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Canadian Politics 

Life in a Banana republic

Greed and Corruption

Sponsorship Scandal

Asian triads and Sidewinder

     Oil-For-Food: Canadian Connection

The globies

Registry of Lobbyists

   

Premiers spending habits

Premiers in the East appears to be doing a better job at managing their provinces’ finances than those in central and western Canada, a new report from the Fraser Institute concludes.   (CTV)   REPORT:  Measuring the fiscal performance of Canada's premiers 2012   .pdf    Spending habits ranked   Canadian Premiers 

 

NDP returns money

OTTAWA - The Star obtained internal party documents showing the federal NDP returned a total of $344,468 - including GST - in advertising revenues from 8 unions and 7 other organizations, received at 3 separate policy conventions. (Toronto Star)  

 

Useless ban to be lifted

OTTAWA - The government is going to lift a ban on transmitting early election results.  (CBC)  

 

Services for Dummies

With the holiday travel season in full gear and Canadians heading to foreign destinations, Ottawa is reminding travellers of what consular officials can and cannot do.  (CP)  

 

MP charged

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:  Peter Goldring  

 

Political pressure

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

 

Interim replacement

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   Farewell   Warning over watchdog's independence   Coming challenges   Party leaders wield too much power   Sheila Fraser     

 

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)  

 

Stacking the committee

OTTAWA - A federal agency that's supposed to safeguard transparency and openness in government hiring practices cooked 4 of its own employment contracts to make sure favoured workers got hired.   (CP)  

 

Only in Canada, eh

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

 

More secrets

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)

 

Lifelong secrecy vow

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) 

Ethics probe

EDMONTON - Premier Alison Redford will be investigated by Alberta’s Ethics Commission for her part in a possible conflict of interest that was uncovered late last year.   (CTV)    MORE:   Premier faces ethics probe   Alison Redford  

 

Pollster censured

OTTAWA - A Conservative pollster has been censured by the market research industry's watchdog for conducting a misinformation campaign against Liberal MP Irwin Cotler.  An investigation by the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA) has concluded that the actions of Campaign Research Inc tarnished the image of the market research profession.  (CTV)

 

Watchdog declines to investigate

OSHAWA - The federal ethics watchdog will not investigate Finance Minister Jim Flaherty over allegations of Conservative ties at the newly created Oshawa Port Authority.   (CP)  PREVIOUS:  Oshawa council questions ties

 

Fundraising documents

CALGARY - Prominent Progressive Conservative Calgary lawyer Joe Lougheed  bought tickets to Tory fundraisers on behalf of the University of Calgary, and then billed the university extra hours to pay for them.  (CBC)  PREVIOUS:  Electoral officer contradicts claim 

 

Bogus addresses

CBC News has obtained evidence that unregistered voters got on the voters' list in the Toronto riding of Eglinton-Lawrence in the last election without providing an address, in violation of Elections Canada's own rules.  (CBC)

    

Money for nothing

OTTAWA - The Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board (CEIFB) has just about everything a budding government agency could want.  (CBC)   MORE:  Office with nothing to do

 

Pollsters facing scrutiny

OTTAWA - Canada’s polling industry could be in for a shakeup in 2012, after some major knocks to its reputation in 2011.  (Toronto Star)

 

Time to test leaders

Given the state of the global economy, it might not surprise you to learn that psychopaths may be controlling the world (Tyee)

 

Illegal political donations

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)

 

’Culture change’

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

 

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) 

 

Ministry doesn't enforce

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

 

PCO blinks

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)  

   

Cash, new rules

OTTAWA - Defence Minister Peter MacKay announced new money and policies for Canada's search and rescue system, including millions of dollars for satellites and a review of the system that is to be done every 4 years.    (CBC)

Michael Ferguson

Spring report 2013

Main findings

$3.1B missing 

Search and rescue plagued

Accounting process needs to be 'rectified'

Reins tightening on crown corps

Report like manna for 'government-in-waiting'  

Our vanishing money

   

None of the above

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)  

The Real outsiders

Samara

Left out of the political process

But who cares?  

