Not a Mom and Pop operation

By macleans.ca - Friday, September 25, 2009 at 4:02 PM - 0 Comments

After an 18-month investigation, Edmonton police and the RCMP have dismantled an organized crime group and made quite a haul, reports the Edmonton Sun’s Alyssa Noel: $275,000 in cash, 30 firearms, 4.7 kilograms of cocaine, two boats and three cars. The bust follows a probe into an organization called “The Family,” less a gang than a “sophisticated and robust criminal organization,” say investigators, who report it trafficked 120 kg of coke across B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan in the last year and a half. Police have made four arrests, including one man with roots in Cancun. There’s not a mommy or sis among them.

Sun Media

Sorry Toronto

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, September 25, 2009 at 3:29 PM - 32 Comments

Jack Layton is staying in Ottawa. Possibly forever.

Jack Layton, the NDP leader and a former Toronto city councillor, praised David Miller’s record as mayor today and said clearly he will not be among the candidates running to replace him… “I’m rather busy right now,” said Mr. Layton in a phone interview. “There’s so much more to do in our effort to have Canadian values reflected in the governance of the country that I am fully, and 100 per cent engaged. But I have no doubt there will be good people that come forward. I will not be one of them.”

A new opposition?

By macleans.ca - Friday, September 25, 2009 at 3:29 PM - 17 Comments

The Edmonton Journal‘s Trish Audette today relays a tidbit of gossip from the frequently reliable Alberta Scan, a newsletter issued by veteran Alberta political observer Paul McLoughlin. This morsel echoes what a lot of us have been hearing for weeks—that a good many Alberta Tories are so upset about Premier Ed Stelmach’s stewardship that they’re willing to cross the floor to join the Wildrose Alliance. All that they’re waiting for is the Oct. 17 conclusion of a leadership race. Should candidate Danielle Smith beat far-right social conservative Mark Dyrholm and capture the leadership, as many as 10 Tories may join the upstart conservative party, catapulting the Wildrose into position as the province’s new opposition.

Edmonton Journal

This is who actually won in Calgary

By Paul Wells - Friday, September 25, 2009 at 3:17 PM - 15 Comments

My short article in last week’s issue, arguing that Los Angeles architect Zoltan Pali should build the Cantos Music Foundation’s new National Music Centre in Calgary, was roundly ignored by the jury, who preferred Portland architect Brad Cloepfil and his Allied Works Architecture.

Oh well. I interviewed Cloepfil for my piece, and enjoyed our conversation. He was pretty frank that he had only had time, under the short deadlines of the competition, to come up with a few big ideas: a series of parallel towers to house the centre’s various mandates (music, education, performance); a shell that reflects elements of the region’s geography (to my eye, you sort of have to squint to see that); and, most encouraging, a ground-up, from-the-start collaboration with the multimedia specialists at Portland’s Second Story.

So Cloepfil’s proposal was only a first draft. Elizabeth Diller, another shortlisted architect, told me that’s very often the case: you throw out a few ideas, and then if you win the competition you start the serious work, often based on a closer study of the site, of deciding what three-dimensional conclusions flow from those ideas. The Cantos jury, then, was making a leap of faith in picking this guy. At least it’s not a timid choice.

Don't be fooled

By Chris Rivers, Takeoffeh.com - Friday, September 25, 2009 at 3:11 PM - 1 Comment

Fees, taxes and surcharges are a fact of life. When you buy a car, you know that the sticker price is going to cost you a lot more by the time you drive off the lot. The travel industry operates in the same way. If you think you found a great airline seat sale or last minute deal – take out your calculator before you run out and buy that guidebook and some sunscreen. That isn’t to say that bargains don’t exist, but taxes and surcharges can make a big difference between what appears to be a deal and what you actually pay as the final price.

In today’s tough environment, travel companies are having to resort to more creative marketing techniques to get the edge over their competitors. The growth of the internet has encouraged companies to advertise “stripped down” specials because many online operators have booking engines that list the cheapest price first. Obviously it is an advantage to be featured prominently on these sites. But the top lead-in price does not necessarily mean it is the best deal. That’s where you have to do your homework. You have to consider the taxes, fees and surcharges and these tend to vary widely — which makes for frustrating comparisons. A good travel agent should also know where the best deals really are and what the impact of the added fees are on your final tab. Continue…

Now there's an idea

By Paul Wells - Friday, September 25, 2009 at 2:47 PM - 35 Comments

Introducing the Liberal Party of Canada’s new candidate in Outremont:

Some Good "Secret" TV Theme Lyrics

By Jaime Weinman - Friday, September 25, 2009 at 2:24 PM - 1 Comment

Of all the TV theme songs that have secret lyrics — lyrics that were never used on the show — I think the best set of lyrics may be the ones for the Andy Griffith Show theme. (Even better than “The X-Files is a show/With music by Mark Snow.”) The words were supplied by the veteran actor Everett Sloane, best known as the guy who gets the best speech in Citizen Kane, and while they were never sung on the show, Griffith recorded them. (One of the main reasons for writing lyrics to an instrumental theme was, of course, so that that vocalists could record them, or the star of the show could include them on an album.) They fit the atmosphere and style of the show so perfectly that they actually enhance the theme music by telling us more of what it’s about, instead of sounding redundant like many theme song lyrics.

