Political decorum dictates that when running for the leadership of a political party you don't go out of your way to criticize your predecessor.

In the same vein, outgoing leaders don't generally campaign for one candidate over another.

This seems to be a universal truth everywhere — except Alberta.

The vote to replace Premier Ed Stelmach as leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party is set for Oct. 1.

In unusual fashion, frontrunners and onetime Stelmach cabinet ministers Ted Morton and Alison Redford have been actively critical of the Stelmach government's initiative to install two high-voltage electricity transmission lines from northern to southern Alberta.

In an editorial for the Calgary Herald, political scientist Duane Bratt questioned the candidates' intentions.

"Morton was able to forget that as minister of sustainable resources he introduced some of this legislation. For her part, Redford forgot that she was justice minister and her department had to approve the

The federal and Ontario governments are appealing a decision by an Ontario Superior Court judge that struck down the Criminal Code sections that made it illegal to solicit clients on the street or in a bar, work as a pimp or operate a brothel.

This, many argue, is a debate that's long overdue.

In typical Canadian fashion, our laws on prostitution are somewhat blurred. In Canada selling sexual services is legal.

Communicating for the purpose of prostitution, living off the avails or operating a common bawdy house are all activities deemed illegal under the law.

The government argues these laws should be reinstated because prostitution grinds down the souls of those who engage in it, disrupts neighbourhoods and encourages violence against its young practitioners

The advocates for decriminalization say making these things illegal does not stop prostitution but merely drives it underground thereby putting women at greater risk.

Other countries have also invariably struggled with regulating

International pressure and mounting evidence of the harmful effects of chrysotile asbestos haven't swayed Canadian governments that have continuously promoted its use.

At a conference next week in Geneva, Canada's resolve to champion the export of asbestos will again be tested.

International delegates are expected to attempt to classify asbestos as a hazardous material as part of the United Nations Rotterdam Convention. Blacklisting the substance, many argue, would severely affect its marketability.

Ahead of the conference, Canada is being coy about whether it will try to block the negative classification.

Dimitri Soudas, Stephen Harper's communications director, told The Canadian Press various Canadian governments have "promoted the safe and controlled use of chrysotile, both domestically and internationally," for more than 30 years.

"All scientific reviews clearly confirm that chrysotile fibres can be used safely under controlled conditions," said Soudas.

As described by blogger

In a city preparing for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals, officials are taking extra precautions to keep crowds under control.

Vancouver closed several major streets and thoroughfares at noon to make way for the anticipated crowds.

At least 100,000 people are expected to make their way to the downtown to watch the game at one of the city's designated viewing areas.

Extra police officers from around the Metro Vancouver Region have been called to help patrol and monitor celebrations and attempt to avoid a repeat of the Stanley Cup riots of 1994 which erupted after the Canucks lost to New York Rangers in Game 7 of that year's Stanley Cup finals.

In addition, one of the measures to control the crowds is an edict from the province requiring all downtown liquor stores to close by 4 p.m.

Most employers will allow staff to leave work early so they can catch the game for the 5 p.m. local start time. Those at work, however, are having trouble concentrating.

Todd, an accountant at a

In politics the old adage of "the road to hell is paved with good intentions" often holds true - Bob Rae's "Rae Days" and Dalton McGuinty's union wage freezes are two such examples.

Rae had good intentions, when, as premier of Ontario, he tried to cut ballooning deficits by introducing a "social contract" that required unionized public sector workers to take 12 days of unpaid leave.

While some savings occurred, "squeezing the wage bill" paid to one quarter of the provincial labour force turned out to be an unpopular and unsound economic measure.

In some instances, as described by Thomas Walkom of the Toronto Star, forcing workers to take compulsory time off actually costs more.

"Toronto, for instance, had to pay almost $800,000 to hire replacements for child care workers on unpaid furlough," wrote Walkom.

"At a Guelph correctional centre, guards were called in to work overtime at time-and-a-half pay — to cover their own, Rae Days."

In 2010, McGuinty announced a wage freeze for one

Former Liberal finance minister Paul Martin's landmark restraint budgets in the 1990s reduced the number of federal employees by 14 per cent and cut provincial transfer payments by almost $30 billion in an attempt to balance the books.

While nobody is expecting current Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to follow suit at those levels, some suggest his current numbers just don't add up.

Flaherty has said his government will slash $4 billion from the budgets of federal departments, saying much of the savings would be achieved through staff attrition.

In a report released on Monday, the Parliament Budget Officer (PBO) noted with 6,000 staff cuts, bringing the number of full-time equivalent workers down to 365,000 in three years, the federal government will only get about one-third of the way to its planned reductions.

In an interview with PostMedia News, PBO Kevin Page said, "Spending plans that government has so far presented for this fiscal year are not in line with those targets, despite

In an ironic twist, the NDP, one of the parties that criticized Prime Minster Stephen Harper for not answering more than four questions at press conferences during the election, isn't letting its rookie MPs answer any - at least not to the national media.

In a column for The Hill-Times, Kristen Shane describes how the NDP are "cautiously limiting media access to its 68 rookie MPs."

"You watch (deputy leader and House leader) Thomas Mulcair walk behind them (new MPs) and he's got everything but an earpiece," Liberal MP Rodger Cuzner told Shane. "He looks like a secret service (agent) when he walks along with the younger members."

Perhaps you can't blame the NDP. After all, there have already been some embarrassing blunders.

Shortly after the May 2 election one rookie MP, Marc-Andre Morin, told a reporter he had been a supporter of sovereignty for Quebec.

"I supported the Bloc for a long time," said Morin, whose riding is northwest of Montreal.

"I saw that in a certain context it could

Ontario New Democrats are salivating at the notion of an 'orange wave' sweeping over the province.

In a weekend poll commissioned by Global News, Post Media News and NewsTalk 1010, Tim Hudak's Tories are shown to have a significant lead over the governing Liberals under Premier Dalton McGuinty.

The poll shows the Conservatives with 40 per cent support, the Liberals at 34 per cent, and Andrea Horwath and the NDP with a solid showing at 20 per cent.

John Wright, of Ipsos Reid, told Global News the NDP may significantly influence the results of the Oct. 6 election.

"I think it is going to be a very nasty, hard-fought campaign when it actually gets in gear," he said.

"We may see a minority either way for the PCs or Liberals - which means that the NDP, using Jack Layton as a support - is a real wild card for the end result."

The sentiment the NDP are, once again, on the verge of political legitimacy in Ontario is spreading throughout the province.

As reported in the Toronto Star, NDP