Politics Today: Some clarity on Quebec sovereignty

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Politics Today is your daily guide to some of the stories we're watching in Ottawa and across Canada, by The Globe and Mail's team of political reporters.

Note: Interim Liberal leader Bob Rae will be doing a live chat with Globe readers at 11 a.m., to talk Parliament, social media and more. Join us.

Some clarity on Quebec sovereignty

Forty-two per cent of Quebec residents would like to see the province become a separate country from Canada, according to a new Angus Reid poll. Twenty-four per cent of Canadians in general say they'd like to see that happen, and a substantial majority say they would be "dissatisfied" or "sad" if separation happened.

And on the Clarity Act, most respondents – including those in Quebec – favoured a referendum that required two-thirds support to pass.

The survey was conducted among 1,011 respondents of Angus Reid's online panel. The margin of error is 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

By the way, you can read Stéphane Dion's Globe commentary on clarity here.

Carney gets grilled

Mark Carney was questioned this morning in a British committee ahead of taking over as Bank of England governor. When asked, of course, about political ambitions (after the courtship by the Liberal party), Mr. Carney said he has none.

For more background on the hearing, check out this report from Paul Waldie in London. And for a British perspective, here's the Telegraph on how Mr. Carney plans to shake up the central bank.

Canadians have too much discipline?

If you're watching the committee hearing and thinking, hey, these MPs are surely less disciplined than Canadians, that's because they are. For today's instalment of our Reinventing Parliament series, Gloria Galloway talked to many experts who said yes, Canada's party discipline is the strictest in the world. "There may be some exceptions in those African dictatorships that are part of the Commonwealth and so on, but in the advanced parliamentary democracies, there is nowhere that has heavier, tighter party discipline than the Canadian House of Commons," one expert said. Ouch.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Stephen Harper hockey book

The long-rumoured book about hockey, written by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, does in fact exist and we will get details soon – perhaps even today, sources tell The Globe and Mail. Mr. Harper surely is a hockey fan, but we've noted before that publicizing it is part of a communications strategy to make him more relatable.

Duncan goes to his reward

And Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan has picked Bay Street's law firm McMillan LLP as his spot to land after he resigns next week, sources tell The Globe and Mail. Mr. Duncan originally planned to step aside to make by-election room for Sandra Pupatello, if she had won the Ontario Liberal leadership. She didn't, but Mr. Duncan has apparently been itching to finally head to the private sector and make some money after a long tenure in public service.