Harper challenges Ignatieff to debate

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 4:39 PM - 61 Comments

Stephen Harper opened the door on Wednesday to a televised one-on-one debate with Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff. In response to question about Green party leader Elizabeth May’s exclusion from the leaders’ debates, Harper said the Conservatives were open to several possible scenarios, including “a debate between Mr. Ignatieff and myself, since, after all, the real choice in this election is a choice between a Conservative government or an Ignatieff-led government that all of these other parties will support.” Ignatieff welcomed the idea. “Any time, any place,” he responded. “Mr. Harper has proposed a debate between the two of us, I am there. I am available.” Harper nevertheless noted the final decision on the format of any televised leaders’ debate rests with broadcast consortium responsible for airing it.

Montreal Gazette

Policy alert

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 4:34 PM - 11 Comments

Stephen Harper continues to review measures set out in last week’s budget: yesterday an EI credit for small businesses, today an extension of the capital cost allowance.

If re-elected, the Tories would offer a two-year extension of the capital cost allowance, which is currently set to expire at the end of the year.
The program allows businesses to accelerate the timing of their capital cost deductions by 50%, deferring taxation and improving financial return on investments in new equipment and machinery.

F-35s may cost $100 million each

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 4:24 PM - 20 Comments

The sixty-five F-35 joint strike fighters currently being built to replace Canada’s F-18 jets will cost $100 million each, $25 million more than government estimates, according to an official at a U.S. budget watchdog. Mike Sullivan, director of acquisition management at the U.S. General Accountability Office, disputed the Conservative government’s $75 million per plane estimate on CBC’s Power & Politics with Evan Solomon, saying it lacked a proper methodology. The government has maintained that the total cost would be around $9 billion with training and an additional $200-$300 million a year in maintenance costs. “That is not a number I am familiar with at all,” said Sullivan. Conservative MP Laurie Hawn admitted that the government may have been wrong on the initial cost of the new jets, but that Canada was buying them at the peak of their production curve, making them cheaper than U.S. budget estimates. While Sullivan agreed that buying jets later in the production run makes them relatively cheaper, he noted that Canada is set to have the jets delivered in 2016, which is early.

CBC News

More Mad Men musings

By Jaime Weinman - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 4:22 PM - 3 Comments

Something I didn’t say in my previous post on the Matt Weiner vs. AMC fracas: As usual, there’s a lot we don’t know about what’s really going on in these negotiations. Especially since most of the leaks appear to be coming from one side – Weiner’s. And frequently, from Weiner himself. He gave an interview saying that contrary to initial reports, the network wants to cut not just two characters but a total of six, two a year. “A person familiar with the negotiations” gave the same story to another outlet, but the person is clearly on Weiner’s side and for all we know could be Weiner himself. Continue…

Would you like to see a one-on-one debate between Stephen Harper and Michael Ignatieff?

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 4:19 PM - 61 Comments

The list of acceptable topics for discussion

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 4:17 PM - 70 Comments

The reporters travelling with Stephen Harper have one less subject to consider asking him about each day.

Conservative officials later announced the national Harper tour would no longer take questions on local campaigns. ”There are 308 local campaigns and local campaigns can speak to what they are doing locally,” Conservative campaign spokesman Dimitri Soudas said.

Riding the rocket

By Charlie Gillis - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 4:07 PM - 2 Comments

Bettmann/CORBIS

In death, he has become a nationalist icon. But Maurice “Rocket” Richard’s influence on Quebec’s political transformation is, well, complicated, says Charles Foran in his biography of the hockey legend, the latest in Penguin’s Extraordinary Canadians series. Without argument, the fabled Montreal Canadien was the avatar of a downtrodden people—his titanic battles with NHL president Clarence Campbell standing in for the animus between frustrated francophones and the privileged Anglos of mid-century Quebec.

But modern notions of Richard as a sovereignist precursor, or even as a catalyst of the Quiet Revolution, overlook his early career when, in Foran’s words, he served “to hold back, not launch social change.” Off the ice, he epitomized the piety and stoicism of a so-called “small people” adrift in liberal, English-speaking North America: in the early 1950s, he actually campaigned for Maurice Duplessis, the ultra-conservative premier who clung to a parochial, insular vision of Quebec. And he suffered humiliation. In 1954, having publicly challenged Campbell about the NHL’s discriminatory treatment of French-Canadian players, he was forced to make a grovelling apology, and to post a $1,000 bond against future bouts of pique.

Continue…

Policy alert

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 3:33 PM - 19 Comments

Michael Ignatieff promises pension reform.

