What about next time?

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, May 14, 2010 at 3:30 PM - 17 Comments

Jeff Jedras wonders if we shouldn’t be thinking of a permanent solution to the predicament just negotiated.

We can’t go through this drama and crisis every time there is information Parliament needs to see that the government, for whatever reason, doesn’t want to share. It’s tedious, it’s counterproductive, and it undermines public faith in democratic institutions. This isn’t the first time a government of any stripe has tried to be less than forthright with Parliament, and it surely won’t be the last.

CBC studies whether its news is biased

By macleans.ca - Friday, May 14, 2010 at 3:12 PM - 55 Comments

As Conservative senators demand to see proof that CBC polling data wasn’t shared with the Liberal Party, Hubert Lacroix, president of the broadcaster, has told the Senate finance committee that his company has commissioned a study to check whether its news is biased. “Our job—and we take it seriously—is to ensure that the information that we put out is fair and unbiased in everything that we do,” he said. Experts were hired to conduct an independent review of the company’s news gathering and delivery and are now preparing a report, scheduled to be released this fall. But the study is creating controversy within the organization. “I fear this may be part of the CBC’s attempt to placate its political opponents and to limit the ability of the news and current affairs service to do the kind of tough reporting that the public broadcaster has been known for,” said CBC Radio chief journalist Jeffrey Dvorkin, who also added that bias studies are often, ironically enough, biased themselves.

Ottawa Sun

Idea alert

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, May 14, 2010 at 3:00 PM - 14 Comments

The Alberta Liberals offer a tax credit for voting.

“I’m hearing more and more from Albertans that they have disengaged from politics, that they don’t trust anybody, that the political process stinks in Alberta, that they’re tired of the culture of cronyism that we’ve talked about,” Swann told CBC News. ”I think it’s time to say very clearly where we stand and what we’re trying to do to try and improve the credibility and the consistent messages people receive about their government.”

The full program, a 12-step plan for better government, is here.

Video: Joel Quarrington's bass revolution

By Paul Wells - Friday, May 14, 2010 at 1:55 PM - 7 Comments

In the last print edition of Maclean’s, I had a profile of Joel Quarrington, the principal double bassist of the NAC Orchestra, who won a classical-music Juno a few weeks ago for his CD Garden Scene. Principal-chair players in every section in every prominent Canadian orchestra are formidable musical talents, but Quarrington’s influence and the respect he commands among peers goes further than that. Also he’s a funny guy.

But what’s most interesting is the way he’s adopted an unusual method for tuning his bass, at intervals of a fifth instead of a fourth. This turns out to have effects on the instrument that would have been hard to predict, so while I was interviewing Quarrington I shot some video. This’ll help readers see, hear and understand what I’m trying to describe. So here’s Joel Quarrington:

The Board of Inquiry report (IV)

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, May 14, 2010 at 1:47 PM - 4 Comments

Earlier this week, I posted the thoughts of Sebastien Jodoin of Amnesty International in response to the recent Board of Inquiry report. I then wrote to the offices of General Walter Natynczyk and Defence Minister Peter MacKay and offered to post any response to Mr. Jodoin’s comments. Today, a letter arrived from Rear-Admiral Davidson.

Here is that letter in its entirety.

Continue…

Worst Idea For a Cartoon?

By Jaime Weinman - Friday, May 14, 2010 at 1:01 PM - 12 Comments

I don’t know why I’ve been thinking about this, but I’m wondering what you think is, or was, the TV cartoon with the worst premise. (Which is different from the worst-executed cartoon.) Some bad cartoons have bland premises, and others have premises that are insane but kind of awesome, like Rocket Robin Hood. But others are based on ideas so desperate that even kids can sense the desperation.

There are many possibilities, from Laverne and Shirley in the Army to Rubik the Amazing Cube. But I’m going to nominate Hanna-Barbera’s Jabberjaw just because it is the ultimate collision of every bad cartoon cliche: You’ve got kids solving mysteries, playing in a band, a wacky animal designed entirely to sell merchandise, and who is also simultaneously a ripoff of at least four different characters: He’s a ripoff of Scooby-Doo, his voice — provided by, of course, Frank Welker — is a ripoff of Curly from the Three Stooges, his catchphrase is a ripoff of Rodney Dangerfield, and his species is a ripoff of the most popular movie character of the era, Jaws the Shark. That’s so crass it’s almost impressive.

