How to kill time while waiting to "talk to CBSA": Liveblogging the launch of the Galloway legal challenge

By kadyomalley - Wednesday, March 25, 2009 at 10:15 AM - 26 Comments

Why does ITQ have the sinking feeling that this press conference is just going to leave us with more unanswered, possibly unanswerable questions and even more confused about what’s actually going on?

Hot off the Canada News Wire:

On Wednesday, March 25th, 2009, spokespersons for the Canada and Québec George Galloway speaking tour will be joined by Canadian MPs and a legal expert to address the media. At the conference they will unveil a challenge to the decision made by Conservative Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, which bans the British Parliamentarian from speaking to the Canadian public. MPs include Serge Ménard, Bloc Québécois critic for Public Safety, and Olivia Chow, New Democratic Party critic for Citizenship and Immigration.

10:15:20 AM
Greetings from the front steps of Parliament, where ITQ has already staked out a prime piece of cement in front of the lone mic stand, which is currently unoccupied. There are various organizers bustling around – this is, after all, a somewhat last-minute media event, and there was some confusion surrounding the exact timing of today’s press conference. We’re outside, which is – well, bracing, although it’s not quite as chilly as yesterday. Given past experience, though, I suspect there will be grumbling if it goes much beyond 10:45,

10:26:56 AM
Okay, I think this is about to get underway — the MPs are here: Olivia Chow and Serge Menard, from the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois respectively. Gosh, I wonder when the Liberal representative will arrive. I’m sure he or she is just running a few minutes late.

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Let him be perfectly clear

By kadyomalley - Tuesday, March 24, 2009 at 8:46 AM - 2 Comments

As promised, ITQ will be on hand as Team Mulroney makes its case for “clarification and direction” on the Commissioner’s recent ruling on standard of conduct. According to written submissions filed in advance of today’s hearing, neither Team Schreiber nor the Attorney General seem to be all that interested in giving the former prime minister, in the words of the latter, “a second kick at the can” on what should and shouldn’t be taken into consideration.

9:27:17 AM
Good morning, inquiry fans! Are we all ready for some rock’em, sock’em motion for clarification and direction action?
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Is that a ringing in my ears or just the sound of bells coming off?

By kadyomalley - Friday, March 20, 2009 at 8:30 AM - 9 Comments

After all, it’s been, a decade and a half since former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney made the fateful decision to go into business with wily Austrian German weapons dealer turned pasta salesman Karlheinz Schreiber — what’s another few days between what opposing attorneys always – and nearly always with a straight face – refer to as friends?

And so, on the agenda today: A motion filed on behalf of the former PM that would postpone the public hearings scheduled to start at the end of the month, by two weeks – until April 14 in order to give the commission sufficient time to respond to his other, more contentious motion: a request for clarification and direction on last month’s ruling on standards of conduct, which is the subject of a separate special hearing set for next week.

9:25:17 AM
I’m here! Which is not just a statement of fact today but a celebration of a hard-won triumph over adversity; the adversity in this case being my failure to notice that today’s hearing would not be taking place at the usual location of Old City Hall, but the Government Conference Centre, several very, very, very long blocks away. Cue frantic hailing of cab outside the Lester B. Pearson building.

Anyway, I made it to the *actual* hearing just in time, and am now somewhat breathlessly trying to figure out which lawyer, exactly, is currently proposing a compromise on timing.

Oh, it’s Richard Wolson, the lead counsel for the commission. He is sympathetic to Pratte’s request for delay, but notes that some witnesses wll be difficult to reschedule.

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After the O: Liveblogging Michael Ignatieff's post-meeting press conference

By kadyomalley - Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 5:04 PM - 21 Comments

Yoyoyo, ITQians! We have one more Obama-related event to get through, and then I promise it’s back to business as usual, whatever that means. Anyway, apparently the Ignatieff-Obama chinwag went slightly longer than usual — careful, Mr. President, you’re going to miss your flight! — so the presser that was originally scheduled for 5pm will be slightly delayed. I’ll keep y’all posted, so check back regularly.

5:25:25 PM
Well, we’re back on familiar, cosy parliamentary turf – the Charles Lynch Press Theatre, to be exact, which feels awfully homey at the moment. Apparently, the meeting ended at around 5pm, which means that barring any really spectacular traffic tie-ups, Ignatieff should be here by — I dunno, quarter to six? I’ve lost all track of time. I hope he realizes that the general feeling of nervous exhaustion in the room isn’t personal — it’s just been a really long day.
5:34:02 PM
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UPDATED: Wake up, O-Town – it's O-Day!

