Mad Man (and Woman): Liveblogging Michael Ignatieff and Martha Hall Findlay on partisan political advertising

By kadyomalley - Friday, September 25, 2009 at 9:00 AM - 42 Comments

Hey, remember that $34 million in Economic Action! Plan-related ad spending that Canadian Press wrote about earlier this week? Well, the Liberals are finally getting around to holding a press conference to denounce it — like Dirk Gently, five days late but moving fast – and ITQ will be there to liveblog the festivities, starting at 10am, so be sure to check back for full coverage.

Oh, and speaking of possibly partisan advertising, an ITQ mini-challenge to commenters, just to keep y’all busy while waiting for this morning’s antics to get underway: How many ways does the Action! plan website — a Privy Council Office production that was the object of its very own traffic-driving ad campaign, which included over $1 million for the most recent spot, which warns viewers that, although the plan is working, “we’ve got to stay on track” — violate Treasury Board standards for common look and feel?

Post your count in the comments, and ITQ will meet you back here at10am.

9:42:50 AM
Greetings, members of the Whatever Happened To Party of Accountability Club! ITQ is installed in her usual seat in the second row of the Charles Lynch Press Theatre, waiting patiently for what is now being teasered by bright-eyed Liberal research operatives as an announcement. What could it be? ITQ would put her money — her *own* money, not cabinet-approved and signed off on by Treasury Board, for the record — on a proposal to create some sort of gimlet-eyed independent commissioner to monitor all government ad spending for illicit partisan messaging — maybe even a new Officer of Parliament! It could be called — the Federal Accountability Act. (What do you mean, ‘that’s been taken’?)

9:54:26 AM
As the Wall of Cameras angling for the best shot of the Ignatieff/Hall Findlay powerwalk down the hall, the room is filling up with media:CanWest, Sun News, the Toronto Star, Canadian Press, of course – after all, it was Bruce Cheadle who broke the story – a surprisingly good turnout for a Friday morning presser, but then again, it’s not like there’s much else happening on the Hill today.
9:57:48 AM
Two minute warning! Whee!

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Liberals raise money in bank vault

By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, September 10, 2009 at 9:09 PM - 9 Comments

Toronto Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay held a fundraiser in an old downtown Toronto bank vault that has been converted into an entertainment space.

Michael Igantieff  was the evening’s special guest.

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Mitchel Raphael on the minister who made Flare’s list

By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, September 10, 2009 at 10:20 AM - 0 Comments

The only place this MP can relax
Toronto Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay recently turned 50. For her birthday she received a hand-painted canoe paddle from her son Patrick Findlay. Her daughter gave her a framed photo of her canoe at sunset, which she plans to hang in her Ottawa office. Hall Findlay spent two years refurbishing the canoe, which used to belong to her father, stripping it down and doing the repair work herself. She was able to take some time off this summer and paddle the canoe around Georgian Bay, among the Thirty Thousand Islands. It’s the one way she can relax, she told Capital Diary. “I have a terrible time sitting still,” says the Willowdale, Ont., MP. “In the canoe I am forced to do nothing but think.”

The MP, his father and the Italian mountain
For their 10th wedding anniversary, Ontario Liberal MP Glen Pearson and his wife, Jane Roy, went to Italy for two weeks, the first real holiday they have taken alone without children or guests since they were married. The couple often travel to Africa and are usually accompanied by lots of other people. While in Sicily, Pearson and Roy climbed Mount Etna, Europe’s highest and most active volcano. Pearson really wanted to see it because it was around that site during the Second World War that his father landed with Canadian forces to fight. His father, who was wounded twice in the war, told Pearson he had seen Etna erupt. Pearson says climbing is in his blood because he grew up near the Rockies in Calgary. Etna is over three kilometres high, and it took the couple a full day to go up and down it. He says it was much easier than when he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in 2005. Pearson also visited the Commonwealth cemetery in the town of Agira where Canadians, including several of his father’s Second World War comrades, are buried. Pearson was so moved by the cemetery, which he discovered by fluke, that he sent a message to Defence Minister Peter MacKay to make sure he knew about it. MacKay, he says, appreciated the gesture. Continue…

How I spent my summer vacation

By macleans.ca - Thursday, September 3, 2009 at 8:00 AM - 9 Comments

Click on the images to find out, in their own words, how each of these famous Canadians spent their summer.

