Prime Time Crime

Canadian Elections  Life in a Banana republic

Greed and Corruption Sponsorship Scandal

Asian triads and Sidewinder

     Oil-For-Food: Canadian Connection

Canadian Foundations

House of Commons

The globies

Registry of Lobbyists

 
     

Filing taxes costs billions

OTTAWA - According to a report by the Fraser Institute, preparing and filing personal income tax returns costs Canadians between $4B and $6B every year. It costs the average Canadian tax filer approximately $215 to comply with the personal income tax system.  (Financial Post)  REPORT:  Cost of complying

 

#1 business strategy

CALGARY - What is the number one business strategy when an industry can’t compete effectively in a free market?  Answer: Go to the government for help. (Calgary Herald)

 

New funding plan:  non-user fees

EDMONTON - Opposition MLAs say it's time for the government to examine some radical ways to get people to the ballot box.  NDP Leader Brian Mason and Liberal MLA Kevin Taft say the province should consider fines for people who don't vote.  (Edmonton Journal)  RELATED:   How our health-care system got so unhealthy    Somehow we survived

 

NDP fined

Elections Nova Scotia has fined the governing NDP $10,000 for accepting an illegal campaign donation from a trade union, and has referred the case to police. (CBC)   REPORT:  Nova Scotia NDP report  .pdf

 

Senator cleared

OTTAWA - A federal watchdog has cleared a prominent Conservative fundraiser and senator from Quebec of conflict of interest allegations regarding an engineering contract to study replacing Montreal's Champlain Bridge.  (Ottawa Citizen)   Leo Housakos  

 

Lawyers dominate Parliament

OTTAWA - Since Confederation, 1,009 lawyers have sat in the House of Commons, nearly twice as many as politicians from any other profession, according to data collected by the Parliament.   Fifteen of Canada's 22 prime ministers have practised law.   (CP)

 

Cost a state secret

OTTAWA - In a significant policy shift, the Canadian government now believes that telling the country's taxpayers the future cost of the war in Afghanistan would be a threat to national security.  (CanWest)   MORE:  DND left plans in the trash

 

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. Handley's signature on a concession agreement three days before the 2007 territorial election put the $165M project into motion, which has since experienced many delays and cost overruns.  (Northern News Services)   PREVIOUS:   AG to look at bridge project   Atcon admitted bridge delays before $50M bailout

 

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)   PREVIOUS:  Information commissioner resigns

 

Election declared invalid

VANCOUVER - Residents of White Rock are headed back to the polls after the Supreme Court of BC declared the election of James Coleridge in last fall's municipal voting to be invalid.     (CTV)   MORE:  Judge unseats councillor   Councillor's lies make election invalid

 

Cabinet broke the law

OTTAWA - The Supreme Court of Canada says that Ottawa illegally collected employment insurance contributions for three years under the former Liberal government (CTV)   JUDGMENT:   2008 SCC 68   MORE: Government had right to spend surplus    SCC sides with government   Top court says Ottawa broke law in financing EI

 

27 members appointed aides

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced 27 parliamentary secretaries - some of them rookies, others veterans.  The job comes with a $15,600 a year salary increase (an MP earns $155,400 a year) and responsibility for keeping tabs on key files in committees, as well as standing in on days when a minister is absent from the Commons.  (Toronto Star)   PREVIOUS:  38 members to sit in cabinet   Unelected, and unelectable

 

Youth drawn to public service, just not in government

OTTAWA - Canada's youth are as interested in saving the world and serving the "public interest" as any generation before them, but they don't connect with a slow, stodgy federal government symbolized by a "bunch of old, grey-haired white guys," says a youth culture expert.  (Ottawa Citizen)   MORE:  29% believe government is 'open, honest'  

 

PMO can keep papers secret

OTTAWA - The Federal Court ruled that the 2,000 pages of records are under the control of the Prime Minister's Office and are therefore exempt from federal access-to-information laws.  (Ottawa Citizen)

Federal institutions get failing grades

OTTAWA - Canada's information watchdog criticized several federal institutions in a report released for exploiting escape clauses in the access-to-information system, which cause unnecessary delays and have a "detrimental impact" on the system.  (CanWest)  REPORT:  Annual report 2009-2010   MORE:  Agencies have encountered 'challenges'   PM's office told MPs not to talk to reporters  Access to information, isn't   Out of time   Why do governments hate democracy?

