Stephen Harper and Barack Obama have had their meeting on the perimeter security agreement, and Harper wants you to know that, hey, our sovereignty isn’t up for sale – just in case you were worried. But will he give us any details on just what’s up for discussion? No, you’ll just have to trust him.
The Liberals have unveiled their new Quebec campaign, complete with a theme song that they hope will catch on. Ignatieff, by the way, was in Calgary this weekend to drum up support there, hoping to make inroads into Alberta.
The changes to the pardon system that Vic Toews is pushing for are going to make pardons unreachable for one out of every four currently eligible candidates. All done in the false name of protecting the public against sexual offenders (who account for less than three percent of all convictions) and “making criminals accountable for their crimes,” this is more jingoism. Good thing the opposition is going to stand up to this – right?
Environment Canada has conducted tens of thousands of inspections, given out thousands of warnings and launched hundreds of investigations, but how many convictions has it actually secured for environmental violations? Thirty-two. But hey, they’re getting tough when it comes to protecting our environment.
Diane Finley half-heartedly tried to backtrack on her accusation about Liberals wanting to force families to have other people raise their children by reiterating her false notion of “choice in childcare” (remind me again how you can have choice when there’s no capacity in the existing system?) and by trying to attack the Liberals again about taking statements out of context. Yes, she’s klassy-with-a-k that Diane Finley. (Liberal Carolyn Bennett responds to Finley here.)
RCMP Commissioner William Elliott has announced he will step down in July. Opposition MPs are already saying that his successor should be a choice from within the force rather than another civilian.
The Liberals are on the warpath about the amount of money the government has spent on partisan backdrops for announcements. This is really nothing new, other than perhaps the dollar figures.
Peter MacKay’s office and Megan Leslie are in a fight after Leslie accused the Conservatives of using a lunch with the Queen to reward loyalists, as it was an almost entirely Conservative affair.
Susan Delacourt looks at some of the challenges that female MPs face in getting elected.
And a truck crashed through the front window of Elizabeth May’s campaign office in Saanich, BC, which could be a big problem if an election does happen this spring.
Up today – Bill C-389, which will give trans people equal rights under the Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code, goes for its final hour of debate at 11am today (I’ll be in the House for it, and you can follow me on Twitter @journo_dale.) Later on, Bill S-10, the drug bill, is also due to be debated, and we can count on the Liberals to oppose it – right?
Why you can trust Xtra
