It was a big question period just prior to the vote on the Conservative mini-budget, as two interesting guests showed up to watch from the government gallery: Former Alberta premier Ralph Klein and former Ontario premier Mike Harris.

The pair sat together and at one point a Liberal heckled that Prime Minister Stephen Harper was bringing in Mike Harris-like tax cuts.

Someone yelled back, "Watch it. He's right above you."

Politics and economic policy were being played out on Parliament Hill Tuesday. At times, it was hard to know which had the upper hand.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty tabled a surprise ways and means motion in the House during the afternoon and then made his way to the National Press Theatre for an economic statement that was a mini-budget in all but name — $60 billion in tax cuts over the next five years.

It's been known for weeks that Flaherty would be making an economic statement this fall. That he would be filling it full of tax breaks, as the Liberals did two years ago just before they were defeated, was clearly something of a last-minute decision.

Too last minute in fact to allow his statement to be read in Parliament without unanimous consent, which the NDP denied.

The ways and means motion meant there would have to be a vote to authorize the tax changes and that, of course, meant the government could fall.

As with the throne speech two weeks ago, if all three opposition parties vote against the motion on Wednesday afternoon (and, therefore, against the proposed cuts to income taxes and the GST), the Conservative government would fall and there would be an election.

And like the throne speech, the Liberals alone decided to keep their powder dry for another day.

The opposition critique was that the tax breaks either didn't do enough for struggling sectors of the economy or were too generous to big business.

Of the $60 billion, $34 billion goes to cut the GST from six per cent to five; $15 billion is for corporate tax relief; and $10 billion is for personal tax cuts, the bulk of which benefit those in the $38,000 to $75,000 brackets.

The one percentage point cut to the GST is "ill-conceived policy," Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said. "But we will choose our time when we choose to put this government down. It will not be tomorrow."

So the election guessing game — when will the opposition parties defeat a government they say is on the wrong track? — continues.

But now a new question can be added: Why did the Harper government decide it had to unveil all these tax breaks now, perhaps only a few months before it is to bring in a real budget in the spring?

What does it do then for an encore?

With the economic update and the Auditor General's report all coming out on the same day, one chapter of Sheila Fraser's work will probably go unnoticed.

There is a full chapter on the Inuvialuit Land Claim that was signed 23 years ago on one bright spring day in Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories.

Then Indian Affairs Minister John Munroe donned traditional clothing and danced with Inuvialuit leaders in the community to celebrate.

People in the small northern communities were overjoyed and proud of the deal.

This was a crucial land claim. It was the first land claim north of the 60th parallel and only one of three comprehensive claims at the time that provided both land and money to native people in Canada.

It affects the Inuvialuit, the western Arctic Inuit, who live in the MacKenzie Delta and the Arctic islands to the north.

The agreement transferred 91,000 square kilometres of land and $170 million dollars to the Inuvialuit. That land now contains much of the gas that will go into the proposed Mackenzie Valley pipeline.

This claim has formed the basis for many of the 18 land agreements signed across Canada since then.

But Sheila Fraser found the federal government had done a very bad job in holding to its side of the bargain. It hasn't transferred all the land to the Inuvialuit that it's supposed to.

In fact in some cases the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs (INAC) transferred some of the wrong land and has done nothing in the last 23 years to fix it.

And in all that time INAC has never made a list of its obligations under the constitutionally protected land claim and lived up to them.

Auditor General Sheila Fraser simply shook her head when asked about this.

"I wish I could answer that question as to why 23 years after the government made a committment to these people it has still to live up to its obligations ... it has not worked in partnership with Inuvialuit towards the goals of this agreement."

Makes you wonder if the Inuvialuit of the Mackenzie Delta would have been so quick to dance with joy if they knew just what kind of partner they were stuck with.

Canadian journalists weren't the only ones attending today's media lock up and press conference of the Auditor General. There were two people from Ghana, one from Guyana, one from Kenya, and one from Senagal.

They are all auditors in their countries and are here on an intensive training course with the Office of the Auditor General. They are learning Canadian auditing practices and methodologies to bring back to their countries.

