An unnamed source has provided me with some details into what immediately triggered the media's interest in the Maxime Bernier story. 

It is very strange.  It's like the cue to start the attack came during a media scrum.

The story behind the story of Maxime Bernier's former girlfriend is a lot more interesting (though perhaps less salacious) than the story itself, that being demands from the opposition that Bernier resign over the fact that his former girlfriend was once married to a notorious Quebec biker.

Apparently, the media did not break this story.  The media had known about it for some time, but realized there was nothing to it, since Julie Couillard had long since been cleared of any suspicion regarding the criminal activities of her former husband.  So why did the story break?  Because the opposition Liberals and Bloc Quebecois pushed it and pushed it hard.

Of course, you'd never know it, based on their surprised expression over the "revelations".

And yet, there are hints that people know what is going on.

In what has been and under-reported element to the Maxime Bernier story, we learn that the controversy over Maxime Bernier's girlfriend, Julie Couillard, was of no interest whatsoever to the press.  The opposition lobbied to have the story published by a unimpressed media corps.

With the launch of the Liberal Party's Victory Fund, the Liberals hope to re-energize their fundraising ahead of the next election.

In that election, the Liberals will be running 307 candidates, taking a pass on the riding of Central Nova.  Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion and Green Party leader Elizabeth May entered into a pact.  The Liberals would not run a candidate in Central Nova (where May is running) and in return, the Green Party would not run a candidate in Saint-Laurent--Cartierville (where Dion is running).

So why would the Victory Fund, which aims at raising funds to defeat the Conservatives in the next election, explicitly raise funds for the Liberals in Central Nova?

For months now, the Liberal have been saying that they are ready to fight an election.  Lack of funds?  Not a problem, they said.  The party could spend up to the limit.  Just say go!

Well, apparently it is a problem, after all.

Elizabeth Thompson has written a piece on her blog that puts the CAIRS database question into perspective.

Despite the moaning from the opposition, shutting down the CAIRS database is not about secrecy.  CAIR was never about openness.  It was always about making it easier for the government to limit access to information.

Is this another reason why Stephane Dion is not eager to fight an election?

Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion is about to make a decision that is going to infuriate Liberals everywhere.

In Canada, the age of consent is set to rise from 14 to 16.  This is good news, but not all predators have sex with their victims.

I've installed a new gadget for my BlackBerry.  It's called Viigo.