Are you there, Divine Providence? It's us, Parliament.

By kadyomalley - Monday, January 26, 2009 at 12:00 PM - 59 Comments

Join ITQ for an Ottawa-sized hit of pomp and pageantry as the government reboots
the 40th Parliament in advance of tomorrow’s budget extravaganza.

12:49:56 PM
Okay, first, I’ll start with what I *didn’t* see when I ventured down to the Hall of Honour to get my fill of pre-pageant goodness: the signature red carpet, more than the bare minimum number of camera crews to constitute a media stakeout, a single extra Canadian flag or Governor’s General Footguard.

This is a bargain basement Speech from the Throne, y’all. I wouldn’t be surprised if Her Excellency rolls up in a cab.
What almost made up for that, however, was what I did say, or more precisely, who: the don’t-try-to-tell-*him*-he’s embattled Mayor of Our City of Ottawa, Larry O’Brien, who was just leaving the Hill by the basement exit, only to find himself scrummed by a single intrepid reporter. (Not ITQ, for the record.)

Apparently, he was meeting with Transport Minister John Baird, presumably to try to push his latest pitch for the feds to get involved in our transit strike, now on the verge of hitting fifty days. He seemed happy enough to not answer questions, although ITQ can report that his chains of office were clinking briskly as he scampered into the back of his Mercedes.

Meanwhile, the fifth floor cafeteria was like Grand Central Stations: while waiting for her sandwich, ITQ spotted various MPs and staffers engaged in furious, whispered discussion as well as Jean Lapierre, presumably preparing to deliver his trademark brand of punditry for CTV’s first Duffyless Throne Speech in ages, and Peter MacKay, who seemed to be struggling with his tray.

1:18:01 PM
We have our embargoed copy of the Speech! I’m pretty sure I can’t reveal anything, even the page count, lest I be thrown in parliamentary prison, but it has, in fact, arrived.

1:22:28 PM

Continue…

UPDATED: You mean phoning your column in is a bad thing? Uh-oh.

By Paul Wells - Monday, January 26, 2009 at 11:44 AM - 9 Comments

Bill Kristol: Currently between projects.

UPDATE: Late-breaking comment from the fan club. Kristol “is easily among the most intelligent, creative, and articulate conservative voices in America—a fact, upon which I would be willing to bet a large sum of money, is [sic] what troubled the Times,” writes Peter Wehner, not at all incomprehensibly, at The Corner. “The good news is that Bill Kristol’s stock is in much better shape and higher standing that [sic] is the Times.”

Pakistan's Eden goes to hell

By Michael Petrou - Monday, January 26, 2009 at 11:36 AM - 0 Comments

In October 2000, I crossed the soaring and snow-swept Khunjerab Pass connecting China and Pakistan at a height of some 4,600 metres and descended, through numerous stomach-churning switchbacks and around the odd road-blocking rockfall, into the apricot groves of Pakistan’s Hunza Valley and some of the most beautiful landscape in the world.

What followed was a glorious month in Pakistan, mostly in the north and west of the country. The Taliban were entrenched in next-door Afghanistan, and Pakistan’s Tribal Areas were full of sympathizers, as well as some three million Afghans who had fled the Taliban’s cruelty and attendant chaos. But even so, my memories of that trip are almost uniformly pleasant.

One of my favourite places was Swat, a lush valley I first glimpsed from the roof of an overcrowded minivan on which my traveling companion and I had caught a lift. We spent several days there in a guesthouse beside a trout-filled stream and surrounded by trees that grew fruit of a kind I haven’t encountered since – bright orange, spongy and sweet. The owner hadn’t had customers in ages and treated us well. Now, when I read stories from Swat like this one, it breaks my goddamned heart.

Is an infrastructure bailout the right move?

