The iPolitics holiday edition, 2013

the Holiday Edition, 2013 | iPolitics.ca

REVENGE OF THE CHINCHILLA, pg. 5 BEST DRESSED ON THE SOCIAL SCENE, pg. 9 and pan-Canada culinary pairings, pg. 7

Good to go.

A guide to the holidays for the politico on your list.

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iPolitics

FEATURED OPINION

Editorial Editor and publisher

LAWRENCE MARTIN:

James Baxter

2013: The year everything changed, pg. 13

Deputy editors

PAUL ADAMS:

Ian Shelton, Doug Beazley

The Pope and Mr. Harper, pg. 14

Reporters Laura Beaulne-Stuebing, Sonya Bell, Annie Bergeron-Oliver, Kelsey Johnson, James Munson, Olesia Plokhii, BJ Siekierski, Elizabeth Thompson, Michelle Zilio Columnists Michael Harris, Tasha Kheiriddin, Lawrence Martin, Paul Adams, Peter Clark, Peter Burn, Paul Boothe, Devon Black, Phil Gibson, Andrew Mitrovica, Derek Burney, Fen Hampson, Scott Clark, Peter DeVries and Elizabeth Gray-Smith Graphic designer Jessie Willms Photographers Cynthia Münster, Matthew Usherwood

What’s on Harper’s list this year?

We took a guess, pg. 12

Tree tips from Parliament’s resident expert, Gerald Keddy

THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME: Picks from the year’s hottest political reads, pg. 15

Recipes from the Hill’s master chef, pg. 6

Wire editors Deane McRobie, Lisa Van Dusen

“I vowed to redeem my kind”: Charlie the chinchilla plots his takedown of Stanley, pg 5

Alpheus Danelia Bolivar Marketing and sales Deputy publisher Sally Douglas COO John Butterfield Business development manager Callie Sanderson Account managers Matthew Gumley & Yamina Tsalamlal Contact Office: 613-216-9638 201-17 York Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1N 9J6 Who we are: Independent and non-partisan, iPolitics delivers upto-the-minute news, information and analysis of Canadian politics and the business of government.

All illustrations by Sarah Lazarovic (longliveirony.com)

2014: The year of election preparation Party leaders’ election promises to Mr. Claus Elizabeth May: Santa, the Green Party’s top priority is making sure your Christmas is white!

Stephen Harper: Santa, as a white man of a certain age, you’ll find yourself in good company with the Conservatives!

Tom Mulcair: Santa, the New Democrats will ensure that as a seasonal worker, you’ll get your EI! Justin Trudeau: Santa, the Liberals will stand up for the middle class — so that one day you can finally retire!

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The iPolitics holiday print edition

Keep your tree alive Tips from Parliament’s resident tree expert — and former tree farm owner — Nova Scotia MP Gerald Keddy Tip #1: Treat Christmas trees like cut flowers

“Bring ‘em home, put a fresh cut on the stem and put them in water right away.” Keddy says. The cut for Christmas tree, he explains, should be about an inch above the original stump.

When the tree first arrives in your home, it will be very thirsty, Keddy says. Key to its survival is a lot of water over the first 48 hours.

Tip #2: When picking a tree, the needles should snap

“The needles are like fresh lettuce, it should snap. You

take a fir needle between your hands, it’ll break,” Keddy explains. “When you pull on a branch, the needle should break rather than pull off.”

Tip #3: Buy a good tree stand and keep it straight

Even Keddy has had a Christmas tree teeter over in the living room. “There’s no shame in that. It happens, but the secret really is to have good tree stand and one a good broad base on it that can hold a lot of water.”

Tip #4: Decorate the whole tree

Keddy suggests trying to decorate all the way around,

even if the tree is going in the corner. Having all the ornaments on one side can put the tree off balance, making it more likely to fall over, he warned.

We’re not aiming for a Charlie Brown Christmas tree, here.

Tip #5: Balsam firs smell the best.

“I wouldn’t have anything in the house except the balsam fir, because they have the aroma.”

