"From tragic to ridiculous in Mumbai."
Distinctly uncomfortable looking video here which gives a great sense of the room.
The not so large audience included a bevy of Conservative fans...I see Stockwell & his wife (with camera in hand), Deepak Obhrai, Patrick Brown, Nina Grewal...
And the answer is...no, thankfully he didn't dance. Metaphorically, yes, but literally, no.
Praise is being heard today for the former Liberal government who led the world in establishing a landmark treaty to rid the world of landmines: "Canadian landmine initiative saved thousands of lives: report."
The Canadian-led treaty to rid the world of landmines has saved thousands of lives and significantly reduced production and use of the devastating, anti-personnel weapons, according to a new international report.
The Ottawa Treaty, which was implemented 10 years ago, made the use and production of landmines illegal in 156 countries that ratified the accord.
According to the 10-year review in Landmines Monitor, unexploded weapons have been cleared from at least 3,200 square kilometres of land in more than 90 countries.
In the past decade, 2.2 million landmines have been removed, along with 250,000 anti-vehicle mines and 17 million explosive remnants of war shells.
The international Mine Ban Treaty, signed in Ottawa in December 1997 and enacted as international law in March 1999, is seen internationally as one of Canada’s most significant diplomatic accomplishments.And you know what's coming next, don't you? The Conservative government has essentially walked away from such disarmament efforts. There was a next stage to the landmine treaty, a global consensus on the need to institute a similar follow-up process on cluster munitions. Yet Canada was no longer interested and Norway and Ireland took the lead. To the rest of the world, that sees a Canada that would formerly have been there to enthusiastically participate in such efforts, Canada's new role in turning its back on such diplomatic achievements is baffling. Why would you walk away from such an international legacy?
Paul Hannon, executive director of the Ottawa-based Mines Action Canada, said the study confirms “the wisdom of Canada leading the world to ban landmines.”Congratulations Canada for this historic ongoing achievement on the international stage - that the Conservatives want nothing to do with.
“This report documents clearly the progress that has been made and shows we continue to get closer to a world free of anti-personnel landmines” he said.
Are you enjoying "Poli-wood 2009?" That's what we're dubbing it around here.
For the next few days in India, catch one middle-aged Conservative leader's belated political trip, four years into his mandate(s), made at that crucial juncture between minority and majority government cuspage, just to woo the Indian voters back home in Ruby Dhalla's riding.
Get ready for the carefully scripted political itinerary, chosen by the chess master himself as he attempts to mine all the possible political gold that can possibly be squeezed in during a three day trip to India. See an Olympic torch ceremony today with one of India's biggest Bollywood stars, Akshay Kumar! Get ready for the television dance show visit and much more! Nothing is off limits during Poli-wood 2009!
But will he dance? This is the big question...
The decision to go with an adjuvanted vaccine is a choice that keeps causing problems: "Hundreds of flu vaccine doses thrown out."
Most flu vaccines can last up to a month after being injected, but Arepanrix, the H1N1 vaccine, is more difficult to manage. The vaccine is delivered as two components, known as antigen and adjuvant, which are mixed on-site, then injected. Each dose contains enough for 10 patients and must be used within 24 hours after being mixed.This mixing is causing waste, multiple times over all over the country. The short shelf-life is a factor. Note, there are no such problems with the unadjuvanted vaccine, the use of which we are now seeing expanded:
Because the adjuvant is what gives the vaccine such a short shelf life, the unadjuvanted vaccine, for pregnant women, does not have the same expiry timeline.Tell us again why we just didn't go with that one in the first place?
Losing doses is just one hiccup in a rollout of the H1N1 vaccine that has been fraught with problems from the beginning. First, the H1N1 virus proved difficult to grow in eggs, meaning it took more time to harvest antigen. As well, a decision was made to finish manufacturing seasonal flu vaccine before moving on to the production of H1N1 vaccine, which delayed it by about two weeks. [Blog ed. note: some say this choice delayed the H1N1 vaccine by 6 weeks, not two.]I am highlighting the "chronic shortage of nurses" because the federal government has chosen not to provide funding for the front line distribution of the vaccines, despite the obvious logistical problems and need.
The fact that Canada's vaccine was produced in a single plant also meant that getting vaccine into vials took more time.
Then came the decision to produce unadjuvanted vaccine for pregnant women, which meant that production of adjuvanted vaccine was shut down briefly.
Time was also not on officials' side: With H1N1, flu season arrived early and that meant provinces and territories were not quite ready to vaccinate when the second wave of the flu arrived. The chronic shortage of nurses meant that there were limits on how many vaccines could be administered.
