Day 15 of 14 (II)

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 7:04 PM - 15 Comments

I was otherwise engaged (sketch momentarily), but the parties apparently emerged from their latest round of negotiations with some kind of progress to report. Canadian Press seems to have the scoop.

Details have not yet been hammered out but sources say all parties are now willing to let a neutral judge or panel of experts vet which documents can be safely disclosed publicly without jeopardizing national security.

New Democrat negotiators had wanted MPs themselves to make that determination. But they got no backing for that position from either the Liberals or Bloc Quebecois, much less the governing Conservatives. Sources say the NDP now appears willing to go along with the consensus of the other parties.

Robin Hood, enemy of Fox News?

By Brian D. Johnson - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 5:43 PM - 16 Comments

They must have had a deal worked out. In the absence of Robin Hood director Ridley Scott, who was a no show in Cannes because of knee surgery, Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett were left holding the fort, explaining his movie for him at the press conference before the opening night premiere. The deal, by the sound of it, is that Crowe would do the explaining and Blanchett would play the movie star, looking dreamy (as always), and lightly flirting with her co-star. Crowe, a producer on the film, took charge, elaborating detail about the movie’s “version of history”—  how “indolent egotist,” King John, is pressured into signing the first draft of the Magna Carta “and that to me is the fertile ground where a resistance fighter and rebel hero could rise up and apply that pressure. . .”

“With the love of a good woman,” Blanchett chips in.

Then Crowe made a crack about what trees in the forest are good for.

There were inevitable questions about retro-fitting the Robin Hood legend with politically correct contemporary references, notably an impassioned speech by Robin to Richard the Lionheart decrying a massacre of innocent Muslims by the crusaders. That made Crowe bristle, accusing the questioner of “making a grand assumption that people then had no empathy.” Touché. He went on to say that “there’s an element of Robin Hood lying in the heart of all of us.”

Then, asked what Robin Hood would be doing today, he said: “I’ve been asked this question a lot. Would Robin Hood’s aim be political? Would it be economic? Would he be looking at Wall Street and the huge sums of money that people would be patting themselves on the back with, and the sub-prime mortgage collapse and all that? Or would he be looking what you guys are do for a living and realize that the truth wealth lies in the dissemination of information. My theory would be, if RH was alive today, that he would be looking at the monopolization of media as the greatest enemy.”

Well, doesn’t that sound like fun—firing flaming arrows at Fox News.

Crowe said the history was just a point of entry. “You have to do enough – just enough accurate history to pique people’s curiosity,” he says. “The main shift that we made, if you want a revolutionary shift, is Richard the Lionheart rides in and we kill him in the first scene. That signals to anyone who’s a fan of previous Robin Hoods that it’s a different game.”

And later, when pushed about the ratio of historical fact to fiction, Russell basically threw in the towel: “Apart from the year and a couple of names, we made it all up.”
As for the prospect of a franchise, and a long-term commitment by him and Blanchett—that was my question to both of them—Crowe said, “Obviously there’s a bigger story to be told. There’s no grand planning. But if we do get the opportunity to do it again, with Ridley and Cate. . . I think the cool thing about the relationship between Robin and Marian is that there’s a very adult moment there. They come to each other slowly. And we still haven’t seen the love scene in the forest, the dappled light coming through the trees. . .”

Blanchett’s retort was drowned out by laughter. When I asked her about how far she would like to this merry woodland romance, she played coy: “I haven’t been asked.”

'Overtime is bad for the heart'

By Cathy Gulli - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 4:59 PM - 3 Comments

Working overtime puts people at increased risk of coronary heart disease, according to a new study published in the European Heart Journal. CHD occurs when plaque builds up in and narrows the arteries through which blood reaches the heart, which can lead to a heart attack. Specifically, working three to four hours extra (amounting to an 11- or 12-hour work day) was associated with a 1.56-fold increased risk of CHD.

Previous studies have shown that overtime work is linked to hypertension, sleep problems and depression. Recently, the sixth annual How Healthy Are You? series in Maclean’s revealed that many Canadians are experiencing symptoms such as sore muscles and joints, family conflict, and fatigue since the recession began, largely because they are taking on extra responsibilities—and stress—in the workplace.

