Kady O'Malley Bio

 Prime Ministerial communications director Andrew MacDougall wraps up what has likely been a surprisingly busy parliamentary off-week with a background briefing on his boss's trip to South America, which will see the PM jet off for Peru on Tuesday.  

It's worth noting that, due to that pre-existing travel commitment, the PM will not be in his seat in the House when the Commons gets back to business on Tuesday, but will instead leave the task of fielding the inevitable flurry of queries on the recently revealed financial arrangement between his chief of staff and the senator he personally selected to represent Prince Edward Island in the Upper House to one of his cabinet colleagues.

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Are the Conservatives plotting an early escape from Parliament Hill?

Earlier today, Government House Leader Peter Van Loan released the text of a motion that would keep the Commons fires burning until midnight every night but Friday until the summer recess, which is currently scheduled to begin on June 21.

There's nothing particularly unusual about the move to extend the sitting hours -- it's traditional, in fact, although during minority days, Van Loan's efforts to do so were regularly rebuffed by the opposition, who would instead seize upon the ensuing debate to air their respective and collective grievances over his heavy-handed House management style before ceremoniously voting down his motion.

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New Democrat ethics critic Charlie Angus is raising the possibility that Nigel Wright's "so called 'gift'" to embattled Conservative senator Mike Duffy could violate the Parliament of Canada Act. 

With his chief of staff ensnarled in ever-deepening controversy over his $90 K bailout of embattled Conservative senator Mike Duffy, the PM will escape the glare of the media spotlight for at least a few hours as he journeys to New York, where he's set to take questions on Canada's energy policy, environmental oversight and emissions reductions plans at an event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations.

In the aftermath of today's revelation that the the PM's right-hand man Nigel Wright cut embattled Conservative senator Mike Duffy a personal cheque for more than $90,000 to close the books on his controversial expense claims, there has been no shortage of confusion over what, exactly, constitutes a permissible "gift" under the Senate Conflict of Interest Code.

As the country wakes up to the pundit-boggling results of Tuesday's provincial election in British Columbia, the party leader likely least keen on being questioned by reporters on what it could mean for future federal political battles hits the streets of East Scarborough this morning.

Tom Mulcair -- for of course, it is to he that the previous sentence refers -- wraps up his two-day tour of the GTA with a visit to a local recycling plant, where he will, albeit almost certainly somewhat reluctantly, make himself available to the media before heading to Ryerson University to behold the Digital Media Zone.

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New Democrat ethics critic Charlie Angus is challenging Senate Government Leader Marjory LeBreton to back up her claim that the question of Mike Duffy's qualification to sit in the Senate as a representative of Prince Edward Island has been settled.

As politicos pore over the results from last night's by-election in Labrador, the PM heads to Prince Edward Island amid the usual flurry of logistical embargoes.

Although the purpose of his visit is, at least at press time, unknown, whatever PMO has planned will take place at the Slemon Park airfield, where he will be joined by Revenue Minister Gail Shea. 

Meanwhile, a series of synchronized events related to the Canadian Vimy Memorial are set to unfold -- not just across the country, but the Atlantic as well, with Finance Minister Jim Flaherty on location in Vimy for an "important announcement."

According to the PMO-issued Notable Event list, Veterans Affairs Minister Steve Blaney will make a similarly-themed appearance at the Citadel in Quebec City, with a satellite event also slated for the Loyal Edmonton Regiment Museum

Back on the mainland, New Democrat Leader Tom Mulcair kicks off a two-day tour of the Greater Toronto Area with a visit to the Learning Enrichment Foundation and the George Brown health Sciences Facility.

Later today, he'll meet with unspecified "environmental organizations", and take a stroll through the Port Lands with Waterfront Toronto officials John Campbell and Mark Wilson, all the while accompanied by a phalanx of local MPs.

Before that gets underway, however, he'll make himself available to reporters at a mid-morning press conference at the Castle Frank subway station.

During the lead-up to the recent rebranding of the venerable National Research Council from bastion of pure science to pro-business economic engine, the government commissioned a market research firm to test possible new taglines and logos to roll out as part of the 'refocusing' of the agency's mandate.

The resulting report, however, ended up revealing what the authors diplomatically describe as "larger communications challenges" that the NRC would almost certainly face during the transformation process.

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