Surprising, but not a surprise: NDP learned of MP's defection through the media

Posted by Joanna Smith, Ottawa Bureau

The defection of rookie NDP MP Lise St-Denis (Saint-Maurice--Champlain) to the Liberals Tuesday morning was a surprise to her former party, but not by the time she told them about it.

Karl Bélanger, senior press secretary to NDP Interim Leader Nycole Turmel, said he received a phone call from St-Denis about 10 minutes before her 10:30 a.m. news conference with Liberal Leader Bob Rae and Quebec Liberal MP Denis Coderre.

“She gave me a call and then told me as she was probably on her way to the press conference," Bélanger said Tuesday afternoon. "By that time the cat was out of the bag and her name was being widely reported by different media, either on social media or the networks."

As for Turmel, Bélanger said that St-Denis never spoke to her directly.

"She was not able to reach her," said Bélanger, who speculated that St-Denis likely called him after trying unsuccessfully to contact Turmel, but he did not know what time she had first reached out.

St-Denis had said at the news conference that she had "called" Turmel and "spoke" to Bélanger.

While her phone call to Bélanger may have been anti-climactic, the defection itself -- and the stated reasons for it -- threw the NDP for a loop.

One senior NDP source noted that while St-Denis told reporters it was differences in opinion over the Senate, the mission in Libya and a public-private partnership for the Champlain Bridge that drove her to abandon her party for the Liberals, she had never aired those complaints in caucus or to anyone else in the party.

“Watching her on television was the first time that we heard about that,” said the source, later adding that she was not a prominent voice of dissent on any issue.

 

Searching for truth in MacKay’s search-and-rescue helicopter ride

from Allan Woods, Ottawa Bureau

There's nothing like a fishing story to spice up an otherwise slow Friday in the nation's capital. Thank Defence Minister Peter MacKay and the pugnacious opposition for that.

The latest twist on the personal-use-of-public-aircraft saga involves allegations that MacKay pulled rank on military officials at the Gander air force base when he ordered a search-and-rescue helicopter to pick him up from a fancy fishing lodge.

The way the Liberals understand it, MacKay was initially turned down by a local base commander when he requested that military personnel at CFB Gander pick him up at the lodge on the Gander River in July 2010. MacKay had been salmon fishing with friends.

“We believe the local base was overruled, that he used his minister’s office to talk to higher up military brass, to order it done so that he could have a quick trip to the airport,” Liberal MP Wayne Easter, who made the allegations in the House of Commons, explained in an interview Friday.

MacKay's version of the story is that he decided to fit in a long-delayed search-and-rescue demonstration with a CH-149 Cormorant helicopter when his fishing trip was cut short because he had to attend a government announcement July 9 in London, Ont.

Government officials said on Thursday that MacKay was hoisted from the ground into the helicopter, which was hovering overhead. It was explained that the air force had long sought the demonstration with MacKay to support their case for new fixed-wing search-and-rescue aircraft.

It isn't clear how hoisting the minister into the air (something that shouldn't be attempted in anything except for a helicopter) bolsters the air force's case for new airplanes.

Having taken part in several military demonstrations as the Star's defence reporter, it is true that there are waivers and forms that must be filled out absolving the Canadian Forces of legal responsibility in the event of an accident. The Liberals have asked MacKay to produce any forms he may have signed before his demonstration, or any emails his office either sent or received proving that his Cormorant ride was anything more than a "limousine ride" as critics claimed this week.

"You know, I had the opportunity to go on one of those army exchanges and they gave us three months’ heads-up and told us where to go, when to show and it was very, very well planned on the army side," said Liberal MP Justin Trudeau. "The helicopters are not at the beck and call of the Minister.  Therefore, there must be a paper trail demonstrating that this was a planned exercise.  If it wasn’t he has some explaining to do."  

MacKay didn't provide any new information in the Commons about what happened, nor did he address allegations that MacKay’s initial request for a ride in the Cormorant was rejected, prompting him to run up the air force chain of command and have the Cormorant ordered to pick him up.

Brig.-Gen. Sylvain Bedard, a military spokesman, said that the helicopter in question was scheduled for an entire day of aircrew training with a flight commander on board as well as a co-pilot, two search-and-rescue technicians, a flight engineer and a flight engineer trainee.

Bedard initially said that the search-and-rescue squadron was aware of MacKay’s visit to Newfoundland because he had made an infrastructure announcement at the base before going on the fishing trip.

Informed that the announcement was in fact made in 2009, not 2010, Bedard quickly corrected himself.

He said that MacKay’s fishing trip began on July 5 but maintained that the military was still aware of his presence in the region because military officers, act as a liaison to the defence minister’s office, knew of his travel plans.

“From our perspective … it really seems like this was a mutual gain-sort of approach,” Bedard said Friday.