RELATED ARTICLES
Quiz – How healthy are you? — So how healthy are you?
Working ourselves sick — The consequences of non-stop job stress include depression, weight gain and heart disease
How healthy are you? — An exclusive survey reveals that ‘layoff survivors’ avoided pink slips, but inherited more work—and illness. Plus, the latest on diet and exercise.

The European researchers followed 6,014 British civil servants aged 39 to 61 for 11 years. Just less than half worked at least one hour of overtime a day, or up to four hours. Those who worked overtime were more often young, male, married or living with a partner, and in more prestigious occupations. The risk of CHD increased in tandem with the number of extra hours worked.

Overtime workers slept less, and reported higher rates of “psychological distress,” according to the study. They often exhibited “Type A behaviour,” which the researchers define as “a chronic, incessant struggle to achieve more and more in less and less time, and is also believed to be characterized by aggressiveness and irritability,” which is also a risk factor for CHD. The researchers also speculate that overtime workers ignore illness, which may aggravate health problems over the long-term.

Perhaps surprisingly, these participants did not exhibit other behaviours that would compromise their heart health: Overtime workers did not drink excessively, smoke or have diabetes. In fact, they actually had better habits—consuming more fruits and vegetables and exercising more often—than those workers who never clocked overtime hours.

In an accompanying editorial entitled “Overtime is bad for the heart,” Gordon McInnes of the University of Glasgow concludes with a quotation from English philosopher Bertrand Russell: “If I were a medical man, I should prescribe a holiday to any patient who considers work important.”

Et Le But!

By Martin Patriquin - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 4:41 PM - 10 Comments

Not to drag politics into a perfectly exciting time of year for anyone who lives on this fair island in this magnificent province, but here goes: there is truly something heartening about the montage above, and not just for the goosebump-inducing reverie. It is one of the few pitches to the heartstrings that doesn’t reek of corporate shill (unless you count the CBC as a brand, of course), and it reminds us that, no matter how Toronto-centric Hockey Night in Canada can be, our national broadcaster will wholeheartedly back any other Canadian team when the Leaves inevitably soil themselves.

I love the fact that the accompanying song is a) in French, and b) by Loco Locass, a fervently nationalist rap group that pines for the day of a separate Quebec. I love that it name checks René Lévesque as well as the many English players–Robinson, Shutt, Gainey, etc–who endeared themselves to the masses by learning the language as well as playing the game. (Lyrics here.)

Finally, I love that the CBC threw those political implications of the song aside and blasted this catchy, beautifully written pean to a great team across the country, from Victoria to Newfoundland–and therefore showed itself more astute than the team’s owners, whose love affair with all things U2 shamefully continues. Bravo.

Tough words from Ban Ki-moon

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 4:19 PM - 22 Comments

The UN’s top dog had some tough words for Stephen Harper on Wednesday. At a scheduled meeting, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Prime Minister Harper to make climate change a priority at the G8 and G20 submits in June. “I urge Canada to comply fully with the targets set out by the Kyoto Protocol,” Ban stressed. “Canada has a special role and special responsibility to play.” The problem? Harper himself is no fan of Kyoto, which was signed by the previous Liberal government. To his credit, Harper has committed Canada to a 17 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020, based on 2005 levels; but that reduction is less than the Kyoto Protocol demands. Ban Ki-moon also congratulated Canada for supporting the UN’s “efforts on child and women’s health.” He did not mention the Conservatives’ controversial decision not to fund abortion-related projects under its maternal health scheme.

CTV News

Oh my goodness, look at that outfit!

By Jessica Allen - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 4:00 PM - 4 Comments

Kobal Collection/ iStock/ Illustration by Bradley Reinhardt

On a recent Tuesday evening, seven members of McMaster University’s classics club gathered in Room 719 of Togo Salmon Hall to watch Disney’s animated movie Hercules. So far this academic year they’ve screened Gladiator, 300 and the 1966 classic A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. When the film ended and the Doritos bags and Coke bottles had been emptied, club president Rebecca Rathbone got the discussion rolling by raising the question of factual accuracy. “If they did what was historically accurate,” she said, “nobody would find any meaning in them today.” “Yeah,” said a student in the back, “And I don’t think Disney could show Hercules killing his wife and kids.” “Twice,” added another.

