Equivalency

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, February 26, 2009 at 12:17 AM - 8 Comments

Vic Toews, president of the treasury board, responding to a Liberal question today. “Mr. Speaker, in 2004 the Liberals put in place a task force stating that they wanted proactive, comprehensive, pay equity legislation. This government is bringing that legislation forward. They did not do it. We are getting the job down.”

Vic Toews, president of the treasury board, responding to a Bloc question today. “We are simply following the recommendations of the Liberal task force in 2004 that said proactive pay equity legislation was needed.”

Explanation of the new legislation distributed by Toews’ office. “The Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act sets out a new, proactive approach to ensure compensation is equitable. The Act makes employers and bargaining agents jointly accountable for ensuring that wages are fair for all employees through the collective bargaining process…”

Chapter 16, final report of the Pay Equity Task Force, 2004. “The Task Force recommends that the new federal pay equity legislation provide that the process for achieving pay equity be separated from the process for negotiating collective agreements.”

"By 2020, America will once again have the largest proportion of college graduates in the world."

By Paul Wells - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 8:57 PM - 57 Comments

By some measures, Barack Obama last night was promising to beat Canada in producing highly-educated citizens. So one interesting question is whether he can count on Canadian governments’ help.

The Commons: Iggy and the farmers

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 6:43 PM - 64 Comments

The Scene. The annual general meeting of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture was being held in an airy ballroom in the back corner of the basement of a downtown hotel. A hundred or so farmers sat in beige chairs around tables decorated with white and purple tablecloths. In the hallway, the appetizer trays had been picked bare, save for a few remaining oatmeal and raisin cookies.

Michael Ignatieff, in dark suit, pinkish shirt and red tie, arrived at a quarter past four, shaking hands and smiling as he wound his way between the tables and chairs to the makeshift stage at the front of the room. There he took a ceremonial swig from a glass of milk, gave a thumbs up to the crowd and was applauded for his effort.

“I’ve just drunk an extremely delicious glass of Canadian milk,” he said.

Soon enough the prospective prime minister was telling that story about his uncle’s dairy farm in rural Quebec. Continue…

Great moments in amended press releases: [Insert outraged MP here]

By kadyomalley - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 5:49 PM - 24 Comments

Oh, how I’ve missed you, Ryan Sparrow – and I’ll cheerfully admit that it took me far too long to spot the difference. (Next time, I won’t forget to check the French text.)

The amended version of the Conservative Party’s release on the return of Borys Beryl Wajsman (link when available):

Pour diffusion immédiate

25 février 2009

IGNATIEFF DOIT S’OPPOSER AU RETOUR DE WAJSMAN

OTTAWA – Le député conservateur Christian Paradis a exhorté aujourd’hui le chef du Parti libéral, Michael Ignatieff de se dissocier de Beryl Wajsman et de s’opposer à son retour au sein du Parti libéral du Canada. Rappelons que M. Wajsman, un organisateur libéral, avait été dénoncé vivement par l’ex-premier ministre Paul Martin qui voulait le bannir complètement de son parti. (Communiqué de presse du Premier ministre Paul Martin, 1er novembre 2005)

The original:

Pour diffusion immédiate

25 février 2009

IGNATIEFF DOIT S’OPPOSER AU RETOUR DE WAJSMAN

OTTAWA – Le député conservateur XXX a exhorté aujourd’hui le chef du Parti libéral, Michael Ignatieff de se dissocier de Beryl Wajsman et de s’opposer à son retour au sein du Parti libéral du Canada. Rappelons que M. Wajsman, un organisateur libéral, avait été dénoncé vivement par l’ex-premier ministre Paul Martin qui voulait le bannir complètement de son parti. (Communiqué de presse du Premier ministre Paul Martin, 1er novembre 2005)

Breaking News: It's back! Ethics committee to resume investigation into In and Out

By kadyomalley - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 5:32 PM - 24 Comments

As passed by the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics earlier today (full liveblog available here):

“That the Committee resume the study it began during the Second Session of the Thirty-Ninth Parliament regarding the Conservative Party’s election campaign expenses during the 2005-2006 election campaign; that it deem the hearings held during that Parliament to have been held during the Second Session of the Fortieth Parliament; that the Committee issue btices to appear of all witnesses who did not appear during the study; and that it report its conclusions and recommendations to the House of Commons.”

Your Fall 2009 Election preview

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 5:28 PM - 22 Comments

Happy days are here again. Before a feisty session of QP this afternoon, the Conservatives used three of their members’ statements to impugn the leader of the opposition on notably personal terms. The attack ads can’t be far off.

Full statements from Dean del Mastro, Kevin Sorenson and Rodney Weston after the jump. Read them now and feel free to ignore the next year of political discourse. Continue…

Dated reference of the day

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 5:13 PM - 17 Comments

Industry Minister Tony Clement, responding to a question from Liberal Bonnie Crombie.