This program has had 180 Fellows from 50 different courntries since it was created in the 1980's. The present Auditor General and Controller General of Kenya was a fellow of this program and one of today's attendees, Henry Kwadjo Missah says he wants to become the Auditor General of his country Ghana one day.

The subdued tones of this week’s Auditor General’s report had many reporters pining for the days of the sponsorship scandal.

The report touched on many areas of national importance with its focus on information practices in diverse areas such as national defence, border security and industry.

But alas, many reporters were left pining for the “good old days” when a seemingly bolder Sheila Fraser lambasted the then-Liberal government for “breaking every rule in the book.”

When pressed during a news conference, Fraser took strong positions on issues such as neglected land claim agreements and ill-monitored military health care spending.

But she stopped short of the dramatic language for which she is well-known.

As for interim Environmental Commissioner Ron Thompson’s contribution, his concerns about sustainable development were largely masked by jargon.

But Thompson did provide the most interesting moment in the lockup from a human interest point of view.

He says he recently became a grandfather and that development has made him more concerned than ever about environmental sustainability.

It was cheers, clapping and tears in the heritage department lobby this morning as Secretary of State Jason Kenney arrived hand in hand with the Dalai Lama.

The Dalai Lama is in Ottawa for a round of speeches and meetings set up with his followers and government leaders. This morning, middle aged females had been lined up for a long time waiting their turn to catch sight of His Holiness on their way into work.

One of them was so overjoyed, she leapt from the crowd and gave him a large, long bear hug and a kiss. Suzanne Poithier told him she "loved" him and in return he said "thank you."

Later, as tears of joy coursed down her face, Miss Poithier said she hardly would be able to work having started her Monday in the arms of the Dalai Lama, or was that he in her arms? No matter, Miss Poithier has kissed him before she said, but she's not telling more.

Today will be marked by something that has never happened before.

The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader in exile, will meet publicly with a Canadian Prime Minister on Parliament Hill.

It may not sound like much, but it could mean plenty.

Now Stephen Harper may not make any political foray into the question of whether or not Tibet should be more autonomous or even independent, but just the meeting alone sends a pretty strong message.

That message is being received loud and clear by the Chinese.

They're annoyed. Not only is Harper meeting with the Dalai Lama, but other Western leaders are doing the same. President Bush was just one of the latest.

The Chinese take it as an insult. They insinuate there will be consequences.

But the government will go ahead all the same. It has had a different approach to China from the beginning: be tough on human rights. Beyond that observers say there is no real policy on how to handle the country.

And when asked, ministers will point to polls that show Canadians support the Prime Minister's meeting with the Dalai Lama.

That may be, but today the Prime Minister will have to walk a fine line: between showing supporting for human rights and a winner of the Nobel peace prize, and not further angering a country that already feels snubbed.

Canada's budget surplus for this fiscal year is now $8.7 billion. This is a new increase for the current fiscal year, on top of what the government announced recently for the 2006-07 year.

The government has released its financial results for Your View August and the growing budget surplus continues to exceed the government's own projections made in the 2007 Federal Budget. That budget projected a 2.4 percent increase but with today's numbers that increase is now running at 6.3 percent. Higher corporate tax revenues are driving the surplus higher. In August corporate income tax revenues rose 13.4 percent. That's down from the 25 percent increase in July.

And if you are curious about the government's expenses, they are up too. In this fiscal program expenses have risen by $4.4 billion, or 6.2 per cent. The monthly report says it reflects "increases in transfer payments and operating expenses of departments and agencies, including National Defence."

So what does a political party do when there hasn't been much to celebrate? Well, when you're the federal Liberals you throw a party. Tonight in Montreal, 400 party stalwarts will be gathering to celebrate the political longevity of one of their own. Back from Afghanistan, equipped with a new appreciation of the challenges facing the troops but minus the beard he grew for the trip, Denis Coderre, the Liberals' defence critic, will be feted for hitting the ten year mark as a Member of Parliament.