“When you open them up in your house, everyone walks by and says ‘oh my, isn’t that fantastic,” he says.

photos: Matthew usherwood

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A Chinchilla’s Christmas carol

Charles C. Chinchilla vs. Stanley: round two Drops falling from the sloping ceiling sent ripples across the water’s surface in the shot glass at Charlie’s side. It was still October yet the rain seeping through the roof at 24 Sussex was laced with a November chill. But it wasn’t the weather that had ruffled the chinchilla’s grey fur.

Charlie leaned back on his haunch and surveyed his pilfered implements: a golf pencil from Camp David worn to a nub; a scrap of wrinkled letterhead from the prime minister’s office, “good to go” leading from the torn edge; the glass with “l’chaim” arched over John Baird’s smiling face.

“Dear

Diary,” Charlie scrawled awkwardly, clutching the pencil with both front paws. “My attempts to usurp the fair-haired one’s privilege in this house has yet to bear fruit and time is running short. I cannot abide a repeat of last December’s debasement.

Chinchilla kind have always waged a

losing battle against felines for of the animal room. internet supremacy, but the red Occasionally one would cone hat was more dunce cap stray from the pack and than Christmas cheer and nose about his bars. set our battle back He had at first tried a decade. Mean“I vowed to to be friendly, but while, Stanley’s smiling wasn’t any star has risen redeem my more an element of ever higher.” kind. I vowed I his repertoire than would not allow small talk about Charlie the weather and thought back such indignation soon his seeming at how he’d to be overcast sullenness scowled at the drove them away. prime minisrepeated.” ter’s aid as the Likely, they talked boy in short pants about him behind his back, — seriously! it was December! — clicked a photo and he thought. What a mean rotweeted “Charlie the Chinchilla dent, they’d say. What a grouch. gets into the Christmas spirit at A grouch? He’d show them a 24 Sussex.” Spirit? That’s spin grouch. they could use in the Senate, he And so Charlie had receded thought. from the days and stored his “I vowed then to redeem my energy for his nightly escapes. kind. I vowed then that I would When the lights went out, his not allow such indignation to unusually dextrous paws combe repeated. I vowed then that bined to slip the latch of his cage I, Charles C. Chinchilla, would and he withdrew to the attic where no bars confined him and rise above!” no cat could taunt him.

Indeed Charlie had made Now, with a new Christmas these vows, though to anybody listening it would have sound- season nearing he would show ed more like a muted mouse them all. He would do what no squeak than the terrifying lion’s cat had ever accomplished. He roar he imagined. At least cats would star on the Prime Miniscould hiss, growl, meow and ter’s Christmas card. mew. Charlie’s range of expres“The time for action is now,” sion was limited to angling his round ears up and down. he wrote.

Not that many took Charlie dropped the pencil notice, and even and leaned over the glass, sipfewer took heed. ping at the water.

Instead, in a house “Bleck,” he thought. “Tastes full of animals, Charlie was the only like schnapps!” one of his kind, relThe full story will be available egated most days to a Dec. 25 at iPolitics.ca cage while the cats had the run

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The iPolitics holiday print edition

Fine picks from Parliament’s master chef What to serve on Christmas day

He is Canada’s first certified master chef, has won gold medals in culinary olympic competitions and has cooked for some of the most prominent people in the world.

However, few Canadians get to sample the culinary delights created by Parliament’s Executive Chef Judson Simpson.

In the spirit of the season, Simpson has agreed to share a handful of recipes he has created, including his vegan Chocolate Mousse Cake, so that Canadians from coast to coast can celebrate Christmas or ring in the New Year in parliamentary style.

Chocolate mousse cake INGREDIENTS

down firmly and evenly with an offset spatula. Cover and place in the freezer.

3. In a food processor, puree the avocado with the coconut milk, maple syrup, cashew butter and vanilla to obtain a smooth creamy consistency. In a bowl combine the arrowroot powder and salt, reserve.

Crust:

2 cups pecans ¼ cup cocoa powder 30 ml coconut oil 60 ml maple syrup 5 ml vanilla extract 4 g kosher salt

4. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave until melted 2 cups avocado, flesh only and smooth.

