There's something missing from the campaign materials of several B.C. Liberal candidates.

If you look closely, you'll notice that some of them don't include any reference to the "B.C Liberals" or "Christy Clark"

Over the weekend, the Vancouver Sun, profiled one such cabinet minister's brochure.

Read through Bill Bennett's election-campaign pamphlet and you'd be hard-pressed to know he's running for the Liberal Party or that Christy Clark is his leader.

That's because there's no Liberal name. No Liberal logo. And not one picture of a smiling Christy Clark anywhere to be seen.

Bennett says that he's proud of Christy Clark's record as premier but that there might be some "brand issues" with the Liberals.

[ Related: B.C. NDP leader Adrian Dix running a 'we'll see' campaign ]

He isn't the only one with materials sans Christy Clark; the Sun lists half a dozen.

Even the most senior cabinet minister, Finance Minister Michael de Jong, excludes references to both Clark and the Liberals on his

Read More »from B.C. Liberal candidates omit references to Christy Clark on campaign literature

Keystone Pipeline protest in Washington DCOn this Earth Day, there's some bad news for those lovers of the Earth, also know as environmentalists.

A new poll, released Monday, suggests that while Canadians and Americans are keen on reducing greenhouse gasses, the vast majority of them support the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that could transport up 830,000 barrels of oil per day from northern Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico.

The poll — completed by Nik Nanos, a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington — claims that 74 per cent of Americans and 68 per cent of Canadians that have heard about Keystone do support, or somewhat support, their respective governments approving the controversial project.

[ Related: Redford takes Keystone talks to Washington ]

"What I found striking was the percentage of Americans who said that [having] a stable supply of energy was important, nearly 9 of 10," Nanos told Yahoo! Canada News.

"Americans are quite fixated on energy security and this fixation

Read More »from Environmentalists’ worst nightmare: Majority of Canadians, Americans support Keystone XL pipeline

Why let the truth get in the way of a good campaign ploy?

The B.C. Liberals have a launched a clever — although not completely accurate — 'Spend-o-Meter' which tallies how much the NDP campaign promises will cost taxpayers.

In a press release accompanying the launch of the campaign gimmick, Finance Minister Mike de Jong said the NDP are "speeding towards a fiscal cliff."

"One week into the campaign and all we've seen from Adrian Dix is how fast he can spend your money," de Jong said.

"And while the money is being spent very quickly, the NDP refuse to say how they'll pay for it all or even provide any details. They think it's their money, when it's really taxpayers' money."

[ Related: B.C. politician unintentionally directs public to teen porn website ]

De Jong's statement, however, is a peculiar one: On April 12, the NDP released their fiscal plan explaining how they would raise $2 billion over 3 years in government revenues and, since then, have meticulously costed all their

Read More »from B.C. Liberals launch ‘Spend-o-Meter’ to tally cost of NDP campaign promises

Senator Mike DuffyMike Duffy says he has in fact paid back $90,172 he received as a Senate 'living allowance.'

Duffy released this statement to CTV News late Friday afternoon:

"I have always said that I am a man of my word.

In keeping with the commitment I made to Canadians, I can confirm that I repaid these expenses in March 2013."

CTV claims that the money was paid back in March and that was confirmed by the Senate.

You'll recall, a couple of months ago, Duffy faced a barrage of negative media attention with regard to allegations that he claimed a Senate living allowances that he wasn't legally entitled to.

The living allowance is for individuals who keep a 'second home' in Ottawa and a primary residence somewhere else. Media reports, however, suggested that the former CTV journalist had lived in his Ottawa home for many years and even voted in the Ottawa region.

Then, finally, on Feb. 22, Duffy did the right thing and said he would voluntarily pay back the money.

Earlier this week, Global

Read More »from Senator Mike Duffy says he paid back housing allowance, Senate confirms

Would you still make your weekly or monthly shopping trip to the United States if you had to pay an additional fee each time you crossed a land border by car or bus?

It appears that such a 'crossing fee' could soon be a reality.

In the face of daunting budget cuts, that is one of the ideas up for consideration by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as explained in its fiscal 2014 budget proposal:

"SEC.544. (a) The Commissioner of the United States Customs and Border Protection shall:

"(1)conduct a study assessing the feasibility and cost relating to establishing and collecting a land border crossing fee for both land border pedestrians and passenger vehicles along the northern and southwest borders of the United States; the study should include:

"(A)the feasibility of collecting from existing operators on the land border such as bridge commissions, toll operators, commercial passenger bus, and commercial passenger rail;

"(B)requirements to collect at land ports of entry where

Read More »from Americans eyeing ‘crossing fee’ for passenger vehicles at Canada-U.S. land borders

Peter Van Loan (Reuters)Presumably as a result of the Boston marathon explosions, the Harper government is putting its proposed anti-terrorism bill on top of their priority list.

[ Related: ‘Give us evidence,’ demands Canadian family of Boston bombing suspects ]

On Friday, Government House Leader Peter Van Loan made the following statement in Parliament:

Mr. Speaker, I wish to make a brief statement respecting the business of the House next week. As I said at the start of question period, leadership requires decisive and serious action in response to the serious threats of violent terrorism.

In order to give members of this House an opportunity to express their views on the appropriate way to respond to terrorist violence, on Monday and Tuesday the House will debate Bill S-7, the Combating Terrorism Act. This bill is at its final stage in Parliament and I call upon all members of this place to pass this bill, we don't need further study - we need action.

As a result, the government business originally

Read More »from Harper government to fast track anti-terrorism bill

Over the past couple of years, the opposition parties have complained 'ad nauseum,' about the Harper government's penchant to limit debate in the House of Commons.

Well, now, according to the NDP, this government has set the record for imposing time allocation — a procedural tool that allows a government to set strict limits on the time for debate.

According to the NDP figures, released earlier this week, Harper has used time allocation 31 times — since May 2011 — in the 41st parliamentary session. That's one more than former Prime Minister Jean Chretien did in the 36th session of Parliament and two more times than the duo of Brian Mulroney and Kim Campbell did between 1988 and 1993.

And look for Harper to shatter the record — after all, he has two more years left in his current mandate.

[ Related: Was Harper justified in attacking Trudeau over Boston Marathon comments? ]

"The Conservatives are running roughshod over Parliament and our democracy," NDP House Leader Nathan Cullen wrote

Read More »from NDP hammers Harper government for shutting down debate

Nationally, Justin Trudeau ran a typical front runner campaign in the race to become the leader of the federal Liberal Party. For the most part, he spoke in platitudes and avoided any real discussion about specific policies.

With a big lead in the polls, B.C. NDP leader Adrian Dix seems to incorporating the same strategy.

[ Related: B.C. politician unintentionally directs public to teen porn website ]

Over the past week, ahead of a May 14th election, the New Democrats have finally been rolling out their campaign platform but it's strewn with a lot 'reviews', 'audits' and 'we'll see's'.

As is evident by this video featuring Dix and CTV News reporter, the media is getting a little annoyed by it.

Veteran Vancouver Sun columnist Vaughn Palmer did a masterful job chronicling the NDP's 'policies' on CKNW radio on Friday morning:

The NDP is riding a wave of change we've seen the polls on that. People think it's time for a change, and the NDP is promising change.

But when you dig down there

Read More »from B.C. NDP leader Adrian Dix running a “we’ll see” campaign