But that's the after-the-fact verdict and doesn't answer whether the local base commander in Gander approved of the 30-minute demonstration that air force personnel performed for MacKay that day at an approximate cost of $16,000.

And since this is -- at its essence -- a political argument about cost cutting and use of very expensive government resources, I made an inquiry today after being told that anglers normally use helicopter, float plane or boat charters to reach fishing destinations on the Gander River.

One Gander-based charter operator, contacted Friday, said the hourly rate for a helicopter ride was just over $1,700.

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Day 26: Jack Layton heads to the farm, then up north to Thunder Bay

The events 

New Democrat Leader Jack Layton is heading to a fifth-generation family farm in Stoney Point, Ont. owned by high school shop teacher and wrestling coach David Tremblay and his wife, Linda, a seamstress and shop owner.

They raise pigs, chickens and alternate between growing wheat and soy. They have a fruit orchard too. Can you guess what the announcement at 11 a.m. will be about?Not so fast — they also have a wind turbine!

But no, you were right the first time.

The policy Layton will present is about farming and the visuals will involve a tractor and people sitting on bales of hay in the background. The campaign will then fly to Thunder Bay, Ont., where Layton will hold a town hall-style event about health care.

The ridings

Tremblay Farm is in the riding of Essex, where Conservative incumbent Jeff Watson won with 40 per cent of the vote in the 2008 election. Liberal candidate Susan Whelan placed second with 29 per cent and New Democrat Taras Natyshak placed third with 27.6 per cent of the vote. Natyshak is running again for the NDP in Essex and the Liberal candidate in this election is Nelson Santos. On the surface this appears to be a long-shot riding, but the NDP views its two seats in nearby Windsor as a sign that Essex is in play.

The town hall will be at the Current River Recreation Centre in the riding of Thunder Bay—Superior North, where the NDP incumbent is Bruce Hyer, who won with 37 per cent of the vote in 2008. Nearby Thunder Bay—Rainy River is also held by the NDP, with John Rafferty having won with 40.3 per cent in 2008. Both Hyer and Rafferty voted with the Conservatives to scrap the long-gun registry, so they are not facing the same challenges as some of their caucus colleagues in rural and northern Ontario. In Thunder Bay, it is the Liberals who are working hard to take the seats, running Yves Fricot against Hyer. The Conservative candidate is Richard Harvey.

In Thunder Bay—Rainy River, the Liberals are running Ken Boshcoff, who represented the riding in Ottawa from 2004 to 2006 until Rafferty defeated him in 2008. The Conservative candidate there is Moe Comuzzi-Stehman.

Video: Rebecca Black parody election style

Yes, you've read that right: a parody of Rebecca Black's Friday has hit YouTube that takes on the Canadian election.

The video, as well as an interview with the creator, is after the jump:

Liberals say two more teens with Liberal ties tossed from Conservative event in Vancouver

EDMONTON—The Liberals say two more teens with Liberal ties were thrown out of a Conservative rally in Vancouver.

"This is just becoming more and more grotesque," Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said Saturday.

He was referring to university students in London and Guelph who were abruptly shown the door, even though they were properly registered.

These incidents help stoke Ignatieff's argument that Conservative Leader Stephen Harper is obsessed with control and is anti-democratic.

Ignatieff said there were Tory supporters at his rally earlier in Sudbury "who said 'I might just vote Liberals this time.' "

"This is about democracy ... and he has just got to stop doing this," he told reporters.

Ignatieff bristled at the Conservatives' explanation that it was a private meeting and can toss who they like.

"Excuse me, there is no such thing as a private meeting in a federal election. These are public meetings. Come one come all," he said.

A spokesperson for the Conservtives acknowledged that even though they were identified as Liberal supporters the teens were told they could stay if they didn't disrupt the rally.

"They declined," he said.

At the Edmonton Liberal rally a man was allowed in despite the fact he was holding a sign that said: "Ignatieff, going back to Harvard soon?"

Shopping for votes in Vancouver's Punjabi market

(Prime Minister Stephen Harper greets supporters as he attends the Vaisakhi festival in Vancouver, BC on Saturday April 16, 2011. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn)

VANCOUVER —Conservative Leader Stephen Harper met with Vancouver’s plentiful Sikh community Saturday afternoon in the three-block Punjabi market and gave a brief address at the city’s Vaisakhi parade, an event held each April to mark the harvest festival.

The parade just happens to be held in the Liberal Ujjal Dosanjh’s riding of Vancouver South, where the Tories hope to reap benefits for the political seeds they have been planting. Tory hopeful Wai Young had a booth set up less than half a block to the right of Harper’s stage, handing out leaflets and campaign paraphenalia to the passers by. Half a block to the left of the stage was a similar booth promoting NDP candidate Meena Wong.

A similar booth for the Liberals couldn’t be found in the area.