On the bill are speeches from political types but also, in an apparent effort at inspiration on how to start "scoring" some political gains in Quebec, Rejean Tremblay, the Quebec author who penned the popular T.V. series "He Shoots, He Scores" will also take the mike.

So after weeks of angst and political infighting, the party will apparently hope to simply party and forget the turmoil of past few weeks? Wrong. According to political insiders there's disappointment their beleaguered leader Stephane Dion is attending a Liberal event in New Brunswick instead, and only providing a video greeting.

But not to worry, Michael Ignatieff has stepped into the leadership breach and will be attending as the guest of honour.

Note to American peace activists: don't expect the welcome mat to be out when you show up at the Canadian border.

Ann Wright found that out the hard way when she arrived at the Ottawa Airport to speak at a conference on Parliament Hill. Wright is a former soldier who's now active with Code Pink, a group opposed to the war in Iraq. She'd been invited to speak by the N-D-P.

When Wright got off the plane in Ottawa, border guards told her she couldn't enter the country because of her criminal record. She's been arrested at various anti-war rallies, though she says she's only faced fines and never jail time.

Wright says she's been banned from entering Canada for a year. Reached by cellphone as she was waiting for a flight back to Washington, Wright said she was disappointed.

"Peace activists are not criminals," she says. "We have committed misdemeanours. And for us to be excluded from Canada and now me banned for a year from Canada seems a little harsh."

Wright isn't getting much sypathy from Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day. To him, the border guards are just doing their job.

"The border officer doesn't make a distinction between what were the extenuating circumstances that arose to a certain conviction," Day says, "And so border officers are required in fact to restrict certain people from coming in."

Wright says she'll try to come back to Canada when her one year ban is up.

"I'm not writing Canada off," she says.

You'd think when a good news story comes along, the federal government would want to squeeze as much publicity out of it as possible.

Well, think again.

On Thursday, October 25, Stephen Harper was heading to Northern Ontario, a part of the country not usually on his itinerary.

But no one in his office would say why he was going.

Local sources told CBC that he was going to announce a new National Marine Conservation Area for the north shore of Lake Superior.

It's a great initiative, the largest area of protected fresh water in the world. Ten years in the making. A natural headliner.

Not to mention politically timely in these days of growing drought and water woes.

But the government left everyone involved in the announcement in the dark.

Sources say Environment Minister John Baird was supposed to make the announcement.

At the last minute, the Prime Minister's office stepped in.

The first clue journalists got that something was up was from Stephen Harper's itinerary, which said he was going to Lake Superior but didn't say why.

On Wednesday, the day before the announcement, local officials in northern Ontario were only told "something may happen," but not what and not when.

Local conservationists got cryptic messages to be "ready" for some kind of announcement.

Even in the Ontario government that jointly shares the conservation agreement, officials were left scratching their heads and juggling plane schedules until late in the afternoon on Wednesday.

As for journalists, they received a cryptic note about 4:40 PM saying the Prime Minister would make "an announcement" in Nipigon, Ontario the next day, but no details.

Afterwards, several media outlets complained it was a little late to make travel plans. Two hours later the Prime Minister's officials offered a few seats on a plane for journalists if they could go up to Thunder Bay the next morning.

For a Conservative government still under fire from the opposition about its environmental record, the new National Marine Conservation Area was a perfect opportunity to reap the public relations benefits from a truly positive plan.

But it seems they just don't want anyone to know about it.

Yesterday Liberal leader Stephane Dion reached out and appealed to Quebecers.

In an open letter in La Presse, Dion tried to convince them he can and will defend them.

Today, he got a partial answer, in the form of a caricature from one of Quebec's top satirists.

It is an almost blank page intended to be a letter from Quebecers responding to Dion.

The only thing written was "Ah Ouin..."

Roughly translated it means, so what.

Perhaps not the answer Dion was hoping for, even if it is a joke.

Halloween has come early on Parliament Hill — well, to at least one corner of the House of Commons.

International Cooperation Minister Bev Oda and former Revenue Minister Carol Skelton seem to share a sweet tooth.

