While two men, chafing under the restrictions of security certificates, were in court today MPs further debated a new version of those certificates.

Bill C-3 is the government's answer to a Supreme Court of Canada ruling last year.

The justices decided the old system was unconstitutional because it was too secretive. They gave Parliament one year to draft something better.

But the proposed new law isn't thrilling many MPs.

This week's House of Commons public safety committee meeting on Taser usage was a veritable cornucopia of police phrases and euphemisms, courtesy of committee members and witnesses including the co-founder of Taser International Tom Smith.

Politics and ethnic references can be a volatile mix.

That was the case today when Prime Minister Stephen Harper suggested a meeting in government offices, arranged by one of his staff and a Conservative fundraiser, was not a conspiracy. Rather, just two guys of Greek origin getting together.

Wednesday morning the federal parties hold their weekly caucus meetings on Parliament Hill.

Today the Liberals took on the issue of Afghanistan. How should they respond to the prime minister's acceptance of the recommendations in the Manley report? Should the leader enter into negotiations with the prime minister over a new role for Canada? Is there any room in the Liberal position for negotiation?

The diplomatic effort is underway.

On Monday the Prime Minister told a news conference that as part of his response to the Manley panel on Afghanistan he would be leading the diplomatic effort to try to persuade NATO allies to provide more troops and equipment to the Kandahar mission in Southern Afghanistan.

The Prime Minister's Director of Communications is breathing a little easier this week.

Last week, Sandra Buckler was under fire for comments she had to retract concerning the military's handling of detainees in Afghanistan.

A dreaded position for any communications person. They much prefer to be spinning stories rather than being part of them.

If you thought parliamentarians were done asking questions of former Liberal Public Works Minister Alfonso Gagliano, think again.

Today in a meeting of the House of Commons public accounts committee, MPs — well, everyone except Liberal members — voted in favour of calling Gagliano, his former chief of staff Jean-Marc Bard, former deputy minister Janice Cochrane, former Public Works Minister Ralph Goodale and landlord Gary Polachek.

After waiting two weeks, the former president of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission had a chance to tell her side of the story.

But Linda Keen had to keep it a little shorter than planned.

With the Harper government's plan for new copyright legislation expected imminently, Members of Parliament in certain ridings might do well to brush up on its implications — especially with buzz of a spring election.

They can start by checking out the work of University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist.

Victoria's electro sampler, DJ AmSet apparently enjoys the new podcast version of CBC Newsworld's Politics.

More specifically, he seems to like the velvet tones of its esteemed host Don Newman. Check Amset's myspace page, and find Don's "Welcome To The Broadcast" greeting doing the full electro-synth monty.

Opposition members of the House of Commons committee on natural resources already have their backs up about who's appearing at hearings this week.

They want to know why Health Minister Tony Clement is going to get to testify tomorrow, Tuesday, January 29, when they didn't invite him.

The Prime Minister is adopting a conciliatory tone with Liberals as he heads into a sensitive period of consensus building on the Afghanistan issue.

He has already had one conversation with Liberal leader Stephane Dion about the Manley report. In his news conference today Harper refused to say anything about his preferences for the timing of a vote on Afghanistan in the House because he didn't want to "spring" anything on Dion.

The Prime Minister is coming to the National Press Theatre!

Now, this may not sound like a big deal, but to journalists — it is. In fact, it's only Stephen Harper's third time there since becoming PM.

Jack Layton tried out a new "look" this morning. He bounded into a meeting room on Parliament Hill and delivered a stump speech on this, the first day back of Parliament for 2008. Layton is celebrating five years as leader of the NDP.

Stealing an idea from the Democratic primaries in the United States, Layton surrounded himself on four sides with NDP staffers, MPs and youth organizers. Some stood by while others were seated. Layton was in the middle and he was never without a backdrop of people as he moved around the room.

David Dodge, the outgoing Governor of the Bank of Canada, held his last news conference before his retirement at the end of next week.

Dodge, who likes to start his answers to questions with a cautionary "lets be very careful," told reporters the economy is slowing but does not think there will be a recession in Canada this year. The Bank of Canada released its Monetary Policy Report saying that "financial conditions have deteriorated since October." Dodge said that interest rates may come down further in the coming weeks.

The former head of Canada's nuclear watchdog will talk publicly for the first time about her version of the events that led up to the closure of the AECL Chalk River reactor in late November and December.

Linda Keen, who was dismissed late last week as president of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, will testify on Tuesday, January 29 at a parliamentary committee.

