Roundup: “Stolen” land for a memorial

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An Ottawa architect is raising the alarm about the plans for the site of the “Victims of communism” memorial, saying it’s been “stolen” by the current government. The site, between the Supreme Court and Library and Archives, was supposed to be the future site of a building to house the Federal Court, but the current government has quietly scuppered those plans. That Federal Court building would have completed a triad of national buildings – the Justice Building, the Supreme Court, and the Federal Court building (which had approved designs and was ready to go before the Liberal government delayed the plans). The fact that the plans for that building to have been disappeared without explanation deserves explanation, but none are forthcoming. That such a prominent site is going to host a memorial (and one that is politically driven and is fairly controversial) rather than a significant national building should be concerning, however I fear this is going to be shrugged off like so many of the ways in which the national capital is being constantly denigrated and undermined by the current government.

Stephen Harper is off to the NATO summit in Wales, where he is making all kinds of big talk about our role in the Ukrainian situation even though it can be disputed that we’re not really doing much at all. There is some discussion about Canada joining a NATO force of 10,000 troops that are meant to keep Russia in check. That said, National Defence is expecting even deeper cuts next year, so we’ll see if we have the ability to make such promises.

A week away from their caucus retreat – err, I mean “strategy session” – in Edmonton, and the NDP say they’re going to focus on substance and that they can defeat Conservatives in Alberta, ignoring the purely local circumstances that arouse to give Linda Duncan her electoral success there, and their abysmal by-election showings in Alberta a couple of months ago.

Staying classy, Thomas Mulcair took shots at Harper and Justin Trudeau at the Labour Day parade in Toronto.

Remember a few months ago when Employment and Social Development put out a report that decried stagnating middle class wages and bemoaned the death of the Canadian Dream? Well, Finance Canada didn’t appreciate that, and put out a report of their own using the same data, saying that ESDC used weak methodology, and painted a rosier picture. And so the “battle for the middle class voter” continues.

Health Canada is looking to pull citronella-based insect repellents from the selves, despite no evidence that it’s harmful – the fact that it’s not patentable means that manufacturers can’t spend the thousands of dollars required for requisite animal testing to give them the proof they need.

A number of trades people are concerned about the use of foreign workers on oil sands construction sites, saying there are safety concerns and that there have been near-misses because these workers are not all qualified for the jobs, and many don’t have an adequate enough grasp of English to read safety instructions. I’m not, however, the utility of getting the Auditor General to investigate the use of foreign workers, as that’s not really his job.

Canadian Special Forces are looking for some new equipment.

Paul Wells writes about that $36 billion promise that Thomas Mulcair made at the Canadian Medical Association conference here a week or so ago. Stephen Gordon, meanwhile, can’t really figure out Mulcair’s maths:

Kady O’Malley looks at riding association fundraising in Quebec, where the NDP are leading in most places, the Liberals doing strongly, and the Bloc are falling short of the Conservatives, who aren’t doing very well at all in the province.

It seems that a few locals don’t appreciate Rob Anders’ attempt to contest the nomination in the new Bow Valley riding, but curiously, the party won’t say whether or not they’ve granted him a waiver to run in said riding after losing the nomination in his current one.

And Scott Feschuk writes about the Conservative obsession with Justin Trudeau’s “hidden agenda,” and how they will not rest until this horrible future is avoided.