Prime Time Crime
Canadian Elections Life in a Banana republic
OTTAWA - Federal, provincial and territorial governments have spent nearly $70 billion more than they budgeted for over the past decade, suggesting a lack of accountability to voters about budget promises, an economic think-tank said. (CanWest) REPORT: Off the Mark: Canada’s 2008 Fiscal Accountability Ranking .pdf
First Nations decry appointment
PRINCE ALBERT - Stephane Dion, the federal Liberal leader, two weeks ago appointed Joan Beatty as the party's candidate in the riding of Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River. (CanWest)PREVIOUS: Liberals appoint candidate
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
Border agency lacks risk assessment tools
OTTAWA - The Canada Border Services Agency lacks an adequate "risk-management framework" for assessing threats at Canada's borders, despite investing hundreds of millions of dollars in new technology, the auditor general has found. The audit found "no overall co-ordination for risk management." (Ottawa Citizen) REPORTS: 2007 fall reports of the Auditor General New NORAD Operations Centre has been compromised Security rules ignored in sensitive contracts Soldiers' mental health needs still not met Federal environment policies adrift
TORONTO - Ontario ombudsman Andre Marin says the Liberal government is circumventing his office and squandering tax dollars by hiring outsiders to investigate public complaints because it wants to maintain control over the investigations. (CP)
Only a third of Canadians politically involved: study
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) REPORT: Canadians and their non-voting political activity Parties should play down partisanship I refuse to tell students political fairy tales But who cares?
OTTAWA - Gerard Kennedy is suing the National Post newspaper for suggesting he promised to weaken national security policy in exchange for support from Sikh and Muslim groups in last year's Liberal leadership contest. Kennedy, the kingmaker who ensured Stephane Dion's leadership victory, is to launch the libel suit Thursday. (CP) PREVIOUS: 'Never on the radar' National security vs. Liberal ethno-politics
OTTAWA - The leaders of the federal Liberal and Green parties fended off accusations Friday that they had cooked up a "back-room deal," arguing that "exceptional circumstances" had forced them to work together to defeat the Conservative government in the next general election. (CanWest) PREVIOUS: Dion, May ink election deal Backroom deal The great Dion-May coalition
Canada's help a flop, audit says
Ottawa aid officials pulled the plug on the flawed effort run by Vancouver's Institute for Media Policy and Civil Society, but not before almost $3 million was spent, says the document obtained under Access to Information law. (Toronto Star)
OTTAWA - The law requiring rolling information blackouts across the country on election night is almost unenforceable and may have to be changed, a senior Conservative said after the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the statute. (Toronto Star)
OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper has dropped a libel suit against three Liberal MPs but is proceeding with one against the Liberal Party of Canada, making it the first time a sitting prime minister has sued the opposition for libel. (CTV)
Conservative ridings in Quebec getting more handouts
OTTAWA - Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions has a mandate to promote "long-term economic development" in Quebec by issuing grants and loans to businesses, non-profit organizations and communities. Since Feb. 6, 2006 through the end of September 2007, the agency has funded more than 1,200 projects worth nearly half a billion dollars. (Montreal Gazette)
Elections Canada to investigate
OTTAWA - Canada's chief electoral officer has been asked to investigate a series of radio ads, funded by an Alberta-based global warming skeptics group, which targeted key markets in vote-rich Ontario during the 2006 federal election. (CanWest) PREVIOUS: Friends of Science Source Watch: Friends of Science Source Watch category: Canada
Polling firms fear interference
OTTAWA - Pollsters are warning that the Harper government's plan to give cabinet ministers greater oversight of public opinion research could open the awarding of polling contracts to political interference. (Ottawa Citizen)
Canadian troops fired nearly 4.7 million bullets at insurgents over the last 20 months in Afghanistan, according to new statistics released last night by the military. In an abrupt reversal, the Defence Department issued the figures requested by the Citizen two weeks ago. (Ottawa Citizen) PREVIOUS: Reasons for secrecy are secret Catch-22 Public doesn't have the right to know
NDP MP's expenses investigated
OTTAWA - The 2006 election expenses of New Brunswick MP Yvon Godin are being investigated by Elections Canada. Godin, the representative for Acadie-Bathurst, said he was informed last week that a complaint had been registered with Elections Canada regarding his 2006 re-election campaign expenses. (CBC)
Public inquiries coming back into fashion
OTTAWA - Opposition parties now call for inquiries --into everything from gas prices to legal aid practices -- with the same frequency they once demanded the resignation of Cabinet ministers. Condemned a decade ago as ineffective and expensive, inquiries are now en vogue. (National Post) PREVIOUS: Chrétien says inquiries are not the best solution Right to Know
Standing behind beliefs costly
VICTORIA - It's a pretty sad day for democracy when a politician is shamed and humiliated simply for stating his true beliefs and taking a principled stand. But that's what happened to NDP MLA Michael Sather on Friday when he was thrown out of the official Opposition caucus for declaring his opposition to the Tsawwassen treaty. (Vancouver Province)
Ka-ching! Another city can tax
MONTREAL - The city of Montreal is getting new powers to levy taxes on items and services ranging from restaurant bills to movie and theatre tickets to parking lots and even bridges. (Montreal Gazette)
NIAGARA FALLS - The federal Liberal party has been left scrambling after its candidate for a potential election was charged with two counts of fraud in connection with an alleged cheque-kiting scheme. (Hamilton Spectator) MORE: Liberal candidate will not run
Tories to probe polling practices
