Satisfied customers

Thanks for the plugs today in Question Period, fellows. Much appreciated.

Le très hon. Stephen Harper (premier ministre, PCC): Monsieur le Président, je peux même citer le Toronto Star, journal libéral, où l'on dit au sujet du déficit que l'opposition ne veut pas commencer à sabrer dans les dépenses du gouvernement, mais bien au contraire, l'opposition demande que le gouvernement dépense davantage.

The editorial in the Toronto Star goes on to say, “Let's have a real conversation. The Liberal leader has said he would be open to the idea of raising taxes. The Prime Minister isn't”.

**

Hon. Jim Flaherty (Minister of Finance, CPC): Mr. Speaker, this is coming from a party with a hypocritical position. That position is even noted today by what is going to be my new favourite paper, the Toronto Star. It says:

It's hard to take the opposition's outrage seriously. In January, when the government announced the projected 2009 federal deficit, both the Liberals and NDP accused it of not doing enough. The Liberals voted for the budget anyway, all the while attacking the Conservative government for (a) spending too much and (b) not spending enough. Now, the opposition parties continue with their internally inconsistent attacks.

***

Hon. Jim Flaherty (Minister of Finance, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the provincial budget in Ontario in 2001-02 was balanced. Yes it was. It was an excellent balanced budget.

I have to agree again with what is becoming my favourite paper, the Toronto Star when it looks at the opposition and it says, “The opposition should get a grip on itself. The deficit is a direct result of the global recession nor is the new deficit projection out of line with the outlook in other countries. The deficit would still just be 3.3% of Canada's GDP. By comparison, Washington's is 13.6%. Japan's, Britain's and Germany's finances are all higher than Canada's”.

I hope the--

 

The funny reels

I find it interesting too that the Prime Minister has old  tapes of Ignatieff.  Has he not heard of these things called  CDs?

Then again, it may be worth checking to see whether the PM is referring to tapes supplied by CTV's Atlantic affiliate. If I recall correctly, Harper's team was so tech-savvy during the last election that they had these tapes fired up and ready for viewing by reporters aboard the campaign plane, within hours of the original recording.

Back at school

Blogging is light this week because I'm roaming around workshops at a big thinkers' conference this week at Carleton University. (And yes, this small thinker is conspicuous in the crowd.)
I hope to make up for the absence with a flurry of blog posts and features in days ahead, but for now I'm in listening mode. More soon, I promise.

Media mysteries

   Judging by the chitchat around Ottawa and on the blogosphere, there are three great mysteries in the Ottawa media universe right now.

1. What happened to Edward Greenspon, the recently ousted editor-in-chief of The Globe and Mail? As some colleagues have noted, his departure, if not his entire existence, has been airbrushed out of reports about the fact that there's a new guy in charge at Canada's national newspaper.

2. What's going on with CBC Newsworld's Politics show after Don Newman's departure? A little blog entry by Ian Capstick today has gone viral across the blogosphere, helped by its prominence on the National Newswatch site.

3. Will CanWest avoid bankruptcy? For months now, we've heard the cycle of creditor deadlines reached, deadlines extended, etc., but as of now, we don't know if the empire will soldier on or simply crumble.

Perhaps there's a fourth mystery here. Why is the  media so bad at reporting on itself?  Clearly, judging from the talk I've heard around this town, there is interest in knowing the story behind the stories here.  

 Maybe we're reluctant to report on people with whom we've worked, shared a paycheque. (That's my main excuse, by the way.) Maybe we assume that it's self-indulgent to dwell on these job issues, when so many other Canadians have their own employment concerns. (That's also a concern for me.) Maybe there are legal issues, preventing full disclosure.

What is strange is that "can't say" or "don't know" seem to be acceptable answers when it's a story about the media, but those same answers would be unacceptable in business or political reporting.

A limit on negative ads?

 There's an old joke about dogs -- I won't repeat it here -- and the punchline is: Because they can.

Apparently the Liberals have decided that this is also the reason that Conservatives have launched negative-ad campaigns in the recent and not-so-recent past. Because they can.  While election campaigns are governed by strict limits on ad spending, there are no such limits on advertisements launched in between elections. Conceivably, the Tories could spend millions and millions of dollars if they wanted.

So   this afternoon  in the Senate, Liberals have put forward a bill that is designed to make Conservatives think twice about those between-election ads.  Put simply, if those ads are unleashed within three months of an election, they would count under the strict limits of election campaigns.  