Pent-up anger unites the land  

Exercise in futility

Democracy in terminal decline

2012 Audit of UK democracy

Lost in translation

Canada's national joke

System is broken

Voters as political consumers

Psychopathy

Tories stimulus signage

Action Plan  

Only a third politically involved

Down play partisanship

I refuse political fairy tales

   

Robocall complaints doubled

OTTAWA - The number of complaints about fraudulent or misleading telephone calls in last year's federal election has almost doubled, according to court documents filed by the Commissioner of Canada Elections.  By mid August, Elections Canada had received 1,394 complaints "alleging specific occurrences" in 234 of Canada's 308 federal ridings, the lawyer for the elections watchdog says.  (CP)  

Will the Mounties get this man  

Robocall scandal

Ted Opitz

Borys Wrzesnewskyj

Court throws out election result

Election result 'null and void'

Political parties are a concern

Conflict-of-interest

Helena Guergis

Robert Staley   

Baird sys PMO Chief has no conflict 

Nigel Wright 

   

More urban politicians

TORONTO - When Canada next goes to the polls, there could be 15 new federal seats in Ontario – and 11 of them would be in the GTA.   (CityNews)  

Patronage appointments

Global Meltdown  

Privy Council morale boosters

Ontario to get 21 more seats in Parliament

New boundaries impact Northern Ontario

   

Cooking sole source contracts

OTTAWA - A suspicious number of federal contracts for goods and services appear rigged to favour one bidder.  (CP)  

Procurement practice reviews

Choosing G8 projects

Questions

'Rules were broken'  

3 strikes on Tony  

Mayor embarrassed  

Clement vows to clear the air  

Spending scandal reignited 

Documents to RCMP    

Clement discussed funding

RCMP probe allegations

F-35 Canadian procurement

Replacing Canada's fighter jets

MacKay affirms F-35 purchase

Peter MacKay 

Andrew Saxton  

Damage control  

Dishonesty is the best policy

RCMP won't investigate

Tony Clement  

Paperwork ‘not perfect'

Treasury Board president

Clement faces firing line  

Documents contradict Clement  

Guide to G8 legacy projects

Clement accused  

NDP calls for probe of spending  

Funding decisions hidden

Civil service & politics clash  

Deja-vu 

G8 Legacy Fund audit

National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy

RCMP probe

Lawyers don't grasp gov accounting

Replacing Canada’s Fighter Jets

F-35 program slammed  

Military kept Parliament in the dark

   

NWT gets an F

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  

Red Tape Reduction Commission

Golden scissors award  

BC Minister gets nod

Federation Independent Business

   

MP pension reform

OTTAWA - The Conservative caucus has accepted a government proposal that would ease the burden on taxpayers by more than tripling how much members of Parliament and senators kick into their pension plans.  (CBC)

Pension plan relies on taxpayer-paid interest

Treasury Board report

MPs tackle their pensions  

MPs seek $250K for legal costs  

'Losers' are new millionaires 

Canadian federal election 2011  

MP pensions verge on bizarre

Losing an election not bad  

Grabbing positions  

59.1% voter turnout 

Results, ridings & candidates

Calculations for MPs   .pdf    

More MPs  

30 more MPs  

Parliamentary associations

Party quells unrest in ranks   

Conservatives plead guilty

Party officials avoid charges  

In and Out scandal  

Doug Finley   Irving Gerstein 

'Unrealistic' assumptions

Law won't apply to MPs

Elections Canada  

Majority government  

NDP linked firms get cash 

CTV: Election  

Parliament of Canada  

 

   

Cuts haven't save any money

OTTAWA - A new report from the Parliamentary Budget Office finds that the Conservative government's spending restraint program is focusing on front line services, while back office spending continues to rise.   (CP) 

Audit released

Administration of the House of Commons

Administration of the Senate

Lack of expense details

Contracting problems   

Salaries for members of Parliament

'Magic' among budget watchdog must-haves

Conservative spending spree in overdrive  

Governments hate democracy

We are the government

Open, now closed?  

