Prime Time Crime
Canadian Politics Life in a Banana republic
OTTAWA - The federal government pushed through legislation adding 30 MPs to Parliament Hill, increasing the number of MPs to 338 from 308 and bringing with them millions of dollars in costs to taxpayers. (PostMedia) MORE: Bill C-20 Parliamentary potty-mouths Motion to make Parliament committees debate private
EDMONTON - MP Peter Goldring is now sitting as an independent, after he was pulled over at 95 St and 153 Ave at about 12:30am on Sunday, Dec 4, by an EPS roving patrol as part of the Check Stop program. (CTV) MORE: Breathalyzer refusal Peter Goldring
OTTAWA - Political pressure and bureaucratic haste are behind a litany of financial management problems at the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor). (CBC) MORE: Yukon Energy Corp gets cash from CanNor YDC
OTTAWA - A second Conservative MP has gotten his wrists slapped by Elections Canada for violating Canada’s elections law. (iPolitics) Kevin Sorenson Peter Van Loan
OTTAWA - The federal ethics watchdog has found former Ontario MP Helena Guergis broke conflict-of-interest rules. (CP) Helena Guergis Mary Dawson
OTTAWA - Deputy Auditor General John Wiersema will take over from outgoing Auditor General Sheila Fraser until a full-time replacement has been found. (Toronto Star) PREVIOUS: Her greatest hits Blunt warnings Farewell Warning over watchdog's independence Coming challenges Party leaders wield too much power Sheila Fraser John Wiersema
Unionist threatened politician
VANCOUVER - A researcher with the United Steelworkers of America has been charged over alleged threats against New Democrat MLA Jenny Kwan and her family that include tossing dog feces on the roof of her home. (CBC) MORE: Union activist charged with threatening MLA
OTTAWA - More than 12,000 current and former federal intelligence officials must take the secrets of their most sensitive work to the grave, newly obtained records show. (CP)
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - It could be argued Joe Handley's greatest obstacle to winning the Western Arctic seat is the troubled Deh Cho Bridge project. (Northern News Services) PREVIOUS: AG to look at bridge project Atcon admitted bridge delays before $50M bailout
An investigation found the Lac La Biche-St Paul riding received money from 11 corporations barred by the provincial Election Finances Act from making political donations. (CBC)
When it comes to advertising, Canadians put a premium on truth, not "truthiness," according to a new poll. But most say they're not getting that, at least when it comes to political ads. (PostMedia) COMMENT: Demise of democracy
OTTAWA - Canadians who don’t vote actually believe in democracy - they just don’t believe politics or politicians are very democratic, according to a new study of voter apathy in Canada. (Toronto Star)
MORE: The Real outsiders Samara Left out of the political process
OTTAWA - The Harper government is setting a deadline of Jan. 1, 2012 for all government departments to start regular online disclosures of what they’ve released under access-to-information laws. (Globe & Mail) MORE: Access to information requests
OTTAWA - A federal agency that's supposed to safeguard transparency and openness in government hiring practices cooked four of its own employment contracts to make sure favoured workers got hired. (CP)
Staffer leaked report to impress
OTTAWA - A former junior staffer in a Conservative MP's office apologized for releasing a confidential finance committee report and admitted he did so to impress friends - friends whom he may have asked for a job. (QMI) PREVIOUS: Aide applied to work at lobbying firms
OTTAWA - In a previous career as a banker, a Tory MP from BC approved a transfer of funds on behalf of a Canadian taxpayer to an account in Switzerland, an account the taxpayer ultimately set up to help evade taxes. (CBC) MORE: MP's former employer targeted by CRA Andrew Saxton
Is it any accident that politicians see the voters as one big crowd of hungry consumers, and that citizens think politicians see them simply as wallets? (Toronto Star) MORE: Cynical democracy Psychopathy Snakes in Suits Propaganda placards Reminder of Ottawa spending Tories stimulus signage Action Plan
YELLOWKNIFE - The Northwest Territories government has a study on whether some small communities could end up using natural gas instead of diesel for power and heat - if the Mackenzie Valley pipeline goes ahead - but it's keeping that study under wraps. (CBC)
OTTAWA - Privy Council officials have ended months of stonewalling and handed over documents requested by the federal information watchdog only after Information Commissioner Robert Marleau threatened to have his staff enter the Privy Council offices and seize the paperwork themselves. (Toronto Star) PREVIOUS: Information commissioner resigns
VICTORIA - That seems to be the position that BC municipalities and staff in the provincial Community Development Ministry take regarding the Local Government Act and its provisions dealing with groups that either act like civic parties or try to influence elections by endorsing and advertising on behalf of candidates. (Vancouver Sun) Ending the Gong show
OTTAWA - The RCMP has decided not to investigate allegations the Harper government misappropriated funds to lavish on a cabinet minister’s riding prior to last year’s G8 summit. (CP)
NDP accuses Clement of doctoring
Clement denies doctoring Hansard
NDP calls for probe of spending
