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That Book I Mentioned

A lot of people are calling and e-mailing to ask about the book I mentioned this morning. It's called Camp X and it was written by Eric Walters. It's the story of a couple of kids who stumble across Camp X, the spy facility where 500 spies were trained for deployment during the Second World War. The book was written for young readers so it's a great way to introduce kids to a Canadian tale that reads like an adventure book.

What is left of the camp is in decay because this country seems to spend more time and money apologizing for past horrors than it does trying to commemorate the good we have done in the world.

Put what on my fork?

 

I'm the type of guy who will eat seal meat, as I did last week and thanks to my Scottish heritage, I have an adventurous palate, ready to consume haggis or black pudding. Still, I have a tough time getting past the idea of eating "transgenic meat."

What you say is transgenic meat? It is meat that got its start in a laboratory and has been genetically altered with the DNA or genes of another species being introduced into the new animal. Researchers at the University of Guelph have requested approval for the first transgenic animal developed in Canada, the Enviropig. I give the full story on the pig here, including comments from people concerned about this development, but here is the quick run down. The Enviropig is a Yorkshire pig with DNA from a mouse spliced into it to reduce the amount of phosphorous the pig emits in its manure. Why do that? In intensive livestock operations, or factory farms, too much phosphorous pollutes the local water supply.

News Hounds Chase City Hall "SQUIRREL!"

With that in mind, I find it interesting that there was more feedback on Jack Layton's Olympian effort to get face time on the Gold Medal Hockey match than there was on the Globe and Mail's brutally insensitive headline about the breast cancer/mastectomy story out of Windsor.

None of the News That's Fit To Print

If I were you, I'd probably get fired for wasting my time surfing the net and checking out stoopid YouTube video links.Lucky for both of us, I'm not you. In my world, all that qualifies as "research" and a tough day at the office!

In the spirit of public service and my personal commitment to you, I present today's highlights for your perusal, (on your own time!)

** SPOILER ALERT!!!....Dutch soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek will take the lead role in "Anna Nicole Smith - the Musical". How tough can it be to play a dead model? Just lie there with your eyes closed. At least you'll be able to see Westbroek lying down on the stage, (assuming she's "true to form";) 

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Seal meat on the menu. Gotta get me some flipper pie.

She smiled when I stopped her to ask the question, "Have you tried seal meat before?"

It was the question of the day for me Tuesday afternoon in the lead up to today's event at the Parliamentary Restaurant where seal meat will be on the menu. So there was Megan Leslie, the New Democrat MP from Halifax giving me a primer on eating seal meat, "it's gamey."

Now to stereotype, Ms. Leslie looks like the type of young woman who, were she from Toronto, would eschew any meat and have answered my question with an explanation on the benefits of a vegetarian diet. Thankfully Ms. Leslie is no stereotype. So, yes, she tried seal on a trip to the Magdalen Islands and found it better than she expected, "I thought it would be fattier, you know when you think of marbled beef. But the fat is on the outside; you know the blubber layer to keep them warm. So I thought it would be fatty but it was quite lean. But it was gamey, gamey is the word I would use."

Just a few steps away, still in the foyer of the House of Commons I stop Liberal MP Scott Simms from Newfoundland who becomes wistful as I ask him about the taste of seal meat, "They tell me, there is nothing better than flipper pie and a glass of Chianti."

Simms agrees with Leslie that the taste of seal is gamey and he adds that seal is an acquired taste, "but one worth acquiring." So what would I be acquiring if I try seal meat in the Parliamentary Restaurant? Is this like chicken, beef, fish? A good question says Simms, "More like rabbit," he says. "A dark meat, it's very rich, very filling."

Now, I stopped and spoke with east coast MPs because, those are the people that would have tried this meat. Not everyone is a fan though. Gail Shea, the Fisheries Minister may defend the seal hunt but in no way does she sound like she enjoys eating seal meat, "It depends on how it's processed. There is a type of seal meat that is made into a pepperoni. If you ate the pepperoni, I don't think you could taste the difference if it were seal meat or another type of meat." Okay, so minister, do you like seal meat? "I like pepperoni," says Shea.

That's okay though, you don't need to like eating seal, that's not the point of this exercise MPs and Senators are taking part in today. No, today is about Canadian politicians thumbing their noses at Europeans and animal activists. The European Union has put in a ban on Canadian seal products. Sure they may have bought them for hundreds of years but now, they think it is mean and cruel and they are trying to force Canada to stop.