When vaccines were first made available, public-health officials published priority lists for vaccination but made the mistake of saying no one would be turned away, which create huge line-ups and long waits.
Some stock taking items on the H1N1 issue for consideration today.
First, Dr. Richard Schabas, who is the former chief medical officer in Ontario, continues to be quite critical of the H1N1 federal effort and is calling the whole thing into question going forward now. Significantly, he's saying it's too late for the H1N1 vaccine program to work, in contrast to federal officials. It's a real phenomenon to have leading medical officials disputing the very way forward now, it speaks for itself. Here's Schabas with his (latest) broadside:
The Public Health Agency of Canada has made a "mess" of the H1N1 vaccination campaign and proceeding with it should be up for debate because its benefits are quickly evaporating, according to one of the country's most vocal chief medical officers.As the report notes, this is contrary to what Dr. David Butler-Jones, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer is saying:
Dr. Richard Schabas, Ontario's former chief medical officer and a top health officer in the province, said Friday it might simply be too late for a mass vaccination program to work. In an interview with Canwest News Service and Global National, he said that for immunization to be truly effective in preventing a disease, it has to be done before the disease hits.
"As it happened in Canada this year with H1N1 the vaccine didn't come until the outbreak had already started and even now is only coming in relatively small quantities. So an opportunity to really have an impact on the disease, to immunize before the outbreak, is gone," he said.
"In eastern Ontario where I live and work the outbreak is effectively over. If we're immunizing people now essentially you're barring the barn door after the horse is well out the farm gate."
Schabas said outbreaks of the swine flu in populous parts of the country, including southwestern Ontario and British Columbia, are on the wane.
"I seriously question the continued focus on mass immunization, at least in those areas," he said.
Butler-Jones has heard the criticisms from Schabas and others who feel the risk of the pandemic is overblown. In a news briefing Friday, he countered by saying "complacency is not warranted."What is a non-medical lay person to think of this conflict of experts that's playing out? The views are pretty far apart. Part of the problem is that federal decisions have led to a state of affairs where criticisms from prominent medical authorities like Schabas find an audience.
"Even when we reach the peak, whenever that might come, we still have the other side of the hill to come down, which means millions more potentially infected," said Butler-Jones.
Health Minister Aglukkaq ordered 1.8 million doses of unadjuvanted vaccine in September. That order had to be placed to cover off the expected needs of pregnant women, which was forgotten, apparently, when the same Minister got around to placing her original order in August. The August "order" was among the last placed worldwide.It's a big question mark as to when non-high risk persons will be able to get the vaccination in most communities. It's quite possible that the above delay has contributed to a situation where the Schabas scenario is playing out, i.e., it's too late for the vaccination program to work. And again, we have one expert saying that would be OK (for certain parts of the country where it is in his view subsiding) and another warning us it wouldn't. It's confusing.
The 1.8 million dose order for non-adjuvanted vaccine then disrupted and delayed GSK's "bottling" of adjuvanted vaccine, which was intended for use in the broader population. This delay caused line ups and general mayhem along the vaccination distribution system as there was a shortage of vaccine, which exists to this day.
At the same time, GSK wasn't able to get the non-adjuvanted product ready quick enough anyway and the government had to order 200,000 doses from another supplier in Australia.
All the while, mass confusion amongst the health providers and pregnant women as to what really was the advice of the government. (emphasis added)
A version of the H1N1 vaccine intended for pregnant women is now also being offered to healthy adolescents, teens and adults in yet another fundamental shift to Canada’s vaccination strategy.Which seems to raise questions about the wisdom of pursuing the adjuvanted versus unadjuvanted route in the first place, doesn't it? Some of that delay noted above might have been avoided.
Federal health officials said yesterday that an adjuvant-free vaccine is not only safe for pregnant women, but also induces a strong immune response in healthy people between the ages of 10 and 64.
Set up on your tax dollars. Canada's effort to obstruct yet not look like it's obstructing justifies a special effort:
Without fanfare, a special "climate-change unit" was created to operate outside normal bureaucratic channels, devoted exclusively to planning one of the biggest and most complicated negotiations the Conservative government has faced. Today, the high-powered federal group includes dozens of senior government officials from different departments and even some key recruits from the private sector.Of course not, the public till is there to be used for Conservative self-promotion, why not an anti-environment war room? The war room is aiming high:
Former business journalist Deidre McMurdy, for instance, was hired away from a national think-tank to manage communications surrounding the Copenhagen confab. No effort or expense was spared.