Well, Justin is convinced

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, September 1, 2009 at 2:27 PM - 3 Comments

Martha Hall Findlay uploads Mr. Trudeau’s reaction to Mr. Ignatieff’s speech.

Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay recommends Jim Collins' 'Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don't'

By Stephanie Findlay - Wednesday, August 5, 2009 at 3:36 PM - 0 Comments

“As a business person, I enjoyed the book anyway. But now as a politician, I found that many of its conclusions can also apply to political parties and, indeed, Canada.  Among the lessons?  In leadership styles, personal humility was surprisingly key. Ambition was also critical, but for the company, not personal.  People are key, but it’s critical to gather the right people, who need to operate in a culture of self-discipline—not where one person “disciplines” the rest. Passion is fundamental, but so to is an honest determination of what you can be the best at—not what you want to be best at, rather what you can be best at. ”

Hall Findlay is currently the Official Opposition Critic for Public Works and Government Services

The eternal question

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, July 27, 2009 at 1:08 PM - 21 Comments

A few interesting reads from the weekend: Susan Delacourt looks at new research into the electability of women in Canada, Alice Funke adds her own analysis, and Linda Silver Dranoff reviews Canada’s Unfinished Democracy. From the latter.

She points out that this “women+power=discomfort” equation makes people focus on the contests that women lose and extrapolate from that, that women are losers. Many do run in ridings they have no chance of winning, or for parties that have no chance of governing.

The examples she provides are persuasive, including Agnes MacPhail, Thérèse Casgrain, Kim Campbell and Belinda Stronach, but the one that resonated with me was Flora MacDonald. In 1976, she was considered a shoo-in for the Progressive Conservative leadership; members of her party had promised her enough votes to assure a win. But when they went into the voting booths, they didn’t vote for her. Has Bashevkin provided the explanation about 30 years later? Were MacDonald’s supporters just plain uncomfortable with a woman in power? It would seem so.

One other way of looking at this: what precisely is the model for female political leadership in Canada? Who would you tell a 25-year-old women thinking of getting into politics to model herself after? Continue…

Iggy and the big band

By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 1:09 PM - 10 Comments

Michael Ignatieff held his first media garden party at Stornoway since becoming Liberal leader. The Etobicoke Youth Jazz Orchestra from his Toronto riding provided the music.

Iggy’s wife Zsuzsanna Zsohar with Mimi.

Montreal Liberal MP Justin Trudeau.

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Mitchel Raphael on who Don Newman will miss

By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 11:00 AM - 2 Comments

Somebody at Stornoway is out of sorts

Michael Ignatieff held a media garden party at Stornoway, his first since becoming Liberal leader. The Etobicoke Youth Jazz Orchestra from his Toronto riding provided the music. The party was supposed to go from 6 to 8 p.m., but when it started getting chilly, Ignatieff’s wife, Zsuzsanna Zsohar, invited the remaining guests into the house, where media folks stayed chatting with Iggy in the living room until 10:30. Zsohar’s and Iggy’s feisty feline Mimi was jumping all over the place. (She even jumps in Ignatieff’s cereal when he has breakfast.) The couple had got their second cat, Eric, the day before the bash so Mimi was in a bit of a huff. Stornoway’s chef, Josh Drache, calls Mimi “an evil cat.” Zsohar served biscotti in the living room, and, despite her jumping, even Mimi got a nibble.

Who knew our Senators were that fit?