The House of Commons committee on natural resources has confirmed Keen will definitely show up.

Gordon Campbell, the Premier of British Columbia, came to Ottawa today to talk about how B.C. is going to lead the way on climate change in Canada.

But as he was introduced he got a little surprise. Campbell has a website, www.readonbc.ca, to encourage reading in B.C.

Two years ago today, Canadians were voting in an election that would change the political dynamic in this country .

Stephen Harper's victory put conservatives back in power for the first time since 1993.

It's quite the scene in the bar of the Holiday Inn in Kitchener this morning.

Liberals are in the hotel for a two day caucus. But this morning many gathered in the bar / restaurant to watch the television over the fireplace.

It wasn't a veteran's issue Royal Canadian Legion spokesperson Bob Butt seemed too comfortable answering questions about: sex acts being performed on the Canadian War Memorial at Vimy Ridge in France.

The CBC uncovered video footage on the internet that depicts various sex acts taking place on the monument, which was unveiled in 1936 to commemorate Canadian efforts to capture the famed ridge during World War I.

Butt says that pornography and the monument don't go together.

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion was late for the ball this morning.

Liberal MPs crammed into a conference room in a Kitchener hotel to cheer their leader's arrival. But Dion was several minutes late arriving and MPs began to wonder what had happened.

Dion finally made an entrance and spoke to MPs about the upcoming session — including the hot issues of Afghanistan and the economy.

Dion made almost no verbal gaffes until the end of his speech, when he exhorted MPs to join him for an "Oktoberbest" celebration in Kitchener this evening.

Parliament has yet to return from the winter break, but this week will be a decisive one for political positioning in the weeks ahead.

John Manley in 2003. (Canadian Press File)

Early this week (probably Tuesday) the former Liberal deputy prime minister, John Manley, will return to Ottawa to deliver a report to the prime minister.

He, and the other prominent Canadians that make up his panel, will report on what they have collected over the past few months about Canada's mission in Afghanistan after February 2009.

They have travelled to Afghanistan. This was Manley's third visit, but no one else on the panel had been before. They have received more than 200 submissions from all kinds of places about where the mission should go from here.

Should Canada stay, go, or change what it's doing entirely? It is a difficult question made all the more difficult by the partisan politics involved.

The federal Conservative party has restructured its organization in Quebec.

Pierre Coulombe who was responsible for day to day operations and made sure candidates were properly processed and veted, has moved on to another job.

His position is not being filled at this time.

Now national campaign director Doug Finley, who is married to Ontario MP Diane Finley, is overseeing operations in the province.

There are 75 seats in Quebec. The conservatives now hold eleven. They need many more to win a majority. They were buoyed by a victory in the Bloc Quebecois stronghold of Roberval-lac-Saint-Jean in September.

Their main opposition in the province is the Bloc Quebecois.

The Conservative Government has refused to renew the appointment of Lt-Commander Terrance Christopher as Usher of the Black Rod.

Liberal PM Jean Chrétien appointed Christopher to the most senior protocol position on Parliament Hill in 2002. Christopher says Chrétien just called him and offered him the position. He had been working at the Government's reception centre at the Ottawa airport overseeing visits by heads of states and other VIP guests.

As the Usher of the Black Rod, Christopher is charged with overseeing all the protocol, administrative and logistical details of every important event on the Hill from the installation of a Governor General and state funerals to the opening of Parliament and speech from the throne ceremonies. Every day the House sits, the Black Rod can also be seen leading the daily Speaker's Parade to and from the Senate chamber.

Last February, Christopher who adores his job, asked the Government for an extension of his five-year mandate.

His term was to expire on December 9th.

The sixty-seven year old says he was shocked when the Director of Appointments, David Penner, told him in October — the day before the speech from the throne — that his term would not be renewed. Many former appointees have served for several consecutive terms. "I was quite upset actually, but I had to gather myself up and do my duty," Christopher says about carrying out his ceremonial role the next day. "I feel like I've been fired for doing a good job."

Christopher says some of the highlights of the job, which he defines as Ambassador-like, are speaking with students and mentoring young people, such as the Senate pages. He says he likes to communicate to them "the issues of Parliament, of integrity, of working together, of change but not reform." He hopes his successor will be as informed about Parliamentary history and the relationship between the Crown, the House and the Senate.

Though he is deeply saddened, Christopher says he still feels "completely honoured to be here." And to think, "a young guy from Cape Breton can be appointed to the Usher of the Black Rod!"