The EU is backed in this push by animal rights activists including celebrities and radical groups like PETA who would prefer that no animal were ever killed again and that everyone turn to a vegetarian diet.

A full discussion of the merits, or demerits, of the seal hunt will have to wait for another day, I'll only say the cute little white coat seal pups you see in posters are not hunted, it's not allowed. Beyond that the arguments will have to wait, I have to get in line at the restaurant to see what all this fuss is about, I expect a long wait.
 

The TTC is a memo-writing machine!

Another week, another TTC happening to react to.

Mayoral candidates are now weighing in on the firing of a TTC executive who allegedly helped his girlfriend get a photography contract with the Toronto Transit Commission.

Rocco Rossi told Newstalk 1010 that it's a step in the right direction.

"I'm only sorry it took a major news story in the newspaper to push the institution into action, " Rossi commented while attending a vigil for Chilean earthquake victims.

Project manager John Cursio's long-time companion Robin Thoen was awarded a $50,000 gig to take pictures at public meetings and potential building locations. She has also been let go.

Cancel NAFTA? American lawmakers look to rip up trade deal

Forget about the trouble Canada had with the Buy America policy, there is a new game in Washington; it's called Block Canada. A group of congressmen have given their backing to a bill that if passed, would see President Barack Obama give six-months notice that the United States was withdrawing from the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Representative Gene Taylor, a Democrat from Mississippi, introduced the bill last Thursday and quickly found the support of 27 cosponsors in both the Democratic and Republican parties. The bill has attracted support from moderates and the fringe in both parties as well, with several members of the Blue Dog Coalition of moderate Democrats signing on alongside libertarians like Ron Paul on the Republican side or Dennis Kucinich of the Democratic left. The bill also has fairly wide spread geographical support with representatives from 16 different states.

With more the $1 billion per day in cross border trade between Canada and the United States, politicians in Ottawa need to be concerned about any threat that would limit access to the U.S. market. The recent Buy America provisions of the Recovery Act of 2009 were credited with the loss of thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in lost business for Canadian companies.

The Canadian impact of cancelling NAFTA is likely to have little sway with the sponsors of this bill, their concern is the health of the U.S. economy. Rep. Taylor is quoted by Reuters as saying, "At a time when 10 to 12 percent of the American people are unemployed, I think Congress has an obligation to put people back to work."

While supporters have long credited NAFTA with helping boost trade and create jobs, opponents like cosponsor Bart Stupak, a Michigan Democrat, say the trade treaty has cost American jobs, "I remain opposed to NAFTA because it continues to hurt the U.S. economy and put Americans out of work. I am pleased to join my colleagues to propose a repeal of this failed trade policy. NAFTA has failed to deliver the benefits that were promised and has cost Michigan hundreds of thousands of good manufacturing jobs."

Stupak relies on data from the Economic Policy Institute which claims Michigan in particular lost 63,000 jobs as a result of NAFTA while the United States as a whole lost 1 million jobs as a result of NAFTA.

President Obama has promised to support freer trade and NAFTA in particular since coming to office, yet he was known for critiquing the pact while campaigning to be president. During a speech two years ago in Ohio, then candidate Obama was critical of rival Hillary Clinton and her support for NAFTA saying the United States can't keep passing unfair trade deals. "One million jobs have been lost because of NAFTA" Obama told his audience, "including nearly 50,000 jobs here in Ohio. And yet, ten years after NAFTA passed, Senator Clinton said it was good for America. Well, I don't think NAFTA has been good for America - and I never have."

Expect Canadian politicians to downplay this threat but there are plenty of reasons to worry, the first among them, President Obama's past statements and long history of opposition to NAFTA. This is also an election year in the United States with the entire House of Representatives and 36 Senate seats up for grabs. With unemployment still running high in the United States, offering populist solutions like closing the borders could strike a chord with an agitated public. Finally, don't expect this anti-NAFTA push to just come from the Democrats, not only has Taylor's bill picked up support from Republicans but the growing Tea Party movement in the United States, which leans right, is attracting plenty of anti-trade supporters who say it is time to put America first.

Emptying the ol' noggin

Alright, just a few random thoughts because I haven't blogged in ages.

3...

2...

1...

GO!

- In case you haven't noticed, I'm one of 1010's morning reporters nowadays, along with Amber Gero.  Often times we'll take an issue to the street and ask for your input.  Here's a slice of life for ya.  This, as I was doing the coyote story in The Beach this morning:  Me: "'scuse me sir, I'm with NewsTalk 10-..." Potential interviewee: "Sorry man, I don't have any change."