Vancouver Conservative MP John Weston had several politicians, sports coaches, and Laureen Harper gather in front of the Peace Tower as part of his initiative to get MPs to invest at least “20 minutes 10 seconds” twice weekly in fitness activities. The amount of time is connected to the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. When Conservative Senator Nancy Greene Raine told the crowd that 80 per cent of senators already had some sort of fitness regime, a few gasps were heard. Labour Minister Rona Ambrose brought her dog Luna to the event. When Peter Stoffer tried to pet the pooch, Ambrose warned the NDP MP that Luna hates men. But Luna liked Stoffer for some reason. As the group did a walking lap around the Hill, they passed AIDS activists dressed in black-and-white-striped prison uniforms protesting the criminalization of HIV transmission, saying it is the only potentially fatal pathogen being treated this way. The AIDS activists were supported by NDP MPs Libby Davies and Bill Siksay as well as Liberal MP Hedy Fry. Before the AIDS protest had wrapped up, another group of demonstrators arrived with effigies of Stephen Harper and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe as the two leaders were meeting on the Hill for trade talks. The Uribe protesters’ music was so loud it drowned out the AIDS activists.

Luckily Don Newman ignored his CBC bosses

CBC Newsworld Politics host Don Newman will soon retire. He arrived on the Hill as a Globe and Mail reporter during Pierre Trudeau’s first government. He was the first print reporter to have a tape recorder. “I was laughed at and ridiculed both by broadcasters and by colleagues in the print press.” He has no plans to be a politician, although he notes his former fellow broadcaster Mike Duffy, who is now a senator, always had an interest in the upper chamber. Notes Newman, “I am very happy for him that he finally got where he wanted to go.” Newman hasn’t voted in a federal or provincial election since 1972 because he covers them. “I do vote municipally. I kinda know who is running for council. I vote for the school board although I have no idea who they are.” When CBC got the Newsworld channel, Newman was told by his bosses not to waste his time on it. They later admitted they were wrong. “I knew Newsworld was going to be a big success because Brian Mulroney would phone me personally on the commercial breaks.” Will he miss wearing makeup every day? “No,” says Newman. “But I’ve had a wonderful person [Joan Hodgins] who has done my makeup since 1993. I will miss her company every day.”

What’s Martha Hall Findlay wearing?

Toronto Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay was spotted wearing a sealskin ribbon she got from the government of Nunavut. Her Liberal colleague Anthony Rota, who has the fur industry promotion organization Fur Harvesters Auction in his northern Ontario riding, says he plans to get similar ribbons for all the Liberal MPs.

Laureen Harper and the biker flick

By Mitchel Raphael - Wednesday, June 17, 2009 at 12:58 AM - 27 Comments

Heritage Minister James Moore hosted a reception for the Canadian motorcycle film One Week at the National Gallery of Canada. Moore with Toronto Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay.

Laureen Harper.

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Mitchel Raphael on the picture that took 20 years to get

By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, May 28, 2009 at 1:40 PM - 0 Comments