This group was kind. Movie nights are the bread and butter of classics clubs because that’s when members get “to be obnoxious little classicists,” says Sara Mills, a junior at Harvard and president of their classical club. “It’s very hard for us to watch these movies in silence. It’s like, ‘Oh my goodness, look at that outfit!’ ” And Dale Eadeh, president of NYU’s Classics Club, admits, “We can’t resist! It’s the kind of thing where we’ll make a comment and just apologize right after: ‘I’m sorry for ruining the movie but I have a question.’ ” Questions like: why does Alexander the Great’s mother, played by Angelina Jolie, have a Russian accent in Alexander? Why do the Romans in Gladiator take a catapult into a forest? And why does marble statuary inevitably appear pristinely white?

Continue…

Reforms we can learn from

By John Geddes - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 3:10 PM - 33 Comments

I’m not one of those Canadians given to looking to England for political inspiration. It comes from long years of observing transatlantic contrasts.

Way back when, my anglophile friends of the Conservative persuasion were greatly excited by Margaret Thatcher. But it turned out that Brian Mulroney offered a more nuanced Toryism and, with his Canada-U.S. free trade deal, was arguably more lastingly consequential here than she was there.

A little later, certain cosmopolitan Liberals of my acquaintance developed a thing for Tony Blair. So much so, in fact, that Jean Chrétien’s much more impressive fiscal record and far better understanding and intuition on the Iraq war never quite computed for them. How could a guy who talked so well prove less effective than a guy who talked like that?

Still, the coalition of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats that emerged this week in London looks exceptionally interesting from a Canadian perspective. The main reason is the set of electoral and parliamentary reforms the new Tory prime minister, David Cameron, has agreed to as the price of winning over Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem leader. Continue…

Thank God This Isn't Based On a True Story

By Jaime Weinman - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 2:47 PM - 0 Comments

This season of How I Met Your Mother hasn’t been very satisfying, but at least they can still produce entertaining spin-off videos. This is the trailer for The Wedding Bride, the movie-within-a-show based on Ted’s engagement to Stella. I presume that in the episode itself, the trailer will only be shown in bits and pieces, like the Robin Sparkles videos.

[vodpod id=Video.3598490&w=640&h=385&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26]

I think there’s an argument to be made that HIMYM made a mistake in actually acknowledging and responding to the things fans were saying about their characters. I’m thinking particularly in terms of Ted. The idea that “Ted is a douche” has been around for a while. And it was founded in some of the things the writers made him do after they dropped the “Ted is an adorable romantic hero” thing. But this season, “douche” has pretty much become Ted’s full-time character description. Probably this is supposed to be part of some kind of arc for the character; he has to be as annoying and pretentious as possible before he can have another epiphany and grow up (again). But really it seems like they’ve taken a facet of the character, which they once used to give him a bit of an edge, and turned it into his primary character trait. That’s no fun.

Boarding schools for Roma kids?

By Claire Ward - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 2:40 PM - 5 Comments

Elvis Barukcic/AFP/Getty Images

In an attempt to integrate future generations of Roma into European society, the Slovakian government has controversially proposed to send children of Roma families to state-run boarding schools. Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico made the announcement in March following a damning report by U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay during her annual address. Pillay slammed Slovakia for the “deteriorating” situation of its impoverished, widely unemployed Roma citizens, who represent around 10 per cent of Slovakia’s overall population of 5.4 million.

Continue…

Day 15 of 14

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 1:07 PM - 19 Comments

All parties are scheduled to return to the table to resume negotiations on Afghan detainee documents at 3:30pm this afternoon.

The Military Police Complaints Commission hearings, meanwhile, continue—with reports this week of wrangling between Foreign Affairs and National Defence, the firing of an Afghan official after a report of torture and disagreement over the circumstances of one detainee.