By Colin Campbell - Monday, January 26, 2009 at 11:29 AM - 10 Comments

The city of Oshawa, just east of Toronto, has suffered its fair share of bad economic news lately. Next month, 700 workers at the General Motors car assembly plant will lose their jobs. This spring, 2,600 more will be out of work when the local truck plant closes. And it’s not just the auto sector that’s suffering. In this corner of Canada’s manufacturing heartland, all has not been well for some time now. From local businesses to municipal governments, everyone is feeling the recession pinch. Roger Anderson is the chair and CEO of Durham Region, which encompasses Oshawa. Few are more keenly aware of the need for some form of boost to get the stalled economy firing on all cylinders again. “If GM ever closed in Durham, I don’t even want to think of the ramifications. The tax base alone from GM and spin-off companies is astronomical,” he says. The cut back in manufacturing is expected to cost Durham $2 million in revenue this year just from the decline in water consumption, he says.

But Anderson also sees a silver lining to these troubles. As far as he’s concerned, there’s never been a better time for governments to start pumping money into long-overdue building projects, like high-speed rail, a new airport and the rebuilding of the Pickering nuclear power plant. “Durham is in an enviable position,” he says. “Those three projects alone would be 10 years of jobs and a lifetime of permanent jobs after that.” Anderson also has a list of $200 million worth of construction projects—for sewers, water pumping stations and incinerators—just waiting to be built. “If they gave me $50 million tomorrow, I could have a contract sent out within 30 days to build one of those facilities.” Show Anderson the money and he’ll show you a bustling local economy.

Continue…

Well, It Might Be Better than "Kath & Kim"

By Jaime Weinman - Monday, January 26, 2009 at 11:21 AM - 2 Comments

This has been previously announced, but now there’s an actual pilot order from the network: Hoping to replicate Rickey Gervais’s success in selling a beloved British sitcom property to the Yanks, Jennifer Saunders will executive-produce an Americanized version of Absolutely Fabulous, the Brit-hit she created and starred in. Mitch Hurwitz, who seems to spend most of his post-Arrested Development time supervising remakes of other people’s shows, will also executive-produce, but the writer and showrunner will be Christine Zander, a writer for Saturday Night Live in its late ’80s/early ’90s Silver Age (the age of Myers/Hartman/other people) and 3rd Rock From the Sun.

The news item doesn’t say whether the new version will be single-camera or multi-camera, and even if they do use an audience, it will almost certainly be shot on film (or HD, which looks like film). I think that this would be one of those shows that really ought to go back to using videotape, if only because the original show was on videotape and used it in a very distinctive way: with a lot of the show taped outside studio sets, and even the studio sets lit in a way that made them look more “real” than most, it combined the live feel of video with the more expansive style of single-camera shows. That will be lost if the remake is done on film, but it almost certainly will be. Though it might seem like a minor thing, remakes tend to work best when they can at least have some connection to the look of the original — that’s why All in the Family was shot on crude videotape to match the BBC show it was based on, and why the U.S. version of The Office brought over the mockumentary style and hand-held cameras.

Global Warming could multiply Ocean Dead Zones

By Alex Shimo - Monday, January 26, 2009 at 10:36 AM - 4 Comments

The number of low-oxygen areas in the world’s oceans where little life can survive is set to greatly multiply with global warming, according to a study by two Danish researchers.  In a study published online by the journal Nature Geoscience, scientists built a computer model to simulate climate change over the next 100,000 years. In the worst case scenario, CO2 concentrations would rise to 1,168 parts per million (ppm) by 2100, or about triple today’s level, and the ocean dead zones would increase by a factor of 10 or more. In the best case scenario, the CO2 would reach 549 ppm by 2100, or roughly 50 percent more than today. Dead zones – where complex organisms like fish, crustaceans and mammals cannot survive because of the lack of oxygen – would increase, but the damage would not be as great.

However, even if global warming is reversed by 2100, its effects will continue for hundreds of years, says Jens Olaf Pepke Pedersen, a physicist at the Technical University of Denmark, one of the scientists on the study. Once the ocean has warmed up, it then needs hundreds of years to cool down again, Pedersen says. According to the model, “these low-oxygen areas would continue to expand and they would peak around 2,000 years from now. The ocean would then slowly recover as it cools.”