While most MPs have been busy trading barbs during question period over the last week, Oda and Skelton have been trading treats beneath their front row desks. The women come to QP prepared for a little trick or treating by bringing in and then trading a selection of chocolate and candy bars.

But before anyone reports the politicians for partaking of their provisions inside Parliament, Skelton and Oda know the rules and don't snack on the floor of the Commons.

It takes three ministers of the government to announce a website? Reporters were dumbfounded by the overabundance of ministerial power to launch a website for safer consumer information. Not one, not two, but three ministers walked into the basement bunker room at the health department this morning in Ottawa. Tony Clement, Minister of Health, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Minister for the Wheat Board Christian Paradis took up their positions behind the huge basket laden with fresh apples, broccoli and parsley, props for the photo op.

This room was the regular briefing centre during the SARS crisis a few years back. It's an unlikely room in the basement of an office building and is used to get information out to the general public about any health crisis. It is small, cramped and a challenge for live coverage by the networks.
By the way you can read about getting healthy, getting active and quitting smoking here.

Yes it took the three of them to announce it.

At this point it is a well-known fact that the Liberal party is struggling in Quebec.

Whether it be losing candidates (and then in the case of Marc Garneau bringing them back,) problems with party organization, or losing all three by-elections in that province last month.

Now, Stephane Dion is trying to mend fences.

Today, in an open letter in La Presse featured with the headline, “La grande seduction” or the big seduction, Dion tried to reach out to his fellow Quebecers.

He says the future of the Liberal party needs the support of Quebec.

Dion lists off what he considers his accomplishments for the province: the Clarity Act that sets clear rules for a referendum on Quebec sovereignty, his defense of the French language both inside and outside of the province, and that he believes the Quebecois form a nation.

On top of all that Dion reminds them, he, himself, is a proud Quebecer.

That may well be, but given some of the problems he’s had of late, Dion may need to do more than just write a letter to “seduce” his fellow Quebecers.

Liberals are clearly hoping to break the bad news cycle that has enveloped their party.

Last Friday, Stéphane Dion proudly proclaimed that Marc Garneau, the Quebec star candidate who walked away from the party was back. Today, Liberals are boasting about their choice for a new national director for the Liberal Party.

Greg Fergus is being hailed by party faithfuls as a consensus builder with strong leadership skills. Just what the party needs right now, they say. Someone who will inspire the troops and rally them to get ready for a possible election.

So who is Greg Fergus exactly?

He's held roles both in the grassroots of the party and as paid staff. A former president of the Young Liberals of Canada, vice-president for publicity and communications are two of the positions he has held. He also worked closely with former Liberal cabinet minister Pierre Pettigrew.

Fergus is fluently bilingual and described as someone with a firm grasp of Quebec politics — a province where the Liberals are sliding in public opinion polls. Friends say he is a high energy guy, getting up to jog every morning at 5:30, and that he is an immensely positive person.

Another trait that must have helped Fergus secure the job: he apparently has been unquestioningly loyal to every leader of the party throughout the years, something Stéphane Dion, who has faced private griping from his caucus members, now badly needs.

And that makes it all the more interesting to note who Mr. Fergus supported in the Liberal leadership race last year: Bob Rae.

But Liberals say that's ancient history, referring to it as the "now over leadership contest." Not so ancient history though, the circumstances that lead to Fergus' appointment.

He replaces Jamie Carroll, who earlier this month was forced out of his position after making controversial remarks about the need for more francophone employees at Liberal party headquarters. With his knowledge of Quebec politics, supporters are confident Fergus won't make the same mistake. And hope this is the beginning of a better news cycle for the Liberals.

The federal government is moving to correct problems with its security certificate regime.

It is the process by which non-citizens can be detained indefinitely while the government tries to deport them. The accused is not allowed to attend a trial or see what evidence is being brought against him or her.

Last February the Supreme Court of Canada struck down sections of the law for being overly secretive and unfair.
So far, the government's handling of the replacement legislation has been, well, overly secretive and perhaps unfair.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day's office won't confirm if the legislation will be tabled today — and will only say that if it is, the minister will be available to speak with reporters immediately after it is tabled.