Here's the clause-by-clause explanation of what the Liberals are proposing to change in the Canada Elections Act.  Download ELECTIONADSLAW

Given that it was introduced in the Senate, by an opposition party, its chances of becoming law are remote, by the way.

First, they take the NAC

A decade or so  ago, a couple of my colleagues were sitting in a   famous Montreal delicatessen and realized they were sitting   next to two celebrities -- Leonard Cohen and Pierre Trudeau, heads bowed in deep conversation, sipping milkshakes.  It shouldn't have been a surprise -- these two Montreal icons, ladies' men in their times, obviously enjoyed an enduring friendship. When Trudeau died in the fall of 2000, Cohen was one of the pallbearers at the funeral. Click here for one of Jean-Marc Carisse's legendary  photographs, or better yet, go to Carisse's lovely gallery/cafe on Sussex Drive in Ottawa.  

Last night, for the first time in more than 20 years, Cohen performed a concert in Ottawa. While there were no overt political statements during the incredible, three-hour performance -- beyond a grateful reference to the troops in Afghanistan when Cohen introduced his song Anthem -- it did have a Liberal feel.

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff and his wife, Zsuzsanna, sat in a box overlooking the stage at the National Arts Centre, along with NAC head Peter Herndorff. They were on their feet, along with the rest of the audience,  through multiple standing ovations and Cohen's  awe-inspiring encore. Former governor-general Adrienne Clarkson and husband John Ralston Saul were also in the audience. And Justin Trudeau, son of Cohen's old friend and now an MP himself, was sitting up in the front rows of the sold-out performance. 

It could be that the second show, tonight, will be more dotted with Conservative celebrities. But it was hard to shake the feeling last night, watching Cohen and his audience, that for Liberals, he's their man.

Spot the attack ad

  Hey kids, here's a fun game to play at home.  You may think that only sophisticated grownups can make attack ads to put on TV, but actually, any child can do it. 

Here's how it works. Look at this transcript of today's post-Question-Period scrum with Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, and see if you can find the sentence that you'd put on YouTube, preferably with grainy video and crayon-scrawled headlines. 

Question: Do you have any evidence at all that the government will compromise on this? They're calling it a socialist scheme.

Michael Ignatieff: I love socialist scheme. You do something for the unemployed and suddenly you're a socialist? Come on, let's get serious here. We think that this is good, sensible, practical politics. We think that it will not increase payroll taxes. We think it will not extend benefits unduly, extend length. It will not increase the level of benefit. All it means is that you get a national standard and the key point here is to - 150,000 Canadians will get EI benefit. People have already contributed and not eligible now, 150,000 people will get benefits. The good thing about that is that it is the fastest and more direct way to get stimulus into the economy.

Did you find it? Big hint: it's the first sentence of his answer. Coming to a screen near you, almost guaranteed.

 

 

Obama's friends up north

 The New Democrats will continue their ongoing flirtation with all things Obama this August when they hold their convention in Halifax. A keynote speaker at the convention will be Anita Dunn, recently named as White House Communication Director. According to this article Dunn may not still be in that job by August -- it's apparently a short-term stint -- but NDPers can expect a good spech. Dunn is, as the article says, "considered one of the more skilled message planners in the party."

Help wanted

I wonder if this is a sign that Obama is close to naming a new ambassador to Canada. It's a notice of job openings at the embassy. Apparently they need a butler (!) as well as some other clerks and assistants.

About a month ago, my colleague Bruce Campion-Smith reported that the new ambassador would be Chicago lawyer David Jacobson, but still, there's been no official announcement.  

Free at last

Five signs that freedom  of all kinds  is in fashion this week.

1. A member of the notoriously secretrive Conservative caucus  has slipped the leash! And it's  none other than Maxime Bernier!  h/t Aaron Wherry, who cleverly calls this "Maverick Watch."

2.   Information is a lot freer in Washington thanks to Data.gov

3. An ambitious and noble endeavour  -- also on the freedom-of-information front -- was launched here in Canada.

4.  Chris Anderson, editor of Wired Magazine and author of the Long Tail, has a new book coming out: Free: The Past and Future of a Radical Price. One thing, though. It's not free. Cost: $23.09 at ChaptersIndigo.

 5. Interest-free credit cards! Well, for a 21-day grace period, under changes introduced yesterday by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.