Roundup: Making the AFN pitch

The Assembly of First Nations has been holding their General Assembly in Montreal, and both of the two main opposition leaders addressed them yesterday. As First Nations leaders try to convince their people to start flexing their political muscles, with some 51 ridings they say that they can influence, both Thomas Mulcair and Justin Trudeau made their pitches to the assembled chiefs. For Mulcair, it was largely a recapping of pledges he had made previously, while Trudeau unveiled a much more comprehensive policy plank for the party’s election platform. The fact that the parties are making this kind of a pitch – probably the most high-profile of such pitches in recent electoral memory – is a sign to the seriousness to which Canadians are taking these issues now, where they would have been considered far more niche in elections past.

Good reads:

  • The parents of a soldier who committed suicide were told his medals were wrongly issued, and those parents think it’s payback for the fuss they raised over the investigation.
  • The future temporary home of the Senate is already over-budget because the building – the Government Conference Centre – has deteriorated worse than they thought.
  • The government made some 70 patronage appointments last month, including 40 judicial appointments (which I’m not sure anyone is going to argue against).
  • Paul Martin says that we are likely in recession now, based on the projections.
  • The NDP may find themselves in trouble because of posthumous bequest donations, which are now subject to the same donation limits as living donors.
  • Kady O’Malley and Jen Gerson offer their thoughts on the PM’s media control, while Jennifer Ditchburn wonders whether a close election will change the strategy.

Odds and ends:

75 percent of public service executives say they no longer have any authority, leadership, or strategic role anymore.

Joe Oliver said that he sometimes plays the digeridoo in his office. No, seriously.

Quebec’s anti-corruption unit has confirmed that Arthur Porter is indeed dead. No word if they have verified that he is not undead.