Thou Dost Say "Huh?" Canada

That's the best news I've heard all week. It would seem that the STANDING PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE WITH NOTHING TO DO BUT WORRY ABOUT BULLSH*T won't be worrying about new lyrics for our National Anthem.

On the one hand, I'm pleased, (if not surprised), that the matter of "gender neutral" lyrics for O Canada has been dropped. On the other hand, it would have been such great fodder for poking fun and ridiculing the clowns on "the Hill".

Oh well.

In the end I'd like to think we all stood on guard for sanity. With few exceptions, (mostly those who flirt with the edges of sanity on the best of days), Canadians thought the whole notion of neutering our anthem was a dumb frickn' idea. And, in typical Canadian fashion, our harshest criticism came in the form of laughter and eye rolling!

Why We Love Dogs

We put up two videos today about dogs. This one is a sequence I shot to show you what happens when someone says the word "squirrel" around Zack. As you can see, he loses his mind. Terriers are ratters, they are driven by instinct to hunt down vermin. Obviously when Zack thinks he might be in the presence of a critter, its like he has a disco ball in his head.

This video is a brilliant commercial shot at 1000 frames a second. It shows a half dozen dogs reacting to having a piece of kibble thrown into the air. You see the dogs tweak to the fact that something wonderful is coming their way, calculate what it's going to take to grab it, leaping into the air and snatching it and then savouring the best thing that has happened all day.....or at least in the last three minutes.

How's This for an "UTTERLY AVOIDABLE" Headline?

In radio, we like to talk about "writing for the ear". It's important for a radio writer to be aware of the sound of the story. That not only includes the production elements, (i.e., the natural sound of the story, the "clip" of the news maker, etc.), it includes the sound of the words as they're pronounced aloud. (It's precisely reason why we CANNOT be singing "True patriot love thou dost in us command." Try it. It just sounds BAD...no matter how inclusive it may be!)

Needless to say, we use the SOUND of words in the telling of a story. The copy may be alliterative; it may be strikingly staccato or punctuated by pregnant pauses; it may even be purposefully mispronounced for the sake of a punchline or a pun.

One Session Ends, A New One Begins.....

The Ontario legislature was prorogued today.

It's nothing like what we've seen in Ottawa though. Unlike the two-month break that MP's had when Prime Minister Stephen Harper prorogued parliament, MPP's will have a long weekend. A new session will begin on Monday afternoon with a throne speech. The Premier wanted to avoid the backlash that the Prime Minister faced when he prorogued.

Of note, at the end of this session, a bunch of us reporters had some fun. When the Speaker adjourned the legislature, we threw a bunch of paper at MPP's. There's actually a story behind it. It's a parliamentary tradition for reporters to mark the end of the session by throwing papers onto the chamber floor. While the paper used to be bills that had died on the order paper at the end of the session, this time it was E-health freedom of information documents. Yeah, I thought that was funny too.

Before you send that hate mail.....

My column in the National Post today is about how tedious political natterers spun two different incidents of men going postal. You can read it here. The point was not actually to decide if the guy who flew a plane into an IRS building in Austin and the army captain who wigged out at Fort Hood are terrorists but to sort through how the lunatic right had interpreted the two attacks. Apparently one was an example of the dire threat of Islamic terrorism from within while the other was either a "crazy guy" or a hero for the Tea Party crowd.

Some people are prone to over reaction. Readers assumed what I wanted to say and started sending in the hate mail. One man from Nova Scotia wrote to tell me that I had hit a new low (which when you are the house Troskyite at The National Post seems impossible) by using a mentally unstable man as a means or scoring political points. I wrote back asking if he had read the last paragraph of the column. He returned "Oh, sorry. Really busy this morning. I'll take another look".

So let me get this straight: without actually reading my column you fired off a testy e-mail telling me what an idiot I am.

It's a great illustration of the level of dialogue these days. People don't even wait to hear what someone is saying before they start marshaling their arguments not only to prove that they are wrong but also stupid.
 
That's not dialogue. It's not even debate. It's closed minded posturing and it leads to the kind of political silos where people don't even consider their opponent's argument or evidence before rejecting it. If that's the future of political discourse we're in some pretty big trouble.

City Hall's No Place For YOU!!

If the real measure of a person is how they behave when others AREN'T watching, what can you possibly say about Toronto City Councillor Paula Fletcher?