 

Cabinet ministers' offices regularly interfere

OTTAWA - Cabinet ministers' offices had been under orders to pressure bureaucrats to pare down the amount of information released under the Access to Information Act up until The Canadian Press recently broke the story on how one political staffer killed the release of a document, forcing the Prime Minister's Office to get involved and to do some damage control.   (Hill Times)     MORE:  Political experience still the express lane to lobbying job    'Amoral' political aides  Political staff shouldn't meddle     Do the zoomer math

 

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.  The government has also not yet released the name of the company that won the bid, or how much it will be paid for its work.  (CBC)

 

Witness faces charges

OTTAWA - Daniel Côté - the senator’s aide caught cutting down trees on Lavigne’s neighbour’s Wakefield property during working hours in July 2005 - faces charges in Montreal of assault, assault with a weapon, mischief and three counts of criminal harassment.  (Ottawa Citizen)   PREVIOUS:  Aide hired to scout property   Raymond Lavigne

Investigations chief subpoenaed

 

Daughter says her father knew he was under RCMP lens

OTTAWA - The daughter of storied politician Tommy Douglas says her father would not have been surprised to learn the RCMP had compiled a hefty security file on him.    (CP)  PREVIOUS:    CSIS won't open full file   RCMP spied on Tommy Douglas   Ottawa sued over censorship

 

Spending soars

OTTAWA - Financial statements show that spending by the Privy Council Office for the fiscal year that ended in March hit $172.5M, compared to $151.8M in fiscal 2008.  (CanWest)

 

RCMP criminal investigation

REGINA - The RCMP says it will conduct a criminal investigation after receiving a complaint of forgery related to some irregular NDP memberships submitted by the Dwain Lingenfelter campaign during the recent leadership race.  (Regina Leader-Post)   MORE:  NDP membership scandal to be investigated    Party report clears Lingenfelter

 

Appointment system will be good for us

OTTAWA - The federal cabinet filled more than a half-dozen posts at key government boards last month with Conservative supporters, including one of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's closest friends.   The high-level appointments were among more than 30 plums cabinet handed out in one day at the height of internal Tory strife and speculation that Harper's leadership might be in trouble.  (CP)   MORE:  Lobbyists say it is a plus to meet with PM but the real work happens elsewhere   Tories propose new watchdog   Commissioner of lobbying

 

Taxes remain largest expense

Despite the tax-cut boasts of governments, Canadian families paid 6% more on average in personal income taxes last year, which remained the single largest expense for families, even ahead of keeping a roof over their heads.  (CanWest)   REPORT:  Survey of household spending 2007   Tax breaks inconsistent

 

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

 

Politics has been good for me

OTTAWA - According to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s calculations, the country's 65 defeated or retiring MPs of all political stripes will collect $52.4 million in cumulative pension payments, which kick in at 55 and run until 75 years old.  In addition, $2.3 million in severance cheques will be issued to MPs who were in Ottawa for less than six years or who are under 55.  (CanWest) Preliminary Results 59.1% voter turnout   Results, ridings & candidates

 

37% voter turnout

HALIFAX - Fewer than four out of 10 eligible voters cast a ballot in the Halifax municipal election, with some people blaming the low turnout on voter fatigue.  (CBC)

 
   

Former aide hired

OTTAWA - Ian Brodie has been named a senior counsellor at Hill & Knowlton Canada, a renowned firm that provides government-relations and communications advice to a range of blue-chip corporate clients, including BCE Inc., General Dynamics, Rio Tinto and Scotiabank.  (Ottawa Citizen)   PREVIOUS:  Hard times

Dion out

OTTAWA - "I failed."  With those words, Stéphane Dion gave up the Liberal leadership, a prize hard-won less than two years ago and lost in the wake of the worst election results for the party in 20 years.  (Toronto Star)   PREVIOUS:  Nice guys don't last in politics   Preliminary Results 59.1% voter turnout    Results, ridings & candidates

     

Envelopes with cash violate ethics rules

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

Oliphant Commission

Karlheinz Schreiber

You would hope our top public official was worth more than $225K

The Mulroney show

Mulroney forced to explain

Pressure to pay back $2M

$14M+ inquiry finds conduct 'inappropriate'

Recommendations don't go far enough

'Inappropriate' does not begin to describe what went on here

'Inappropriate?'