80 ml coconut milk 165 ml maple syrup 5. Add the processed avocado to 15 ml cashew butter the dry ingredients (arrowroot 5 ml vanilla extract and salt), combine well, add 1 tbsp arrowroot powder the melted chocolate 4g kosher salt and completely 220g chocolate chips, TIP: Keep combine until semi-sweet cold until smooth.

Mousse:

Here’s how:

1. Lightly oil an 8” springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

ready to serve

2. In a food processor, pulse the pecans until crushed but not too fine. Remove to a bowl and add the cocoa powder (sifted), coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla and salt, mix until well combined. Scoop mixture onto the prepared pan and press

6. Remove crust from the freezer and pour avocado mixture on top and spread until even and smooth, cover and return to the freezer for at least two hours to firm up.

7. To serve, remove the mousse cake from the freezer and allow to stand at room temperature for 5–10 minutes. Remove from the pan, portion into 12 slices.

Maple salmon INGREDIENTS

2.7 kg Atlantic salmon fillets – fresh, boneless, skin off 2 cups maple syrup 3 cloves garlic, minced ¼ cup salt; pepper to taste

Spinach and shrimp salad

Here’s how:

INGREDIENTS

1. Trim the belly off the salmon fillet and square each end so that the thickness of the fillet is consistent. Reserve end pieces for later use.

2. Pour the maple syrup into a shallow pan; add the garlic, salt and pepper.

3. Place the salmon fillets in the pan with the skin side facing up. Cover and marinate for 6 to 12 hours.

4. Carefully remove the salmon fillets from the marinade, wiping off any excess with your hands only.

Portion the salmon and either BBQ, BBQ/smoke or bake until cooked. The remaining marinade can be used as a glaze for other fish for up to one week – keep refrigerated.

2. In a large bowl, gently toss baby spinach, shrimp, asparagus and onion together.

16 oz Baby spinach, washed 16 oz shrimp, cooked 3. In a small bowl, whisk 1 bunch asparagus, sliced and together lemon juice, Dijon blanched mustard, olive oil, chives, salt ½ medium red onion, thinly and pepper until well combined. sliced 8 oz goat cheese, crumbled 4. Add the dressing to the 4 oz cashews,roasted spinach and shrimp and gently 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice toss. Serve either individual 1 tbsp dijon mustard portions or place in 4 tbsp olive oil a large serving 2 tbsp chives, bowl. Top with the TIP: chopped roasted cashews Serve with 2 tsp kosher salt and crumbled goat a Sauvignon To taste, black cheese.

Blanc pepper NoTE: Shrimp can either be purchased Here’s how: 1. Place cashews on a baking cooked or you can cook from sheet and bake in a moderate raw in a court bouillon and oven (350F) for 5 to 8 minutes cool. You can also use smaller or until the nuts are golden or larger shrimp. Very good brown. Remove, cool and served with warmed garlic Naan bread. reserve.

TODAY’S WOOD CONSTRUCTION STRONG. SAFE. SOPHISTICATED. For more info visit fpac.ca

@FPAC_APFC

/FPAC.APFC 1913-2013 YEARS

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Go pan-Canadian for your holiday pairings Eat, drink, and support Canadian producers. Here is your completely Canadian list of beverage and food pairings to warm the coldest nights of the year. Dig in!

APPETIZERS

MAINS

Snow crab and wine New Brunswick snow crab and Ontario’s Tawse Estate Chardonnay wine.

Tips: You will know when the crab is done when the shell turns dark red and the meat is opaque throughout. Do not overcook. Add some arugula and spinach salad, with strawberries, to counter the buttery crab.

Who might like it:

New Brunswick NDP MP Yvon Godin.

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1 Herring and vodka Sourdough bread from the Yukon topped with a very thin layer of Quebec maple butter, two PEI herring pieces and a teaspoon of black BC caviar paired with an Ontario Pine Needle Vodka shot, to be sipped.

Steak and beer Tips: Add a piece of parsley on top of the herring sandwich.

Who might like it:

Tory MP Daryl Kramp, whose riding makes the vodka (66 Gilead Distillery in Bloomfield, ON).

Prefer turkey over steak?

We’ve got a pair for that. iPolitics.ca for more culinary fixes.

Alberta flank steak marinated in Yukon Gold beer paired with Yukon Gold beer.