There can be no room nor tolerance for Fletcher's disgraceful display in the Council chamber on Monday night. Sadly, her behaviour in front of a live microphone and a rolling camera is merely the tip of the dung heap at Toronto City Council. Her browbeating harangue against "citizen John Smith" (how perfect!) is just another eye-bulging ad hominem ranting example of what passes for "debate" in that chamber. It actually beats Sandra Bussin's embarrassing arrogant behaviour live, on the air with John Tory and Tarek Fatah back in September.

Jack Layoton's Photo Op Cheering Backfires!

I heard Jack Layton on MOORE IN THE MORNING a couple of days after the Olympics wrapped up in Vancouver. There was a range of topics up for discussion, including Jack's health and his fight against prostate cancer, the ongoing developments in Afghanistan and the upcoming federal budget. All this on a morning when we were reporting on an IPSOS REID poll suggesting Jack Layton was the number two choice for PM among Canadians.

But John's first question was all about Jack's "photo op" cheering section taking in the GOLD medal hockey match at Gretzky's on the final day of the 2010 games. If you watched the CTV coverage you saw frequent camera shots of the crowd bar cheering on the Canuck Pucks as they battled the Yanks for shiny shinny supremacy. And every time the Gretzky-cam went LIVE, Jack Layton was the only guy looking at the camera. Everybody else was watching the TV screen, (off to the right of the camera).

Harper's Olympic bounce is Ignatieff's hangover

 

In politics, as in life, how people perceive you can become reality in their mind, a reality which no amount of debate, analysis or coercion can change, Prime Minister Stephen Harper knows this. After running a moderate right-of-centre government for four years, 45% of voters still say they think Stephen Harper has a hidden agenda. Despite Harper's best efforts he simply cannot shake this perception of him. So you would think that Harper would have some sympathy for Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff when he looks at the results of today's poll on leadership.

The truly shocking thing about these latest numbers from Ipsos-Reid is not that the Conservatives have bounced back to an eight point lead over the Liberals, 37% to 29% support, the horserace numbers are fluid. No, the shocking part is that on questions of leadership attributes, Michael Ignatieff finishes third in every single category. When asked who would make the best Prime Minister a stunning 46% chose Stephen Harper putting his personal popularity well above that of his party. In second spot for best PM is Jack Layton, the NDP Leader is the choice of 33% of Canadians, more than double the 16% who say they would actually vote for his party. Trailing behind his party's popularity is Ignatieff, the choice of just 21% for best Prime Minister.

Well That was Fun

In his departing monologue as he stepped away from The Tonite Show after only seven months Conan O'Brian made a plea for an end to cynicism. "It's my least favourite quality in a person," he said. For a guy whose whole background is in smartass, take-nothing-seriously comedy it was a charming moment of candour.

I thought of Conan a few times during the Olympic Games because I watched a nation go from glum to gleeful over the unfolding story in Vancouver. In a rare display of growing national abandon we fell for the players, their commitment, their youthful exuberance, their family stories, their ordinariness and their extraordinaryness. We threw away our customary cynicism and revelled in the accomplishments of our young athletes and as the games became a globally acknowledged success we experienced a tremendous collective pride in pulling the whole thing off.

It's been a great ride and if you're like me you find yourself wishing it wasn't over and hoping that what we felt as we willed our curlers, boarders, figure skaters, speed skaters and hockey players to excellence, we will feel again some day.

At the same time we don't need to get all carried away. The world obviously likes Canada and we're pretty fond of us too. If I can mention another gifted broadcaster, I remember watching Dan Rather as a guest on Larry King. Caller after caller heaped praise on him and Rather never responded with more than "Thank you".

Now that everybody knows what a great place this is we don't need to surrender our legendary humility.

How's Your Heavy Medal Hangover?

WOW!

Now that was Super Sunday! "Sid the Kid" managed to not only bring 33 million of us to our feet at 7:20 of overtime, he is now a member of an elite group of Canadians who have marked our memories and history with iconic game winning hockey goals. Sidney Crosby's gold medal winner ranks right up there with Paul Henderson's garbage goal against Vladislav Tretiak in 1972, Darryl Sittler's wide deke around Vladimir Dzurilla in 1976, and the "Gretzky to Lemieux…HE SHOOTS! HE SCORES!" to win the 1987 Canada Cup with 1:26 on the clock.