“We all know that money for nothing leads to dire straits.”

The Dire Straits’ song Money for Nothing was released in June 1985. 

Even Jason Kenney grimaced at this one.

'A worthy son of his father'

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 3:46 PM - 2 Comments

Justin Trudeau isn’t due to propose his first piece of legislation for another two hours, but the Bloc Quebecois is already displeased. Full press release—availably only en francais—after the jump. Continue…

Is this the end of the New New New Spirit of Nonpartisan Cooperation?

By kadyomalley - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 3:00 PM - 17 Comments

Well, I guess it depends on whether or not Bloc Quebecois MP Carole Freeman goes ahead with her plan to introduce a motion to relaunch the investigation into the In and Out Affair, doesn’t it?  Even if she does, she’ll need the support of all six opposition MPs – including the chair, who would have to break the tie – to outvote the government.

3:11:23 PM
Okay, I just wanted to note that I believe this may be the earliest that ITQ has ever turned up at committee, but after the near-riot at Natural Resources yesterday afternoon, I decided to take no chances, which is why I am currently watching rather bemused Commons staffers fill water glasses and arrange the various nameplates. We’re in a different room today, as it turns out – the NDP caucus room, to be precise, which is why there are framed vintage campaign posters and portraits of former leaders lining the walls. People before profits, y’all!

3:23:40 PM
Wow, Nina Grewal is apparently subbing for the Conservatives. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her at Ethics before, although in fairness, I’ve also missed the last few meetings. Maybe we’ve just been missing each other.

3:28:59 PM
Hmm – everyone seems to be here but Bill Siksay. Odd. Not that it will matter until later in the meeting, since I have a feeling there may just be one or two MPs who want to speak to the motion before it goes to a vote.

3:32:42 PM

Continue…

Canada’s contribution to the financial crisis

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 2:59 PM - 3 Comments

David Li was schooled at the Universities of Waterloo and Laval. He got his start in finance with CIBC. And a decade ago, the math whiz came up with a
major breakthrough. He wrote a formula, known as the Gaussian copula function, that offered up a way to measure and parcel up risk in pooled bond
markets.  It was simple and beautiful. So much so that it fuelled an entirely new, massive financial industry. But in Wall Street’s greedy hands, the limits of his formula (and Li’s own warnings) were largely ignored. Models eventually collapsed and so did financial markets. Wired helps explain how it all happened.

Wired

Hey look

By Paul Wells - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 2:11 PM - 21 Comments

New Wells column. It’s the bosses who suggested I tackle Quebec and Sarkozy. (They never order.) I needed convincing, but in the end I had fun. Maybe you will too.

'Intellectuals do well in Canadian politics'

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 1:59 PM - 8 Comments

Britain’s Prospect magazine publishes a consideration of Michael Ignatieff’s career, this one written by a television producer who worked him during the 1980s and 90s.

Helpfully, Prospect has made all of Ignatieff’s writing for the magazine available for free online.

Two judges nabbed in a prison scam

By Philippe Gohier - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 1:20 PM - 2 Comments

A pair of juvenile court judges in Pennsylvania have pleaded guilty to taking kickbacks between 2003 and 2006 in exchange for sending youths to privately run detention centres. According to prosecutors, former Luzerne County judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan raked in more than $3 million for sending young offenders to facilities run by PA Child Care LLC and Western PA Child Care LLC.

Several counties in Pennsylvania have agreements with detention centre operators in which the companies are paid according to the number of detainees they house. Conahan is alleged to have played a leading role in shutting down the county’s publicly run detention centre in 2002 and in directing the multi-million-dollar contracts toward the two companies.

Continue…

Gadhafi: still crazy after all these years

By Susan Mohammad - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 1:10 PM - 0 Comments

His reputation was beginning to mend, but critics of Col. Moammar Gadhafi are wondering if the Libyan leader is too erratic to head the African Union, after controversial statements made during his first address to the 53-nation group. Only a week into his appointment, the AU leader raised eyebrows last week in Tripoli for resurrecting his pet project of a “United States of Africa,” which would include Caribbean islands with African populations such as Haiti, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. Gadhafi made other contentious statements, for example excusing the actions of Somali pirates as “self-defence,” and stating that multi-party democracies in Africa only lead to bloodshed. He went on to say that Libya was the best model for Africa because opposition parties are not allowed.

George Joffé, a University of Cambridge lecturer and Libyan politics expert, said the dictator’s vision of a single African military, currency and passport is unlikely. “The major states in Africa—being South Africa, Nigeria, Senegal and, to a lesser extent, Egypt—don’t want that to occur,” says Joffé. “They don’t want their sovereign rights interfered with by some super-state regional organization.” Besides, Joffé says, Gadhafi’s pan-African vision will fall by the wayside because his role as head of the AU is an “empty title.”

