If he wants to have that really fine dinner tonight, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff may have to have a really nice make-up lunch first.

The Liberals are holding their summer caucus retreat in Sudbury this week and tonight the party is holding a $550-a-plate fundraising dinner at The Caruso Club, with Ignatieff as the guest of honour.

Despite the expensive pasta, all 500 seats for tonight's event quickly sold out. But the pricey menu has riled up the NDP.

It accuses the Liberals of being heartless and having bad manners for holding a ritzy fundraising "do" while more than 3,000 Vale Inco workers are on strike.

— Alison Crawford

Seems that the office of Heritage Minister James Moore was in a hurry to get out the message that the Conservative government supports culture.

So much so that his staff didn't wait to confirm the words being put into the mouth of the head of the Confederation Centre for the Arts in Charlottetown, PEI.

A media release emailed Tuesday to the Parliamentary Press Gallery announced that Ottawa will be increasing the money it sends the centre to $3 million a year by 2012.

The release quoted James Moore: "This new funding increase will ensure that the Confederation Centre for the Arts can continue to offer high-quality programming, such as the musical Anne of Green Gables or the Young@Arts! program, that visitors have enjoyed for years," said Minister Moore.

And it offered this from the recipient of the funds, complete with the following notation in parentheses:

(Proposed quote from the Centre: to be confirmed by the Program)

"The Centre is thrilled to receive this news," said David MacKenzie, CEO of the Confederation Centre for the Arts. "The increase in operating funding and the ability to match endowment gifts will help the Centre be a 21st century celebration of Confederation that expresses Canada's heritage, diversity and creativity through the arts."

Oops. It might have been better to confirm the quotation before issuing the release.

In any event, MacKenzie apparently was delighted because the reference to ''proposed quote'' was removed from the media release distributed electronically via Canada Newswire.

And there's always this explanation, courtesy of a disclaimer attached to the bottom of the email sent to the gallery.

IF THERE IS A DISCREPANCY BETWEEN ANY PRINTED VERSION AND THE ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THIS NEWS RELEASE, THE ELECTRONIC VERSION WILL PREVAIL,

— Chris Hall

Urban dwellers see it all the time on mailboxes, city buses and under bridges — those swirly and mostly illegible (to laypeople, of course) signatures or "tags" posted by grafitti artists.

Well, Prime Minister Stephen Harper did a little tagging of his own on his tour of the North this week.

The Prime Minister's Office is hinting that Stephen Harper is going to treat the media to lunch. And reporters have already guessed what's on the menu — seal.

While in Iqaluit on Monday, Prime Minister Harper supped on raw and boiled seal liver and ribs with members of his cabinet. Even Transport Minister John Baird, a vegetarian, tried the seal meat.

— Alison Crawford

Many photo opps involving the prime minister are simple affairs. He could, for instance be posing with a nail gun at a construction site or conversing with a child playing the violin.

Wednesday, however, was a feat of military precision.

— Alison Crawford

If you see Prime Minister Stephen Harper anywhere near your vehicle any time soon, you may want to think about hiding the keys.

Harper seems to be quite keen these day to take the wheel.

— Alison Crawford

Stephen Harper has been called the Tim Hortons prime minister.

It's a reference to how he has tailored his message to Canadians. A visit to Tim Hortons in political circles is synonymous with meeting regular people.

— Chris Rands

Some chuckles, some aggravation in Nunavut Tuesday as Prime Minister Stephen Harper begins his annual Northern tour.

In the official itinerary released by the Prime Minister's Office it says Harper will hold a couple of events in "Iqualuit, Nunavut," Tuesday. The proper spelling is actually "Iqaluit."

A quick search of a number of media sites — including our own — shows this is a common error committed by Southerners.

Now some might be quick to accuse the media of making a big fuss about nothing more than a extra "u" — unfortunately for the PMO and its defenders this extra vowel changes the word quite a bit.

Industry Minister Tony Clement is a soccer fan. In the colder months he regularly sports a Manchester United scarf around his neck.

On Monday, Clement gave soccer fans in Toronto something to cheer about. As part of the federal government's "Marquee Tourism Events Program," the Canadian National Exhibition will receive $3.75 million over two years.

— Chris Rands

NDP Convention By the Numbers

Registered delegates - 1,214

Words in Jack Layton's final 30 minute speech - 2,150

—Alison Crawford

How did the name change resolution drop off the radar this weekend?

The resolution was number six in the line-up on the Building the Momentum block of votes this morning.

—Alison Crawford

After a long day of debating resolutions, New Democrats are much like any other political party — in that they like to party.

Every night, a list goes up on the screens inside the Halifax World Trade and Convention Centre, advising the NDP "brothers and sisters" about the planned nighttime celebrations.

Along with union-sponsored fun and the ceilidh at the local Alexander Keith's brewery, is what is billed as an "exclusive reception" with Betsy Myers and Jack Layton.

Somewhat surprising at this convention, seeing as New Democrats are usually mindful of being politically correct, was delegates’ enthusiastic cheering and standing ovations in response to a speech full of foul language and passionate partisanship.

It came from Leo Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers.

— Alison Crawford

Earlier today I blogged about the lack of official political memorabilia at the federal NDP convention.

On the unofficial side, the orange “N” is the runaway hit.

But another series of buttons has caught the eyes of hungry collectors.

— Alison Crawford

Political conventions are gold mines for collectors.

Their quarry? T-shirts, buttons, hats and sometimes even thong underwear (saucy red Pierre Trudeau thong was a sell-out at the 2006 Liberal Party convention in Montreal).

— Alison Crawford

Good news Canada! President Obama isn't afraid of us!

At the closing news conference of the Summit of the Americas, Barack Obama was asked about the bitter fight in his country over health-care reform — and how his proposal has been vilified by some critics as being "Canadian."

— James Fitz-Morris

Sometimes it's tough being prime minister — especially when you're with two presidents.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was referred to as President Harper in a briefing Sunday. It was on informal briefing and not meant for broadcast, so I guess no harm, no foul.

— James Fitz-Morris

Jack Layton is making time this week to meet with some drunken sailors.

In Nova Scotia, promoting his party's weekend convention, Layton is visiting Chester Race Week. The NDP Leader is scheduled to arrive at the Chester Yacht Club round 4 p.m., just when the boats are coming back to the dock.

— Chris Rands

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is continuing his string of almost monthly meetings with U.S. President Barack Obama.

Harper will see Obama this weekend in Mexico for the North American Leaders' Summit and then he will travel to the U.S twice in September for meetings.

Today, the prime minister's staff announced Harper would be going to the White House on Sept. 16 for what's called a working visit, similar to the one Obama made here back in February.

This will be Harper's second official visit to Washington, although the first since Obama took office.

The formal agenda hasn't been set, but officials say the two leaders are likely to cover such topics as border security, energy and the environment, as well as the most important, to them, trade and the economy.

This meeting will also allow Harper to get a preview of what Obama has planned when he hosts the G20 summit of the world's 20 largest economies the following week in Pittsburgh to discuss the global economic crisis.

Since January, when Obama took office, Harper has already met with the U.S. president six times either one on one or at international summits, not including the three scheduled between now and the end of September.

This sharp rise in meetings between the Canadian and American leaders has little to do with any change in the Canadian approach, officials say, and almost everything to do with the change of leadership in the U.S.

— James Fitz-Morris

Bleary-eyed premiers tumbled off the plane, arriving in Regina, exhausted, disheveled and wondering what to wear.

The past 24 hours of travel had been an ordeal for everybody. Most eastern premiers, their entourage and the media had to pass through Toronto's Pearson Airport on the way to their annual summer meeting - this time in Regina.