On the other hand, if you want to hear “secret” lyrics that are completely inappropriate for the music, try these lyrics for the Hawaii 5-0 theme song recorded by Sammy Davis Jr. (Via Lee Goldberg)

New seat projection shows Tories up in Ontario

By John Geddes - Friday, September 25, 2009 at 2:22 PM - 21 Comments

Barry Kay of the Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and Policy sends along the latest LISPOP seat projection, and it shows the Tories picking up six seats in Ontario based on recent polling.

LISPOP projects seat counts in the House of Commons based on analysis of publicly available polls. In its Sept. 18 projection, using early-September polls from Ipsos, Nanos, Ekos and Strategic Counsel, the institute gave the Conservatives 134 seats, the Liberals 94, the NDP 31 and the Bloc 49.

But the new projection—blending the results of the Ekos Sept. 16-22 poll and the Ipsos Sept. 10-13 poll—sees the Tories up to 141 and the Liberals down to 88, with the NDP holding at 31 and the Bloc at 49.
Continue…

'Stupid on crime'

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, September 25, 2009 at 1:52 PM - 8 Comments

Neil Boyd makes like one of those meddlesome academics and once more insists on thinking things through.

Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan has complained that a fall election will kill critical anti-crime legislation currently before the House of Commons and the Senate, bills that would eliminate the faint hope clause and impose mandatory minimums for drug crime.

Never mind that it was the Conservatives themselves who killed similar anti-crime legislation before calling the last election. What’s more stunning is that Mr. Van Loan has the nerve to describe these bills as critical to crime reduction and crime prevention…

These election bills should die on the order paper. The Tories aren’t tough on crime; they’re stupid on crime. What’s disappointing is that Mr. Ignatieff and the Liberals have been so unwilling to challenge the morally and scientifically bankrupt agenda that the Tories have been advancing. There’s still time, however, and it’s quite likely that Canadians would listen

The donut speech, fact checked

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, September 25, 2009 at 1:29 PM - 38 Comments

Erin Weir, an economist with the United Steelworkers, writes in to the Toronto Star to quibble slightly with the apparent joy expended on Tim Hortons’ return to Canada.

By reorganizing itself as a Canadian corporation for tax purposes, Tim Hortons will no longer pay American tax on its global profits. But it will pay no additional Canadian tax on its Canadian profits. There is no indication of Tim Hortons relocating any facilities or jobs to Canada.

This corporate reclassification appears to be the Prime Minister’s best or only example of what deep corporate tax cuts have achieved. If so, it suggests that these cuts provide essentially no public benefit.

UPDATED: Sterling, Cooper … Giorno? ITQ investigates the shadowy world of PMO's in-house ad shop

By kadyomalley - Friday, September 25, 2009 at 1:26 PM - 51 Comments

As GiornoWatch enthusiasts no doubt recall from previous dispatches, the fact that PMO has its very own in-house advertising department — or advertising and market research unit, to use its official title — is not, technically, news — not, at least, to those with a borderline obsessive interest in the ins and outs of Langevinian palace intrigue.

The two-person team that now reports directly to the Chief of Staff himself first came into existence back in 2007 or so, when it was part of the sprawling territory of the Muttartian Empire  – or “Strategy”, as it was far less evocatively described on the official PMO org chart. In fact, it was wasn’t until the Dark Lord of Demographancy’s departure earlier this year that it ascended to independent unitdom — or as independent as a unit can be when it falls under the control of the Giornoverseer General.

What it actually does, however, is another question.

Continue…

Kissing protocol at the G20

By macleans.ca - Friday, September 25, 2009 at 1:03 PM - 4 Comments

A slide show put together by the Telegraph reveals varying degrees of friendliness in the way the Obamas greeted other world leaders. Michelle Obama is shown hugging British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Andrea Merkel and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, but both Obamas keep their distance from scandal-plagued Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi. And the reception for Canada? Stephen Harper is given a polite air kiss by Michelle Obama, while Laureen Harper receives a warm presidential handshake.