Open government Canada

Chapter 1—Financial Management

Kevin Page

Michael Ferguson 

Tony Clement

All parties share the spoils

Budget passed

Agencies have 'challenges'

Questions about office after Page leaves 

Expenditure Monitor 2012-13Q2   .pdf  

Ethics commissioner report   .pdf

OPSIC Report 2010-2011   .pdf

   

Minister's email sparks complaints

OTTAWA - An email sent from Jason Kenney's MP office has raised concerns about whether the private information of Canadians may be used for partisan purposes (CBC)  

Pinkwashing

Political parties operate outside privacy laws 

Do the zoomer math

Cabinet ministers regularly interfere

27 members appointed aides

New lobbying rules

100 top lobbyists 2009

Lobbyists' Code of Conduct

Power brokers take a hit

New lobbyist

Canadian Strategy Group

No conflict of interest

Youth drawn to public service

Political staff aren't running amok

McGuinty refuses to close loophole

Sweetheart deal under attack

Political staff shouldn't meddle

What public function?

Report blocked

Cyber trails

How lobbyists almost derailed a bridge 

Keith Beardsley

Files not closed on Carson case  

Carson's ties to money launderer

Carson's other escort lover  

How did a fraudster get in

Carson was Harper's guy

Background: Bruce Carson affair

Top Mountie not involved

Bruce Carson

Influence peddling

Carson investigation

OPP investigating 

Lobbying probe

Carson timeline 

Aide left school with debt

Lobbyists’ breach of code

Karen Shepherd

René Fugère and André Nollet 

Paul Ballard   Mark Jiles 

Graham Bruce.    

Lobbying activities  

Jaffer broke rules  

Watchdog calls for penalties 

Ron Liepert  

Charged with fraud

Carson charged  

Carson penned lobbying report

Criminal past  

RCMP asked to investigate

Code of conduct breaches

Appointment process 'fiction'

Appointment system takes a hit

Network finds its way into posts

Appointment system good for us

Leo Housakos  

Rahim Jaffer 

Commissioner of lobbying

Tories propose new watchdog  

   

Pilot project

OTTAWA - The Harper government plans a pilot project early next year to allow ordinary citizens and others to request internal documents under the Access to Information Act via the Internet.   (CP)

Feds 'not the most transparent'

Suzanne Legault

Canadian Election Study

Liberal staff interfering

Workplace 'mobbing'  

MPs lap up free trips

Layton champion of elite

Failing grade 

Review of free expression 2011 

   

Cabinet broke the law

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   

Top court says Ottawa broke law

Lawyers dominate Parliament

   

Envelopes with cash

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)  

Brian Mulroney  

Airbus affair

Karlheinz Schreiber

Oliphant Commission

'Inappropriate'

'Inappropriate?'

At the inquiry

Why did Mulroney take the cash?

Tax payers on the hook

Tax deal standard practice in 2000

   

Contracts sole-sourced

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. 

Sole-sourced jet purchase  

Row over Canada fighter jet  

MacKay defends $9B jet purchase

Tories sole-sourced purchase

Private firms jack up prices

Lax on 'sole-source' contracts

Procurement Ombudsman  report

   

MP resigns

OTTAWA - Bev Oda is resigning from cabinet and stepping down as Conservative MP for Durham.   (Toronto Star) 

Oda's MP pension

Insider prompting

Bev Oda  

Ministers ring up hefty travel tabs

Taxpayers dodged a stompin' 

Canadian left in dark about MPs

Take the cloak off MPs' expenses

Call for accountability

MPs   Senators

MPs ink secret deal on cash

Accountability  

Entitled

MPs less experienced

BDC has been good for us

Being speaker good for me

Phantom commission

   

Over spending

OTTAWA - Documents in Peter Penashue's Elections Canada file show he and his campaign spent $24,711 in flights during the 2011 election campaign, but an airline in his Labrador riding wrote off most of that amount under an agreement that appears to have been made months after the election was over.  (CBC)  

Peter Penashue  

Rookie mistake

New allegations

MP in offshore tax probe

MP's former employer targeted by CRA

Andrew Saxton  

MP can keep his seat

Ted Opitz 

SCC upholds Conservative win  

Wajid Khan

Khan 'stepping aside' from party caucus

   

Cadman's cash

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)