Continue…

Iran cracks down harder on the Bahá'í

By Michael Petrou - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 1:00 PM - 2 Comments

Iran says it will soon charge seven followers of the Bahá’í faith with spying for Israel, according to Iran’s ISNA news agency. Deputy Tehran prosecutor Hassan Haddad was quoted saying the seven will face a revolutionary court this week. He did not name those to be tried, but it is almost certain he was referring to seven Baha’i leaders who were arrested last spring.

Ottawa resident Naiem Tavakkoli’s father, Behrouz, is among those arrested. He called his mother in Iran as soon as news of the trial broke last week. “She’s worried. We’re all worried,” he said in an interview with Maclean’s. Behrouz has been detained in the past, but given the charges against him this time Naiem is particularly concerned. Behrouz has not been allowed to see his lawyer since his arrest, and the charges against him amount to treason. “If they take him to the court, which is mostly behind closed doors, without having access to their lawyers, and with all these accusations, you can imagine what’s going to happen,” Naiem said.

Continue…

30 ROCK In its Re-Tooled Form

By Jaime Weinman - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 12:52 PM - 7 Comments

Just to follow up on my last post with the most pointless YouTube video ever, here’s what I think 30 Rock might be like if it were taken over by new producers and re-tooled (including a more Urkel-like emphasis on Kenneth). The video mostly has clips from two episodes, “Sandwich Day” and the second season finale; if I’d gone through every episode I probably could have found more appropriate clips — what this kind of sequence really needs, apart from the Jesse Frederick theme song, is a scene where the whole cast goes on some outing and has fun together — but I didn’t wanna.

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.2558873&w=560&h=340&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26]

My Manolos have something to say

By Alex Shimo - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 12:40 PM - 1 Comment

Is it better to be egged or pied? Neither, according to a growing number who have ditched the food and now throw their shoes, and even make art about the rebellious act.

This creative outpouring was set off by the infamous pair tossed at former president George W. Bush by an Iraqi journalist. Footwear has long been a visceral symbol of disrespect in the Middle East, says Arsalan Iftikhar, a contributing editor for Islamica Magazine in Washington. Simply showing someone the soles of your shoes, let alone aiming them at them, is a sign of brazen contempt, which explains why the statue of Saddam Hussein was pummelled with shoes and sandals when it was toppled in April 2003.

Continue…

Look who’s back in the party

By Martin Patriquin - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 12:20 PM - 32 Comments

Beryl Wajsman is many things to many people: well-connected gadfly, perpetually angry newspaper columnist, silver-tongued orator with a weakness for Robert Kennedy quotations. To the Liberal Party of Canada, he was persona non grata, one of 10 people “banned for life” by former prime minister Paul Martin for being linked to the sponsorship scandal. It may seem strange, then, that Wajsman is once again in the party, as an organizer charged with bringing a variety of social groups and unions back into the Liberal fold. He has even consulted on policy issues and speechwriting for Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff.

“He’s an influential guy, and has been very helpful in re-cementing some of those old ties, within the Montreal Jewish community but also with labour and community leaders,” said a senior Ignatieff strategist for Quebec. “He is one of many organizers and opinion influencers who Michael has successfully wooed back and is helping get it back together.”

Continue…

Pond memories

By Colin Campbell - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 12:10 PM - 0 Comments

Once a year, over a wintry weekend in January, les Coloniales hockey team takes to the ice in one of the biggest, most popular hockey tournaments in the country. They’re not kids, or rising stars—just a group of old university buddies, most of whom lived on Coloniale Avenue in Montreal as students at McGill. The game they play forbids hitting, fighting or bulky equipment. Their canvas: a patch of frozen lake in the great outdoors. And for the more than 150 other teams that join them for the Canadian Pond Hockey Championships in Huntsville, Ont., north of Toronto, it’s hockey at its purest. “It’s outside; it’s three days and lot of hockey with good friends,” says les Coloniales’ Adam Elliott, a 33-year-old who works in sales for an investment firm. “It’s probably my favourite weekend of the year.”

That kind of devotion to pond hockey—the game as it is played on a frozen lake, without goalies, and with only the most basic, self-policed rules—isn’t unique. Across the country and the northern United States, pond hockey has developed a quasi-religious following, fed by a nostalgia for a brand of hockey that has largely disappeared in the age of climate-controlled indoor arenas and hyper-competitive youth leagues. From Peace River, Alta., to North Bay, Ont., there are as many as 50 major pond hockey tournaments each winter, luring tens of thousands of players looking to brave the elements, play some shinny and, of course, drink a few beers.