Other nominations welcome. However, there is only one possible nomination for the title of “worst useless kid sidekick,” and no, it’s not Scrappy-Doo.

Hey look: There’s a faith war? Sign me up!

By Paul Wells - Friday, May 14, 2010 at 12:48 PM - 285 Comments

From the print edition, my column about Marci McDonald’s book The Armageddon Factor. I think she overstates the influence of Christian conservatives in Stephen Harper’s Ottawa in a way that saps her book of too much of its credibility. I have said similar things before, when her book was germinating as a long article in The Walrus.

But as McDonald points out on her book’s last page, I admitted last summer, when Tony Clement was making up transparent lies to camouflage the cutting of tourism-promotion grants to gay and lesbian community events, that I often have “second thoughts” about whether she had a point. And indeed, in one of the most-read and most-remarked pieces I’ve written this year, I went on at some length about the influence of social conservatives, including what she calls Christian nationalists, in Harper’s Ottawa. I myself have argued that there’s a real presence with real clout. So what’s got up my nose this week? Continue…

Parties strike deal on Afghan docs

By macleans.ca - Friday, May 14, 2010 at 12:41 PM - 4 Comments

The government and opposition have come to an agreement: a small, all-party committee sworn to secrecy will convene to review the sensitive Afghan detainee document. The committee of one MP and one alternate from each party will go through the documents with the assistance of bureaucrats who can explain national security implications.

Canadian Press

MacKay says navy won’t be cut in half

By macleans.ca - Friday, May 14, 2010 at 12:01 PM - 12 Comments

Following a report in the Ottawa Citizen based on a letter from Vice Admiral Dean McFadden that said funding cuts would slash navy operations in half, Defence Minister Peter MacKay is denying that the orders have become policy. “These operational decisions have not been taken,” he said, adding that, “we are going to have increased naval capability in the future as a result of the historic investments that we’re making in the Canadian navy.” However, the National Post reports that navy officers speaking off the record say the orders are already being followed. The letter, which was sent to navy staff on April 23, details a massive budget shortfall that is forcing a drastic reduction in the size of the Canadian fleet and the shuttering of the combat capabilities of many ship’s remaining in service. “The sheer percentage of the fleet that will be unavailable is staggering,” said Defence analyst Martin Shadwick. “It leaves the navy in the medium term with very limited capability.”

National Post

Another death in Afghanistan

By macleans.ca - Friday, May 14, 2010 at 11:58 AM - 1 Comment

Private Kevin Thomas McKay, 24, was only a few days away from finishing his tour in Afghanistan when an improvised explosive device took his life as he was on foot patrol near a village in the country’s Panjway district. A member of Edmonton-based 1st Batallion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, McKay, known to his friends as “Mickey,” is the 144th Canadian soldier to die in the Afghan mission. He was “the type of soldier that Canadians must picture when they think of their army in Afghanistan: the tough, courageous infantryman, living in austere conditions and doing remarkably difficult work,” said Colonel Simon Hetherington, Deputy Commander of Task Force Kandahar. “On behalf of all soldiers, sailors, airmen and airwomen and special operators of Joint Task Force Afghanistan, I offer our sincere condolences to the family and friends of our fallen comrade,” he added.

Globe and Mail

D.C. rumour mill won't let Kagan's sexuality go

By macleans.ca - Friday, May 14, 2010 at 11:57 AM - 12 Comments

As debate over U.S. Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan heats up in Washington, her qualifications—and her sexuality—are on trial. Though observers expected rumours about the solicitor-general’s sexuality, which first began swirling in mid-April, when one-time Bush aide Ben Domenech, claimed on his CBS news blog that Obama might be considering Kagan to become the “first openly gay justice,” to fade, they seem to have done just the opposite. “If Kagan is practising immoral sexual behaviour, it reflects on her character as a judicial nominee and her personal bias as potentially one of the most important public officials in America,” said Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality. The mostly online discussion has prompted Obama’s staff to refute claims that the unmarried 50-year-old woman is gay, reportedly telling media outlets that she is in fact straight. In the meantime, however, the open-minded moderate has gotten a boost from two Republican Senators—Susan Collins (Maine) and Scott Brown (Mass.)—both of whom have publicly stated their support for her.

