The death of Baroness Thatcher was all over the political scene in Canada yesterday. Susan Delacourt writes about her legacy with respect to political marketing, which shaped campaigns of Stephen Harper, and she also spoke with Brian Mulroney about his recollections of Thatcher – including a famous blow-up in an airport over the issue of sanctions against apartheid South Africa. Anne Kingston writes about Thatcher’s complicated relationship with feminism. John Ivison, who lived through the Thatcher years in Scotland, finds himself a little surprised at the legacy she left behind in reforming Britain’s economy. Michael Den Tandt says that she was popular because of her principles – though he notes that on occasion, she was on the wrong side of an issue.

Ruh-roh! It seems that the newly released documents show that the staff layoffs at CRA will include those serving in the compliance department rather than just “back office” staff like the government has been claiming.

The story of RBC allegedly replacing Canadian employees with temporary foreign workers has been further complicated by facts. While it does appear that this is really an issue about outsourcing rather than an immigration issue, there may have been a single temporary foreign worker used by the outsourcing company, but it also appears that iGate was granted the permits based on a Labour Market Opinion that stated that there was a need for said workers, so we may have to wait for the department’s investigation to find out what happened.

Lockheed Martin is starting a new PR campaign across Canada to tout how great the F-35s are – while they’re also raising the price tags. (And yes, the Super Hornets are proven technology at half the price, and they’re letting it be known quite loudly).

A form the National Energy Board asks intervenors to fill out before they appear before review panels to gauge their level of expertise or local knowledge is apparently “undemocratic.” Sigh. You know, just because you don’t like something, it doesn’t mean it’s “undemocratic.” In fact, one has to wonder about the many various meanings of “democracy” that people keep inventing to suit their own purposes rather than having it actually mean what it’s supposed to.

A phone bank company that the Conservatives employ for fundraising and voter identification is apparently in a severe cash crunch and is laying off workers. And yes, this is one of the companies being implicated in the misleading calls allegations from the last election.

Glen McGregor notes the photoshopping of Ontario’s green Go-Trains to Conservative blue for Economic Action Plan™ propaganda.

More Conservative insiders are blaming the Press Gallery for fanning the flames of the Warawa Rebellion, and blaming us for trying to turn a backdoor attempt at reopening the abortion debate into an issue of free speech (as though the issue of the debasement of our parliamentary democracy are entirely divorced from what’s been going on).

Over in the Labrador by-election, former lieutenant governor John Crosbie says that he believes PMO has been directing the way that questions about Penashue’s spending have been handled, and how that reflects on the way that first ministers have been accumulating power to the detriment of cabinets and parliamentary democracy. Thomas Mulcair says that the race is “wide open,” even though the NDP have never come in more than a distant third in that riding before. Chantal Hébert looks at the broader federal narratives of that race.

Here are the three things you need to see from last night’s political shows, including Brian Mulroney talking about Margaret Thatcher.

And Colin Horgan looks at the way in which hockey is being subtly politicised.