Marine oxygen depletion is believed to have played a role in the major mass extinctions in the past, such as The Great Dying, that occurred at the end of the Permian, 250 million years ago, which wiped out 95 per cent of all marine life. Areas of low oxygen exist in today in shallow areas next to the coast, where runoff from agricultural fertilizer causes a multiplication of oxygen-gobbling algae producing the dead zones.

Has Harper sold out?

By macleans.ca - Monday, January 26, 2009 at 10:22 AM - 41 Comments

As he prepares to table a $34-billion deficit, some critics are wondering whether Stephen Harper has strayed too far from his conservative principles. From fixed election dates to Senate appointments to patronage and now fiscal policy, the Prime Minister is looking less and less like the ideologue of old. “”Opposition is utopia,” says one Conservative. “Government is messy. It’s constantly a question of scorekeeping as to what you have to trade off to accomplish whatever your overall goal is.”

The Toronto Star

Attention no passengers

By macleans.ca - Monday, January 26, 2009 at 10:00 AM - 2 Comments

Like so many politicians these days, Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach has warned his province to prepare for drastic spending cuts to cope with the tanking economy. Here’s a suggestion, Mr. Premier: scrap your private jet. Or at least make sure somebody’s actually on board when it takes off. According to the latest figures, the fleet of taxpayer-funded planes that ferries cabinet ministers, MLAs and the lieutenant-governor around Alberta flew empty 230 times last year. In other words, the jets logged more than 65,000 kilometers without a single passenger—the equivalent of flying around the world one and a half times. Among the worst frequent fliers was Lt.-Gov. Norman Kwong, who often hitched a ride to his Calgary home, and then sent the plane back to Edmonton with only the pilots. Try Air Canada, Mr. Kwong. They can certainly use the business during these troubled times.

The Calgary Herald

One in five men risk alcoholism

By macleans.ca - Monday, January 26, 2009 at 9:50 AM - 0 Comments

At least one in five men in developed countries could develop an alcohol addiction over their lifetime, according to a new U.S. study. Women experience about half the risk, with roughly a ten per cent chance of becoming alcohol dependent, Reuters reports. Published in the journal Lancet, the study notes that repeated heavy drinking ups the risk of temporary depression by 40 per cent, and that 80 per cent of alcoholics are regular smokers, too. Genes account for roughly 60 per cent of the risk of problem drinking, but the rest comes from environmental factors, researchers said, noting this could explain why women are at a lower overall risk. “This is a cultural issue. More women than men are lifelong abstainers. A higher proportion of women than men never open themselves to the possibility of alcoholism because they never or very rarely drink,” Dr. Marc Schuckit of the Veterans Afairs San Diego Healthcare System and the University of California told Reuters.

Reuters

Mr. Harper, tear down this house!

By macleans.ca - Monday, January 26, 2009 at 9:40 AM - 6 Comments

Stephen Harper and his family are apparently planning to move out of the prime minister’s residence at 24 Sussex in order to allow wholesale renovations to take place. But a former resident of the house says it’s not be worth saving. Maureen McTeer, the wife of former prime minister Joe Clark, argues that, instead of renovating the worn-down mansion, Canada should put its energies toward replacing it with an “architectural showcase.” According to McTeer, while the grounds surrounding the house are “magnificient,” its interior was indiscriminately gutted during the last major renovations (in 1949) and there’s little architectural value to what was left.

The Hill Times

Teachers should stay out of bullying: study

By macleans.ca - Monday, January 26, 2009 at 9:30 AM - 1 Comment

Teachers should resist the urge to intervene in bullying when ever possible, according to a new study by University College London and U.S. researchers. Instead of disciplining aggressors, educators should encourage all students to reflect on the incidents at the end of the day. This approach, dubbed CAPSLE (Creating a Peaceful School Learning Environment) was tested over three years in nine U.S. public schools with 1,300 children aged eight to 11. The research showed that without special treatment, students were less likely to fall into the roles of victim and bully, and during reflection, tended to be harder on themselves than teachers would have been.