Montreal Gazette

Washington Post

Don Cherry would invest in Jets

By macleans.ca - Friday, May 14, 2010 at 11:54 AM - 4 Comments

Under the heading of “uh yeah, thanks:” Don Cherry says he’d be willing to invest his own money in a Winnipeg NHL franchise, because the ‘Peg is such a great hockey town. Notwithstanding the question of who would want to go into business with Grapes (other than those wacky Cold-FX guys), one wonders if the Hockey Night in Canada legend and former coach is being too cute by half. With this week’s council vote guaranteeing the City of Glendale will cover the Phoenix Coyotes’ financial losses, the team is guaranteed to stay put for at least a year. If the ‘Yotes are still in play a year from now—if a Winnipeg offer is still on the table, if the NHL is really willing to let the team come North—he could conceivably ask to buy in. Or, as a wise man once said: if we had some ham, we could have some ham and eggs, if we had some eggs.

CBC News

Climate change panel must modernize: head

By macleans.ca - Friday, May 14, 2010 at 11:44 AM - 6 Comments

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, should learn from its mistakes, says its head, Rajendra Pachauri, admitting it wasn’t prepared to face recent criticism. Even so, despite making an error over Himalayan glaciers in its 2007 report, Pachauri said its basic conclusions are still sound, the BBC reports. “We have not been effective at telling the public, ‘yes, we made a mistake’, but that does not change the fact that the glaciers are melting,” he said. The IPCC’s task is becoming more complex, he said, noting that the number of peer-reviewed academic papers it must account for has skyrocketed, and that human error is beginning to creep in. Ministers at the UN Environment Programme’s governing council have said allegations about IPCC errors threaten to undermine its reputation, even though governments use it to create their own climate policies.

BBC News

Nuisance beavers on notice

By macleans.ca - Friday, May 14, 2010 at 11:41 AM - 5 Comments

Prince Edward Island’s rivers are infested with so-called “nuisance beavers,” the National Post reports, whose dams are causing flooding, killing trees, contaminating water and interfering with fish migration, and so the provincial government has contracted three professional trappers to kill over 150 of them. The province has a new “beaver policy” and a permanent committee to deal with “beaver problems affecting highways,” it says. After this summer’s beaver cull, their pelts will be sold. Environmental officer Shelley Cole-Arbing said the move is in the “interest of public safety.” Beavers are multiplying because they have no natural predators, and the number of trappers has dwindled. In 2009, a report from the Atlantic Salmon Federation said the salmon run would be gone from at least three PEI rivers if beavers weren’t culled.

National Post

Mailbag: The Worst Starbucks, Ralph Klein, Sami Salo’s tenders'

By Scott Feschuk - Friday, May 14, 2010 at 11:41 AM - 58 Comments

Welcome to the Mailbag, where I assume you’re all coming to the big Maclean’s Taste event in Toronto next Monday (and in Calgary and Vancouver in June). Wells and Coyne travel the country debating the perplexing issues and vexing public-policy questions that confront our society. I travel the country eating for free. The lesson as always: be the guy who writes about killer robots.

Onward to your questions…

•••

Dear Scott:

Sami Salo. Discuss. – Chris B

Chris B –

I’d be happy to address this issue, but first permit me to instinctively cross my legs and hunch over slightly.

Almost there… being careful…

When first it was reported that the Vancouver Canucks defenceman had ruptured a testicle, I found myself immediately pondering a question: how many other parts of his body would the average man rather have rupture than a testicle? The spleen, for sure. Let that sucker blow! Probably the appendix, too. (Having some gross inflammatory liquids sloshing around inside you sounds awful, but somewhat less awful than the prospect of half your nutsack exploding.) How about an eyeball? Probably not, but the fact that I even pondered it for a split second is revealing.