By kadyomalley - Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 7:20 AM - 7 Comments

Courtesy of Colleague Potter, we now have a pretty good idea of how the day is going to unfold, if some uncertainty as to whether or not “farewell” can legitimately be used as a verb.

ITQ’s O-Day agenda, meanwhile, is still somewhat in flux. As livebloggers are not (yet) considered to be pool media, most of the official events will be off-limits, but that won’t stop the signal — at least, unless the Secret Service decides to get scrambly with the berry frequency. (They wouldn’t do that, would they? I mean, the president might get ticked if he couldn’t check his email.)

After watching the O-rrival from the Hot Room, I’ll head down to the front lawn to wait for the motorcade — which means I won’t get to watch the PM greet the president, but it’s not like I was going to be able to see anything from behind the security cordon. (See above re: pool media; stubborn refusal to recognize liveblogging as such.)

Once the president has been whisked away for his “tete a tete” and subsequent working lunch, the liveblogging will move indoors as I wander the hallways of Centre Block until the president finally reappears, just in time for the joint press conference — which I’ll try to watch from the shared filing room — and the aforementioned “farewelling” (not a word) of the president by the Prime Minister.

Finally, ITQ will be on the scene for Michael Ignatieff’s post-Obama press conference, which will take place at around 5pm.

Anyway, depending on how long it takes me to make it through security — which, by the way, even those of us with full accreditation and the magic O-pass will have to do every single time we set foot outside Centre Block — there will be an all-day liveblog thread going up on ITQ a little later this morning, so check back around 9am.

UPDATE: The promised thread is now live, and open for all your idle commentary and helpful suggestions about footwear, so head on over for all the excitement!

So, what's it like being an Assistant Secretary for Cabinet specializing in macroeconomic policy? Liveblogging various Langevinians at the Government Operations and Estimates Committee

By kadyomalley - Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 10:45 AM - 12 Comments

What? Inquiring minds want to know! Anyway, here’s the notice, which I figured would help keep these deliberately faceless PCO officials straight for the duration of today’s meeting, which gets underway in — yikes, 22 minutes. ITQ, needless to say, will be there.

10:52:41 AM
Special pre-meeting-waiting-outside-in-the-hall report: ITQ and what appears to be an entire floor of Langevin Block, as well as a few early-bird members of the Government Ops committee, where we’re discussing at what point we can storm the room, which is currently under occupation by Citizenship and Immigration.

10:56:31 AM
Thankfully, taking the room by force turned out to be unnecessary; after what was, apparently, a surprisingly lively session with the minister, the chair – David Tilson, y’all, and no, I can’t yet tell what level of cranky he’s at, but it looks like at least a yellow alert – adjourned, and now the traditional committee switching frenzy is underway.

10:59:49 AM

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Things just won't be the same without David Tilson: Liveblogging the Ethics committee

By kadyomalley - Wednesday, February 4, 2009 at 3:16 PM - 20 Comments

Come for the chair election, stay for the routine motions!

3:21:19 PM
Calling all Ethics committee aficianados: It’s back! We’re back, in fact – back in the same third floor West Block committee room where, as I just this moment realized, ITQ spent the very last official moments of the 39th Parliament during last June’s filibustered – and eventually filibusted – hearings on the proposal to hold what would eventually become known as Camp In and Out (ITQ liveblogs passim and exhaustem).

We’ve lost a few members – not only the Cranky One, but Voice of Sanity Carole Lavallee, who is now on Canadian Heritage, the always unpredictable and never boring Pat Martin – gone to Government Operations – and more. At least we’ve still got Russ Hiebert and Pierre Poilievre. Otherwise, it wouldn’t feel like Ethics at all.

Oh, and Paul Szabo as chair, of course. I thought that was understood.

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Once more into the breech: Liveblogging the Public Accounts Committee

By kadyomalley - Tuesday, February 3, 2009 at 3:20 PM - 7 Comments

Join ITQ as she attends her fourth – and, she can’t help but devoutly hope, last – committee meeting of the day.

3:26:11 PM
You know, I really think this may, in fact, be a personal record for number of committee meetings attended in a single day, but I have high hopes for this one ending on a less painful note: It’s Public Accounts, which managed to remain functional even during the meltdown of the 39th Parliament, and by saying that, I really hope I haven’t cursed them to a season of madness – other than by my very presence, that is.