This ensures journalists have precious little time to actually read the new legislation before questioning the minister. With past governments, senior bureaucrats would often brief journalists about complicated legislation before the minister would take questions on the topic.

Which leads to better reporting and a better informed public.

After weeks — nay, even months — of intense speculation, it can now be revealed that wedding bells will indeed be ringing soon in the Conservative caucus.
Edmonton Strathcona MP Rahim Jaffer has popped the question! And who's the lucky poppee? Step forward Helena Guergis, MP for Simcoe-Grey and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Trade and Secretary of State for Sport.
Sources say the happy couple announced their pending nuptials before the Conservative caucus, Wednesday.
And, Ms Guergis was spotted in question period today, sporting a shiny rock on her left hand.

A few moments before question period began today, reporters in the gallery of the House of Commons caught an interesting sight. Environment Minister John Baird making the rounds of the Conservative backbenches encouraging a little heckling action for the upcoming theatre known as Q.P.

Baird demonstrated the motions in the chicken dance. (Liberals too "chicken" to force an election — get it?)

Baird is considered by many Tories to be the strongest performer during Question Period. And today he must have been in a sharing kind of mood.

There are some surreal moments during the speech by Stephane Dion in response to the speech from the throne.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay is reading Jean Chretien's memoirs, one assumes he's already finished Brian Mulroney's.

Another voice from the Conservative backbench yells out "BOOooring" as Dion spoke.

Most NDP MPs are not in the house. They are likely meeting to decide what to do about the Liberal amendment designed to make them vote against it and support the government. What if they call the Liberal bluff is the question that has blackberries buzzing while Dion speaks.

Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party, was in fine form last night after the speech from the throne, as she made her way around Centre Block, doing interviews and greeting old friends.

She's just three weeks out of hip surgery and says her doctors can't get over how well she's doing. She's using a cane, but says she feels great because the pain is completely gone.

The only thing she can't do yet is bend down to pick something up. Good thing there's no election right now, she said, or someone would have to travel with her at all times just to tie her shoes.

A little more on Bert Brown, Canada's newest and only elected senator.

He was a little wide-eyed during the speech from the throne last night. It was, after all, his first formal visit to the Senate Chambers, although he and his wife and daughter had a private tour the day before.

But beyond the pomp and ceremony, the thing that daunts him the most is his work ahead. And what's that? It's senate reform, the issue that's consumed thirty years of his life. Now he has just six years, before mandatory retirement hits him, to push the idea that all senators should be elected. There are actually twelve vacant seats in the Senate, thirteen once Senator Pat Carney retires, but, he noted, it's too bad there's no vacancy in Alberta right now.

Senate reform was mentioned in the speech from the throne. And how did his fellow senators — all unelected — react when they heard that? Maybe a few groans, he said.

The National's "At Issue" Panel is Canada's most watched political panel. Among its regular viewers: Laureen Harper.

At the reception following last night's throne speech, the Prime Minister's wife told us she likes being able to download the podcast version of the panel onto her iPod.

Mrs. Harper, a self-proclaimed techno-geek, admits to travelling with three laptops and hates being without an internet connection.

So much so, she says, that at the Montebello Summit she had her own WiFi connection, which turned out to be quite handy for Mexican President Felipe Calderon when Hurricane Dean made landfall in Mexico.

Mr. Calderon used her Wireless laptop to track the oncoming storm and was very thankful for the access.

A study in contrasts. The best of times and the worst of times. Those are the resounding themes from this Wednesday morning on the hill.

Liberals arrived for their caucus meeting looking a bit like they were headed for the dentist's chair and not the comfy leather chairs in their meeting room.

Conservatives arrived with their smiling, happy faces and welcomed the media into their meeting briefly. Cameras were allowed to stay long enough to capture the cheers, the applause and the chants of "Harper! Harper!"

The Prime Minister sounded like he was speaking at an election rally.