Dosanjh did, however, preceed Harper on the stage, speaking almost entirely in Punjabi. In a brief interview after his speech, he said his message was political. He was critical of the Conservative government’s record on family reunification.

“Why is it that it would take a new immigrant about 14 to 18 years to bring family to Canada? What kind of people do we want? Do we want people who are prepared to give their families up and come to Canada? Do we want simply temporary workers? Why is it that we’re so interested in having people in ethnic costumes stand up behind them, but he isn’t interested in true equality? Ultimately what kind of country to we want if there’s simply temporary foreign workers coming?” Dosanjh said.

The former NDP B.C. premier noted the Harper government had decreased the family reunification quota by 50 per cent since taking power in 2006.

Later he acknowledged that he was in the race of his life in Vancouver South.

"It's a hotly contested riding, you know that. (Harper) is here. Why do you think he is here?"

Harper himself was late to arrive at the event, forcing the emcee to kill time with stories and idle political talk.

He urged the gathered crowd to get involved in politics no matter what party they choose to support.
“If they (politicians) know you, that’s an easy way to get things done,” he said.

He was then informed that the Conservative leader was five minutes away and proceeded to tell a story about a meeting between former Liberal prime minister Pierre Trudeau the bearded, turban-wearing editor of India Abroad and the editor's clean-shaven son.

“Where’s your turban?” a puzzled Trudeau asked the son.

The father replied, “He’s a Canadian.”

“Mr. Trudeau said, ‘That’s wrong. He can be a Sikh-Canadian. You don’t have to leave your tradition. You don’t have to leave your language. You don’t have to leave your culture.’ ”

Harper’s bus pulled up behind the stage at precisely 1:30 pm PST. He emerged wearing a blue headscarf. He was accompanied by wife, Laureen, B.C. candidates Nina Grewal, Paul Forseth, James Moore, Wei Young and others, as well as retiring cabinet minister Stockwell Day and Conservative candidate Jason Kenney, who head’s up the party’s ethnic outreach.

Jason Kenney kicked off the speeches with a dazzling, fluently Punjabi greeting.

“He is a man who shares the values of the Sikh community. Values like devotion to family, respect for tradition and the belief in hard work,” Kenney said of Harper in English, adding that the Tory platform promises an office of religious freedoms in DFAIT.

Fleetwood Port-Kells incumbent Nina Grewal was next up at the podium. She spoke entirely in Punjabi.
Then came Harper. He praised the founding principles of Sikhism, which he said have led Sikhs to be “among the most courageous, hard-working and successful of our world.”

“These principles are also important to us here in Canada, because ours is a country defined by its belief in freedom democracy and justice, values that have attracted people from around the world to our shores, including the growing numbers of Canada’s Sikh community,” he said.

Harper spoke of his visit to the Golden Temple in India in 2009 as among the fondest memories of his term in office. He said that 2011 was the year of India in Canada, and touted his promise of free trade talks with India.

The emcee took the microphone when Harper finished speaking. He took the opportunity to push the Conservative leader to help build a $3-million gate, one that was supposed to have been completed for last winter’s Vancouver Olympics.

“I don’t want to go into details because it’s not a good time for you to spend too much time on that, but please, look into that,” he said.

Liberal "protester" at Jack Layton appearance not just another face in the crowd

Posted by Joanna Smith, Ottawa Bureau

As the New Democrat campaign bus pulled up at the East Coast Music Awards in Charlottetown, P.E.I. on Friday afternoon, media on the bus noticed a guy holding up a sign for Sean Casey, the Liberal candidate in running to replace retired Liberal MP Shawn Murphy in the Charlottetown riding. The NDP candidate is Joe Byrne and te Conservative is Donna Profit.

"Look, it's a Liberal protester!" someone on the bus joked, for it would be hard to describe the quiet, slightly dishevelled man in shades and a white baseball cap standing alone in the corner as a demonstration. "Maybe it's Sean Casey?"

As I soon discovered on Twitter while trying to find out whether anyone at the East Coast Music Awards had noticed NDP Leader Jack Layton was there, the lone protester ended up being none other than Ashley MacIsaac, the renowned and colourful fiddler from Cape Breton, N.S.

A couple of my reporter colleagues managed to catch up with him later and learned that while he had some nice things to say about Layton, including that some of his favourite MPs belong to the NDP, he is a Liberal supporter. One of his songs, Wingstock, has even been playing at campaign rallies for Michael Ignatieff.

Later on in Seven Mile Bay, P.E.I., Layton was asked about MacIsaac.

"The last thing I’ll do is comment on Ashley MacIsaac. I’ve shared stages with him and he’s a character, that’s for sure and a fun guy and I love him when he’s got his fiddle on the go," Layton said, adding that he performed for a fundraiser Layton was part of years ago in Toronto.

