First Reading (12/18/09)

Today's essential political reads:

1) As the Copenhagen talks head into overtime... could a watered-down deal still be in the works? Are things at least half-way? Did the U.S. financing offer yesterday help? Canada's Environment Minister delivered an unpopular address last night, while his more low-profile Prime Minister, as Ivison puts it, "keeps his head down." Somewhat ironically, Simpson decides that today is the day to write a column about the PM's "very good year." The Globe editorial salutes the American effort and contrasts it with Canada's, while Richard Gwyn suspects our performance on this file may mean, to turn around a Bono quote from a few year's back, that the world finds it needs less Canada, not more.

2) Global National featured a Canadian military whistle-blower of sorts last night, with a new claim of witnessing abuse in an Afghan prison. MacCharles revisits earlier proposals for alternative courses of action on detainees and tries to determine why safe prisons weren't built. Clark looks at what was going on inside Foreign Affairs at the time and finds "the buck stopped nowhere."  A guest column by Reg Whitaker in the Star says the government's giving the public plenty of reasons to think it has something to hide. Still, Michael Harris writes in the Sun that this is "not Somalia yet."

Riley surveys the federal government's actions in general lately and makes a plea to "let the games end."

3) The finance ministers are in Whitehorse today, trying to apply some heat on the pension reform file.  Different reports suggest different levels of urgency. The Star editorial says it's time for a summit.

4) Privatization's back in fashion - or at least, preliminary trial balloons and suggestions about privatizing government assets are. AECL is the federal property on offer.  (p.s. the latest on those Chalk River repairs? so far, so good) Ontario's pondering something more widespread and a bit more surprising to some, and the reviews are mixed, but Coyle suggests McGuinty might not have enough political capital left to do it in the end. McParland can't help but point out that by raising this as an option, McGuinty looks more like Harris than ever.

5) As Canada fights an order to free more of the Tamil refugees that washed up on the west coast last fall, Australia wants Canada to accept more Tamil migrants. This as a new report suggests that as other borders close, Canada should brace itself for more migrants. After using the UN's terror watch list to justify denying Abdelrazik's return to Canada, the federal government has now decided to back reforms to fix the controversial list.

6) Did KAIROS lose its funding because it's anti-Semitic? The Immigration Minister is now suggesting that.

7) Morale problems at the RCMP? Say it ain't so.

8) Ottawa's about to sanction Guinea for bad behaviour.