Susan Lunn Bio

Premiers this week struck a committee to look at innovative ways to save health care dollars, as they ponder the possibility of getting less money from Ottawa in the not to distant future.

As politicians worry about how to pay for medicare, more and more people are dealing with the health care and other issues associated with old age, putting extra burden on hospitals and health-care budgets.

One Toronto hospital is looking at an old idea to help keep costs down while improving quality of life for elderly patients: house calls.

Read Susan Lunn's story and listen to The House after the jump...

I haven't been on the Conservative plane since week one of the campaign.

Today I managed to return to my favourite seat.  But as I sat down, I noticed one difference. 

There are photos inside the plane, just above the windows -- 8x10 glossies from the campaign so far.

 

It's inevitable that on an election campaign you're going to end up in a Tim Horton's.

This is Canada. And its "Roll Up the Rim" time. But in the past two weeks I"ve been to two with two different leaders.

Reporters travelling with Conservative Leader Stephen Harper haven't seen any sign of him in the back of the plane yet. But his wife Laureen has come back twice now bearing gifts.

Tonight it was Keith's beer. The Harpers visited the historic Keith's brewery in Halifax Thursday.

Harper pulled a couple of pints while there. His wife, on the other hand, got beer for the plane. The night before, it was chocolate-covered fruit.

After all the press corps' fights with Harper all week over the lack of questions reporters get to ask him, it's interesting he's left all attempts to woo us up to his wife, Alexander Keith and chocolate.

You probably don't think Lady Gaga and Stephen Harper have much in common.

But they share one thing.

They've both sang with Maria Aragon.

More AND THE VIDEO after the jump....

I've seen many incarnations of Stephen Harper the campaigner.

There was the time he backed away from a group of children, who, admittedly, were covered in finger paint.

Then eventually he got to the point where Monday, he could hardly contain the laughter as a cute two-and-a-half-year-old was hitting him on the back of his legs to get his attention.

Then there's Harper the speaker.

In the 2005-2006 campaign, he started using a teleprompter, two see-through paddles on either side of the podium.

By the end of the campaign, he tried a wireless microphone to sum up his platform in a speech to supporters. If he had a teleprompter, I don't remember seeing it.

But its 2011. And its time for a new look.

When Stephen Harper was in opposition, in the 2004 campaign, he took every reporter's question during the daily scrum.

Things got testy at times. But everyone got one question.

Same with 2005/06. Over the campaign's eight weeks, every reporter got to ask him a question, every day.

In 2008, Stephen Harper's first as prime minister, there were so many reporters on the bus, we had to alternate days.

But now, in 2011, the questions are limited to four for those of us who are on the campaign plane at a cost of thousands of dollars a week.

And Conservative campaign staff wonder why everyone started shouting.

Anyone else who is applying for a job, even if they are reapplying, has to answer questions.

One hopes that tomorrow we get more.

Every political party has a colour.

Liberals are red.

International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda will eventually have to answer more questions about how that now infamous "NOT" appeared on a document from her officials.

Every day in the House of Commons, Conservative House leader John Baird has taken all questions about why funding for a coalition of church groups was denied in 2009.

But Oda won't be forced to answer MPs' questions for a few weeks. Oda is tentatively scheduled to appear Mar. 21 before the Foreign Affairs committee to talk about the budgetary estimates.

That allows the opposition MPs to ask her anything they want. And it's clear they will ask how she first told that same committee she didn't know how the "NOT" appeared on the document, then later told the House it was inserted on her orders.

That appearance, however, may come the day before another big political event. It's widely expected the Conservatives will table their budget on Mar. 22. And since that could trigger an election, all news of Oda's committee appearance could be forgotten within 24 hours.

Quebec's premier has received an award at the international climate change talks in Cancun, and it's not the fossil award the federal government keeps getting.

Jean Charest was given the South Australian International Climate Change Leadership Award today.

South Australia will also name part of an urban forest in his honour.

Australia hands out the award every year to recognize a political leader for their contribution to stopping climate change.

Last year, it was given to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

» More on the Cancun summit

The prime minister had just put out one prairie fire with its decision to block the BHP bid only to find another has erupted in its place.

This time, it's in Edmonton.

Yesterday, Heritage Minister James Moore sent a letter to the mayor of that city saying the federal government wasn't willing to help fund the city's bid for an international exposition to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday.

It's all the name of fiscal austerity.

John Baird says it's a little like the movie Back to the Future -- without Michael J. Fox or the Delorean.

Baird is now the environment minister for the second time.

He stepped in to replace Jim Prentice, who resigned from cabinet earlier this month.

Baird first took questions from the Bloc's long time environment critic, Bernard Bigras.

He then answered a range of questions from the media: from the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline, and climate change, to wastewater, and toxic sludge from the oilsands.

He was then asked if he was happy to be back in the portfolio.

"I am very excited," he said with a grin.

Veterans Affairs Minister Jean Pierre Blackburn is considering harsher punishment for staff who inappropriately look at or circulate health information about former soldiers.

Blackburn says when he was the minister of national revenue, an employee could be fired for sharing a person's private information.

Meanwhile, he says, the punishment in Veterans Affairs is a loss of five days' pay.

While the gun debate raged upstairs in the opposition wing of the Saskatchewan legislature, there was a not-so-subtle reminder in the basement that guns are a way of life in the West.

On my way to the cafeteria for a very late lunch while covering the NDP caucus meeting, I stopped to look at the community notice board, where you can see all sorts of ads for local businesses in Regina. People also post things they want to sell.

Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, is coming to Ottawa.

Pelosi will meet with Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall and Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach on Wednesday. The meeting with Wall will take place at the residence of U.S. Ambassador David Jacobson.

Sometimes covering international events such as the G8 and G20 can have a civilized moment or two.

Normally, I pack granola bars in case I'm too busy to eat, or food is not available.

But today I could put away the trail mix for a while.

The Ontario tourism folks were holding a food and wine pairing in the international broadcast centre. And they came to my little CBC booth and insisted I take a break and come along.

The industry minister is "cheesed off." 

Tony Clement is fed up with all of the criticism his government is getting for the money its spending in his riding because its hosting the g8 summit in Huntsville.

He says it's true that the government is spending $45 million to, among other things, fix up the airport, build an office building for summit staff, and of course build those bathrooms far away from the site.

It's coming out of something called the G8 Legacy Fund.

Liberals have raised this issue every day in the House of Commons for weeks. Today they released slides they took after visiting the riding last weekend.

Remember the Kyoto Protocol?

Well, the government is forced to submit a report every year about how it plans to meet, or not meet, its targets under that agreement. That's because of a New Democrat private members' bill that was passed by the minority parliament. (Update: Oops! The "Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act" was tabled by Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez and passed by all the opposition parties).

And what does this year's report show? That the government only expects its climate change plans will mean a reduction of 10 megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions by 2012. In other words, six years after taking office, the Harper government will have cut emissions 1.4 per cent below business as usual.

The normally unflappable Jim Prentice is upset.

It's surprising given that the environment minister doesn't get upset very often.

Despite facing a lot of criticism in his portfolio, Prentice is normally calm and cool in a lawyerly sort of way.

Until today.