Missing the 4th

Tomorrow is the day for what's usually one of the best parties in Ottawa -- the annual 4th of July shindig at the U.S. Ambassador's house in Rockcliffe.  David Wilkins, the most recent occupant of the house, threw a heck of a party while he was here, complete with crazy crowds, amazing food, "beach music" (really just great rock and roll and R &B) and of course, boiled peanuts. The latter are apparently some South Carolina tradition. I tried them. They must be an acquired taste.

The new ambassador is a Chicago fellow named David Jacobson, who, sadly, won't be at tomorrow's event, we're told. His nomination hearings aren't finished yet in Washington.  The party, however, must go on.

Your tax dollars at work

I have a story in today's Star about how members of the Conservative government, in cartoonish fashion, are trying to pass off taxpayers' dollars as partisan gifts.

But wait, as they say in the infomercials -- there's more.

In Quebec,  as The Globe's Daniel LeBlanc reveals, Conservative MPs' newsletters -- financed by tax dollars --  are being used to portray the Bloc Quebecois as a friend to pedophiles.

In Manitoba, CBC tells us, minister Vic Toews is using his good offices to portray Michael Ignatieff as anti-Ukrainian.

All together, it paints quite the picture, doesn't it?.

P.S. One additional note about the cheques. Gerard Kennedy, when he headed a food bank, learned that the law can be a little loose on the definition of cheques; that unlikely scraps of paper can be honoured as promissory notes.  So he had a suggestion about  what to do with Van Loan's recent largesse in Innisfil and his apparent, personal cheque.  

"The one thing I did learn when I worked for the food bank is you can
actually cash those things. It's a legal document. I think we're going
to try to get hold of those people and tell them they actually got
double grants there. They got one from the government and one from Peter
Van Loan, who's apparently so riven with guilt over the time it took to
get to them that he wants to make it up to them."

At ease, Canadians

Early into his first term as Prime Minister, Stephen Harper mused aloud about how he wished Canadian reporters would stand when he entered the room. I believe the collective reply to this musing had something to do with weather forecasts and the temperature in hell.

But yesterday, on Canada Day, Global TV news  showed  us how Harper managed to get the military to give him a salute that's normally reserved for the Governor-General. As Heritage Minister James Moore explains in the video, this was something that the Prime Minister apparently wanted. 

 So if you do run across our Tim Horton's, hockey-dad, regular-guy PM this summer on the barbecue circuit, give him a little salute. Or stand up, or something. He really seems to appreciate deference.

Sorry we don't speak Liberal

Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon is due to announce "an important initiative to support the language industry in Canada" tomorow, across the river in Gatineau Quebec.

Presumably, judging from this article in Embassy magazine,  Mr Cannon won't be introducing anything to support the *Liberal* language industry.

DFAIT insiders tell Embassy that since the Conservative government took power in 2006, political staffers have directed rank and file Foreign Affairs bureaucrats to stop using policy language created by the former Liberal government.

"There are phrases you are not supposed to use," said one Canadian diplomat, on condition of anonymity. "Anything that smacks of the previous government is totally verboten.

"There is this tendency, almost like a knee-jerk reaction, to discount or ignore or change whatever it is the Liberals did and let's put a new Conservative face on it," he added. "There's a whole range of words and expressions that are being depopulated out of the documents, and are replaced with ones that are more to the [Conservatives'] liking."

Chief among the forbidden phrases, multiple DFAIT insiders have told Embassy, are "human security," "public diplomacy" and "good governance." Preferred key words include "human rights," the "rule of law," and "democracy" or "democratic development."

Stamp of patriotism

It's list week at the Star, as loyal readers may have noticed. In that spirit, and a day after Canada Day, here's the top 10 list of "Canada's Most Iconic Brands," as compiled by  Brand Finance Canada. (h/t Marketing Magazine.)

Number #1 is Canada Post.

 2. Canadian Tire.

3. Tim Horton's

4. CBC

5. Air Canada

6. Toronto Maple Leafs

7.  Montreal Canadiens

8.  Petro Canada

9. Via Rail

10. CN Tower

New EKOS poll

Further proof that a week is a long time in politics -- the federal Liberals  have climbed back into a slight lead over Conservatives in the newest poll by EKOS. Download it here:

Download EKOSpollJuly2

EKOS has also found, maybe not surprisingly, that the Liberals and Conservatives are fighting for the same, limited pool of voters -- white, upper-middle-class men. Women and younger voters are less enchanted with either of the big parties.