Ignatieff says the Liberals will work with the provinces to gradually expand Canada Pension Plan benefits. He’s also promising a voluntary supplement to the CPP called the Secure Retirement Option that would let people save an extra five to 10 per cent of their pay in a CPP-backed fund. And the Liberals plan to boost the Guaranteed Income Supplement, or GIS, by $700 million a year — more than double what the Conservatives are offering.

'Hillbilly heroin' behind spike in Edmonton pharmacy robberies: police

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 3:23 PM - 39 Comments

Police in Edmonton say a recent spike in the number of pharmacy robberies is due to the city’s burgeoning oxycodone addiction rates. So far, 13 pharmacies have been targeted in heists—nearly double the number from this time last year—and 11 had drugs stolen. Alberta Health Services says it has seen a corresponding increase in the number of people seeking treatment for oxycodone addiction, particularly among 18-to 24-year-olds from Sherwood Park and South Edmonton.

Edmonton Journal

Andrew Potter on why leaders' debates are useless

By Claire Ward - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 3:00 PM - 2 Comments

Shot and edited by Tom Henheffer
Produced by Claire Ward

Michael Ignatieff talks

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 2:53 PM - 57 Comments

In a set of new ads, the Liberal leader discusses Conservative attacks, pensions and family care.

The Liberals have also updated a previous ad about Mr. Harper.

Ryan Dolby turns himself into an analogy

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 1:08 PM - 94 Comments

Ryan Dolby, the NDP candidate in Elgin-Middlesex-London, has stepped down, apparently out of fear of splitting the vote.

“I think it’s the best decision on behalf of my family, my community, and my country to do whatever I can to make sure there isn’t a Conservative victory, especially in this riding,” he said.“I want to make sure we get a progressive MP — one that cares about improvements to Canada Pension Plan, improvements to employment insurance, believes in democracy instead of contempt, and believes in sustainable job creation instead of building more prisons.”“I know Graham Warwick has the same values that I do.”

The Conservative incumbent is predictably crying coalition, but the NDP says there will be a new candidate in short order.

The Liberals last won the riding (narrowly) in 2000. If you combined the votes received by Mr. Dolby and the Liberal candidate in 2008, Conservative Joe Preston would have still won (albeit narrowly): 22,970 to 20,304.

Terror suspect arrested in Toronto

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 12:46 PM - 3 Comments

A Toronto man reportedly affiliated with the Somali Islamic militant organization Al-Shabaab was arrested on Tuesday night just before boarding a plane at Toronto’s Pearson Airport. The suspect, who has yet to be identified, was about to fly to Cairo via London en route to Somalia. “The suspect was allegedly planning to travel to Somalia to join Al-Shabaab and participate in their terrorist activities,” the RCMP said in a news release.

The Globe and Mail

Elizabeth May excluded from televised debates

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 12:39 PM - 12 Comments

Green party leader Elizabeth May has been excluded from the nationally televised election debates by the broadcast consortium that includes the CBC, Radio-Canada, CTV, Global and TVA. Jack Layton and Michael Ignatieff have said May should be included in the debates, just as she was in 2008, but without a seat in the House of Commons the Green Party faces an uphill battle to become a nationally recognized party. May was outraged by the consortium’s decision, noting that the Green Party has candidates throughout the country and has the support of 10 per cent of Canadians. She said the party has hired a lawyer to fight the decision.

CBC News

Obama: Cut oil imports, but not from Canada

By Luiza Ch. Savage - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 12:39 PM - 15 Comments

In his speech today about reducing US oil imports by one-third in ten years, President Obama said the US would keep importing from Canada:

Obama said: “obviously we’ve got to look at neighbors like Canada and Mexico who are steady and stable” and “we can share American know-how and technology with them”

His prepared remarks said:

“I set this goal knowing that imported oil will remain an important part of our energy portfolio for quite some time.  And when it comes to the oil we import from other nations, we can partner with neighbors like Canada, Mexico, and Brazil, which recently discovered significant new oil reserves, and with whom we can share American technology and know-how.”

Full speech is here. It mostly concerns domestic measures for production and efficiency.

Live video here.

Washington Post background story here.

***

On Twitter at luizachsavage

Putting Mulroney through the wring cycle

By Brian D. Johnson - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 12:33 PM - 1 Comment

Alliance Atlantis

When they read the script for Mulroney: The Opera, the lawyers were anxious about the money shot: the scene of Brian Mulroney breast-stroking like Scrooge McDuck in a swimming pool full of cash. They feared it could be libellous. The former prime minister, after all, had admitted to taking a mere $225,000 from German lobbyist Karlheinz Schreiber, not enough to fill an entire pool. When director Larry Weinstein explained that the wads of bills wouldn’t actually fill the pool, just float on the water’s surface, the lawyers figured that was okay.