I took some grief on Twitter when I suggested this gold medal was the ONLY one that mattered. Ya, I know they all matter. I hooted and hollered, fist pumped and fretted for 17 days, just like you as the medal count mounted. But, the early returns suggest 99 per cent of the country watched all or part of the Canada vs USA Men's Ice Hockey Gold Medal game. And I would hazard to guess 100 per cent were singing the national anthem as our flag rose to the rafters in Canada Hockey Place. This game, this gold medal is the only medal that mattered to the entire country.

Back at Queen's Park

Okay, so I haven't written in a while. My apologies. I've been settling in here in my new gig at Queen's Park.

Provincial politics have been pretty much as you'd expect over recent weeks. The opposition parties are still trying to get their message out about the HST and are trying to find new ways to explain to Ontarians that it's going to cost them more.

For it's part, the province is trying to get it's message out that they've cut personal taxes, will be sending out transition payments and have put in place a new tax credit. All to offset the added cost of a combined provincial and federal sales tax, which kicks in July 1st.

Mayoral Candidates Won't Focus on Making the TTC an Essential Service

On Monday, one MPP at Queen's Park introduced a private member's bill proposing to make the TTC an essential service. Former Health Minister David Caplan wants to prevent future public transit strikes and outlined what to do when contracts talks stall. Although it passed first reading, Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne maintained the plan doesn't fall in line with the Liberal government's position and Premier Dalton McGuinty suggested the issue should be debated during the municipal election.

That may be easier said than done.

Although there has been talk at city hall for years to prevent TTC strikes by making it an essential service, no one has ever pushed the province to make it happen. In 2008, Toronto came close, with city council voting 23-to-22 against asking Queen's Park to make a move.

Recalibrate this!

Knowing how much Prime Minister Stephen Harper likes his classic rock, I'm suggesting Led Zepplin's The Song Remains the Same as the theme song for his Throne Speech and budget.  

After trying to sell the country on the idea that the prorogation the government announced on December 30th was all about "recalibrating the government" and getting ready for phase two of the economic action plan, the PM's office told reporters on Monday that there would not be anything new in the budget set to be released next week.  

Gender pay gap, not all it's cracked up to be

Few people would advocate more women living in poverty, but if we are going to have a serious discussion of how best to tackle the issue that more women than men live in poverty, we need to face reality. Sadly, the report issued by a collection of advocacy groups fails miserably on that count. The group uses conjecture rather than facts and when confronted with facts, changes the rules to suit themselves.  

Take the longstanding debate over what is called "the gender wage gap." According to the report issued Monday by the collective that includes the Canadian Labour Congress, the Canadian Teacher's Federation and the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action, women earn just 70 cents for every dollar a man earns in Canada. Were this true it would be a shocking and appalling state of affairs, the type of thing that government regulations must be called upon to rectify. I truly do not know anyone who would advocate that a man earn 42% more than a woman for working the same job, for the same number of hours. Of course this is not the case.  

The report, dubbed a reality check by its authors, looks at the government's claim that women earn 84 cents for every dollar a man makes and they dismiss it. Their reason for doing so? The government does not use the correct data. In the government report, the 84 cents on the dollar claim is arrived at by looking at wages on a dollar per hour basis using Statistics Canada's July 2008 Labour Force Survey. In July of 2008 women earned an average of $19.14 per hour while men earned an average of $22.80 per hour, thus the 84 cents on the dollar figure.  

The collective report by the labour and activist groups does not use dollar per hour compensation to show that women earn less than men, they use total year compensation. It is easy to understand why the group uses this formula, it will always show that women are being discriminated against while the other formula is showing improvements. A quick look at Stats Canada's monthly Labour Force Survey shows one reason why men make more money than women; they work more hours. While this may not justify a difference in hourly wages, it would justify a difference in year end compensation. In the report cited by the government, men worked an average of 38.7 hours per week, a full five hours more than women who clocked in for 33.7 hours. For full-time workers, rather than all workers combined, there was still a difference, men working 40.7 hours per week to 38 hours for women. In reviewing several months of these reports over the past two years a consistent pattern emerges, men in full-time jobs work two to three hours more per week than women.  

As for the difference in hourly wages, part of that is attributable to the type of work men and women choose to do and non-wage benefits that come with those jobs. As the report by the activists shows (page 18 in pdf), women choose to work in fields such as nursing, teaching and social services, jobs that while they pay less come with security and benefits like public sector pensions. From the report, "In 2006, women accounted for 55.9% of all professional jobs, but 87.4% of jobs in nursing, therapy and other health related professional jobs; 71.3% of professional social sciences and religion jobs (most in public and not-for-profit social services); and 63.9% of teaching jobs."  