Gilles Duceppe’s short-lived acting career

At the third annual Maclean’s Parliamentarians of the Year awards gala, Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe was runner-up for most knowledgeable MP and best orator. He found the latter recognition “funny, because in Quebec they are saying I am not that good an orator. But here, I am very good.” Duceppe comes from a family passionate about theatre and film. When asked if this had influenced his oratorical skills, he noted: “I was not a good actor at all. I can’t play a role. I did only once for a Christmas play [in Grade 6 at his Catholic school]. The nuns had me play Saint Joseph, the husband of the Virgin Mary, which is the most awful role for a man to play—the husband of a virgin!” The awards gala was hosted by Maclean’s columnist Paul Wells and Le Devoir columnist and L’actualité magazine contributor Manon Cornellier. Speaker Peter Milliken did the toast. Bob Rae won for best orator but could not attend—in his place he sent Toronto Grit MP Kirsty Duncan to fetch his award. (In 2007, when Michael Ignatieff won for best orator, he sent Ruby Dhalla on his behalf.) Toronto Liberal MP Rob Oliphant, who voted for Rae as best orator, said the reason Rae beat Ignatieff this year was that as leader “Michael doesn’t have as much time in the House. Bob gets more floor time.” Ontario NDP MP Joe Comartin won, for the second year in a row, the award for most knowledgeable MP. He said he can now place the extremely heavy awards in his Windsor, Ont., office because he just replaced his flimsy desk with a more solid one. For the third year in a row Nova Scotia NDP Peter Stoffer won most collegial. In second place was Liberal whip Rodger Cuzner, who noted: “I guess I’ve got to drink a little more [to beat Stoffer].” Cuzner said he wasn’t surprised that fellow Grit Paul Szabo once again won for hardest-working MP. Szabo sends new MPs a three-page letter filled with things they need to watch out for. “He wants to see everyone succeed,” says Cuzner. Halifax NDP MP Megan One of the highlights for her was seeing Garneau at the Canada Aviation Museum. “I really wanted to get my picture taken with him but I was too shy,” recalls Leslie. “So I took a picture of him by himself and it’s in my photo album still.” Twenty years later at the awards gala, Capital Diary snapped the first picture of Leslie and Garneau together. The NDP continued to dominate the awards for the third year, which had leader Jack Layton beaming all night. He noted the most knowledgeable MP, Joe Comartin, is his party’s justice critic and that the best rookie MP is their deputy justice critic. Layton also had kind words for the winner of best overall MP, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney: “He’s always a guy you can approach. I’ve always had a good relationship with Jason. He’s straight up. What you see is what you get.”

Another chip off the old Bloc

The Bloc’s Paul Crête also did well in Maclean’s Parliamentarians of the Year poll. He placed third for most collegial MP and fourth for hardest-working. Crête has been an MP for nearly 16 years and was part of the wave of separatists elected when the party ran in its first federal election in 1993. It was a well-timed tribute to the MP, who will be leaving federal politics to run for the Parti Québécois, in a yet-to-be-announced Quebec by-election in the riding now vacant thanks to the resignation of ADQ leader Mario Dumont.

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Mitchel Raphael on a hill feeding frenzy

By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, May 21, 2009 at 12:20 PM - 1 Comment

Those people on the Hill sure like free food

The Canadian Pork Council held a BBQ on the Hill (free pulled pork sandwiches!) to publicize the safety of their product in the midst of swine flu panic. It was the longest lineup Capital Diary had ever seen for a Hill reception. The final 30 people did not even get meat—some of them grabbed buns to soak up the leftover liquid in the serving pan. New Democrat Peter Stoffer was one of the few MPs who waited his turn in the endless line, even when organizers tried to pull him to the front for preferential treatment. The line went slower when cabinet ministers like Gerry Ritz (Agriculture) and Jean-Pierre Blackburn (National Revenue) took over from staff to do the serving. Everyone from Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq to Grit Leader Michael Ignatieff was chomping down. Conservative MP Shelly Glover noted she loves ham. “My kids live off of it,” says the mother of five, who was elected in the last election. (She is on leave from the Winnipeg Police Service, where she used to investigate crack houses and went undercover as a sex-trade worker.) Quipped deputy Speaker Andrew Scheer at the BBQ: “This is the good kind of pork on Parliament Hill.”

Who knew Justin had a tattoo?

Last year, Nova Scotia Grit Mike Savage was the lone MP to take up the Canadian Paraplegic Association’s challenge to spend a day in a wheelchair. This year, several politicians participated, including Conservative MP Dona Cadman and senators such as Olympic skiing gold medallist Nancy Greene Raine. They experienced first-hand the challenges of being in a wheelchair—travelling over carpets or hitting inaccessible committee rooms on the Hill. The day ended with wheelchair races. When Justin Trudeau took on his Toronto Liberal colleague Martha Hall Findlay, he suggested she remove her jacket. When she did and it was revealed she was sleeveless underneath, Trudeau, who was already without a jacket and tie, stripped down to his sleeveless undershirt. (A few people were surprised to see a small tattoo of the earth on his upper left arm.) He won for fastest male MP, but beat Hall Findlay only by a slim margin. It should be noted, however, that Hall Findlay had a “wardrobe malfunction.” Her bra straps slipped off her shoulders and she had to pause to push them back up.