Tips: Marinate each steak individually in 2 cans of beer for optimal flavour, for at least 8 hours before cooking. Cook potatoes and apples together, but separate from the steak, as a side.

Who might like it: Tory MP Ryan Leef, whose territory of Yukon loves their homemade brew.

Pie and beer

DESSERT

Maple Sugar Pie from Quebec or a Nanaimo bar from B.C. with a B.C. Red Racer India Pale Ale.

Tips: Thank us later.

Sweets and ales are magical.

On the other hand, if you don’t feel like pairing this topnotch beer with sugar, opt for some Quebec poutine instead.

At least that what NDP MP Jasbir Sandhu would do:

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“This hoppy IPA cuts through the richness of the gravy, cheese curds and fries, making it the perfect Canadian pairing to enjoy while watching a hockey game,” he said. Fun fact: the beer is made in Sandhu’s B.C. riding of Surrey North.

3 NYE WILD CARD: Bannock and Truro wine* Great White of Truro wine from Nova Scotia paired with numerous doses of bannock from the Northwest Territories.

Tips: This motor oil of a wine — which is 20 per cent alcohol — will either leave you dead or wishing you were. But before it turns your digestive tract into a shrivelled remnant of its former self, it will take you on a plunge into madness for the ages. Its citrus undertones will barely register in your memory as it begins to warp your sense of space and time, as well as clothing and decency.

The most powerful base possible is recommended, so go with either poutine or bannock. You know what, go with both. Lots of both. Implant a microchip in your wrist in case your loved ones have to go find you in the woods.

And welcome in the new year — and a goodbye to bad old habits like Truro wine — with style.

Who might like it: The leader of every federal party.

Each has something they’d rather forget. *Not for the lightweight or conscientious drinker.

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The iPolitics holiday print edition

Paul Wells at the launch of The Longer I’m Prime Minister

Julie Pellissier-Lush performing

Shelly Glover at the launch of Christmas Lights Across Canada

The crowd at Ottawa social hotspot, Play

Jeff Watson with a slider

Rick Mercer at Hope Live

photos: cynthia munster

Peter MacKay with his wife, Nazanin Afshin-Jam

The anatomy of the Ottawa cinq-à-sept How to party like a politican The cinq-à-sept. The French moniker describes the block of time after work and before dinner when folks head off court, grab a drink or two, mingle, nibble, network and wind down.

While it is challenging to gather hard data on this social phenomenon, anecdotal evidence confirms that Ottawa claims its very own cinq-à-sept culture, one that throws lobbying into the mix and one that is strictly tailored to the needs of MPs. There is ample rationale for associations, lobbyists, and GR pros to organize their relationship-building soirées according to the established cinq-à-sept formula.

And, plenty of incentives exist to lure members, Senators, staffers, media and

martini-sipping politicos to attend in numbers.

Make no doubt about it. The cinq-à-sept is alive and well in Ottawa. Understanding it takes just a few steps in breaking it down to its basic elements.

Cracking the code The cinq-à-sept formula is shaped by members’ scheduling, occupying the social calendar when the House is sitting and falling right off the radar when MPs take their parliamentary breaks.

With Mondays and Thursdays being travel days and lunches taken over by other responsibilities, members only have Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings open to let their guard down in Ottawa.

“It is like speed dating for

stakeholders…there is a very small window when you can access them.”

–Greg MacEachern of Environics “The point of it is to be a drop in… it is candid, off-the-cuff.”

–Angela Christiano of Summa Strategies When in Ottawa, many MPs are far from their ridings and far from their families.

They don’t want to eat alone.

They don’t want to drink alone.

Thecinq-à-sept offers them a chance to mingle and to have a cocktail in the company of others.

“They live out of a suitcase…that is the appeal of the cinq-à-sept.”

–Angela Christiano of Summa Strategies “The tricky part of it all is

that after a long day, people don’t really want to be lobbied.

Rather, they simply want to have a drink, grab a bite to eat and talk, absorb some meaningful and relevant information. They also – because they are human – want to have a little fun doing all that.”

–Jacquie Larocque of ENsight Some nights will witness upwards of five or six events, equally competing for MPs’ attention.