Ethically challenged MPs  

Nothing ‘sinister’ about cash stuffed envelopes

At the inquiry

Why did Mulroney take the cash?

Tax payers on the hook

Tax deal standard practice in 2000

Taxpayers left holding the bag, again

A tale of two taxpayers

Negotiated tax deal

 
     

'Amoral' political aides

OTTAWA - Some of Canada’s most-respected public policy experts say it is time to rein in the hundreds of assistants to cabinet ministers who roam Parliament Hill with no training and no accountability to anyone but their political bosses.  In late 2008, there were more than 600 ministerial aides working for the Prime Minister’s Office, ministers and secretaries of state.   (Ottawa Citizen)

Political staff aren't really running amok

McGuinty refuses to close partisan loophole

Sweetheart deal under attack

Political staff shouldn't meddle

Blocking our right to know

What public function does Parliament serve?

Report blocked

100 top lobbyists 2009

Accountability a state secret

Cyber trails make it harder for politicians to escape scandal

 
     

Only a third politically involved

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)    

Non-voting political activity

Parties should play down partisanship

I refuse to tell students political fairy tales

But who cares?  

Pent-up anger unites the land  

How your MP voted an exercise in futility

 
     

Alienated from the political process

OTTAWA - As thousands of Canadians protest Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to suspend Parliament, a new report says people are feeling increasingly alienated from the political process and its institutions.   

Democratic Engagement 2010   .pdf  

5 more Senate lottery winners appointed

5 more Senators appointed

Prorogation's wasted on those who need it

Parliament makes Canada unstable

2009 contacts with lobbyists

Crocodile tears for the 'dignity' of Parliament

Does Parliament matter?   

Political subsidy system obnoxious

PETA's pie of terror

 
     

Loopholes too big

OTTAWA - Canada's new procurement watchdog says the federal government should close loopholes that allowed more than $1.7B to be handed out over three years to preferred suppliers without competition.  (Ottawa Citizen)  

Private firms jack up prices

Lax on 'sole-source' contracts

Procurement Ombudsman annual report

Spreading the wealth unevenly

Watchdog questions Public Works contracts

 
     

Verner invokes obscure parliamentary privilege

OTTAWA - Heritage Minister Josee Verner is invoking obscure 18th-century British parliamentary privilege in a bid to avoid testifying in a case that has pitted her husband and his Quebec City advertising company against a minority shareholder.  (CanWest)

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

 
     

Power brokers take a hit

OTTAWA - The 3,664 lobbyists duly registered, as required by law, to try to influence the federal government are hardly a model of professional solidarity. (Macleans)

Lobbyists' Code of Conduct

Canada's sorry state of affairs

OTTAWA - Somewhere in the political maze that is Ottawa, there is a door with a sign that says, Community Historical Recognition Program.  It leads to a small office where politicians decide to whom and how to say, sorry.    (Asian Pacific Post)

 
     

Take the cloak off MPs' expenses

OTTAWA - Members of Parliament budgeted themselves nearly $128M last year, courtesy of the taxpayer, to run their offices and keep in touch with constituents. That's the big picture.  But when it comes to the details, we're in the dark.  Even the auditor general isn't allowed to probe Canadian MPs' expenses without first getting their approval.   (Toronto Star) 

Call for accountability

MPs   Senators

Canadians can learn from UK scandal

Canadian left in dark about MPs' spending

Reasons they will not be a Canadian election

Canadians view country as corrupt

6,500+ lobbyist contacts

Expense scandal can't happen in Ottawa

MPs ink secret deal on cash

Accountability  

Access should include Parliament records

Parliament refused more funds

Entitled

MPs may be held accountable

House to post MPs' voting records

Snapshot of MPs

MPs less experienced, less educated

Phantom commission

BDC has been good for us

Being speaker has been good for me

New $1B crown corporation lacks direction

 
     

