There was some New Year’s Eve drama as media reports out of Colombo, Sri Lanka, said that NDP MP Rathika Sistsabaiesan was under house arrest there during her trip to visit family. The reports turned out to be false, but consular affairs and John Baird were engaged on the file, though Sitsabaiesan put out a statement alleging political intimidation by local officials. The Foreign Affairs statement states that there was no arrest warrant, and that her visit was a private one and not on behalf of the government, though they continue to monitor her situation.

Kady O’Malley previews the upcoming private members’ business on the Order Paper for the New Year, not including Michael Chong’s Reform Act. Many bills and motions have to do with calls for national strategies, which is the way that backbenchers try to look like they’re doing something about an issue that doesn’t a) costs money, or b) tread on areas of provincial jurisdiction, which many of their ideas would otherwise. NDP MP Pat Martin has a few different bills that he could use for his slot, one of which would be to swear allegiance to Canada instead of the Queen – err, except that as the Sovereign, swearing an oath to Canada is the same thing as swearing one to the Queen. The sovereign is the living embodiment of the nation. It shouldn’t be that difficult of a concept to comprehend, but apparently it is.

Here’s a look at regulatory changes coming into effect now that it’s the New Year, including the ban on incandescent light bulbs, rules against foreign strippers, new tax measures, and plans around the sponsorship of parent or grandparent immigration.

Yet more tales of lost USB keys by government departments and the potential data and privacy breaches that result has one consultant recommending that the government use secure servers that could be accessed remotely to transfer data rather than the physical devices.

He’s said this before, but Justin Trudeau is reiterating that there will be no safe seats or free passes for incumbents in the next election, and that every single sitting MP is going to have to face an open nomination. And considering that the nomination process is one of the most important – yet overlooked – in our system, it’s good to see that it’s being not only respected but being taken so seriously. Trudeau also points out that it’s simplistic to say that the Liberals lost the last few elections simply because of attack ads, and that he’s looking forward to the policy convention in February.

Tonda MacCharles looks at the undeclared next Conservative leadership race as it’s already shaping up, with Jason Kenney working a room full of journalists, and puts forward the notion that he may be looking for the role of kingmaker rather than leader (though that’s not what I’ve heard from my own Conservative sources).

Here’s an interesting look at the apparent lost notion of honour in politics, in an age where nobody resigns for anything anymore.

With the Americans set to produce more oil than they import, they too are becoming an energy superpower and leaving us in the dust behind them.

And Newfoundland and Labrador Senator David Wells is off to climb a mountain in Argentina for the challenge of it.