Canadian politics

Pipeline worries

Aug 082012

Alberta oil spill record a lesson for BC.

by Bill Tieleman

The bottom line for British Columbians is that pipelines are risky. You can't produce a safe system, you can only produce a less risky system. There is no leak proof system.
– York University Professor Sean Kheraj

Alberta Premier Alison Redford says oil pipelines are environmentally safe, with any spills an easily dealt with unusual occurrence.

That's what Redford claimed after a Plains Midstream Canada pipeline ruptured, spilling up to 475,000 litres of crude oil into the Red Deer River near Sundre on June 7.

Alberta clashes with BC Premier

Aug 082012

Canadian politics

Christy Clark knows oil pipeline disliked in her province.

by Gillian Steward

BC Premier Christy Clark raised the stakes in the pipeline poker game recently. But given that she has such a weak hand, it's not likely to be a game changer.

Liberal popularity, NDP credibility

Jul 272012

Canadian politics

by Inside Queen’s Park

Amending budgets, threatening elections & slapping the other leader
What a dramatic time we’ve had at Queen’s Park ever since the McGuinty government fired the starter’s pistol nearly two months ago to unleash the legislative alchemy which transmutes the dross of a bill into the gold of statute law! One could almost see the wizards’ pointy hats and colourful robes and hear the sonorous orchestral soundtrack of Walt Disney’s Sorcerer’s Apprentice. And for the past week or so, the Legislature corridors seemed to echo the clatter of brooms and buckets as the government party’s designated electoral wizard — Dave Gene himself (cunningly passing among ordinary mortals as a mere Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations in the OPO) — called Liberal MPPs with instructions to unwrap their wands and commit the 2012 campaign spells to memory.

Election speculation

Jul 272012

Canadian politics

Summer silly season turns every announcement into an omen.

by Stephen Kimber for Metro

You know you must be heading into the silly, nothing-better-to-write-about summer season in politics — not to mention in the shelf life of any government — when commentators begin to twist every announcement, pronouncement, silence, head nod, eyebrow raise and weather report into an earnest discussion of whether said announcement, pronouncement, etc, increases or decreases the likelihood of a provincial election tomorrow. Spoiler alert.

BC PM defines away problems

Jul 272012

Canadian politics

"Semantics" an omnibus excuse for Christy Clark.

by Bill Tieleman

Creative semantics is the key to contemporary government; it consists of talking in strange tongues lest the public learn the inevitable inconveniently early.
– George Will, US columnist

Dirty is clean.

Bonuses are salary.

Jason Kenney’s wrong apology

Jul 272012

Canadian politics

Federal minister name-calls provincial minister, then stonewalls.

by Samantha Power

I don't know if Thomas Lukaszuk is an asshole, but it's clear a lot of people care that he was called one by a federal minister. Minister of Immigration Jason Kenney's private communication became very public when that "reply-all" mistake we all dread hit the media.

BC Liberals do something right

Jul 242012

Canadian politics

Corkage fee move worthy of a toast.

God made only water, but man made wine.
– Victor Hugo, 1802-1885

Cheers to the BC Liberal government!

Shocked? It's not a sentiment seen often in this space, but credit should be given when any party does the right thing. And on new wine corkage rules in BC restaurants, the government has — gulp — done a good job.

The concept is simple: restaurants with a liquor licence can let customers bring their own bottle to accompany a meal and be charged a corkage fee rather than buying wine from the establishment.

Compromised voters’ information

Jul 242012

Canadian politics

Also: Hydro One rescues, "seat saver" decisions.

Compromising voters' personal information
We have yet to resolve a clutch of electoral glitches arising from the 2011 federal election, such as alleged robo-calling and the overturning of the Etobicoke Centre result. Now we have a big, fat electoral records screw-up at the Ontario level, where we don't yet have more than a rumoured by-election, let alone a province-wide contest.

The names and addresses of voters are of course deserving of the most careful protection by Elections Ontario or by any other official entity empowered to compile such highly sensitive private info.

Before we go any further, it would be worth recalling how much the ground has recently shifted in regard to handling personal information. Before the 1999 introduction of the Permanent Register of Electors, we used to nail up hard copies of polling lists on every telephone pole naming Mr & Ms Electorate and all the little Ballots, and giving their home address.

Tom Mulcair at Calgary Stampede

Jul 242012

Canadian politics

Federal NDP leader comes across as a straight shooter.

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair strode into the heart of Calgary last week wearing full cowboy regalia — white hat, blue and white plaid shirt (with just a hint of orange), a huge bronze belt buckle (under a bit of a paunch), jeans and black boots. With his beard, he looked more like a grizzled range rider than Stephen Harper ever will. The Quebec MP was even pronounced the best-dressed politician at the Stampede by a keen observer of cowboy fashion.

"He seems to have nailed it with a good western outfit and he looks like he belongs, looks like he's stepping into the role," said Brian Guichon, owner of Riley & McCormick Western Stores. Guichon named Harper the runner-up for his outfit, which was topped by a black hat. Mayor Naheed Nenshi garnered third place.

During his short visit Mulcair showed that he had much more going for him than an acute fashion sense.

He clearly had the wind in his sails as he stood on the steps of Calgary City Hall after a meeting with Nenshi and pronounced to a media scrum that "I'm convinced that whether I'm in Calgary or I'm in Toronto, Canadians agree with basic principles of sustainable development like polluter pay."

Box office scandal

Jul 232012

Canadian politics

Change the contract, change the Halifax City council.

What are we to make of the latest tongue-clucking, finger-pointing, eye-rolling, so's-your-old-lady response to last week's auditor general's report on the ongoing, never-ending screw-ups at the intersection of Halifax Regional Municipality, Metro Centre and Trade Centre Ltd?

Following up on last year's cash-for-concerts scandal — let's not revisit that — Halifax A-G Larry Munroe discovered a murky, virtually undocumented 2006 deal in which the provincially-operated Trade Centre hijacked Metro Centre's box office operations.

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