Lawsuit dropped

Parties' self-interest prevails

$1M added to defamation suit

PM files libel suit

Cadman legal controversy

Tape wasn't doctored

Harper says he authorized an offer to Cadman

Judge orders analysis of Cadman tape

Crucial date pulled from Cadman book

Enticement for MP loyalty

No apology to Harper, Liberal vow

PM to sues Liberals for libel

Cadman and the offer

Like a Rock: The Chuck Cadman Story

   

Budget bill passes

OTTAWA - The government's second budget passed in the Commons despite outcries from opposition parties, First Nations chiefs and other critics who say the bill is bad for democracy.  (QMI)   

Cameras are on, so are we

People on Parliament Hill are about 90% bullshit  

Allan Cutler: 'It has gotten worse'

Populist party

Politics and morals, ends and means

NS to get $870M from feds in oil royalties

Have not Ontario

Democracy compromised by voting system

Democracy in Canada

Who's the boss?

Canadians losing faith

Satisfaction with democracy

Canadians are less satisfied

Canadians give MPs a failing grade

Senate to audit appointed

Altered in latest omnibus bill

Jim Flaherty  

Budget cuts hit front line services

Cuts will be felt in programs and services

Ontario public sector salary disclosure 2007

Another raise for MPPs

Where does the shoe pinch most in Canada

No consensus among premiers

PS too 'isolated' from Canada

Insecure bureaucrats

Equalization payments

Ontario expecting little help from feds

Ontario releases 2006 public sector salaries

BC oil could ease crisis

Job power tipping to the West

Millions face old-age poverty

Federalism really is dysfunctional

Equalization consensus remains elusive

Quebec sets sights on Alberta oil cash

Budget 2012: Monitoring update   .pdf

   

MPs pass accountability act

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) 

National security vs. Liberal ethno politics

Accountability bill full of new places to hide

Info czar slams Harper on access

Second thoughts about information reforms

MPs in top 2% of wage earners

Time to stop PMs' from ruling like Kings

The Whistleblowers Bill and FAIR

Tories start draining the subsidy swamp

Tories want to create 'integrity commissioner'

The Harper revolution

Tories' untendered contract draws fire

Liberal cleanup had little effect

Free the trained seals

Federal Accountability Act and Action Plan

Canada's money trees: 93% of forest owned by governments

No more 'entitlements' 

Greasing the skids of entitlement culture

Bill may change Ottawa 'forever'

Humbled MPs start anew

 

Senate selection committee

OTTAWA - It could be the most expensive meeting on Parliament Hill.  (Huffington Post)

Elizabeth Marshall

Jim Munson

Pamela Wallin

Mike Duffy

Patrick Brazeau

Representation still the big issue

Wright resigns  

Nigel Wright  

Canada's loss

Harper's speech to caucus

Those who seek to benefit should leave

Another Senator leaves caucus

Wallin forced out

Findings removed from Duffy's audit report

Who do you trust?

Senator resigns from caucus

Duffy tried to influence CRTC decision  

Senators fights order to repay

Senate wouldn't let AG in

Senate living expenses uproar  

Senator takes kitchen exit  

5 more appointed Senators

Canadian Senators

Canadian Senate

Canadian Senate divisions

Duffy made secret deal

Repayment involved 'no party money' 

Expenses for election campaigning

Wright wrote personal cheque

Dishonesty spreads to PMO

Criminal investigation

Things in the senate expenses audit

Audit faults senators and rules

Repay living expenses

Canada's expensive senator   Terry Mercer

Questions about residency    Dennis Patterson

Audit to be make public

3 senators subject of audit

Bad PR year for appointed Senators

Senate living expenses uproar

Access to Senate information

Charged

Released on bail   

Removing senators a difficult task

Attendance 'not a high priority'

Expensive AB senator-in-waiting   

Forced leave

Mac Harb  

Senator used father-in-law's address

More appointed senators

Nominee Senator couldn't wait

Doug Black

Free spending public servants

Fundraising letter focus of probe   

What confidence?

