HT

POLITICAL
ADS
DONALD
SAVOIE
HILL
CLIMBERS
WORLD PRESS
PHOTO
NDPs Enough
attack ad is the
message P. 9
The author on his new

book, What Is Government
Good At? P. 14
Pigott leaves PMO,

Beaton leaves Raitts
office P. 19
Canadian War
Museums exhibit
TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR, NO. 1294
LOBBYING ELECTION 2015
Close election
race provides
fuel for lobbyists
during Houses
long down period
BY MARK BURGESS
ith MPs on the hustings and the

federal bureaucracy in maintenance mode, lobbyists are staying busy
by providing clients with strategic advice
on the campaign and how things could
look in Ottawa on Oct. 20.
CANADAS POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT NEWSWEEKLY
What Conservatives,
NDP, and Liberals
need to win in 2015
Whether it starts early or not, the election
campaign is already on. And each of the parties is
looking over the electoral map to find its own path
to victory. Read ric Greniers column p. 11.
Continued on page 4
NEWS ADVERTISING
NDP Enough ad
produced entirely
by party staff, whole
new level of internal
sophistication
BY LAURA RYCKEWAERT
P. 22-23
MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015 $4.00
NEWS ELECTION STRATEGY
Harper could
be trying to
deplete NDP,
Libs to benefit
Conservatives
after election,
say Hill sources
If the Conservatives can
drain the other parties
coffers during the
campaign, it could make
a Conservative minority
government more stable.
BY LAURA RYCKEWAERT AND MARK BURGESS
I
For Prime Minister Stephen Harpers Conservatives, its majority or bust. That means 170 seats, or close to
it. A return to dominance in Ontario is needed for this to happen, with the party capturing 70 to 87 seats.
f Prime Minister Stephen Harper

launches the election campaign early
in order to outspend opponents over a
longer writ period, he may be looking
beyond Oct. 19 to the leverage that depleting the other parties finances would
provide in a minority government.
he NDPs hard-hitting, anti-Conservative ad Enough, which has so

far attracted more than 500,000 hits on
Continued on page 18
NEWS PETERBOROUGH
MEDIA ELECTION 2015
Wells plots TV
leaders debate
that will be
more hike than
square dance
Three provinces give NDP Leader Tom Mulcair the seats he needs to win. By keeping the
Conservatives weak in British Columbia, the party can win 22 to 27 seats in the province.
Del Mastro
saga casts
shadow as new
candidates look
to repair ridings
reputation
BY RACHEL AIELLO
BY MARK BURGESS
s Peterborough residents are divided over the footage last month

of former Conservative MP Dean Del
Mastro in handcuffs and shackles after
being sentenced to a month in jail for
overspending on his 2008 campaign, the
ridings candidates are campaigning on
accountability and providing an independent voice in Ottawa.
aul Wells has been spending his summer watching old election debates. His
bosses at Rogers are busy finding actors
that look like political party leaders.
Mr. Wells, the political editor for
Macleans, is one of the countrys bestknown columnists but he admits hes
not a broadcast guy. Thats part of the
Continued on page 5
It all comes down to Central and Eastern Canada for Justin Trudeaus Liberals. Ontario is most important, as
the party needs some 58 to 63 seats. The Hill Times photographs by Jake Wright
Continued on page 6
THE HILL TIMES, MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

IMPOLITIC HARPER ECONOMICS
FEATURE BUZZ
HEARD
ON
THE
Harper economics:
HILL nothing adds up, but
will voters notice?
BY MARK BURGESS
The people we put in

power have to start
thinking like poor people
Meet Canadas oldest

political activist: Harry
Leslie Smith at the
Edmonton stop of his
Stand Up For Progress
tour on June 22. Photo
Eventually,
these cumulative
inconsistencies have to
register with voters.
SUSAN RILEY
by Topher Seguin
arry Leslie Smith may be Canadas

oldest political activist, and hes making sure he has his say in the lead-up to
the federal election campaign.
The author from Belleville, Ont., who
lived through the Great Depression and
fought for the United Kingdom in the
Second World War, has been on a crosscountry Broadbent Institute tour of the
country, with a message: We have to work
together to preserve social democracy or
witness the end of the progressive era.
The problem with today is not lack of
money or debtits lack of ideas, lack of
commitment by our government to realize
that its constituents are the people and not
bankers and hedge fund managers whose
loyalty is to their ledger books rather than
their community, Mr. Smith, 92, told The
Hill Times last week. The people we put
in power have to start thinking like poor
people.
Mr. Smith has written several books,
most recently Harrys Last Stand: How
the World My Generation Built is Falling
Down, and What We Can Do to Save It.
His tour has already taken him from Victoria to Halifax (where NDP deputy leader
Megan Leslie was in attendance). It will
end July 29 in Oshawa, Ont.
His book tour was widely celebrated
in the U.K.especially at a speech to the
Labour Party conference that received a
rousing ovation.
The young people are pretty damn
scared that their future looks hopeless,
Mr. Smith said.
His speeches have combined his personal history, one that bears witness to
many of the last centurys major events,
with a warning about the decline of the
welfare state. His sister died of tuberculosis as a child, and he became a child
labourer at the age of seven before joining
the Royal Air Force in 1941 at the age of
18.
He moved to Canada after the war with
his German wife.
The people who have not experienced
this utter despair that we felt in the past
dont realize, but I do hope that they dont
have to go through it to witness what it
was like, he said.
He warned against austerity and the
politics of fear.
Whether at the top or the bottom of

society, they have to feel that they are part
of the solution and not part of the problem, he said.
CPAC cancels Beyond

Politics
CPAC has cancelled Catherine Clarks show, Beyond

Politics. The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright
ublic affairs channel CPAC did not

renew Beyond Politics, its one-on-one
interview show with public figures, host
Catherine Clark announced earlier this
month.
Just learned that @CPAC_TV will not
be renewing my contract for next season,
she tweeted on July 14.
Thank you to all of the wonderful #Canadians who welcomed me into their lives
over the past nine years. And thank you to
the exceptional crew and producers who
made every shoot a joy.
Ms. Clark told The Hill Times she was
genuinely surprised and truly disappointed that her contract wasnt renewed.
I am grateful to have had almost 10
years of interviewing really wonderful and
fascinating Canadians, she said in an email.
Throughout the shows life, Ms. Clark
interviewed prominent Canadians, from
Supreme Court justices to Olympians
to First Nations leaders to former prime
ministers.
mburgess@hilltimes.com
The Hill Times
ATINEAU, QUE.Prime Minister Stephen Harper is often accused by rivals

of being stupidly ideological when it comes
to the economy. Recent, jarring developments suggest otherwise. He is not ideological; he has been, variously, incoherent,
cynical and spiteful.
We could start with Christmas in July
the governments direct-deposit bribe to
Canadian parents. Some $3-billion is going
to moms and dads of children up to age 17
for no discernible reason beyond inspiring
gratitude towards the Conservatives.
Some parents will, no doubt, be grateful. And this gift does reflect neo-liberal
orthodoxy in one sense: it returns to
Canadians money that is rightfully theirs,
no strings attached, and it further impoverishes Big Government. Conservatives
have quietly dropped the fiction that this
is child care program; lucky winners can
spend their windfall on beer and popcorn,
if they want (although you wont catch
Conservatives using those words.)
But this frivolous, ill-timed giveaway is
profoundly un-conservative in other ways.
Old-school Tories, like Independent MP
Brent Rathgeber, think it imprudent to be
squandering billions, essentially as voterbait, when the economy is on the edge of
recession, and, according to the Parliamentary Budget Office, when we could be back
in deficit by April.
Yet Harper claims the opposite: that, if
opposition leaders cancel his family support
plan, Canada faces a cycle of spiralling deficits and could go the way of Greece.
But isnt Greece in trouble, according to
neo-liberals, because of a history of overgenerous social programs? Is Harpers Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB)along
with income splitting for the wealthiest 15
per cent, another election baublereally
affordable at this perilous moment?
And dont Conservatives deplore social
engineeringproviding money to one sector of the population, in pursuit of some
nebulous social good (in this case, supporting stay-at-home parents)? The UCCB isnt
even effective social engineering. At nearly
$2,000 annually for children under six,
and $720 for every pre-teen and teen, the
program comes nowhere close to covering
the cost of child care.
And here is what the government
doesnt say: first, the UCCB replaces an existing child tax credit worth about half the
new one; and, second, it will be taxed back
depending on how much you earn and
where you live. By some calculations, most
parents will receive less than one-third of
the advertised benefit, and the wealthiest
taxpayers will end up with pocket change
that they dont need. (On the positive side,
some economists predict the drain on federal revenues should only be $1.5-billion
annually.)
Our current troubles are not entirely the

Prime Ministers fault, but they are not Pierre
Trudeaus, either (despite Joe Olivers risible
claims). But Harpers reaction to economic
shifts has been self-serving, short-sighted
and ineffective. It is hard to imagine either
opposition leader doing worse, writes Susan
Riley. The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright
As to government claims the UCCB will
stimulate a sagging economy (although
true Conservatives are supposedly wary
of stimulus spending), how will funding
winter holidays, or the purchase of new
Japanese appliances, or enriching family
savings, create jobs and prosperity here?
Then there is the economics of spite. In
a purely vindictive, political move, Harper
is refusing help Ontario administer its
proposed new pension planaimed at millions of young and middle-aged workers
with no private pensionsand will not
even share information.
Federal Finance Minister Joe Oliver
says the Ontario plan will take money
from workers and families, kill jobs and
damage the economywithout providing
a shred of evidence. Why is giving money
to parents an economic stimulus, while
helping middle-class workers establish
retirement nest eggs a drain? Because
Ontario has a Liberal government.
And dont Conservatives like to remind
us that there is only one taxpayer? By forcing Ontario to start from scratch, instead
of piggy-backing on the successful Canada
Pension Plan, Oliver is adding expense and
red tape to what should be a co-operative
venture. (Not that Harper ministers have to
worry about pensions: at age 55, departing
federal Justice minister Peter MacKay will
be drawing $128,832 annually).
Eventually, these cumulative inconsistencies have to register with voters. The
Harper government turned Paul Martins
$13-billion surplus into a $5.8-billion deficit, then ran up seven more (possibly eight
at the end of this fiscal year).
Nor have lower business taxes, highlevel cajoling, or Harpers obsessive drive
to eliminate his own deficit inspired corporate Canada to invest in new jobs. A welter
of boutique tax cuts has complicated the
tax code with no measurable economic
gain. Unemployment, especially for young
people, remains high, full-time jobs are
disappearing and Harper relied too heavily
on future prosperity fuelled by oil.
Our current troubles are not entirely
the Prime Ministers fault, but they are not
Pierre Trudeaus, either (despite Olivers
risible claims). But Harpers reaction to
economic shifts has been self-serving,
short-sighted and ineffective.
It is hard to imagine either opposition
leader doing worse.
Susan Riley is a veteran political columnist and regular contributor to The Hill Times.
sriley@magma.ca
news@hilltimes.com
The Hill Times
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LOBBYING ELECTION 2015
Close election race provides fuel for

lobbyists during Houses long down period
Who will occupy the PMO after
the election? Lobbyists are
busy explaining what different
governments and configurations
would mean for clients issues,
and starting to think about
whether their firms have the
right people to understand the
next government. The Hill Times
Firms are already

busy advising
clients on the
possibilities of
minority or coalition
governments,
changes to the
senior bureaucracy,
the possibility of
unprecedented
turnover in the
House of Commons,
and a very different
federal Cabinet.
photo by Andrew Meade
Continued from page 1

The long lead-up to the Oct. 19
election and the possibility that
a new Parliament wont return
until December or January is bad
news for businesses and interest
groups with pressing policy asks
and those seeking government
contracts, said Joe Jordan, a consultant at the Capital Hill Group.
The executive component of
government will be minimal for
the next several months, he said.
Theyre going to do what
they have to do to keep the lights
on, he said, but theyre almost in
maintenance mode.
This period of calm will be
made up for in what many observers expect to be a fascinating
post-election period, though, and
firms are already busy advising
clients on the possibilities of minority or coalition governments,
changes to the senior bureaucracy, the possibility of unprecedented turnover in the House of
Commons, and a very different
federal Cabinet.
After almost a decade of Conservative government and four
years of majority rule, clients are
seeking advice on what a change
could mean for their issues.
Its helping stakeholders
understand how the platform
development process works, how
the campaign mechanics work,
how the leaders tour works, how
issue mapping works for parties,
so that they can see how their
issue may or may not be a factor in the campaign, said Robin
MacLachlan, vice-president of
Summa Strategies.
No strategist has a crystal ball
that can determine the outcome of
this campaign, but they can help
stakeholders and clients understand what scenarios are possible
and what those scenarios might
mean for their issue, he said.
While lobbyists had been
targeting party platforms for the
first half of the year, that period
has ended, except for the possibility of some very fine-tuning,
consultants said.
Some firms are offering a
tease of the advice theyre providing clients, using it as a marketing tool. Global Public Affairs
launched its Election Insights
Strategists can help clients

understand the various post-election
scenarios and what they mean for
specific issues, Summa Strategies
vice-president Robin MacLachlan
says.
page in March, what vice-president Sean Casey said was styled

as a one-stop shop for anyone
looking for an electoral fix.
Partnering with social media
monitoring company TrendSpottr,
the page aggregates election
news, offers insights from
Globals team across the country,
and breaks down how issues in
different sectors could play out
in the campaign. The insights will
start coming out daily once the
writs drop, Mr. Casey said in an
interview with The Hill Times.
Its actually been able to generate a fair bit of client work, as
wellpeople that hadnt worked
with us before that see this and
say, Seems like you know whats
going on for the election. Can you
help us with this? he said.
Hill and Knowlton Strategies
will be running its Election Quarterback tool that allows political
junkies to predict results and
transfer poll numbers reflecting
the popular vote into estimated
seat counts.
The page will also offer the
ridings and nominated candidates, said Elizabeth Roscoe, the
firms national practice leader for
public affairs.
Global Public Affairs launched its

Election Insights page in March,
what vice-president Sean Casey
said is styled as a one-stop shop for
anyone looking for an electoral fix.
The offerings reflect the media

environment in 2015, where immediate information from various
sources is the norm, she said.
Everybody now is in the
content business. Everybody is a
news purveyor, she said.
While the firm isnt trying to
compete with up-to-the-minute
news coverage of the campaign,
Hill and Knowlton will send out
breakdowns of the debates and
significant events tailored to clients
on the same day, Ms. Roscoe said.
While trying to drive policy
during a campaign is risky, elections do provide an opportunity to
educate politicians and bureaucrats about issues that matter to
clients.
Theres no time that politicians are more in tune with the
concerns and the priorities of the
electorate than during an election campaign, Mr. MacLachlan
said. If you want to take an issue
from being somewhat of a sleeper
issue to being a priority, taking
advantage of the keen attention
that politicians are paying in their
riding can be that opportunity,
but it really depends on the issue.
Anything that could become
controversial during a campaign
Hill and Knowlton Strategies will

be running its Election Quarterback
tool that allows political junkies
to predict results and transfer poll
numbers reflecting the popular vote
into estimated seat counts, says
Elizabeth Roscoe.
The Hill Times photographs by Jake Wright
should be sidelined, he said, and

this unpredictable election provides the perfect example of why
advocates should never push their
issue in a partisan manner, since
they could easily find themselves
on the wrong side of the future
government.
The campaign can also be a
good opportunity to engage bureaucratswho are often interested in comparing policy approaches to other jurisdictionsabout
whats worked and what hasnt
on regulatory issues in different
countries, Mr. Jordan said.
Its more of an informationgathering exercise but youre also
clearly trying to build a relationship that would continue once
people start grabbing the policy
levers again, he said.
With one eye on the polls,
firms are also looking at their
staffing and trying to position
themselves for whatever government follows the election.
The 2011 orange wave led to
a number of firms adding NDP
consultants in Ottawa, just as
Rachel Notleys surprise win in
Alberta led to a shakeup of the
government relations industry in
Edmonton and Calgary.
If you do get a change in

government, youre going to have
clients look at their GR representation and saying, Are they
well-positioned given the new
masters?Thats already started a
bit, Mr. Jordan said.
Youre going to see, in anticipation of that, firms hiring people
with credentials that are more
left of centre, and youre going
to see a movement of clients to
firms that they think have those
qualities.
While major events of the
campaign, such as debates and
marquee speeches, are picked
over by lobbyists with a finetoothed comb for anything
relevant to a client, they can
also be social events. Its probably too hard to get a crowd of
clients together for the Macleans
debate on Aug. 6, in peak summer
holiday time, Mr. Jordan said, but
the firm will be hosting viewing
parties for other ones.
The people that we deal with
in companies are political junkies,
too. A lot of it is formalized watercooler chat, he said.
news@hilltimes.com
The Hill Times
Capital Hill Groups Joe Jordan: If

you do get a change in government,
youre going to have clients look at
their GR representation and saying,
Are they well-positioned given the new
masters? Thats already started a bit.

MEDIA TELEVISED DEBATES 2015
Wells plots TV leaders debate that will be

more hike than square dance
Paul Wells has
been watching
old Canadian
and American
leaders televised
debates to get a
feel for the pacing,
the moderators
approach, and the
effect the form has
on the outcome.
reason hes being fastidious in his
preparations for the 2015 campaigns first election debate that
his magazine will host Aug. 6.
Mr. Wells has been watching
old Canadian and American leaders debates to get a feel for the
pacing, the moderators approach,
and the effect the form has on the
outcome, he said.
One observation: keep it simple.
The temptation is to make
the structure more elaborate in
search of some result or effect
that you didnt get last time. I
dont see the point of that, Mr.
Wells said in an interview last
week from Toronto, where he was
planning for the debate.
Were a little old fashioned
and I think this debate will have
fewer obstacles to direct confrontations among the leaders.
Rogers is still finalizing the
details and more information will
be released in the lead-up, but
Mr. Wells said it wont be like a
square dance, forcing the debaters into some new shape to break
up segments.
Its more like a hike, he said.
The two-hour debate will take
place with no press or audience in
a closed studio, which Mr. Wells
said he hasnt seen yet. There
will be a media room onsite for
viewing.
CityTV is hosting a live,
one-hour post-debate analysis
show that will feature Macleans
Parliamentary bureau chief John
Geddes, Vices Justin Ling and Mr.
Wells, once hes had a chance to
catch his breath.
The Conservatives served
notice in May that Prime Minister
Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) would not participate in the debate hosted by the
consortium of major broadcasters
(CBC-Radio Canada, CTV and
Global) but would consider other
proposals. So far, in addition to
the Macleans debate, the party
has accepted invitations from The
Globe and Mail, Munk Debates
and TVA.
The consortium will host
debates in English and French
without the Prime Minister. The
Macleans debate could be the
only one all four national party
leaders participate in.
Macleans played a role in
unraveling the debate consensus.
In an April editorial, editor Mark
Stevenson was critical of how the
big national parties, in cahoots
with broadcast executives, could

dictate the terms of the only
two debates, one in each official
language.
So lets bust the broadcast
consortiums monopoly, he wrote.
Mr. Wells was involved in the
early meetings with the parties to pitch the debatesome
with a single party, some with
all of them togetherwhich he
described as all very cordial.
When there was some tension, his
bosses at Rogers intervened and
took that part off his shoulders,
he said, because its a lousy idea
to have the moderator do politics.
But he agreed with his editor
that its better to have more conversations in a variety of styles.
Its messy and ungainly and
it increases the amount of politics
around debates, but the previous
consensus was artificial, he said.
It made sense for broadcasters to pool their resources and
have a monopoly when it cost
huge amounts to organize one of
these things and to get the signal
out. Were well past that. Three
elections from now, I think were
a lot likelier to see a homeowner
in Churchill, Man., Periscoping a
leaders debate with her Smartphone than we are to see something that looks like the leaders
debate of 1968.
With Mr. Wells in the moderators chair on Aug. 6, it will be the
first debate in two election cycles
for English viewers that wont
be hosted by TVOs Steve Paikin,
whom Mr. Wells called the gold
standard for moderators.
Mr. Paikin is known as being
even-keeled and even earnest. A
2011 Globe and Mail profile called
him the journalist who likes
everybody. Thats probably not
something Mr. Wells is accused
of often, as anyone who follows
his occasionally caustic Twitter
account can attest.
Both are cerebral and curious about more than federal
politicswhile Mr. Paikins daily
current affairs show on TVO can
devote entire episodes to Gaza,
mining in northern Ontario and
pension plans in the same week,
a look at Mr. Wells columns in the
past month shows topics ranging
from the Greek bailout to Justin
Trudeaus carbon policy to jazz
legend Ornette Coleman.
A veteran columnist who was
at the Montreal Gazette and the
National Post before moving
to Macleans in 2003, Mr. Wells
wrote what many consider to
be the book in an increasingly
glutted field about Prime Minister
Harper2013s, The Longer Im
Prime Minister.
But Mr. Wells contends hes
familiar with all the leaders.
The one I met most recently
was Justin Trudeau and that was
12 years ago, he said. They all
know me and figure they could
have a real conversation at a debate that Macleans was hosting.
The opening up of debates
forces the leaders to prep differently and take the different
moderators into account.
Former Canadian Alliance
leader and Conservative Cabinet
minister Stockwell Day said lead-
Macleans magazines
Paul Wells, on
moderating the TV
leaders debate on
Aug. 6 in Toronto: Im
nervous but I keep
reminding myself that
the show is about the
leaders and all eyes
will be on the leaders.
They have much more
reason to be nervous
than any of us do. The
Hill Times photograph by
Jake Wright
ers teams would be poring over

Mr. Wells columns for clues about
his focus.
Theyll look at how Paul
has characterized them in the
past and theyll try to give some
advice: if its a negative characterization, how do you offset that
without appearing to be artificial,
he told The Hill Times.
As for comparing Mr. Wells
style with Mr. Paikins, Mr. Day
said the latter is more immediately intense.
If someone says something,
[Mr. Paikin] will let it show a little
more on his face, hell react a
little more. Paul keeps the cards
a little closer to his chest and
you wont necessarily see if he is
moved by a particular response or
not, Mr. Day said.
While the leaders are busy
rehearsing in mock studios with
actors playing their adversaries,
Mr. Wells said he will be borrowing their methods.