Christopher's last day on the job will be March 8, 2008. A short extension was granted to allow the Government to fill the position.

If you're interested in the job, the salary ranges from $88,200 to $103,800.

The application deadline is January 28th. But the poster notes, this won't be the only recruiting method.

U.S. Secretary of Defence Robert Gates was trying to soothe ruffled feathers this morning among his NATO allies when he held a press conference to clarify his remarks in yesterday's L.A. Times.

In the Times, he said some NATO forces were not adequately trained for counter-insurgency operations in southern Afghanistan in particular, which is where the Canadians are. "I'm worried we have some military forces that don't know how to do counter-insurgency operations," Gates was quoted as saying.

In his follow-up today, he repeated twice that he had “no problems with the Canadians.” Instead he put the fault on the entire alliance, including the U.S.

“We have to acknowledge the reality that the alliance as a whole has not trained for counter-insurgency operations even though individual countries have considerable expertise at and success in this arena. A coalition at war always faces stresses and strains.”

That should mollify Canada's military brass. But it was another comment Gates made that might raise political eyebrows in Ottawa.

When asked by a reporter if he had any concerns that NATO members would end their Afghan commitments at the end of their current terms, Gates responded: “No, in fact the Dutch have just extended. Their parliament has just voted to extend their commitment by two years, so I think that the people are accepting their responsibilities, particularly those that are already there.”

Will Canada be accepting its "responsibilities" to extend its military term past the February 2009 deadline? In a mightily-divided Parliament, that remains to be seen.

Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn was the solo show yesterday at the emergency session of the Commons committee looking into pre-Christmas problems at Atomic Energy Canada Ltd.

MPs had expected to hear from the minister in the morning and Linda Keen, the president of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission in the afternoon.

But — at Lunn's directive — Keen was suddenly demoted from president to board member late the night before and to nearly everyone's surprise, the chair of the natural resources committee, Leon Benoit, read an e-mail from Keen saying she wouldn't be appearing, at least just yet.

The e-mail said she would welcome the opportuniy to address these issues at a later date.

• News story

That date could be January 29, one day after the House of Commons returns to work.

The natural resources committee, at least its Liberal and Bloc members, are hoping to hear from Keen, Auditor General Sheila Fraser and the former chair of the board of directors of AECL, Michael Burns. (The new chair, Glenna Carr, was appointed on December 14 and started her job on January 2, well after the government had fixed the medical isotope shortage by legislating AECL's Chalk River reactor to start up again.)

Cabinet has already announced a replacement for Linda Keen. Ottawa resident, Michael Binder, will "hold office during good behaviour for a term of six months." According to the cabinet order, Binder will be paid a yearly salary between $204,300 and $240,400.

Keen's correspondence between herself and Lunn over this dispute has been removed from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission's website.

The order-in-council detailing the reasons for terminating her appointment is available here.

When the Prime Minister's Office put out the PM's schedule earlier this week it indicated Stephen Harper would be spending all his time in Ottawa.

That changed suddenly last night with the announcement that Harper will be travelling to Prince Albert, Sask., tonight.

Interesting.

It means Harper will be heading straight into the political storm that has been swirling around the heads of his primary opponents, the federal Liberal party, much of it centred in and around Prince Albert.

Liberals there are emeshed in an internecine spat over the candidate hand-chosen by Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion to represent the party in the March 17 byelection.

In Ottawa today, the Commons natural resources committee will be where the action is.

Late last night, the federal government fired Linda Keen as president of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. We now have confirmation that Keen will appear before the committee when it meets this afternoon.

But before Keen testifies, Minister of Natural Resources Gary Lunn will answer the committee's questions this morning. Both will be speaking publicly on the issue for the first time.

There will be an emergency three o'clock meeting of the Natural Resources committee tomorrow, after one was requested by four opposition members.

Liberal critic, Omar Alghabra says he wants the committee to request appearances by Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn and the head of the independent nuclear safety regulator Linda Keen as early as Thursday. The NDP MP on the committee, Catherine Bell, also noted she wants to hear from the Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL) and the Auditor-General.

The meeting is being held to look into the nuclear safety issues at the Chalk River nuclear reactor. Last week, Linda Keen, the President of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), sent a terse response to Minister Lunn. In December, Minister Lunn had asked Keen, in a letter leaked to the media, why she shouldn't be fired for recommending the closure of an AECL reactor. The CNSC and the Auditor General both concluded the reactor wasn't meeting safety requirements but the shutdown threatened the supply of critical medical isotopes.