The best job in government

Apparently the place to work in this town is the Privy Council Office, specifically in communications.  I know this because of the voice mail there.  Regardless of  whether you call in the morning, or afternoon, on a Friday or a Tuesday, you get a message saying that you've called "outside regular business hours."  

Now I know who all those people are sitting on patios on the Sparks St. Mall. I thought they were tourists. 

More from Rocco Rossi

Today's story in the Star is a very short summary of what the Liberals' national director, Rocco Rossi, told me and a smattering of other journalists yesterday.  Rossi, called "Ottawa Bob" in today's National Post editorial for trying to spin in the tradition of "Baghdad Bob,"  was obviously trying to send one message with yesterday's calls --- things are looking up.  About $1.8-million was raised in the first three months of this year; another $3-million through April to June.

Here's a bit more of what Rossi had to say:

On why the fundraising is going better post-Dion:

"The new leader is enormous, not just because of traction at events and people wanting to support, but also is the seriousness with which he’s taken the mechanics of the party to heart.

You have a guy who understands that in the 21st century, with relatively low political limits, we need to build out a robust membership, that’s involved on an ongoing basis, not just to volunteer and to provide input and to provide sign locations, but also to assist in fundraising. And so you saw him take a personal position on the one-member one vote at the convention, despite the fact it had been turned down in Montreal just two years before because he feels we need that energized membership base and you’re going to convince people that membership counts if you count every member. And so that was one piece of it.

The other thing is he makes himself available tirelessly to go from coast to coast to coast for events around membership, around fundraising and that energy has translated well and we’ve also got a renewed, refreshed team around fundraising and membership and we’ve added some technology tools that have assisted as well. You take that as a package and it’s been going well, but again, we still have to work to do."

Q: Did the Conservatives' negative ads have an effect?

 "What I can say is that it’s clearly a big motivator in the kind of uptick that we got in the second quarter versus the first quarter."

Q: What else is being done about a possible election in September?

 

 

"We’re rolling out online training for the 308 ridings ...As the candidates are nominated, their teams will be trained to be sure that they have the absolute best tools we can provide them with."

 

"There’s clearly a goal as stated by Senator (David) Smith, to have all nomination meetings, or the bulk of nomination meetings, at least called if not completed by the time the House returns in September. So there’s a very very large push on all fronts."

 

 

As Canadian as...

Just in time for Canada Day this week, we learn that Tim Horton's, that perennial favourite of the Conservative government, is going to become Canadian-based again. (Ed note: What??? Have they been just visiting all this time too?)

And meanwhile, NDP MP Charlie Angus is telling us that this year's  Canada Day pins were made in China. Here's the text of a release Angus sent out a little while ago to the press gallery (sorry, no link available yet.)

All across Canada, MPs are handing out Canadian flags and pins to celebrate Canada Day, but few Canadians know that these Parliamentary symbols are being made in China by a US-owned shell company. New Democrat Charlie Angus (Timmins—James Bay) says that despite claims by Heritage Minister James Moore that the company is Canadian-based, the real owner of 6768997 Canada Inc. is actually listed as being in Playa del Ray, California.

“On Canada Day we celebrate our pride in the Maple Leaf, how is it that the Conservative government allowed a shell company, with no corporate history, to walk away with half a million dollars worth of contracts to outsource production of the Maple Leaf flag pin to China?” said Angus.

Putting the blue in blue ribbon

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has finally announced his appointees to the "blue-ribbon" panel that's supposed to work out an employment-insurance deal with Liberals this summer. (The Liberal half of the panel is made up of MPs Marlene Jennings and Mike Savage, along with Ignatieff's policy guy, Kevin Chan.) Here's the Conservative side:

 PRIME MINISTER STEPHEN HARPER ANNOUNCES MEMBERS OF EMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WORKING GROUP

OTTAWA –  Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced the appointment of the Government's members of the Employment Insurance working group.

The Government's representatives on the working group are:

• Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development;

• Pierre Poilievre, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister;

• Malcolm Brown, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development.