Health care costs: putting our worries in context

By John Geddes - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 2:45 PM - 34 Comments

Worry about the cost of Canadian health care is growing among those who pay attention to how governments pay for programs, which is a good thing. But I think we should get straight on the strengths of the system before we start arguing in earnest about how to reform it.

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If you can't throw shoes at Charest…

By Martin Patriquin - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 2:23 PM - 9 Comments

Amir Khadir, Quebec’s second most popular NMA, once threw a shoe at an effigy of George W. Bush. The Iranian-born doctor is co-leader, with Françoise David, of Québec solidaire, a left-wing party of which he is the sole elected member. He isn’t as divisive as you’d think:  Gerald Deltell, leader of the rightist ADQ, once told me that Khadir was one of the MNAs he most respected, ideological differences be damned.

Since the shoe-chucking incident, which he performed in front of the U.S. consulate in Montreal, Khadir has limited himself to subtler forms of advocacy. Apart from his work in exposing the rather cozy relationship between the Quebec Liberal Party and members of some of Quebec’s leading engineering firms, Khadir has taken a shine to the humble internet petition. Since August, he has launched petitions on the National Assembly website calling for, among other things, “an immediate halt to gas exploration in the golf of St. Lawrence, baie des Chaleurs, Anticosti and the Magdalen Islands” (5165 signatures); “adequate funding of community kindergartens” (1257 signatures); “a rebalancing of the powers between city hall and the boroughs” (402 signatures). Khadir is responsible for six of the 11 petitions on the website.

This week, Khadir hit his stride. His petition dated November 15th calls for the resignation of none other than Premier Jean Charest. They list several well-known sore points: the refusal to call a public inquiry into the construction industry; a refusal to put in place a moratorium on shale gas exploration, and a refusal to negotiate, “despite the opposition of the majority of the Quebec population, the orientation of the government and in the measures contained in the 2010 budget.”

Khadir and his petition co-sponsor, 18-year-old a high school student named Anthony Leclerc, hoped to get 100,000 by February 15, 2011. The pair is well on track, to say the least: last night, they had roughly 28,000 signatures; currently they have 81,487. Er, 81,885. Uh, 83,068. (Coincidence or not, the site keeps crashing.)

Poor Charest. Even the internet hates him.

After 2011

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 1:24 PM - 30 Comments

The government has now confirmed—via news conference—that up to 950 personnel will remain in Afghanistan to train the Afghan military through 2014. The training will take place within facilities around Kabul. The cost will be approximately $500-million per year. The official announcement and explanation are here.

A new Canadian Press-Harris Decima poll has Canadians split on such an extension and largely opposed to a Canadian military presence in Afghanistan.

Cars 2: Buy Our Toys

By Jaime Weinman - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 1:01 PM - 5 Comments

Yeah, yeah, someone got engaged, but also, we got the trailer for a sequel to Pixar’s least-beloved (but second-most-merchandisable) film. The profits from toy sales for this movie, as well as the more acclaimed Toy Story franchise, will help finance movies that aren’t as easy to spin toys out of — there aren’t a lot of cranky-old-man or talking-rat toys — so I’m not complaining.

Future graduates, dropouts and cast-offs

By Scott Feschuk - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 12:40 PM - 4 Comments

Getty Images; Istock; Photo Illustration by Taylor Shute

It’s never made any sense that universities invite prominent people to deliver commencement addresses to graduates. Graduates don’t need advice. They’ve just spent four years acquiring wisdom, knowledge and a prestigious degree. A career at Starbucks is practically theirs for the taking.

The people who need guidance are the nervous high school students preparing to make the leap to a post-secondary institution. I therefore offer this “premencement” address to the class of 2015 . . .

Future graduates and assorted dropouts, cast-offs, washouts and Internet millionaires: you may think I can’t relate to you because I’m over 40. Poppycock and horsefeathers! I daresay you rapscallions and I share the commonality of affixing our knickerbockers one limb tube at a time.