A senior federal official puts it more bluntly, saying the only strategy occupying the war room these days is "how to get in and out of Copenhagen without being blamed for what's not going to happen."The fact that meetings leading up to Copenhagen are producing much disagreement is said to be "...bringing quiet sighs of relief inside the Harper government." Weston nevertheless suggests that the Conservatives deserve some kind of credit because they're "being honest about doing nothing," in comparison to the Kyoto-signing Liberals on the international environmental treaty score. That should make the highly paid p.r. folks in the "climate change unit" war room very happy.
Something totally non-political for you this morning...watched this last night after seeing it circulated on twitter. Looks like it could be a great organizational tool. Any group can use the wave function to collaborate on documents, circulate ideas, brainstorm. It seems to be a way for groups to tap into a central location to build up thinking, planning on events, strategies, issues, etc. The real time functionality of it makes it interesting. That's just an impression from a quick viewing of this video, I'm sure the learning is all in the doing.
Also seems to have the potential to be a big encroachment on one's time unless it's managed well! But isn't that the case with any new application you integrate into your life these days.
Happy waving!
(h/t)
Updated (10:30 p.m.) below.
Michelle Sheppard of the Toronto Star with what seems to be the crucial fact to note about the new American position on Omar Khadr:
In a milestone decision marking a crucial step in the winding down of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, Holder also revealed that Canadian detainee Omar Khadr will be prosecuted before a U.S. military tribunal – but the attorney general indicated the U.S. government will remain open to the possibility of returning detainee Omar Khadr to Canada, depending on the outcome of a Supreme Court hearing underway today in Ottawa.In other words, the U.S. is prepared to act in response to Canada's initiative, whether that would theoretically come from the Supreme Court here or the Canadian government. But faced with the Harper government's recalcitrance in acting, despite American efforts to close down Guantanamo, they opted for the military commission. And there's some hedging language from American officials on that too:
A senior U.S. defence department official told the Star that the military trial against Khadr is "a ways off" but declined to comment on the process that led to the decision, or whether the Canadian detainee's age and nationality were factors.Is that some kind of signal regarding the vigour with which the Obama administration will now prosecute a child soldier? Might there be delay to account for the Supreme Court of Canada's eventual judgment?
"There is a way to go in this case and I'm sure - and this is really up to the prosecutors - they will be considering all of their options with regard to how to handle the (Khadr) case," the official said.
QUESTION: Attorney General Holder, coincidentally the Canadian Supreme Court is hearing arguments about the transfer of Omar Khadr to Canada. The lawyer for Khadr suggested today that Khadr will be transferred to the United States to be tried. Will Khadr be transferred here for trial, and if the Canadian courts direct the government of Canada to request Khadr to be transferred to Canada, would you consider that request or would the commission trials here trump that?
ATTORNEY GENERAL HOLDER: Well, we’ll look at the Khadr matter. At this point it is one of — I believe one of the cases that’s designated for commission, a commission proceeding. And we will, as that case proceeds, see how it should be ultimately treated.
Karen Williams is disappointed with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.The old "no record of the call" trick is hauled out:
The Grade 12 student from The Woodlands School and fellow members of the school’s Environmental Council called Harper’s office in September to voice their opinion on climate change and received a shocking response when they received a call back, discouraging them from calling again.
“We wanted him to say, ‘Hey, thanks for calling me and we want to make a change in the world,’ but that’s not what he said,” Williams told The News yesterday, replaying the morning the school received a call from the prime minister’s office.
Instead, she said, a representative from his office requested the principal go on the P.A. system and ask students not to call anymore.
Dechert said the PMO has no record of the call to the school, but says it wasn’t authorized by Harper or his chief of staff, Guy Giorno.No, I'm sure it wasn't, which is not the point. The gut democratic instincts of the Harper Conservatives are what matters. Chalk up one more instance, inspiring the youth of tomorrow, one precious mind at a time...
Coming soon to a school near you.
A Conservative member of Parliament is defending her plan to give free water bottles, with the party logo, to French immersion students in Winnipeg.Oh, it's the scene, man.
Shelly Glover says she simply wanted to congratulate the kids on speaking a second language.
Glover sent a letter to one of the school divisions in the Manitoba capital, offering to give them water bottles adorned with her name and the Conservative party logo.
But the school division rejected the idea, citing a policy that prohibits the use of teaching aids that promote specific parties or people.
Update (4:00 p.m.) below.
From an email received this morning:
I got a call from EKOS yesterday.I guess they're trying to make the ordering of the parties truly random so as to get a true read on people's preferences, so the Liberals ended up fifth. I'm sure that's the case, right?
Couple of things struck me. The listing of political parties, for one.
5 options. 5 parties. Liberals number 5.
Could this lead to a fatigue and pressing earlier?