One of my bosses is out finding people who are willing to
pretend to be Elizabeth May or
Tom Mulcair and so on, he said.
His colleagues at Macleans
are helping him finalize the
debates themes and questions
but he said he hasnt had much
pressure in that regard from
elsewhere. The political parties
arent lobbying for questions and
no one in the company is making
demands, he said.
We spent 20 minutes the other
day debating what the hashtag
would be but nobody has told me
what questions to ask, he said.
One of the things he made
clear with the parties from the
outset was that he would have
licence to ask supplementary
questions and to re-ask questions
if he feels they werent answered.
You dont want to do it too much

because Im not actually debating
these people,he said.But it reassures me that the idea I had, that it
could be a conversation and not just
a set of parallel statements to cameras, is something that has worked
in the past and can work again.
With less than two weeks to go
before showtime, Mr. Wells is keeping the bigger picture in mind.
Im nervous but I keep
reminding myself that the show
is about the leaders and all eyes
will be on the leaders. They have
much more reason to be nervous
than any of us do, he said.
Im sure Ill stutter, Im sure
Ill mispronounce something. But
this is why I wanted to be a journalist, is to be where the action is.
And we are absolutely where the
action is going to be on Aug. 6.
The Hill Times
DEBATE LINEUP
Debate Host:
Rogers & Macleans
Date & Location:

Aug. 6, at CityTV studio in Toronto
Whos In:
Conservatives, NDP, Liberals and the Greens
Consortium English Debate
Oct. 8, location to be announced
NDP, Liberals and Greens
Consortium French Debate,

with La Presse
Oct. 7, location to be announced
NDP, Liberals, Greens and Bloc Quebecois
Globe and Mail &

Google Canada debate on
the economy
Calgary in September
Conservatives, NDP in principle
Munk Debates on foreign

policy
Roy Thompson Hall in

Toronto, in September
Conservatives, NDP in principle
TVA
Oct. 2, in Montreal
Conservatives, Liberals
and the NDP in principle
Up for Debate on
womens issues
Sept. 21, in Toronto
NDP, Greens
*The NDP has also agreed in principle to participate in a debate hosted by seniors advocacy group CARP. Bloomberg News also
pitched a debate on the economy, and Huffington Post Canada pitched another one with Twitter Canada and Samara.
NEWS PETERBOROUGH
Del Mastro saga casts shadow as new

candidates look to repair ridings reputation
The footage and
the corresponding
coverage of Prime
Minister Stephen
Harpers former
Parliamentary
secretary garnered
two distinct
reactions in the
region: sympathy or
embarrassment.
The image of Mr. Del Mastros perp walk was displayed
prominently on the front page of
both local newspapers the following morning and the video of it
is now part of a new NDP online
ad documenting Conservatives
who have been subject to criminal
investigations and convictions.
The footage and the corresponding coverage of Prime Minister Stephen Harpers (Calgary
Southwest, Alta.) former Parliamentary secretary garnered two
distinct reactions in the region:
sympathy or embarrassment. The
communitys name and reputation have been tied to Mr. Del
Mastros trial, according to Lois
Tuffin, editor of local paper Peterborough This Week.
The paper has published pages
of comments from readers, some
arguing Mr. Del Mastro was the
best MP theyve ever had; others
said he was the worst and, instead of bringing Peterboroughs
message to Ottawa, he did the
reverse.
Mr. Del Mastro began representing the riding when the Conservatives came to power in 2006,
but he resigned from the Conservative caucus in 2013 when the
charges were laid and gave up his
seat last fall after being convicted
of violating the Elections Act.
When Dean was sentenced,
there was some residual sympathy for him, former Liberal MP
for Peterborough Peter Adams
said in an interview last week.
A lot of people were asking
whether it was appropriate to
take Mr. Del Mastro from the
courthouse in that manner, not
realizing that most criminals are
shackled like that but they dont
get their picture on the front
page, he said.
The NDP ad means that image
wont disappear, he said.
Despite this, Mr. Adams said
Peterborough is still a conservative town and the Conservatives
have the largest guaranteed vote,
at around 30 per cent.
Ms. Tuffin said the local
candidates are speaking about
accountability and promising to
be the voice of the people, the
subtext being Mr. Del Mastros
reputation.
Conservative candidate Michael Skinner won the nomination on July 14 and Ms. Tuffin said
shes heard it will be part of his
Former Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro and former Liberal

Peterborough MP Peter Adams, When Dean was sentenced,
there was some residual sympathy for him. The Hill Times photo-
Conservative candidate Michael Skinner, NDP candidate Dave Nickle, Liberal candidate
Maryam Monsef will be running in Peterborough, Ont., in the next election. The Hill Times photographs by Rachel Aiello and handout
graphs by Jake Wright
strategy going forward. Following

the partys nomination meeting,
he told reporters he doesnt think
Mr. Del Mastros conviction will
damage Conservative support in
the riding.
Local political observers agree
its too early to call the race but
say it could continue to be a bellwether: historically, the riding has
almost always gone the way of
the party that forms government.
Mr. Adams said the riding,
which changed in the redistribution to include more of the area
north of Peterborough, is still very
reflective of Ontario as a whole: a
mix of urban and rural, high-tech
and manufacturing, agriculture
and a major health centre, as well
as Trent University and Fleming
College.
Ms. Tuffin said the race looks
like a microcosm of the national
race: shes hearing a lot of voters
struggling with the same questions about the candidates that
are being directed to their respective leaders, and the local candidates line up with the leaders in
an uncanny way.
People are aware of how
tough Parliament is and how the
person is going to be on their
own up in Ottawa, being pushed
around by the party without the
supports here. How are they going to cope in that new environment? she said.
Mr. Skinner is a prominent
businessman who owns two
entertainment and capital investment companies that operate
a handful of nightclubs, bars,
restaurants and other commercial and residential properties in
Peterborough. He was born and
raised in Peterborough and did
his schooling there. He is married
with one young son and is relatively new to the political scene,
something thats being viewed as
an asset because he wasnt part of
the Conservative Party when Mr.
Del Mastro was elected.
The NDP acclaimed candidate
Dave Nickle early in the nomination process. He has run for the
party before both provincially and

federally, so hes already wellknown in the riding. A retired local
public high school teacher, Mr.
Nickle is also involved in a handful
of community organizations and
has been a member of the New
Democrats since 1997, after briefly
being a member of the provincial
Liberals. Hes married with two
grown children.
If the only way to win Peterborough is to win the country,
well I guess well just have to
win the country, he told The Hill
Times last month.
Liberal candidate Maryam
Monsef is a community organizer
who has lived in Peterborough for
most of her life, after her mother
brought her and her two younger
sisters to Canada from Afghanistan. She ran for mayor in 2014,
bringing her considerable name
and face recognition.
Following that race, she said
she was approached by other
parties, but chose the Liberals
because they were the most in
line with her policies. Another
former MP, Andy Mitchell, is
managing her campaign, and four
high-profile MPsMarc Garneau,
Ralph Goodale, Adam Vaughan,
and Carolyn Bennettare coming
to town to talk policy and boost
her profile.
Mr. Adams said the slate of
visitors could indicate the party
feels something is happening
in Peterborough, adding that
its remarkable for the area
to nominate a candidate of her
background.
The Green Party hasnt nominated a candidate yet, but Forces
et Dmocratie nominated its first
candidate outside QuebecToban
Leckie, a student of Canadian
and aboriginal studies at Trent
University and outdoor guidein
the riding.
Given what Peterborough has
gone through politically with Mr.
Del Mastro, more people are engaged and talking about the upcoming election, said Ms. Tuffin.
Mr. Del Mastros legal battle
isnt over, as he is seeking to

appeal his guilty verdict and more
headlines could pop up over the
course of the election.

raiello@hilltimes.com
The Hill Times
RIDING PROFILE
Electoral History of Peterborough, Ont.,

1953-2011
Years of
Percentage
Winning Candidate
Party
Elections Won
of Vote
Dean Del Mastro
Conservative
2011
2008
2006
49.67%
47.40%
35.90%
Peter Adams
Liberal
2004
2000
1997
1993
43.55%
48.41%
46.55%
47.60%
Bill Domm
Progressive Conservative
1988
1984
1980
1979
40.85%
52.69%
40.25%
44.46%
Hugh Faulkner
Liberal
1974
1972
1968
1965
52.90%
45.49%
42.09%
36.98%
Fred Stenson
1963
1962
35.93%
38.07%
Walter Pitman
New Party
1960
45.78%
Gordon Knapman Fraser
1958
1957
1953
66.78%
60.71%
52.47%
Peterborough-Kawartha, Ontario
Redistributed from the 2003 ridings
of Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock
and Peterborough.
Population: 112,665
Average family income: $83,482
Immigrant population: 8.50%
Single parent families: 14.40%
Percentage of residents with a
post-secondary degree: 52.20%
Homeowners: 72.90%
Transposition of votes:
Conservative 50% NDP 21%
Liberal 25% Green 4%
Source: Elections Canada
ELECTION 2015
NEWS WOMEN IN POLITICS
Only 30 per cent of nominated candidates women,

need more to change tenor, flavour of House
BY RACHEL AIELLO
ome 315 women are so far nominated

by the Conservatives, NDP, Liberals,
Greens, and the Bloc Qubcois to run in
the next federal election, or 30.18 per cent
of the major parties candidates, but that
number still falls short of the 2011 federal
election campaign when 405 women, or
31 per cent, ran federally, according to an
analysis by Equal Voice and The Hill Times.
At this point our expectation is that we
may not do better, it doesnt necessarily look
that way, thats in terms of candidates on the
ballot,said Nancy Peckford, executive director
of Equal Voice, a multi-partisan organization
that helps elect more women at all levels of political office in Canada.Of course, we still have
a number of nominations to complete. Theres
absolutely room for movement here. We are
hopeful and encouraging women who have
a desire to run and are in a position to seek a
nomination to absolutely go for it at this date.
The House will also be boosted from
308 to 338 seats, which means more candidates running among the main parties.
At this point in the nomination process,

despite the addition of 30 new ridings, the
percentage of female candidates is still sitting below 2011 levels.
In 2011, 405 women ran federally out
of 1,302 candidates from the major parties.
In recent elections, the number of women
running has trended upward, slowly. In 2006,
380 women ran, in 2008, 445 women ran
and at this rate it will take some time before
reaching parity in the number of men and
women competing for seats in the House of
Commons.
Ms. Peckford told The Hill Times that after the last election the number of women
elected rose to an historic high of 25 per
cent of the 308 seats and that changed the
tenor and flavour of the House.
As encouraging as that was, the minimum
threshold she said she would like to see is 30
per cent, requiring 100 of the 338 seats to go
to women this election, up from the 72 seats in
2011. Its possible this time, but Ms. Peckford
said she suspects Canada will need far more
women on the ballot to make that happen.
What were seeing in Canada is this
incremental rise in terms of womens participation and of course it very much goes
back to the numbers.You need Canadians
to have the opportunity to vote for women
and not just having one woman on the ballot,
you need multiple women because obviously
peoples interest are varied in terms of the
party theyre going to support, she said.
According to data analyzed by The Hill
Times, with files from Equal Voice, of the
305 women running so far, 57 are Conservative candidates, about 20 per cent of the
partys overall team. There are 104 women
running for the NDP, or just more than
41 per cent of their candidates. The Liberals have nominated the most candidates
overall, of which 97 are female, making up
33 per cent of their total, and just more than
28 per cent of Green Party candidates are
women, and they still have 174 candidates
left to nominate if they intend on running a
candidate in all 338 ridings.
Even if the Liberals and the Conservatives nominate women in all their remaining ridings, they will be still below 50 per
cent of their candidates. Although the New
RIDING
Scarborough Centre
WOMEN & POLITICS
Female Candidates Nominated 2015, So Far

RIDING
CANDIDATES
Newfoundland and Labrador
Avalon
Green Krysta Byrne-Puumala
Bonavista-Burin-Trinity
Liberal Judy Foote
Labrador
Liberal Yvonne Jones
Long Range Mountains
Liberal Gudie Hutchings
Prince Edward Island
Cardigan
Charlottetown
Egmont
Malpeque
Nova Scotia
Cape Breton-Canso
Cumberland-Colchester
Dartmouth-Cole Harbour
Halifax
Halifax West
South Shore-St. Margarets
New Brunswick
Fredericton
Fundy Royal
Miramichi-Grand Lake
Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe
New Brunswick Southwest
Saint John-Rothesay
Quebec
Abitibi-Tmiscamingue
Ahuntsic-Cartierville
Alfred-Pellan
Argenteuil-La Petite-Nation
Beauport-Cte-de-Beauprle dOrlans-Charlevoix
Beloeil-Chambly
Berthier-Maskinong
Bourassa
Brome-Missisquoi
Brossard-Saint-Lambert
Charlesbourg-Haute-Saint-Charles
Chteauguay-Lacolle
Chicoutimi-Le Fjord
Compton-Stanstead
Dorval-LachineLaSalle
Drummond
Gaspsie-Les les-de-laMadeleine
Gatineau
Hochelaga
Honor-Mercier
Hull-Aylmer
Joliette
Jonquire
Green Teresa Doyle

Green Rebecca Viau
Conservative Gail Shea
NDP Leah-Jane Hayward,
Green Lynne Lund
NDP Michelle Smith

NDP Wendy Robinson
Green Brynn Nheiley
NDP Megan Leslie
NDP Joanna Hussey
Liberal Bernadette Jordan
NDP Sharon Scott- Levesque,

Green Mary Lou Babineau
NDP Jennifer McKenzie,
Liberal Alaina Lockhart,
Green Stephanie Coburn
Conservative Tilly
ONeill Gordon
Liberal Ginette Petitpas Taylor
Liberal Karen Ludwig,
Green Gayla MacIntosh
Green Sharon Murphy
NDP Christine Moore,

Liberal Claude Thibault,
Green Aline Bgin
NDP Maria Mourani
NDP Rosane Dor Lefebvre
NDP Chantal Crte
Conservative Sylvie Boucher
Liberal Karine Desjardins
NDP Ruth Ellen Brosseau
NDP Dolmine Laguerre
NDP Catherine Lusson
Liberal Alexandra Mends
NDP Anne-Marie Day
Liberal Brenda Shanahan
Conservative Caroline Ste-Marie
Liberal Marie-Claude Bibeau
Conservative Daniela Chivu,
NDP Isabelle Morin,
Liberal Anju Dhillon
Conservative Pascale Dery
Liberal Diane Lebouthillier
NDP Franoise Boivin
NDP Majorliane Boutin-Sweet,
Liberal Marwah Rizqy
NDP Paulina Ayala
NDP Nycole Turmel
NDP Danielle Landreville
Conservative Ursula Larouche,
NDP Karine Trudel
Democrats are doing the best in terms of

gender parity, nearly all of their remaining 82 seats would have to go to women to
reach equal representation.
Based off of the current numbers,
womens representation is the highest in
British Columbia, and lower than average in
Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec, and Nova Scotia.
So far, there are 110 ridings where there
are no female candidates running and 77
ridings where two or more women are
running. There are four ridings where the
three main parties candidates are female:
South Surrey-White Rock, B.C.; Oakville
North-Burlington, Ont.; Brampton West,
Ont.; and Dorval-LachineLaSalle, Que.
A riding to watch will be Vancouver Centre,
B.C., because all four candidates are women:
small business owner and non-profit executive Elaine Allan for the Conservatives; NDP
Constance Barnes a tourism professional and
past municipal member of Vision Vancouver;
incumbent MP Liberal Hedy Fry, and legal
advocate the Green Partys Lisa Barrett.
The Hill Times
RIDING
La Pointe-de-lle
CANDIDATES
NDP ve Pclet,
Liberal Marie-Chantale Simard
Lac-Saint-Jean
NDP Gisle Dallaire
LaSalle-mard-Verdun
NDP Hlne LeBlanc,
Green Lorraine Banville
Laurier-Sainte-Marie
NDP Hlne Laverdire,
Liberal Christine Poirier
Laval-Les les
Liberal Marie-Chantale Simard
LongueuilCharles-LeMoyne
NDP Sadia Groguh,
Liberal Sherry Romanado
Mirabel
NDP Mylne Freeman
Montarville
NDP Djaouida Sellah
Montmagny-LIslet-Kamouraska- Liberal Marie-Jose Normand
Rivire-du-Loup
Outremont
Liberal Rachel Bendayan
Pierrefonds-Dollard
Conservative Valrie Assouline,
NDP Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe
Portneuf-Jacques-Cartier
NDP laine Michaud
Qubec
NDP Annick Papillon
Repentigny
Liberal Adriana Dudas
Richmond-Arthabaska
NDP Myriam Beaulieu
Rivire-des-Mille-les
NDP Laurin Liu,
Liberal Linda Lapointe
Rivire-du-Nord
Liberal Janice Belair Rolland
Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie
Liberal Nadine Medawar
Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot
NDP Brigitte Sansouchy
Saint-Lonard-Saint-Michel
NDP Rosannie Filato,
Green Melissa Miscione
Salaberry-Surot
NDP Anne Minh-Thu Quach
Shefford
Conservative Sylvie Fontaine
Terrebonne
NDP Charmaine Borg
Ville-MarieLe Sud-Ouestle
NDP Allison Turner
-des-Soeurs
Pierre-BoucherLes Patriotes Liberal Francine Crevier Blair
Verchres
Marc-Aurle-Fortin
Conservative Johanne Thort,
NDP Marie-Jose Lemieux
Ontario
Ajax
Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing
Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill
Barrie-Innisfil
Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte
Brampton Centre
Brampton North
Brampton South
Brampton West
Brantford-Brant
Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound
Burlington
Cambridge
Chatham-Kent-Leamington
Davenport
Don Valley East
Dufferin-Caledon
Durham
Elgin-Middlesex-London
Essex
Etobicoke-Lakeshore
NDP Stephanie Brown