Ms. Keen posted her response to the Minister as well as the Minister's letter on the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission's website.

Former Aboriginal leader David Ahenakew may get a new trial and a new opportunity to clear his name, but his Order of Canada is still out of reach.

The Governor General's office confirmed today that "any verdict rendered by the courts at this time will not affect the Advisory Council's decision." That Council in 2005 advised the Governor General, Adrienne Clarkson at the time, to revoke Ahenakew's membership to the Order because it considered that Ahenakew's actions had brought disrepute to the Order.

Back in 2002, David Ahenakew blamed Jews for starting the Second World War and then repeated those comments to a journalist. In a taped conversation, he referred to Jews as a "disease" and said Adolf Hitler was trying to "clean up the world."

Earlier today, Saskatchewan's Court of Appeal upheld a lower court's ruling that threw out the hate-crime conviction against David Ahenakew. Justice Robert Richard wrote that while "Mr. Ahenakew's comments, on any standard, were shocking, brutal and hurtful," the trial judge did not consider whether Ahenakew intended to promote hatred which is the offence as prescribed by the Criminal Code.

The Crown can order a new trial, stay the charges or appeal the case to the Supreme Court.

Should the Crown decide to appeal the matter to the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice of Canada, Beverley McLachlin will be able to hear the case. As the Chair of the Advisory Council on the Governor General's Honours, the Chief Justice had recused herself from the Council's discussions on the matter.

David Ahenakew was initially appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada in 1978.

Popular Bloc Québécois MP Caroline St-Hilaire announced today she won't be running again.

St-Hilaire, 38, represents the Montreal South Shore riding of Longueuil-Pierre-Boucher. She was first elected in 1997 and currently serves as the Bloc's critic for international cooperation.

St-Hilaire, in a press release, left the door open to other political activities. Her partner, former actor and current Bloc MP Maka Kotto, announced last fall he is setting his sights on Quebec City.

In December, Kotto was confirmed as the Parti Québécois' candidate in the riding of Bourget. Quebec Premier Jean Charest must declare the date of a by-election in that riding before April 17.

St-Hilaire will remain the MP for Longueuil-Pierre Boucher until the next general election. She lives in Montreal with Kotto and their six children.

Commons Ethics committee chair Paul Szabo sure knows how to enjoy the holidays. He says he spent a good amount of time during the Christmas season watching and re-watching DVD copies of Karlheinz Schreiber and Brian Mulroney testifying at committee in November and December.

One of his discoveries is that of the twelve hours allowed in total for both men's testimony, a full 4-1/2 hours were spent by committee members dealing with points-of-order, attending to votes, motions and administrative work, as Schreiber and Mulroney sat there looking on.

Szabo may hope the committee spends more of its time actually gathering testimony when hearings resume January 29th. He says he's whittled the list of 40 possible other witnesses down to a prioritized dozen, which he hopes to hear from before the end of February (in case the government falls over the budget.)

Upcoming witnesses include one who's expected to testify via videophone from Europe. Szabo also insists both Schreiber and Mulroney will be called back for more talk themselves, also before the end of February.

It is an image that is hard to forget: Karlheinz Schreiber arriving at the House of Commons ethics committee hearings last month with binders full of his personal documents.

These were documents he believed would help the committee sort through his dealings with former prime minister Brian Mulroney.

Well, it turns out those documents — which ran into the thousands of pages — weren't nearly enough.

The committee chair has sent a letter to Schreiber's lawyer, Edward Greenspan, requesting even more documents by Jan. 15.

Committee members are looking for some specific things. Among them: Day-timers, personal notebooks and bank records. Anything that might help them muddle through the allegations Schreiber has made.

Schreiber's legal team is happy to cooperate, it seems. But it also wants to up the ante.

Greenspan doesn't feel his client is being treated the same way as the former prime minister and he wants to make sure that changes.

In his response to the committee, Greenspan says that he would like to know what documents Mulroney will be requested to table before the committee as well.

What's more, he has some suggestions what they should be. Things like the tax returns from 1999, the year Mulroney said he paid taxes on the money he took from Schreiber; banking documents and other records related to the safety deposit box Mulroney says he used to keep the money in the United States.

The ethics committee insists it is working on getting all the important documents from all the key players and that includes Brian Mulroney.

In other words, there should be more binders. Perhaps many, many more binders to come.