Mulroney: The Opera is one of the most bizarre concoctions this country’s eccentric film industry has ever produced: a $3.8-million musical satire, almost entirely funded by the federal government, that amounts to a snake-oil portrait of an ex-prime minister as a lying, delusional, power-mad showboat of grotesque proportions. An original work riddled with allusions to Wagner and Mozart, Bizet and burlesque, this campy biopic condenses Mulroney’s life story into a 75-minute cartoon.

It may invite comparisons to last year’s Score: A Hockey Musical, a $5.3-million folly that bombed at the box office. (Next to hockey, political satire is arguably Canada’s most popular, and vicious, national sport.) But while Score was earnest romance, Mulroney: The Opera is monstrous caricature. And, spooked by Score‘s failure, its producers at Rhombus Media have come up with a novel way to spring it on audiences, using high art as the commercial hook. Mimicking the format of Cineplex’s The Met: Live in HD series, the movie is set to play on 72 screens across Canada as a single Saturday matinee, on April 16, followed by just one repeat showing on April 27. The general manager of the Metropolitan Opera will even introduce it on video.

Continue…

China takes on scientific superpowers

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 12:29 PM - 7 Comments

A new report by the Royal Society science academy in the U.K. says China and other emerging nations, including Brazil and India, are growing their science credentials and may soon rival traditional “scientific superpowers,” like the U.S., Europe and Japan. International cooperation is crucial, the report noted, highlighting that from 2002 to 2007, global spending on research and development had risen by almost 45 per cent, but in developing countries it had risen by 100 per cent. The increase in the developing world is driven mainly by China. The U.S. still leads the world in terms of publication, but its share of global authorship has fallen from 26 to 21 per cent, and its closest rival is now China.

Reuters

Japan considers cell transplants for nuclear workers

By macleans.ca - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 12:26 PM - 1 Comment

Authorities in Japan may collect and freeze cells from engineers and water cannon operators at risk of exposure to high levels of radiation at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, The Guardian reports. This precautionary measure might save the lives of workers exposed to dangerous amounts of radiation while trying to get the nuclear reactors back under control. The procedure, which is used to treat cancer patients whose bone marrow is destroyed by chemotherapy, requires workers to take a drug for many days that causes bone marrow to release stem cells into the blood. They’re then hooked up to a machine that filters their blood to extract stem cells.

The Guardian

Who's suing whom?

By Michael Barclay - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 12:23 PM - 0 Comments

British Columbia: A class-action lawsuit was launched against the B.C. government over allegedly improper Breathalyzer tests used after new drinking and driving legislation was introduced last fall. In November, 2,200 roadside Breathalyzers were recalled by the Victoria police chief amid concerns over mis-calibration and faulty readings. The lead plaintiff in the suit had his licence suspended and his car impounded after registering a blood-alcohol level of 0.05, the minimum level for an immediate suspension under the new law.

Saskatchewan: A 24-year-old woman, with the support of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, is suing Correctional Services Canada, claiming that her four-year stint in solitary confinement is unconstitutional. The Civil Liberties Association says there are no limits or objective criteria for placing prisoners in solitary confinement for long terms. Parole Board documents say she has been repeatedly violent in prison.

Ontario: A cyclist who suffered a brain injury after a race held last April is suing the Hamilton Cycling Club for $20 million in damages. He was travelling 40 km/h when he slammed on the brakes to avoid a cluster of competitors on a sharp turn, causing him to be hurled over the handlebars; he spent 3½ months in hospital. In a race with 200 cyclists, his accident was one of a dozen that day. No statement of defence has been filed, although organizers say the route will be altered for next month’s race.

Nova Scotia: A Halifax gambler who voluntarily signed an agreement banning him from the premises of Casino Nova Scotia is suing the establishment for $61,000 for allegedly allowing him to return repeatedly, even more than once a day, with access to the “high-rollers” area and free alcohol. No defence has been filed by the company that owns the casino, Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, which is facing similar lawsuits in British Columbia.

Let's get it on

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 12:14 PM - 70 Comments

Yesterday, Michael Ignatieff mused of going “toe-to-toe” with Stephen Harper.

At an event in Brampton just now, in addition to saying the Conservatives were open to Elizabeth May taking part in a general leaders’ debate, Mr. Harper has said he’s willing to debate Mr. Ignatieff one-on-one.