"I’ve got a special place in my heart for him. Sorry I didn’t get to bump into him and talk to him while he was there," said Layton.

Had Layton been paying closer attention to the man carrying the Liberal sign as he made his way into the hotel hosting the awards, he might have realized that he very nearly did bump into him.

Day 21: NDP Leader Jack Layton in Montreal and Prince Edward Island

Posted by Joanna Smith, Ottawa Bureau

After having spent his first day of post-debates campaigning with a visit to Scwartz's delicatessen and watching the Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins 2-0 in the first round of the NHL play-offs, New Democrat Leader Jack Layton begins Friday with another quintessential Montreal past-time: stopping by the Jean-Talon Market. Layton will then ride the underground Metro for a few stops.

This is in the riding of Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, which the Bloc Quebecois has held since 1990. Bloc incumbent Bernard Bigras won by a landslide in the 2008 election, receiving 52 per cent of the votes, but Layton has been campaigning hard against the Bloc, trying to build on the breakthrough 2007 by-election that sent NDP deputy leader Thomas Mulcair to the House of Commons to represent the former Liberal fortress of Outremont.

Expect Layton to continue trying to convince anti-Harper Quebec voters who have previously cast their ballots for the Bloc to come over to his side, with the argument that while the Bloc can keep the Conservatives from getting a majority government, the NDP could (in theory) replace it. Buoyed by recent Quebec-only polls that put the NDP in second place in the province, well ahead of the Liberals, the NDP is selling itself as the main federalist player in Quebec.

The second half of the day will be in Prince Edward Island, where Layton will be the first party leader to  visit in this campaign. He will stop by the East Coast Music Awards in Charlottetown and then go to Seven Miles Bay to make an unspecified announcement.

Smoked-meat survey says: Jack Layton will form a majority government

Posted by Joanna Smith, Ottawa Bureau

If you’re one of those people who rolls your eyes or stifles a giggle every time New Democrat Leader Jack Layton talks about being the next prime minister, consider this bit of political insight. 

There is an old theory that says the key to winning a majority government at the federal level is a visit to Schwartz’s, the legendary delicatessen on St. Laurent Blvd. in downtown Montreal that is now featured in a new musical comedy. 

As Globe and Mailtheatre critic J. Kelly Nestruck wrote on his blog last month, every Canadian prime minister who has won a majority government since the 1970s has been to the world famous – and incredibly tiny – eatery for some smoked meat on rye with a pickle and fries, while those who have not have been doomed to minorities.

Consider the facts: Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Brian Mulroney and Jean Chrétien have all eaten at Schwartz's and gone on to solid wins in Parliament.

Joe Clark, John Turner and Kim Campbell, on the other hand, have never been seen at the eatery, and none of them ever led their parties to a majority in an election. Coincidence?

Okay, there is one: Paul Martin, who did not win a majority in an election despite a demonstrated predilection for Schwartz's smoked meat. (Breaking with his South Beach Diet, the then-Prime Minister carved a medium-fat brisket for media at a party at 24 Sussex Drive in 2005.)

…

Will the election of 2011 ultimately be determined by whoever - Harper or Ignatieff - makes it to Schwartz's first?

As Layton would likely point out, that kind of thinking represents the old-fashioned attitude that Canadians only have two choices when deciding who to vote for in this election.

And you know what? While both the Liberals and Conservatives are quick to point out they have served smoked meat on the campaign trail this year, neither Stephen Harper nor Michael Ignatieff have actually stopped by the joint yet.

So, guess which national leader is the first to visit for a photo-op on Thursday afternoon?

Your next prime minister: Jack Layton.

Time to stop being such a defeatist.

UPDATE: I briefed Layton on this theory as he was entering the place and noted he had beat both Harper and Ignatieff to it. "Well, there you go," Layton said. "It's a theory I subscribe to."

Who won the French debate?

Posted by Andrew Chung, Quebec Bureau

Two insta-polls were out this morning showing how Quebecers felt about the French-language debate Wednesday night.

The winner, as expected, was Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe. The NDP's Jack Layton was the runner up in both polls, adding to his well-received performance in the English debate the night before. Liberal Michael Ignatieff and Prime Minister Stephen Harper of the Conservatives fought for last in both surveys.

The Leger Marketing poll had Duceppe at 42 per cent saying he won the debate, Layton at 20 per cent, Ignatieff at 14 and Harper at 11. The poll of 879 Quebecers, invited randomly to a web panel, had a margin of error of 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

The CROP poll asked about best performance among the leaders. Duceppe came in at 45 per cent, Layton at 28 per cent, Harper at 16 and Ignatieff at 12. The Internet panel did not have a random character, and so there was no margin of error.

The Leger poll also gave Layton a lift in another area. Asked whether they were more apt to vote for each party, far more respondents said they were for the NDP than for the other federalist parties.