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MPs take on pages in gruelling soccer match

By Mitchel Raphael - Wednesday, May 20, 2009 at 9:15 AM - 3 Comments

The House of Commons pages once again took on MPs at their annual soccer match. The MPs were triumphant, winning 5 to 4.

Former Liberal leader Stéphane Dion.

Liberal MP Alexandra Mendes was the MPs’ cheerleader.

Toronto Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay. She scored 2 of the 5 goals including the winning one.

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Justin Trudeau and Martha Hall Findlay go sleeveless

By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, May 14, 2009 at 9:00 AM - 13 Comments

Last year Nova Scotia Liberal Mike Savage was the lone MP who took up the Canadian Paraplegic Association’s challenge to spend a day in a wheelchair. This year there were several politicians. The day ended with timed wheelchair races.

Justin Trudeau sees Martha Hall Findlay going sleeveless. So he goes sleeveless too.

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Politics and the Pen plus the Cabinet Ministers hairdresser

By Mitchel Raphael - Thursday, March 12, 2009 at 9:31 PM - 50 Comments

The Writers’ Trust of Canada handed out their annual $25,000 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize honouring political writing excellence to James Orbinski for An Imperfect Offering: Humanitarian Action in the Twenty-first Century at the annual Politics and the Pen gala dinner in the Fairmont Château Laurier ballroom. Politics and the Pen is one of Ottawa’s A-list events and brings out top politicians, including Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt and Transport Minister John Baird.

A full press! Adam Chambers, aide to Jim Flaherty, with Lynn Meahan (left), press secretary to Labour Minister Rona Ambrose, and Jasmine MacDonnell, press secretary to Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt.

Laureen Harper with former Conservative MP Monte Solberg and designer Justina McCaffrey.

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Ottawa food bank anniversary and a plate of nachos

By Mitchel Raphael - Monday, February 16, 2009 at 1:17 PM - 9 Comments

The Ottawa Food Bank had a reception on the Hill marking its 25th anniversary. In 1984, Gerard Kennedy, now a Toronto Liberal MP, was executive director of the food bank in Edmonton. He came to Ottawa to help them set up their food bank.

Tim Powers of Summa Strategies, who helped organize the event,  gets some Liberal love.

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The Commons: Stephen Harper requests your patience

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 6:02 PM - 21 Comments

The Scene. Michael Ignatieff and Stephen Harper were debating the state of the aerospace industry. Suffice it to say, the Liberal leader feels the Prime Minister isn’t doing enough, while the Prime Minister feels the Liberal leader is being silly.

Offering his second reply en francais, the Prime Minister switched in mid-answer to English. A witty retort seemed imminent.

“The Leader of the Opposition cannot support an economic plan earlier in the week and two days later say it is not working yet,” Mr. Harper argued. “That does not really have a lot of credibility.”

Ignatieff smiled.

“Mr. Speaker,” the Liberal replied, “I cannot help it if I am an impatient man.”

The Conservatives laughed and cheered.

“In terms of the leader of the opposition’s patience, he demonstrated a lot of patience in his long, 36 year return to Canada,” the Prime Minister mused at his next opportunity. “I would urge him to show that kind of patience in the future.”

The Conservatives laughed and cheered.

Lost, for the moment, was the brainteaser Ignatieff had snuck in between the chuckles.

“Mr. Speaker,” he said, “can the Prime Minister assure us that his infrastructure spending will benefit all Canadians, no matter where they live or who they vote for?” Continue…

MPs in kilts

By Mitchel Raphael - Monday, February 2, 2009 at 1:25 AM - 16 Comments

On the evening of the Throne Speech, Speaker Peter Milliken held his annual Robbie Burns dinner.

Former NDP MP Bill Blaikie came back to Ottawa to address the haggis.

