Motion on Adscam to be moved

I’ve learned that Peterborough Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro will move the following motion at committee on Tuesday:

November 1st 2009 represents the fourth anniversary of the first report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Sponsorship Program and Advertising Activities, presided over by Justice Gomery. Despite the time that has passed, we are no closer to knowing which Federal Liberal riding associations benefited from the stolen taxpayer funds or where the missing $43 million dollars highlighted by Justice Gomery ultimately wound up.

The Standing committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics calls on the Auditor General of Canada to conduct a full audit of the sponsorship program to determine which federal Liberal riding associations received stolen funds and to clarify for Canadians who received the missing $43 million dollars.

Third Quarter Party financial statements out today

Conservative Party Liberal Party New Democratic Party Green Party Bloc Quebecois
Q1 $4,362,596 $1,857,728 $595,611 $215,967 $133,586
Q2 $3,957,662 $4,053,568 $711,269 $194,090 $198,858
Q3 $4,554,787 $2,010,823 $1,078,376 $265,507 $249,477
Total $12,875,044 $7,922,119 $2,385,256 $675,564 $581,921

For all of the Liberal crowing last quarter over their 2Q results (largely buoyed by a “leadership” convention where Michael Ignatieff was coronated leader) and their 1Q->2Q plus/minus, their 2Q->3Q plus/minus is that story in reverse. However, realistically this quarter’s results shows the real strength of each party’s fundraising machine.

Interestingly, the Greens are outraising the Bloc Quebecois. The Greens may argue that this is another example of why we need proportional representation, however, I’d argue that this represents Canadians that believe in something, rather than believing against another (see what I mean in this article).

The NDP is raising half of what the Liberals are raising showing that for their relative size, their numbers aren’t surprising. Further, it shows that the NDP base is still healthy enough for their smaller party. For the Liberals, their numbers are also relative to their seat count (when compared to CPC numbers) in the House of Commons. However, this may be bad news for the Liberals as they’d like everyone to believe that their seat count is rather a result of a unpopular leader in the last election rather than current Canadian (and Liberal member) attitudes about this party.

Despite the economic crisis, the numbers are still relatively healthy. My friends in the fundraising sector would suggest that if corporate donations were still legal, we’d see party fundraising take a hit this year. However, although Canada went through some tough economic times this year, personal donations are still relatively strong in all charitable sectors.

H1N1 vaccination priority

Hedy Fry believes that there should be a special clinic on Parliament Hill to vaccinate Members of Parliament and staff. Meanwhile, most people in Ottawa will have wait as the first two weeks of vaccinations are rationed for those of us that need it now such as those with respiratory conditions, young children and pregnant women, among others with special needs.

Fry argues that parliamentarians are a special case as they “shake hands, I don’t know how many times a day with people”. Do you agree with her?

UPDATE (11/2): The National Post publishes an op-ed