The Telegraph

Nice ride

By macleans.ca - Friday, September 25, 2009 at 1:03 PM - 24 Comments

Fisker Automotive, a “tiny” California car company specializing in hybrid luxury vehicles backed by former U.S. vice-president Al Gore, has received a US$529 million loan from the government, the Wall Street Journal reports. The California company is developing the US$89,000 Karma, a four-door, plug-in, electric hybrid with a lithium-ion battery slated to achieve 100 MPG fuel efficiency. Its audience, says car designer Henrik Fisker, is people like Gore (who has placed a down payment for one): wealthy, environmentally enlightened drivers looking for an eco-P.C. ride. Production is scheduled to start in December, with about 15,000 vehicles a year expected to hit the U.S. market starting next June. Already, the critics have weighed in. “This is not for average Americans,” said Leslie Paige, a spokeswoman for Citizens Against Government Waste, an anti-tax group in Washington. “This is for people to put something in their driveway that is a conversation piece. It’s status symbol thing.” Fisker counters that the Karma will provide a prototype that will trickle to the masses, comparing the Karma to flat screen TVs that once cost $25,000.

The Wall Street Journal

It doesn't have to be true, it just has to be plausible

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, September 25, 2009 at 12:24 PM - 63 Comments

Despite plenty of evidence their efforts will be futile, the people who study such things continue to insist on analyzing the actual usefulness of the Harper government’s crime policy.

Decades of evidence on prison policy is being trumped by ideology and populist pandering, says an independent report on the Conservative government’s corrections road map. “Raw wedge politics — in place of studied evidence — is the new face of public policy for Canada,” Graham Stewart, one of the study’s co-authors, said at a news conference Thursday.

… Their analysis was immediately dismissed by Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan, who made a point of referring repeatedly to Mr. Jackson as “the professor.” “The professor has a different philosophy than us,” Mr. Van Loan told CBC Newsworld. “We think the protection of society has to come first.”

… Ian Brodie, Harper’s former chief of staff, told a McGill University symposium last March that criticism of the tough-on-crime policy by sociologists, lawyers and criminologists actually bolsters the Conservative case — because they are held in lower regard than politicians.

Logrolling in our time: LRC edition

By Andrew Potter - Friday, September 25, 2009 at 11:52 AM - 20 Comments

Yeah it’s more the-LRC-is-totally-bitchin’ blogging from me, so move along if you don’t care for it. But seriously, why don’t you subscribe? The October issue arrived yesterday, and it opens with a major opening essay by JRS about how we need to stop trying to fit the Canadian North into a Southern model. Things really heat up though with the review of Brian Crowley’s Fearful Symmetry, the book that has given half the pundits in the country something to write about these last few weeks.

Unlike the more credulous takes on the book, as well as the reviews that have focused mostly on the Quebec question, Dal economist Lars Osberg hones zeroes in on the most contentious material in Crowley’s book, namely, the claim that a fifty year “bidding war” for the hearts of Quebecers has deformed not only our institutions and economy, but our national character as well. (One of the oddest parts of Crowley’s book is that he actually invites the impatient reader to skip the three chapters of the book where he lays out the case for this). Anyway, as Osberg points out, “it is remarkable that a book that is ostensibly about changing Canadian values presents no survey data whatsoever to support Crowley’s many large assertions.”

There’s more fine writing in the issue, including a careful look at Struan Sinclair’s new work of po-mo fiction Automatic World, the only seriously critical review of Atwood’s new book that you’re going to find in this otherwise fawning literary culture of ours, and a survey of two new peakonomic books (incl. Jeff Rubin’s big-seller) by none other than Richard Lipsey. Richard Lipsey!

This is great stuff. Don’t wait for them to stick it online, go buy a copy today.

Nelly Arcan found dead

By macleans.ca - Friday, September 25, 2009 at 11:48 AM - 2 Comments

Nelly Arcan, the young Montreal author behind the novels Putain, Folle, and À ciel ouvert was found dead in her apartment late Thursday night. Though the cause of death is still under investigation, early reports suggest she took her own life. Arcan, whose real name was Isabelle Fortier, had just completed her latest novel, Paradis clef en main, when she died and had been working as a columnist for the weekly Ici. She was 35.

Canoë

Toronto mayor won't run for re-election

By macleans.ca - Friday, September 25, 2009 at 11:09 AM - 3 Comments

This summer wasn’t easy for Toronto Mayor David Miller. After a 39-day civic strike that saw garbage pile up and public support plummet, Miller announced today that he won’t be running for office again next year. The decision comes as somewhat of a surprise. When Miller, who enjoyed widespread popularity after being elected in 2003, was asked earlier this month about what kind of opponent deputy premier George Smitherman would make, he replied: “I’m sure in the next election I’ll have an opponent, and look forward to debating the issues with whoever it is.” Along with Smitherman, other possible candidates include former provincial conservative leader John Tory.