Libyan plane crash kills more than 100

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 12:49 PM - 0 Comments

More than 100 people are dead after a passenger plane crashed in Libya, according to officials in the capital of Tripoli, the BBC reports. An Airbus A330 crashed upon landing at the Tripoli airport after arriving from Johannesburg, leaving only one Dutch boy as the sole known survivor. Among those killed were 61 Dutch nationals, according to the Dutch tourism board, and 11 Libyan crew members. Victims were from Libya, Britain, Germany, Finland, Zimbabwe, the Philippines, South Africa and France, although numbers had not yet been released. The plane’s final destination was Tripoli, according to Afriqiyah Airways. A Dutch Foreign Ministry spokesman said the survivor was undergoing surgery in Tripoli for injuries including broken bones. The cause of the crash wasn’t known at the time of reporting, but some reports suggest it had crashed very close to the runway. A team of French crash investigators are expected in Tripoli to help Libyan officials look into it.

BBC News

Robin Hood fights the French on the beaches

By Brian D. Johnson - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 12:47 PM - 3 Comments

Russell Crowe in 'Robin Hood'

This morning we saw a press screening of Sir Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood, which opens the Cannes Film Festival tonight and hits  Canadian theatres Friday. We also watched its stars, a good-humoured Russell Crowe and a flirtatious Cate Blanchett, hold court in the festival’s first press conference. More on that performance later. But first some impressions of the movie. (Forgive the early judgment, but when you open Cannes, you can’t expect to keep the world’s opinions under wraps.)

To begin with, there was no small irony in seeing Robin Hood premiere in a French beach resort. Sir Ridley has rebooted the well-worn legend with an origins story, recasting him as a war hero leading the English in an epic battle against France. The French are the bad guys, and they’re  portrayed with a vitriol that would warm the heart of any Freedom Fries-loving American, as a gang of snide, sneaky, rapacious villains. The movie’s French title is Robin des bois (Robin of the forest). The action, however, is not set in Sherwood Forest. Robin doesn’t even get there until the final scenes. No, this is essentially a medieval war movie, full of pillaging, castle-sacking, battering rams and boiling oil–with occasional shades of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The legend has also been retrofitted with contemporary resonance,  from references to atrocities against Muslim civilians in the Crusades to the tax-burden of a country drained by its military.

The new and improved Robin Hood is no mere common outlaw. A veteran of King Richard’s long and costly war against Islam, he emerges as an English Braveheart, a national resistance fighter, galvanizing popular sentiment against the cruel, tax-happy King John (who’s a dupe for the French). Fulfilling the legacy of a father he barely knew, Robin is a liberator who, in a flourish of historic invention, presents the treacherous King John with an early draft of the Magna Carta. . . and (spoiler alert) he leads British troops into battle as France invades England’s beaches with a vast armada of 13th- century landing craft. The scene plays like D-Day’s Normandy Invasion in reverse.  For a moment there, I thought I was watching Saving Private Robin. As if inspired by Winston Churchill, our hero is actualy fighting them on the beaches.

Sir Ridley is on familiar turf here. This epic,  which is a bit bloated at two-and-a-half hours, bears the distinctive stamp that he brought to both Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven–gritty, sword-slashing combat mired in mud and fired with old fashioned romance. A lot of it is good fun. Even if the Merry Men interludes seem contrived, Sir Ridley knows how to shoot a bow and arrow, so to speak. And one thing is certain: its Australian star, Russell Crowe, makes a far sturdier Robin Hood than the laughable Kevin Costner (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves). The filmmakers have roughened up Robin, giving him rugged leather breeches as opposed to tights. And they’re thrown some modern twists into the story. Blanchett’s headstrong Maid Marian  is quite the warrior in her own right, even if Robin does get her to strip off his armour after she runs him a bath. And Marion’s blind, ailing father-in-law, Sir Walter Loxsley (Max von Sydow), essentially asks Robin Longstride to impersonate her slain husband, which is how he becomes Robin of Loxsley.

Robin Hood, clearly sets the stage for a franchise. Sir Ridley, who’s recovering from knee surgery, couldn’t make the trip to Cannes, so he was not at the movie’s press conference to explain strategy. But when I asked Crowe (who’s a co-producer)about their ambitions for sequels, he told me they explained the film was originally mapped out as a seven-and-a-half our saga. Which means we’ve seen the first third of it. . . Hey, I’ve got to get to another movie, but more on that press conference in the next blog . . .