NDP Carol Hughes
Liberal Leona Alleslev
NDP Myrna Clark,
Bonnie North
NDP Ellen White
NDP Rosemary Keenan
Liberal Ruby Sahota
Liberal Sonia Sidhu
Conservative Ninder Thind
NDP Adaoma Patterson,
Liberal Kamal Khera
Danielle Takacs
Liberal Kimberly Love
Liberal Karina Gould
NDP Bobbi Stewart
Liberal Katie Omstead
Liberal Julie Dzerowicz
Conservative Maureen Harquail,
Liberal Yasmin Ratansi
NDP Rehya Yazbek
Liberal Corinna Traill
Conservative Karen Vecchio,
Liberal Lori Baldwin-Sands
NDP Tracey Ramsey,
Liberal Audrey Festeryga
Green Angela Salewsky
RIDING
Etobicoke North
Flamborough-Glanbrook
Guelph
Haldimand-Norfolk
CANDIDATES
Liberal Kirsty Duncan
Liberal Jennifer Stebbing
Conservative Gloria Kovach
Conservative Diane Finley,
Liberal Joan Mouland
Hamilton Centre
Liberal Anne Tennier
Hamilton East-Stoney Creek
Conservative Diane Bubanko,
Green Ute Schmid Jones
Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas NDP Alex Johnstone,
Liberal Filomena Tassi
Hastings-Lennox and Addington NDP Betty Bannon
Huron-Bruce
Green Jutta Splettstoesser
Kanata-Carleton
Liberal Karen McCrimmon
Kenora
Green Ember McKillop
King-Vaughan
NDP Natalie Rizzo,
Liberal Deb Schulte,
Green Ann Raney
Kitchener South-Hespeler
Conservative Marian Gagn
Lanark-Frontenac
Green Anita Payne
Leeds-GrenvilleThousand Islands NDP Margaret Andrade,
and Rideau Lakes
Liberal Mary Jean McFall,
Green Lorraine Rekmans
London-Fanshawe
Conservative Suzanna Dieleman,
NDP Irene Mathyssen
London North Centre
Conservative Susan Truppe,
Green Carol Dyck
London West
Liberal Kate Young
Markham-Stouffville
Liberal Jane Philpott
Markham-Unionville
NDP Nadine Hawkins,
Liberal Bang-Gu Jiang
Milton
Conservative Lisa Raitt,
Green Mini Batra
Mississauga Centre
NDP Farheen Khan,
Green Linh Nguyen
Mississauga-Erin Mills
NDP Michelle Bilek,
Liberal Irqa Khalid
Mississauga-Lakeshore
Conservative Stella Ambler
Mississauga-Malton
NDP Dianne Douglas
Newmarket-Aurora
Conservative Lois Brown,
NDP Yvonne Kelly,
Green Vanessa Long
Niagara Centre
Conservative Leanna Villella
Nipissing-Timiskaming
NDP Kathleen Jodouin,
Green Nicole Peltier
Northumberland-Peterborough South Liberal Kim Rudd,
Green Patricia Sinnott
Oakville
NDP Che Marville
Oakville North-Burlington
Conservative Effie Triantafilopoulos,
NDP Rebecca Rajack,
Liberal Pam Damoff
Oshawa
NDP Mary Fowler
Ottawa Centre
Liberal Catherine McKenna
Ottawa-Orlans
NDP Nancy Tremblay
Ottawa West-Nepean
Liberal Anita Vandenbeld
Oxford
NDP Zoe Kunschner
Parkdale-High Park
NDP Peggy Nash
Parry Sound-Muskoka
Liberal Trisha Cowie
Peterborough-Kawartha
Liberal Maryam Monsef
Pickering-Uxbridge
NDP Pamela Downward,
Liberal Jennifer OConnell
Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke
Conservative Cheryl Gallant
Toronto-St. Pauls
Conservative Marnie MacDougall,
Liberal Carolyn Bennett
Sarnia-Lambton
Conservative Marilyn Gladue
Scarborough-Agincourt
Conservative Bin Chang,
NDP Laura Patrick
CANDIDATES
Conservative Roxanne James,
Liberal Salma Zahid
Scarborough-Guildwood
NDP Laura Casselman
Scarborough North
Conservative Ravinder Malhi,
NDP Rathika Sitsabaiesan,
Green Eleni MacDonald
Simcoe-Grey
Conservative Kellie Leitch
Simcoe North
Liberal Liz Riley
Spadina-Fort York
Conservative Sabrina Zuniga
Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry Liberal Bernadette Clement,
Green Elkaine Kennedy
Thunder Bay-Rainy River
Conservative Maureen
Comuzzi-Stehmann,
Green Christy Radbourne
Thunder Bay-Superior North
Liberal Patty Hajdu
Toronto Centre
NDP Linda McQuaig
Toronto-Danforth
Liberal Julie Dabrusin
University-Rosedale
NDP Jennifer Hollett,
Liberal Chrystia Freeland
Vaughan-Woodbridge
NDP Adria Zichy
Waterloo
NDP Diane Freeman,
Liberal Bardish Chagger
Wellington-Halton Hills
NDP Anne Gajerski-Cauley
Whitby
Conservative Pat Perkins,
Liberal Celina Caesar-Chavannes
Windsor-Tecumseh
Conservative Jo-Anne Gignac,
NDP Cheryl Hardcastle
York-Simcoe
NDP Sylvia Gerl,
Liberal Shaun Tanaka
Humber River-Black Creek
Liberal Judy Sgro
Manitoba
Brandon-Souris
Churchill-Keewatinook Aski
Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa
Elmwood-Transcona
Kildonan-St. Paul
Portage-Lisgar
Selkirk-Interlake-Eastman
Winnipeg Centre
Winnipeg South Centre
Saskatchewan
Desneth-Missinippi-Churchill River
Carlton Trail-Eagle Creek
Prince Albert
Regina-Lewvan
Regina-QuAppelle
Regina-Wascana
Saskatoon-Grasswood
Saskatoon-University
Saskatoon West
Souris-Moose Mountain
Yorkton-Melville
Alberta
Calgary Centre
Calgary Heritage
Calgary Midnapore
Calgary Nose Hill
Calgary Rocky Ridge
Calgary Signal Hill
Edmonton Griesbach
Edmonton Riverbend
Edmonton Strathcona
Liberal Jodi Wyman

NDP Niki Ashton,
Liberal Rebecca Chartrand
NDP Laverne Lawycky,
Green Kate Storey
Liberal Andrea Richardson-Lipon
NDP Suzanne Hrynyk
Conservative Candice Bergen
Liberal Joanne Levy
Conservative Beverly Pitura
Conservative Joyce Bateman
NDP Georgina Jolibois

Conservative Kelly Block
Green Elaine Hughes
Green Tamela Friesen
Liberal Della Anaquod
NDP April Bourgeois,
Green Frances Simonson
Liberal Tracy Muggli
NDP Claire Card,
Liberal Cynthia Block
NDP Sheri Benson,
Liberal Lisa Abbott
NDP Vicky ODell
Conservative Cathay Wagantall
Conservative Joan Crockatt

Green Kelly Christie
NDP Laura Weston
Conservative Michelle Rempel,
Liberal Ala Buzreba
Liberal Nirmala Naidoo
Liberal Katherine Kowalchuk,
Green Taryn Knorren
NDP Janis Irwin,
Green Heather Workman
Green Valerie Kennedy
NDP Linda Duncan,
Liberal Eleanor Olszewski
RIDING
Edmonton West
Edmonton-Wetaskiwin
Foothills
Lakeland
Lethbridge
Sherwood Park-Fort
Saskatchewan
Sturgeon River-Parkland
CANDIDATES
Liberal Karen Leibovici,
Green Pam Bryan
Liberal Jacqueline Biollo,
Green Joy Hut
Green Romy Tittel
Conservative Shannon Stubbs
Conservative Rachael Harder,
NDP Cheryl Meheden
Green Brandie Harrop
Conservative Rona Ambrose
British Columbia
Abbotsford
Burnaby North-Seymour
Burnaby South
NDP Jen Martel

NDP Carol Baird Ellan
Conservative Grace Seear,
Green Lynne Quarmby
Central OkanaganNDP Angelique Wood,
Similkameen-Nicola
Liberal Karley Scott
Chilliwack-Hope
NDP Seonaigh MacPherson
Cloverdale-Langley City
NDP Rebecca Smith
Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam
NDP Sara Norman
Courtenay-Alberni
Liberal Carrie Powell-Davidson
Cowichan-Malahat-Langford
Liberal Maria Manna,
Green Fran Hunt-Jinnouchi
Delta
Conservative Kerry-Lynne
Findlay,
Liberal Carla Qualtrough
Fleetwood-Port Kells
Conservative Nina Grewal
Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo Conservative Cathy McLeod
Kelowna-Lake Country
NDP Norah Bowman
Langley-Aldergrove
Green Simmi Dhillon
Nanaimo-Ladysmith
NDP Sheila Malcolmson
New Westminster-Burnaby
Conservative Chlo Ellis
North Okanagan-Shuswap
NDP Jacqui Gingras,
Liberal Cindy Derkaz
North Vancouver
NDP Carleen Thomas,
Green Claire Martin
Port Moody-Coquitlam
Liberal Jessie Adcock
Richmond Centre
Conservative Alice Wong
EsquimaltSaanichSooke
Conservative Shari Lukens,
Green Frances Litman
Saanich-Gulf Islands
Green Elizabeth May
South Okanagan-West Kootenay Liberal Connie Denesiuk
South Surrey-White Rock
Conservative Dianne Watts,
NDP Pixie Hobby,
Liberal Joy Davies
Surrey-Newton
NDP Jinny Sims
Vancouver Centre
Conservative Elaine Allan,
NDP Constance Barnes,
Liberal Hedy Fry,
Green Lisa Barrett
Vancouver East
NDP Jenny Kwan
Vancouver Granville
Liberal Jody Wilson-Raybould
Vancouver Island NorthConservative Laura Smith,
Powell River
NDP Rachel Blaney,
Green Brenda Sayers
Vancouver Quadra
Liberal Joyce Murray
Vancouver South
Conservative Wai Young
Victoria
Liberal Cheryl Thomas,
Green Jo-Ann Roberts
West Vancouver-Sunshine
Liberal Pamela Goldsmith-Jones
Coast-Sea to Sky Country
Yukon
Yukon
NDP Melissa Atkinson
Nunavut
Nunavut
Conservative Leona Aglukkaq
Total ridings, as of July 21, 2015, with female candidates nominated:
Conservatives, 57; New Democrats, 104; Liberals, 97; and Greens, 47.
Source: Compiled by Rachel Aiello with files from
Equal Voice, Pundits Guide.

Publishers Anne Marie Creskey,
Jim Creskey, Ross Dickson
General Manager, CFO Andrew Morrow
EDITORIAL INDIGENOUS VOICES
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Time for more

indigenous MPs
A
boriginal candidates, dissatisfied with

the status quo in federal politics, say
they have the potential to change the outcome in the next election and, in a recent
interview with The Hill Times, Assembly
of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde said he thinks more First Nations,
Inuit, and Mtis Canadians represented
in the major political parties will resonate
and influence aboriginal voters to get out
and vote in the federal election on Oct. 19.
This is welcome news. Its time that more
indigenous people got engaged in and
influenced federal politics, from inside
the House of Commons and at both the
legislative and executive levels.
Wherever decisions are made on policies, legislation, or programs that affect our
lives and our rights on a day-to-day basis,
we need First Nations people around those
decision-making tables, Mr. Bellegarde
told The Hill Times. Meanwhile, indigenous
candidates told The Hill Times that issues
such as the poverty gap, missing and
murdered aboriginal women, reconciliation
over residential schools, the new anti-terror
laws, and underfunded education programs have all been issues to get engaged
to run federally. Mr. Bellegarde, who has
remained non-partisan in public remarks,
is encouraging chiefs to help mobilize the
First Nations vote in their communities and
has said the aboriginal vote could mean the
difference between a minority and a majority government.
Mr. Bellegarde told The Hill Times that
throughout the campaign, the AFN and
Elections Canada officials will be work-
ing to make sure all First Nations people

know where, when, and how to vote, and
are educated about which parties platforms address their issues. He said after
the election it will be up to First Nations
to hold whichever party wins to its commitments.
The AFN is targeting 51 ridings that
First Nations voters could swing. Of the
51 ridings the AFN has identified, 14 are
Conservative-held, 16 are NDP, seven
are Liberal, and three are currently held
by the Greens, the Bloc Qubcois, and
Forces et Dmocratie, respectively.
In 2011, approximately 45 per cent of
aboriginal people in Canada voted, according to Elections Canada.
Ken Coates, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan and author
of #IdleNoMore: And the Remaking of
Canada, told The Hill Times in last weeks
issue that although it would be wrong to
think all aboriginal people will end up
voting the same way, a collective engagement could tip the balance in a few
ridings. He also said its significant that
Mr. Bellegarde is making the call to elect
a party that will be more sympathetic to
indigenous issues.
So far, there are just under 30 First Nations, Inuit, and Mtis candidates nominated to run for the four national parties,
with more seeking nominations. Its
important that more indigenous people
get elected in Octobers election to affect
positive change for the long-term future
of our country and to correct social injustice issues, with a voice at the table.
Economy needs political courage
e:Parties remain committed to balanced

budget as Canada may fall into deficit,
(The Hill Times, July 20, p. 1). Targeting a
federal balanced budget without reference
to unemployment is like advocating a 300 C
cooking temperature regardless whether the
oven is empty or not. The budget outcome, by
itself, should never be the goal of policy and
is just a tool to heat or cool the economy as
needed to protect jobs and restrain inflation.
Whereas a country like Greece lost control
of its fiscal policy when it joined the Eurozone, Canada owns its central bank and can
pursue counter-cyclical policies to even out
economic fluctuations.
As part of the Economic Action Plan
during the financial crisis, the federal
government created a $200-billion Extraordinary Financing Framework to address the
freeze in the credit markets. Where did that
$200-billion come from? Income taxes did
not increase since the Conservatives pride
themselves on lowering taxes. Nor did the

government borrow since it was bailing out
all the private sector financial institutions
by directly lending to them.
It is clear that the federal government,
which owns a central bank, can create
Canadian dollars at will. The creation of
enormous sums of money to support the
financial establishment is politically acceptable and subject to no particular scrutiny
by the mass media. However, our federal
government could use that same fiscal
capacity for a massive program of infrastructure renewal and job creation that
would jump-start our sluggish economy
and benefit the majority of Canadians.
Federal money is not in short supply
what is lacking is economic insight and
political courage.
Larry Kazdan,
Vancouver, B.C.
(The letter-writer is a member of the NDP).
Vote on C-51 in October: reader
want to add my voice to the thousands

of Canadians that oppose Bill C-51. Most
Canadians care deeply about privacy and
freedom of expression and this reckless
legislation is an affront to all of us.
Canada can do better by its citizenry.
In the next federal election, it is imperative the people get out and vote based on
their partys willingness to repeal Bill C-51.

Also, when you vote, check out your
partys plan to implement the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission of Canadas report, too! These
are both issues of paramount importance.
Tina Sollows,
Ottawa, Ont.
Harper faces fate of Martin, Prentice
e:Stephen Harpers shrinking world,

by Susan Riley (The Hill Times, July 13,
p. 10). When prime minister Paul Martin
faced an election in 2006, the economy was
booming and the budget was in surplus.
And yet, he went down in defeat because
the voters did not buy his contention that, as
Finance minister, he didnt know that former
prime minister Jean Chrtien was spending
millions of dollars for the sponsorship program. As leader of the official opposition at
the time, Stephen Harper blasted Mr. Martin
for being incompetent for not knowing, as
Finance minister, what was happening to
the nations finances. When Alberta premier
Jim Prentice faced the election earlier this
year, the economy was down and the voters
were yearning for change after decades of
Progressive Conservative rule. As a result, he

went down in a catastrophic defeat and the
PC party was reduced to third place.
In 2015, Prime Minister Stephen Harper
faces the fate of both Paul Martin and
Jim Prentice rolled into one. Like Paul Martin, he faces the public skepticism over his
contention that he didnt know that his own
chief of staff, Nigel Wright, wrote a cheque of
$90,000 to repay alleged overspending by his
handpicked, now suspended, Senator Mike
Duffy. Also, the public yearning for change
is clearly palpable after a decade of Harper
rule. The economy has also stalled due to falling oil prices. As a result, Mr. Harper faces a
catastrophic defeat in 2015.
Mahmood Elahi
Ottawa, Ont.
Who elects our government?
t seems that our government does not

actually know who can elect it.
It is the exclusive right of Canadian
citizens to do so, not of the bearers of the
drivers licence who may be just visitors
to Canada.
Who can get a drivers licence in
Canada? Anybody who wishes to do so:
visitors, genuine and bogus refugees from
all over the world, including those with
criminal records. All they need is to present
the passport from their native country, pass
the written test, show any address of their
choice and get a valid Canadian document.
It does not show the status of the
licence-bearer in Canada and, for this
EDITORIAL
EDITOR Kate Malloy

DEPUTY EDITOR Mark Burgess
ONLINE EDITOR Bea Vongdouangchanh
ASSISTANT DEPUTY EDITOR Abbas Rana
NEWS REPORTERS Tim Naumetz,
Rachel Aiello, and Laura Ryckewaert
PHOTOGRAPHERS Steve Gerecke, Jake Wright
EDITORIAL CARTOONIST Michael De Adder
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Denis Calnan, Simon Doyle,
Christopher Guly, Leslie MacKinnon, and Cynthia Mnster
COLUMNISTS Tisha Ashton, Keith Brooks, Karl
Blanger, Andrew Cardozo, John Chenier, David
reason, should not be accepted as a valid

ID during an election.
A drivers licence proves only one thing:
one can drive in Canada. It should not be
considered valid for voting. It is not a secret
that thousands of illegal immigrants live
in Canada, and most of them have drivers
licences.
Unfortunately, the only valid document to vote, Canadian citizenship, is not
on the list of the required documents.
Canadian passports, citizenship or
birth certificate with any proof of address
could be an excellent ID option for voters.
Tina Khanjin
Barrie, Ont.
Coletto, Sheila Copps, Karine Cousineau, David

Crane, Murray Dobbin, Michael Geist, Greg Elmer,
Alice Funke, J.L. Granatstein, ric Grenier, Dennis
Gruending, Cory Hann, Tim Harper, Chantal Hbert,
David T. Jones, Joe Jordan, Warren Kinsella, Camille
Labchuk, Gillian McEachern, Arthur Milnes, Tim
Powers, Michael Qaqish, Jeremy Richler, Susan Riley,
Ken Rubin, Evan Sotiropoulos, Rick Smith, Ian Wayne,
Nelson Wiseman, and Armine Yalnizyan
ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Amanda Keenan

CORPORATE ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES
Craig Caldbick, Steve Macdonald, Martin Reaume
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EDITORIAL & COMMENT