Toronto Star

More Meyer movies

By macleans.ca - Friday, September 25, 2009 at 11:08 AM - 0 Comments

The Host, the first adult novel by bestselling teen vampire author Stephenie Meyer, will follow Twilight and its sequels into the multiplexes. Andrew Niccol, who wrote and directed Gattaca, will reprise both roles for Host, a sci-fi tale set in a near future in which Earth has been overrun by alien body-snatchers. One of their number is fused with a dying woman in an attempt to track down the planet’s last remaining human resistance. However, complications ensue when the alien finds herself falling in love with the human’s missing mate. Producers Nick Wechsler, Steve and Paula Mae Schwartz funded the rights deal themselves, apparently securing it after impressing Meyer with their vision and collaborative impulse. “We wanted Stephenie to be involved in the adaptation and have her endorse and be part of the creative decisions,” Wechsler said. “Twilight has proven she knows more about what works than most.” Meyer, who spurned a host of other offers for Host, was heavily involved in the screen transfer of Twilight.

The Guardian

Iran's secret uranium plant

By macleans.ca - Friday, September 25, 2009 at 10:58 AM - 17 Comments

The leaders of the United States, Britain and France have denounced Iran after U.S. officials revealed that it has been hiding a secret uranium enrichment plant from UN inspectors. Speaking from the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, President Barack Obama issued an ultimatum demanding that IAEA inspectors be allowed to investigate the secret site. French President Nicholas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown also condemned the rogue nation, Sarkozy threatened sanctions and Brown accused the country of “serial deception.” The revelation has sent tensions soaring in the lead up to seven nation talks scheduled between Iran and countries trying to tame its nuclear ambitions.

The Guardian

Idea alert

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, September 25, 2009 at 10:31 AM - 47 Comments

Kady is live-blogging the Liberal press conference this morning. Judging from this recently arrived press release, the main point is thus:

To prevent these abuses, the Liberal Opposition committed to ban all taxpayer-funded politicized government advertising under a future Liberal government and close loopholes in the existing federal Communications Policy.  The Liberals would also assign an independent body to ensure all government advertising is free of political content.

Silly question. Would this apply to ye olde fashioned ten-percenters?

Feeding Jean-Pierre Blackburn

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, September 25, 2009 at 10:20 AM - 16 Comments

The Toronto Star helpfully explains how to stage a government photo op meant to ease concerns about a potential health emergency.

After a herd of Alberta pigs was infected with the H1N1 flu virus last April, countries began closing their borders to Canadian hogs, threatening $3 billion in exports and 40,000 jobs. Ottawa’s response was to hold a barbecue on Parliament Hill with pulled pork on the menu, and hog farmers, foreign diplomats and lots of television cameras in the crowd.

But it was carefully crafted to ensure two Conservative ministers, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Minister of State for Agriculture Jean-Pierre Blackburn, were the stars of the show, according to 841 pages of internal emails obtained by the Toronto Star…

“I believe it’s important to have a visual where the ministers `eat’ pork. Not only flipping it on a barbeque,” suggested Sylvain Frenette, Blackburn’s political director. “So we have to ensure that what they will eat is visually appealing … . It has to be easy to eat. Small pieces already cut up and ready to eat. So that he’s not fighting with a piece of meat. So that he doesn’t get dirty, etc.”

Ritz’s staff had their own ideas about the best light in which to present him. ”Please ensure that the minister has a spot in the serving line (complete with apron would be best) – this is the money shot,” Murdoch wrote.

Hey look: Elect Ignatieff to find out what his plan is

By Paul Wells - Friday, September 25, 2009 at 9:43 AM - 27 Comments

From this week’s print edition, a column in which I attend Michael Ignatieff’s big Toronto speech on the economy, take notes, and write a column about it.

More on fixing the voters: the B.C. evidence

By John Geddes - Friday, September 25, 2009 at 9:31 AM - 28 Comments

The BC Stats 2009 Elections BC Post-Election Voter/Non-Voter Satisfaction Survey adds some heft, I think, to my post yesterday on the disengagement of younger adults from political life. Only 51 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot in British Columbia’s May 12 election, a dismal turnout.