I believe it was Carol Burnett who equated the pain of giving birth to grabbing your lower lip and pulling it over your head. Well, ladies, permit me to inform you that given how much it ouches when a man’s balls are even gently nudged, I can only conclude that Continue…

The Facebook privacy labyrinth

By macleans.ca - Friday, May 14, 2010 at 11:38 AM - 0 Comments

Facebook has made privacy such a maddening maze, that users concerned about revealing too much to friends of friends of friends, or even to the general public, need to carve out a lot of time to make sure their privacy settings are up to date. While Facebook says it wants to offer precise controls for sharing on the Internet, it’s confusingly complex privacy set up seems designed to make it all but impossible to decipher. Now the New York Times has a handy-dandy graphic to help everyone (as well as an accompanying article). So toss back a few Tylenol or Advil, maybe a beer or two and settle in for a long haul—there are 50 settings with more than 170 options that all need to be clicked, un-clicked or changed.

New York Times

The deal is done

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, May 14, 2010 at 11:23 AM - 52 Comments

It would seem a deal is essentially done. Here is how the NDP is describing the agreement in a release hailing a “victory for Parliamentary democracy.”

Under the terms of the agreement agreed to by all parties, a committee of MPs will review all documents in un-redacted form to determine their relevance to the study of the transfer of Afghan detainees by the House Special Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan. The panel’s decision on the relevance of those documents will be final and unreviewable.

Any documents that are found to be relevant will be referred to a Panel of Expert Arbiters, who will determine how the information in those documents will be made available to all MPs, and to the public, without compromising national security.

Update I. The MP panel will have four members, one from each party (with an alternate according to CP). The expert panel will have three members. No names yet for either panel.

Update II. Justice Minister Rob Nicholson has risen in the House just now to confirm the agreement. MPs on the ad hoc committee will be sworn to secrecy and go through the necessary security clearance. They will have access to government officials to consult on context and disclosure. The membership of the expert panel must be agreed to by government and opposition. Any decision of the expert panel will be final and unreviewable. All details will be laid out in a memorandum of understanding to be in place by May 31, 2010.

Update III. Below is the full text of today’s agreement.

Update IV. Here is the official Liberal reaction.

Update V. From Mr. Nicholson’s remarks in the House. “You will remember, Mr. Speaker, in your ruling of April 27, which was your decision on a question of privilege, that you were confident that members of Parliament of all parties could come to an agreement. I just want you to know, Mr. Speaker, that that confidence was not misplaced because I am very pleased to tell the House today that agreement has been reached with all the political parties. It is an agreement that complies with Canadian law, it does not compromise national security and it does not jeopardize the lives of the men and women who serve in uniform which of course was the concern of the government in recognizing your ruling … Mr. Speaker, this is a good day for parliamentarians. It is a good day for all those who have respect for the rule of law in this country and again, I commend all members and thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the ruling and the opportunity that you have given us to bring together this agreement. Again, your confidence was not misplaced.”

Continue…

Canadian journalist takes three bullets in Bangkok

By macleans.ca - Friday, May 14, 2010 at 11:22 AM - 0 Comments

A Canadian journalist in “very serious” condition after being shot three times at a riot in Bangkok. Nelson Rand was hit while covering a violent unrest for France 24 News on Friday morning. “Red Shirt” demonstrators have been gathering in the Thai capital for weeks, demanding the overthrow of Thailand’s allegedly corrupt government. The situation on Friday escalated after Red Shirts captured two military trucks and set fire to a police bus. Government forces tried to calm the situation: “We are the people’s army,” they broadcasted, over loudspeaker. “We are just doing our duty for the nation. Brothers and sisters, let’s talk together.” The message struck deaf ears. “We are being crushed… This is not a civil war yet, but it’s very, very cruel,” a Red Shirt leader insisted. The injured Canadian journalist will undergo surgery on Friday. Two Thai reporters were also injured.

Globe and Mail

Vacation from hell

By Cathy Gulli - Friday, May 14, 2010 at 10:49 AM - 28 Comments

AFP Photo / Getty Images

“You’re cursed now,” the Peruvian guide chided. Nakita Haining had just picked up one of dozens of skulls and bones strewn across ancient burial grounds in Peru when the guide offered this ominous message. She looked over at her travel partner Daryl Buchanan, who had done the same. “You’re cursed now, too,” the guide said, nodding. Haining and Buchanan smiled nervously, set the skulls down, and carried on with their hike. But ever since that warning, recalls Buchanan, “All this stuff happened.”

