In what is likely going to be an optics nightmare for the Liberals, former leadership candidate Ken Dryden said that he has no plans to repay his 2006 leadership debt, because it’s all loans he gave to himself. When the Conservatives and NDP changed the law mid-campaign to restrict donations (for the sole purpose of screwing over the Liberals), Dryden’s ability to secure the necessary donations could no longer happen. Given that Elections Canada can’t enforce the laws around those repayments (thanks again to the dog’s breakfast that the Conservatives and NDP made of the law in their rush to screw over the Liberals), he apparently no longer sees the point in getting strangers to repay his loans to himself. There are plans to make political loans to oneself illegal, but that legislation is stalled, and there are some serious concerns that it would give financial institutions too much power to determine who can and can’t run if they are to be given sole authority to grant loans. So while Dryden’s abandoning his quest to pay back his loans (to himself) looks bad, it would seem that the Conservatives and the NDP have only themselves to blame, and anyone complaining that this whole thing is anti-democratic should also ask themselves how “democratic” it was for two parties to collude to screw over another one. No one walks away from this one looking pure.
It looks like Senator Pamela Wallin’s audit is complete. The Senate’s Internal Economy committee meets on Monday to discuss it, and determine if it gets sent to the RCMP or whatnot. Many of the questions regarding her travel claims are about trips to Toronto that don’t count as her travel points, which only count if she were going directly to her home in Saskatchewan. Meanwhile, there are now questions about a businessman behind the $55,000 loan that Senator Mac Harb took out to repay his expenses, as said businessman does business with the government. Oh, and in case you were wondering, apparently the Liberal Party has never repaid the improper expenses of any of their senators.
What’s that? Harper’s Senate reform plans are trying to sidestep the constitutional vetoes given to each of the regions in 1996? You don’t say!
Jason Kenney announced some tougher rules about the Temporary Foreign Workers programme being put into place.
In what appears to be some kind of an awkward attempt at face-saving after the giant fiasco that were the tariff changes from the spring, the Conservative government is hiring a research firm to collect data on the changes to show how effective they are. The NDP, however, say that Statistics Canada is well equipped to do that same research, rather than a private company.
Egypt’s ambassador to Canada has lauded our diplomatic stance in the wake of the ouster of President Morsi, calling it “prudent” and “constructive.”
Aaron Wherry looks at the Parliamentary Budget Officer, and wonders about debate over the mandate, how things would look if there were a different government in place, and talks to Kevin Page about how an ideal 21st century parliament might work in terms of the power of the purse.
The Federal Court of Appeal has ruled that the government can’t claim cabinet confidences in a legal fight regarding an endangered sage grouse population.
Marginal far-right anti-feminist organisation REAL Women criticised John Baird for speaking out against anti-gay laws in places like Uganda and Russia.
The Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner has cleared Christian Paradis of wrongdoing in his overnight stay at the hunting lodge of a Quebec businessman who was lobbying for federal funds to help bring the Quebec Nordiques franchise back.
And PostMedia has a Senate Q&A that suffers from the typical myopia on Senate commentary, and many of the answers should be taken with a few grains of salt, but there are a few interesting factoids therein nevertheless.