The increase from previous years can be blamed on the prorogation of Parliament. A compressed session equates to less time to engage MPs outside of parliamentary hours. Then you have committee meetings going later and let’s not forget the votes.

Any GR or PR pro who knows how to navigate the invite list

will say that there is no guarantee of knowing who will show up at what time but a little strategy can go a long way.

“You have to survey the landscape when you’re planning ­— you can’t bump up against a marquee event…and you have to make it worth [MPs’] valuable time to attend.”

–Susan Smith of Bluesky Strategy Group

The lifetime of the cinq-à-sept The cinq-à-sept is here to stay. How it will evolve will depend on changes in political culture and parliamentary reform.

“It will always be important to build relationships in an informal setting…there will always be an active circuit.”

–Susan Smith of Bluesky Strategy Group

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Heralds of Hill fashion In the House, if a member wants airtime they are expected to show up for QP in appropriate dress. The House of Commons Procedure and Practice actually lays down a loose dress code. It pushes for “contemporary business attire” promoting the jacket and tie and frowning upon turtlenecks and ascots.

But, these rules were drafted in 2000 – over a decade ago – when business casual was just beginning to threaten the traditional work suit and bright argyle socks were overpowering the black knee-high. The protocol has successfully acted as a wrench in the style wheel of the majority, essentially blocking contemporary clothing trends from entering the arena. The fashion landscape on the Hill remains monochromatic – a sea of grey and navy blue still dominates the House.

But, in a handful of seats, style prevails. There is a small but mighty group of fashion-conscience members chipping away at the mould, making their own statement.

Celebrating those who flaunt with the rules of convention, here is our Top 10 list of the best dressed MPs, chosen for their extra thought on style each and every day they wake and get dressed to serve those who elected them.

Andrew Scheer Points go to the Speaker of the House for pulling off the classic look. In a time when Speakers abroad are hanging up their traditional garb, Andrew Scheer chooses to don the tricorne hat and perfectly pressed bands.

Jim Flaherty Here is a guy who invests in the just the right shoes for his moment in the spotlight.

Flaherty also gains notoriety in image-conscious circles for establishing his own style brand – he comfortably owns the green tie trademark.

Candice Bergen Now sitting behind the PM in QP, Bergen is on the style ball when Harper is in the House and she’s on screen.

She is a fashion mentor for wrap dresses, perfectlytailored blazers and chunky jewelry.

Leona Aglukkaq Eve Adams Her wardrobe embodies a wide range of en vogue items from a floor-length gold gown to the royal blue blazer. The nowblonde MP continues to change her look, keeping fashion eyes watching her every move.

Scott Reid Slim ties, trim blazers, plaid pants, shirts of all colours and shoes with just the right amount of point. All ingredients in a perfect outfit, but probably not purchased at the family store, Giant Tiger.

Justin Trudeau The many stylish shades of JT hands us all plenty of fashion fodder. He has few couture critics simply because he pulls it off – the jeans, the opened shirt, the cowboy hat, the tuque, even the leather shoulder bag.

Paul Dewar Dewar makes the list again this year for his rockstar suits intentionally-tailored to align with today’s call for slim lapels and tapered pants.

Aglukkaq makes a point of making fur stylish. She is what the ITK’s Stephen Hendrie calls, “loud and proud of seal skin fashion.” She is seen here in seal and fox fur.

Vic Toews While he resigned from politics in July, some say to make way for new faces in cabinet, he leaves big shoes to fill with his clean-cut presentation.

For a commentary on MPs’ fashion choices by our very own style pundits, go to In the City at iPolitics.ca.

Jonathan GenestJourdain A lawyer by trade before entering the political arena, the Deputy Critic for Aboriginal Affairs has his suits custom made at Holt Renfrew… and it shows.