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UPDATED AGAIN: Extraordinary times call for extraordinary committee chairs: Liveblogging the Finance *and* Environment *and* Government Operations and Estimates committees

By kadyomalley - Tuesday, February 3, 2009 at 7:52 AM - 7 Comments

Hey, yesterday’s meeting of the Justice committee turned out to be far more interesting than we expected, right? Check back at 9am for all the action as the denizens of the Finance committee elect a new chair, pass routine motions – and just maybe have enough time left over to fix the Global Economic Unpleasantness.

8:46:22 AM
Welcome to the battle of the livebloggers! In this corner, your beloved – well, at the very least be-tolerated for her quirkiness – ITQ; in the other, the one and only David Akin, who will also be covering today’s events, although I’m not sure if he will be doing so in real time.

We’re in one of the two A-list committee rooms — the other is being used by Environment, and I’ll definitely try to wander over there if this one let’s out early – and the members are starting to stream in, including parliamentary secretary for Finance Ted Menzies – one of ITQ’s very favourite almost-ministers – and an old friend from Ethics: Mike Wallace. So far, there’s not much of a presence on the opposition side of the table, although John McCallum is holding court a few Tories at the other end of the room.

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Liveblogging the budget vote: Where stands Newfoundland? No, seriously — where?

By kadyomalley - Monday, February 2, 2009 at 5:33 PM - 7 Comments

6:41:00 PM
Yikes – sorry about the delay, y’all – I did have every intention of being installed in my gallery perch at 6:30, when the bells started to ring, but there was scrumming, and what with one thing and another, I didn’t make it back to the House til now. It’s absolutely full, btw – the House, that is – and the traditional middle aisle mingling has just started to wind down as they all head to their respective seats. There are a few desk-bangers agitating – I’m not sure if Stockwell Day is one of them, but he’s definitely one of the usual suspects, but I think we’re all expecting the Newfoundland resistance to vote with the caucus tonight, since this is, after all, their party’s amendment. The crucial vote on the budget itself isn’t til tomorrow.

6:43:56 PM
Here come the Whips – and we’re off!

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After Art Hanger: Liveblogging the triumphant return of the Justice Committee

By kadyomalley - Monday, February 2, 2009 at 3:04 PM - 4 Comments

… and possibly Foreign Affairs as well, depending on how quickly the members of Justice can elect a new chair and get through whatever additional housekeeping motions are on the agenda.

Check back at 3:30 for the first official liveblogging of the new committee season! Are you excited? ITQ is excited!

3:20:32 PM
… Excited enough, as it turns out, to show up a full ten minutes early, just so I can nab my very favourite seat (furtherest right corner of the front row) and soak up the atmosphere, not to mention scope out all the new members – as well as returning characters, of course. Real Menard is here, and is staring intently at Daniel Petit, who is sitting directly across from him, and I’m pretty sure has not been pre-selected as chair, although I guess anything is possible. All of the Conservatives are here, in fact — I remember when this this was the most coveted assignment within the Tory caucus, but I imagine that has lessened somewhat with taking over as government. Ed Fast is here, and Rick Norlock, and Rob Moore, who is the parliamentary secretary, I believe. Or was; maybe now he’s going to be sidewaysedly promoted to chair.

On the other side of the table, we have the aforementioned Serge Menard, as well as Marc Lemay, Libby Davies and Megan Leslie, whose nameplate is written in the most grade eight girliest hand I’ve seen since, well, eight grade. Brian Murphy and Dominic Leblanc are here as well. Oh, there’s a rookie Conservative: Brent Rathgerber, who looks like a taller, slightly bigger boned and far less officious version of Pierre Poilievre.

Meanwhile, Dominic Leblanc is making jokes about introducing motions about Chuck Cadman, and the Conservatives are trying to look amused. At least, I assume those were jokes. You never can tell.

3:30:53 PM
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Round up the usual suspects: Liveblogging the post-QP scrums

By kadyomalley - Wednesday, January 28, 2009 at 2:18 PM - 6 Comments

This probably won’t become a regular ITQ feature, mind you, since it’s usually nothing more than a cacophony of competing talking points, but considering the events that transpired earlier today, it’s worth making the foray to the foyer this afternoon.

2:59:24 PM
Well, I’m here – although frankly, it was touch and go for a while there that I would recover sufficient mental faculties from the torpor of Question Period to haul myself out of the gallery and into the foyer. You would have thought that this would be an vitriolic, tension-laced highwire show of a Question Period, but you would be horribly, horribly wrong.

