In a frankly bizarre op-ed, Preston Manning tries to accuse the Press Gallery for lacking proper ethics because the Parliamentary Press Gallery guidelines don’t have a section on ethical guidelines in their handbook – err, except that each member is subject to their own employer’s code of ethics. Also, the Press Gallery is not a monolith, but simply a means of organising ourselves in order to have proper access to do our jobs on the Hill. That Manning tries to somehow equate this to the Senate scandals and Mike Duffy’s role therein lacks any cohesive logic and makes one wonder how this passed the comment editor’s gaze at the Globe and Mail. Does he think that the Gallery could have somehow stopped him before he was appointed? That his constant lobbying for a Senate seat should have been dealt with – as though anyone took it seriously and not as a kind of sad and frankly pathetic long-running joke? Susan Delacourt gives Manning a respectful reply and cautions him that what he’s demanding of the media will mean more access by the government – something the current government is not a big fan of.

Apparently focus groups like the ads for the Canada Jobs Grant programme – even though it doesn’t exist yet and may not ever come to pass if the provinces have their way. That said, the focus group testing also noted that there is fatigue with all of the ubiquitous government propaganda advertising that we keep seeing.

The government plans to update the regulations around the garnishment of wages for public servants, MPs and Senators in order to make them faster and easier to enforce.

Next year we can look forward to the review of the National Energy Board decision on the Northern Gateway pipeline, Barack Obama’s final decision on the Keystone XL pipeline, and the EU’s Fuel Quality Directive regarding oilsands products.

Also coming up next year will be $100 million in cuts from Fisheries and Oceans, which will include some 500 jobs in the department, and a reduction to their climate change adaptation programmes.

As the next class of supply ships looks to draw their names from significant battles of the War of 1812, there are complaints that the battles were about the “British Empire” and “militarily insignificant” and not within Canadian naming traditions. Erm, except that’s a rather myopic view of history as though there was no Candian history pre-1867 and that the War of 1812 wasn’t significant, and that we’ve run the gamut of geographic names in Canadian naval nomenclature.

Defence Research and Development Canada spent $14,000 on a poll about superheroes’ abilities – no, seriously. But what it really as to do with is asking about perceptions of non-natural and non-religious concepts in order to better craft messaging that portrays our Forces in a positive light, and boils down to PSYOPS – psychological operations designed to influence attitudes and behaviours.

Aaron Wherry reflects on the last year of Parliament and the state of our democracy, from the short-lived backbench revolt, to the advent of the Reform Act, and old pledges of civility, which never did come to pass.

Laura Payton looks at how the various leaders were tested this year, especially in the wake of the Senate scandals.

Senators cut their expenses by nearly two percent last year, in case you were wondering.

The various parties are on a push for year-end donations, while the Green Party is seeing a large number of riding associations being de-registered – 55 so far since the last election, and not everyone believes the claim that they’re de-registering voluntarily in order to reform for the riding redistribution.

Here’s a further look at Chris Alexander’s immigration reform proposals, complete with some critique by one of the country’s top immigration lawyers.

Here’s a look at how Dr. Kellie Leitch continues to practice paediatric orthopaedic surgery one week every month (unpaid) in order to maintain her credentials while still working as a cabinet minister.

The Canadian government is pulling staff out of South Sudan and warning any Canadians in the country to leave amid increasing violence there.

The head of the railway that ignited in Lac Mégantic says that he’s a victim too, that he’s lost his entire investment in the now-insolvent railway, but he’s not actually complaining about the financial losses because they can’t compare to personal losses. The railway is under trusteeship and is expected to be sold in the coming weeks.

Here’s an interesting look at how the Queen delivers her annual Christmas message in her capacity as the Head of the Commonwealth (which I’m not sure I agree with, but it’s an interesting theory), and how that role has put her at odds with British foreign policy on several occasions – and yet she has been proved right on pretty much every occasion.

In his New Year’s message, the Governor General encourages more Canadians to give to charity.

And Sonya Bell looks at how each of the federal parties would try to get Santa Claus’ vote.