POST-PARTISAN PUNDIT NDP ATTACK AD
NDPs Thats Enough attack ad is the message

Sometimes the true
strategic intention of
an ad is camouflaged.
GERRY NICHOLLS
AKVILLE, ONT.When
analyzing the strategy behind
a political ad, its always a good
idea to peel back its outer layers
and spend some time poking
around its inner entrails.
Okay, thats icky.
Let me be a little less poetic
and say that sometimes a political
ads message isnt as straightforward as it might seem; sometimes
the true strategic intention of an
ad is camouflaged.
Im bringing this up right now
because I believe the true intention of a recent NDP ad is actually hidden from plain sight.
In case youve missed it, the
NDP ad Im referring to is an online video that shines an unflatter-
Here comes trouble: As marketing expert Kerry McKibbin, who analyzed the ad for the
CBC, noted, If you squint for a moment, it could appear similar to an advertisement for a
documentary about a Mafia crime family. Photograph image courtesy of NDP advertisement
ing spotlight on the Conservative
governments alleged misdeeds,
scandals, and legal problems.
Its far from subtle.
In fact, it features ominous
background music; it has the words
guilty of election fraud,andsent to
jail,stamped in big red letters over
photos of Conservative politicians
and operatives, and its piece de
resistance is a video clip of former
Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro
being led off to jail in handcuffs.
As marketing expert Kerry
McKibbin, who analyzed the ad for
the CBC, noted,If you squint for a

moment, it could appear similar to
an advertisement for a documentary
about a Mafia crime family.
In short, its a nasty attack ad.
Now most observers are taking
this ads message at face value.
The NDP, they say, is reminding
Canadians about how the Conservatives have a poor record when
it comes to integrity and should
therefore be voted out of office.
In other words, its seen as just
an anti-Conservative ad, plain
and simple.
McKibbin, for instance, sees

the ad this way, arguing it contests the Tories message that
they are the only party capable
of managing the public purse,
in effect flipping that claim
on its head. And it undercuts
Harpers tough-on-crime image
by passing judgment on people
he appointed or with whom he is
affiliated.
That certainly makes sense on
a superficial level of analysis.
Yet, lets see what happens
if we breakdown the NDPs
strategy a bit more, factoring in
the tactical challenges facing the
party and taking into account the
political context that surrounds
the ad.
Consider, first of all, that this
ad is apparently only appearing
in social media, meaning it wont
be exposed to a mass audience.
Next, consider that the NDP
released this ad in the middle of
July, when a lot of Canadians are
too busy enjoying the summer to
pay attention to politics.
These are both clues, which
suggest the NDPs purpose in this
ad is to target, not the general
public, but rather a specific subset
of the general public.
But what subset?
Well, Id say the NDP is targeting those progressive voters

out there who still cant decide
between supporting NDP Leader
Thomas Mulcair or Liberal
Leader Justin Trudeau.
That just stands to reason
since if the NDP is going to win
the next election its going to
need the support of those wavering progressives.
So, how does the NDP win
them over?
Well, one sure-fire way would
be for the NDP to show progressives in no uncertain terms, that
Mulcair is a leader who is tough
enough to take on Prime Minister
Stephen Harper and win.
And thats the true strategy
underpinning that NDP attack ad.
Its not really about bashing
the Conservatives, its about sending a signal to progressive voters,
assuring them that if the next
election turns into an attack ad
brawl, Mulcair will fight back and
give as good as he gets.
To paraphrase Marshall McLuhan: The NDP attack ad is the
message.
Gerry Nicholls is a
communications consultant.
www.gerrynicholls.com
The Hill Times
COPPS CORNER NDP COALITION
NDPs call for a coalition strange

tack for a party in ascendancy
SHEILA COPPS
TTAWAThe New Democrat

call for a coalition is a strange
tack from a party in the ascendancy.
If the NDP has such growth
potential why is the party eager to
throw in the towel on clear victory?
Thomas Mulcair claims the
Liberals shut the door on a
coalition when Stphane Dion,
Jack Layton, and Gilles Duceppe
agreed on a program that would
have named Dion prime minister.
Mulcair is playing fast and
loose with the truth. It was Prime
Minister Stephen Harper who received permission from the Governor General to dissolve Parliament.
In so doing, he avoided the axe.
But the fact that the New Democrats are talking coalition so
early is indicative of the cat and
mouse game that will be played
between them and the Grits in the
hunt for votes.
Unlike Mulcair, Liberals have
little to gain in a coalition. Their
right-wing voting flank would
bleed to the Conservatives if the
centrist party joined forces with
the New Democrats.

In a coalition with the Grits,
the NDP would lose the far left.
That is precisely the flank Mulcair needs to shed to gain credibility with socialist-wary voters.
Meanwhile, rumours of an
early writ have been greatly exaggerated. With all the bad economic news the government has not
been able to move.
The longer they wait, the more
the opportunity slips away.
Election timing always generates furious internal debate. It
takes nerves of steel to jump into
the unknown, when governing
can be powerful and comfortable.
When then Alberta leader Jim
Prentice decided to pull the plug prematurely on his government, most
viewed the move as simply accelerating another Tory coronation.
It turned out to be the worst
decision of his aborted political
career. He could have taken a look
at recent Ontario history, going
no further than the first election
of another New Democratic Party
government in that province. When
then Ontario Liberal leader David
Peterson sought an early mandate,
he was pummelled at the polls.
Many factors contributed to
the surprise election of then New
Democrat Bob Rae. The decision to call an early election was
Unlike Mulcair, Liberals have little to gain in a coalition. Their right-wing voting
flank would bleed to the Conservatives if the centrist party joined forces with the
New Democrats, writes Sheila Copps. The Hill Times photographs by Jake Wright
among them. Pundits labelled the
move as cynical and manipulative. Voters, cranky with constitutional and economic uncertainly,
punished Peterson accordingly.
When prime minister Jean
Chrtien pondered an early vote
in 2000, his caucus was deeply
divided. Even his closest advisers
were split. Some were vociferously counselling him to work
out the full mandate, or face the
wrath of the electorate.
The wily Chrtien made the
right call. His view was that once
the writ was dropped, people
would focus on issues and forget
about the early election call.
One of the main reasons the
Liberal prime minister decided to
advance the date was because he

saw black economic clouds on the
horizon.
By moving early, Chrtien was
able to go to the people while the
economy was still robust.
That window of opportunity
has already been closed for Prime
Minister Stephen Harper.
A sinking dollar may increase
manufacturing opportunities. But
most people vote via their personal
pocketbook. And the dollar plummet means just about everything is
going to cost a little more.
Likewise, the parallel interest rate reduction, a bonanza for
housing prices, renders the dream
of home ownership impossible for
30-something voters.
Harpers street cred as an

economic manager is taking a
serious beating. It could be fatal
because his strong suit is supposed to be the economy.
That reputation for fiscal
smarts is under attack, given that
most experts are taking a contrary position to the Harpernomic
blueprint.
It isnt just the pesky Parliamentary budget officer. Of
course, people expect Jean-Denis
Frechette to be predicting doom
and gloom. After all, PBO has
been doing it for years. Their
numbers have never matched
those of the finance minister but
it hasnt seemed to damage public
confidence in Conservative economic prowess.
But now that the Bank of
Canada has joined the opposition
to the governments approach, the
game gets a little more interesting.
Multiple headlines predicting the Conservatives will not
meet their budgetary predictions
are not the only cause for alarm.
Most Canadians dont pay too
much attention to the economic
trends that mesmerize Bay Street
and spark the daily fluctuations
of the stock market.
But they do pay attention
when they go to the grocery store
and everything is up, up, up.
Their pocketbooks are feeling
the pinch, setting the stage for
change.
But is coalition the only way to
guarantee such change? Mulcair
obviously thinks so.
Sheila Copps is a former Jean
Chrtien-era Cabinet minister
and former deputy prime minister.
news@hilltimes.com
The Hill Times
10
WAR ROOM TRUDEAU & ELECTION 2015
Trudeau campaign like watching

a monkey with a machine gun
Thats not to say that a
monkey with a machine
gun wont occasionally
hit the target, but its
messy and theres
collateral damage. There
are problems.
Campaign troubles: Trudeau has two major problems: his campaign has no strategy plan, and
he has no narrative, writes Warren Kinsella. The
Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright
WARREN KINSELLA
ORONTOFor Justin Trudeau, the

headlines havent been very good,
recently. Here are some: Liberals falling
further behind NDP-Conservative race;
Former Liberal acclaimed as NDP candidate; Trudeau switches targets in bid to
cut Mulcairs momentum; Brian Gallant
wont campaign for federal Liberals during
election; This is still Harpers election to
lose; and EKOS poll: Tories are up.
And so on. And so on. Theres a lot
more, but you get the general idea.
For weeks, news stories and opinion
columns fall into three main categories: 1.
The Tories are winning, 2. The Dippers are
winning, and/or 3. The Grits are losing.
From the heady heights of top spot, from
an unchallenged lead in the polls for month
after month, to now, the ignominy of third
place. And, as someone at The Globe wrote,
Team Trudeau is starting to look desperate.
A
BETTER
WAY
Sending out Adam Vaughan to holler

at NDP events in and around Toronto?
Seriously? Thats what the Martin folks
who, coincidentally, have been running
Trudeaus campaign for monthsdid to
poor John McCallum and Judy Sgro, a
decade ago.
It didnt work then and it wont work now.
It is indeed desperate, and it is a waste of
time for a great politician like Vaughan. As
I remarked to no one in particular in 2005:
Try dying with dignity, folks.
The Trudeau election campaignbecause, make no mistake, we are fully into
an election campaign by nowis not going
particularly well. It rather resembles a monkey with a machine gun, in fact. Thats not to
say that a monkey with a machine gun wont
occasionally hit the target, of course. Its just
that it can get messy; theres collateral damage. There are problems.
My barber in Ottawa, barbers being the
oracles of all political wisdom, used to have
a wonderful aphorism about problems.
When you have one, and when you have a
solution, you have no more problem. When
you have a problem and no solution, however, you have a way of life.
Trudeaus problems are starting to look
permanent. Per my barber, he needs to find
solutions, fast. His problems, in no particular
order, include an arrogant, insular inner circle
who have exiled anyone with any experience
and/or who have dared to suggest that the
ISIS/C-51 strategy wasnt particularly smart.
Another problem: Trudeau pledged, two
years ago, never to go neg. As such, his paid
media campaign is as exciting as tapioca,
and therefore wildly ineffective. Conduct a
test: can you remember something about one
Conservative Party ad? Of course you can.
Now, try and remember somethinganythingabout a Liberal spot. Cant, can you?
Another problem: zero policy coherence.They should have supported the fight
against ISIS, and opposed C-51, a Conservative friend said to me recently.But they did
it in reverse, and then they started backsliding when they got in trouble. No one knows
what they stand for on the big issues.
Yet another problem: Trudeau presides over
a decidedly unhappy caucus and collection
of candidates. And, if Eve Adams prevails in
Eglinton-Lawrenceas I believe, at press time,
she willcaucus/candidate anger will grow
exponentially. They bend over backwards
to accommodate someone the Cons threw
out, but they wont lift a finger to help the rest
of us?said one Grit campaign manager this
week. People are very, very unhappy.
Problems, problems, problems. The two
biggest problems are as follows: 1. No strategy, no plan. 2. A leader without a narrative.
To wit: what is the strategy? What is the
plan? To attack Harper? To attack Mulcair?
To attack neither? Talk about tax cuts?
Champion the middle class? Advocate for
change? National unity? Who knows? In
just the past few weeks, all of those things,
and more, have been tried and discarded.
A former Liberal MP put his finger on
the second problem, which is also a biggie.
What is Justins passion? What is the thing
he wants to do? the ex-MP said to me a
couple weeks ago.We simply dont know.
We dont. With his father and Chrtien, it
was unity and a strong central government.
With Harper, its economy and security. With
Mulroney, it was free trade. With Pearson, it
was internationalism.You may not like some
of those guys, or any of their priorities, but
you at least knew where they stood.
With Justin Trudeaus Liberals, we
dont. And that, more than anything else,
is why the headlines keep getting worse.
And time is running out.
news@hilltimes.com
The Hill Times
11
ELECTION 2015
POLLS & POLLSTERS ELECTION 2015
NEEDS ONTARIO
NEEDS B.C., ONT., QUE.
NEEDS ONT., QUE., ATLANTIC
For Harper, its majority or bust.
Three provinces give Mulcair the

seats he needs.
It all comes down to Central and

Eastern Canada for Trudeau.
For Prime Minister Stephen Harpers Conservatives, its majority or

bust. That means 170 seats, or close to it. A return to dominance in
Ontario is needed for this to happen, with the party capturing 70 to
87 seats. Theyd also need to rebuild bridges with the West, knocking
down the NDP in British Columbia to take 19 to 25 seats and counting
on a split of the vote in Alberta and the Prairies to win 27 to 30 seats
in the former and 19 to 20 seats in the latter. The Hill Times photograph
Three provinces give NDP Leader Tom Mulcair the seats he needs
to win. By keeping the Conservatives weak in British Columbia, the
party can win 22 to 27 seats in the province. Add to that 26 to 33
seats in Ontario, as long as the race remains three-headed, and 50
to 55 seats in Quebec and the NDP already has enough seats to
potentially come out on top. The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright
It all comes down to Central and Eastern Canada for Justin Trudeaus
Liberals. Ontario is most important, as the party needs some 58 to
63 seats. This can only happen if the Liberals can push the NDP out
of contention in the province and regain the support they have lost in
Ontario over the last few months. Another 18 to 30 seats would be
needed in Quebec, which might be the hardest target to reach. The
Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright
by Jake Wright
What the Conservatives,

NDP, and Liberals need to win
Whether it starts
early or late, the
election campaign is
on. And each of the
parties is looking
over the electoral
map to find their
own path to victory.
RIC GRENIER
TTAWAWhether it starts
early or late, the election
campaign is on. And each of the
parties is looking over the electoral map to find their own path
to victory.
The New Democrats might
have the easiest path, considering
theyre already on it. If an election
were held today, the NDP would
likely win enough seats to form a
minority government. That would
also likely be enough for Thomas
Mulcair to become prime minister.
After almost 10 years of Conser-
vative rule, the Liberals would be

hard-pressed to justify toppling
the new progressive government.
Three provinces give the NDP
the seats they need to win. By
keeping the Conservatives weak
in British Columbia, the party can
win 22 to 27 seats in the province.
Add to that 26 to 33 seats in Ontario, as long as the race remains
three-headed, and 50 to 55 seats in
Quebec, as long as Gilles Duceppe
doesnt boost the Bloc back to
competitive levels of support, and
the NDP already has enough seats
to potentially come out on top.
But the party will need a
little more than that to secure
24 Sussex Dr. Capitalizing on its
provincial counterparts popularity, the federal NDP would need
to wrestle away four to six seats
in Alberta, particularly in Edmonton. The New Democrats would
also look to win another six to
nine seats in the Prairies, thanks
in large part to new boundaries in
Saskatchewan, and the retention
of the NDPs Manitoba seats in
the face of an unpopular provincial government. In Atlantic
Canada, if the NDP can continue
to eat into the Liberals lead, they
can hope for six to nine seats.
The three seats in the north could
jump on the bandwagon as well.
If the New Democrats can pull
this off, they could win anywhere
from 114 to 142 seats. Thats more

than enough to head-up a minority government.
The Liberals can also target a
similar number of seats, as a minority government led by Justin
Trudeau would be just as unlikely
to be defeated quickly.
It all comes down to Central
and Eastern Canada for the Liberals. Ontario is most important,
as the party needs some 58 to 63
seats. This can only happen if the
Liberals can push the NDP out of
contention in the province and regain the support they have lost in
Ontario over the last few months.
Another 18 to 30 seats would be
needed in Quebec, which might
be the hardest target to reach.
It would need a little help from
Duceppe to weaken the NDP, but
also some movement of francophone Quebecers from the New
Democrats to the Liberals.
A rebound in Atlantic Canada
would desperately be needed to
hand 22 to 23 seats to the Liberals
there, but the West cannot be neglected either. Trudeau would need
to rely on his B.C. roots to eat into
the NDPs support in the province
and win 11 to 14 seats. Hed have
to put his party back into position
as the main alternative to the Tories in Alberta and win four seats
there, primarily in Calgary. And a
strong performance in Manitoba,
along with Ralph Goodales reelection in Saskatchewan, could

deliver seven seats in the Prairies.
Here again, the North could get on
board with Trudeaumania, giving
the Liberals anywhere from 120 to
144 seats.
The electoral math is much
more complicated for the Conservatives, who cannot aim for a
minority government. With the
Bloc Qubcois no longer mucking up the numbers, the NDP and
Liberals could easily combine for
a majority of seats if the Conservatives do not get one themselves.
That doesnt necessarily mean
a coalition, but it does mean a
short-lived Conservative minority, if it ever gets to the Throne
Speech to begin with.
So for Stephen Harper and the
Conservatives, it is majority or bust.
That means 170 seats, or at least a
minority so close to that mark that
the opposition parties would not
be able to combine for a majority
without the support of the Bloc.
A return to dominance in
Ontario is needed for this to happen, with the party capturing 70
to 87 seats. This would require
corralling all the voters that cast
a ballot for the Tories in 2011. The
Conservatives would also need
to rebuild bridges with the West,
knocking down the NDP in British
Columbia to take 19 to 25 seats
and counting on a split of the vote

in Alberta and the Prairies to win
27 to 30 seats in the former and 19
to 20 seats in the latter.
But that alone wont be enough.
The Conservatives need to survive
in Atlantic Canada with some nine
to 13 seats, taking votes away from
the Liberals. And the Conservatives can no longer ignore Quebec
in the context of two formidable
opposition parties winning seats
in the rest of the country. Theyd
need 18 to 19 seats in the province, which could happen if the
Conservatives take away enough
soft nationalists from the Bloc and
NDP. The party can also not afford
to lose its two seats in the North.
Altogether, that gives the Conservatives between 164 and 194
seats. This keeps the Conservatives
in power. But it poses a big challenge for the Tories, who have bled
supporters significantly in British
Columbia and Ontario and appear dead in the water in Atlantic
Canada. The NDPs breakthrough
in Alberta cant be swept aside so
easily either. A minority government is more achievable, but in
the polarized political climate in
Ottawa it is no longer a plausible
option for Stephen Harper.
ric Grenier writes about politics
and polls at ThreeHundredEight.com.
news@hilltimes.com
The Hill Times
12
CANADA & THE 21ST CENTURY ECONOMY
Our economy is in serious trouble

While the Harper
government could
not necessarily have
foreseen a sharp
drop in oil and other
commodity prices, it
chose to ignore the
warnings.
DAVID CRANE
ORONTOThe economy is
in serious troublein fact,
it has been in trouble for some
time though our Finance Minister, Joe Oliver, has been in a
constant state of denial. But that
is not all the bad news. Both the
NDP and the Liberals agree with
Oliver that a balanced budget is
necessary even though economic
growth and productive investment are too low and underemployment (university graduates
making coffee at Starbucks) and
unemployment too high.
By cutting fiscal stimulus too
soon after the Great Recession of
2008-2009 and making a balanced
budget rather than a strong econ-
omy its top economic priority, the