The Government of the Northwest Territories has received an F grade for the second year in a row for the amount of red tape business needs to overcome to do business in the territory. (CBC)
Red Tape report card .pdf
'Constitutional responsibilities'
OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper says his contentious anti-crime measures aren’t “terribly expensive” and provinces such as Ontario and Quebec that complain about having to foot the bill for the added costs to their prison systems should accept their “constitutional responsibilities” to help keep streets safe. (PostMedia)
Mandatory minimum to help courts
Justice bill makes prisons deadlier
Largest expansion since the 1930's
OTTAWA - Canadian taxpayers will pay an estimated $14.8M per year to accommodate 30 new MPs to be added to the House of Commons in 2015. (PostMedia)
Party funding just the top of iceberg
Canadian federal election 2011
Calculations for MPs .pdf
PARLIAMENT HILL - The government and the opposition parties are facing criticism for a snap unanimous motion they passed on June 3 that means $250.8B in government spending estimates for the next year will not be scrutinized as Parliamentary rules normally require by the 24 House committees. (Hill Times)
Chapter 1—Financial Management
Council doesn't understand rules
OTTAWA - The federal lobbying commissioner has completed a potentially explosive report of her eight-month investigation into the activities of Bruce Carson, a former top adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. (PostMedia)
Files not closed on Carson case
Carson's ties to money launderer
Background: Bruce Carson affair
Appointment system takes a hit
Network finds its way into posts
Call for openness in appointments
OTTAWA - For the second year running, a report card on free expression has given Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government a failing grade for access to information. (CP)
Each more powerful than the last
OTTAWA - The Supreme Court of Canada says that Ottawa illegally collected employment insurance contributions for 3 years under the former Liberal government (CTV)
Government had right to surplus
Envelopes with cash violate ethics rules
OTTAWA - Justice Jeffrey Oliphant has found former prime minister Brian Mulroney breached federal ethics guidelines in his once-secret business dealings with German-Canadian lobbyist Karlheinz Schreiber. (CanWest)
Nothing ‘sinister’ cash envelopes
Why did Mulroney take the cash?
OTTAWA - Some of Canada’s most-respected public policy experts say it is time to rein in the hundreds of assistants to cabinet ministers who roam Parliament Hill with no training and no accountability to anyone but their political bosses. In late 2008, there were more than 600 ministerial aides working for the Prime Minister’s Office, ministers and secretaries of state. (Ottawa Citizen)
Cabinet ministers regularly interfere
29% believe government is 'open
Lobbyists mount full court press
Lifting the shroud on lobbying
Backlash against the know-it-alls
Political staff aren't running amok
McGuinty refuses to close loophole
Only a third politically involved
One in three Canadians is politically involved outside the voting booth, according to a Statistics Canada report released Tuesday that indicates education level and parental example are among the biggest influences on such behaviour. (CanWest)
OTTAWA - Canada’s only elected, sitting senator Bert Brown spent $331,000 on travel and other expenses in the last fiscal year, more than any of his colleagues in the Red Chamber, government documents show. (PostMedia)
Tories introduce Senate reform bill
Almost half of MPs are moonlighting
5 more Senate winners appointed
Parliament makes Canada unstable
Political subsidy system obnoxious
OTTAWA - The vast majority of the nearly 370,000 contracts the government issued in 2008 were less than $25,000 and 60% of them were given to preferred suppliers without any competition. (Ottawa Citizen)
MacKay defends $9B jet purchase
Take the cloak off MPs' expenses
OTTAWA - Members of Parliament budgeted themselves nearly $128M last year, courtesy of the taxpayer, to run their offices and keep in touch with constituents. That's the big picture. But when it comes to the details, we're in the dark. Even the auditor general isn't allowed to probe Canadian MPs' expenses without first getting their approval. (Toronto Star)
OTTAWA - Wajid Khan, a former Liberal who crossed the floor to the Conservatives earlier this year, was charged with exceeding his campaign expense limit by $30,000 under the Elections Canada Act, according to Dan Brien, spokesman for the Public Prosecution Service of Canada. (CanWest) MORE: Khan 'stepping aside' from party caucus
OTTAWA - Canada's Parliamentary Budget Officer is warning the federal and provincial governments are on shaky financial ground over the long term and will need to either increase taxes or chop spending. (PostMedia) MORE: Find $46B Fiscal sustainability report 2011 .pdf Watchdog’s guesses wrong Expenditure monitor: 2011-12 Q1 .pdf Kevin Page
Chuck Cadman's former financial advisor says the late Independent MP was in good financial shape and would not have been tempted by a $1M life insurance policy allegedly offered by the Conservative Party in exchange for a vote. (Ottawa Citizen)
Harper says he authorized an offer to Cadman
Judge orders analysis of Cadman tape
Crucial date pulled from Cadman book
TORONTO - Ontario will not be shut out from receiving equalization payments next year, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty confirmed Monday prior to meeting with his provincial counterparts. (CTV)