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Teflon Charlie

By Jaime Weinman - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 12:40 PM - 10 Comments

TMZ.com/Splash News, BuzzFoto/Keystone Press, CBS/Everett Collection

Is there anything Charlie Sheen can do to make himself unpopular? Last Monday, the star of the world’s most-watched sitcom, Two and a Half Men, was removed from the Plaza Hotel in New York after trashing his room because of a missing watch; it led to a stay in the hospital, reports that he was on drugs (his retinue called it “an allergic reaction to medication”), and his abrupt decision to divorce his estranged current wife, Brooke Mueller. That’s just the latest in a long line of unpleasant stories about the 45-year-old actor, many of which revolve around his treatment of women. His ex-wife, Denise Richards, claimed that she underwent “a cycle of abuse.” In 2009, Sheen was arrested for reportedly holding a knife to Mueller’s throat. And at the Plaza, TMZ.com reported that he was with “a 22-year-old porn star” who hid in the bathroom to avoid his rampage after he thought his watch had been stolen. Yet he’s emerging from this new scandal the way he emerged from all the others: looking terrible, but otherwise unscathed.

Sheen was back at work on Two and a Half Men last week (TMZ said he was greeted with “fist pumps and hugs”), and Radaronline.com reported that he was “partying wildly” as soon as he got back to Los Angeles. His network, CBS, stood by him as usual; an anonymous insider told the New York Post that CBS is “quietly thrilled” because the publicity “will open up the show to a whole new segment of young viewers.” Dylan Howard, who talked to Sheen for Radar Online, told Maclean’s that “there are people around Charlie who are under no illusions that he needs to check himself into rehab and get himself clean once and for all.” Even Sheen’s father, Martin Sheen, told the Post that he hoped to separate his son “from the people he’s been around,” but there’s no indication yet that it will happen.

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Two Quebec politicians allege Laval mayor offered them cash

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 12:22 PM - 0 Comments

Two Quebec politicians have come forward saying they were offered illegal campaign donations by Gilles Vaillancourt, the longtime mayor of Laval. On Monday, Radio-Canada revealed that Serge Ménard—a Bloc Québécois MP in Ottawa and former Parti Québécois MNA for Laval-des-Rapides—was offered $10,000 in cash stuffed in a white envelope by Vaillancourt. That was in 1993, when Ménard was running for the Parti Québécois. Taken aback, Ménard told Vaillancourt that Quebec’s party financing law limits donations to $3,000, which must be made by cheque and the donor’s name must be published. A spokesman for Vaillancourt denied the charge. On Tuesday, Vincent Auclair, the Liberal MNA for the Laval riding of Vimont, said Vaillancourt made him a similar offer in 2002 (when he ran unsuccessfully in a by-election), allegedly telling Auclair, “Political campaigns are tough and you are probably going to need this.” Auclair refused the offer. “I’ve never been buddy-buddy with Mr. Vaillancourt,” he said. Quebec’s chief electoral officer, responsible for enforcing the party financing law, is investigating. Because the statute of limitations on breaches of the financing law is three years, the mayor could not be charged.

Montreal Gazette

Price tag on Pickton case reaches $100 million

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 11:38 AM - 6 Comments

According to figures released Monday by the B.C. provincial government, the total cost of the investigation and trial in the Robert Pickton serial murder case topped $100 million. The final tally of expenditures since the investigation began in April 2001 came in at $102.8 million. The most significant chunk of spending was on the lengthy multi-jurisdiction police investigation, which cost nearly $70 million. After that, the second-largest cost was for defence lawyers, who were paid just under $12 million. Pretrial, prosecution, and witness costs added just over $9 million to the total, while security and trial support cost nearly $7 million. The province also spent $2.4 million on support services for the families of Pickton’s victims. Other expenditures included B.C. Supreme Court expenses, management services, and corrections and coroners’ services.

Vancouver Sun

Abuse in a time of fear

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 11:36 AM - 28 Comments

Barbara Falk compares the Rosenbergs and Omar Khadr.

American justice has been marred in both the Cold War and the War on Terror by a combination of politically motivated prosecutions with larger didactic purposes, the over-reliance on conspiracy charges to lower the burden of proof, and the relaxation of the rules of evidence law. In both eras, the refrain of national security has been invoked. But it is at times of national insecurity that legal safeguards are needed the most, and it is to the most politically unpopular defendants already demonized by the media and in the court of public opinion that the most stringent due-process requirements should be applied. To do otherwise, as both the cases of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and of Omar Khadr attest, is to politicize justice and abuse the rule of law.