Harper government chose politics
over economics. It believed that
by balancing the budget by the
time of the 2015 federal election,
even though this meant slower
growth and more unemployment,
it would demonstrate it was a
trusted and credible economic
manager and win re-election,
its most important objective. A
balanced budget was seen as the
Holy Grail.
Its hard to know why the NDP
and Liberals are as determined
as the Conservatives to insist
on a balanced budget. It may be
that they are simply scared of
the Conservative attack machine
if they even mention the word
deficit, though if you are afraid
of your opponent, you shouldnt
be in politics. Or it may be that
they are victims of policy capture,
where an idea, even a bad idea,
becomes so fixed in the public
mind that challenging it seems
just too difficult.
But, whatever the reason, the
country is badly served by opposition parties afraid or unwilling to challenge the status quo.
Instead, they are offering more
of the same with just some fiddling at the margins. The NDP
and Liberal commitments to stick
to a balanced budget also mean
that they can only finance the
promises they make by cutting
government spending elsewhere
and raising taxes on easy targets
(big business or the wealthy).
At a time like this we should

be running a deficit and a serious
politician shouldnt be afraid to say
soa deficit focused, for example,
on addressing Canadas big infrastructure gap or making the transition to a low-carbon economy.
This kind of investment is an
investment in the future for a
more productive economy, which
is Canadas fundamental need.
A smart infrastructure initiative,
linking infrastructure development
to the Internet of Things, could also
do much to help advance innovative Canadian businesses, as could
initiatives on clean energy and
energy efficiency.
To be sure, Olivers recent budget promised more spending on
infrastructure, however, not this
year, when it is urgently needed,
but two to four years from now.
The Conservatives are quite
happy to see young families go
heavily into debt to buy housing
but dont want government to go
into debt to build essential infrastructure or social housing.
In truth, the federal policy
of relying on low interest rates,
through the Bank of Canadas
monetary policy, to carry the
burden of economic stimulus
rather than using fiscal policy for
infrastructure and other needed
public investments, has sent housing prices and the value of other
assets skyrocketing.
This not only served to increase
inequality as the owners of houses
and other assets saw their wealth
risewith homes that might have

sold for $600,000 overnight become
$1-million houseswith a massive transfer of wealth from young
families seeking homes to older
empty-nesters making windfall and
tax-free capital gains and moving to
condominiums. It also reduced the
competitiveness of our major cities
in attracting talent since housing
costs have become so high.
While the Harper government could not necessarily have
foreseen a sharp drop in oil and
other commodity prices, it chose
to ignore warnings that betting
so heavily on high oil prices and
fast-expanding oil exports as the
keys to Canadian prosperity was
a high-risk strategy. Today, oil
prices are roughly half what they
were not so long ago and there is
little prospect they will rise again
any time soon. This means the
economics of planned pipelines
may have changed as well.
The resulting collapse in our
exchange rate, with the dollar
now at its lowest level in more
than a decade, has not triggered a
promised surge in manufacturing
exports because so many manufacturing plants were closed in
2007-2010 due to a much higher
dollar and North American
consolidation following the 2008
recession. Manufacturing investment in innovation is still well
below what is was a decade ago.
Conservative promises to
help advanced manufacturing
have been simply that. The 2013
budget, for example, promised a

federal $200-million investment
in advanced manufacturing in
southern Ontario. That funding
has still not been spent. Likewise,
significant federal commitments
for new spending on science and
technology have been put off into
future years. But we urgently
need the new spending now.
This is not just a short-term
issue. For example, a new study
on Canadas long-term fiscal and
economic projections for 2014-2038
published by Ottawas Centre for
the Study of Living Standards,
warns that we could face slow economic growth for the foreseeable
future, due to a declining rate of
labour force growth and a failure
to improve productivity. While the
economy grew an average of 2.03
per cent a year in 2000-14, it is
projected to grow just 1.54 per cent
a year in 2014-2026.
The labour force average annual growth rate was 1.35 per
cent in 2000-14, but is projected to
growth just 0.76 per cent a year in
2014-26, while productivity growth
is forecast to grow a weak 1 per
cent a year. The big challenge
will be to raise the growth rate
through improved productivity
from smarter innovation based on
research and investment, leadingedge infrastructure, finance and a
highly-skilled work force.
The real need is economic
growththen a balanced budget
will take care of itself. Its not the
other way round, despite the conventional thinking of too many
Ottawa politicians.
David Crane can be reached at
crane@interlog.com.
news@hilltimes.com
The Hill Times
DIGITAL WORLD BROADBAND INTERNET
Mapping out the CRTC blueprint for

universal, affordable internet access
For Canadas
telecom regulator,
finding the right
formula for
ensuring affordable
universal access
is essential to
completing the
blueprint for the
next decade of
broadband internet
in Canada.
MICHAEL GEIST
TTAWAIn the wake of

nearly two decades of study,
debate, task forces, and government programs, Canadas
telecommunications regulator has
begun to unveil its blueprint for
ensuring that all Canadians have

access to affordable, high-speed
internet services. If the plan rolls
out as many expect, Canadians
in urban areas will benefit from a
more competitive environment for
high-speed fibre services, while
consumers in rural and remote
areas will be guaranteed access
through a clear legal commitment
to universal broadband service.
Part one of the blueprint
was released last week as the
Canadian Radio-television and
Telecommunications Commission
rejected opposition from large
cable and telecom providers by
ordering them to offer independent internet providers wholesale
access to emerging high-speed
fibre networks.
The decision on wholesale
access is the latest skirmish in
a long-running battle pitting
telecom giants such as Bell and
Telus against upstart providers
like TekSavvy and Distributel.
Recognizing the advantages held
by incumbent providers who
enjoy direct connections to consumers (the so-called last mile),
Canadian regulations foster a
more competitive environment by
requiring the incumbents to grant
independent providers sufficient
access to allow for alternative

consumer choice.
The system has succeeded in
developing some credible independents, yet the market remains
dominated by the larger players.
Part of the problem has been the
steady stream of technical and
regulatory challenges faced by
smaller entrants, who seemingly
have little choice but to take each
dispute to the CRTC, leading to
costlier offerings, slower speeds,
and less product differentiation.
The best-known dispute
involved usage based billing in
2009, which threatened to eliminate
independent provider plans with
unlimited data and generated petitions involving hundreds of thousands of Canadians. The federal
government responded quickly,
with then-Industry minister Tony
Clement pressuring the commission to reconsider a decision that
placed the smaller providers at a
distinct disadvantage.
The latest CRTC ruling was
less about existing offerings
and more about the future. As
more consumers shift to higher
speed fibre plans, independent
providers argued that similar
wholesale regulations were
needed to ensure that they could
remain competitive. The incumbents countered by claiming that

regulated access would decrease
investment and that wireless and
satellite services already provided
viable alternatives.
The commission disagreed,
structuring the future of wholesale
access in a manner that creates
incentives for both incumbents and
independent providers to invest in
their networks. Moreover, it noted
that wireless and satellite Internet
services typically have limited
bandwidth capacity and higher
prices compared to retail wireline
services and, as such, are generally
not effective substitutes.
The decision will take some
time to take full effectfollowup proceedings on the details
are still to comebut the CRTC
has now created a framework
to facilitate greater competition
for internet access as consumers
migrate to faster fibre services.
While that addresses the competition concerns in urban areas, it
does not solve the access problems in rural and remote communities where basic affordable
broadband remains an issue.
Solving the access problem
likely falls to the other big CRTC
telecom hearing on basic telecom-
munications services. Most participants agree that a 21st century

definition of basic services should
include broadband access. Where
there is disagreement, however, is
over what to do about it.
Consumer groups have called
for the creation of two new subsidy
programs to ensure that all Canadians have access to high-speed
Internet services and that there is
financial support for low-income
households. Telecom providers
have warned against new CRTCbacked funding mechanisms, arguing that the government should
lead with targeted programs.
For Canadas telecom regulator, finding the right formula for
ensuring affordable universal
access is essential to completing
the blueprint for the next decade
of broadband internet in Canada,
which should feature a more
robust competitive environment
in urban areas and reasonably
priced access for everyone else.
Michael Geist holds the Canada
Research Chair in Internet and Ecommerce Law at the University of
Ottawa, Faculty of Law. He can be
reached at mgeist@uottawa.ca or
online at www.michaelgeist.ca.
news@hilltimes.com
The Hill Times
13

OPINION ELECTION 2015
Harper is right: the election is

about security versus risk
The Harper
Conservatives
could still eke
out a minority
government in
the Oct. 19th
election. If they do
it unchallenged on
their fraudulent
promotion of
enhanced security
for Canadians, the
NDP and Liberals
will have no one
to blame but
themselves.
MURRAY DOBBIN
OWELL RIVER, B.C.Stephen

Harper chose the Calgary
Stampede (now Rachel Notley
country) to launch the theme of
the now full-blown election cam-
paign. Harper proclaimed he was

confident that this October Canadians will choose security over
risk. Lets hope so. The question
is, of course, what kind of security
and risk are we talking about?
Political language is never simple
or straightforward. It is subject to
sophisticated manipulation by professional wordsmiths and public
relations experts. The choice of
what language to use is subject to
hundreds of hours of deliberation
and enormous resources because
if you get it right, you usually win.
If you get it wrong, well, its a lot
harder. Getting it right means no
one even suspects you of manipulating them.
Experts in the art of issue
framing will tell you that those
who frame an issue first have a
huge advantage because they
force their opponents to reframe
itin other words, get you to take
the time to reconsider what the
words actually mean. Maybe that
is why neither the Liberals nor
the NDP have taken the trouble
to challenge Harpers framing of
the security issue as exclusively a
foreign policy and military issue:
security against terrorism.
Thats unfortunate because not
only is Harper vulnerable on his
own limited anti-terror grounds
he is extremely vulnerable when
it comes to the kind of security
that actually affects millions of
Canadians. When it comes to economic and social security the vast
majority of Canadians havent

been this insecure since the Great
Depression.
Its not as if we dont know the
numbers60 per cent of Canadians are just two weeks away
from financial crisis if they lose
their job; record high personal
indebtedness; real wages virtually
flat for the past 25 years; a terrible work-life balance situation
for most working people (and
getting worse); labour standard
protections that now exist only
on paper; the second-highest percentage of low-paying jobs in the
OECD; young people forced into
working for nothing on phony apprenticeships; levels of economic (both income and wealth)
inequality not seen since 1928.
Throw in the diminishing social
wage (medicare, education, home
care, child care, etc.) and the situation is truly grim.
Most of these insecurity statistics are rooted either directly or
indirectly in 25 years of deliberate
government policy designed by
and for corporations. Governments have gradually jettisoned
their responsibility for economic
security, slowly but surely handing this critical feature of every
Canadians life over to the market for determination. Economic
policy has been surgically excised
from government responsibility to citizens and is now in the
singular category of facilitating
investmenta euphemism for
clearing the way for corporations

to engage in whatever activity
enhances their bottom line.
From corporate rights agreements (which constitutionalize
corporate power), to the decades
old independence of the Bank
of Canada (independent of
democracy); from irresponsibly
low corporate income tax rates
to punitively low social assistance; from EI that only 30 per
cent ever quality for to taxes
grossly skewed in favour of the
wealthy and a Charter of Rights
and Freedoms that has bestowed
citizenship status on the most
powerful and ruthless economic
entities on the planet, Canadian
governments have abandoned
their citizens to the vagaries of an
increasingly unregulated capitalism. This is not even a complete
list but it demonstrates just how
corporate globalization and its
promoters like Stephen Harper
have created the greatest insecurity for Canadians virtually in
living memory.
The brilliance of the project
hiving economic security off from
democratic governance is that it
has been so gradual and systematic that we have all come to accept
it as if it were ordained by nature.
There are no angry anti-austerity
marches here and as a result there
is no political party basing its
platform on such a sentiment (the
NDP seems desperate to mimic
the Conservatives and Liberals
dedication to balanced-budget
idiocy). We have never been so
fearful of our economic future but
we have been convinced that we
(even those of us with full time,
low-paying jobs headed for the
food banks to make ends meet)
are somehow to blame.
As for the kind of security
Harper likes to talk about we are
in fact less secure now under the
Conservatives policies than we
have ever been. Harpers foreign policy could easily make us
targets for the very jihadists that
Harper rails on about. His eager
involvement in the destruction
of Libya, his aggressive stance in
Afghanistan, the carte blanche
he provides Israel in its brutal oppression of Palestinians in Gaza
and the illegal occupation of the
West Bank, and his comically ineffective engagement in the war
on ISIL all contribute to terrorists
identifying Canada as a reasonable target for retribution. If we
actually had some smattering of
national interests in the Middle
East it could at least be argued
that the risk is worth it. But we
dont. The net result is not only
increased national insecurity but
the trampling of our rights to privacy and our civil liberties with
Bill C-51legislation that does
nothing to enhance our defence
against terror but dramatically
undermines our personal security
as engaged citizens.
The Harper Conservatives
could still eke out a minority
government in the Oct. 19th election. If they do it unchallenged
on their fraudulent promotion of
enhanced security for Canadians,
the NDP and Liberals will have
no one to blame but themselves.
news@hilltimes.com
The Hill Times
OPINION HEALTH CARE & DRUGS
Is waiting longer for new prescription drug

approvals necessarily a bad thing?
ALAN CASSELS
he newest report from Canadas

brand name drug makers on access to new drugs has one key message: compared to other countries,
Canada goes slow and low. New
drugs are slower to be covered by
our provincial drug plans and the
numbers of people who get access
to new drugs are lower than in other
countries. The report is undeniably
negative: Canadians are suffering
because our governments dont provide timely access to new medicines.
Produced by Rx&D (the association of Canadas brand name drug
manufacturers), the report ranks
Canada 17th out of 18 industrialized
nations in terms of new drug reimbursement with only 23 per cent
of new medicines covered across the
country (it is closer to 90 per cent in
the U.S.). As far as the time it takes
between when a drug gets approved
by Health Canada and when the
provinces start paying for it, Canada

ranks 16th of 18 countries.
Canadas drug makers believe
that drug plans in Canada should
be more generous and access
should be simplified so when new
and innovative medications come
alongthose to conquer cancer,
heart disease or other life-threatening conditionsgovernment
health plans should quickly pay
for them. After all, if they extend
the length and quality of our lives,
we citizens deserve them, right?
But heres the rub: what prescribers know about the potential benefits and harms of a new drug when
they arrive on the market is often
uncertain or problematic. Often new
drugs are studied for a shorter period of time and with a very specific
population, so end up with biases,
theres sometimes unpublished data
and frequently we dont have a full
sense of the overall safety of the
drug in the real population.
Canada is not wrong to be
prudent in taking our time to
decide how, or if, a new drug needs
to be covereda precautionary
approach is just the smart way to
go. Take for example the widely
prescribed arthritis drug Vioxx,
which caused as many as 60,000

excess heart attack deaths in North
America according to some estimates. Those Canadian provinces
that were more restrictive in covering it (such as British Columbia)
likely had proportionally fewer
deaths caused by the drug.
Lately weve heard a lot about
cancer in Canada from a new report
that says the number of new cases
of cancer will rise dramatically over
the next 15 years. The rise in cancer
rates will be due mostly to baby
boomers acquiring more diseases of
aging, says the reportand this will
drive the demand for more and more
effective cancer drugs.
But there is plenty to suggest
caution in approaching this new
reality. A recent article in the British
Medical Journal by two noteworthy
pharmaceutical industry analysts,
Donald Light and Joel Lexchin,
made the case that cancer drugs are
often rushed to market and have
faster approvals even when they
provide very little gain for patients.
Their study,Why do cancer
drugs get such an easy ride?examined nearly 9,000 oncology clinical
trials conducted between 2007 and
2010 and compared those studies to
drugs for other diseases. They found

that cancer drugs were almost three
times less likely to be evaluated in
randomized studies or tested against
comparator drugs, and were more
likely to be fast-tracked in approvals
than other drugs, casting doubt on
the long-term benefit and safety of
the drugs.
Then theres a little bit of
sleight of hand around whats being measured. Does it matter if a
clinical trial of a new cancer drug
gets approved because it changes
a surrogate outcome (that is, it
shrinks a tumour) as opposed to
doing something meaningful (such
as making the patient live longer or
healthier)? The reality is that many
cancer drugs can shrink tumours
quite effectively (and expensively)
but may not change the length of a
persons life, while possibly turning
the last few months of a persons
life into medically-intensive misery.
There is some good news here
because the age-standardized
death rates from cancer have been
falling quite rapidly in Canada.
Compared to other industrialized
countries, Canada has relatively
good cancer care outcomes: above
average survival and generally
about average mortality compared

with other OECD countries.
We all want access to newer
and better drugs but could we
better spend our cancer budgets
towards an array of non-drug
options that improve the lives of
people with cancer? Do we want
to continue to allow expensive
drug intensive therapy to eclipse
all the other things we could
do for cancer patients and their
families?
Wildly expensive new cancer
drugs are eating a growing share
of our health-care dollars and
provinces are clearly voting with
their budgets, going slow and
low on approvals and coverage
of new therapies. Canadas drug
manufacturers are condemning
us for this approach, but theyre
wrongregardless of how strenuously they try to paint Canadians
as poor suffering underdogs with
stingy and heartless healthcare
systems.
Alan Cassels is a pharmaceutical policy researcher in Victoria
and an expert advisor with EvidenceNetwork.ca.
news@hilltimes.com
The Hill Times
14
Q&A
DONALD SAVOIE
A very big
whale that
cant swim:
Donald
Savoie on
whats ailing
government
Donald Savoies
new book offers a
broad context for the
challenges government
faces todayfrom
globalization, to new
media and the 24-hour
news cycle, to special
interest groups, to
centralized control. The
result is a government
good at passing
around blame, winning
elections and resisting
change and not very
good at implementing
policy, innovating and
responding to citizens.
BY MARK BURGESS
onald Savoie says we have

a problem with the way we
govern ourselves.
I might be hopelessly nave,
but I wish it would become part of
the election debate, he told The
Hill Times in a phone interview
last week.
Hes not alone. His publishers
fast-tracked his latest book, What
Is Government Good At?, due out
Sept. 1, because they thought it
would be relevant during the fall
election campaign.
Prof. Savoie, the Canada
Research Chair in public administration and governance at the
Universit de Moncton and one of
Canadas leading experts on public administration, said he cant
imagine hell find anyone reading
it at the local Tim Hortons this
fall, though, and the reasons for

that play into the books themes.
Canadians tend to focus
on bread-and-butter issues at
every general election. Its either
bread-and-butter issues or scandalsthats what drives general
elections, he said.
Its sad because the much
bigger issue, in my opinion, is how
we govern ourselves, because both
scandals and bread-and-butter
issues flow from how we govern
ourselves. Its not the other way
around. If we lose sight of what
Parliament ought to be and we
lose sight of what the public service ought to be, we lose sight of
something thats terribly important to the future of this country.
Despite the books title, much
of Prof. Savoies focus is on what
government is not good at, and explaining why. It offers a broad context for the challenges government
faces todayfrom globalization, to
new media and the 24-hour news
cycle, to special interest groups,
to centralized control. The result
is a government good at passing
around blame, winning elections
and resisting change and not very
good at implementing policy, innovating and responding to citizens.
Prof. Savoie spoke at length
about his new book with The Hill
Times last week. The interview has
been edited for style and length.
The federal public service has
suffered recently in public opinion,
with the popular perception that the
private sector is the dynamic force.
You write about how this wasnt the
case 50 years ago. What changed?
Globalization has had a
profound impact on the private
sector. It has run havoc on a lot of
sectors, whether its forestry, pulp
and paper, the auto sector. People
employed in those sectors have
seen their pension, their jobs drift
Donald Savoie says

its time to get rid of
some oversight bodies
so that the government
can better manage its
programs and services.
We have too many.
Lets have a proper
debate about that.
We need to get rid of
some of these things.
Photograph courtesy Donald
Savoie
away rather quickly, and they look