Note the "but" in that last sentence which makes it appear that they are complaining that women dominate certain professions which women choose to go into. The fringe benefits of those jobs often come in the form of delayed compensation such as pensions. According to Stats Can, women are more likely than men to be enrolled in a public sector pension, more likely to be part of a defined benefits plan, the gold standard of pensions. Meanwhile men are more likely than women to be part of a private sector plan and also be enrolled in the less lucrative defined contribution form of pension plan.  

There are other benefits which come with these public sector jobs such as top-ups for maternity benefits. I can tell you from experience many private sector employers offer nothing beyond the Employment Insurance maternity/paternity leave plans which pay 55% of wages up to a maximum of just over $400 per week. By contrast, federal government workers are eligible for a top-up that pays them 93% of their wages for the full year of maternal leave.   

Finally, there is the job security issue. Throughout the recession, indeed since 1990, women have fared better than men when it comes to unemployment. While factory workers, loggers and even bank executives and high-level sales executives have faced the axe, there have been few reports of teachers and nurses being let go en masse by the government. In January 2010 the unemployment rate for men aged 25 years and older was 7.9% while for women it was 6.1%. If we went back to June 2009 when unemployment was peaking, the rate for men 25 and over was 8.4% while women were still at 6.1%. I wonder how many of those laid off men would have chosen stability over higher wages when they were looking at the unemployment line.  

The reasons for men and women earning different annual incomes are many and they are complex. Some of the difference comes down to choice, stability over risk, the decision by many women to only seek part-time work, the difference between what is offered in wages and what is offered in generous public sector benefits. The report offered up Monday by the activists examines none of this and instead looks at one number and comes to the conclusion that it is all due to discrimination. I do note they do not determine that women having 87% of nursing jobs is due to discrimination, and that too speaks to how serious this report is and how much attention policy makers should give to it. If we are going to have a serious discussion on this issue, let's start by looking at real numbers.  

Brian Lilley is the Ottawa Bureau Chief for Newstalk 1010 in Toronto and CJAD 800 in Montreal. Follow Brian on Twitter to get the latest as it happens.

"Lack of French" at the opening ceremonies? Gimme a break.

The old Red Rose tea ads on TV used to say, "Only in Canada? Pity." That could sum up the argument over how much French was used in the opening ceremonies of the Olympics last Friday.

After complaints by federal Heritage Minister James Moore and Quebec Premier Jean Charest, it has now been announced that Official Languages Commissioner Graham Fraser will launch a formal investigation into the use of the French language in the ceremonies. You have to be kidding me.

To Canadians who have not been fully bathed in official Ottawa or are not fully versed in the fact the French is one of the official languages of the International Olympic Committee, Friday's ceremonies likely had just enough French or for many far too much. These are after all the games billed as Vancouver 2010. We had a pop song by Garou, a speech in French by IOC President Jacques Rogge, an oath read out for all officials and every single announcement made in French first. At least that's how it appeared to those of us following along at home on television, but for official Ottawa and language zealots in Quebec, anything short of a word for word parity is giving the short end of the stick to French and of course the many voters all the federal parties covet in Quebec.

I could go on about how the Francophone population of British Columbia is tiny, or point out that Francophones make up just 22% of Canada's population but all of that would be brushed aside by Canada's official bilingualism and the buckets of money the federal government have poured into these games. Instead, let's turn to one of the main complainants, Jean Charest, and see how he conducts himself.

Few people in this country have attended a Jean Charest news conference, I unfortunately have attended several. While Charest calls for greater bilingualism at the games, during his own news conferences he follows what is called in Quebec, "protocol." Protocol is a system whereby Francophone reporters usually have a chance to exhaust all the questions they have and then at the end 2 or 3 English questions are allowed before Charest leaves. Consider it a linguistic apartheid for reporters. Charest is not alone in using this, the system is widespread.

At one news conference I attended sometime around 2001, the Montreal municipal politician that called the news conference noted that the subject matter was regarding the English community; the overwhelming majority of the reporters were Anglos so he said he would start in English. That didn't go over well. The two Francophone reporters present banged on tables and shouted until the official, looking shaken, recanted and began in French. Whether at city or provincial levels in Quebec, you cannot break the protocol, I've tried and been ignored but if Jean Charest were truly interested in giving the languages equal billing he would buck the trend, he doesn't.

