In other rooms on Parliament Hill....

Speaking of former Rat Packers, Copps' old colleague from the Liberal benches,  Don Boudria has written his memoirs and will be launching the book on Monday night on Parliament Hill. Though he earned the title "Binder Boy" for his voluminous cheat notes during Question Period, the former government house leader clearly prefers to think of himself as "Busboy." That's the title of his book: "Busboy - From Kitchen to Cabinet," in which he tells of how he got his start on Parliament Hill working in the cafeteria.

The book launch takes place at 3:30 on Monday in Room 237-C of Centre Block and there is absolutely no truth to the rumour that Boudria  will be clearing tables and rinsing glasses  in between signing books.

Ethics. Chapter 2.

Sarnia MP Roger Gallaway has launched another salvo this week against the ethics commissioner, with a side swipe at the party whip's office too. In yet another letter to ethics czar Bernard Shapiro, Gallaway is calling for an investigation of how the whips dole out the luxurious foreign trips for MPs. They're certainly worth more than club memberships, which MPs must declare, Gallaway notes.

The Rich Get Richer

In Ottawa, where the state of fiscal federalism is actually cocktail-party chat, it was hard not to smile at the fact that Canada's biggest lottery winner was some lucky person from Alberta - the richest province in the federation. This is the  province, after all, where citizens are already getting bonus cheques of $400 from the overflowing treasury.

Several weeks ago, Alberta MP Monte Solberg was asked what he'd do with his little dividend. Always quick with a quip, Solberg replied: "Why, I'll roll it up, set a match to it,  and use it to light my cigars."

Your Tax Dollars At Work

At 11:13 a.m. today the office of Ontario Commissioner of Emergency Management Julian Fantino issued a press release that the commish would be briefing the media on the evacuation of the Kashechewan Reserve precisely 17 minutes later.

Alas, the news of the 11:30 a.m. news conference several blocks from Queen's Park did not reach reporters until 10 minutes after it was supposed to start -- thanks only to quick-thinking press gallery steward Gerald Christopher who raced to media outlets' bureaus in the Legislature to alert them.

At 12:11 a.m., an official Canada Newswire advisory was issued about the news conference that started 41 minutes earlier.

Adding insult to injury, officials in Premier Dalton McGuinty's office were also left unaware of the press briefing.

Hopefully, things work more smoothly on the evacuation of the reserve...

Rookie Mistake

Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory had one of his worst days yet in the Legislature on Wednesday.

While NDP Leader Howard Hampton was hammering the government on one of the most explosive issues at Queen’s Park in recent memory - the medical evacuation of up to 1,100 people from Kashechewan Reserve - rookie Tory was questioning Premier Dalton McGuinty about the loss of manufacturing jobs in Ontario.

Economic Development Minister Joe Cordiano, who dismissed the Tories’ claims the province’s economy is stagnating as “a bunch of bunk,” could barely contain his glee at the line of questioning.

Needless to say, Tory’s strategists are promising to go after the government in Thursday’s Question Period on - you guessed it - the Kashechewan crisis.

A day late and a dollar short, perhaps, but better late than never.

Bas Snub!

Premier Dalton McGuinty has called a Nov. 24 by-election in Scarborough-Rouge River and his handpicked candidate to succeed veteran Liberal Alvin Curling - now Canada’s ambassador to the Dominican Republic - is local city councillor Bas Balkissoon.

While McGuinty heaped praise on Balkissoon, who was instrumental in exposing the MFP computer leasing scandal at city hall, the rookie Grit candidate hasn’t reciprocated.

On his website votebas.ca there is nary a mention or a photograph of McGuinty.

This at a time when even the most inane Liberal press release at Queen’s Park is touted as a major initiative by the “McGuinty government.”

Watch for a change on the site as soon as the premier’s many hypersensitive handlers get wind of the Internet snub.

Buzz Off!

Might Buzz Hargrove and the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) back Premier Dalton McGuinty and the Liberals in the next provincial election?

One might think so after hearing Hargrove speak at last week’s Ontario Economic Summit in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

The union leader heaped praise on McGuinty for helping out the auto industry and for maintaining good relations with labour in the province. He drew a contrast between McGuinty’s approach and that of Premier Gordon Campbell in British Columbia, scene of a bitter wildcat teachers’ strike.

“The approach you are taking causes you to stand out,” said Hargrove in thanking McGuinty for his speech to the summit. “I am absolutely honoured to thank you today.”

Asked afterward whether this should be interpreted as an endorsement of McGuinty and the Liberals, Hargrove said: “I’m not backing anybody at this point. It’s too early. Ask me later.”

The CAW traditionally supports the New Democrats, but the relationship between the union and the NDP has been rocky since the social contract was imposed on the province by Bob Rae’s government in the early 1990s.

In the 1999 and 2003 provincial elections, the CAW contributed financially to the NDP, but Hargrove urged his members and other trade unionists to “vote strategically” by backing the candidate with the best chance of unseating the Conservatives. In most ridings, of course, this approach benefited the Liberal candidate.

Hargrove’s praise of McGuinty last week suggests he might go even further in 2007 and explicitly support the Liberals in the election campaign.

It helps, of course, that he personally loathes Ontario NDP Leader Howard Hampton and has long lambasted him as not left wing enough.

Hampton, who despises Hargrove, warned Buzz should be careful of who he makes a political bedfellow.

Insiders and Outsiders

Journalists in Ottawa never make it into the lobby of the House of Commons, that exclusive inner sanctum where MPs mingle before and after Question Period, munching on snacks and trying out their lines.

But on Wednesday, we spotted the parliamentary press gallery’s newest member, Sun/Le Journal columnist Sheila Copps, ambling out of the Liberals’ lobby after Question Period, as if she were still a member of government.

Now, if the former deputy prime minister wants to successfully re-brand herself as an outspoken journalist, she has to realize that the politicians get to go inside, the journalists stay out.

Don't Keep Your Distance

So now we know: The Gomery report on the sponsorship scandal will be publicly released on Nov. 1. Two days later, the Prime Minister heads to the Summit of Americas conference.

Or, as it may well say on the PM's official itinerary:

Nov. 1: Don't cry for me...

Nov. 3: Argentina.

Scotland the Brave?

Usually, when visiting foreign leaders or ministers come to town and meet the Prime Minister or the Foreign Affairs Minister, there is a brief news conference afterwards. But sometimes, it is significant when the Prime Minister decides not to meet the press after a meeting with a foreign leader. On Thursday, Prime Minister Martin met with Scotland's First Minister Jack McConnell, who is on an international visit to North America to do those things that leaders do on foreign trips: talk up the possibility of foreign investment (Scotland, with ten per cent of Britain's population, is now getting 40 per cent of Britain's Foreign Direct Investment), say how sophisticated and innovative the high tech sector is, and impress the folks at home.

However, if Martin had been available to the press after his meeting with McConnell, he would have had a lot of awkward questions about the similarities between Scotland and Quebec. Why is Martin meeting McConnell -- when he insists that Canada must speak with one voice? Why is Scotland -- which has a population of six million, a long history and a distinct culture -- called a nation by British Prime Minister Tony Blair while Martin and his government shies away from calling Quebec a nation?

Much easier just to welcome cameras into the room before the meeting and not have to deal with hard questions.