The order should have been Conservative-Liberal-NDP, then the Bloc and Greens as they are "fringe". No "none of the above". Why was the Bloc even listed in English Canada? Couldn’t vote for them anyway.
Issues: very heavy on gun control.
A press release from CIDA, released via the Marketwire service tells us this: "Brent Rathgeber Tours Afghanistan Exhibit at St. Albert Place." Rathgeber is a Conservative MP who sits on the Justice & Human Rights Commons Committee. But why did CIDA feel the need to put out a press release on behalf of this MP extolling his itinerary in his riding? Rathgeber doesn't appear to have any connection to CIDA. A government exhibit just happens to have been on in his riding. They did the same thing for Royal Galipeau's tour of this exhibit in October when it was in his riding.
So we must ask, is this the latest use of our money for their self-promotion? Why are Conservative MPs being conferred this publicity benefit out of CIDA's budget for what looks like a typical MP riding event?
It's the end of the road today for Stephen Harper's long years of sitting on his hands on the Omar Khadr file. Today, at the Supreme Court of Canada, he is having Justice Department lawyers argue for the umpteenth time against bringing back to Canada a Canadian citizen captured as a child soldier at the age of 15. The Harper Government has lost that argument twice now in the Federal Court, having been ordered to seek Khadr's repatriation. So there's nowhere to go after today's court hearing but to wait for the judgment.
It's a good day to take stock then of what Stephen Harper's leadership has meant for Canada as reflected in the Khadr case. He's sent a message to the world that Canada won't even seek repatriation of a Canadian citizen with child soldier status, even though multiple courts have noted the unique circumstances of Khadr's case whose Charter rights have been breached, whose rights under UN conventions protecting children have been ignored. This would be the first such trial of a child soldier since the 1940s. What is wrong with Canada other nations must be thinking. All other western nations have repatriated their citizens from Guantanamo, we're laggards.
Harper's continued refusal to repatriate a Canadian citizen who has been tortured at Guantanamo Bay also sends a message on that score. Torture is not enough to make the Harper Government move, even though Canada's own CSIS participated in an investigation of Khadr following Khadr's "frequent flyer" sleep deprivation program, implicating Canada in a breach of Khadr's rights. There has been no change in position despite the facts about that torture coming to light while Mr. Harper has been Prime Minister, no modified Canadian position to act on the basis of that new knowledge. Similarly, the revelation of exculpatory evidence in Khadr's case warrants no new position either. They've instead been stuck in rote dogmatism on this file, unwilling to read the changing circumstances happening around them, including a new American administration that clearly wants to close Guantanamo, shop of horrors, down.
That's Harper's Canada, in which a Canadian citizen sits in a reprehensible modern day gulag run by our strongest ally. Because the Conservative base would yelp in disapproval if Mr. Harper did otherwise. Politics before human rights, but of course.
Here's an incredible statement from Khadr's lawyer:
"“All it takes is a phone call—a call between the prime minister and the president,” says Dennis Edney, Khadr’s ever-relentless lawyer. “I’m told that the Americans don’t have any concerns about sending Omar back to Canada. All the pressure is coming from Stephen Harper.”"Don't we know it so well. For many of us, days like today are the ones where what it means to live in Stephen Harper's Canada really hits home. Here's hoping the Supreme Court sends him a message.
McGuinty is trying well in advance to stamp out any growing anti-HST sentiment:
The Ontario government is making a populist appeal to placate consumers by exempting their morning cup of coffee and newspaper from the province's proposed tax reforms, and it still has room to hand out a few more goodies.Now Tim Hudak won't be able to use his "a tax hike on Tim Horton's coffee is bad enough" line anymore. Wonder how many more of Tim's lines they'll be picking off between now and next summer. Ontario officials are hinting there is room for further exemptions to come, suggesting they're keenly aware of the politics, from their opposition and as well, that B.C. by-election result. Kind of smart to make this move this week too. As the anti-HST feeling in B.C. gets publicity, McGuinty can show that he, in contrast to B.C., is acting to address people's concerns. Gives you the sense that the plan is to have this issue neutralized, as much as possible, by the time implementation comes around in July of next year.
The exemptions unveiled Thursday are the latest example of the McGuinty government's assiduous handling of politically sensitive retail tax changes, and have led to questions about whether British Columbia will follow its lead. But the B.C. government has taken a different approach to harmonizing its sales taxes by rushing out all its exemptions at once, leaving less wiggle room to soften the blow for consumers.