“Stuff” is Buchanan’s characteristically unadorned way of describing what ensued: earthquakes, landslides, floods. Near-death, and death. A state of emergency declared in several regions of the country. At least 30,000 people affected. He and Haining had arrived in Peru from Edmonton on Jan. 14, for a two-week vacation that would culminate in a four-day trek through the Amazon jungle and along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. There, the pair, who describe themselves as best friends, bandmates and co-workers in a vinyl siding business, would celebrate Haining’s 23rd birthday.

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'People just don't believe politicians anymore'

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, May 14, 2010 at 10:10 AM - 8 Comments

Liberal backbencher Michelle Simson confirms her cult hero status with the seemingly desired reaction to yesterday’s decision to keep MP expenses beyond the purview of the auditor general.

“Personally, I’m disappointed,” said Liberal MP Michelle Simson, a rookie Scarborough MP who unilaterally decided to post her detailed parliamentary expenses online. “There seems to be a public appetite just to be assured by someone like Sheila Fraser … because people just don’t believe politicians anymore.”

Role Reversal

By Andrew Potter - Friday, May 14, 2010 at 10:04 AM - 35 Comments

Remember back in the days when the differences between Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby were as clear as the differences between communism and democracy? When only Crosby “seems to have grasped that intangible called victory while Ovechkin understands the spectacular far more than the simple”. When “If they have been first among equals, they are not that anymore”? When “Ovechkin, the older of the two, appears less mature than Crosby, less grounded, more individualistic.”

Funny that.

Sidney Crosby asked, declines offer to go to World Championships

Alex Ovechkin leads Russia past Slovakia at hockey worlds

Day 17 of 14

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, May 14, 2010 at 9:58 AM - 2 Comments

With just about three and a half hours to go, here is Steve Chase’s assessment of where things stood as this morning dawned.

Second thoughts on Afghanistan

By Andrew Potter - Friday, May 14, 2010 at 9:33 AM - 7 Comments

1. Brian Stewart has just come back from Holland and he has a must-read column on the wavering Dutch commitment to leaving Afghanistan. The main issues seem to be a) self-respect, and a desire not to be seen to be bolting just as things are heating up, and b) concern about negative reaction within NATO. Most disturbing, I think, is this passage Brian quotes from a Dutch news story:

For example, Radio Netherlands Worldwide recently reported that Dutch troops, now preparing to pull out of Afghanistan, fear they will be shunned by their allies. “Feelings on the ground in Afghanistan regarding the Dutch pullout are running high among Americans,” the reporter claimed.

“As for solidarity among the NATO members, that’s non-existent. One person I know doubts whether the Netherlands will get any air-cover if it decides to move equipment by road to Kandahar during the pullout.”

The upshot is that the Dutch appear to be having a lively national debate about this, which must be refreshing.  At the same time, a political coalition seems to be building around the idea of saving face by providing the trainers the Americans say are desperately needed, along with a few hundred combat troops as protection: “and the Canadians will thus become the first to leave completely”.

2. The folks over at the CASC continue their cross-country tour, hosting debates on the question What Should Canada Do In Afghanistan Post-2011? Check out Terry Glavin’s blog for details on upcoming events Halifax, Montreal, Winnipeg, and Regina. I co-hosted one of the panels in Toronto — my report on it is here.

Those crazy Christians are taking over Ottawa!

By Paul Wells - Friday, May 14, 2010 at 9:00 AM - 354 Comments

CP PHOTO/Tom Hanson

In 2008, 2½ years into Stephen Harper’s term as Prime Minister, the abortion advocate Henry Morgentaler was awarded the Order of Canada. This bit of history pops up at the bottom of page 167 of Marci McDonald’s book The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada. And by the second paragraph of page 168 it’s forgotten, never to be mentioned again, because in the bizarre Canada McDonald spends the rest of her book describing, the extension of official honour to the likes of Morgentaler cannot possibly have happened.

McDonald is a former Washington and Paris bureau chief for this magazine. In 2006 she wrote a long article for The Walrus (that clause contains a redundant adjective). In it, she took an obvious and interesting fact—the Harper government pays a lot of attention to the concerns of evangelical Christians—and turned it into a risible fantasy: the Harper government is a plaything of wild-eyed end-timers who would transform Canada into a soul-saving factory in anticipation of the Rapture.

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