Continue…

Alvin B. Aberdeen Duncan 1913-2009

By Rachel Mendleson - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 11:50 AM - 1 Comment

Alvin B. Aberdeen Duncan was born on Feb. 27, 1913, in Oakville, Ont., to Alexander and Isabella Duncan, whose ancestors escaped slavery on the Underground Railroad. The third of six children, Alvin had a “captivating smile” and outgoing nature, says younger sister Marion. Before school, his loyal cadre of friends would wait outside until he was ready. Though his mom insisted he stay out of rugby, Alvin “went straight” to it—early evidence, says Marion, of his strong will.

A short boat ride from New York state, Oakville had been a terminus for escaped slaves, and when Alvin was young, the black community numbered several hundred. They marked Emancipation Day in August with a picnic in George Street Park. Alvin’s dad, who was a painter and decorator, also served as organist and choirmaster at the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Alvin played ukelele, and the family often gathered around the piano to “sing spirituals,” says Marion. Though she says they were “accepted,” racism percolated beneath the surface. When Alvin was 17, the Ku Klux Klan came to Oakville to stop a black man from marrying a white woman. The cross burning on a lawn was not something Alvin would forget.

Continue…

Naomi Klein tells world to get over its crush on Obama

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 11:40 AM - 19 Comments

Naomi Klein, who was just awarded the inaugural $90,000 Warwick Prize for Writing in the UK for her best-selling book The Shock Doctrine, delivers harsh criticism of President Obama in an interview with the Times of London. The new president’s claim that “everything went wrong only eight years ago with the election of George W.Bush” is false, says Klein, who traces problems to  President Bill Clinton’s removal of Depression-era restrictions that prevented investment banks from also being commercial banks, his administration’s refusal to regulate the derivatives industry and its failed economic policy. “Frankly,” she says, “there was a huge amount of intellectual dishonesty in the election campaign and it’s weird that some people are still wearing T-shirts with a picture of the most powerful man in the world on them. They have to get over their crush and treat him for what he is – head of the largest military and economy in the world.” In Italy, she notes, students are brandishing the slogan ‘We won’t pay for the crisis.’ It’s only that kind of dynamic that will lead to real change, says Klein who credits British PM Gordon Brown with  better handling of the banking crisis. “In the US, the love for Obama is a real liability,” she says.

The Times

Tough critique or hate speech?

By Alex Shimo - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 11:40 AM - 70 Comments

It’s not often a barroom-calibre brawl breaks out in the life of a political scientist. But a serious battle has erupted over a presentation given last June by professor Frances Widdowson, and it could jeopardize her career and help define the limits of free speech in Canadian academia.

Speaking at the 2008 meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association (CPSA), Widdowson, a policy studies professor at Mount Royal College in Calgary, argued our Aboriginal reserve system isn’t working. It encourages unemployment and alcoholism, since there are few jobs on reserves, she said. Policies that encourage First Nations to live separate lives merely prop up a broken system; the best way to help natives achieve health and prosperity is assimilation. Her paper also criticized Aboriginal traditional knowledge, arguing that some claims didn’t hold up to scientific analysis, and discussed a “development gap” between natives and settlers, implying the Europeans were more advanced.

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The little country that cried wolf

By Nicholas Köhler - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 11:30 AM - 0 Comments

Wolf bounties became something of a cause célèbre last year when it came out that, as Alaska governor, Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin had offered hunters $150 per kill. American actress Ashley Judd kept the issue alive into the new year, releasing a video calling upon Palin to “stop this senseless savagery.”

Judd’s pitch triggered what the press pounced on as a “cat fight,” the kind of celebrity row that can cloud an issue. In fact, wolves and people are increasingly encroaching upon each other’s territories, and the implications for both sides are serious. This winter, a pack in Bradore, Que., not far from Labrador, has residents cowering indoors, with one woman recently describing how wolves devoured one of her Siberian huskies.

Continue…

More student protests in Iran

By Michael Petrou - Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at 11:14 AM - 7 Comments

Seventy Iranian students have been arrested during protests against the reburial of troops who died during the Iran-Iraq war on the grounds of a Tehran university. Others were beaten up by the semi-official paramilitary goons of Ansar-e-Hizbullah.

Twenty of those detained have reportedly been transferred to Evin Prison, where many of Iran’s political prisoners are kept, and where Canadian Zahra Kazemi was murdered.

Protesters fear that the presence of war graves at the university will be used as pretext to suppress demonstrations on campus. Iranian students have been at the forefront of protests demanding greater political freedom in Iran.

The story has received relatively little attention. But the Washington Post covers it here. There is a cell phone video of the protests here. And, as always, blogger Potkin Azarmehr draws on some well-founded righteous rage about how little support Iranian democrats and activists get from their supposed counterparts in the West.