Checking in on the scene..."Second H1N1 wave takes lethal toll on Canadians" we read this morning:
A sudden spike in H1N1 deaths over the past week reveals that the pandemic virus is taking a far greater toll on Canadians during the second wave, raising fears that it is just as severe, if not worse, than seasonal flu.Yet the availability of vaccinations is still up in the air, despite all the rhetoric from the federal government on the seven million doses sent to the provinces.
...In my fairly wide circle of, clearly, obedient friends and relatives (ages 8 to 97), I know of no one who has yet been allowed to be vaccinated. We're not too sure what to do about it, but it's all getting pretty tiring. Could someone just cut to the chase and tell us where and when we can get vaccinated?Nope, probably not.
The blurring of the roles continues from the presidential wannabe administration of Stephen Harper. A bit of a follow-up to the post this morning where we took a moment to affirm the Governor General's role as commander-in-chief in the wake of Jean's donning of a military uniform yesterday at Remembrance Day ceremonies.
This afternoon, courtesy of Kady O'Malley, she points out this press release from the Prime Minister's Office, "PM honours troops with Sacrifice Medal," where it is carefully worded to read that the Prime Minister "...participated in the inaugural presentations of the newly-created Sacrifice Medal at Rideau Hall." The Governor General presented the medals, notes O'Malley, yet you'd never know it from the impression conveyed by the Prime Minister's press release. The very title of the release - and the picture they chose - is clearly meant to suggest that Harper gave out the medals.
He's not the commander-in-chief, period, and they should stop mucking about with our symbols.
A video reminder from the summer of that other high profile effort by the Prime Minister to usurp the role of the Governor General:
Recall that there are five kicking around already. There are two investigations that have been formally opened by the Ethics Commissioner and the Privacy Commissioner related to a Raitt fundraiser allegedly organized out of the independent federal agency, the Toronto Port Authority. Complaints have also been filed with the Lobbying Commissioner and Elections Canada regarding that fundraiser. That's four.
A second ethics complaint was filed against Raitt for the improper use of the Conservative logo at a government of Canada announcement. The ethics commissioner is investigating those complaints (55 of them) formally. So technically there are three "formal" investigations open involving Raitt out of a possible five.
Throw in the possibility of a sixth with this news last night: "Toronto Port Authority asks auditor general for audit amid Raitt controversy." That would be this most recent controversy.
For those following the ongoing tally of the Conservative race to the ethical bottom of Canadian politics, this would bring the present number of investigations sought against the Harper Conservatives to 65. Or, almost two-thirds of the way to 100.
Bit of a theme today...
Helena Guergis responds to the fact that she's the second biggest spender in parliament on ten percenters, those monotonous riding flyers:
"I only spend what I need to spend," she said.Well, there's a tiny bit more to it than that. Something about the $86,000 she's spent blanketing her riding and others actually only being in the $75,000 range. And the typical, but, but, the Liberals thing. The official figures, however, show how steeply Guergis' use of ten percenter flyers has climbed:
In the last fiscal period, Guergis' printing costs were $86,808, a 55-per-cent increase from the previous fiscal period when she spent nearly $56,000. In 2006-07 and 2005-06, Guergis spent about $28,000 on printing.
She was second to Northumberland-Quinte West Conservative MP Rick Norlock, who spent $87,749 in 2008-09.
Across Parliament, spending on printing has nearly doubled since the Conservatives came into office. In 2004-05, MPs spent $4.8 million on printing; in the first full year of the Conservative government, that number jumped to $7.8 million, while last year printing costs were $9.4 million.
In the fiscal period ending in March, printing costs were a shade over $10 million.
Of the top-20 spenders for printing (from Norlock, down to Rick Dykstra, who spent $69,451), 19 are Conservatives, with the NDP's Olivia Chow — who represents a riding in downtown Toronto — the only non-Tory. (emphasis added)Public expenditures can be justified on communications for constituents that are informative and don't veer into partisan propaganda, a point that should apply to all parties. And there should be a reasonable limit on them in terms of the quantity. Such principles have clearly not been respected by Conservatives though. They've twisted this heretofore quite bland communications device into a mad partisan leaflet spree across the country.
The ongoing series of revelations of how wastefully Conservatives are spending taxpayer money continues: "Tory stimulus ads ripped as $3M pat on the back."
The Conservative government spent more than $3 million of taxpayers' money in September on an advertising campaign that amounted to little more than self-promotion, a Liberal critic says.Notice the timing, the ad upticks always seem to occur around a politically sensitive moment the Conservatives want to manipulate:
The newspaper and web campaign, called Creating Jobs, didn't attempt to inform Canadians about how infrastructure stimulus spending was creating employment opportunities – only that the Conservatives declared it was, Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay (Willowdale) said Wednesday.
