News

BYLINE: John Ivison
SOURCE: National Post

Nothing divides the NDP like the Israel-Palestine conflict, as was suggested in this space three weeks ago, when I forecast this simmering internal debate would boil over before long. This column does not make a habit of being right -- predictions are normally more in line with the U.S. Office of Patents, which declared in 1899 that everything that could be invented had already been invented. But this one has come to pass.

BYLINE: Mia Rabson
SOURCE: Winnipeg Free Press

OTTAWA -- Liberal Sen. Mac Harb last week introduced legislation in the Senate to ban the seal hunt except for aboriginal hunters with treaty rights. His attempt last year fell flat when no other senator stood to second it.

This time, Progressive Conservative Sen. Lowell Murray gave the required seconding but the rest of the Senate still voted to not have the bill added to the order paper. Harb, a former Ottawa-area MP, has no support from his party.

BYLINE: PETER ZIMONJIC,
SOURCE: PARLIAMENTARY BUREAU

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation's annual "Teddy" awards for government waste highlighted QMI Agency work that exposed MPs' junk mail spending and the City of Toronto's homeless audit.

"The flyers ... have increased in cost from $5.9 million in 2005-06 to $10 million in 2008-09," CTF Prairie director Colin Craig said.

"Oddly enough, as our deficit skyrocketed, MPs hiked up their usage of these flyers to tell us about everything but the deficit."

BYLINE: Don Martin
SOURCE: National Post

At his debut as the chief figure in the federal government's deficit-elimination push, Treasury Board president Stockwell Day should have at least had the decency to blush at the first tiny nick of his scalpel.

Confronted by runaway spending in a budget requiring $53-billion worth of changes to the ledger, Mr. Day summoned reporters yesterday to announce he would save a maximum of $1.4-million by eliminating 245 appointments.

BYLINE: John Harvard
SOURCE: Winnipeg Free Press

New Democratic member of Parliament Pat Martin is dead wrong in proposing that donations to political parties and charities should be treated alike for tax purposes. Oh, I know Martin will be cheered on by many of his constituents who think that the wide gap in tax treatment between charities and political donations is a travesty.

It's easy to imagine many of them thinking: "How dare those politicians give their parties so much and charities so little." It's not difficult to understand why many Canadians might feel that way.

SOURCE: WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
BYLINE: MIA RABSON

Midday Friday, the NDP scheduled a press conference for leader Jack Layton to discuss his "immediate future." Tweets flew fast and furiously about the possibilities. Jokes were rampant.

But then the real news hit and the humour stopped.

Layton had prostate cancer.

Layton was his usual affable self as he confidently said he would be staying on as NDP leader and not letting the cancer dictate his life.

"I'm a fighter," he said.

Below is a list of Pat's bills brought forth to the house of commons in this session of parlaiment.

C-248 - An Act respecting Louis Riel

C-249 - An Act to ensure that appropriate health care services are provided to First Nations children in a timely manner

C-250 - An Act to prohibit the export of water by interbasin transfers

BYLINE: Mia Rabson
SOURCE: Winnipeg Free Press `

OTTAWA -- A federal government directive preventing the Canadian Wheat Board from pushing a pro-monopoly stance will stand after a Supreme Court of Canada denied the board leave to appeal Thursday. It ended a battle of more than three years between Ottawa and the Winnipeg-based grain marketing agency over a federally imposed order that all wheat board communications should reflect the government policy.

BYLINE: Mia Rabson
SOURCE: Winnipeg Free Press

Canada's opposition parties aren't letting prorogation go down without a fight. NDP Leader Jack Layton Wednesday pledged to introduce legislation when Parliament finally does resume in March, that would limit the powers of a prime minister to prorogue the House.

BYLINE: Mia Rabson
SOURCE: Hill Talk

OTTAWA -- Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger has already put the kibosh on a salary hike for cabinet ministers this year and is mulling doing the same for all MLAs. It's all part of the government's attempt at belt-tightening, and while the wage hike is a paltry amount compared to the projected $592-million provincial deficit, it's a symbolic move.