Administrators feel the power

OTTAWA - For Export Development Canada (EDC) and its 1,073 employees, the new role of recession fighter is as new as it is for two sister agencies, the Business Development Bank (BDB) and Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp (CMHC).   (Globe & Mail)  

Budget 2009

So much for fiscal restraint

Crown corporations of Canada

AG Report: Crown Corporations

$85B deficit

Day of the lobbyists

Pork barrel black hole

 
     

Tory MP charged

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

Over spending budgets

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

 
     

Border agency lacks 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."  (Citizen)  

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

 
     

Clock ticking on chances to lobby

OTTAWA - On July 1, the Federal Lobbying Act will impose a five-year prohibition on senior public office holders, barring them from entering the lucrative world of government arm-twisting.  (National Post)

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)

 
     

What are they good for?

MONTREAL - With the country awash in calls for an arm's length probe into a variety of brewing scandals, questions are being raised about the efficacy of public inquiries.  (CP)  

7 tricks a con-artist will use on you

Public inquiries coming back into fashion

Inquiries are not the best solution

Right to Know

 
     

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)

Balloting blackout survives

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)  

 
     

DND mishandled $100M

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

 
     

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

90,000 dead on voters' lists

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

 
     

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

Cadman offered $1M for vote

Like a Rock: The Chuck Cadman Story

 
     

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)

Paille dirt?  Paris is musing

Tory failure to disclose donations

Legal bill now at $114,000

Tories to probe polling practices

Multiculturalism policy falling behind the times

Probe into Liberal polling dings Tories instead

Feds spend on polls

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

Harper says party obeyed the laws

How to get elected and name your salary

 
     

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)

Canadian Election Act

How to interpret the law

Chief interpreter' can't even interpret laws

Tories unveil raid documents

KISS principle

Elections boss refuses to back down

Lifting veil on voting

MPs vs. elections chief flap over veils

 
     

Have not Ontario

TORONTO - Ontario will not be shut out from receiving equalization payments next year, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty confirmed Monday prior to meeting with his provincial counterparts.   (CTV)  

Ontario qualifies for equalization payments

Ontario expecting little help from feds

Secret report angers federal suppliers

BC oil could ease crisis

Fiscal year ending March 31, 2008

'Alberta envy'

The 'curse' of untold wealth

Boom puts have-not provinces on top

Politics and morals, ends and means

Alberta $4.6B surplus

Premiers eye Alberta's massive surplus

NS to get $870M from feds in oil royalties

Canada: Departments and Agencies

 

Ontario releases 2006 public sector salaries

Ontario public sector salary disclosure 2007

Sun shines on civil servants

Hamilton: Who made what in 2006

Raise boots MPs' base salary

Ontario MPPs get 2% raise on top of 25%

Another raise for MPPs

MPPs are 'junket junkies'

Where does the shoe pinch most in Canada

Beggars with bulging wallets

No consensus among premiers

How to deal with bureaucracy and regulations

PS too 'isolated' from Canada

Bureaucrats feeling effect

Insecure bureaucrats

Canada bleeding competitive edge away

Job power tipping to the West

Public Accounts of Canada for 2006

Feds losing millions to theft, fraud

Satire: The Social Insurance Credit Card

Canadian consumer Tax Index: 2007

Millions face old-age poverty

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

Quebec sets sights on Alberta oil cash

1/3 of gas price taxes

 
     

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) 

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

Second thoughts about information reforms

MPs in top 2% of wage earners

Time to stop PMs' from ruling like Kings

Exemptions from Accountability Act

Watchdog criticizes proposed appointments

The Whistleblowers Bill and FAIR

Who's accountable?

Tories start draining the subsidy swamp

Tories want to create 'integrity commissioner'

A loophole opens door to big-money

Lobbyists against Federal Accountability Act

The Harper revolution

Tories' untendered contract draws fire

Liberal cleanup had little effect

What a mess!