A government document shows that Cossette Communication Inc., solely responsible for Ottawa advertisement buys since 2003, spent $3,111,877.44 from Infrastructure Canada on advertising from Sept. 14 to Sept. 29.
The money was spent around the time of the release of the government's third economic report card.The money on the above campaign would also have been spent during a month where the prospect of having an election was still on the table and the "no election" campaign from the government began. This particular $3 million ad onslaught likely helped with that government messaging too. There has got to be an interesting back story here on the timing of these ads and their planning to be told by someone.
Noted about Governor General Michaelle Jean yesterday:
Michaëlle Jean stood at the National War Memorial Wednesday in full army uniform, the first time in her four years as Governor-General that she'd worn military garb to Remembrance Day ceremonies.Suits us just fine. A fitting reminder of who the commander-in-chief is.
It was a senior Canadian Forces official working on leave at Rideau Hall who convinced her earlier this year that donning an army uniform would be a fitting way to show respect for the men and women under her formal command, the Governor-General's office said. And now she in intends to wear one to all major military events.
Go see the picture on Jim Curran's blog this morning of Conservative MP Rick Dykstra. Captures a moment.
Gilles Taillon writes an open letter to the media about his exit as leader of the ADQ. Clearly, he views his effort to distance the ADQ from the federal Conservatives, and his expression of intent to do just that in a face to face meeting with Senator Leo Housakos, as having sown unrest in the party against him. How this will continue to play out in Quebec is anyone's guess, Taillon has asked the police to investigate financial irregularities in the party and if the story continues, with ongoing references to federal Conservatives, it could muddy the Conservative effort in Quebec. Whether these allegations are a bit of sour grapes, parting shots, or whether there's actually something to it remains to be seen. Still, worth a look is Taillon's letter today, writing of his effort to break with the federal Conservatives:
Peu après l'annonce de ma candidature le 24 avril dernier, encouragé à ce moment par plusieurs dont Mario Dumont, j'ai senti un certain malaise au sein de l'ancien establishment du parti. Comme parti autonomiste, j'ai cru et je crois toujours qu'aucune influence d'un parti fédéral ne devait et ne doit limiter la marge de manoeuvre de l'ADQ. J'ai déclaré, lors du Conseil général de mai, que les distances devaient être maintenues avec le parti conservateur du Canada et aussi, avec tous les autres partis oeuvrant sur la scène fédérale. Ma déclaration a fait l'objet d'un reportage de Pierre Duchesne, de la société Radio-Canada. Celui-ci a clairement fait part de ma prise de position. Lors de ce même reportage le journaliste a aussi identifié le sénateur Housakos comme celui qui jusque-là , à titre de président de la Commission du financement de l'ADQ, faisait le pont entre les conservateurs au fédéral et l'ADQ au Québec.Given reports of provincial Liberals helping in the GOTV effort in Riviere du Loup, the ADQ's foibles may mean nothing. Guess we'll see.
Cette prise de position publique sur la nécessaire autonomie de l'ADQ, vis-à -vis les partis politiques fédéraux, m'a valu plusieurs réprimandes de membres influents du parti. J'ai donc décidé de rencontrer le sénateur Housakos et de lui faire part de vive voix de ma prise de position. Dans les jours suivants, la rencontre a bel et bien eue lieu dans un restaurant d'Ottawa. J'ai alors clairement dis au Sénateur Housakos, que je n'avais rien contre les conservateurs ou lui-même. Mais aussi, que sous mon éventuel leadership, l'ADQ travaillerait aux seuls intérêts du Québec et ce, sans aucune attache à quelque parti fédéral que ce soit. Je lui ai aussi fait part que comme membre de l'ADQ, il était le bienvenu et pouvait contribuer au financement de ma campagne selon les règles établies par le parti.
Je comprends aujourd'hui, avec les sorties publiques des anciens « propriétaires » du parti, Mario Dumont en tête, que mon élection à la tête de l'ADQ signifiait pour ces gens, la fin d'une alliance intouchable.
A headline which caught the eye: "PM soothes premiers vaccine worries." Really. How interesting, a conference call among the PM and Premiers on H1N1. It's only been a few weeks of long lines and confusion, he finally got on the horn to, you know, do something. Apparently Mr. Harper is "...vowing that Ottawa will provide the provinces with speedy updates on the H1N1 vaccine after Canada's premiers voiced concerns about confusion over the rollout of supplies." It takes a week or so of pressure to compel them to provide such a minimal level of competence, how reassuring.
What prompted this "Stephen Harper:Leadership" telephone conference moment? Self-initiative?
