Add this to the list of problems with the government paying ransom to secure the release of Robert Fowler and Louis Guay, as the Wikileaks cables suggest it did.

According to Section 83.03 (b) of the Criminal Code of Canada, it would be illegal.

Retired General Rick Hillier says he's troubled by a lack of clarity around the military mission in Libya.  In an an interview this morning on CBC Radio's The Current, Hillier called the no-fly zone a "half measure" that fails to protect people from Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

More from the interview, after the jump:

In Chinese philosophy the concept of yin yang is used to describe how polar or seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and how they give rise to each other in turn.

Yes I got that from Wikipedia. But the entry does not mention that the concept also applies to politics.

Memo to Vic Toews: Puzzled about how to stop sex offenders from getting pardons? Talk to Stockwell Day.

This morning on The Current I talked about one puzzling aspect of the government's reaction to the pardon for convicted sex offender Graham James.

As we all know now, the prime minister was shocked that the National Parole Board could pardon someone who had committed such crimes against young hockey players. And he instructed Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews to conduct a review of the National Parole Board and propose reforms.

Now if Vic Toews is busy, as I have no doubt he is, he could speed up his review process by simply speaking to his cabinet colleague Stockwell Day.

What, oh what, is the Speaker thinking about the motions and questions of privilege that occupy so much space on his desk these days?  In one way or another, they are all about the power of Parliament to order the production of documents. 

In this most recent case, the documents in question are those relating to the Canadian transfer of detainees to Afghan authorities. 

The motion that set all of this in motion was advanced on December 10 of last year.  By coincidence, on that very same day but several hours later, the speaker ruled on another point of privilege concerning the production of documents.

Interesting point about former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Frank Iacobucci, who has just been named by Justice Minister Rob Nicholson to review the documents on the Afghan detainee controversy that Parliament ordered released last December.

He was on the bench when the top court decided one of the most important cases dealing with the question of parliamentary privilege.

 

The following email exchange is NOT about gay marriage or capital punishment.  Thought I should state that up front.  I've learned that sometimes it can seem like that's what I'm writing about, so I want to avoid any possible confusion from the get-go.  You'll see what I mean.

Yesterday, I posted an update after the weekly newspaper Embassy ran an article headlined "Oda says no abortion, contraceptives support." 

I wondered whether this meant the government's position on supporting maternal health was evolving, or becoming more clear.

To find out, I emailed Minister Oda's office.

Over the past week, As It Happens has run an interesting string of interviews on the issue of maternal health.

First, last Thursday Carol Off spoke with one of the key antagonists in this story, Liberal Health critic Carolyn Bennett.

Next up, the protagonist. Or a protagonist. Or perhaps representing the protagonist... was the Minister of International Cooperation, Bev Oda.

You can listen to both interviews in full and I recommend you do if you're interested in this topic. But if you are pressed for time, let me summarize the most contentious issue this way: 

Carolyn Bennett doesn't think you can talk about maternal health without talking about ensuring access to safe abortions.   Bev Oda is not ready to talk about access to safe abortions but is very keen to talk about improving maternal health.

UPDATE:

Embassy, the weekly newspaper that looks at foreign policy, published an article in today's edition with this headline: "Oda says no abortion, contraceptives support." (Unfortunately, the article is behind a pay wall.)

Step aside from all the legitimate questions around the timing of the prime minister's decision to prorogue. For just a moment, let's leave the debate about whether this move is "routine" or "nearly despotic."

I want to leave the art of politics alone for a bit and instead dig into the math because the numbers tell an interesting story. One that is likely to be discouraging for many Canadians and sobering for the Opposition.