OTTAWA - Under examination will be public opinion research practices from 1990 to 2003 - spanning the final years of Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's government through Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's entire tenure. (CBC) RELATED: Multiculturalism policy falling behind the times
COQUITLAM, BC - Group rights may be said to have triumphed over private-property rights in a weekend by-election for a Coquitlam council seat. Only five per cent of 75,000 eligible voters turned out to pick one of the nine candidates in the race. (Vancouver Province) RELATED: Citizens' assembly confronts true art of politics Pseudoscience setback
Federal lawyers dispute 'surplus'
OTTAWA - Federal lawyers say there was no $30-billion "surplus" in the pension plans of public servants, RCMP military and that the money at the centre of a court battle with the workers was simply an "over-recording" of liabilities. (CanWest) PREVIOUS: Unions, feds face off over pension-surplus RCMP investigating union complaint over EI fund
OTTAWA - The "vast majority" of 109 transportation contracts worth almost $100 million were awarded by National Defence without proper authority and documentation over the past two fiscal years, according to an internal audit. (Ottawa Citizen) Audit: 26,000 at DND lack security clearance
Big bucks cut off mayors' strategy
OTTAWA - Even before Canada's big-city mayors gather today to press the federal government for a long-term, ongoing, sustainable national transportation strategy, the Stephen Harper government has responded with a NO. (Toronto Star) MORE: Cities to Ottawa: We need $2B for transit
Mint adviser's payment excessive
OTTAWA - The Royal Canadian Mint is paying a consultant more than $2 million to figure out how to save less than $8 million from its annual spending, a project that could end up costing nearly 100 jobs. Carpedia International of Oakville will get $2.09 million for a 50-week contract to find $7,635,705 in annual savings at the Crown corporation, which makes coins in Ottawa and Winnipeg. (Toronto Star) RELATED: One big happy family, thanks to others' taxes
Canada bleeding competitive edge away, report warns
OTTAWA - Decades of complacency have eroded Canada's competitive edge in the world economy, so governments should rethink the role of environmental, immigration and foreign policies in repairing the damage, says a new report. (CanWest) RELATED: How to deal with bureaucracy and regulations 'shoot, shovel and shut up" Doomsdays like doughnuts Canadian Provincial Investment Climate Report: 2007 PS too 'isolated' from Canada
NDP blasts party over nomination irregularities
WINNIPEG - A longtime member of the Manitoba NDP alleges that his own party has been offering another member a government job in exchange for not seeking the party's nomination in a north Winnipeg riding in advance of an expected election next year. (CBC)
MPs' legal fees should be made public
OTTAWA - Canada's Information Commissioner says the House of Commons should publicly reveal how much it pays for MPs' legal fees. (The Hill Times) MPs get hefty hike to cover expenses PS faces critical loss of workers Worldwide cost of living survey 2006
Some MPs reject auditor general's plan to audit Hill
OTTAWA - Auditor General Sheila Fraser is proposing the first audit of Parliament in 15 years but resistance is already building among MPs over the access Fraser, who audits the entire government for Parliament, should have to their own spending details. (CanWest) RELATED: Phoney scare tactics Ministers have right to know who asks for info Entitled to their entitlements: Senators want more
LONDON, Ont. - Elections Canada has identified more than 90,000 dead people on municipal voters' lists in Ontario, Sun Media has learned. But many months after the dead were identified by Elections Canada, they remain on the lists thanks to privacy laws and red tape. (Sun Media) PREVIOUS: Red tape denies baby Sonja her brief life Privacy law keeps dead on voters list Multiple voter cards raise concerns about fraud
Chuck Cadman's former financial advisor says the late Independent MP was in good financial shape and would not have been tempted by a $1-million life insurance policy allegedly offered by the Conservative Party in exchange for a vote. "Financially, he didn't need to," said Dan Loney, a close friend of Mr. Cadman's who also helped manage his money. (Ottawa Citizen)
Crucial date pulled from Cadman book
Swipe at Tory polling practices
OTTAWA - An investigation commissioned by the Harper government into polling contracts issued by past Liberal governments has shown the current Conservative government itself performs an "astounding" number of public-opinion research projects. (Ottawa Citizen)
Probe into Liberal polling dings Tories instead
Public opinion: Annual report 2006-2007
Tories to probe polling practices
Auditor General 2005: Quality & reporting of surveys
Auditor General 2003: Management of public opinion research
Conservatives faked delegate donations
Lifting the veil on a bogus issue
OTTAWA - The newly amended Canada Elections Act does not require voters to show photo ID. Nor does it require anyone - Muslim or non-Muslim, male or female - to show their faces to returning officers. (Edmonton Journal)
PS boss wants to end 'jobs for life'
OTTAWA - Canada's top bureaucrat will lay out his strategy for renewing the public service today, including a move to shed the "jobs-for-life" reputation that surrounds the bureaucracy to help create a more attractive and competitive workplace. (Ottawa Citizen)
Treasury Board reviews how PS fills top jobs
Secret report angers federal suppliers
Tories doled out 40% fewer patronage jobs
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%
Canada: Departments and Agencies
Public Service Integrity Office 2004-05 Report
Bureaucrats feeling effect of pay clerk shortage
Public Accounts of Canada for 2006
Feds losing millions to theft, fraud
Old Age Security benefit $491.93 per month
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)
Bill C-2 Federal Accountability Act
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
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
VANCOUVER - The Law Society of British Columbia is investigating allegations of over-billing by Liberal Senator Mobina Jaffer and her son, who allegedly charged a Catholic missionary order fees of $6.7 million for work from 2000 to 2004. (Vancouver Sun)
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 election dates, Senate
Start Senate overhaul by autumn
Senators keen to get on TV despite jokes
National Post: part 3 behind a subscription wall
Senate subcommittee on population health