The Prime Minister's Office was saying little about the call. “The Prime Minister invited the premiers on a phone call to discuss H1N1 preparedness and the economy. It was a positive and collaborative discussion,” PMO spokesman Dimitri Soudas said.From CP:
However, sources familiar with the situation said the premiers had initially approached the Prime Minister about ensuring they have as much information as possible on just how much vaccine is available for the provinces.
The premiers resolved to press the federal government to give them more timely information on vaccine supplies during their own conference call last Friday. Health officials across Canada have expressed frustration that Ottawa has been slow to inform them about how much vaccine provinces and territories will get each week. Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health, Arlene King, was caught off guard when reporters knew before she did that the federal government planned to release another 1.8 million doses of the vaccine to the provinces this week.
Talk turned to H1N1 during a recent meeting of the premiers, said a source from Quebec's government. The provincial leaders apparently wanted to revisit that chat with Harper on the line.So, it certainly appears that the PM was backed into this call by the Premiers yet the PMO is spinning it otherwise, as Harper taking the lead. And it seems that the Premiers are not too keen on hearing surprise Prime Ministerial announcements in the House of Commons on how many doses will be distributed to them. Who knew.
Interesting goings on in Quebec. The ADQ is falling apart as the brand new leader resigns amidst fleeing caucus members. This story is of interest to observers of the federal scene given Harper's choice to ally Conservatives with the ADQ over the past few years and his choice to elevate Leo Housakos, an ADQ activist, to the Senate. CP has details of the additional potential trouble on the horizon:
Tory Senator Leo Housakos and Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office deflected comment Tuesday on new allegations of wrongdoing at the Action Democratique du Quebec (ADQ), where Housakos was the longtime financing director.The Harper party is cutting its ties of late to the ADQ. But as recently as the spring, at that fundraiser in Montreal that spawned an ethics investigation of Housakos, the head of the ADQ attended and was said to have "distributed tickets to the fundraiser according to some of the guests at the event." If there's a split between the two, it's a recent thing.
ADQ Leader Gilles Taillon resigned as leader on Tuesday, after only three weeks on the job, citing concerns about problems with the party's books as well as in-fighting.
"I found some troubling things in the party's financing practices since 2003 and I've asked the Surete du Quebec to investigate," Taillon said, without going into detail about what he says he has found.
There have been no formal charges nor any comment from the police on the matter.
Housakos, who was head of the ADQ's fundraising arm between 2001 to 2008, responded through his Senate assistant in Ottawa.
"Mr. Taillon is the leader of the ADQ, and as leader of that party, he's responsible to do as he sees fit," Housakos said in the statement.
"If he does have concerns about any matter, he can contact the proper authorities."
Dimitri Soudas, a spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, directed all questions about the matter back to the ADQ. Soudas is also a longtime supporter of the provincial party and friend of Housakos.
Updated (10:00 p.m.) below.
Update (6:50 p.m.) below.
Instead of professing to be "taken aback" at this report, that Afghan detainees are getting H1N1 shots when Canadians are still waiting...there's of course the obvious point that if the vaccine were ready for all Canadians, we wouldn't need to fluff ourselves up in faux outrage over such stories:
Afghan detainees in Canadian military custody will be offered H1N1 flu vaccinations beginning Wednesday, while all Canadians who want to be inoculated may not be given shots before the end of December.As we read reports of medical officers talking about how we could have had the vaccine six weeks ago if we'd made different decisions, let's not take the outraged (and ill-informed) Minister off the hook.
Briggs said that when medical staff in Kandahar Airfield sought legal advice, they were told that under the Geneva Conventions, prisoners of war should receive the same treatment as Canadian soldiers.This is a tempest in a teapot to distract from the government's own incompetence, more finger pointing and us/them rhetoric. If there's any "outrage" to be had here, it's for Minister Aglukkaq and her performance on the H1N1 file. Canadians are waiting for vaccines due to many decisions made by this government, a distraction in Afghanistan is beside the point.
"We have had a legal opinion that states yes, indeed, we should be offering — on a voluntary basis — detainees H1N1 [vaccinations] because it's being seen as a preventive measure," said Briggs.
Canada considers the war in Afghanistan a counter-insurgency operation that is not governed by the Geneva Conventions.
First, we need to ensure security in the five southern Afghan provinces. This is where Canada has just recently transferred command of ISAF forces to the Netherlands. There is still hard work to be done there with boots on the ground. We are confident that Allies understand the importance of standing together and ensuring that ISAF has the forces, resources and flexibility for success in these provinces. It is our shared interest to always adhere to International Law. We operate in strict accordance with Geneva conventions. That will also improve NATO’s image in that part of the world.They're so conscious of the immediate political optics, Aglukkaq's reaction is a reflection of that. They really need to get over themselves and speak to the issues.