Whether he will soon be doing just that is up to the Liberals now. And there was no invitiation to the media, we're not hearing any cheers through the doors of their meeting room. A room that is located just across the hall, but on another political planet, from the Conservative room.

New Democrat MP's got together for a big pre-Throne Speech pep rally Tuesday. Manitoba MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis was Master of Ceremonies.

Wasylycia-Leis offered a glowing introduction to Jack Layton, referring to the NDP chief as "our beloved leader."
Layton, of course, is not the only party head to hold that title. "Beloved Leader" is also one of the nicknames of North Korea's Kim Jong Il.

To avoid confusion, Beloved Leader Layton is the one pledging to oppose Stephen Harper taking Canada in the wrong direction. Beloved Leader Kim is promising to scrap his country's nuclear weapons program. Both are opposed to the U.S. Ballistic Missile Shield.

Canada's newest senator signed his oath of allegiance today.

Bert Brown is the latest senate appointment from Alberta. He's a big advocate for a triple 'E' senate — namely elected, effective and equal.

Today, as Brown was getting his new senate pin put on by Conservative Senate Leader Marjory LeBreton, she said she was nervous about poking him.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said not to worry, adding, "Normally if senators get poked with a pin they don't actually bleed."

LeBreton followed that up by saying: "This one will bleed blue."

There was barely a sound Monday except for the clicking of RCMP boots marching on Sussex Drive in downtown Ottawa.

It was a slow relentless march for thousands of RCMP and other police officers as they brought the body of Constable Chris Worden to Notre Dame Basilica for his funeral. Big televsion screens were set up outside so the assembled crowds could watch the service.

Constable Worden was shot to death while answering a routine call in Hay River, Northwest Territories more than a week ago.

While his funeral was taking place, less than a block away, Chief of the Defence Staff Rick Hillier was singing the praises of entering service to Canada. He was speaking about recruitment to the Canadian Medical Association.

In his speech, Hillier said that fitness is back with the Canadian Forces. "When you have 50 degrees and you are wearing 120 pounds on your back, fitness is back," he said, and "When you put on a uniform you're part of the family."

Nice thoughts on a dull dark day of a funeral.

After Hillier finished speaking, he stepped outside for a cigarette.

Fitness is maybe not so back.

Ottawa is waiting for it.

The Throne Speech is usually under one hour and outlines the government's intentions for the coming session in generalities and feel good language.

But when this year's speech begins Ottawa will be listening to every line looking for "poison pills," "landmines," and "lines in the sand,” in other words anything that might lead to an election.

This year there is a new time for the speech, prime time, 7 p.m. EDT, instead of the traditional mid afternoon time. Like a hockey game the pre-game show will start a half hour earlier at 6:30 EDT.

Everyone is speculating on what the government's priorities will be.

Taxes, crime and the environment seem certain to get a mention and it's expected to spell out an end to Ottawa's imposed shared-cost programs on the provinces without their consent. But it will be the words used that will be parsed as soon as the Governor General ends her speech. Then tomorrow the debate on the Speech will begin and those "lines in the sand" will either get deeper or simply get blown away.

Senior government officials from three departments offered journalists a background briefing on Afghanistan today.

The 90-minute session was considered off the record and all quotes were to be attributed to "senior government officials."

Typically, this kind of caveat protects the "senior government officials" from being held personally accountable for what they say.

Of course, the no-names policy didn't apply to journalists.

Posted near the door of the briefing room, a "junior government official" was collecting the names of journalists on their way in.

This was the fourth such briefing the government has held on Afghanistan.

All of them have featured "senior government officials," each describing the work Canadian forces or aid workers are doing in Afghanistan. And each time, these same officials have told journalists that things are going well in that country.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty strode down the hall of the Chateau Laurier hotel early this morning, holding hands with his wife Terri, fresh from winning his second majority government.

He was happy and it looks like most Ontarians are as well. In exchange for their votes, they will now get a new official holiday in the heart of winter — the third Monday in February.

McGuinty said the holiday is because there is a "lot of noise in life" today and families would benefit from having a day off together.

