Senator Mike Duffy leaving a meeting on Parliament Hill last weekHere's an idea that I think would get almost unanimous support across the country: If a politician is convicted of a crime — while in office — they should not be entitled to their gold-plated pension.

Over the weekend, the RCMP released a statement claiming that they are examining last week's Senate report which concluded that Senators Mac Harb, Patrick Brazeau and Mike Duffy erroneously claimed living allowances and expenses that they weren't entitled to.

Now, it should be stressed that this isn't a full-fledged investigation. The Mounties say that, at this point, they are just "examining."

[ Related: RCMP to examine senators' expenses ]

Regardless, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on the federal government to follow Nova Scotia's lead and adopt a law whereby a politician convicted of a crime, would have their pension taken away.

"Any politician convicted of stealing, fraud or breach of trust related to their position doesn’t deserve to get a cent from their taxpayer-funded

Read More »from Taxpayers watchdog says senators shouldn’t collect pensions if convicted

Stephen Harper wants your help wishing his wife, Laureen, a Happy Mother's Day.

On Sunday morning, Conservative headquarters sent out this email to party observers and supporters:

I would like to wish mothers across Canada a Happy Mother’s Day – a day when we honour and celebrate their strength, guidance and compassion.

Mothers are the anchors of our families, dedicating themselves to being our most important role models, nurturers and teachers.

This Mother’s Day, I’d like to recognize a woman who has been an amazing mother to our two kids – my wife, Laureen.

I hope you’ll join me in signing this card wishing Laureen a Happy Mother’s Day:

http://www.conservative.ca/MothersDay

Thank you – and to all mothers out there, Happy Mother’s Day.

Sincerely,

Stephen Harper
Leader, Conservative Party of Canada

Clearly, it's a ploy by the Tories to get your email addresses on their 'outreach' database. To sign the card, you must enter your name, email address and postal code.

The Democrats in the United States

Read More »from Stephen Harper’s Mother’s Day request dubbed 'weird'

Doug Finley was sometimes dubbed as Stephen Harper's pit bull

Conservative Senator Doug Finley has died of cancer at the age of 66.

Finley — the husband of Human Resources Minister Diane Finley — was appointed to the Senate in 2009, by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, after leading the Conservatives to two straight election victories as the party's director of political operations.

Finley was dubbed Harper's pit bull and was revered by many people across the political spectrum. He was a personable individual and brilliant political tactician. Yet, he didn't hold back — he wasn't afraid to say what was on his mind. The first time I met him, in 2010, he threw-in some expletives when describing one of his own Conservative candidates who lost an election because of "laziness."

He was also a somewhat controversial and polarizing figure. His curtness and aggressiveness sometimes rubbed people the wrong way. Finley was one of the Tory insiders who plead guilty to a 2006 campaign financing scheme, known as the in-and-out affair, where the party was alleged to

Read More »from Canadian Senator Doug Finley dies after battle with cancer

BC leaders debate

The polling numbers are pretty incredible.

On Friday, Ipsos Reid released their latest report on the B.C. election just days before voters go the polls on May 14. As it stands now, Adrian Dix's NDP are pegged at 43 per cent while the Christy Clark Liberals are projected to earn 37 per cent support.

[ More B.C. election coverage: Elections B.C. now allowing prescription bottles for voter ID ]

It's an amazing feat for Clark and her party who just three weeks ago were written off for dead.

So, how did it happen?

Well, the fact that the party has a hardworking, energetic leader with charisma and a broadcast background is certainly helpful. Clark has the ability to excite and motivate people in a way that Dix can't.

The Liberals also got some help from the Conservatives who kept shooting themselves in the foot. The B.C Tories have lost four candidates since the beginning of the campaign, three candidates didn't register in time to run officially under the Conservative banner, and John Cummins

Read More »from B.C. Liberals within striking distance of NDP because of a masterful campaign

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.The Obama administration should be sending Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney a big thank you card.

In July 2012, Kenney announced that his government would be suspending its Immigrant Investor Program (IIP) because of a huge backlog of cases.

The popular program — which offered visas to affluent foreign nationals who invested $800,000 into Canadian government coffers for a period of 5 years — provided an annual economic contribution of a $2 billion to the Canadian economy.

Despite the economic gain, it doesn't look like Kenney is in any rush to lift the moratorium.

While the government's Economic Action Plan 2013 says that they will "look at" creating a new pilot IIP, a spokesperson for Kenney says they have no immediate plans to relaunch.

"No plans currently to re-open it," Ana Curic told Yahoo! Canada News.

"We are currently reviewing options to revamp the program. The Minister has been clear that the current program is underselling Canada."

[ Related: Immigration expert warns that

Read More »from Canada’s immigrant investor moratorium is helping U.S. attract rich foreigners

A lot of us have said that civility in politics has gone in the toilet.

Well, on Thursday, in Nova Scotia it sort of did.

According to reports, NDP MLA Percy Paris grabbed and shoved Liberal MLA Keith Colwell against a wall outside a bathroom at that province's legislature.

According to the Chronicle Herald, Halifax police confirmed Paris went to police headquarters on his own at 7:45 p.m. where he was arrested and "charged with assault and uttering threats." He was released and is expected to appear in provincial court on June 18.

Reports had suggested that altercation was a result of comments Colwell made about the black community in his riding. On Friday, however, Paris said that it was an accumulation of things.

"I regret that I lost my cool for a few seconds," he told the Herald while calling the incident an "animated exchange."

"I’m hearing some things being said directly about the African-Nova Scotian community which I don’t agree with that strike a very sensitive chord within me, and

Read More »from Police charge cabinet minister Percy Paris after fight at Nova Scotia legislature

Senator Mike DuffyI'm not the smartest person in the world. I mean I'm okay: I have a university degree, I'm well-read and Mrs. Wilson, my grade 7 teacher, once told me that I was 'too smart for my own good' — whatever that means.

But I'm no senator. I'm not one of the learned few, tapped by our nation's supreme leaders to serve in Canada's upper chamber.

So you'll have to excuse me for not understanding the confusion with regard to the term "primary residence."

According to Senate rules, "senators, whose primary residence is located more than 100 kilometres from the [National Capital Region], are entitled to a reimbursement of travel expenses, and a reimbursement of living expenses, while in the NCR for Senate business."

On Thursday, a series of Senate reports — developed after a Deloitte audit — found that Senators Mac Harb and Patrick Brazeau 'erroneously' claimed living allowances and expenses that they weren't entitled to.

Both senators, it appears, spent most of their time in Ottawa. Brazeau only

Read More »from Are you smarter than a Canadian senator?

Christy Clark on the night she was elected party leader in February 2011It appears that even before next week's election in B.C., the knives are out for Premier Christy Clark.

According to a Global News exclusive, there's a movement afoot within the Liberal Party to remove Clark from the proverbial leader's office immediately after polls close on Tuesday.

It’s called the 801 movement, symbolizing 8:01 p.m., one minute after the election and precisely when the movement plans to begin the process of putting pressure on Clark to step aside.

The movement — made up of party members and business leaders — has already created their own buttons.

Even though Christy Clark won the Liberal leadership two years ago, support for her within the so-called free enterprise coalition has been lukewarm.

Not suprisingly, Liberal candidates are downplaying the story.

[ Related: B.C. Premier Christy Clark may have spoiled her own ballot ]

MLA Rich Coleman called it a "load of crap."

"I think it's cheap, childish, amateurish, on the part of anybody who would say it, but there's lot of

Read More »from ‘801 movement’ looks to replace B.C. Liberal leader Christy Clark