A few key findings of the study (below the jump):
Continue…

This week: Good news/bad news

By Yoni Goldstein - Friday, September 25, 2009 at 9:30 AM - 0 Comments

Face of the week
An unidentified soldier salutes the casket of Pte. Jonathan Couturier, who died from an IED blast southwest of Kandahar

A week in the life of Nicolas Sarkozy
In a case that the French have dubbed the “trial of the century,” current president Nicolas Sarkozy and former prime minister Dominique de Villepin faced off in a Paris courtroom on Monday. De Villepin is charged with instigating a smear campaign against Sarkozy in 2007, when Sarkozy was embroiled in French presidential elections (which he eventually won). The stakes are high for the former PM, who still holds ambitions to unseat Sarkozy as France’s top elected official.

GOOD NEWS

Revving up
Finally some good news for the troubled auto sector. Toyota announced this week it will spend $1 billion in advertising to boost sales in the U.S., which are off nearly 30 per cent. Investment bank Goldman Sachs plans to invest $250 million in the Chinese automaker Geely (money that could help it in its efforts to purchase Volvo from Ford), and even GM is opening its purse strings, offering a 60-day money-back guarantee and rescinding white-collar pay cuts. With sales growing again in both Canada and the U.S., it looks like the auto industry is on the way back. Now maybe we should talk about a repayment schedule for all that bailout money.

Olympic advantage
It has long been an Olympic tradition that home-country athletes enjoy extra practice time at the venues that will be used for upcoming Games. The U.S. employed that strategy prior to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City (where Americans took home 34 medals—17 more than Canada). But some American and international athletes are now publicly grumbling that our athletes are getting unfair extra time at facilities in Vancouver and Whistler. We hope Canadian officials stand fast. Remember, nice guys finish last, and we had more than enough of that at the Calgary Games.

Who’s watching who?
The Net just got a little less creepy. Facebook has agreed to shutter its Beacon program, after users of the popular social networking site complained their privacy was being compromised. Beacon tracked Facebook purchasing activities at partnering e-tailers—so, for example, you could see items that your friends recently bought online (possibly as a surprise present for you). But don’t let your guard down yet: Facebook has also announced it’s teaming up with the Nielsen Co. to add polls to Facebook pages. The two companies expect to glean precious marketing data, which will then be sold to third-party companies looking to make money online. On the Web, someone is always watching.

Must-see TV
Actor Neil Patrick Harris won rave reviews for his hosting performance at the Emmys this week. The star of How I Met Your Mother opened the evening with a tongue-in-cheek number about the death of TV, and the evening included a surprise appearance by Dr. Horrible (Harris’s online alter ego). Harris, along with actor Hugh Jackman, who hosted the 81st Oscars to critical praise, are making awards shows watchable again, after a decade of long, over-the-top broadcasts and lame monologues by hack comedians.

BAD NEWS

Body bag brouhaha
All hell broke loose when stories surfaced that Manitoba’s Wasagamack First Nation had received a surprise shipment of body bags from the federal government. The Health Department said they were part of a routine shipment to help the remote community prepare for the winter—not, as native leaders charged, a racist kiss-off to a community trying to cope with H1N1. Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq has apologized for any misunderstanding, but both sides should consider this: if a pandemic strikes—in northern Manitoba or anywhere else—public health officials must be ready to send in whatever they deem necessary, without worrying about causing offence.

Alzheimer’s fears
A new report projects that incidences of dementia will double every 20 years, and that the condition will affect 115 million by 2050. According to the 2009 World Alzheimer Report, developing countries where life expectancy is rising should expect to be hit hardest—people in those countries will soon be living long enough to become victims of the disease. There is hope, though: 30 minutes of exercise every day can reduce your risk of developing dementia by as much as 35 per cent.

Fast democracy
Everyone gets a vote: that is a basic pillar of democracy. But the UN-backed Election Complaints Commission, tasked with investigating and correcting fraud in Afghanistan’s recent election, has decided to recount only a sample of votes from the 3,000 polling stations that reported irregularities. The decision is intended to speed up the process of recounting in Afghanistan—and the commission claims the sample will provide an accurate picture of all the votes in question. That may be true, but as their nascent democracy struggles to survive, it is unfortunate that some Afghans will be denied a voice out of expedience.

Track and field fixers
A race-fixing scandal has the world of motorsports reeling. Last year, Renault’s Formula One racing team ordered one of its drivers, Nelson Piquet Jr., to deliberately crash during the Singapore Grand Prix so that his teammate, Fernando Alonso, would win the race. Last week, F1’s governing body put Renault on probation through 2011. As if that weren’t enough to shake the confidence of sports fans, another match-fixing scandal rocked the world of lawn bowling this week, when Canada accused New Zealand of throwing a match against Thailand during last month’s Asia-Pacific championships. Cheating is unconscionable, at any speed.