to government and say, How come
they enjoy a favoured status? That
explains in many ways the perception, at least, if not the reality, that
the private sector is more efficient
than the public sector.
Is it fair to compare the two?
No. Absolutely not. The two
sectors are so different. I think
thats the trap weve been caught
in. They live by two very different sets of rules. Just look at the
evening news, just look at The
Globe and Mail, just look at The
Hill Times. Look at those and see
the lead item. The blame game in
the public sector runs rampant.
In the private sector, theres no
blame game: you compete, you
survive, you get a larger share of
the market, you hustle, youre an
entrepreneur. You get things done
and nobodys in your way.
Every morning, a senior public
servant gets up and goes to work
and he has 14 oversight bodies
looking over his shoulder. Then
he or she sits down at work and
theres the dominant force of the
Prime Ministers Office and the
PCO [Privy Council Office] just
dominating their lives. It explains
why senior public servants learned
the art of delegating up rather than
delegating down. All those forces,
you would never see in a million
years in the private sector. If you
ever did, it wouldnt be around
long. The firm would just die.
We have two differentby
definition, both in big ways and
small waysvery different sectors, yet we continue to say, Well,
the public sector is not as efficient
as the private sector. Of course
not, never can be. Its called democracy, and its messy.
What do you make of efforts to
dress the public service like the
private sector? What are the consequences of it?
It was a mistake. Were still
living with the consequences of
that mistake. Instead of putting it
in reverse gear, we fast-forward,
and we keep pretending that public
sector managers can function like
their private sector counterparts.
Much of the morale problem

in the public serviceand it is
serious, it is deadly seriousstems
from this notion that we can dress
up the public sector to look like
the private sector. It cant. And so
when senior managers realize the
public service cant be as efficient
as the private sector, it doesnt have
morale. Weve belittled the public
service to the point where weve
created its own set of problems.
You write that government is less
accessible to the average citizen
and less able to define the public
interest. Theres a lot of talk
about the positive effects of new
communications tools for connecting citizens to government.
How has it gone the other way?
Its gone the other way because of the blame game. The new
technology works both ways. Government has used it far more efficiently than citizens, and theyve
used it to manage the blame game.
Thats true of the opposition parties
and its true of government. We
havent captured the benefits. If
you want evidence of this, just look
at voter turnout, just look at disenchantment with government.
I feel like an alternative title for the
book could have been The Blame
Game. Can you elaborate on that
and whats contributed to it being
such a concern for government?
Politicians have lost sight of
the notion that good public policy
equals good politics. Now politics
drives everything. A good debate
on the merits of public policy
doesnt exist anymore. Politics
today is to preserve a career politician, by and large. Look around
they are career politicians. Good
politics is an end in itself. Its not
good public policy shaping good
politics; its just good politics trying to shape good politics.
And good politics is about managing the blame game?
Good politics is strictly about
winning. Thats all that matters.
And winning is about blaming the
government and for the government to deflect the blame game.
Thats what politics has become.
You write about fault-line theory,

where the political elitenamely
the Prime Minister and his office
establish policy but are then too
busy with politics and managing
the blame game so its left to those
below the fault line to implement.
What is the effect of this?
Its demoralized the rank
and file of the public service and
it speaks again to the notion that
senior managers have learned the
art of delegating up rather than
delegating down. What is expected
of the Prime Ministers Office, PCO,
and senior public servants is for the
rest of the machinery of government to run on its tracks: just run
on your track, safe pair of hands,
dont raise an issue that will become
a part of the blame game in Parliament or in the media. A safe pair of
hands is what is extremely valued.
It takes away from the notion
of an entrepreneurial public
service, if there ever was such a
thing. Only when the Prime Minister and his courtiers would like to
see something done, then they go
below the fault line and say, Okay,
we want a briefing, we want to get
this done. But the Prime Minister
and his courtiers can only focus
on a very small percentage of government decisions, less than one
per cent. The other 99 per cent are
run below the fault line.
What level of management is the
cut-off for the fault line?
I think anything below the
director general, youre operating
below the fault line. Only when it
blows up will someone above the
fault line take an interest.
How have lobbyists and special
interest groups gained influence?
Government has become so
complex that the average citizen,
the average business person, the
average Canadian cant cope with
the machinery. They gave up
they stopped voting, they turned
away from it. Its just become a
very big whale that cant swim.
Thats how they see it.
But if youre part of the political
or academic elite, if youre a CEO
of one of the major banks or CEO
of General Motors, you either know
people above the fault line, or if you
dont, you hire lobbyists to manoeuvre through the machinery of government to get things done. Weve
created two-tier citizenshipthose
that have access to the elites or can
buy access through lobbyists, and
those that cant. The great majority
of Canadians do not have the resources to understand the machinery of government or to buy access
to somebody who does understand
the machinery of government. In
many ways, they give up.
You write that there are 17 lobbyists in Ottawa for every MP.
What effect does this have on
governments ability to speak to
the public interest?
A lobbyist is a hired gun for an
initiative favoured by his clients.
Thats why theyre hired. Thats why
theyre paid. The broader public
interest is not top of mind. Theres
no money to be made by a lobbyist
walking around Ottawa speaking to
the broader public interest. Theres
no market for that. Theres a market
15
Q&A
DONALD SAVOIE
Politicians have lost sight of the notion that

good public policy equals good politics
for people who want to get things

done, who have a narrow, sectoral
interest. Some of the interests are
quite worthwhile and theyre important to the future of the country.
But its rarely the general interest
thats being flogged around Ottawa.
Its flogging the interest of a particular client.
You write that ministers arent
the lead actors for their policy
sectors and arent as responsible
to their departments anymore.
How did that happen?
Its the prime minister that
now dominates every sector.
There are two reasons for that.
One is the role of the prime minister has evolved considerably.
When I wrote Governing From
the Centre, I remember people
saying, You overstated the case.
Nobody says that anymore. I met
somebody in the Prime Ministers
Office who wanted to meet with
me and wanted me to sign Governing From the Centre. I said, I
hope you learned something from
it, that governing from the centre

is bad. He said, Oh no, we absolutely learned something from it.
We now use it as a manual.
The other issue is that theres
not a single policy issue that belongs to a single department anymore. Every issue is cross-departmental. If its energy, you have
to involve about 15 departments.
And thats not including the
provinces, the private sector, the
lobby groups, and so on. Nobody
owns a policy issue anymore. No
senior minister, however senior,
owns a policy issue because of
the inter-departmental nature of
policy-making now.
Plus, overlay that with the
blame game and the role the
prime minister has to play in managing the blame game, it leaves
ministers out in the cold, and their
line departments as well.
How have bureaucrats come to
see MPs as actual or at least
potential adversaries?
The nature of their work.
Career politicians, what matters
to them is winning power and the
blame game. Public servants are

establish the circumstances for
caught in the middle. They have to economic success. Thats what
figure out how to be non-partisan, they ought to focus on. That
professional public servants and
means good regulations, it means
serve the government of the day
all kinds of things.
while remaining politically neuWhat government cannot do
tral. Try that on for size. Thats not is manage economic success. The
easy these days. A public servant
status quo is so highly-favoured
who wants to survive for the long
in government for all kinds of
haul will look at an MP and say,
reasons. When it comes to managThats not
ing success,
someone I
running a
can trust.
liquor store,
What Is Government
Theres no
running
Good At?
reason to
a Crown
By Donald Savoie
establish
corporation,
Publication date: Sept. 1
a good redelivering
McGill-Queens
lationship
services and
between
programs,
University Press
the two.
it cant be
$34.95, 408 pages
That
as good as
needs
the private
fixing as
sector.
well.
Thats
the whole point. Focus on what
What is government good at?
youre good at. What youre good
What government is good at
at is establishing circumstances
is to provide circumstances for
for economic success. Let go of
economic success. Only governthings youre not very good at,
ment can do it, nobody else can
and thats managing economic
do it. No private sector firm can
activities.
Customize
Your Work
Q
Track a bill
Follow a committee
Get immediate
notication when
changes happen
www.parliamentnow.ca
But there are some things government isnt good at but has to
do anyway. Is there any way to
get better at those things?
Getting out of things its not
good at is a good start. Simplify
government. We now have 6,000
senior executives in the Government
of Canada. Surely people should
realize thats too many. We have a
number of management levels in the
government.You could go through
some of those departments and
there are about 12 management
layers. How could you possibly be
good at anything if you have those
kinds of heavy-handed management levels? If you want to be good
at something, start by streamlining
management and making it much,
much less cumbersome.
I think the time has come to
turn it the other way and turn the
table on oversight bodies. We have
too many. Lets have a proper debate about that. We need to get rid
of some of these things. Then government can be better at managing
programs and services. Until that
time, its going to be very difficult.
16
NEWS POLITICAL ADVERTISING
NDP AD
NDP Enough ad
produced entirely by party
staff, whole new level of
internal sophistication
The NDPs antiConservative ad is
targeted at swing
voters, disenchanted
Tories, say experts
YouTube and lots of free media attention, was produced and edited
entirely by internal NDP staff,
and experts say its an effective
ad, and part of a new era of online, self-produced political ads.
Theres a recognition in all
three parties that advertising
is evolving. Theres definitely a
conscious desire to build up that
capacity to create ads internally,
said Alex Bushell, a consultant at
Environics Communications and
a former NDP staffer.
With these digital ads you can
get almost instant feedback on
whos watched it, where its being
watched, and if its the people that
you were trying to reach. In many
ways, I mean, youre still going to
see TV ads, but these digital ads
can be more effective. You can
use a digital ad as a click-through
to get someones email address, to
get them to agree to take a sign,
something like that, he said.
Digital ads also allow parties
to better micro-target messages
to certain parts of the country
compared to TV and are cheaper
to run, Mr. Bushell said.
The writ has yet to be dropped
for the 2015 election, but political
advertising by parties and third
parties is already well underway.
On July 13, the NDP launched
French and English versions of an
online ad, Enough, targeted at
the Conservative government.
Set to dramatic instrumental music, it begins with Prime
Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) on stage
in Calgary after he won the last
election, followed by a slew of
still photos of Conservatives who
have either been charged or are
under investigation, including
footage of former MP Dean Del
Mastro being ushered by police in
leg irons. A voiceover at the end
asks: Have you had enough? Its
time for change in Ottawa.
When it was released, the NDP
indicated the ad was targeted at
voters in southwestern Ontario
and western Canadian provincestarget areas where the
party is trying to pick up seats
this Octoberahead of leader
Tom Mulcairs (Outremont, Que.)
recent eight-day Ontario tour.
NDP spokesperson George
Soule said the ad was edited and
produced entirely by internal party staffincluding the voiceover
workand posted online to the
partys YouTube account and
Facebook page. Mr. Soule said
some money was spent to push it

online, but he declined to comment on costs related to the ad.
A number of news websites have
also embedded the video in stories, he said.
Liberal staffers are also producing online ads internally, including
a recent ad, largely a slideshow
set to upbeat music, tweeted out
by Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau
(Papineau, Que.) on July 22, according to party spokesperson
Olivier Duchesneau.
Conservative party spokesperson Cory Hann declined to comment on internal staffing matters.
Over the last year and more,
the NDP has been hiring a number of graphic designers, digital
analysts, coders, and content
builders at its central headquarters in Ottawa. Last week, for
example, it posted a job for a new
graphic design communications
officer who can work with other
creative services team members, and will be responsible for
designing effective and on-brand
artwork for various communication materials, including packaging, print collateral, digital
collateral, ads and direct mail.
We have a digital team, a
digital director, weve grown that
work, said Mr. Soule. He declined
to comment on staffing, but
Michael Roy, a former B.C. NDP
communications director, currently serves as the federal NDPs
digital director in Ottawa.
Tom Flanagan, a former Harper strategist and now professor at
the University of Calgary, said the
NDPs Enough ad is effective,
and overall a pretty good ad,
reminiscent of hard-hitting ones
the Conservatives ran against the
Liberals in the 2006 election.
Robin Sears, a principal at
Earnscliffe Strategy Group and
a veteran NDP adviser, also said
he thinks the ad is effective, and
said it targets the significant
chunk of the 2004, 2006 generation of Tories who voted for
their guys because of integrity,
transparency, accountability, no
patronage, no wasting public
money.
All that stuff that they pounded the Liberals so effectively for,
and this is pretty disturbing [for
them], he said.
Keith Beardsley, a former PMO
deputy chief of staff for issues
management, said he liked the ad,
adding that it will help reinforce
the support of the partys own
voters who think the Conservative are horrible and corrupt.
It was probably aimed at swing
voters and reinforcing the NDP
base as well as whatever they can
grab from the Liberals, he said.
Its a little more aggressive
than what weve seen [previously
from the NDP], but thats the way
politics is going anyways, its getting more American in tone.
Robin MacLachlan, vice-pres-
ident at Summa Strategies and

an NDP strategist, said the NDPs
Enough ad was well-done and a
great example of testing digital
ad strategies in the pre-election
period.
The great thing about the
NDPs Enough ad was all they
had to do was clip news media,
said Mr. MacLachlan. That was
fairly simply information to compile together and can be done inhouse. Anytime you can do things
in a cost-effective way in politics,
especially leading into whats going to be an expensive campaign,
its an asset.
While political parties traditionally hire campaign staff
to work closely with outside
advertising firms or contractors,
actually producing ads in-house
is a relatively new venture being explored and made possible
thanks to evolving technologies,
which are becoming cheaper and
easier to use.
The NDP has reached a new
level of internal sophistication on
this and on data analytics, social
media management this time,
said Mr. Sears, adding some similar efforts were going on during
the 2011 campaign but its been
an evolutionary process.
Its incontestable that you can
identify voters more precisely,
understand what messages are affecting them more precisely and
more quickly and more cheaply,
and shape and tune which ones
you want to use almost instantaneously, all things that you cant
do at all in mainstream media,
he said.
Mr. Flanagan agreed that
online advertising is particularly
appealing to parties during the
pre-writ period as it attracts media attention to help build-up the
party narrative and allows parties
to test and tweak messaging at
low costs.
Producing ads in-house also
allows for much more flexibility in messaging and timing, as
party staff could be pushed to
turn around an ad overnight, and
campaigns now are so fast-paced
that thats an advantage.
But Mr. Flanagan said there
is a learning curve in political
advertising, which can be a sensitive matter. He said in the past,
bad ads have angered voters, and
if internal staff are producing ads
the party should be careful of too
much enthusiasm in going after
opponents.
Mr. Bushell said having party
staff produce ads allows for more
consistency and cohesion in messaging and said online ads are
also less passive than traditional
television or radio ad spots in
that voters can actively seek them
out online and they can include
click-throughs and other action
prompts.
The Hill Times
Clive Veroni On
NDPs Enough Ad
Clive Veroni, author of Spin: How Politics Have the Power to Turn
Marketing on its Head, and one of the countrys leading experts on
advertising, assesses the NDPs powerful new ad, Enough.
BY KATE MALLOY
What do you think of the NDPs ad?

Overall, I think this is a good ad for the NDP. It pokes the Conservatives where
they are most sensitive right now: on the subject of ethics. This ad also has the
potential to build its impact over time, as the Duffy trial resumes later in the summer
and as Nigel Wright takes the stand.
Do you find it effective? Why or why not?
Yes, for the reasons I mention above. Also, for an ad to be effective it must elicit
a head-nod from the audience, it must tap into some pre-existing perception or
truth. And the notion that the Conservatives have failed to live up to their promise
to clean up Ottawa will likely resonant with many voters, even Conservative ones.
How would you describe its style? American-style? Conservative-attack style?
As far as attack ads go, this one is relatively muted in tone, though not in content. Its
the proverbial iron first in the velvet glove. And I think it was important for the NDP, which
has traditionally avoided these types of ads, not to sound shrill or extreme. For the most part,
they stick to the facts, which are delivered by a female voice in a firm but not aggressive
style. What works well here is the trick of repetitionthe piling on of one scandal after
another. The cumulative effect is striking. Viewers might not remember any of the individual
cases but thats not the point. Theyll come away with a sense that thereve been lots of
breaches of ethics under the Conservatives. There are a couple of stylistic things to note.
First, the central section of this ad consists of still images of the offenders. There are only
two sections with video: at the top, Stephen Harper in slow motion and, at the end, Dean
Del Mastro being hauled off to jail, also in slow motion. This visual bookending subtly connects the two videos in the mind of the viewer, to powerful effect, I think.
Secondly, all the images are tinted Tory blue, thereby subverting one of the Conservative brands strongest assets. And perhaps this is just coincidence, but all those
stamps recording the offences are in Liberal red.
Who do you think the NDP is targeting with this ad?
Usually at this early stage in a campaign, the parties are trying to shore up the
base before the writ gets dropped, which is what the Conservatives appear to be
doing. But this ad is not aimed at NDP stalwarts; its aimed directly at disaffected
Tories, those who feel the party has abandoned its aim of sweeping out of Ottawa
corrupt and self-serving politics. I think the election in Alberta has given the NDP the
confidence to believe they can leapfrog right over Liberal voters and appeal directly
to soft Tories. And I think this ad could be just the thing to help them do it.
kmalloy@hilltimes.com
The Hill Times
17