3:02:31 PM
Oh, the milling. So much of journalism relies on one’s milling skills. At least the security guards are friendly, although oddly reticent to comment on the political issues of the day. There are three clusters at the moment – two waiting, one involving Christian Paradis which is being conducted entirely in French, and a few MPs mingling with the horde as we eye the two respective doors intently.

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First one to call this his "walk in the snow" has to go out and shovel it

By kadyomalley - Wednesday, January 28, 2009 at 8:42 AM - 79 Comments

ITQ will be liveblogging the Liberal leader’s press conference this morning. She has absolutely no idea what he’s going to say, although she’s hoping for a Yeats quote; apparently, he’ll fill us in on whether or not his party is leaning towards supporting the budget, bringing down the government or introducing some sort of amendment that would provide the PM with the perfect opportunity to demonstrate his newfound appreciation for nonpartisan cooperative collaboration.

Check back at 11am to find out!

(An aside: You guys, this is so exciting! Don’t you love those days on the Hill when our journalistic unified theory of the immediate short term everything can be summed up thusly: “Wait, what? Did we miss something? What’s going on?” And how infuriating must it be for the Prime Minister that the day after his government delivered the most extraordinary-est budget in the history of modern Canadian political ever, all eyes are not on him or his government, but on Michael Ignatieff? Unless this is all part of that craftily designed time-release communications strategy, of course. [Insert hoary chess/checkers cliche here.])

10:41:19 AM
Ahh, that’s more like it – You’ve no idea how much I missed my trusty berry during yesterday’s lockup. Liveblogging on a laptop just isn’t the same – you can’t get up and wander around, for one thing. Not that I’m doing much wandering at the moment, of course: I am stationed in my usual just-past-the-pillar seat in the National Press Theatre, listening to the room fill up with my slightly snow-encrusted colleagues, wondering – as is our lot in life – what on earth will happen next, and what about after *that*?

Team Ignatieff is already here – well, the Team, not sure about the Ignatieff – but they’re not letting anything slip as far as what their boss is going to say. What ITQ *can* report, however, is that he won’t be saying it from behind a desk; the middle leaf of the trademark NPT table has just been hauled off the stage and replaced with a lectern that I’m fairly sure is actually taller than me.

11:01:17 AM
Well, he’s now officially late, although that *may* be due to the last minute addition of the lectern, which forces the assembled camera crews to shuffle around until they’re satisfied that the angle will make any looming by the star of the show sufficiently ominous.

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Liveblogging Obama's Inauguration from the US Embassy

By kadyomalley - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 9:30 AM - 25 Comments

Hey, if we can’t be in DC with Colleague Luiza, this seems like the next best place to watch history unfold.

11:02:46 AM
I’m here! Here, in this case, is a rapidly filling hall at the US Embassy, a quiet corner of which I am currently haunting, because for some reason, this doesn’t seem like the kind of event at which one can merrily tap on one’s BlackBerry in the middle of the action, even if one is liveblogging history.

I have to admit that so far, I don’t recognize many of the guests – not the usual Hill crowd. Oh, other than Rob Anders, who I just this instant spotted at the buffet. There are other reporters here, of course — apparently, we all had the same idea vis a vis the next best place to be — and a few other familiar faces, like NDP MP Paul Dewar, who must be doing a drop-by before heading back to Queen Street for the caucus-watching party, huh?

Anyway, I’ll post an update as soon as I have the lay of the land, as it were. And yes, in case anyone wondered, the mood is downright jubilant – not a long face in the crowd.

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Liveblogging the First Ministers' Meeting

By kadyomalley - Friday, January 16, 2009 at 7:30 AM - 39 Comments

… everything starts to look like a hole. Which is now no longer called a hole, but an infrastructure investment opportunity, so please update your talking points accordingly. (For yesterday’s liveblog, click here.)

7:42:06 AM
Good morning, federal-provincial jurisdictional sports fans ! We’re here outside Old City Hall, where, in an unwelcome development, the pre-meeting ins are taking place on the front steps – the outside front steps, in the bitter, freezing cold. I’m not sure how much realtime liveblogging I’m going to be able to do before actual, no-kidding frostbite kicks in.

I arrived at nearly exactly the same time as BC Premier Gordon Campbell, who turned up in a car, unlike ITQ, and as such was happy to stand outside for a few minutes to talk about shovels, and readiness as his aides – unaccustomed to the brutality of the central Canadian winter, shivered beside him.

Hey, there’s the PM! Who doesn’t have anything to say to us, other than good morning, and that he plans to focus on the economy. Never have I been so relieved to hear him say so little.

