the country,” he said. “Canadian pride is going to go off the scale.” And for the cynics out there: expect a spring election after the Olympics with the Tories banking on that emotion and pride to take them over the top to a majority government.

2. Pensions. They continue to be one of the biggest national stories, something that hasn’t been lost on political leaders. Later this morning, NDP Leader Jack Layton is to address ways to end poverty among seniors and protect Canadians enrolled in company pension plans that could be left penniless if their employer goes bankrupt. The Liberals are also on this issue. In the closed-door caucus session yesterday, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff told his MPs and Senators that “pensions are going to be a major part of our platform,” according to an inside source. Mr. Ignatieff, Mr. Layton and Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe spoke to the Nortel pension protesters on Parliament Hill yesterday afternoon. Meanwhile, The Globe and Mail’s week-long series on the issue, Retirement Lost, continues today.

3. NATO talks. Defence Minister Peter MacKay meets with his NATO counterparts today and tomorrow in Bratislava. In an interview on CTV’s Question Period Sunday, Mr. MacKay said he's hoping that U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates will send “clear signals” as to President Barack Obama’s plan for a troop surge. The U.S. President is under pressure to commit as many as 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan. It is also expected that other NATO countries - but not Canada - will be asked to commit more troops.

4. Hot. Wayne Easter and his knob strategy. The PEI Liberal MP is making his mark this week with his outrage and creative use of props to illustrate the story of Tory patronage and infrastructure stimulus funding. Earlier this week, Mr. Easter held up a doorknob at a press conference, noting that the Harper Tories are suggesting that routine maintenance on buildings is stimulus. He has not let up on the issue since. Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff singled him out at the closed-door caucus meeting yesterday, praising him for his “knob strategy.” And Liberals in Toronto sported signs “Jobs not knobs” when they welcomed Prime Minister Stephen Harper at an event in late yesterday afternoon. For more on the Liberal attack strategy, watch for Mr. Easter this Sunday on CTV’s Question Period.

5. Not. Stephen Harper’s new speechwriter, former Calgary Herald columnist Nigel Hannaford, is being criticized in Xtra, the gay and lesbian newspaper, as someone “who has a history of speaking out against gay rights.” Xtra writer Jenn Ruddy notes: “In his Slings & Arrows column, Hannaford espoused socially conservative values, arguing against gay rights and undermining the legitimacy of human rights commissions.” Ms. Ruddy says that the hiring is just one is “string of appointments that place social conservatives in the upper echelons of the Harper government.”

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 04:47 PM

Pork and the Pink Book

Jane Taber

It was an all-female Liberal line-up in Question Period today, with the exception of Michael Ignatieff who for the third straight day led off with attacks on Tory pork and patronage.

The all-female cast - seven questioners - was in honour of the release of Pink Book, the third volume of Liberal policies related to Canadian women.

And after the bluster and outrage, a usually divided House came together to pay tribute to Speaker Peter Milliken, a Liberal MP, who is now the longest-serving Speaker in Canadian history. He was first elected in January of 2001.

But back to the outrage:

“Sixty-six percent of recreational infrastructure projects in this country have been allocated to Conservative ridings,” Mr. Ignatieff charged. “If one votes Conservative, they get the rink. A lot of Canadians think that is wrong. When will the Prime Minister begin to understand that it is wrong? Will he put a stop to it?”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was not in the House. He is attending an event in Toronto that in a mix-up of schedules Mr. Ignatieff had originally said he would attend.

Industry Minister Tony Clement filled in for the Prime Minister, arguing that Mr. Ignatieff had his facts wrong.

“We are being fair to all ridings. We are being fair to Canadians. That is what people would like us to do and that is exactly what we are doing,” said Mr. Clement.

The female Liberal MPs, meanwhile, asked about everything from the stimulus spending controversy to who knew what and when about the Afghan detainees, pension security issues and the safety of the H1N1 vaccine for pregnant women.

“The Conservative government’s information for pregnant women is now months out of date. When are Canadian women going to get current accurate and reliable information?” asked Toronto Liberal MP Maria Minna.

Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said she trusts the advice to pregnant women from the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada that “an unadjuvanted vaccine is safe.”

Across the aisle, a familiar face looked unimpressed.

Disgraced Liberal MP Denis Coderre was in his regular seat in the Commons after having attended his first caucus meeting today since he resigned his post as Quebec lieutenant and defence critic in a huff almost a month ago.

While his colleagues cheered and gave standing ovations to Mr. Ignatieff and some of the other questioners, a low-key Mr. Coderre remained in his seat, politely clapping.

Surprisingly, he was not moved from his second-row spt as a punishment for his actions. Rather, a Liberal official says that they do not want to make a martyr out of him.

“He set fire to his career and compromised friendships. A different view of Peter Milliken’s face isn’t going to matter much,’ the official said.

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Wednesday, October 21, 2009 03:02 PM

Changing his tune

Jane Taber

Last month in Sudbury, Michael Ignatieff couldn’t wait to take down Harper government. Today, he doesn’t seem to be in much of a hurry.

Speaking outside of his weekly caucus meeting, the Liberal Leader was asked about his recent statements about making Parliament work since Canadians do not want an election now.

“We said in Sudbury [at the summer caucus retreat] very clearly there are cases where just on national-interest grounds we can support legislation. For example, on some of this criminal justice stuff we have said from the beginning we can support it if we think there is some public interest justification for it,” he said.

However, what he neglected to say or did not answer was whether he and his Liberals will support the government on confidence motions.

The Liberal Leader was meeting with reporters as part of the launch of the Pink Book III. It is an action plan for Canadian women prepared by the Liberal women’s caucus. Its main recommendation is for the creation of a national child-care and early learning program.

Mr. Ignatieff did not say how much the action plan would cost.

The Pink Book also calls for changes to the eligibility requirements in the employment insurance system to a “temporary, uniform 360 hours during the economic downturn.” This is what the Liberals have been asking for from the government since the spring.

There are also recommendations for a federal poverty strategy and a “truly proactive pay equity system.”

“What we are trying to do is address the changing realities of women’s life, whether it’s in the workforce, whether it’s in the home. … But the realities of women’s lives are quite different than they were a generation ago or two generations ago,” said Winnipeg Liberal MP Anita Neville.

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