Tim Powers is advocating today for Thomas Axworthy’s proposed reforms to the televised debates. One of those potential changes was a “a final debate between the two main contenders.”

Update 1:43pm… Mr. Ignatieff says, “anytime, any place.”

Update 1:46pm… Paul Wells tweets:  ”Rogers and University of Toronto have formally proposed a debate between Mr. Harper and Mr. Ignatieff. Awaiting campaigns’ reply.”

Update 1:59pm… The NDP is not amused. A statement from the New Democrat campaign, released just now. Continue…

'The what? I thought I was against those.'

By Scott Feschuk - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 12:13 PM - 14 Comments

The Kobal Collection; Reuters; CP; Photo illustration by Taylor Shute

Even in the frenzy of a looming election, Maclean’s was able to snag a rare interview with the Prime Minister. He sat down once again with the Stephen Harper from 2005.

Stephen Harper 2005:  Thanks for doing this.

Stephen Harper 2011:  It’s always great to see me.

SH 2005: We look so different. Greyer up top—and the eyeglasses!

SH 2011: There are some things that haven’t changed. Tony Clement still puts up his hand when he needs to use the bathroom.

SH 2005: So, another election. Time to take off the kid gloves and put on those other gloves—the latex ones for touching people.

SH 2011: It never gets easier. I went to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities during one campaign and it took days to get the smell of mayor off me.

SH 2005: What’s important is that we never lose focus on what really matters . . .

Simultaneously:

SH 2005: The economy.

SH 2011: Attacking Michael Ignatieff’s father for possibly not being destitute 80 years ago. [A silence.] And also that thing you said.

SH 2005: Look, I’ve made my values clear: courage, honesty, integrity—these are for suckers. The surefire way to win an election is negative advertising.

SH 2011: Then you’ll love this new one I’ve been working on.

Shows crude drawing of Ignatieff drinking martinis with Al Capone, Pol Pot and Dr. Octopus.

SH 2005: Hey, you should ask to see Ignatieff’s birth certificate.

SH 2011: I love the way me thinks!

They try to hug but realize they don’t know how.

SH 2011: You know what bugs me?

SH 2005: Everybody and most things?

SH 2011: Exactly. But also the media’s obsession with all the scandals we’ve been having.

SH 2005: It’s unfair. If the opposition parties come together in a coalition, think of the risks: I might never get my photo op with Sting.

SH 2011: I’ll tell you a secret. Sometimes with the media I like to use the carrot instead of the stick. It leaves a more interesting bruise. And then I remind them the economy is still fragile—even though the deficit is coming in lower than expected.

SH 2005: The what? I thought I was against those.

SH 2011: You don’t know it yet, but you are about to be confronted by the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

SH 2005: You mean there’s going to be runaway inflation like in the ’50s?

SH 2011: No, inflation doesn’t really go up.

SH 2005: So interest rates will rocket even higher than when they hit 20 per cent in the ’80s?

SH 2011: Nope.

SH 2005: Then unemployment must soar way above the 12 per cent we saw in the early ’90s?

SH 2011: Not even close.

SH 2005: Then I don’t really get how—

SH 2011: WORST. SINCE. THE DEPRESSION. That’s what I keep saying, anyway. Bottom line is it gave us a chance to spend like crazy in every riding where we’ve got a shot at winning.

SH 2005: How on Earth were we able to get a self-serving plan like that through an elected Senate?

An awkward silence. Somewhere a coyote howls.

SH 2011: And it’s not just the spending—we’ve also used public funds on advertising to promote the spending. We’ve taken some flak for it, but it’s like I said to Canadians: spending millions on propaganda isn’t that much if you consider it in terms of me not caring what you think.

SH 2005: But shouldn’t we be cutting faster? I thought we were committed to being different from the Liberals. I thought I wanted to offer a truly conservative government.

SH 2011: I assure you: we’re buckling down and cutting every single bit of non-essential spending that isn’t a snowmobile club, curling team or very promising quilting circle.

SH 2005: I don’t even know us anymore.

The 'Apprentice' president

By Jaime Weinman - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 12:00 PM - 23 Comments

Getty Images; Photo Illustration by Brad Reinhardt

Can Donald Trump be president of the United States? Snoop Dogg and the Situation from Jersey Shore think so, and when are they ever wrong? Last week, the billionaire took time from firing ex-stars like David Cassidy from Celebrity Apprentice and attended a televised “roast,” where many of the jokes from B-list celebrities were about his intention to throw his toupée into the ring for the Republican presidential nomination. “Trump says he’s gonna run for president in 2012,” said host Seth MacFarlane, “but if his plan for America is to fire everyone, he’s about two years too late.” If smarmy stars believe Trump’s running, so does Trump. He told the show Inside Edition that he’s “seriously thinking about doing it” after this season of The Apprentice ends in June; he’s also reportedly booked time that month in New Hampshire, an early primary state, to address its fabled “Politics and Eggs” lecture series.