OPINION IRAN & CANADA
Canada is right not to lift

Iran sanctions prematurely
Canada will become
vulnerable again to
Irans illicit finance and
procurement activities.
It is not in Canadas
interest to lift sanctions
prematurely.
economic pressure at the start of negotiations, giving Irans economy a much-needed boost. The lifting of sanctions envisioned by the nuclear deal will accelerate
this relief. A snap-back will have to deal
with a fully recovered Iranian economy
that will have likely developed mechanisms to mitigate the impact of possible
future sanctions. In short, the removal of
sanctions does not allow a snap-back to
the status quo ante. It would guarantee
that economic pressure will only gradually be brought to bear, while Irans nuclear
program will be much more advanced
than it is at present.
This poses a particularly acute challenge for Ottawa. Iran has always favoured Canada as a location for its illicit
procurement activities. Canadas industry
offers access to advanced technology and

know-how; its solid Western economy
offers an ideal environment for banking.
Trade agreements and a common border with the U.S. made Canada a perfect
transshipment point for U.S. goods to Iran.
Canadas generous immigration policies
made it possible, in some cases, for regime
procurement agents to acquire Canadian
permanent residency through investment
programs financed by the regime. Though
Ottawa has successfully fought back in the
past, if Canada were to lift its sanctions
against Iran and seek a thaw in bilateral
relations, Tehran could once more seek to
exploit Canada as a launching pad for its
illicit activities.
The nuclear agreement makes all this
possible. Controls and restrictions on Ira-
nian front companieshundreds of which

the agreement removes from sanctions
listswill now be laxer. Iran will be able
to plug its financial sector back into the
international banking system, with less
scrutiny on thousands of daily transactions
previously prohibited or closely monitored
by financial institutions and intelligence
agencies.
Tehrans procurement agents will soon
see asset freezes and travel bans lifted.
Most ominously, numerous Iranian entities
previously involved in procurement for
Tehrans clandestine nuclear weapons and
ballistic missile programs will be quickly
removed from the sanctions list. They can
now go on a shopping spree.
Opening up Canadas markets and
financial sector to Iran now would only
make it easier for Iranian companies and
entities until now under sanctions to resume their activities. Canada will become
vulnerable again to Irans illicit finance
and procurement activities. It is not in Canadas interest to lift sanctions prematurely.
Emanuele Ottolenghi is a senior fellow
at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
news@hilltimes.com
The Hill Times
EMANUELE OTTOLENGHI
ASHINGTON, D.C.The nuclear

deal that six world powers signed
with Iran earlier this month will soon
remove most international sanctions in
exchange for Irans acceptance of longterm restrictions on its nuclear program.
The Canadian government, by contrast,
has wisely announced that it will keep
its sanctions in place for now. The goal of
sanctions was to persuade Iran to accept
limitations on its nuclear activities. But
the deal falls short of preventing Iran
from developing a nuclear weapon while
removing all instruments of economic
pressure on Tehran. That Canada has
chosen to retain some measure of leverage
for the West is sound. Ottawa will minimize the likely use and abuse of Canadas
economy by Tehran, were the Islamic Republic to continue its illicit procurement
and money laundering activities.
There are good reasons to be skeptical.
The deal fails to institute a strong verification mechanism to minimize the risk
of Iran successfully cheating. It removes
most restrictions after a decade, ensuring
that Iran will eventually be able to pursue
nuclear weapons, faster and more efficiently, once the deal sunsets. Iran will be on a
fast track to reviving its economy, despite
the regimes financial support for terrorism and insurgency across the Middle East.
Most importantly, the deal lifts most sanctions, opting for a snap-back mechanism if
Iran cheats.
Snap-back sounds attractive: if Iran
cheats, the reasoning goes, sanctions will
be immediately re-imposed. There are three
problems with this notion. First, the impact
of sanctions is not immediate. Second, Iran
can walk away from the deal the minute
sanctions are snapped back. Third, all contracts signed before sanctions are restored
must be honored. In short, Iran has every
incentive to cheat.
It took almost six years, after all, for
sanctions to yield results. UN Security
Council resolutions 1696 (July 2006) and
1737 (December 2006) established the
basis for a robust sanctions regime that
culminated almost four years later to its
present configuration. UN resolutions,
in turn, offered Western countries the
legal cover to ratchet up independent
sanctions against Iran. Eventually,
sanctions passed by the EU, the U.S.
Congress, and other Western nations like
Canada inflicted such economic damage
to Iran that the Ayatollahs agreed to
negotiate.
But Tehran drove a hard bargain and
the West felt compelled to relieve its
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18
ELECTION 2015
Harper could be trying

to deplete NDP, Libs to
benefit Conservatives after
election, say sources
If the Conservatives,
who have proven
more capable
fundraisers than their
opponents, can drain
the other parties
coffers during the
campaign, it could
make a Conservative
minority government
more stable.
There are various signs that
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
(Calgary Southwest, Alta.) will
drop the writ before September
in order to take advantage of his
partys deep coffers over a longer
writ period.
But part of the motivation
could be what happens after the
election. With the Conservatives
in a tight three-way race with
the NDP and Liberals, most are
predicting a minority Parliament
after the ballots are counted.
If the Conservatives, who have
proven more capable fundraisers
than their opponents, can drain
the other parties coffers during
the campaign, it could make a
Conservative minority government more stable.
I think everyones of the
mindset that this is going to be
another minority government,
a former senior Conservative
speaking on condition of anonymity told The Hill Times. If
you can put the other parties in a
big financial hole, it makes them
do this second-guess on whether
they bring you down.
It would also help the Conservatives if they found themselves
in opposition, the source said, as
it would embolden them to try to
defeat an NDP or Liberal government quickly as those parties
wouldnt have the financial resources to fight another election.
There are so many creative
ways that this can turn into a
huge financial windfall for the
party that has the most money,
the source said.
The Conservatives raised far
more than the other parties last
year, numbers filed with Elections
Canada show. The Tories raised
$20.1-million in 2014, compared
to the NDPs $9.5-million and the
Liberals $15-million.
Once the writ is officially
dropped for the 2015 election,
parties and individual electoral district associations will be
subject to the campaign expense

limits under the Canada Elections
Act. Changes to the act last year
mean the spending ceiling is prorated for a campaign longer than
the 37-day minimum.
Fixed election laws now set
out when Election Day will fall
this time on Oct. 19but there are
no rules around when the election
period must officially begin.
The 37-day campaign minimum
means an Oct. 19 election must be
called by Sept. 13.
A 37-day campaign would
limit party spending to roughly
$22-million. For every extra day
in the official campaign period,
that expense limit would increase
by about $600,000.
On top of Mr. Harper recently
announcing the cancellation of
his annual August Arctic tour,
last week The Ottawa Citizen
reported that at least nine staffers
from the Prime Ministers Office
had taken leave.
The first of the federal leaders
debates (the Macleans debate
being broadcast by various Rogers outlets), which typically take
place during the official campaign
period, is slated for Aug. 6.
As reported by The Canadian
Presss Stephanie Levitz, some
staffers have been told to make
sure their bank accounts are in
good shape by mid-August, as
campaigns pay peanuts if they
pay at all.
So far, the Conservative Party
has nominated 290 candidates
out of 338, while the NDP has
nominated 256, the Liberals 294,
and the Greens 159. Candidate
nominations can continue during
the campaign but its generally
unwise to not have a candidate
waving the partys banner from
the outset.
Keith Beardsley, a former PMO
deputy chief of staff, said hes
predicting the writ drop in mid-August, in part to help bury any news
stories coming out of suspended
Senator Mike Duffys criminal trial,
which resumes Aug. 12 in Ottawa
with testimony from former PMO
chief of staff Nigel Wrightthough
he said the PM will likely already
have a good sense of what Mr.
Wright will say.
The Conservative Partys current slump in the polls is another
potential motivation in order to
stop the bleeding and change
momentum, said Mr. Beardsley.
The fact that a number of PMO
staffers recently went on leave
was a twitch to the antennae,
he said, as a large migration of
senior staffers to party headquarters usually happens two-to-three
weeks from an election campaign.
Speculation of an early call
helps boost all party fundrais-
ing efforts, he said, but actually

calling one early would put the
Conservative Party, with its flush
coffers, at an advantage.
Politics is about winning, not
being nice to your opponents.
If they can go earlier and have
a much higher spending cap
which benefits Conservatives
over the other two partiesthen
why wouldnt they? said Mr.
Beardsley. The longer campaign
will bleed the other parties, plus a
longer campaign means the opposition has to be very, very careful
in spending.
Bruce Carson, a former PMO
adviser, said hes expecting the
writ to drop shortly after the first
federal leaders debate.
I imagine theyre doing some
polling now after the [Universal
Child Care] benefit money goes
out, and then they might do some
overnight polling after the first
debate. I think if its anywhere
good at all youd probably look
at a writ drop shortly after Aug.
6, he said, suggesting Aug. 8 as a
possibility.
Mr. Harpers cancellation of
the annual August Arctic tour is
another sign of an early campaign, said Mr. Carson, as going
on the tour would have taken
the PM out of the mix of election
preparations and things have not
gone all that well in the North.
The last time he went up there,
there were lots of questions on
delivery of promises, and another
tour like that would highlight that
as well, said Mr. Carson.
A former Conservative staffer
who worked in the partys war
room and spoke on condition of
anonymity said the writ would
most likely drop before the Labour Day weekend.
Calling the election too soon
risks ticking off voters still in vacation mode, said the source, and
a long campaign period also risks
giving voters the impression the
Conservatives are being unfair
and trying to bleed the opposition
of resources.
My guess is the writ wont
drop anywhere before Aug. 24,
said the source.
Robin Sears, a principal at
Earnscliffe Strategy Group, said
there are also benefits to waiting.
The government can continue to
run ads promoting its tax breaks
until the campaign begins, and
opposition parties can always
take out a loan during the campaign if more funds are needed.
An onslaught of government
announcements is one sign of an
impending campaign, said Mr.
Carson, as theyre a boon to the
governing party and arent possible once the election is called.
The theory that Conservatives
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, top, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, and Liberal
Leader Justin Trudeau. The Conservatives spent about $19.5-million in the
last election, the New Democrats spent $20.3-milion and the Liberals spent
about $19.5-million. The Hill Times photographs by Jake Wright
could be eager for a long campaign
period in order to bleed opposition
parties of cash for an advantage in
a minority government situation
is an interesting and logical one,
said Mr. Beardsley, adding thats
sort of what happened after the
11-week 2006 election campaign.
The former Conservative staffer also said that motivation for
going early is plausible: raising
enough money to fight an election
in one year without the per-vote
subsidy would be a challenge for
the other parties, and fundraising
could become more difficult if the
economy sours.
Robin MacLachlan, an NDP
strategist and vice-president
of Summa Strategies, said it
wouldnt be the first time the
Conservatives have used their
fundraising advantage to the
other parties detriment.
Im sure that the Conservatives have thought about the fact
that depleting the opposition parties resources during a campaign,
regardless of the outcome, is in
their interest, he said.
But broke opposition parties
could also provide added incentive for them to form a coalition
government in the event of the

Tories winning the most seats.
The argument could be made
that it would be in their greater
interest to cooperate to defeat the
Conservatives because independently theyre in a tough spot to
fight an election campaign, Mr.
MacLachlan said.
If the Conservatives form a
minority government, there will
be a lot of pressure from those
that voted for [the Liberals and
NDP] to do everything they can to
defeat Stephen Harper, he said.
The parties could avoid another trip to the polls by cooperating
and keeping the Conservatives
out of power.
Many observers have also
noted that anything but another
Conservative majority government would likely lead to Mr.
Harpers departure, and a leadership contest would take time and
money and prevent the Conservatives from trying to bring down a
coalition government right away.
Last week, Liberal Leader Justin
Trudeau said he would not consider
forming a coalition with the NDP.
news@hilltimes.com
The Hill Times
19
HILL CLIMBERS
POLITICAL STAFFERS
Pigott leaves post as PMOs market research

director, nine PMO staffers on leave
LAURA RYCKEWEART
N.B.; Yellowknife, N.W.T.; Cambridge Bay, Nunavut; and Winnipeg, Man.

In 2014, Ms. Pigott claimed a
total of $51,577.47 in travel and
hospitality expenses. She was the
only staffer listed as working in
the PMOs advertising and market research unit on GEDS.
Transport Minister
Nine staffers on leave
Lisa Raitts
from PMO
Meanwhile, as reported by The
director of policy
Ottawa Citizens Kady OMalley
and stakeholder
last week, nine PMO staffers
recently took leave from the Lanrelations, Michael
gevin Block, as indicated by their
Beaton, leaves
email auto-reply messages, which
for the most part also directed
for a new gig as
to an alternative PMO staffer to
director of corporate contact and included a personal
email address.
affairs for Rogers
The nine PMO staffers
include: David Belous, deputy
Communications.
irector of market research

Brooke Pigott is no longer
working in the Prime Ministers
Office, according to the governments electronic directory service (GEDS). Ms. Pigott had been
serving as director of market
research in the Prime Ministers
Office (PMO) since September
2013, previously having worked
under the title of manager of
market research after first being
hired to work in the Langevin
Block in 2008. She is no longer
listed anywhere on GEDS.
Prior to joining the PMO, Ms.
Pigott worked as a policy adviser
to then Citizenship and Immigration minister Monte Solberg,
including briefly when he was
minister responsible for Human
Resources and Skills Development (now called Employment
and Social Development).
Before she began working on
the Hill, Ms. Pigott spent about
three years working as a research
manager in Ipsos-Reids public
affairs division in Vancouver
and in Ottawa, according to her
LinkedIn account. Her online
profile indicates she studied both
a bachelor and master of arts in
sociology at the University of
Calgary in Alberta.
Its unclear where Ms. Pigott
is now or if someone new will
be hired to replace her ahead of
the Oct. 19 federal election, but
keep reading Hill Climbers for an
update. Ms. Pigott wracked up a
total of $26,206.69 in travel and
hospitality expense claims so far
this year for travel across Canada
to attend research meetings, including six visits to Qubec City,
five to Toronto, four to Vancouver,
three to Calgary, three to Kitchener, and two to Halifax.
She also attended research
meetings in Coquitlam and
Burnaby, B.C.; Kamloops and
Abbotsford, B.C.; Prince Rupert,
B.C.; Minto, Ont.; Victoriaville,
Que.; Fredericton, N.B.; Moncton,
director of stakeholder relations

and outreach; Rachel Curran,
director of policy; Nigel Hannaford, manager of speechwriting; Meredith Lilly, policy adviser
for foreign affairs and trade;
Catherine Loubier, senior adviser
for Quebec and press secretary;
Aliya Mohamed, deputy director of tour and scheduling; Mary
Simovic, stakeholder relations
and outreach adviser; Cynthia
Tran, stakeholder relations and
outreach adviser; Shauna Wright,
manager of tour.
As well, Farhaan Ladhani,
senior adviser for digital outreach, is also no longer listed as
a staffer in the PMO, similarly
senior advance to the PM Montana Brisbin, advance Alexander
Robinson, speechwriter Derek
Shelly are also no longer listed as
PMO staff. No email auto-reply
was sent from the addresses of
these staff; while Mr. Ladhanis
PMO email address either is not
working or follows a different
format than other PMO staff. The
PMO declined to comment.
Beaton leaves Transport

Minister Raitts office
Transport Minister Lisa Raitt
recently bade farewell to her
director of policy and stakeholder
relations for the last four years,
Michael Beaton, who has already
started a new gig as director
of corporate affairs for Rogers
Communications. Mr. Beaton was
first hired to work as a policy
adviser to Ms. Raitt during her
time as Labour minister in the
fall of 2010, and was promoted to
the title of policy director roughly
one year later. He left the ministers office last month and began
working as director of corporate
affairs for Rogers Communications in Ottawa at the end of June.
His role is to monitor government policy, programs and
legislation to determine impact
on Rogers. He will also represent
Rogers on the working committees of coalitions and industry as-
sociations, said Rogers Communications senior director of public

affairs Aaron Lazarus is an email
to Hill Climbers last week.
The director of corporate
affairs role was developed to expand Rogers stakeholder engagement program.
Ms. Raitt was shuffled into her
current Transport portfolio in July
2013. Shortly after the shuffle,
Mr. Beaton tagged on the title of
director of stakeholder relations,
as well as director of policy to the
minister.
Like many political staffers,
Mr. Beaton first came to Ottawa
for university. Originally from
Mississauga, Ont., Mr. Beaton
studied an undergraduate degree
in political science at Carleton
University and during his time
at school began interning for the
then newly-formed opposition
Conservative Party, as previously
reported by Hill Climbers.
During the 2004 federal election, Mr. Beaton was an assistant to the Conservative Partys
campaign wagon master, Dave
Penner (a former PMO appointment director whos now director of stakeholder relations and
public affairs at Canada Post). In
2005, he landed his first job on
the Hill as a Parliamentary affairs
assistant to then Ontario Conservative Senator Anne Cools, who
now sits as an Independent.
By 2006, Mr. Beaton was
working in the PMO, first as an
advance to the PM and later as a
manager of tour advance. He then
spent a year working as director
of strategic communications at
the Conservative Partys Parliament-funded research bureau
before being hired to work for
Ms. Raitt in 2010.
No new director of policy has
yet been added to Ms. Raitts staff
roster on GEDS, but policy and
stakeholder relations advisers
Robert Muir and Kent Verge have
both been promoted to the title of
senior adviser.
Chief of Staff Nicolas Pappalardo is in charge of Ms. Raitts
office.
Infrastructure Minister
Lebel promotes Dufort
Infrastructure and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Denis
Lebel, who is also the regional
minister for Quebec, has promoted staffer Daniel Dufort to the
title of director of issues management, as recently indicated by
GEDS.
Mr. Dufort has been working
on the Hill since 2010 when he
joined the PMO as an issues management adviser. Prior to that, Mr.
Dufort worked as a senior consultant with the GCI Groups public
affairs team and was a registered
lobbyist.
In 2012, Mr. Dufort switched
over to work in the PMOs stakeholder relations unit and in 2013,
Michael Beaton has left the Hill and

is now director of corporate affairs at
Rogers Communications. Photograph
Nathan Rotman is now chief of staff

to Alberta Finance and Treasury Board
Minister Joe Ceci. Photograph courtesy of
courtesy of LinkedIn
LinkedIn
he left the Langevin Block to

work as a policy and issues management adviser to Mr. Lebel.
Mr. Dufort was promoted
to serve as director of issues
management to the minister back
in April and is the lone issues
management staffer listed in
Mr. Lebels office on GEDs, but
the title change means hes now
eligible to earn between $118,500
and $139,300 annually as a director based on Treasury Board
Secretariat guidelines.
Chief of Staff Yan Plante is in
charge of Mr. Lebels ministerial
office.
Strong leaves Finance

Minister Olivers office
Meanwhile, Finance Minister
Joe Oliver recently bid farewell to
staffer Rachel Strong after almost
a year in the office. Ms. Strong
first joined Mr. Olivers ministerial
office as a regional communications adviser and caucus liaison
for the Greater Toronto Area
(GTA) in September 2014. Mr.
Oliver, the Conservative MP for
Eglinton-Lawrence, Ont., is also
the regional minister for the GTA.
Before arriving on Parliament Hill,
Ms. Strong worked at Queens
Park as an executive assistant to
then Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak.
Ms. Strong is no longer listed
anywhere as a staffer on GEDS.
Melissa Lantsman is currently
director of communications to Mr.
Oliver, aided by press secretary
Nick Bergamini. Jeremy Roberts
is currently national caucus liaison to Mr. Oliver.
Chief of Staff Dan Nowlan is
in charge of Mr. Olivers ministerial office, with Dan Miles
in place as director of regional
affairs in the ministers regional
office in Toronto.
Former NDP national

director Rotman now in
Alberta
Former federal NDP staffer
Nathan Rotman is now in Alberta
serving as chief of staff to the
newly-elected NDP governments
Treasury Board and Finance Minister, Joe Ceci.