'Basically, government tells us what they want us to know'

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 12:42 PM - 4 Comments

Our Jonathon Gatehouse reviews the present state of our access to information laws in the latest issue of the magazine. Over the weekend, the Citizen’s David Pugliese did likewise at some length. So dire is our present situation, apparently, that government staffers struggle to speak publicly in complete sentences, and only then with a government lawyer at their side.

Sebastien Togneri had previously told a House of Commons committee that he made a “mistake” in ordering that a 137-page document — already cleared by non-partisan civil servants and government lawyers — be “unreleased.” Under further questioning before the committee on Tuesday, the senior aide to Natural Resources Minister Christian Paradis repeatedly consulted his lawyer when asked how frequently this type of practice occurred.

“Uh, in my, my . . . yes it’s the only time I, uh . . . This was, you know, a mistake I made,” Togneri said.

Solar panel plant coming to Windsor

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 12:34 PM - 12 Comments

Residents of Windsor, Ont., where the unemployment rate is still hovering above 12 per cent, are getting a much-needed ray of sunshine. Solar Source Corp. has announced that is it planning to open Ontario’s first solar panel manufacturing facility in the border city this year. The 45,000-square-foot facility, which will be located on Windsor airport lands, is expected to employ up to 200 people by next spring, and up to 500 people within three years. According to Solar Source president Ross Beatty, the company chose Windsor due to its proximity to the U.S., and recruitment potential from the University of Windsor. The company has partnered with Hind High Vacuum Company (HHV), which manufactures the most crystalline silicon solar panel manufacturing tools and amorphous silicon thin film in India. Solar Source is investing $40 million in the launch.

CBC

NASA’s research labs jeopardize research

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 12:31 PM - 0 Comments

The state of NASA’s aging research labs jeopardizes scientific research at the space agency, a National Research Council report says. Bureaucratic changes and budget cuts mean lab staff have spent too much time asking for money while their facilities wear down, putting “NASA’s future goals in serious jeopardy,” said the report, according to Reuters. The panel recommends the agency shift its emphasis to upgrading facilities, just as President Barack Obama is pushing a new vision of space exploration, including public-private partnerships. The amount NASA needs to spend for maintenance has grown from $1.77 billion in 2004, to $2.46 billion in 2009, it says.

Reuters

Ban Ki-moon lands in Ottawa

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 12:16 PM - 0 Comments

Ban Ki-moon is in Ottawa today. The United Nations secretary-general has a busy day in store; he will meet with Governor-General Michaëlle Jean, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, and International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda. Later, he will sit down with Prime Minister Stephen Harper to discuss the G8 and G20 summits that Canada is hosting in June. Also on the agenda: nuclear non-proliferation. “The visit of the secretary-general is an opportunity for Canada to reaffirm our commitment to the UN,” said a statement from the PMO this week.

Vancouver Sun

Quebec family found dead after massive landslide

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 12:11 PM - 0 Comments

One minute the Préfontaines were watching the Montreal Canadiens play on their basement television. The next, a massive landslide took their lives. It happened on Monday night, in the farming town of Saint-Jude, Quebec. Authorities say that a landslide was triggered around 9:30 pm. Almost instantly, a kilometre-long crater opened up, sucking the Préfontaine home into it, nine metres down. On Tuesday, rescue workers dug through layers of mud and debris and found the bodies of Richard Préfontaine, his wife, and their two young daughters. Locals say erosion is a problem in the lush, clay-rich region. “Every year we lose a lot of farm land to the [Yamaska] River,” said one municipal counselor. A fence has been placed around the abyss, but some worry that other homes are at risk. Only the Préfontaines’ family dog, Foxy, survived Monday’s landslide.

CBC News

Mother’s phonecall as good as a hug

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 12:08 PM - 0 Comments

Working moms who can’t be home to help an upset child can take comfort in the fact that her voice over the phone is just as soothing as a hug, according to a new study from U.S. researchers reported in the BBC. In a study of more than 60 girls in a stressful situation, hormonal responses were monitored when they were either phoned or hugged afterwards. Their mother’s voice produced virtually the same amount of oxytocin, a stress-reducing hormone, as physical comfort, they found. Aged seven to 12, the girls were asked to make an on-the-spot speech and then solve math problems in front of a panel of strangers, which sent their stress hormone levels soaring. In one group, their mother was there to offer physical comfort immediately; in the other, the mother was waiting on the phone. A third group watched an emotionally-neutral film. Oxytocin rose in both groups to similar levels, but not in the film group.