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The iPolitics holiday print edition

Tie one on

In the Ottawa political bubble, some stories seem more fable than fact. The twists and turns keep the bubble on its toes, and provide fodder for the Sunday shows. Here, we give you a turn to write a too good to be true fiction fit for the holiday season. member of parliament for PERSON

, left his downtown Ottawa apartment just before 9 a.m. on a cold December morning. It had taken FICTIONAL PLACE

him

minutes to choose today’s holiday tie — he’d picked out one given to him by his number

— with a snowman with a black noun

bedazzled

.

was known around Parliament Hill for his

noun

Christmas spirit. It was infectious, he often told himself. He ADJECTIVE

same person

always decorated his office door with

. And he often roused the House of Commons with merry member’s statements. That morning, ADJECTIVE

same person

nOUn

arrived at his office in Centre Block to a surprise waiting for him. On his desk lay a(n)

basket filled with

card, attached to the gift by ribbon, was a note from Prime Minister ADJECTIVE

, wrapped up with a large

PLural noun

ADJECTIVE

bow. On a

, and noun

colour

of Canada. “Happy holiday greetings,” the card read. “Thank 2nd person

you again for your help with the Christmas party last week. It was a

event that helped bring our team together. Inside this basket you’ll find ADJECTIVE

some

and same PLural noun

down in his

for you and yours. Merry Christmas.” Smith smiled. Today was looking like it would be a 2nd PLural noun

desk chair, booted up his Apple i ADJECTIVE

Prime Minister

and went to his favourite website: www.awesomechristmasties.com. He needed to find a present for noun

, to thank him for his generosity and kindness, maybe one with a nice sparkling red 2nd person

day. He sat ADJECTIVE

right in the middle. noun

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Resolutions from the naughty list When the clock ticks down to 2014, what some politicos should be resolving Andrew Scheer: Find new ways to pronounce ‘order.’

Speaker Scheer needs to come up with some variations on the word ‘order’ to control the rowdy MPs during QP.

Thomas Mulcair: Get ‘testiphony’ added to the dictionary.

Grilling Harper in question period about Irving Gerstein’s involvement in the Senate scandal, Mulcair mixed up the words ‘testify’ and ‘testimony,’ coining the word ‘tesimphony.’ The House erupted in laughter.

Stephen Harper: Buy bigger bus. Be very, very clear about who was involved in the purchase.

Just in case the Prime Minister has more former confidants he beneath the wheels. With Duffy, Wallin, Wright, and Lebreton already down there, it’s getting crowded.

Jason MacDonald: Start reading help wanted ads.

Given the turnover of Harper’s directors of communications, it’s about time that MacDonald start the hunt for his next stint.

BONUS TIP: Upgrade to LinkedIn Pro.

Brent Rathgeber: Establish and lead a Backbench Spring.

Justin Trudeau:

Choose paint colours for the baby’s room at 24 Sussex.

If more Conservative MPs revolt from the backbenches, Rathgeber, the now-indepedent MP for St. Albert, could lead his former colleagues in Canada’s very own Backbench Spring.

Early election?

The Liberal leader is betting he’ll be the next prime minister, so he better begin preparing a room for the new Trudeau baby (due in May). We hear the animal room could be freeing up.

Paul Calandra:

Answer a question.

Any question.

The Prime Minister’s parliamentary secretary has faced repeated criticism from opposition parties and pundits for his refusal to provide good-quality answers in question period.

Charlie the Chinchilla:

Seek appointment to Red Chamber.

With more and more vacancies in the Senate, the Harper family rodent has his eyes on a seat in the Red Chamber. After all, he is probably one of Harper’s closest remaining confidants.

Rob Ford: Recall Ford Nation; cracked Leader.

Time to rally the fleet of Ford supporters. Reason for recall: their leader is cracked.

BONUS TIP: See if Mulcair will go splitsies on registration fes.

Nigel Wright:

Trademark “good to go.”

In an email to some PMO officials on Feb. 22, Harper’s then-director of communications referencing a deal to have Duffy’s expenses — $32,000 at the time — covered by the Conservative party, said “We are good to go from the PM.” The term has since caught on — note our cover.

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The iPolitics holiday print edition

What’s on Harper’s wish list this year An imagined letter to jolly Saint Nick Dear Santa,

Conservative attack ads.

Thank you for last year’s sweater vest (the blue plaid one). It really rounded out the collection. The matching one for Stanley was a nice touch, although I think Charlie felt a little left out. Can you send him a blue top hat? Lil’ guy likes to feel fancy.