It also cannot help but strike me as strange that Charest has commented that he is happy with the French signage at the games. This from the man who leads a province that once used the notwithstanding clause of the constitution to uphold a bigoted sign law and still requires French to be larger than English or any other language on commercial signs.

Charest is not alone in using linguistic politics to curry favour with voters, politicians at the federal level fall over themselves to do the same. While Stephen Harper, Michael Ignatieff and Jack Layton give speeches and refer to "Canadians," they use a different term when speaking in French in Quebec. Most Canadians would likely be outraged to know that the people who lead or seek to lead our national government refer to "Canadians and Quebecers" when speaking in French in Quebec, having travelled the country listening to these speeches, it is not a note of reference accorded to other provinces.

The fight over language is normally a proxy fight for votes, often the votes of Francophones in different parts of Quebec and this case is no different. In reacting so quickly to the opening ceremonies, saying there was not enough French; Heritage Minister James Moore was just trying to get out ahead of his critics in the opposition parties. Yet these political games have consequences including the now launched investigation. Official Languages Commissioner Graham Fraser, being a denizen of Official Ottawa and given his comments so far, we know he will find fault somewhere with the Vancouver Organizing Committee, a report will be filed and the tut-tutting will begin all over again. Only in Canada you say? Pity.

Time to End the War on Family Day

Remember when Family Day brought us all together as Ontarians? Remember when whiny interest groups left things well enough alone? Are you nostalgic for 2009 when Family Day was about Families? It's time we did something about this.

Consider:

Dalton McGinty's Family Day Card this year did not feature a picture of a family. It didn't even mention the word "family". The Premier's card merely featured a circle and the words "All the best".

At the Juvenile court house on Jarvis Street the supervising judge has removed the annual family tree pointing out that a large number of the youths she sees don't have families and she didn't want them to feel left out.

Only Himself to Blame

Some will insist the media have claimed another scalp in the resignation of Adam Giambrone from the Toronto Mayors race but the young city counsellor has only himself to blame. Every candidate chooses a public personae. Ten days ago, knowing full well that a number of women and a string of incriminating text messages were out there, Giambrone chose not only to throw his hat into the race but to place his live in girlfriend on the stage in the role of loyal political wife. When the Star discovered that all was not as it seemed it presented the truth to Torontonians who were free to draw whatever conclusions they might. Obviously it matters to Torontonians because Giambrone was not capable of staying in the race.

NDP Leader Jack Layton faces prostate cancer with determination and a smile

Word that Jack Layton would hold a news conference in Toronto at 2pm on Friday afternoon definitely sent the usual press gallery speculation machine into overdrive. What on earth could the leader of the NDP be revealing?

The immediate theories that he was quitting as leader to leave politics or resigning to enter the Toronto mayoralty race were dismissed by his staff. Speculation then turned to Layton's health. The Energizer bunny of Canadian politics is known for keeping a hectic schedule and for keeping fit with regular workout sessions in the gym set aside for MPs. Word spread that Layton had been laid up with a bad back, perhaps there was a health issue to deal with?

Toronto's Archbishop Collins warns Ignatieff and Harper on abortion and foreign aid

One of Canada's top Catholic clerics has fired a shot across the bow of Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff and in the process sent a warning to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins issued a statement late Thursday saying it was "astonishing" that Ignatieff was advocating for contraception and abortion to become part of Harper's G8 proposal to reduce maternal and child mortality in the developing world.

"When there are so many obvious practical steps that can be taken to promote maternal and child health throughout the world, it is sad to see Mr. Ignatieff introduce into the discussion this negative proposal, which in no way serves to improve the health of mothers or children, but which rather imperils the most vulnerable among us."

Archbishop Collins, who represents 1.7 million Catholics across an area that covers much of the GTA and the area north of Toronto up to Georgian Bay, says the focus of any such proposal to improve the lives of women and children should focus on clean water, improved nutrition and vaccines, not abortion.

The statement is unusual in that it singles out a specific politician for a specific proposal but comments on policy by Canada's Catholic bishops is not unusual in and of itself. In the last year, the bishops have spoken out on euthanasia, human trafficking and several international issues from Israel to Sri Lanka. And while this statement seems to focus on Ignatieff, in saying, "We all await with keen interest the tangible measures that the Prime Minister will propose," Collins has put Harper on notice as well.