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

 

Senator accused of bilking

VANCOUVER - Liberal Senator Mobina Jaffer is being investigated by the BC Law Society over allegations she bilked a religious order she represented as a lawyer.  (Toronto Star) 

Perks of appointment

Senate of Canada

'Two-tiered' justice

Appointed senate delays final vote

Politics more important than product safety

Senate guts product safety bill

Senator's conduct to be reviewed over legal bill

Senator probed over billing

Law society opens investigation

Quebec prepared to block Senate reform

Bill C-20

Canadian Senate

Canadian Senate divisions

'Never on the radar'

Harper's senators and MLAs' lost minds

Flood of patronage

Political lottery winners

New senators

Patronage sinks to new lows

Senate lottery winners appointed

18 new Canadian senators

Ontario to get 21 more seats in Parliament

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

Bill C-16: act to amend the Canada Elections

National security vs. Liberal ethno-politics

 

Sober up, Senators

Senate reform moves ahead

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

$4M to send bureaucrats on field trips

Liberal senator wins 'Teddy' award

The senator who cried wolf

Dubai Renaissance Hotel

Senate 'guts' accountability bill

Senate shuts down fund

PM demands Senate reform, 'not a report'

Harper lays out his vision for the Senate

GG designate denies separatist list

The democratic deficit marches on

Life in a Banana Republic

Senators grill colleagues over Dubai trip

Senate committee OKs luxury hotel stay

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

Michael Meighen   Wilfred Moore

 

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

Pettigrew clarifies role in spending scandal

Les Secrets d'Option Canada

Conservative ridings getting more handouts

RCMP looking into 1995 grant

Shadowy group sought $10M from feds

Edmonton city hall grabs tax refunds

Cut to GST will be only gas taxes relief 

Judges, lawyers happy with status quo

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 reward: "Relocation Services"?

Hill is alive with the sound of lobbyists

Liberals spent $5B on wrong aircraft

Canadians' trust in government plummets

Solutions do more harm than good

Feds struggle to keep income tax cuts

'Phony War' over child care

Three decades later, government still flawed

Time to hold government accountable

Pay hike for gov't officials more

Gold-plated disgrace

Minister has 'zero' accountability

Opposition to Gomery's proposals

RCMP demotes officer over political bid

Volpe bills taxpayers $7,000 for 31 meals

Why Toronto is Liberal bedrock

Trust in governments, corporations and global institutions continues to decline

Dictators, Prime Minister Paul Martin style

Prisoners exercise their right to vote

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)

Court orders feds, 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

Grits go on patronage spree ahead of election

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

We can't afford a partisan civil service

     

Stacking the deck in BC

VICTORIA - In 2007, a three-person panel selected by the premier reviewed MLA compensation.    (CTF) 

BC deficit could reach $2B

BC NDP takes the money

Appointment threatens WorkSafeNB

Record low voter turnout

Former MLAs entitled to millions in benefits

MLA pension summary 2009   .pdf

MLA salary May 2009   .pdf   

BC general election 2009

41.3% voter turnout

EDMONTON - Election turnout Monday was an 41.3%, another record low for the bustling province - and a Canadian worst.  (Edmonton Journal)  

Fewer and fewer mark X

Election results

Tory majority

Alberta general election 2008

Alberta votes 2008

 

 

Voters soundly reject MMP

An alternative to 'first-past-the-post

Cabinet will set reform question

Vested interest

Ontario to vote on voter reform

Voters to decide how to pick MPPs

Government won't allow reform

The generation of entitled to their entitlements

Tough sell to politicians

The fix is in on electoral reform

Ontario seeks to control referendum spending

Province tackles electoral reform

Voting reform would cost extra millions

Reform's on the ballot: now if only they cared

The pros and cons of MMP

Why electoral reform won't work

Overhaul elections: petition

Panel picks radical voting changes for Ontario

Proportional representation

BC electoral referendum delayed to 2009

BC Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform

Electoral reform vote falls short of threshold

Fair Vote Canada

STV in Animated Action

 
     

Nine Nations of North America

How'd they vote

     

BC election prediction project

Election Canada

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