Monthly Archive: April 2008

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.

Until now, the debate on the significance over the apparent decision not to follow its own internal rules governing investigations and search warrants with regards to the Conservative Party In-and-Out issue has been limited to the blogosphere.  That changed yesterday when Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre raised the issue in the House of Commons.

I just discovered that I was scooped by just over a week on the question of whether the investigators who pursued a search warrant targeting Conservative Party headquarters had followed the rules in their own manual.

Glen McGregor of the Canwest News Service mentioned it briefly in a story printed on April 15.

Maybe there is a subtlety to the economic principles involved that I'm not getting.  But according to Stephane Dion, if I force a Canadian farmer to pay more in taxes, he'll be selling more produce than a foreign farmer who pays none of those taxes.

Ralph Goodale provides a view into Stephane Dion's to-do list:

• Bake sale for leadership debts
• Threaten to invade Pakistan to look like tough leader done that
• Get smaller dog hamster to replace Kyoto to reduce pet-related greenhouse gas emissions
• Make a decision this year

Let's look at that last one.

Having re-enabled trackbacks, I've had more than a few people asking me just what a trackback is.

This post will provide some explanation, some guidelines on how to use trackbacks on this site, and a procedure for performing a trackback regardless of the software you use for web authoring (blogging or otherwise).

It's been a long time, but I've put trackbacks back onto the blog.  Thanks to Jason Cherniak for prompting me to finally get off my butt and get this task done.

With the range of contentious issues facing the work of Elections Canada, from allegations of differing standards for party filings to the draconian rules about publication of polling results to the free-speech limiting interpretation of advertising rules, I thought it might be interesting to see what election observers from other countries think about Elections Canada.

Judging from a report from a branch of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe called the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the attitude seems to be that Elections Canada is doing fine, but there ought to be some rules that need to be changed.  Rules to protect the rights of prisoners to vote, to allow foreigners to become involved in Canadian elections, and such -- but when it comes to restrictions on the free speech of Canadians, well, the less said the better.  Perhaps literally.

In general, the ODIHR is more concerned that Elections Canada doesn't have enough power, and that the ODIHR does not have enough access to provide oversight of Canadian elections.

One of the more difficult things for many Canadians to accept is the notion that Elections Canada had singled out the Conservative Party for special treatment.  Let's be honest -- it does sound a bit paranoid.

The actual explanation is really very simple.  Ridiculously simple.  But unfortunately, it does not dispel the conspiracy theory entirely.

I try to eliminate some of the fog based on the speculation by asking some very simple questions.

Elections Canada investigators have a process by which they attempt to get documentation from people they suspect as having broken the law regarding elections.  Reviewing the warrant, I don't see any evidence that the process was followed with regards to officials at Conservative Party headquarters.  I wonder if that explains why officials drove all the way to Toronto to have a judge who specializes in commercial litigation sign a warrant dealing with electoral law.

What's wrong?  No specialists in electoral law sitting on the bench in Ottawa?

Maybe that's want they wanted to avoid.

Helpfully, there is a manual that explains just how an Elections Canada investigator is supposed to do his job, including the level of non-cooperation that has to be reached before a search warrant is justified.

Elizabeth Thompson points out something interesting.  Elections Canada officials drove from Ottawa to Toronto to have a judge in Toronto sign the warrant that subjected the Conservative Party headquarters to a search.

I'm not sure what it means, or if it means anything at all.

A list of the major event moments in the In-and-Out story.  What's so remarkable is just how short the list is.

You always hope to have a good MP.  But when you think about it, a good MP generally has a low profile.  As a member of a federal party, big decisions are made at the cabinet level.  Issues being voted on affect the country as a whole.  Most truly local issues are properly handled by a municipal representative or perhaps a provincial MLA.

That is not to say an MP doesn't have an important role to play.  For all the money spent on polls, for example, a party would do well to listen to MPs about the feeling on the ground.  And a good MP ought to always be plugged in to his riding and the issues that people are concerned about.

When all is said and done, an election is still won riding by riding.

And a great MP, well, can do a lot for a riding.  Especially one who is well versed in politics.

I say this by way of introduction to an interesting post by Gloria Kovach, who is hoping to win in the riding of Guelph, next door to where I am in Cambridge.  No by-election has been called yet, but perhaps one ought to be called soon, because it seems like Guelph has not been well served by the former Liberal MP.

Stephane Dion is clear on this. He cannot support the proposed changes to the immigration law.

Unfortunately that says absolutely nothing about an election.

Unexpectedly, the question about Andre Thouin's exact job is turning out to be more interesting that I expected it would be.

A minor detail, but you know Andre Thouin?   He's the Elections Canada official photographed carrying out that box of material from Conservative Party headquarters.  Here's the thing.  I can't find him in the staff list.

That picture of Andre Thouin of Elections Canada carrying out papers from the headquarters of the Conservative Party is quite striking.  But can it ever find its way into Liberal Party election material?

I doubt it.

...the someone could be in a lot of trouble.

Do other parties engage in the same sort of funding practices as the Conservatives?  You look at the evidence and decide for yourself.

What exactly was the role of the RCMP officers who participated in yesterday's visit to Conservative Party headquarters?  Did the Mounties know what role they were to play, and who was setting the stage?