When asked who would be in his next cabinet, he evoked the memory of Sir John A. Macdonald, saying "you gotta build your cabinet with the wood that the people send you. Well they sent me some very solid hard wood, great quality of lumber."

It's not certain how his ministers might feel about being referred to as lumber but at least he didn't call them deadwood.

McGuinty also compared his technique for being re-elected to being a goalie in a hockey game. "I came under a heavy constant negative barrage aimed exclusively at my head."

In four short paragraphs, the federal Liberal party announced that its embattled national director, Jamie Carroll, is stepping down.

Carroll was also the deputy national campaign director, so his leave-taking is coming at a critical time for the party, with election talk in the wind.

But a few weeks ago he found himself in trouble with some high-ranking Quebec Liberals after it was reported that he had been urged to hire more francophones for Dion's staff and had apparently balked, asking: "Do we also have to hire people from the Chinese community to represent the Chinese community?"

The internal controversy escalated to the point where, as CBC News reported, Carroll sent a letter to the Liberal party accusing unnamed officials of besmirching his reputation.

He also threatened legal action and demanded a severance package, which may have been forthcoming. Today's release from party president, Senator Marie Poulin, thanks "Jamie for his service to the Liberal party" and notes that the mutual agreement "was dealt with as a confidential personal matter" and there would be no further comment from the Liberal party.

Oppostion Leader Stéphane Dion walked a fine line today as he tried to dampen expectations of a fall election.

Dion told a national news conference that his party feels Canadians don't want to go to the polls. But, he added, the Liberals are ready to fight.

"We cannot give a rubber stamp because you have a throne speech," Dion said. "It does not make sense."

But he remained vague about what exactly would see his party vote the speech down and he appeared to leave himself ample wiggle room to support the government's blueprint for the new session.

When asked, for example, what he needed to see in the speech on the environment, one of his favourite topics, Dion's response was extremely general.

The environment is considered to be Dion's strong suit as a leader. But he said only that he wants "meaningful" measures from the government.

The next time your boss catches you browsing Facebook at the office, here's a handy excuse: tell him or her you're working.

Facebook, the popular networking website, proved to be a valuable work tool in the CBC Parliament Hill bureau when reporters were trying to track down Liberal defence critic Denis Coderre.

Coderre is in the midst of a trip to Kandahar, Afghanistan, without the permission of the military or the federal government. Bureau reporters were trying to find Coderre and interview him and weren't having much luck.

That's when one of them remembered Coderre is a big fan of Facebook. A message to call the newsroom was sent to Coderre's Facebook address and, not long after, the phone rang.

Coderre wouldn't say where he was, only that he was "closer to his goal" of reaching Kandahar. As for the assertion of Defence Minister Peter MacKay that Coderre is engaging in a dangerous political stunt, Coderre shot back that MacKay wasn't showing much class.

Thanks, Facebook, for once again helping people come together.

One reason Liberals are worrying about their leader this week is his alarming tendency to ignore the box Conservatives are putting him in and insist instead, “We’ve got them right where we want them."

If there has been one Liberal pawing the ground and champing at the bit for an election sooner rather than later, despite the byelection debacles in Quebec recently, that one Liberal is the one whose decision counts most: Stéphane Dion.

No wonder there’s fretting in the ranks.

The advice Dion gets is almost all to the contrary. As one veteran Liberal says privately, “There is no advice to have an election now that is not either stupid or mischievous.”

And as Jean Chrétien's former right-hand man Eddie Goldenberg puts it, figuring out what to do in this situation is not rocket science. “Opposition parties should get ready to force elections when they think they can win. And not before that,” he says.

Those charged with managing the Liberals in Parliament seem to take it as a given the party will not use the coming speech from the throne (or SFT in the shorthand of the Hill) to defeat the government.

Last night on “Politics” House Leader Ralph Goodale told Don Newman the opposition’s right to oppose legislation in the House is not affected by how they vote on the throne speech later this month. To be thinking that far forward presumes the government will survive the throne speech test at least.

