Prime Time Crime
Canadian Politics
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
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)
OTTAWA - The government is going to lift a ban on transmitting early election results. (CBC)
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)
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
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
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)
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)
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
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)
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)
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
OTTAWA - A Conservative pollster has been censured by the market research industry's watchdog for conducting a misinformation campaign against Liberal MP Irwin . 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
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
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)
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
OTTAWA - Canada’s polling industry could be in for a shakeup in 2012, after some major knocks to its reputation in 2011. (Toronto Star)
Given the state of the global economy, it might not surprise you to learn that psychopaths may be controlling the world (Tyee)
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)
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)
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
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)
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)
Accounting process needs to be 'rectified'
Reins tightening on crown corps
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)
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)
Court throws out election result
Election result 'null and void'
Political parties are a concern
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)
OTTAWA - A suspicious number of federal contracts for goods and services appear rigged to favour one bidder. (CP)
NDP calls for probe of spending
Civil service & politics clash
National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy
Lawyers don't grasp gov accounting
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
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
MPs seek $250K for legal costs
Canadian federal election 2011
Calculations for MPs .pdf
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)
Administration of the House of Commons
Salaries for members of Parliament
'Magic' among budget watchdog must-haves
Chapter 1—Financial Management
Questions about office after Page leaves
Expenditure Monitor 2012-13Q2 .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)
Political parties operate outside privacy laws
Political staff aren't running amok
McGuinty refuses to close loophole
Political staff shouldn't meddle
How lobbyists almost derailed a bridge
Files not closed on Carson case
Carson's ties to money launderer
Appointment system takes a hit
Network finds its way into posts
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)
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
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)
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.
MacKay defends $9B jet purchase
OTTAWA - Bev Oda is resigning from cabinet and stepping down as Conservative MP for Durham. (Toronto Star)
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)
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)
Harper says he authorized an offer to Cadman
Judge orders analysis of Cadman tape
Crucial date pulled from Cadman book
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)
People on Parliament Hill are about 90% bullshit
Politics and morals, ends and means
NS to get $870M from feds in oil royalties
Democracy compromised by voting system
Altered in latest omnibus bill
Budget cuts hit front line services
Cuts will be felt in programs and services
Ontario public sector salary disclosure 2007
Ontario expecting little help from feds
Ontario releases 2006 public sector salaries
Federalism really is dysfunctional
Equalization consensus remains elusive
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
The Whistleblowers Bill and FAIR
Tories start draining the subsidy swamp
Tories want to create 'integrity commissioner'
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
OTTAWA - It could be the most expensive meeting on Parliament Hill. (Huffington Post)
Representation still the big issue
Those who seek to benefit should leave
Findings removed from Duffy's audit report
Duffy tried to influence CRTC decision
Repayment involved 'no party money'
Expenses for election campaigning
Things in the senate expenses audit
Audit faults senators and rules
Canada's expensive senator Terry Mercer
Questions about residency Dennis Patterson
Bad PR year for appointed Senators
Removing senators a difficult task
Attendance 'not a high priority'
Senator used father-in-law's address
Fundraising letter focus of probe
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 Senate
Start Senate overhaul by autumn
Senators keen to get on TV despite jokes
Senate subcommittee on population health
Liberal senator wins 'Teddy' award
Almost half of MPs are moonlighting
5 more Senate winners appointed
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
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
Conservative ridings getting more handouts
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'
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
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)
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
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)
Pollsters are the biggest losers
Former MLAs entitled to millions
An alternative to 'first-past-the-post
Ontario to vote on voter reform
Appointment threatens WorkSafeNB