Big news from the capital is, of course, the so-called "raid" on Conservative Party headquarters by the RCMP.

OK, call me old school, but it ain't a raid unless someone is rappelling down the side of the building.

But it is interesting even if it isn't much of a raid.

Elections Canada is looking for something.

Evidence?

Payback?

Revenge?

Is Jason Cherniak helping me find out who has a secret crush on me?

I guess Stephane Dion doesn't like a loser.

The funny thing about Jason Kenney's allegedly racist remark is that there is so little context provided for it. The events happened quite a while ago, but after asking for some old articles, I found an interestng story behind this story, one that helps understand better how Jason Kenney came to say what he did.

Drama on the sea, as Canadian law enforcement officers board a ship run by Paul Watson's Sea Shepherd group protesting the annual seal hunt.

Paul Watson, who is safe in New York, is blustering away while his ship is being impounded, claiming exemption from Canadian laws and other such nonsense.

A fool like Watson is normally only good for entertainment value, though that glib attitude belies the trouble he causes for people in coastal communiities in Canada. But politically, Watson is interesting because of his ties to Elizabeth May, the leader of Canada's Green Party, and a candidate for the Nova Scotia riding of Central Nova.

The Canadian Association of Income Trust Investors (CAITI) is one of those organizations that might have started as an independent group with a particular goal (in this case, overturning the decision to tax income trusts), but with the failure to reach that initial (and improbable) goal, has morphed into something different -- in this case, a stooge for the Liberal Party.

To be a stooge apparently requires that the stooge repeat libelous accusations that Stephen Harper committed a criminal act.

Stephane Dion has a new problem.  An Ontario MP, Andrew Telegdi, has vowed to vote against the government on the next budget vote.

So far, the Liberal strategy has been to abstain from these votes in order to avoid an election that would likely be disastrous for the Liberal Party.

Well, certainly disastrous for Stephane Dion.

This frustration level among Liberals has been rising steadily.  Telegdi's plan poses a real threat for Stephane Dion.

What will be different in two weeks?

The rumour is that the Liberals will bring down the Conservative government in time for an early June election.  Usually an election runs six weeks, so that would mean bringing down the government in about two weeks, near the end of April.

Why not now?  Why not two weeks ago?  Nothing suggests a massive shift in Liberal fortunes.

The only reason I can think of is that there has been in a shift in the balance of power in the caucus, and Stephane Dion has been issued new marching orders by the people he ostensibly leads.

Which leads to the question of who the real leader is.  Is it a coincidence that this rumour of a shift to an election fighting mode follows immediately after Bob Rae's by-election win?

Warren Kinsella makes an argument for the upcoming inquiry into the Mulroney-Schreiber affair to be open, saying any "private" investigation would be illegal.  Hey, I'm no lawyer, but his argument seem less compelling under closer examination.

Is Canada going to participate in the Beijing Olympics?  I think that's a forgone conclusion.  Several people have pointed out that my contribution to the debate has not been all that constructive, and they're right.

So if the Canadian government is going to the Olympics, who should go?  I've tried to be constructive, and I think Jason Kenney would be an ideal choice.

Dr David Johnston has recommended that any inquiry into the business relationship between Brian Mulroney and Karlheinz Schreiber be limited in scope and out of the public eye.

This has generated an entirely predictable response from the Liberal Party.

Should we boycott the Beijing Olympcs?  What of the sacrifices, say many.

Yes, what of the sacrifices?

Jason Cherniak has advice for the media.  The use of "anonymous" Liberal sources for dirt on the Liberal Party, and in particular, as sources of criticism aimed at Stephane Dion, makes it difficult to judge the credibility of the criticism.

Well, if you looked carefully, the sources are rarely, if ever, anonymous.

And if you consider this even more carefully, you wonder whether Jason Cherniak might have reasons to name these critics that have nothing to do media credibility.

Here are my thoughts on what Tom Lukiwski could do to atone for his hurtful words.

The absurdity surround yesterday's events seem to be leading to some very serious consequences.

Everyone laughed when the Liberal Party dropped an attempt to block La Presse from publishing a list of names of Liberal Party candidates in Quebec.

Well, not everyone.  The most senior Liberal in the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party was foot-stomping mad.  The target of his anger?  Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion and his hand-picked Quebec lieutenant, Celine Hervieux-Payette.

News that the list leaked to La Presse that suggests that despite Liberal statements to the contrary, that the party is nowhere near ready with a Quebec slate of candidates, has been cleared to be published.

Apparently, the Liberals dropped a legal attempt to block its publication.

Maybe the Liberals realized there was no point in trying anymore.  That the list was leaked in the first place was the most damaging thing of all.

Turns out the list wasn't actually a Liberal leak, and this post has been updated accordingly.

Former prime minister Paul Martin is still a Liberal MP.  You'd be forgiven if you had to look that up on Wikipedia in order to be certain, since he has left no record of his existence in parliamentary records.

Of all the MPs in parliament, Paul Martin has not voted once.  Not even on votes that the Liberals did support.

But his response is what bothers me more.

Environmentalists ought to be pickier.  They ought to be more careful about who they call their friends.

Bragging about how Stephane Dion signed a petition makes these particular environmentalists look pathetic.

Today, on April 1, I would like to unveil an idea that will save the Earth.