tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40448092008-09-02T14:50:23.269-04:00Columns | Essays | LinksAChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302388531043102285noreply@blogger.comBlogger1372125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4044809.post-11320898681112867662008-05-23T21:36:00.001-04:002008-05-23T21:36:31.972-04:00

Or rather, Chinese whispers. Remember that game? You whisper something in a friend's ear. She whispers it to the person next to her, who whispers it to the next, and so on round the circle, until it comes back to you in some wonderfully mangled form. There. I've saved you the bother of reading the Lynch report .

AChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302388531043102285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4044809.post-8669896924635167672008-05-22T21:35:00.000-04:002008-05-23T21:39:18.512-04:00

No one knows whether Ian Brodie's reportedly impending departure as the prime minister's chief of staff has anything to do with his alleged role in the NAFTA kerfuffle (the leaking by persons unknown of the private views of one or possibly both leading Democratic contenders on the issue). For what it's worth, most informed observers are inclined to say not, but we won't know for sure until the

AChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302388531043102285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4044809.post-13060090346806257652008-05-19T14:04:00.000-04:002008-05-23T15:01:49.327-04:00

Everyone got very excited over that census data showing median earnings for individuals had barely moved (after inflation) in the 25 years from 1980 to 2005. Of course, as critics pointed out, there's a load of qualifiers buried in that shocking result: earnings, rather than total income, including transfers and capital income; individuals, rather than families; endpoint data, rather than

AChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302388531043102285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4044809.post-87954872728549193222008-05-18T14:02:00.000-04:002008-05-23T14:59:39.990-04:00

I know it was on Drudge, but jeepers -- 75,000 people turned out in Portland to see Barack Obama speak today Sunday. Two days from a primary vote he's sure to win, in a nomination race that was over weeks ago, for an election still almost six months away. Wow. UPDATE: Here's video from Fox News

AChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302388531043102285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4044809.post-11646984529778598292008-05-16T23:33:00.002-04:002008-05-17T18:46:27.411-04:00

The CRTC is thinking of regulating the internet. Seriously. It's even going to hold hearings -- sorry, a "consultation" -- on the matter. And while CRTC commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein claims "our intention is not to regulate the internet," it wouldn't be the CRTC if it didn't have regulation very much in mind. So when von F. says “new digital technologies and platforms are creating

AChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302388531043102285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4044809.post-11890755862545068382008-05-14T19:07:00.002-04:002008-05-15T16:33:48.128-04:00

To critics of his penchant for showering hundreds of millions of dollars on the big three auto makers, Dalton McGuinty always had an answer: but I created jobs. It wasn’t a good answer: the jobs created were merely the ones he could see, whereas the jobs destroyed by the same handouts -- for the investment diverted into autos is only investment diverted out of other industries, and paid for with

AChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302388531043102285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4044809.post-34859240684088206012008-05-09T00:41:00.001-04:002008-05-09T00:47:25.779-04:00

More than 200 leading economists have signed a petition denouncing Hillary Clinton and John McCain's proposal for a gas tax "holiday" during the summer months, reasoning -- correctly -- that the scheme would discourage conservation and widen the deficit, while doing little for those it purports to help. Hillary's response: Well I’ll tell you what, I’m not going to put my lot in with economists.

AChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302388531043102285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4044809.post-77390734973702570302008-05-05T20:59:00.001-04:002008-05-05T20:59:52.503-04:00

You have to tip your hat to Dalton McGuinty. Another premier, on discovering that his province was about to qualify for payments under the federal equalization program, might have seized the occasion to demand that the program be enriched. But as the premier of the largest province in Canada, McGuinty no doubt feels an obligation to rise above such petty concerns. Surely statesmanship, then,

AChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302388531043102285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4044809.post-42233914765477721842008-04-30T15:09:00.001-04:002008-04-30T15:09:31.931-04:00

In the wake of Toronto's fifth transit strike in 19 years, we may expect a groundswell of support for "declaring transit an essential service," ie taking away transit workers' right to strike. As appealing as this is, given the union's behaviour (union leader Bob Kinnear's professed reason for giving next to no notice of the strike -- that the public would open a can of whupass on his members --

AChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302388531043102285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4044809.post-42803888719438853662008-02-27T20:40:00.001-05:002008-02-27T20:43:10.715-05:00

Robert Latimer, a Saskatchewan farmer imprisoned for killing his severely handicapped daughter, is to be released on day parole, an appeal board said Wednesday. [From Latimer wins appeal for day parole]

AChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302388531043102285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4044809.post-73591370419200536102007-12-20T20:03:00.002-05:002008-02-27T20:31:27.619-05:00

Mulroney's 1996 testimony (transcripts: day one and day two) is hugely entertaining in other ways, not least in light of his belated admissions before the Commons ethics committee.The 1996 Mulroney, for example, was greatly indignant at the suggestion that he had a Swiss bank account. Over and over he repeated:I don't have a bank account in Switzerland. I don't have a bank account in any foreign

AChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302388531043102285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4044809.post-34361698298784360692007-12-19T21:03:00.002-05:002008-02-27T20:32:29.681-05:00

Just going over the last time Mulroney testified -- well, I was going to say under oath, but this time he really was: at his 1996 deposition prior to his libel suit against the government of Canada. The testimony is notable for the number of things the former prime minister did not know or could not recall.He had "no specific recollection" of his first meeting with Schreiber, though he could say

AChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302388531043102285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4044809.post-34441230256769134632007-12-18T21:35:00.001-05:002007-12-20T22:12:03.748-05:00

The Chair: Good morning, gentlemen. Mr. Mulroney, I expect that you will recall the rules, procedures, and traditions of the House of Commons. In particular, you will recall the general expectation that witnesses appearing before the committees testify in a truthful and complete manner. We could proceed on this understanding; or alternatively, would you feel more comfortable being

AChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302388531043102285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4044809.post-28280588363956213332007-12-14T03:03:00.001-05:002007-12-14T09:47:16.829-05:00

So, after all this time -- four years since it became public knowledge that he took cash payments from Karlheinz Schreiber, fourteen years after the actual event -- Brian Mulroney finally comes forward to explain... and explains nothing. Or rather, digs himself deeper. Those who might have been inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt until now will have a harder time of it after the

AChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302388531043102285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4044809.post-31374075891054407892007-12-12T17:26:00.001-05:002007-12-12T17:33:37.231-05:00

I was going to post a list of suggested questions for tomorrow's ethics commitee hearing, but this cat beat me to it. It's pretty comprehensive....ERRATA: Aside from putting CGI for GCI throughout, I can see only one clear error in the piece -- in question 4b, where it is stated that GCI had a commision sales agreement iwth Airbus. So far as I am aware, the only such agreement was with

AChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302388531043102285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4044809.post-69762566848879671042007-12-12T16:33:00.001-05:002007-12-12T16:40:20.824-05:00

Karlheinz Schreiber’s fourth day of testimony before the Commons ethics committee was the usual farrago of teases, evasions, dropped questions, loose ends and general confusion. In all that, the Bavarian greasemonkey did leave the committee with a few leads to pursue. Highlights:- He readily confessed to having bought the 1983 Tory convention that toppled Joe Clark from the leadership...Karlheinz

AChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302388531043102285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4044809.post-5019890543118382442007-12-11T11:10:00.001-05:002007-12-11T13:15:51.823-05:00

Today is Karlheinz Schreiber’s fourth and possibly final day of testimony before the Commons Ethics Committee. Perhaps members of the committee will get around to asking the following...1. You have claimed to have contributed $25,000 to Brian Mulroney’s leadership campaign as long ago as 1976. Is there any record of this? If not, why not? Was it in cash? Was the candidate aware of your

AChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302388531043102285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4044809.post-4090103068393456482007-12-07T18:58:00.001-05:002007-12-08T17:51:16.826-05:00

My appearance on TVO's The Agenda last night is viewable here. It's an hour-long show, with host Steve Paikin and fellow guests Harvey Cashore, Jim Travers and Heather McIvor -- a good introduction to the whole business, for those just joining us.

AChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302388531043102285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4044809.post-36449780644846049252007-12-07T09:47:00.001-05:002007-12-07T17:16:12.913-05:00

People keep saying that "Schreiber has said the $300,000 wasn't Airbus money," including my friend Allan Gregg on The National last night. Here's the definitive account, from today's Globe:Karlheinz Schreiber testified yesterday he used a Swiss bank account containing "success fees" from projects that moved forward under the Mulroney government to make his 1993 and 1994 cash payments to Brian

AChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302388531043102285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4044809.post-46158571441288702682007-12-05T09:51:00.001-05:002007-12-05T10:28:44.192-05:00

If I didn’t know that the Ethics Committee couldn’t coordinate their way out of a paper bag, I’d swear the fix was in. The committee’s performance on day two of Karlheinz Schreiber’s appearance before it was an embarrassment -- even worse, if possible, than the first day....When they weren’t fawning over him (“You'll be sleeping in your own bed hopefully tonight.”) they were interrupting him, or

AChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302388531043102285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4044809.post-35786230491817737602007-12-02T23:36:00.001-05:002007-12-03T00:08:34.939-05:00

Thanks to everyone who took up my challenge to Name that Scandal. Most of your suggestions were awful, but then most of mine were as well. A few, however, were distinguished by their adequacy....A large group were variants on Air- something-or-other: Aircash, Airgraft, Airbags, etc. Of these, I think the best were Airbust (contributed by an anonymous entrant) and Airbucks (another anonymous

AChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302388531043102285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4044809.post-59007912731735823552007-12-01T18:26:00.001-05:002007-12-03T00:24:41.107-05:00

Peter MacKay is telling reporters he warned his dad, Elmer, to steer clear of Karlheinz Schreiber, of whom he said he was "leery." He said he had held this opinion for "a number of years."That period would seem to have begun sometime after 1992, when the younger MacKay was employed for some months by Thyssen Industries, one of the companies Schreiber was then representing, in this case on the

AChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302388531043102285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4044809.post-50842851519208866342007-12-01T17:46:00.001-05:002007-12-03T00:21:26.744-05:00

My previous take on Schreiber's appearance before the Commons ethics committee Thursday does not adequately convey the full weirdness of the event. Among the many magic moments:- the chairman, Paul Szabo, beginning the proceedings, then stopping -- "I almost forgot" -- to swear the witness in....- Schreiber acted as the middleman between Airbus/MBB/Thyssen and Government Consultants International

AChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302388531043102285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4044809.post-41413599879783760072007-11-30T13:17:00.001-05:002007-11-30T13:17:37.344-05:00

If the Commons ethics committee’s interrogation of Karlheinz Schreiber yielded some startling revelations -- and it did -- it was not any doing of the committee’s: Schreiber toyed with them. Conversely, if the committee members were made to look like fools -- and they were -- it was not any of Schreiber’s doing. They saw to that quite well enough on their own....The committee, especially its

AChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302388531043102285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4044809.post-5206995870260811852007-11-23T00:10:00.001-05:002007-11-24T11:48:02.027-05:00

Having successfully imposed my own name for the sponsorship mess -- Adscam -- on the unsuspecting public, it's time to repeat the trick with regard to the gathering Mulroney-Schreiber mess. As before, I will solicit reader suggestions, then brazenly choose one of my own. Unless you come up with something better....So what do we call this business? Mercifully, no one has trotted out the inevitable

AChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09302388531043102285noreply@blogger.com