Vaccinations against H1N1 are being offered to members of the Canadian Forces and Canadian civilian personnel deployed in Afghanistan. The Canadian Forces are providing appropriate medical care to those in their custody. Offering vaccinations to detainees for H1N1 would be based on medical need and, at this point, there is no plan to vaccinate detainees. No vaccine has been provided to any detainee.The Canadian Press report shows a conflict between what they were planning on the ground in Afghanistan and the above message from DND. It sounds like the military on the ground had it all in hand until Aglukkaq did her outrage thing and the politics kicked in.
Updated (10:25 p.m.) below.
Today's venue for Minister Raitt, the New York Yacht Club...why not? One could sense a nautical pattern here...
(source)
"Minister Raitt Visits New York to Promote Canada's Energy Resources"I'm sure this isn't costing us much, right?
The Honourable Lisa Raitt, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources, will be in New York City on November 9–10 to meet with key business leaders, government officials and thought leaders to discuss energy issues and, in particular, the oil sands. Minister Raitt will make a keynote luncheon address on the oil sands on Tuesday November 10.
Location: New York Yacht Club, Model Room
Interesting presentation of the dynamics shaping up over the future of the Afghanistan mission. Some recent video of MacKay and Cannon offering contradictory statements and a panel on CTV Newsnet with some interesting hints from the Conservative member about the government's messaging toward the end of the video.
In the background, the Obama decision hovering over all of this Canadian speculation...Bob Herbert is worth a read on that today.
Not much else to add here except that this is an issue that's frequently overshadowed by our daily political intrigue. It deserves some more attention.
Some reading on that front today:
"Scrapping long-gun registry is pandering to vocal minority."
"MPs are way off target."
"If Long Gun Registry Is So Dumb, Why Do Police Like It?"
"Canadian Emergency Physicians opposed to repealing the Long-Gun Registry."
And then there is the unspoken influence of the NRA here that is worth considering. Here is an excerpt from a research paper on the ties of Conservatives to U.S. groups, here focussing on the NRA (see pgs 15-17 of the pdf for expansion of the point, click excerpt below to enlarge):
The Tyee piece on police support for the registry notes the NRA flavoured Conservative ad campaign that ran recently against targeted opposition members:
But while the Liberals and NDP were gutless in allowing a "free" vote of their MPs, it was shameful Conservative Party attack ads targeting rural Liberal and NDP MPs that likely pushed the vote over the top.We should seriously consider whether we want NRA style tactics to be shaping our political debates, particularly on this issue, and what it says about us to be giving in to them.
The radio ads and flyers were based on National Rifle Association tactics in the United States to pressure British Columbia Liberal MP Keith Martin and NDP MPs Nathan Cullen and Alex Atamanenko in their constituencies to vote to kill the registry.
Somebody knows that there is work to be done. This is good:
“The by-election results last night show that we have a lot of work ahead of us. Canadians want an alternative to the Harper Conservatives. Our job in the months ahead is to earn the confidence and support of Canadians.”That's a statement released from Ignatieff this morning.
Can you spot the problem here? "Report: MP’s phone calls cost $3.7M." Read the report and you'll see. Interesting little mistake.
Slow. News. Day.
Here's a report if you don't know what happened last night: "Tories, NDP make gains in by-elections." I'm pretty much talked out on these, did lots of that on twitter last night. So, a few brief items...
On that Montmagny pick-up by Conservatives, which is the really big news...I have expressed for two days now that this seat was likely going to go their way due to the tremendous effort they expended on the seat, including that last minute $242 million spending announcement on Friday. Pretty expensive pick-up, glad we taxpayers could help them out. Unknown, whether the Nixonian tactics that occurred yesterday in the form of robocalls to suppress the Bloc vote paid off to the extent of affecting the vote. A police complaint was launched. All in all, kind of an ugly result due to the obscene last minute spending and the robocalls.
On that B.C. win by the NDP candidate, this was a race that was supposed to be close yet it was a blow-out, likely due to an HST protest vote (a dynamic which bears exploration in the wake of that result). The Conservatives did their "Montmagny" act on Thursday of last week for this riding too, except instead of dropping $242 million, they announced the salmon judicial inquiry. Yet that gesture didn't overcome the stronger sentiment against the HST. So, any inkling that there is majority support for the Conservatives arising out of these results falters on this result, in my view. They had a good night, but not that kind of night.
Now I'm sure we're all sick to death of the by-elections, onwards...
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