The Daily Telegraph

East German time capsule

By macleans.ca - Monday, January 26, 2009 at 9:25 AM - 0 Comments

German architect Mark Aretz has a discovered an apartment in the eastern German city of Leipzig that’s been virtually frozen in time since before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Amazed at the discovery, Aretz described it to a local paper as “a historic treasure trove, a portal into an age long gone.” Its cupboards were stuffed with all manner of long-discontinued products—”Vita” Cola, “Marella” margarine, “Juwel” cigarettes, a bottle of “Kristall” vodka—and all of the items found in the apartment had been made in East Germany, aside from a bottle of Henkel deodorant that was likely smuggled in from West Germany. The 24-year-old man who lived in the home is thought to have run into some trouble with authorities before abruptly leaving: The most recent document in the apartment was a search warrant dating back to May 1989.

Spiegel.de

How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Rent it!

By macleans.ca - Monday, January 26, 2009 at 9:20 AM - 3 Comments

Ken Lavigne, a singer from Victoria, British Columbia, rented New York’s Carnegie Hall last week so he could give a concert at the world’s most famous recital venue. To get the money for the hall and a 50-piece orchestra, he raised $200,000 from friends, fans and well-wishers in Canada. Which just goes to prove that you don’t need to go on a reality show to get your tenor voice heard; you just need to be willing to spend your life’s savings for one night in New York.

CBC News

Manitobans: worst recyclers in Canada

By macleans.ca - Monday, January 26, 2009 at 9:20 AM - 0 Comments

With only 88 percent of Manitoba households recycling, the province is lagging behind the rest of the country. The latest figures show the rest of the country sent a quarter of their waste to recycling plants while Manitoba only kept 13 percent of their waste out of landfills in 2006. Manitobans are dumping an extra 100,000 tonnes a year than they were in 2002, and they’re also behind the rest of the country in other areas of the green movement, including energy efficiency and composting. Local businesses and public facilities aren’t recycling as much as they should because it’s more expensive to recycle than to toss things in the garbage.

Winnipeg Free Press

Facebook says it’s over for Prince Harry

By macleans.ca - Monday, January 26, 2009 at 9:15 AM - 0 Comments

Chelsy Davy has broken up with Prince Harry, and she announced her new single status to her friends through Facebook.  Her online profile was altered to say “Relationship: Not in One,” and her friends received a red broken heart symbol to announce the split. The five-year relationship was said to be under strain from the long periods spent apart as Prince Harry trained as a helicopter pilot with the Army Air Corps. The pair temporarily broke up in 2007, but that break was not serious enough to prompt Davy to publicly announce it by changing her Facebook relationship status.

Telegraph.co.uk

Hot women make Italy’s rape epidemic a bigger problem, says Berlusconi

By macleans.ca - Monday, January 26, 2009 at 9:10 AM - 1 Comment

Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is under attack for making an insensitive remark about rape, a violent crime has become a national concern, The Telegraph reports. The controversy emerged after Berlusconi responded to critics that the 3,000 soldiers patrolling Italian streets have not reduced crime. Vowing to increase the patrols “ten-fold,” the 72-year-old billionaire known for his flippant remarks about women added that the pulchritude of Italian women made the task futile: “We could not field a big enough force to avoid this risk [of rape]. We would need so many soldiers because our women are so beautiful,” he said. The remarks come in the wake of three brutal rapes in Rome in the past month.

Telegraph.co.uk

Our readers see red over Justin

By macleans.ca - Monday, January 26, 2009 at 9:00 AM - 30 Comments

Aaron Wherry’s Jan. 12 profile of Justin Trudeau (“A Star Rookie’s shot”) sparked plenty of reader reaction—and not a lot of fan mail. Here’s a sampling from our inbox: Continue…

Slumdog takes Best Ensemble Cast

By macleans.ca - Monday, January 26, 2009 at 8:50 AM - 0 Comments

Last night was the Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles. As at the Golden Globes, 30 Rock and Mad Men scored big, and a best supporting actor award went to the late Heath Ledger for his performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight. However, unlike at the Golden Globes, Slumdog Millionaire’s cast got big props: they received what’s widely seen as the most prestigious award of the evening: best ensemble cast. Best actor and actress went to Sean Penn for Milk and Meryl Streep for Doubt, which will make those categories unpredictable at the Oscars. For full details, and colourful quotes from acceptance speeches, click the link below.

