The morning buzz: What's making news on Parliament Hill
1. Peter Donolo rolls up his sleeves. He’s finally on the job as Michael Ignatieff’s chief of staff. And not surprisingly a very big staff meeting has been called for later this morning in the Opposition Leader’s Office. The expectation is that there will be a number of new faces. The biggest rumour (and there have been lots of rumours since the broom was taken to Michael Ignatieff’s inner circle) is that David Zussman, an expert in public policy, governance and accountability, is joining the office in a senior policy role.
Mr. Zussman would be a great addition to the office. He is at the University of Ottawa now and is the former long-time president of the Public Policy Forum. He has a sterling reputation in official Ottawa. Caution should be emphasized, however, as the Zussman speculation is just that. He might be one of a number of people on Mr. Donolo’s wish list. So far, however, Mr. Donolo, has played his cards very close to his chest. And so, really, all we know is who is out - former chief of staff Ian Davey, director of communications Jill Fairbrother, principal secretary Dan Brock, senior advisers Mark Sakamoto and Alexis Levine.
Meanwhile, the Liberals are continuing to mock the Tories. They came out with a very clever little prop yesterday - water bottles that say “NO LOGO: Keep Conservative Propaganda out of our schools.” There is a red line through the Conservative “C”. The water bottles - which look like Grit war room chief Warren Kinsella’s handiwork - were inspired by Manitoba Tory MP Shelly Glover who was giving out free water bottles - with the big Tory C logo - to French immersion students in Winnipeg.
2. Mumbai massacre revisited. Laureen Harper says she was “unprepared” for what she saw: the baby’s room. In an email this morning, Mrs. Harper reflected on her visit so far to India with her husband, Prime Minister Stephen Harper. This is the Prime Minister’s first visit to the country, an important one for trade for Canada. Yesterday, the couple visited Chabad House synagogue in Mumbai which was targeted by terrorists last year, resulting in the killing of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka. Their two-year son was spared.
“The trip to Chabad House was very sad indeed,” she wrote this morning from New Delhi, where they are now. “Everywhere you looked were bullet holes and damage from the attack. The rooms look so ordinary but the Rabbi who took us around would say two women were murdered in there.” She says that the only part “I was unprepared for was when we walked into the baby’s room … and how emotional it was. It was decorated like any baby’s room, multi-coloured walls, a very small bed and toys. I knew his parents probably were so excited to get it ready for him and they were both killed.”
3. The boys of winter hit the ice. A team of Tory MPs, including some cabinet ministers, is traveling from west to east, playing hockey and raising money for local charities. The Tory team usually loses badly but the MPs are having fun while doing it. Last night the boys got together in Tory MP Gord Brown’s eastern Ontario riding, raising over $70,000 for the United Way of Leeds Grenville. Mr. Brown won’t give the score, “Let's just leave the score out … United Way won big.” He said that he and Defence Minister Peter MacKay both scored while New Brunswick Tory MP, Rob Moore scored a hat trick.
Last weekend, the team was in Edmonton Tory MP James Rajotte’s riding, raising $60,000 for the Boys and Girls Club of Leduc. Team Conservative, Mr. Rajotte said, lost 9 to 5 to the “Leduc Dream Team.” Mr. Rajotte, who also played last night, said that the way they viewed the game in his riding was that “we tied the first period, lost the second and won the third.”
Regulars on team are Defence Minister MacKay, Peterborough MP Dean Del Mastro, Environment Minister Jim Prentice and Alberta MP Mike Lake.
(Photo: Alexandra Pope/Leduc Representative)