7:48:53 AM
Fashion note; the PM is wearing the same coat and scarf has he did the day he visited Rideau Hall.

7:55:27 AM
I’m sorry, y’all, I just couldn’t stick it out — minus thirty is just too darned cold to liveblog in the open air. I’ve retreated to the makeshift media gallery, where Danny Wiliams – of whom we saw neither hide nor hair yesterday – is explaining to the assembled press that his focus is on employment insurance – “we really should pump up EI!” – and not tax cuts, although he’s not categorically opposed to the latter.

8:00:13 AM Continue…

Federalism as viewed from the foyer of the Chateau Laurier: Liveblogging the FMM pre-game show

By kadyomalley - Thursday, January 15, 2009 at 12:50 PM - 16 Comments

(For a full rundown of FMM-related events, check the official ITQ guide here.)

12:28:47 PM
The rallying cry of the reporter who turns up at a press conference half an hour early: “Ooh! Free cookies!” As I told the FCM official eyeing me with suspicion, in these uncertain times, one should never turn away from. chocolate chips.

Yes, I’m here in the Quebec suite at the Chateau Laurier, cooling my heels – or as is the case today, given the temperature outside, warming them and every other body part – in anticipation of a post-meeting press conference by the mayors of Canada’s 22 largest cities, a number presumably arrived at so as not to exclude Ottawa (despite the Obama tails that have so shattered the will of Colleague Potter to live).

Just as I was typing those words, however, the microphone was abruptly hijacked by none other than Martha Hall Findlay, the Liberal critic for infrastructure, who has seized the opportunity presented by a room full of otherwise at loose ends journalists to put forward her party’s position on the issue. The opposition, it’s clear, needs no lessons from the devil when it comes to finding work for idle hands.

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Liveblogging Bob Rae at the National Press Theatre

By kadyomalley - Tuesday, December 9, 2008 at 8:13 AM - 43 Comments

… which is starting to become inextricably linked in my mind with the comings and goings of Liberal leadership candidates, y’all. According to the advisory, he’ll be offering up his latest musings on pretty much everything — the state of the race, the state of the economy, the state of what he is now quite cleverly referring to as the “parliamentary coalition” between the Liberals and the NDP, which could be interesting, if hard on the berrythumbs, because if there’s one thing Bob Rae can do, it’s talk. Anyway, check back around 11:00 a.m. 3 p.m. for full liveblogging coverage.

UPDATE: Okay, so now it’s at 1pm. Maybe Ignatieff sent a wolfhound sled to TO to rescue him from the airport lounge, and that’s what finally pushed him over the edge. Don’t worry, ITQ will still be there!

12:41:45 PM
And – we are! Here, that is – at the National Press Theatre, which is slowly but surely filling up with reporters suffering the journalistic equivalent of jet lag after yet another morning of news breaking all over the established (as of, oh, sometime yesterday afternoon) narrative.

Just to make sure everyone is caught up: What we originally thought was going to be Barnstormin’ Bob Rae rallying his troops to the barricades will now be his swan song, at least as far as this leadership race. Barring yet another twist in the plot – and don’t rule it out, y’all; if there’s one thing the last week and a half has taught us, it is that nothing is impossible in the wacky world of Canadian politics – Michael Ignatieff now appears destined to become the next leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. Unless, of course, he is suddenly named as heir to an obscure European principality. It would be just like the Princess Diaries, y’all! (Note to disgruntled grassroots Liberals: Start combing through those lists of succession!)

In any case, we need new theme music. What about “Last Caress”? Too gritty? I await your suggestions in the comment section.

12:51:19 PM
The big question – well, one of the big questions – when did he decide to extract his hat from the ring? Was it late last night, when he got word of the party’s decision on the whole “broad consultative exercise”? Or this morning, when he woke up to the realization that even if he had gotten what he wanted – one member one vote – it likely wouldn’t have been enough? Or was there a fateful discussion between the two ex-roommates that led to a truce? I wonder if we’ll ever know the real story.

12:55:26 PM
At least the earpiece still fails to in any way fit onto my ear. It’s sort of comforting to have something work out as expected amid the chaos.

12:57:47 PM

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LeBlanc steps down—backs Ignatieff

By kadyomalley - Monday, December 8, 2008 at 12:23 PM - 30 Comments

The least unexpected (but still, I’m sure, by some lamented) announcement of the day — that Dominic LeBlanc will be stepping down as a candidate in the Liberal leadership race — is scheduled for 2:30 p.m., with the obligatory barrage of questions about whether he plans to throw his support to Michael Ignatieff beginning about fifteen seconds later.