Ontario qualifies for equalization payments
Ontario expecting little help from feds
Fiscal year ending March 31, 2008
Boom puts have-not provinces on top
Politics and morals, ends and means
Premiers eye Alberta's massive surplus
Ontario releases 2006 public sector salaries
Ontario public sector salary disclosure 2007
Hamilton: Who made what in 2006
Ontario MPPs get 2% raise on top of 25%
Where does the shoe pinch most in Canada
Canada bleeding competitive edge away
Public Accounts of Canada for 2006
Feds losing millions to theft, fraud
Satire: The Social Insurance Credit Card
Canadian consumer Tax Index: 2007
Housing affordability weakening in Canada
Federalism really is dysfunctional
Report claims equalization's illegal
Questioning the legality of Equalization
Equalization consensus remains elusive
McGuinty blasted for nixing equalizations
OTTAWA - The House of Commons passed on Friday the Conservatives’ much-touted Federal Accountability Act. The Tories promised during the last election to bring ethics and accountability to Ottawa, and the bill was the first piece of legislation introduced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. (CanWest)
2006 Report of the Auditor General of Canada
AG touts strong leaders over whistleblower law
Too much spending at control of Cabinet, PMO
Liberals dispute columnist's claim that Sikh and Muslim MPs conspired to weaken Act
National security vs. Liberal ethno politics
Accountability bill full of new places to hide
Info czar slams Harper on access
Exemptions from Accountability Act
Watchdog criticizes proposed appointments
The Whistleblowers Bill and FAIR
Tories start draining the subsidy swamp
Tories want to create 'integrity commissioner'
A loophole opens door to big-money
Lobbyists against Federal Accountability Act
Tories' untendered contract draws fire
Liberal cleanup had little effect
Federal Accountability Act and Action Plan
Canada's money trees: 93% of forest owned by governments
Greasing the skids of entitlement culture
CALGARY - The RCMP is investigating Liberal Senator Mac Harb for criminal breach of trust. (Globe & Mail)
Appointed senate delays final vote
Politics more important than product safety
Senate guts product safety bill
Senator's conduct to be reviewed over legal bill
Harper's senators and MLAs' lost minds
Senate lottery winners appointed
Ontario to get 21 more seats in Parliament
Harper anoints ‘elected’ senator
Senator faces criminal charges
Senate Liberals accused of delaying ethics bill
Tory baby steps in Senate reform
Tories introduce bills on Senate
Bill C-16: act to amend the Canada Elections
Start Senate overhaul by autumn
Senators keen to get on TV despite jokes
Senate subcommittee on population health
$4M to send bureaucrats on field trips
Liberal senator wins 'Teddy' award
PM demands Senate reform, 'not a report'
Harper lays out his vision for the Senate
GG designate denies separatist list
The democratic deficit marches on
Senators grill colleagues over Dubai trip
Senate committee OKs luxury hotel stay
Appointed Senators in spin control
Document senators warned against trip
Senators blasted for expensive Dubai junket
Conservatives pull plug on Unity Council
OTTAWA - The Harper government is scrapping funding for the Canadian Unity Council, effectively shutting down the Montreal-based agency founded to promote federalism. (Montreal Gazette)
New book investigates shadowy federalist group; Pettigrew named
Liberals under fire; aide's role questioned
Secret to 1995 federal grant lay by dumpster
Shadowy group sought $10M from feds
Edmonton city hall grabs tax refunds
Cut to GST will be only gas taxes relief
Judges, lawyers happy with status quo
Key Liberal slams Martin government
Firearms Centre pays for report that has nothing to do with registry
Charest government on defensive over debt
Political system faces 'meltdown'
Liberals reward: "Relocation Services"?
Hill is alive with the sound of lobbyists
Liberals spent $5B on wrong aircraft
Feds struggle to keep income tax cuts
Three decades later, government still flawed
Time to hold government accountable
Pay hike for gov't officials more
Minister has 'zero' accountability
Opposition to Gomery's proposals
RCMP demotes officer over political bid
Volpe bills taxpayers $7,000 for 31 meals
Why Toronto is Liberal bedrock
Trust in governments, corporations and global institutions continues to decline
MONTREAL - A Quebec court has ruled in favour of former Via Rail chair Jean Pelletier in his wrongful dismissal suit and ordered Ottawa and the Crown corporation to pay more than $335,000 for lost salary and damage to his reputation. (CBC)
Court orders feds, VIA to pay Pelletier
Failed Liberal candidate given federal job
Pelletier files legal motion to block VIA firing
304 top political aides eased into PS jobs
Grits go on patronage spree ahead of election
Liberals accused of campaign payroll grab
David Smith lies to the Ethics Commissioner
Union drops plan to pay candidates
EDMONTON - Election turnout was an 41.3%, another record low for the bustling province - and a Canadian worst. (Edmonton Journal)
Former MLAs entitled to millions in benefits
An alternative to 'first-past-the-post
Cabinet will set reform question
Ontario to vote on voter reform
Voters to decide how to pick MPPs
Appointment threatens WorkSafeNB
Voting reform would cost extra millions
Reform's on the ballot: now if only they cared
Why electoral reform won't work
Panel picks radical voting changes for Ontario