Peter Penashue’s “inexperienced” former official agents says that the corporate donation was “unintentionally” accepted, that Penashue himself didn’t know about the donation, and that the last four or five days of the campaign, “all hell was breaking loose” trying to get money in before the deadline, so the rush totally explains all of the ineligible donations. So really, it’s nobody’s fault because nobody takes responsibility for the documents they signed off on, right? Well, maybe not. The former Chief Electoral Officer, Jean-Pierre Kingsley, notes that as the Elections Canada investigative process continues, charges may yet be laid, though not in time for the by-election. The CBC’s David Cochrane looks at the whole affair from the local angle and wonders if Labradoreans want a cabinet minister or to re-elect someone who ran an incompetent campaign and blames others for mistakes that he was responsible for.

It looks like Vic Toews personally signed off on the reality show Border Security following around CBSA agents, so that they can film raids. Unless of course it was his auto-pen. Because they’re totally not trying to propagandise around their issue of “bogus” immigrants in order to sell it to their base.

The government is set to unveil a new “world class” tanker monitoring programme designed to prevent future oil spills, and also addresses some of BC premier Christy Clark’s concerns about environmental impacts of the Northern Gateway pipeline. Which sounds all well and good, but if memory serves, the last “world class” programme that the government announced – the monitoring of emissions in the oilsands – has yet to actually get off the ground more than a year later with no agreement on its governance structure or data sets being available. But at least they announced it – right?

Access to Information documents show that the Privy Council Office so micro-managed an announcement by Parks Canada in 2011 to turn Sable Island into a National Park that they virtually wiped the department off the release in favour of talking up the Harper Government™. But no, there’s no excessive message control…

Here is another look at the cuts coming to the Canadian Forces, where it looks like the only soldiers being spared are the ones performing the Changing of the Guard in Ottawa.

Aaron Wherry muses on Thomas Mulcair’s support for “convicted cop shooter” Gary Freeman in his bid to return to Canada – which might be all well and good if Mulcair didn’t constantly make specious comparisons between Freeman and Conrad Black.

As the Canadian Space Agency has no plans to hire new astronauts anytime in the near future, here’s a look at how the future of manned space travel may be in the private sector – though governments would likely be their first customers.

The Quebec Liberals have chosen Philippe Couillard as their new leader on the first ballot, just one week before the federal Liberals have their own leadership debate in Montreal. And on that topic Jean Chrétien wants you to know that Justin Trudeau does have a very big policy agenda – defeating Stephen Harper.

And here’s a look at how conservative forces in Calgary are lining up against mayor Naheed Nenshi in advance of the next election.