BBC News

Saying goodbye to 10 Downing Street

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 12:03 PM - 1 Comment

Sometimes pictures are worth more than words. A Guardian photographer was granted exclusive access to 10 Downing Street yesterday to document what turned out to be the final moments of Gordon Brown’s Labour government. His 14-photos capture moments of fear, as Brown and advisors wait for the phone call that will seal their fate from Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats. Then resignation, and even pathos. The final shot is a box of Brown’s mementos, already packed up and sitting by the wall, even as he heads to Buckingham Palace to see the Queen and formally end his tenure as Britain’s Prime Minister.

Guardian

Gardening stores busted for pot

By Tom Henheffer - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 12:00 PM - 2 Comments

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

New Zealand police claim to have broken the backbone of the country’s $800-million marijuana industry. The paralyzing blow came last Tuesday when officers raided 35 businesses and a number of residences, seizing plants, growing equipment, guns, methamphetamine and other drugs in the climax of a two-year investigation called “Operation Lime.” The lion’s share of the bust went to 16 stores owned by a company called Switched on Gardener, a seller of hydroponic plant-growing supplies, although several other gardening stores were also targeted.

Continue…

You have mail—from Steve Jobs

By Claire Ward - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 12:00 PM - 0 Comments

Getty Images

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been a hot topic on tech blogs lately for something other than the iPad: his emails. Responding to frustrated Apple users and fans alike, Jobs’s terse responses to emails sent to his work address—sjobs@apple.com—are being republished online by excited recipients.

While most are one-word replies to questions about Apple products, Jobs has been stringing together more elaborate responses of late. In March, when asked whether the iPad will support Google’s Picasa library format, Jobs replied with a light jab: “No, but iPhoto on the Mac has much better faces and places features.”

Continue…

Winnipeg's NHL dreams dashed again

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 11:28 AM - 29 Comments

Hopes that Winnipeg could once again host an NHL team took yet another blow yesterday, as councillors in Glendale, Ariz. voted to cover the Phoenix Coyotes losses up to $25 million. The resolution means the team will stay put through the 2010-11 season, while councillors surprised observers with the revelation that the exurb remains in negotiations with two potential buyers of the team—Jerry Reinsdorf and Ice Edge Holdings. This contradicts earlier reports that both parties had thrown in the towel on purchasing the Coyotes. The news had raised optimism in Winnipeg that the club would be coming back to the city after heading south in 1995. The Coyotes are currently under league ownership. But the NHL is said to have an offer on the table backed by billionaire David Thomson that would see the team moved back to the ‘Peg, where it was known as the Jets.

Arizona Central

A question for the minister

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 11:24 AM - 19 Comments

Keith Beardsley again considers Michael Chong’s plan for QP, this time on the point that ministers should have, in most cases, to actually speak when spoken to.

Over the past few years two more exceptions were added. When you are in trouble another minister gets assigned to take your questions. It could be the House Leader or it could be whoever is filling in for the PM. This is a great defensive tactic but it is just that, a defence mechanism that lets a minister off the hook. In the Chretien years, to use a Liberal example, when a minister was under attack, they took the heat themselves, day after day. Just think of Jane Stewart and what she went through for quite a few weeks.

If the situation got serious in QP, Chretien would rise and defend the minister. That was a big media story. Over the last couple of years that has changed: questions about ministerial expenses, as an example, have been answered by the House Leader. Why? If the minister spent the money, the minister should be able to tell voters why. A minister is supposed to be responsible for the department and it seems logical that this includes ministerial expenses incurred when performing departmental duties.

Be afraid

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 10:51 AM - 30 Comments

In the midst of a rather heated exchange with Liberal Mark Holland yesterday, Vic Toews, the Public Safety Minister, offered this.

Mr. Speaker, the kind of prison cities that the Liberals build are for ordinary citizens to be barred in their own homes because they are scared to be out on the streets. Our government believes that it is criminals who should be behind bars and ordinary citizens entitled to walk the streets when they feel like it.