Trump is encouraged in his ambitions by a website, shouldtrumprun.com, which was set up by his spokesman Michael Cohen and grabbed what Trump described as “500,000 names in a very short period of time.” Polls are looking good too: a Newsweek one shows him running almost even in matchups with President Barack Obama, while another (by NBC, which broadcasts his show) announced that his favourable rating is higher than the GOP’s top candidates, Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty. In the words of MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, “Who can beat Barack Obama? Donald Trump! Yeah, baby!”

Much of the mainstream media has chosen to treat his candidacy as a joke. Lamar Alexander, a Republican senator, told CNN that The Donald “has absolutely no chance of winning,” adding “I mean, he’s famous for being famous. He may be good in business but he’s not going to be president.” But maybe the supporters of the “serious” candidates don’t think Trump is such a big joke: after he appeared at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February and said that Rep. Ron Paul has “zero chance of getting elected,” a Paul supporter from 2008 sprang into action and filed a Federal Election Commission complaint against Trump, charging that this “de facto candidate” was improperly spending money to jump-start his primary campaign in Iowa.

Continue…

In a class of her own

By Mike D'Amour - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 12:00 PM - 1 Comment

Photograph By Brent Foster

Few people other than boxing aficionados have heard the name Jeannine Garside, yet the Canadian scrapper may be the best female fighter in the world. She holds four featherweight (57-kg) world titles, and when the Windsor, Ont., fighter finishes her career, she imagines being encircled by belts, like a woman hidden in the centre of a stack of all-season Michelins.

Garside, 32, is an attractive five-foot-five blond with a disarming smile and a granite-hard body chiselled during thousands of hours in the gym. She spars mostly with men and often travels to nearby Detroit to prepare at Kronk Gym, home of legendary trainer Emanuel Steward and celebrated champions such as Thomas Hearns and Leon Spinks. But the fact is, many female fighters put in the same number of hours in the gym, and many hit just as hard as Garside, but they don’t win in the ring. What sets her apart as a champion? “Heart,” says her manager, Wally Petrovic. “Heart,” echoes her trainer Josh Canty. “It’s not something you can coach,” he says. “It comes down to will versus will, and Jeannine’s not afraid to go to war. It brings out the best in her when somebody really tests her.”

Garside, a southpaw, doesn’t disagree. “I feel I win a lot of fights because I hit with such a force that when my opponents feel it, well, I’ve seen in their eyes they’ve given up, they don’t want to be there anymore.” Born on Vancouver Island in Duncan, a forestry town of about 5,000, Garside loved roughhousing as a kid. “I grew up with the neighbourhood boys who would spar in the yard and I wanted to join in,” she says. Boys who chivalrously put an arm behind their backs soon regretted it, and many nursed bloody noses as a result of their gallantry.

Continue…

Countdown to the Games

By Leah Mclaren - Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 12:00 PM - 0 Comments

Anthony Charlton/ODA/CP

On a dark, drizzly evening last week, several hundred Londoners gathered near Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square to watch a ceremony to unveil a broken clock. “It is tremendously exciting since this reminds us of how much we’ve still got to do before the Olympics,” London’s famously shambolic Mayor Boris Johnson announced as the cameras rolled. “We’re on schedule, with an iron grip on the budget so far—but really it’s all about sport and beating France!”

To be fair, the Omega London 2012 digital countdown clock was not broken at that moment, but stopped unexpectedly less than 24 hours later—499 days early for the city’s planned Olympic opening ceremonies on July 27, 2012. And despite this minor glitch, London seems to be in good shape well in advance of its big moment on the world stage.

The same day the clock flopped, the first advance tickets went on sale. Roughly 75 per cent—some 6.6 million—of tickets to the Games will be up for grabs to the public, through an application process which closes in six weeks’ time. Lord Coe, the London 2012 chairman, told the BBC sales had so far been “steady—with no reports of anything untoward.” In honour of the 500-day milestone, foreign press were also allowed a rare glimpse into the Olympic Park located in the city’s formerly industrial and increasingly rejuvenated East End. During a bus tour guided by Sarah Weir, head of arts and culture for the Olympic Park, reporters were assured that preparations were on schedule, with construction 75 per cent complete.

Continue…