A look at the life and career of Ray Novak, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s new chief of staff:
Emerging from a dramatic week that has seen him lose two senators and his chief of staff, Stephen Harper will focus now on calming down his anxious caucus and righting a listing Conservative ship.
Did Prime Minister Stephen Harper have foreknowledge of a backroom deal between his now former chief of staff, Nigel Wright, and Sen. Mike Duffy, in which the latter’s $90,172 tab for improper housing expenses would be made to go away?
The doctoring of a Senate internal economy committee report to erase some references to Mike Duffy’s conduct was perfectly consistent with Stephen Harper’s long-standing preference for making questions go away rather than answering the….
Conservative MP Michelle Rempel said she’s “disappointed” over the ongoing Senate expenses scandal but stands firmly by her party, and the government is motivated by a “desire to make sure that we have accountability and transparency in the Senate.”
Nigel Wright aknowledges move is related to ‘matters involving Senator Duffy.’ Nigel Wright has resigned as Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s chief of staff, following revelations he wrote a $90,000 cheque to cover living expenses claimed by Senator Mike Duffy.
A public relations expert suggests Rob Ford’s decision not to host his weekly radio show on Sunday may indicate the Toronto mayor has yet to fully figure out how to respond to allegations he was recorded on video appearing to smoke crack cocaine.
The Harper government is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars advertising a program that does not yet exist.
The group — which includes author Margaret Atwood, Green Party leader Elizabeth May, and actor Gordon Pinsent — has signed an online petition to rename this Monday’s public holiday “Victoria and First Peoples Day.”
Read MoreSenator Patrick Brazeau says he will not pay back $48,000 in Senate expenses because he has evidence he was given the green light to claim the costs for his secondary residence in Ottawa.
Read MoreBritish Columbia’s stunning election upset has turned on its head one of the strongest arguments pollsters have always used against banning or restricting public opinion surveys during campaigns.
Read MoreWith Scotland set to cast an historic vote for independence next year, campaigners battling to keep the country part of the United Kingdom sought advice from former Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien, a man who knows a thing or two about fighting referendum campaigns.
Read MoreA third man has reportedly come forward with claims that he was sexually assaulted by the House of Commons Deputy Speaker.
Read MoreAdrian Dix was inside the Hitching Post Restaurant drinking from a mug stamped with twin six-shooters while outside on the old mining town’s main street, with dusk starting to cover the mountaintops, his campaign workers were counting potential seats…
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John Robson — If someone in the PMO paid off a big chunk of my mortgage, how much would you trust my coverage of politics? Now, what if they did it for a legislator? It’s wrong, totally wrong. And dangerous to our Constitution.
Susan Sherring — Over the course of his short, less than stellar political career, Nepean-Carleton MP Pierre Poilievre has said a number of silly and really foolish things. This past week, he took all of that to the extreme, attempting to put a positive spin on the drama that is now Mike Duffy’s…
Toronto Star — Just how long does Prime Minister Stephen Harper hope to float, butterflylike, above the Senate scandal that is ravaging his Conservative party’s credibility? Sen. Mike Duffy’s abrupt exit from the Tory caucus in the Red Chamber to sit as an…
Chronicle Journal — HOW many twists and turns are left in the race around and toward the truth about Senator Mike Duffy’s convoluted expenses? Accused of abusing his housing allowance, the senator occasionally from Prince Edward Island said he had personally paid…
Kirsty Duncan, M.P. — Climate change is accelerating much more quickly than previously thought. Nine of the 10 warmest years in the modern weather record occurred since the year 2000. While global average temperature increased by 0.7°C over the past 100 years, Arctic temperatures….
John Robson — The B.C. NDP face plant was so bad they’ll be getting sympathy cards from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Almost the only consolation is they fell on the pollsters and pundits confident they’d win. So what went wrong?
Ezra Levant — B.C.’s NDP started the recent provincial election campaign with a 22-point lead in the polls, and ended 4% behind the Liberals. It was a surprise ending, and not every NDP activist is willing to accept defeat.
Warren Kinsella — I was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. I predicted the British Columbia New Democrats would win that province’s election. They didn’t. In fact, the scandal and mishap-prone B.C. Liberals won it — and they won a majority, too. It was perhaps…
Read MoreLorrie Goldstein — Fixing McGuinty’s green energy disaster will Will Premier Kathleen Wynne have the political courage to admit the painfully obvious fact that Dalton McGuinty’s experiment with green energy has been an unmitigated disaster for Ontario?
Read MoreToronto Star — Enough is enough. It’s time for Toronto Mayor Rob Ford to do the right thing for the city, and himself, and step down. All day Friday, while the city absorbed the news that drug dealers have been shopping a cellphone video that appears…
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A guitar played by John Lennon and George Harrison in The Beatles has sold for $408,000 (£269,000) at auction.