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Your Team Iggy starting line-up

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, January 22, 2009 at 5:23 PM - 43 Comments

Posted without comment for the moment. Some attempt at analysis to follow after some consideration now offered below.

Intergovernmental Affairs Michael Ignatieff
House Leader Ralph Goodale
Deputy House Leader Marlene Jennings
Whip Rodger Cuzner
Deputy Whip Marcel Proulx 
Finance John McCallum
Foreign Affairs Bob Rae
Defence Denis Coderre
Environment & Energy David McGuinty
Health Carolyn Bennett
Industry, Science & Technology Marc Garneau
Public Safety & National Security Mark Holland
Natural Resources Geoff Regan
Justice and Attorney-General Dominic LeBlanc
International Trade Scott Brison
Public Works and Government Services Martha Hall Findlay Continue…

What we're talking about when we talk about Omar Khadr

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, January 22, 2009 at 1:26 AM - 71 Comments

CBC had a panel of MPs discussing Omar Khadr this afternoon. For the Conservatives, it was Pierre Lemieux, who quite successfully repeated his lines about “serious crimes” and the “process.” Martha Hall Findlay, from the Liberals, proceeded to smack him about until Lemieux noticed that Hall Findlay didn’t have an answer to the question of what to do with Khadr were he returned. The end result was probably a messy draw, though admittedly I zoned out in the cross-talk.

Anyway. Debate is fun, but information is generally important. Here is the U.S. Defence Department’s database for the military commission that was, until yesterday, hearing Khadr’s case. Here is the hub of Toronto Star’s coverage, built around the work of Michelle Shephard (whose book on Khadr is required reading in this regard). As well, Wikipedia’s Khadr page seems fairly thorough. (Wikipedia’s pages on Bagram and Guantanamo might also be helpful.)

Political language is sometimes destructive numbing, but perhaps no more so than when the story is as gruesome and complicated as this one. “Process,” for instance. It’s variously a term of biology, law, mathematics and science. It’s aseptic. It implies a sort of natural unimpeachability.

Take that word and keeping it in mind, read through the affidavit filed by Omar Khadr—the allegations contained therein unproven by due process as they are. A few excerpts. Continue…

A very Liberal Christmas

By Mitchel Raphael - Sunday, December 21, 2008 at 3:39 PM - 14 Comments

The Liberals held their Christmas party at the Crown Plaza in Ottawa. Before the bash, Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla showed off the poster for www.yourvoices.ca , a grassroots campaign aimed at attracting new voices and ideas to the Liberal Party.

An after party followed at the hip club Diesel. Here is Newfoundland MP Scott Simms with Toronto MP Martha Hall Findlay.

Montreal MP Justin Trudeau with Krista Balsam, aide to Newfoundland MP Judy Foote.

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Fantasy government

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, December 1, 2008 at 2:25 AM - 37 Comments

Latest reports put a coalition cabinet at 24 members—18 Liberal, 6 NDP.

Consider this a rough draft (uninformed by any inside information and based only on personal speculation). Continue…

BTC: The opinion too hot for Megapundit

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, November 3, 2008 at 5:22 PM - 12 Comments

“If Canadians only could vote in tomorrow’s U.S. election, Barack Obama might take upward of 90 per cent of the vote. Yet if Obama were a Canadian and running for office in this country, voters might well put the boots to him for being so damn full of himself.”
—Roy MacGregor, today

BTC: Local v. national

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, September 2, 2008 at 12:34 PM - 0 Comments

Back during one of those heady days of mid-August when the ethics committee was sitting and Paul Szabo was slowly losing what remains of his hair, Conservative backbencher Pierre Lemieux came up with a remarkable little claim to his own irrelevance.

“It’s well known amongst all our colleagues, even on the other side, that the national campaign has a tremendous impact on the local campaign,” he told one witness. “There are very few candidates who win the election in their riding based on their own efforts.”

This might seem a rather cynical take on the political process here, but is it necessarily true? Continue…