UPDATE: Okay, so apparently, the press conference has been pushed back to 3pm – not because of cold feet, but for logistical reasons – so I guess I’ll see you back here thenabouts.

2:48:01 PM
Well, that was unfortunate — I was standing by the door with what I thought was plenty of time before the soon-to-be-former candidate showed up when I suddenly heard the Acadian tones of Dominic LeBlanc himself: “I knew you’d be here on your BlackBerry.” It’s so embarrassing when your liveblogging target sneaks up on you. Let the record show, however, that he was early – I wasn’t late.

Anyway, he and his aides have disappeared into the back room — the staging area, as it were — to de-coat and hat and prepare for the media onslaught.

2:52:14 PM
A good turnout of media, although I suspect there are a few Hill reporters who would rather huddle around the newsroom television to watch Bob Rae, who is also holding a press conference this afternoon, although apparently it won’t start til 3:30.

2:56:18 PM
Fifty second warning!

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Liveblogging the PM’s visit to Rideau Hall

By kadyomalley - Thursday, December 4, 2008 at 7:23 AM - 508 Comments

ITQ will be joining the media stakeout on the Governor General’s doorstep this morning – check back at 9ish for full liveblogging coverage.

8:52:01 AM
Greetings fellow monarchist (and not so much) butterflies! Just a quick update from the road – literally; I’m currently on the bridge to New Edinburgh – I may be a teeny bit late in getting this on the spot liveblogging on the way. Just a few minutes, most likely – unless I accidentally walk into an open manhole while composing this entry, which would be somewhat fitting, really. I promise that In return, I won’t complain if the PM turns out to be running a bit behind schedule himself. Gosh, isn’t this exciting?

9:02:18 AM
We have protesters, ladies and gentlemen! They are clustered in front of the gates – which I just whizzed past in vehicular comfort after one of my colleagues spotted me trudging by the side of the road. They seem to be exclusively anti-coalition — and the signs look homemade — but not quite at angry mob status yet. I’d guess like – two dozen? Maybe more?

Anyway, I’m here now, so I’ll scope out the scene and report back in a few minutes.

9:06:14 AM
Okay, so the cameras are staking out the back entrance – which is around the corner from the iconic shot of the front doors – although there is a small contigent in front of the water fountain, which is currently full of ice water and chilly reporters. I don’t think there’s much chance that he’ll stop to chat with us before – or after – his meeting, but you never know. Hope springs eternal in a liveblogger’s chest!

At least it’s not brutally cold – in fact, it’s almost balmy for December.

9:10:46 AM

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Live from Langevin Block, it's your pretaped PM!

By kadyomalley - Wednesday, December 3, 2008 at 6:07 PM - 230 Comments

… from the Metropolitan, of all places, where a previously scheduled Wonderful Wednesday reception hosted by Bob Rae seems to have transformed into a multipartisan mass watch-in of the most anticipated political event of the last twelve or so hours.

6:45:10 PM
Yikes. Sorry about the delay, y’all – I forgot that the Met is also unofficially known as the Blackberry Bermuda Triangle — for some reason, it’s nearly impossible to get a signal anywhere other than by the door, or in the lobby of the apartment next door, or any number of other incredibly awkward spots to stand, particularly if you’re liveblogging. But ITQ will soldier on, because the people of Canada deserve no less.

Anyway, it is *packed* here tonight – mostly Liberal at the moment, but a few outposts of Torydom. The rumour – and I should stress that this is a rumour and not a coy embargo breaking, since I haven’t yet received the usual advance copy of the speech – is that he will “take a shot across the bow” of … Rideau Hall. Yes, that Rideau Hall. Which, if true, will mark a new high point in unsettling surreality for Canadian politics. I — can’t wait? Well, at least it will be interesting.

6:51:30 PM
Can I say, by the way, that this has been, hands down, the most amazing, incredible, astonishing time to be covering the Hill that I can remember – and contrary to what certain people – ahem, Olaf – might suggest, I’ve been around for a while. Whatever happens, I wouldn’t trade the last week of my professional life for anything.

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Not with a bang but a press conference: Liveblogging the launch of the coalition government-in-waiting

By kadyomalley - Monday, December 1, 2008 at 3:45 PM - 255 Comments

For Immediate Release
December 1, 2008

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, New Democrat Leader Jack Layton and Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe will hold a press conference

Date: Monday, December 1, 2008
Time: 4:30 PM
Location: Railway Room
253-D Centre Block
Ottawa, Ontario

Please note that all details are subject to change. All times are local.