Appointed Senators

Gerstein faces spending charges

Senate banking committee

About Senate committees  

Expenses average $469K per MP

Senate can't do anything

Compensation comparisons   .pdf  

Pressure on

"Fed up?” billboard campaign

Joyce Fairbairn

Senate pleads for privacy

Right and wrong way to exit  

Senator legally incompetent

7 more appointed

7 more lottery winners

Irving Gerstein 

6 months for fraud

Raymond Lavigne  

Need for oversight

Flood of patronage

New senators

Senate lottery winners appointed

Senator denies lobbying  

$9.5M fine for bribery  

Niko admits to bribe

Niko Resources

Senator accused of bilking

Mobina Jaffer   BC Law Society

Perks of appointment

Senate of Canada

'Two-tiered' justice

Senator probed over billing

Law society opens investigation

Bert Brown 

Senate showdown

'It's not justice'

Don't reform, stop funding it  

What we need is merit pay

Senators reject oversight  

Senators have to moonlight 

Canadian political crisis

Harper anoints ‘elected’ senator

Senate dilemma

Senate has been good for us

Senator faces criminal charges

Senate Liberals accused of delaying ethics bill

Tory baby steps in Senate reform

Tories introduce bills on Senate

National security vs. Liberal ethno-politics

Senate expenses exposed  

Senator's still costing  

Senator charged with fraud

Senate reform bill  

Senators  

Senator guilty of fraud  

Still spending  

Senate plans to study itself

Term limits

Start Senate overhaul by autumn

Senators keen to get on TV despite jokes

Senators head for sunny Cuba

Senate subcommittee on population health

Liberal senator wins 'Teddy' award

The senator who cried wolf

Senate 'guts' accountability bill

Senate shuts down fund

Michael Meighen   Wilfred Moore

Sitting MPs collect pensions  

Almost half of MPs are moonlighting

5 more Senate winners appointed

Prorogation's wasted

PETA's pie of terror

Alienated from the political process 

PM demands Senate reform, 'not a report'

Harper lays out his vision for the Senate

Senators grill colleagues over Dubai trip

Appointed Senators in spin control

Document senators warned against trip

Senators blasted for expensive Dubai junket

National Security Committee

Members of the Senate who appointed them

Colin Kenny   Tommy Banks

 

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

Conservative ridings getting more handouts

RCMP looking into 1995 grant

Edmonton city hall grabs tax refunds

Cut to GST will be only gas taxes relief 

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 spent $5B on wrong aircraft

Canadians' trust in government plummets

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

Why Toronto is Liberal bedrock

Trust in governments, corporations and global institutions continues to decline

Dictators, Prime Minister Paul Martin style

 

Quebec court awards $335K

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)

VIA to pay Pelletier 

Quebec Superior Court Justice Langlois

Pelletier wins second case

Failed Liberal candidate given federal job

Pelletier files legal motion to block VIA firing

304 top political aides eased into PS jobs

Liberals accused of campaign payroll grab

David Smith lies to the Ethics Commissioner

Union drops plan to pay candidates

Feds lost secret papers

Ministry staff being used in SK

   

BC Liberals win, Clark loses

VICTORIA - BC Premier Christy Clark defied poll predictions and led the BC Liberals to victory Tuesday night, but she failed to keep her own seat.  (CTV)  

Christy Clark

BC general election

BC Liberals majority

Decision BC 

MLA's pension payload

Canadian Taxpayers Federation

BC ministers stepping down

Pollsters are the biggest losers

More BC MLAs bow out

John Les   George Abbott  

Mary McNeil   Kevin Falcon

Legislative Assembly of BC

BC general election 2013

41.3% voter turnout

Former MLAs entitled to millions

BC general election 2009

An alternative to 'first-past-the-post

Vested interest

Ontario to vote on voter reform

Voters to decide how to pick MPPs

Government won't allow reform

Generation of entitled to entitlements

$14.8M

AB MLA transition allowances   

57% voter turnout  

Poll prediction failure

AB general election 2012

Politics is good for us

Fewer and fewer mark X

Alberta general election 2008

Appointment threatens WorkSafeNB

Record low voter turnout

The pros and cons of MMP

Why electoral reform won't work

Overhaul elections: petition

Proportional representation

Tough sell to politicians

   

Nine Nations of North America

Auditor General of Canada reports

BC election prediction project

Election Canada

 
 

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