Conservatives are happily telling all reporters who ask about yesterday's economic update that ordinary Canadians don't give a whit about the public financing of political parties.

They say the opposition is only huffing and puffing about the lack of fiscal stimulus in Thursday's statement in an effort to mask their terror at losing the $1.95 per vote subsidy.

Public financing of political parties makes up more than half the revenue for the Bloc Quebecois, NDP and Liberals. Eliminating the subsidy is one of the government proposals made in the economic update.

Well, it seems that at least some ordinary Canadians DO care about the effort to axe the subsidies and are lobbying, on Facebook, to keep it. More than 1,450 people have signed on to the "I Support Public Campaign Financing" page on the social-networking website.

Are you interested in working in a minister's office but aren't sure where or how to start? Fret no more. The federal Conservatives are holding a job fair in the parliament buildings Thursday night.

For two hours, officials from the offices of ministers who need staff will be sitting at tables in a room in the West Block to collect resumes.

For a moment, it felt like I'd stepped into Bizarro World, that land in DC Comics where everything is the exact opposite of reality.

It was after question period, and I had been waiting outside the government lobby, hoping a certain minister would emerge. Out stepped a PMO communications staffer, who, with a big smile, asked if there was anyone she could track down for me.

The fall economic update will be delivered Thursday by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. But the Prime Minister's Office isn't waiting until then to give out some select details of what's in it.

The first is that the government will lead by example in these uncertain economic times.

That means: freezing the pay of federal politicians and senior bureaucrats. A clampdown on discretionary travel. No automatic bonuses. Fewer perks.

At a briefing today for journalists, officials from the PMO underscored the point.

Andrew Scheer ran for the Speaker's position last week.

There were five ballots, he made it to the final one.

Though Peter Milliken won, many MPs said they were impressed by Scheer's speech. They noted his enthusiasm and ability to speak French.

The statistic is grim: food bank use is higher than it's been in a decade and in four provinces, the number of people turning to food banks for help went up in the last year alone.

But at least one province saw a decrease in food bank use in the last year: Saskatchewan, and the reason is interesting.

What does the size and pageantry of an official recpetion at APEC say about a world leader?

Well, when it comes to China arriving at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Peru this weekend, the warmth of the reception was a colourful signal that President Hu Jintao is indeed numero uno at this summit.

From Krista Erikson—Members of Parliament have re-elected Peter Milliken as Speaker of the House of Commons.

The Liberal reclaimed the chair on the 5th and final ballot. He eliminated two Conservative challengers by garnering the support of more than 50 per cent plus one of parliamentarians.

In his bid for re-election, Milliken was likely assisted by members of the other opposition parties who didn't want a member of the government becoming Speaker. As one Conservative put it, "Opposition wanted one of their own."

From Krista Erikson—The hopes of another aspirant for the Speaker's chair have been dashed, this time a Liberal.

Mauril Belanger, the MP for Ottawa-Vanier, did not have enough support from his colleagues to become Speaker of the House of Commons.

From Rosemary Barton—Here's one to chalk up to unusual coincidences.

When NDP MP John Rafferty (Thunder Bay-Rainy River) arrived at the House of Commons for his first official Parliamentary event today, he had one person he wanted to see.

None other than Leona Aglukkaq, Canada's new mnister of health.

The Conservative MP for Ottawa-Orleans, Royal Galipeau, has been knocked off the ballot in the race for the Speaker's chair.

Krista Erickson

Throughout the day, members of the House of Commons are voting by secret ballot to elect a Speaker for the new session of Parliament.

There are now 6 MPs that remain on ballot. Three Conservatives, 2 Liberals and one NDP member.

As one MP put it, "Seven of us are facing the rest of us, the most astute electors in the country."

Krista Erickson

Those astute electors are Members of Parliament and the prize in this race is the Speaker's chair.

A new session of Parliament began this morning with 7 MPs actively vying to be elected Speaker of the House of Commons.

Four Conservatives, 2 Liberals and one NDP member delivered speeches, appealing to the rest of their colleagues for support. (An eighth name is on the ballot, but Conservative Rob Anders did not give a speech.)

The House is back and so too the new seating chart and all the new dynamics once things get going.

As Keith Boag has already written in this blog, Bob Rae and Michael Ignatieff are seated next to one another.

Rosemary Barton

So are another couple of former leadership candidates for the Liberal party, Martha Hall Findlay and Gerard Kennedy.

You may also be interested to know that Justin Trudeau, a new star Liberal MP is in the very back row.

Whoever does the final seating arrangement for the House of Commons apparently has a very dark sense of fun.