- 30 -

This thing really does need a name, lest it become known forever as This … Thing, as one of my colleagues who shall remain meganameless insists on calling it. (For the record, he’s not against it, he just can’t seem to help himself from referring to it that way.)

Anyway, check back at 4:30 or so for full livebloggalicous coverage, live from the Railway Room – unless, of course, the PM pulls the procedural fire alarm and prorogues the House sometime between now and then.

4:19:43 PM
It’s sort of fitting, really, that the first official news conference with the coalition partners would take place here, in a committee room — after all, it was at committee where the opposition parties first “rediscovered their majority”, as NDP strategist Brad Topp put it the other day. “This is far from routine,” notes Senator David Smith as he squeezes past me into one of the four rows of seats for the media. There are a few MPs mingling with the mob of milling journalists – Derek Lee, Olivia Chow – but I think most of them are likely upstairs at the cameras-only photo op where the leaders will sign the satanic pact of ultimate evil, otherwise known as the Sunshine and Rainbows Accord. Okay, I made that up.

Right now, NDP communications director Karl Belanger is explaining the rules, which I managed to totally miss until the end, when he asked us to limit ourselves to one question. Oh, how quickly the mask falls when they get a taste of power!

4:27:53 PM
Apparently, The Triumverate is on its way down from Dion’s office, which is where the photo op took place. (What? That’s the correct use of the term, isn’t it?)

I have to say that the setting for this particular event could be more — dramatic, somehow. There is a long table — half of a committee table, I believe — on a riser, three ubiquitous green chairs, three microphones blinking red and three glasses of water.
Three for one and three for all!

4:32:45 PM
Other suggestions: the Unholy Trinity, the Three-Headed Beast, the Troika. I feel a poll coming on!

Cereberus! That’s the three-headed dog, right?

4:35:57 PM
Apparently, every now and then, you can catch a glimpse of me liveblogging on the live feed on the networks. Hi, everyone! Yes, I’ll stop being all meta soon.

4:38:52 PM
Okay, apparently the Agreement is out now, not that this means much for my coverage, since I can’t type the whole thing out between now and whenever the Triptyche turns up. Sigh. Choices, choices.

4:42:24 PM
I realize now that I have never actually read another Accord on a Cooperative Government to Address the Present Economic Crisis, so I have no frame of refereence for this one. It seems — fairly reasonable? If a tiny bit unrealistic if only for the somewhat adorably naïve inclusion of “A “no surprises” approach” although one that is “within the limits of common sense and the needs of cabinet government.”

4:47:17 PM
And – they’re here! And signing! And looking very, very serious about governing!

4:47:51 PM
Stephane Dion looks taller, somehow. Maybe it’s the haircut – or the aura of history that now surrounds him, for better or for worse.

I just realized that the (current) Prime Minister has been largely incidental to the day’s events. That must drive him absolutely bonkers.

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Gosh, this could be interesting: The PM Speaks!

By kadyomalley - Friday, November 28, 2008 at 4:53 PM - 152 Comments

Further to Colleague Wherry’s post, I’ll be hanging around the foyer tonight between 5and 5:30 tonight to hear the Prime Minister accuse the opposition parties of plotting a coup d’etat that would strike at the very heart of Canadian democracy. Sadly, he won’t be taking questions, but it should be fun, and anyway, everyone knows that it’s not up to the press gallery to hold the government accountable — that’s the opposition’s job! Or something like that. Right, Kory?

5:09:24 PM
Okay, so apparently, this will be a “game changer” of an announcement. Ooh! In fact, the theory seems to be that he will cancel the scheduled opposition day on Monday, and put off all votes – like, for instance, a non-confidence motion – until the week after. Just so Canadians can properly appreciate the enormity of forcing him and his family to move out of 24 Sussex over Christmas. Will no one think of the cats?

Oh, I kid. Well, about the cats.

5:15:07 PM
Okay, apparently, that’s exactly what will happen. Hey, didn’t a noble, democracy-loving leader of the opposition once lead his party in a dramatic walkout from the House of Commons when a Liberal PM whose name escapes me postponed the remaining opposition days in a session out of fear that the oppositon would bring down his government?

5:18:02 PM
Hmm. So he was supposed to be here before 5:30. Any bets on whether that’s actually going to happen? I mean, this is a man who tends to be on the fashionably late time for event planned months in advance – an impromptu press conference? We could be here til midnight!