UK gov't to pay Gitmo detainees

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 11:34 AM - 3 Comments

The British Government is expected to announce the terms of a deal that will see it pay Guantánamo Bay detainees millions of pounds in compensation. Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke will announce that it is in the country’s best interests that the cases aren’t brought to court in order to protect the security services M15 and M16′s methods. Prime Minister David Cameron encouraged payouts in July after the high court said that the release and subsequent vetting the confidential documents about the proceedings would take huge amounts of time. The payments will likely lead to an independent inquiry about British involvement in torture tactics.

The Guardian

Online petition to recall Charest so popular that server crashes

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 11:31 AM - 15 Comments

An online petition calling for the resignation of Quebec Liberal Premier Jean Charest was so popular Monday that demand caused the server to crash. Despite the computer glitch, tens of thousands of people have already added their names to the petition, which was tabled by Quebec solidaire MNA Amir Khadir. Rumours of links between the Charest government, the construction industry have plagued the premier in recent months. Much of the anger is over his refusal to call a public inquiry. On Monday, Quebec’s union of municipalities added their voice to the chorus demanding an inquiry. Charest is fighting back; on Monday, he threatened to sue ADQ leader Gerard Deltell after he implied that Charest has ties to organized crime.

Winnipeg Free Press

Prince William engaged

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 11:28 AM - 7 Comments

Prince William, who will be Prince of Wales if Charles ever gets a shot at the throne, is engaged to his longtime girlfriend Kate Middleton. No date has been announced yet for the wedding, though it will take place in spring or summer of 2011, but it is already being planned as “the biggest since William’s mother, Diana, married Prince Charles.” William and Kate have been a couple “on again and off again” for the last eight years; both are twenty-eight years old.

People

Marlene Jennings is sorry

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 10:08 AM - 59 Comments

An apology, of sorts, offered after Question Period yesterday.

Mr. Speaker, during the course of question period, I allowed my emotions to take over the calm, studied aspect of my personality that I am usually able to exhibit. The Minister of National Defence, responding to a question, in his typical fashion was going down to the lowest common denominator … In the heat and the anger at listening to the Minister of National Defence make his comments, I called him a “slime”. I wish to unreservedly withdraw my remarks calling the minister a slime and offer him my sincere apology for having called him a slime. It was unparliamentary. I apologize unreservedly.

John Baird, the government House leader, pronounced his disappointment with this and noted that the various House leaders have been making some effort to enforce calm on the proceedings. Indeed, there have been noticeable attempts at shushing of late—most notably on the part of Gordon O’Connor, the old general and now government whip, who will periodically rise from his seat and walk over to the spot of a heckler to have a brief word with the offender.

The parameters of a debate (II)

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 9:07 AM - 6 Comments

Last week—shortly before he announced his impending resignation—Liberal MP and doctor Keith Martin offered some dos and don’ts for health care reform. Yesterday afternoon I received an e-mail from the office of Liberal MP and doctor Hedy Fry, who after seeing those proposals mentioned here, had jotted down a series of counter proposals.

Here then are Ms. Fry’s dos and don’ts. Continue…

Rugby stars and MPs

By Mitchel Raphael - Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 6:55 AM - 3 Comments

Rugby Canada and the New Zealand High Commission held a special fundraising Legends of Rugby dinner at the Museum of Nature. Defence Minister Peter MacKay (right) with Liberal MP Massimo Pacetti.

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MacKay with rugby star Rod Snow.

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The Commons: Transparent contradictions

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, November 15, 2010 at 8:46 PM - 91 Comments

The Scene. The Liberal leader furrowed his brow. Michael Ignatieff had tried twice to gain some kind of clarity from the Foreign Affairs Minister and twice Lawrence Cannon, sticking to the script set out on the desk in front of him, had provided only the vaguest of notions.

“Mr. Speaker, these answers are genuinely absurd,” Mr. Ignatieff ventured with his third opportunity. “We are five days away from the Lisbon summit and the government is unable to stand in the House and tell us exactly what the post-2011 combat mission looks like.”

He gesticulated with both hands, putting on a surrealist puppet show to explain the confusion. ”How can the government explain this silence,” he begged, “how can it explain its improvisation, how can it explain its secrecy, how can it explain its lack of transparency with the Canadian people?”

His eyebrows jumped toward the ceiling as he finished.