Yahoo! News

This is William Kristol's last column

By macleans.ca - Monday, January 26, 2009 at 8:50 AM - 2 Comments

Today’s column by New York Times columnist Bill Kristol ended with a blunt, one-line announcement from the editors: “This is William Kristol’s last column.” The neoconservative pundit, editor and Fox News contributor joined the Times in 2008 as part of the paper’s attempt to add another conservative voice to its editorial page and compete with the new, Murdoch-ized Wall Street Journal). But after a year of reader complaints, fact-checking, and most importantly, his constant boosting of Sarah Palin (whom he called “a Wasilla Wal-Mart Mom”), he’s been cut loose, left with no place to air his opinions except an entire magazine and cable news network. No word yet on who will replace him as a conservative columnist for the Times, but we hear there’s an Alaska governor with a lot of free time on her hands.

Editor & Publisher

Q & A: Gideon Gono, Zimbabwe's central banker

By macleans.ca - Monday, January 26, 2009 at 8:45 AM - 1 Comment

Zimbabwe’s crippling hyperinflation, which has prices doubling every 24.7 hours, has been almost entirely blamed on its central bank’s affection for printing more money. (Later this year, Zimbabwe will introduce a trillion-dollar bill to its currency.) But, Gideon Gono, the head of Zimbabwe’s Reserve Bank sees few problems with the way he’s managed the economy. In an exclusive interview with Newsweek, Gono pointed to the international sanctions against Zimbabwe—rather than his own mismanagement of its currency—as the root cause of Zimbabwe’s economic problems. What’s more, Gono says the IMF’s request for the U.S. to print more money was an implicit endorsement of his methods. “I began to see the whole world now in a mode of practicing what they have been saying I should not,” Gono said. “I decided that God had been on my side and had come to vindicate me.” In spite of his country’s struggles to keep both inflation and a cholera epidemic under control, Gono was unwaveringly optimistic about Zimbabwe’s prospects for 2009. “It’s got to be a good year. What keeps me bright and looking forward to every day is that it can’t be any worse.”

Newsweek

The ugly side of the beautiful game in Iran

By macleans.ca - Monday, January 26, 2009 at 8:30 AM - 1 Comment

A top Iranian soccer club has apologized and suspended three officials after allowing its female youth team and its men’s squad to play against each other. It was the first co-ed match between official teams in the 30 years since the Islamic Revolution. Iran’s ruling clerics forbid any physical contact between unrelated men and women, even in sport. The men’s team won, 7 – 0.

International Herald Tribune

Flash bulletin: Car-parts plants to be reserved for making car parts on Tuesday

By Paul Wells - Monday, January 26, 2009 at 7:52 AM - 37 Comments

“We have grown-ups running the budget process,” a Senior Anonymous Source tells the Globe. “There will be no juvenile political games.” You mean like anonymously leaking your strategy instead of executing it? Well, there’ll be no other juvenile political games.

In other news: Hey everyone, this week’s meeting of the Guy Giorno fan club had to be cancelled. Somebody’s using our phone booth to make a call.

Lawyering down

By Paul Wells - Monday, January 26, 2009 at 7:44 AM - 5 Comments

Rod Blagojevich’s lawyer quit because his client wouldn’t listen to common sense? Boy, there’s one influence-peddling case that’s gone right off the rails. That sort of thing never happens. For a lawyer to just up and quit on his client, I mean… well… never mind.

Rick Warren was just the beginning

By macleans.ca - Monday, January 26, 2009 at 7:30 AM - 0 Comments

Law professor, journalist and liberal activist Jonathan Turley warns Obama backers that if they were made uneasy by the sight of religious right stalwart Rick Warren delivering the inaugural invocation, they had better brace themselves for much more of the same. The new president is as dedicated to “faith-based initiatives” as his predecessor; Obama, in fact, plans to expand on George W. Bush’s program.

USA Today