5:22:16 PM
“Can he do that?” That seems to be the question of the hour, and as far as I know, the answer is “yes”. The government is under no obligation to hold an opposition day on Monday, or any other day – as long as there are two before the end of the session, they can be scheduled whenever the Government House Leader pleases.

5:27:59 PM
Ooh! Five minute warning!

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Procedure and House Affairs: Liveblogging the very first committee meeting of the 40th Parliament

By kadyomalley - Tuesday, November 25, 2008 at 9:32 AM - 15 Comments

Gosh, I hope I remember how to do this – it’s been so long.

Anyway, presuming I’m still able to find the committee room, check back at 11am for the very first meeting of the “mother of all committees” – also known as Procedure and House Affairs – which kicks off with the traditional election of the chair.

Let the parliamentary games begin — in accordance with the New Spirit of Cooperation, of course.

10:48:30 AM
OMG, you guys, it’s so good to be back! I couldn’t resist coming early – had to get a good seat, after all (no snickering; for some reason, there are only two seats for media in this particular committee room) – and the second I walked in, I just couldn’t help myself from saying exactly that to the cluster of clerks, analysts and staffers scurrying to make the place perfect before the MPs arrive.

I should warn y’all that this could be a very short meeting — I’m assuming the NSOC(tm) will last long enough to elect a chair without outright mutiny within the opposition ranks. But I promise to make the liveblogging thereof as interesting as possible, even if that does mean short (if sweet).

10:53:15 AM
The NDP’s Yvon Godin is officially the very first MP to sit in his place as a member of a committee of the 40th Parliament. Somehow, it seems like there should be balloons and streamers falling from the sky. Tom Lukiwski, meanwhile, is the second. (I apologize if I sound a little distracted – my seat is ensconced in a small but lively band of translaters, who are gossiping furiously about all sorts of people I don’t know, but I can’t help but keep one ear tuned in, just in case they start talking about MPs past and present.)

The government side of the room is nearly full to capacity, by the way – five MPs means one order of parliamentarianhood more staffers, I guess.

Actually, this room is packed. I guess I’m not the only one who has been pining for the sound of the gavel.

10:57:53 AM
Michel Guimond sends everyone into fits of snickergiggles – which sound delicious – when he launches into a chorus of “We want Joe! We want Joe!” although in fairness, the ones coming from the Conservative side of the room have just the tiniest hint of nervous panic. Nobody wants to be the first to violate the NSOC, after all.

10:59:18 AM
One minute to go!

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Liveblogging the Rae leadership launch: Remind us again, which one is the hare and which is the tortoise?

By kadyomalley - Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 8:11 AM - 14 Comments

Barring another outbreak of incredibly ill-timed technical difficulties, ITQ will be at the National Press Theatre when Bob Rae makes the least surprising announcement in Liberal leadership politics since — well, Michael Ignatieff did the same thing last week.

8:52:44 AM
The press conference hasn’t yet begun, but the Raevolution is already underway, and I swear that’s the last time I will type those words, but I just can’t help myself – just inside the doors of the National Press Theatre, starry-eyed supporters have lined the path by which he will make his entrance. Admittedly, it’s a pretty short path – about fifty feet – which means it doesn’t take that many starry-eyed supporters to do so, but still. It’s on. Or, to quote the slogan emblazoned on the buttons they’re wearing: “Ready to Roll.”

I hope that’s not under embargo. If so, I’ll throw myself on the mercy of the court for unwittingly ruining the surprise.

8:58:56 AM
Ooh, from inside the theatre, we can hear the screams – screams of joy, we assume – which can only mean one thing: Uncle Bob has been spotted, striding purposefully towards destiny. That, or it was a practice scream.

9:00:19 AM
Nope, it was the real thing – the camera crews that has been so patiently – and chillily – awaiting his arrival have now descended upon us.

Sixty seconds. (We get a countdown in the NPT. It builds excitement!)

9:03:04 AM
And here he is! Wearing a grey suit and a tie the very same shade of deep burgandy red as my BlackBerry, he’s announcing his candidacy for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada. A shocker!

9:04:58 AM
Also Ready to Roll under a new Raegime: “a real Twenty-First Century economy” – and on that note, he’s fine with his “track record in governing” coming under scrutiny – he doesn’t mind it at all. “I couldn’t hide my record even if I wanted to. Damn that lack of some sort of mass amnesia-inducing technology.” (Note: Last bit may not have been spoken aloud.)

Oh, I kid. He looks fine – he’s actually working off a prepared text, which is unusual for him, and sticking to it pretty closely.

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