Mr. Rotman has been working
for Mr. Ceci since June 2, after being on now NDP Alberta Premier
Rachel Notleys tour during the
recent May 5 provincial election
campaign.
A former federal NDP staffer,
Mr. Rotman served as the partys
director of operations for a
number of years starting in 2008
and including for the 2011 federal
election campaign.
He briefly moved over to work
in then NDP leader Jack Laytons
official opposition leaders office
to serve as director of operations
and outreach until returning to
party headquarters at the end of
summer 2012 to take over as the
NDPs new national director.
Shortly after former NDP MP
Olivia Chow announced her resignation as an MP in March 2014
to run in Torontos mayoral race,
Mr. Rotman informed Mr. Mulcair
of his own departure and left to
do field organization work for
Ms. Chows campaign. Ultimately,
John Tory was elected mayor.
Since then, Mr. Rotman has
been working as a consultant at
Radar Strategies, according to his
LinkedIn account, and in January of this year he began working
as national director of political
action and campaigns for the
Canadian Labour Congress.
Mr. Rotman is now chief
of staff to Albertas new NDP
Finance and Treasury Board Minister, and is among some familiar
company, including Brian Topp,
former federal NDP staffer and
Layton adviser who is now chief
of staff to Ms. Notley.
A number of federal NDP
staff, as well as staff from other
provinces, flocked to Alberta to
help the New Democrats there
defeat the Progressive Conservatives to win government after an
almost 44-year PC dynasty. Political strategists and observers have
seen the win in Alberta as a boon
to the federal NDP ahead of the
upcoming Oct. 19 election.
lryckewaert@hilltimes.com
The Hill Times
20
FEATURE
Cardinal, Murray to speak at 2015 Shingwauk

Gathering July 31 in Sault Ste. Marie
Parliamentary
Calendar
MONDAY, JULY 27
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 5
World Press Photo Exhibit

2015July 23-Aug. 19, 2015,
Canadian War Museum, 1 Vimy
Place, Ottawa, Ont., Canada, www.
warmuseum.ca or 819-776-7000.
Transforming the Public Service:

An Evening of Conversations on InnovationJoin the Institute of Public Administration of Canada for an evening
of conversations on public service innovation. Guests include innovators from
the Privy Council Office, Canadian
Heritage, Canada Revenue Agency,
and Carleton University. $15/member,
$25/non-member. Pre-registration is
required at innovation2015.eventbrite.
ca. 5:30-8:30 p.m., Canadian Museum of History, Panorama Lounge A,
Gatineau, Que.
FRIDAY, JULY 31
2015 Shingwauk Gathering
and ConferenceThe Children of
Shingwauk Alumni Association,
the Shingwauk Residential Schools
Centre, and partners will be hostign
the fourth annual Shingwauk Gathering and Conference July 31-Aug.
2 at Algoma University, Sault Ste.
Marie, Ont. This years theme is
Celebrating Resilience. Douglas
Cardinal and Justice Murray Sinclair will deliver keynote speeches
on Friday, July 31 from 2 p.m.-4
p.m. Open to the public and free of
cost. Those intersted in attending
can register online at www.shingwauk.org or email ShingwaukDG@
algomau.ca or call 704-949-2301,
ext. 4623.
Statistics Canada Announces
GDP for MayStatistics Canada
to release the GDP by industry,
national, on July 31, 2015.
THURSDAY, AUG. 6
Election DebateMacleans hosts
the first televised election debate,
featuring leaders of the four main political parties, from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
ET. The debate will air commercialfree on City, OMNI.1, OMNI.2,
and CPAC, with live streaming on
Macleans.ca, Citytv.com, CityNews.
ca, OMNItv.ca, CPAC.ca, Facebook,
and YouTube. Rogers Radio news
stations will also carry the debate live
on 680News.com, 570news.com,
660News.com, 1310News.com,
News1130.com, and News957.com.
2015 Shingwauk Gathering and Conference Justice Murray Sinclair, left, pictured, last month at the release of the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission report, with commissioners Marie Wilson and Willie Littlechild, will deliver keynote speeches on Friday,
July 31, from 2 p.m.-4 p.m. at the 2015 Shingwauk Gathering and Conference at Algoma University in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., along
with Douglas Cardinal, not pictured. This years theme is Celebrating Resilience. The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright
Moderated by Macleans political
editor Paul Wells, the party leaders
will debate on issues including the
economy, energy and the environment, the health of Canadas democratic institutions, and foreign policy
and security. The debate format will
avoid canned speeches, providing the
leaders with the opportunity to engage
with each other. Wells will have the
latitude to pose follow-up questions
to ensure Canadians have the most
information and insight possible.
8-10 p.m. in Toronto. OMN1 will
translate the proceedings into Italian,
Mandarin, Cantonese and Punjabi in
real time.
canoe excursions, talented artisans,

delicious food and so much more! 12
p.m., Pull-a-Log Park, Red Rock, Ont.
Job Numbers for July ReleasedStatistics Canada to release
job numbers for July on Aug. 7.
FRIDAY, AUG. 7
TD SouthAsianFestTD SouthAsianFest will offer a glimpse into the

arts and culture from around the Indian sub-continent as well as cultural
performances. Stalls will be set up
to showcase mouth-watering culinary
delights representing Canadas largest visible minority. Thursday, Aug.13
to Saturday, Aug. 15 at Ottawa City
Hall and Jacques Cartier Park in
Gatineau. SouthAsianFest.net
Greens at the Red Rock Folk

FestivalJoin Green Party Leader
Elizabeth May and Bruce Hyer at the
13rd Annual Live from the Rock, Folk
Festival! Come out for three days of
live music, interactive, instructional
workshops, yoga, craft sessions, our
hands-on and friendly family zone,
open stage and song circle opportunities, the Parks Canada voyageur
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 12
Mike Duffy Trial ResumesThe
criminal trial of suspended Senator
Mike Duffy will start again on Aug.
12 in Ottawa. Nigel Wright, former
chief of staff to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, is expected to testify
when the case resumes.
THURSDAY, AUG. 13
others to change the country. 7 p.m.

at Octopus Centretown, 251 Bank St.,
2nd floor.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 1
Statistics Canada Announces GDP
for JuneStatistics Canada to release
the GDP by industry, national, for June
on Sept. 1, 2015.
MONDAY, SEPT. 21
House Resumes SittingThe
House of Commons is scheduled to
sit on Monday, Sept. 21, but likely
wont because of the federal election campaign. The election will
happen on Monday, Oct. 19.
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 30
for JulyStatistics Canada to release
the GDP by industry, national, for July
on Sept. 21, 2015.
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 7
Charlottetown Federal Liberal

Association Summer Luncheon Join
Liberals on Wednesday, Aug. 19 at
noon for our annual summer luncheon
at the Culinary Institute of Canada.
Special guest speaker: Ralph Goodale,
deputy leader of the Liberal Party of
Canada. Tickets cost $100. Contact:
gordontwa@gmail.com
Federal Leaders English Language

DebateThe group of networks,
known as the broadcast consortium, including CBC News, CTV News, Global
News, Radio-Canada and Tl-Qubec,
has set the French-language debate
for Wednesday, Oct. 7, from 8 p.m. to
10 p.m. ET and the English-language
debate for Thursday, Oct. 8, 6 p.m.7:30 p.m. ET. Prime Minister Stephen
Harper will not take part in this debate,
but NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, Liberal
Leader Justin Trudeau, and Green
Party Leader Elizabeth May will.
FRIDAY, AUG. 21
THURSDAY, OCT. 8
Governor General Invites Canadians to Rideau Hall Movie Nights

Watch Great Canadian Films Under
the Stars, Aug. 21 and Aug. 22. This
special event in Ottawa will feature
acclaimed English and French
Canadian films on alternative nights,
screened outdoors on the grounds
of Rideau Hall. The film selection
will be announced at a later date.
Go to wwwrideauhallmovienights.ca
and join the conversation using the
hashtag #GGMovie. Media information, call Dominique Collin, Rideau
Hall Press Office, at 613-993-2569.
Public Policy Forum Annual

Western Dinner The Public Policy
Forum will convene its Annual Western
Dinner to present the Peter Lougheed
Award for Leadership in Public Policy.
This Award recognizes distinguished
Western Canadians whove made
outstanding contributions to the quality
of public policy and good governance.
This year, leaders from Manitoba are
being honoured for the first time: Asper
Foundation president and trustee
Gail Asper, former Foreign Affairs
minister Lloyd Axworthy, Canadian
Ambassador to the United States
Gary Doer, Canadian Union of Public
Employees national president Paul
Moist and Justice Murray Sinclair,
chair of the Indian Residential School
Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Their extraordinary contributions to
public policy in the region have had an
enormous impact that resonates across
Canada and globally. 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
at the Canadian Museum for Human
Rights in Winnipeg.
Federal Leaders English Language
DebateThe group of networks,
known as the broadcast consortium including CBC News, CTV News, Global
News, Radio-Canada and Tl-Qubec,
has set the English-language debate
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 19
TUESDAY, AUG. 25
Charlie Angus Book LaunchNDP
MP Charlie Angus will launch his latest
book, Children of the Broken Treaty:
Canadas Lost Promise and One Girls
Dream, at Octopus Books in Ottawa.
Children of the Broken Treaty exposes
a system of apartheid in Canada that
led to the largest youth-driven human
rights movement in the countrys
history. The movement was inspired
by Shannen Koostachin, a young Cree
woman. All Shannen wanted was a
decent education. She found an ally
in Charlie Angus, who had no idea she
was going to change his life and inspire
for Thursday, Oct. 8, 6 p.m.-7:30

p.m. ET and the French-language
debate for Wednesday, Oct. 7, from
8 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET. Prime Minister
Stephen Harper will not take part in
this debate, but NDP Leader Tom
Mulcair, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau,
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, and
Bloc Qubcois Leader Gilles Duceppe
will. The debates will also be posted
on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Vine,
Google, YouTube and CPAC.
MONDAY, OCT. 19
Election DayThe Canadian
federal election will be held today.
FRIDAY, OCT. 30
GDP for AugustStatistics Canada to
release the GDP by industry, national,
for August on Oct. 30, 2015.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 25
Progress GalaThe Broadbent
Institute hosts its 3rd Annual Progress
Gala at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel
in Toronto. More details to come.
TUESDAY, DEC. 1
for SeptemberStatistics Canada to
for September on Dec. 1, 2015.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 23
GDP for OctoberStatistics Canada to
for October on Dec. 23, 2015.
FRIDAY, JAN. 29, 2016

GDP for OctoberStatistics Canada
national, for November on Jan. 29,
2016.
MARCH 1, 2016
GDP for OctoberStatistics Canada
national, for December on March
1, 2016.
THURSDAY, MAY 26
Liberal Biennial ConventionThe
federal Liberals will hold their convention in Winnipeg, Man., Thursday, May
26 to Sunday, May 29.
The Parliamentary Calendar is a
free listing. Send in your political,
cultural, or governmental event in
a paragraph with all the relevant
details under the subject line
Parliamentary Calendar to news@
hilltimes.com by Wednesday at
noon before the Monday paper. Or
fax it to 613-232-9055. We cant
guarantee inclusion of every event,
but we will definitely do our best.
news@hilltimes.com
The Hill Times
21
HILL TIMES CLASSIFIED

INFORMATION AND ADVERTISEMENT PLACEMENT: TEL. 613-232-5952, FAX 613-232-9055
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22
FEATURE
HILL LIFE & PEOPLE
2015 World Press Photo Contest Winners

World Press Photo Exhibit 2015 is on at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa until Aug. 19.
First Prize General News Category, Stories

Pete Muller, USA, Prime for National Geographic / The Washington Post.
Freetown, Sierra Leone Caption: Medical staff at the Hastings Ebola Treatment
Center work to escort a man in the throes of Ebola-induced delirium back into
the isolation ward from which he escaped. In a state of confusion, he emerged
from the isolation ward and attempted to escape over the back wall of the
complex before collapsing in a convulsive state. A complete breakdown of
mental facilities is a common stage of advanced Ebola. The man pictured here
died shortly after this picture was taken.
Second Prize General News Category, Single

Massimo Sestini, Italy. June 7, 2014, off the coast of Libya: Shipwrecked people are rescued aboard a boat 20 miles north of Libya by a frigate of the
Italian navy. After hundreds of men, women and children had drowned in 2013 off the coast of Sicily and Malta, the Italian government put its navy
to work under a campaign called Mare Nostrum rescuing refugees at sea. Only in 2014, 170,081 people were rescued and taken to Italy.
First Prize Portraits Category, Singles

Raphaela Rosella, Australia, Oculi. Moree, New
South Wales, Australia: Laurinda waits in her purple
dress for the bus that will take her to Sunday
School. She is among the many socially isolated
young women in disadvantaged communities in
Australia facing entrenched poverty, racism, transgenerational trauma, violence, addiction, and a
range of other barriers to health and well-being.
World Press Photo of
the Year 2014 First
Prize Contemporary
Issues, Singles
Mads Nissen, Denmark,
Scanpix/Panos Pictures.
St. Petersburg, Russia:
Jon and Alex, a gay
couple, during an
intimate moment. Life
for lesbian, gay, bisexual
or transgender (LGBT)
people is becoming
increasingly difficult in
Russia. Sexual minorities
face legal and social
discrimination, harassment, and even violent
hate-crime attacks from
conservative religious
and nationalistic groups.
Second Prize Long-Term Projects

Kacper Kowalski, Poland, Panos Pictures. 543347.37N 181342.22E Kacper Kowalski is a pilot and a photographer. Side Effects is a documentary project about the complex relationship between humans and nature. The photos were shot either from a paraglider or a gyroplane, some 150
meters above the ground, mainly in the area around Gdynia, in Poland, where Kowalski lives. In this work, Kowalski explores answers to questions
that deeply interest him: What is the natural environment for humans? Is it an untouched, virgin landscape? Or is it a landscape that has changed,
adapted to human needs? Kowalski sees his work as offering a graphic and sometimes abstract portrait of how civilization came into being. For
Kowalski, the content of the photo is less important than the reactions, reflections, and ideas that arise when looking at it. He would like the project
to be a starting point for discussion about what is good or bad, necessary or optional, in the relationship between humans and nature. The camera
is never connected to a remote control, and Kowalski never uses a drone. He wants to be up there, camera in hand. And he flies alone. That means
he doesnt have to explain anything, or rely on another persons spatial imagination. It means he can fly precisely. Side Effects is more a method of
visual storytelling than a concrete set of pictures. It is an ongoing project that will continue to be modified.
Second Prize Spot News Category, Stories
Jrme Sessini, France, Magnum Photos for De Standaard. 19-21 February,
Kiev, Ukraine: A protester calls for medical aid for a comrade shot dead. Story
caption: After several months of violence, anti-government protesters remained
mobilized by holding barricades in Kievs Independence Square, known simply
as the Maidan. On Saturday, 20 February, unidentified snipers opened fire on
unarmed protesters as they were advancing on Instituska Street. According to an
official source, 70 protesters were shot dead. Ukrainian riot police claimed that
several police officers were wounded or shot dead by snipers as well. An unofficial
source said that snipers opened fire on the police and protesters at the same time
in order to provoke both camps. 20 February was the bloodiest day of the Maidan
protests, and two days after, President Viktor Yanukovych left the country.
Second Prize Contemporary Issues Category, Singles

Ronghui Chen, China, City Express. Yiwu, China: Wei, a 19-year-old Chinese worker, wearing a face mask and a Santa hat, stands
next to Christmas decorations being dried in a factory as red powder used for coloring hovers in the air. He wears six masks a day
and the hat protects his hair from the red dust, which covers workers from head to toe like soot after several hours of work.
23

PARTY CENTRAL WORLD PRESS PHOTO EXHIBIT
PARTY CENTRAL
BY
RACHEL AIELLO
Pictures worth a
thousand words at
World Press Photo 15
exhibit premiere
First Prize Nature
Category, Singles
Yongzhi Chu, China.
Suzhou, Anhui Province,
China: A monkey being
trained for circus cowers
as its trainer approaches.
With more than 300
roupes, Suzhou is known
as the home of the
Chinese circus.
onnes of ink has been spilled covering

the major international news stories
in 2014: Ebola in West Africa, the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17, the
kidnapping of hundreds of schoolgirls by
Boko Haram, and the European migrant
crisis, among hundreds of others conflicts
and news. These grim incidents may have
gripped world attention, but seeing them
up close and captured in 145 giant gallerysized photographs at the World Press
Photo Exhibit 2015 was incredibly moving.
That was the impression left on attendees last Wednesday night, when the Canadian War Museum celebrated the national
debut of the annual exhibit.
The evening began with a simple reception
in the museums main foyer where tall and
short tables draped in black cloth dotted the
floor as the early evening sun poured through
the architecturally slanted windows. A string
musical duo serenaded the crowd throughout the evening. Pockets of Ottawans young
and old were mingling, picking at bowlfuls of
party mix and gathering around the cash bar.
Shortly after everyone had settled into their
spots as museum attendees streamed past curiously, Mark ONeill, the president and CEO
of the Canadian War and History museums,
welcomed the invited guests and spoke to the
tradition of hosting the World Press Photo
exhibit every year now for about a decade.
He then welcomed Cees Cole, the Netherlands Ambassador to Canada, to say a
few words. The embassy partners with the
museum to put on the show, in honour of the
World Press Photo Federations roots, beginning in Amsterdam in 1955. He spoke about
the importance of photojournalism capturing
the cruel realities of human life, referencing a
set of photographs taken by French photographer Jrme Sessini at the Ukrainian crash
site of Malaysias MH17 on July 17, 2014. All
298 people on board were killed. Within the
set of photographs, there are some gruesome
images, including a body burned and laying
on the floor of a nearby home after crashing
through a window, and a particularly harrowing image of a passenger still strapped into
their seat, laying in a field. His series of images
won first place for spot news.
The contest awarded 41 photographers
for their work in eight different categories.
The World Press Photo Contest is considered
the most prestigious and is the largest indus-
try competition. This year its celebrating the

58th annual contest. The foundations aim is
to support and get public appreciation for
photojournalism, documentary storytelling
worldwide, and the freedom of information.
Danish photographer Mads Nissen, who
is a staff photographer for the Danish daily
newspaper Politiken, took the photograph
of the year. His winning image shows a gay
couple, during an intimate moment in St. Petersburg, Russia, alone and inside a bedroom,
at a time when LGBT people in the country
face prosecution and increased danger for
beingoutin public. Its a shadowy image and
like many on display the impact is elevated
when you see it in person, all the details and
expressions on the faces of the photo subjects
are so much more striking than when viewing
them online. Party Central was told overall
the collection was less grim than in past years.
Overall it was a good mix of grit, celebration,
storytelling and artistry. At one moment the
gallery confronts you with grief and suffering,
but turning a corner youd be sucked into the
backstory of a smiling face.
World Press Freedom external relations
coordinator Noortje Gorter was in town for
the occasion, she mingled through the exhibit
speaking to guests about the selection process,
and about the brave photojournalists that allow the rest of the world to witness events they
would never have been able to see otherwise.
This year 5,692 press photographers, photojournalists, and documentary photographers
from 131 countries submitted 97,912 images. A
jury of mostly their peers selects the winners.
This years jury was comprised of 17 jurors, including photographers from around the world,
photo editors at the Associated Press, The New
York Times, and Instagrams editorial director.
As attendees took the exhibit in, inside the
museums Barney Danson Theatre, it was relatively quiet, each person taking time to read
the short explanations giving context to the
photos, and using their smartphones to interact via scan-able QR codes. For Party Central
it was entertaining on its own to stand back
and watch others take in the photographs,
react to what theyre seeing and talk about the
context of issues or events depicted.
The exhibition will be on display until
Sunday, Aug. 19. It will then travel to Montreal, Toronto and Chicoutimi.
The Hill Times
A woman takes in the third prize for contemporary issues

single photos by Italian photographer Fulvio Bugani. His
series is called, Waria: Being a Different Muslim.
Cynthia and Yves Bled.
Mark ONeill, president and CEO

at the Canadian War and History
museums, with Silvie Morel.
Photographs by Jake Wright
Brigitte Trepanier and Dominic Que.
Jeanine DeVos taking in the exhibit.
Power & Influence magazine

editor Bea Vongdouangchanh.
Astrid Schetselaar.
The music from these two string musicians

flowed through the gallery all evening.
Selena deWaard and

Astrid Schetselaar.
Chris Roussakis,
Rachel Aiello, Cynthia
Mnster, and Bea
Vongdouangchanh.
World Press Photo

representative
Noortje Gorter.
Cees Cole,
Netherlands
ambassador to
Canada.
SPINNING HISTORY
LES WHITTINGTON
SPINNING
HISTORY
A WITNESS TO
HARPERS CANADA AND
21ST CENTURY CHOICES
A must read.
Don Newman
NOW AVAILABLE
In this new book, veteran Toronto Star political journalist
Les Whittington chronicleswith remarkable clarity and a coplike, straight-up tonethe hallmarks of Prime Minister Stephen
Harpers government. Its a concise, insiders guide on how the
government has changed Canada over the last 10 years.
Les Whittingtons book, Spinning History is

well-written, substantive, and it packs a punch.
Kate Malloy, editor of The Hill Times
BOOKS
hilltimes.com/HT-books

HT

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POLITICAL

The author on his new

Pigott leaves PMO,

TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR, NO. 1294

LOBBYING ELECTION 2015

ith MPs on the hustings and the

CANADAS POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT NEWSWEEKLY

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f Prime Minister Stephen Harper

he NDPs hard-hitting, anti-Conservative ad Enough, which has so

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The people we put in

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arry Leslie Smith may be Canadas

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photo by Andrew Meade

Continued from page 1

Strategists can help clients

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should be sidelined, he said, and

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with broadcast executives, could

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Mr. Wells said he will be borrowing their methods.

You dont want to do it too much

Date & Location:

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Oct. 8, location to be announced

NDP, Liberals and Greens

Consortium French Debate,

Oct. 7, location to be announced

NDP, Liberals, Greens and Bloc Quebecois

Globe and Mail &

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Del Mastro saga casts shadow as new

Former Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro and former Liberal

graphs by Jake Wright

strategy going forward. Following