This just in....

Things have suddenly become very busy here in Ottawa, with two blockbuster bulletins from CBC.

1. The RCMP has reportedly paid a call on Conservative party headquarters, in relation to the so-called "in-and-out" scheme regarding 2005-06 election expenses.

2. The chief of defence staff, Rick Hillier, is stepping down.

#2 we expected, sort of. #1 is a bolt out of the blue.

Keep your friends close...

Spotted yesterday evening: Deputy Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff and foreign affairs critic Bob Rae, walking amiably together on O'Connor St. in Ottawa, toward Parliament Hill. First they kissed, and now they've obviously made up.

Wells on Dion

I'd been waiting to read this article -- I did last week as soon as Maclean's hit the newstands and can commend it to all. Paul Wells  has followed Dion's career for a long time, more closely than most, and he's put a lot of work and thought into the question of what's gone wrong with his leadership. It's now available online.

Careful with that quote

It's one of those  intriguing  coincidences. Here, in one section of the Star today, is Liberal  deputy leader Michael Ignatieff making public amends for his "war crime" remarks during the heat of the 2006 Liberal leadership campaign.

And here is Samantha Power, a one-time adviser to Barack Obama's presidential campaign, still feeling badly over her public misstep of calling Hillary Clinton a "monster" in an interview with the BBC.

Ignatieff and Power are old friends from their days at Harvard and they were due to see each other socially this weekend while Power was in Toronto.  What's the bet that they talked about the perils of publicly airing your opinions?

Collective soul-searching

Charlotte Gray, author of several acclaimed historical biographies and probably one of Canada's best magazine writers,  will be receiving the Order of Canada today at Rideau Hall.

This morning, on Ottawa's local CBC morning radio show, Gray made a thought-provoking observation - Canada tends to see its history in terms of groups or collectives: the two solitudes, the Famous Five, the Group of Seven, the fathers of Confederation, the Rat Pack (okay, I threw that last one in there to be funny.)

The observation stretches to matters of historical redress too - groups getting retrospective compensation or apologies for Canada's past: residential-school victims; interned Canadians during the Second World War; the Chinese head tax.

Brampton-Springdale MP Ruby Dhalla is currently campaigning to get an official apology to Indo-Canadians for the 1914 incident of the Komagata Maru, a ship carrying nearly 400 Indian emigres who were blocked from entry to Canada. 

Dhalla has introduced this bid in the form of a motion to the House of Commons.

If there are Canadians out there trying to figure out an updated version of national purpose or identity, there's probably something significant in this idea of our historical attachment to groups instead of individuals.

Meanwhile, have a look at this story by David Akin of CanWest today, which should also have folks talking about the collective and groups and the minister responsible for them.

 

When show business & politics collide

Politics, it's been said, is show business for ugly  people. So when real show business collides with real politics, some people are starstruck.

Not Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre, though. Oscar nominee Sarah Polley was on Parliament Hill today to protest against potential censorship in film-tax legislation.

Polley's name has been included in a wide array  of film credits over the years, but it was another appearance of her name that Poilievre seems to remember most vividly.

Here's the statement issued by Conservative media:

"Today, actress Sarah Polley held a press conference attacking the Conservative Government over Bill C-10.  While public debate in a democracy is essential, so is honesty.  During the 2004 Federal Election, Sarah Polley was an active member of the “Stop Harper” campaign, even attaching her name to a news release attacking the now Prime Minister. 

“Individuals with vested personal and political interests should be honest with Canadians on what their true intentions are,” said Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre.

It should be said, Poilievre is not the first MP to tell a citizen that his or her views are suspect because they didn't vote the right way or support the right person.

Back in 2001, Liberal MP Tom Wappel wrote a letter to an 81-year-old constituent, saying:  "According to my records, you were a past supporter of mine, yet it seems that in this past election you supported the Canadian Alliance candidate....  How is it that you are writing me for help if you did not think enough of my abilities to justify voting for me?"

Ex-Mountie named as Airbus source to probe NAFTA-Obama leak?

It's a small world. As The Star reported today, the investigation into the NAFTA-Obama leak has been handed over to a private security firm.

The firm in question is BMCI Investigation and Security.

And guess who works there? None other than former RCMP officer Fraser Fiegenwald, who was fingered as Stevie Cameron's source in the Brian Mulroney Airbus saga. That's another issue dogging this Conservative government -- the focus of a coming public inquiry.

So, in other words, the investigation into one Tory controversy is being handled, at least in part, by a guy who was instrumental in another one. Confused yet?

If you're interested in reading more about Fiegenwald and Airbus, quite a few pages are devoted to Fiegenwald in the newly re-released book, A Secret Trial, by William Kaplan.

And over at the Brian Mulroney media room, you can also read more about Fiegenwald's alleged role in the saga.

Our reporter, Les Whittington, tried to talk to Fiegenwald yesterday about the NAFTA-Obama probe, but was told he was in a meeting.

A penny for his thoughts

A Parliament Hill staffer had an excellent sighting this morning - NDP MP Pat Martin, author of a bill to abolish the penny, was in the West Block cafeteria and here's what happened, according to his report on Facebook:

"He (Martin) had to pay $1.26 for his yogourt. He had to search for the extra penny. That must have killed him a little inside."

Rate my present, also-ran, and possibly future leaders

Here's a website where it seems folks are already trying to settle the question of who comes after Dion -- Ignatieff or Rae.

Current voting is running heavily in Ignatieff's favour -- 2048 for the Deputy Liberal leader compared to 790 for the new MP for Toronto Centre, at the time of this posting.

Incidentally, the rate-a-leader website is also asking what happened to Gerard Kennedy. His photo appears under the headline: "Where is he today?"

Fool me once ...

When reading items like this, it's a good idea to remember the date.

Remember this?