Ignatieff's office offered no immediate comment in response but earlier in the day the Liberal Leader had been asked about his abortion commitment as it relates to several pro-life members of the Liberal caucus. "I'm in a party that has deep respect for the privately held views of my colleagues and friends, including my friend Paul," said Ignatieff. "I understand that this is a very serious issue. I respect liberty and freedom of conscience, especially freedom of religious conscience."

The argument from Ignatieff though is that freedom of conscience is not the issue. "The issue is," says Ignatieff, "will Canada continue with its 25 year-old policy of supporting full access to the full gamut of reproductive health services that women need in order to have safe pregnancies, safe terminations, and healthy kids?"

One of the interesting things to note over the past few days of Ignatieff advocating abortion as a means to reducing maternal and child mortality is that he has been unable to say the word abortion in public. In statements and in response to questions from the CBC, Sun Media, the Toronto Star and myself, Ignatieff has used several euphemisms but not the abortion word. Reporters have noticed, he can't say it. Instead he says safe terminations, full gamut of reproductive health services and at least until Thursday he had been calling abortion part of a range of contraceptive options.

There is clearly politics at play in Ignatieff's decision to raise this issue and in his words "lay down a marker" for the Harper government. The Liberals hope to resurrect the "hidden agenda" tactic with the Conservatives as a way to make voters uneasy with Stephen Harper's government. They also hope to squeeze the Conservatives into accepting what maternal health care means on Liberal terms. There are many in the Conservative caucus, and I would include Stephen Harper among them, who are afraid of being called social conservatives. They avoid all issues that might give the opposition an opportunity to label them. If enough of these Conservatives get nervous, the PMO will quietly give the Liberals, and the mandarins at CIDA what they want, abortion as part of the maternal health package.

There is a risk for the Conservatives here politically speaking. Although they may feel that they can ignore their social conservative base, that these voters have nowhere to go, the reality is, these voters, campaign workers and volunteers could just stay home in the next election. Anecdotally, I can tell you of many former Liberal volunteers that did just that and avoided the party they once gave so much to, in the first elections after the sponsorship scandal broke. Social conservatives may be among the weakest sub-sections within Harper's Conservative party but without them, it's unlikely he would win any election.

The Prime Minister though could satisfy his base and not alienate middle of the road Canadians by simply saying no to Ignatieff. When Harper announced in Davos that something must be done for the 500,000 women that die in childbirth each year and the 9 million children that die before their fifth birthday, I doubt that anyone outside of abortion lobby groups said, "I know the solution, abortion." By saying that his plan will focus on primary health care, clean water, food and vaccines, Harper could gain widespread public support. The question is, will he be brave enough to do it?

Planning a TTC Trip Can Be Complicated

The TTC is trying to make hopping on public transit easier with its new trip planner.

While this online gadget seems snazzy, it comes one year after a community initiative called myTTC.ca which does the exact same thing.

So why not test it out? (See below). After punching in a few different starting off points, with each final destination City Hall, I have a clear favourite - myTTC.

I have a few problems with the official TTC site. First, it's very wordy. If you're in a hurry, you may skim the directions too fast and miss something. Secondly, there was a spelling error ("Rennymede" station?) in the directions. You also have to go through a multi-stepped process and while it does guarantee the system will almost always get the locations you plug in correct, the step before your final directions can be confusing.

Bribery as Reported by the Victims, as Ignored by the West

Last week the UN statistics office published a damning report concerning corruption in Afghanistan.  It was one of those studies, so often commissioned in the developing world, which produces shocking numbers, yet draws frighteningly obvious conclusions.

At the heart of the findings; a blunt assertion made by 59% of Afghan citizens that corruption exists as the greatest problem facing the war torn nation.  More pressing than security, more important than unemployment, Afghans overwhelmingly seek the eradication of bribery.

Something New

Fans of the old afternoon show will remember I enjoyed spending time with fiction and non fiction authors. I was picky because I knew they had to be famous enough or captivating enough to deserve a half hour of your time. I always enjoyed the conversations and the ideas that came out of them.

The morning show is a very different animal and since our mission is to get you up and get you out the door with the information you need to get your day on, we don't really have time to kick back for an indepth conversation.

We started doing something a few months ago which we want to make a bit more of a routine on the show. When I'm offered interviews with people I think you would like to hear from, I record them. We're placing these interviews in long form on the 10PM best of show as well as making them available on the website and for download at iTunes. In the morning I'll let you know if we have someone special coming up that night and play you a highlight from our conversation.