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He sees nothing
PM didn’t know staff asked Conservative Party to pay Duffy’s expenses: spokesperson Prime Minister Stephen Harper had no idea his staff had asked the Conservative Party to pay Sen. Mike Duffy’s ineligible expenses, his spokesperson said Sunday. In an interview with CTV’s Question Period, Harper’s director of communications, Jason MacDonald, also said Harper didn’t know […]
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The 2015 Tory Playbook
We got a good reminder today of why it would be foolish to write off the Conservatives in 2015: Conservatives’ new surplus forecast: $3.7-billion for election year Ottawa’s fall economic update shows the government is counting on a surplus of at least $3.7-billion in 2015-16, the year of the next federal election. A mix of […]
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Trick or Treat
Yeah, so it likely wasn’t the most exciting political news of the day, but the quarter 3 fundraising numbers are out, and the story is all good for the Liberals who have had more unique donors than the Conservatives since Trudeau took over. Yes, they’re still well back of the Conservatives, but it just furthers […]
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Is the big blue machine slowing down?
Stephen Harper has faced many a scandal before, and has weathered each one. In the lead up to the 2011 election, it seemed like something new popped up each day – there was Bev Oda’s orange juice and trouble with “nots”, Bruce Carson’s fraud charges and escorts, Jason Kenney’s use of government resources to target […]
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Moore is More
Partly due to his one-man government, and partly due to a series of spectacular flame outs among heirs apparent, there hasn’t been a lot of leadership speculation during the Harper era, beyond the occasional question about how Brad Wall’s french is coming along. Until now: Industry Minister Moore has Conservative Party leadership potential, say sources […]
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“The Lowest Price is the Law, Unless Someone Else Offers a Lower Price”
It’s easy to criticize throne speeches, especially throne speeches by governments that have fallen on tough times. Truth be told, I actually think there was a lot to like in yesterday’s government reboot. The hint of a free trade deal with the EU is good news. Issues like cyberbullying and food safety need to be […]
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How I spent my summer vacation
Summer vacation lasted a bit longer for MPs than for the rest of us. If you’re just tuning back in now as our parliamentarians head back to the House tomorrow, here’s what you may have missed. For Justin, this was very much the summer of love. He ditched the suit for a pair of cargo […]
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Dean Del Gonza
Liberals from coast to coast are revelling in a pot of schadenfreude tonight: Fifth Tory leaves Harper’s caucus in scandal OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper lost his fifth caucus member of the year to scandal, after his former right-hand man in the House of Commons was charged Thursday with improper election spending. The Commissioner […]
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Iggy Returns
Everywhere you go these days, there’s Michael Ignatieff. I’ve even seen him walking around Yorkville twice within the past month. For those who miss seeing Ignatieff’s face on every third commercial, you can read some juicy nuggets from his new book here, an excerpt on how he handled defeat here, and an interview with Aaron […]
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Politics Done Well
Blogs and pundits love it when politicians fall flat on their face, but as a fan of politics I can also respect a flawlessly executed political manoeuvre. Think of Stephen Harper’s surprise piano duet with Yo-Yo Ma. In one swoop, Harper earned a month of good press and showed us the softer side of Steve. […]