So, with strong indications Liberals want to keep the government in place for a while, the question becomes: can they get their leader to follow them? By all accounts he is a stubborn fellow.

Some days catch you by surprise, even in Ottawa.

First we learned that former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien was in hospital in Montreal undergoing a quadruple heart by-pass.

Then, around two o'clock, we had the second surprise of the day. Prime Minister Stephen Harper would be coming over to the National Press Theatre for a news conference. This is a very rare event, indeed.

Until now the prime minister has opted to hold all his news conferences in Ottawa in the lobby of the House of Commons. That way, officials in the prime minister's office get to keep the list of who gets to ask the questions.

So what did he have to say? Well, first he had to borrow a pen from the chair of the press conference, Helene Buzzetti, a vice president of the press gallery. She had a spare pen, a red one — not the Conservative PM's normal colour but which he accepted anyway.

We speculated Harper would start by wishing Chrétien well but, instead, he chose to make no opening remarks and, red pen in hand, took his first question on minority government.

For the next fifty minutes Harper took questions on the coming throne speech on Oct. 16, the chance of a federal election this fall and Canada's policy in Afghanistan.

The questions kept looping back to the throne speech and this second session by the Conservative government. Harper repeated his priorities for tax cuts, tougher anti-crime legislation and environmental measures.

He repeated, repeatedly, that he wants to govern.

After a while there was a question about Chrétien's health and Harper wished the former PM a speedy recovery.

Yes, the point was made that this was the first time Harper walked over to the press theatre. No, he made no commitment that he'd be back.

Oh. And he gave Helene Buzzetti her pen back.

Maybe it's because of all the political sabre-rattling that's been going on lately but a snarky exchange outside the National Press Theatre Wednesday illustrates the high-stakes atmosphere on Parliament Hill.

Moments after the prime minister’s question and answer session with reporters, a confrontation ensued between two press secretaries — one from the Conservatives, the other from the NDP.

Dimitri Soudas from the prime minister’s office was clarifying comments made by Stephen Harper and listening in was NDP press secretary Ian Capstick.

Soudas expressed his displeasure with Capstick monitoring this sidewalk briefing with reporters. So Capstick shot back, asking Soudas whether he was actually suggesting that his rival was not allowed to stand on a public walkway.

Soudas replied, “I don’t listen in on your conversations,” to which Capstick retorted, “Bullshit you don’t,” and walked away.

If press secretaries are this belligerent, one can only imagine what awaits us when MPs return to Ottawa later this month after a four-month recess, for a showdown over the throne speech.

Stephen Harper is doing something he has rarely done since winning the last election.

He is holding a news conference in the National Press Theatre.

The prime minister's office says Harper realizes the media has had limited access to him when the House of Commons isn't sitting, so he will field questions on any topic, although he has nothing specific to announce.

The location is a rare one too.

The National Press Theatre is where members of the National Press Gallery decide who will ask questions rather than someone from the prime minister's office, as has been Harper's practice since taking office.

This has been a source of complaint on Parliament Hill ever since Harper won the election in January 2006.

For Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, the list of crises to manage seems to be ever expanding. On top of the recent byelection losses in Quebec and a poor showing in that province's opinion polls, there is also the little matter of prominent Liberals calling for the resignation of national party director Jamie Carroll, a Dion favourite.

Adding to the internal blood-letting, Carroll has decided to fire back.

In a confidential memo to the Liberal party's national management committee, Carroll says he has no desire for what he has to say to become public. But a scant 24 hours later, those words are now leaking out.

"A public attack has been launched against me based on assertions that are not true, without me being provided with an opportunity to address the allegations," he wrote in a memo obtained by CBC News.

The memo accuses other Liberals of unfairly besmirching his reputation — and demands some form of compensation.

Canada has spent more than five years playing a lead role in helping Afghanistan oust the Taliban and rebuild. But it appears our government still has much to learn about the country.

Such as its real name.

In April, the government appointed Arif Lalani as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to Afghanistan.

A few days ago, however, cabinet quietly passed a special order correcting the appointment to reflect the actual name of the country — the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.