With that asked, Mr. Cannon stood here to make a daring claim to seriousness. “Mr. Speaker,” he said, “we have been repeatedly clear on this particular issue.” Continue…

NBC's Awesome New Idea: Comedy At 10

By Jaime Weinman - Monday, November 15, 2010 at 3:40 PM - 14 Comments

This idea has been talked about for a while — NBC was rumoured to be thinking about it even before this season — but with the collapse of their new dramas and the atrocious ratings for The Apprentice, the network has decided to open up a three-hour comedy block on Thursdays, scheduling two half-hour comedies at 10 pm.

Now, let’s step back and remember the last time this same network came up with the innovative, brilliant idea of scheduling comedy at 10 o’clock. And then let’s remember that whatever happens, the network will follow these steps: a) Claim that this an idea whose time has come, that the broadcast model has changing, and that comedy could provide a great alternative to whatever else is on the other networks. b) Admit a year later that this was an idea they’d been kicking around for a while and pulled the trigger on because they didn’t have anything else.

Can half-hour comedy work at 10 o’clock? It’s difficult to know. In this era, the 10 o’clock slot is increasingly unwatched on broadcast TV; it’s the hour when viewers either watch what they’ve DVR’d or watch cable, which is why the networks have had serious trouble coming up with a genuine new hit in that hour. With fewer people watching, and audiences that tend to go older, a half-hour comedy (which usually appeals to younger audiences than the usual 10 o’clock show) could be decent counter-programming but it’s more likely just to get disappointing numbers.

NBC seems to know and even expect this: that’s why the show they’ve chosen for 10 o’clock is 30 Rock, whose time slot change coincides with a guaranteed pickup for more seasons. In other words, 30 Rock is low-rated but it’s cancellation-proof, and if it does something like what it does at 8:30 — or somewhere near it — NBC will be satisfied, and the show won’t be in any trouble if it goes below that number. If NBC put a drama at that hour it would just get beaten (even in the Coveted Demographic) by The Mentalist and Private Practice Putting 30 Rock there may make the beating less troublesome at worst, and might unexpectedly pay off if the show finds some new viewers. For Tina Fey, the news is all good. She gets to keep her show on the air forever, she has the chance of anchoring an hour, and she no longer has to suffer the humiliation of losing in the ratings to a show as bad as Shat My Dad Says. Now she’ll be losing to a Very Special Episode of Private Practice, but that will be far less hard to take.

This new schedule is also great news for Parks & Recreation, which finally gets back on the air and gets the 9:30 slot after The Office that it’s always wanted. This is the last season when the post-Office slot is guaranteed to mean anything in the ratings so the network had better get as much use out of it as it can. This is the best news for me, too, since Parks & Recreation is my favourite part of their lineup — I find it more satisfying than Community (which has great moments but a lot of times that I find not-so-great, and a central character I just don’t seem to enjoy watching) and more character-based than 30 Rock.

It’s terrible news for the two freshman comedies, Perfect Couples and Outsourced. The latter, which was doing well after The Office — it’s actually NBC’s highest-rated new show, mostly by default — is being moved from the best slot to probably the worst, asked to perform with a less compatible and less popular lead-in, while airing at a time when most people are starting to drift away. I don’t know if NBC has too little confidence in the show or too much (or, knowing how executives can never agree, maybe both). Meanwhile the new midseason show, Perfect Couples, will be airing after the low-rated Community; launching a new comedy is tough enough as it is, but it’s incredibly difficult with no lead-in support. I could easily see a scenario where the 8 o’clock hour winds up doing worse for NBC than the 10.

All of this is sort of a band-aid, of course: a way of patching some of their holes while getting some press attention while doing so. Next season, with Carell gone from The Office and both CBS and ABC surpassing them in the live-action comedy department, NBC is going to have to make some serious decisions about how to restructure their lineup. In a way, this new decision might at least be a hopeful sign in one way: it shows a flicker of understanding that the magic of “NBC on Thursday” is gone and that they need to try something different.

Also, I have a feeling that three hours of single-camera comedy is too unvaried — if they hadn’t been too snobbish to pick up some live-audience shows, they’d have some chance to create variety on their new block. But I suppose if they had any traditional shows, they would get all the blame if the new block didn’t work out. In any case, some would argue that there’s enough differences in approaches and the way these shows have been paired (one hour of mock documentaries; one hour of movie-style “insane workplace” comedies) that there will be variety.