Keith Boag

Fresh from their first hair-pulling-scratch-your-eyes-out-name calling dust up on the leadership campaign trail this weekend, the putative front-runners Bob Rae and Michael Ignatieff find themselves not only under the same roof in the House of Commons — they're actually seat mates.

Fred Doucet may not be a household name any more. But back in the day, well, in the 1980s, he was certainly well known on Parliament Hill.

Doucet was then prime minister Brian Mulroney's chief of staff and a very senior political adviser. After that, he became one of Ottawa's top lobbyists.

Rosemary Barton

Then along came Karlheinz Schreiber, the German-born, international deal-maker.

Schreiber alleges that it was Doucet who requested cash transfers be made to Mulroney, while he was still in office, through a lawyer in Geneva.

Doucet denies all of it. In fact, Doucet and Schreiber disagree on most things.

So, not surprising then that Doucet will be a key player in the judicial inquiry to examine the financial dealings between the former PM and Schreiber.

Most Liberals and Conservatives agree the airing of the infamous Stephane Dion re-takes by CTV News was a significant moment in the election campaign.

Krista Erickson

Where the two sides differ is on the broadcaster's decision to air them.

"I'm in."

And with that Michael Ignatieff became the first candidate to officially get in the Liberal leadership race.

Rosemary Barton

And by officially, we mean the first to call a press conference and officially declare he's in the race.

Most Canadians probably expected that the premiers and territorial leaders would arrive for a meeting with the prime minister brandishing a long list of demands. And they wouldn't be wrong.

Chris Hall

In fact, that is exactly what happened today when the country's leaders gathered for the first time since the global economic meltdown sent stocks into freefall and forced governments around the world to invest hundreds of billions of dollars on bank bailouts.

The premiers arrived in Ottawa with a long wish list. Among other things, it called for the Harper government to begin spending infrastructure money as quickly as possible and to change the rules requiring seniors to convert their RRSPs to income funds at age 71, so they would have more time to see their investments recover.

When they emerged from their private meeting, the premiers all said the exchange had been productive. They said there was an unprecedented spirit of co-operation around the table.

As Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty put it: "A crisis is a terrible thing to waste."

The list of MPs trying to unseat Peter Milliken from his Speaker's chair in the House of Commons is growing. Now, Windsor-Tecumseh NDP MP Joe Comartin will stand for Speaker of the House of Commons, as will Barry Devolin, the Conservative MP for Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock.

On Wednesday morning, Public Works published a tender for Taser-brand conducted energy weapons, cartridges and holsters. The weapons are for RCMP recruits, training in Regina.

Alison Crawford

Justin Trudeau was sworn in today as the new Liberal MP for the Montreal riding of Papineau. That's the one just next door to his famous father's old riding, Mount Royal.

At the ceremony Trudeau, 36, the eldest son of the former prime minister, held his own young son, a wriggling toddler, in his arms.

Friends and campaign workers came to celebrate the special event. Trudeau's wife, Sophie Gregoire, and his mother, Margaret Trudeau, sat in the front row beaming proudly.

Margaret Trudeau pointed out that her son is not only following his father's path into politics but his grandfather's as well. Her father was James Sinclair a Liberal MP and minister of fisheries under then prime minister Louis St. Laurent.

"I'm so proud of Justin. I hope he will inspire other young people to get into politics, too," she said.

Liberal MP Keith Martin was intrigued by Barack Obama's ability to connect using new technology tools.

Martin was impressed with how easily americans were participating in the political process, so he had a volunteer who worked on Obama's campaign bring back the techniques used by Obama's organizers.

On October 23rd, when Gerrard Kennedy arrived at the Liberals first post-election caucus meeting in Ottawa, reporters descended on him with questions about whether he would run for the leadership of his party. He said he had just returned from a family holiday and that, “rushing off in all directions under leadership aspirations could be a problematic thing.”

Not any longer, it seems.

It was around this time last year that two names from the past reappeared and then pretty much dominated the news agenda for weeks on end: Karlheinz Schreiber and Brian Mulroney.

Ring any bells? It should because for weeks there were new revelations, affidavits and attempts to prevent Schreiber's extradition to Germany.

By Chris Goldrick

Today former Deputy Prime Minister John Manley revealed he no longer has the burning political ambition necessary to mount a leadership campaign, and he’s decided he won’t be seeking the leadership of the Liberal Party.

Manley's disclosure reminded me of a somewhat humorous misunderstanding I had with him last week.

When members of the House of Commons return to Parliament later this month, their very first order of business will be to elect a speaker. Liberal MP Peter Milliken has held the job since 2001.

And now, some Conservatives intend to challenge him for it.

Merv Tweed, MP for Brandon-Souris will stand for speaker, as will Andrew Scheer, re-elected in the riding of Regina-Qu'Appelle.