Under the Sun

By Andrew Potter - Monday, November 15, 2010 at 2:37 PM - 23 Comments

“The governing party has no consistent or explicit ideological framework. Rather, it straddles the middle and assimilates what is expedient at either, or both, sides of the centre. Opposition parties, left, right, or centre, have a problem in defining their own position because the government party occupies all desirable ground. Arguments between parties become, as a result, squabbles over details rather than arguments over direction and principles”

Better know your neighbourhood

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, November 15, 2010 at 1:39 PM - 1 Comment

David Eaves launches Emitter.ca, an online tool that uses federal government data to map pollution sources in your neighbourhood.

Will Emitter change the world? It’s hard to imagine. But hopefully it is a powerful example of what can happen when governments make their data open. That people will take that data and make it accessible in new and engaging ways.

Suu Kyi calls for dialogue with Myanmar government

By macleans.ca - Monday, November 15, 2010 at 12:26 PM - 0 Comments

Nobel Peace Prize winner and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was freed after years of house arrest on Saturday, and by Monday, was already calling for a “non-violent revolution” in Burma. From the headquarters of her National League for Democracy (NLD), the 65-year-old said she was sure democracy would eventually come to Burma, though she was unsure of the timeline. She added that she would relish the opportunity for dialogue with the ruling military junta, which she would rather see change than fail. “I don’t want to see the military falling. I want to see the military rising to dignified heights of professionalism and true patriotism,” she said. “I think it’s quite obvious what the people want; the people just want better lives based on security and on freedom.” Her new freedom (she has spent 15 of the past 21 years under house arrest) follows a controversial election last week that cemented the junta’s decades-long grip on power, but was widely criticized by democracy activists and Western leaders as a sham.

Sydney Morning Herald

Cliche busting

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, November 15, 2010 at 12:25 PM - 59 Comments

Eric Grenier tabulates the Starbucks vote.

With an average of 5.4 locations per riding, the New Democrats have the highest Starbucks density of the four major parties. The Conservatives have the next highest density, with an average of 3.9 locations in each of their ridings. That’s only fractionally more than the Liberals, with an average density of 3.8 Starbucks coffee shops per riding…

Among the four party leaders, and with five locations in his riding of Calgary Southwest, it is Stephen Harper who can boast of having the most ready access to a double caramel macchiato.

In conversation with Glee’s Cory Monteith

By Jonathon Gatehouse - Monday, November 15, 2010 at 12:20 PM - 4 Comments

Splash News/GQ, Ture Lillegraven/Corbis Outline, Jason Kempin/Getty Images

The first time Cory Monteith ever sang for a live audience was at the White House last Easter. The second occasion was later that same week on Oprah. By the time he and his cast mates from the Fox TV hit Glee completed a live tour with five sold-out performances at New York’s Radio City Music Hall in late May, it was becoming old hat.

Less so, the kind of teenybopper adulation that saw the 28-year-old Victoria native get chased down Fifth Avenue. Or the buzz-name status that convinces tabloid editors to turn a night out bowling in L.A. with a group including the singer Taylor Swift into cover stories about their “romance.” But that’s the kind of thing that happens when you’re one of the stars of the hottest thing on television. A multi-platform commercial juggernaut that draws 12 million viewers a week, Glee has spawned more charting singles on Billboard’s Hot 100 than the Beatles, sold five million albums, 13 million digital downloads, and launched a clothing line at Macy’s. It’s a campy satire about a high school choir that has improbably convinced millions of teens worldwide that singing show tunes and classic rock ballads is cool. A show that is only six episodes into its second season and is already a certified cultural phenomenon.

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Interview with cast and director of 'Monsters'

By Tom Henheffer - Monday, November 15, 2010 at 12:08 PM - 0 Comments

The cynical era

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, November 15, 2010 at 11:52 AM - 13 Comments

Susan Delacourt wonders if the politicians are losing hope.

Rae says in the video that the gloom may be dispelled by an election. But there is a nagging worry among politicos in Ottawa that it will take more than an election to get MPs interested in politics again on the Hill, that what Parliament is missing right now is a larger, more-difficult-to-regain sense of purpose.