By the way, any idea what his secret to a lustrous head of hair is? My stylist and I are starting to work on my 2015 election image, we’re thinking Elvis meets Mr. Dress-up. A little something for everyone, don’t you think?

This year, I’d love for you to work your magic in a different way. PLEASE just make this Senate stuff go away. Do you think you could lend me a couple of your elves? The kids in short pants could use the help. Just make sure that help isn’t in the form of a $90,000 cheque…

And hey, I do have others at heart. For instance, if you could slip a new Rob Ford video into the Press Gallery’s stocking, I’m sure I would they would love that.

As for Justin Trudeau, please make sure his missing platform lends itself nicely for the latest and greatest

As for Mulcair, I suspect his beard holds all his power — can you spot me a trimming accident? Would sure help out in QP! Laureen’s asked me to put in a request for a Senate makeover. I think a new paint job is in order. Get rid of the Liberal red and replace it with good ol’ Conservative blue.

If you could cross check current senators and staff with your naughty list and let me know who’s due for the Duffy treatment, that’d be great.

Maybe you could even suggest a few replacements?

Finally, if you’re looking for any more gift ideas, A Great

Game is already half off at Amazon — I could send a pallet to the North Pole!

I’m thinking my next book will be titled An Irrelevant Response — Calandra’s ghost writing that one. I just know it’s going to be a Globe and Mail bestseller.

Yours truly, Stephen J. Harper (a.k.a. Stevie) P.S. There’s a new Beatles Greatest Hits album out. Would make a nice stocking stuffer...

P.P.S. Did you know we’re looking to annex your home turf?

Tax breaks and labour code loopholes will be commensurate with your generosity.

iPolitics.ca

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“The year has given vent to the ‘will he or won’t he’ question. Most every day from now on you will be hearing speculation on whether Harper will run again.”

2013: The year everything changed LAWRENCE MARTIN The year 2013 was the one, you might say, that brought clarity, that crystallized the record. On the plus side, it established the Stephen Harper government as a strong and successful one in conservative policy terms. On the downside it established the government as one of the most politically immoral the country has ever seen.

The year brought forward what will likely be Harper’s most memorable policy achievement — the European free trade pact. It produced, on top of so many other examples of abuse of power, what will likely be his most memorable scandal — the Senate expenses cover-up.

The year was also significant in that it restored the natural political order of things.

The notion that a paradigm shift took place in the last election took a drubbing as the NDP fell back into its traditional third place lodging and the Liberal party re-established itself as a top player.

The year provided ample proof that the Trudeau name

can still capture the public imagination. The Liberals didn’t undergo any dramatic policy changes. They jumped from third place to first in the polls essentially because of the arrival of the untested son of Pierre Trudeau.

The year’s most impressive political performer was NDP leader Thomas Mulcair.

Because of him, 2013 may go down as the year when question period became meaningful again. His dramatic courtroom-style interrogation of the prime minister — featuring short, succinct questions instead of long-winded lectures — was highly effective. It was a change long overdue. We can expect to see other leaders pick up on this, producing question periods worth watching.

Though the New Democrats slumped in opinion polls and fared poorly in the recent byelections, it is still a party very much in the game. The latest Harris-Decima poll put them at 24 per cent, only two behind the governing Conservatives.

The year has given vent to the “will he or won’t he” question. Get ready for it. Most

every day from now on you will be hearing speculation in the media on whether Harper will run again or step down.

The assumption was that he was very much likely to run in 2015. But now, with the scandal casting such a pall, it’s become no better than an even-money bet. His director of communications assures us he won’t step down. But not much can be read into that. Even if he was intent on leaving, the PM wouldn’t tip his hand at this point.

established before the election campaign.

If he had his druthers, Harper would like to lead the party into another campaign. He is probably right in thinking Justin Trudeau is vulnerable.

Trudeau had a strong first half of 2013 but, in the latter months, slips of the tongue showed him to be an inexperienced leader and enthusiasm for him dampened.

“The year’s most impressive political performer was Mulcair. Because of him, 2013 may go down as the year when QP became meaningful again.”

But we will probably know for sure in the first half of the new year. If he is departing he will have to announce by June or so that there can be a leadership convention in the fall.

But the PM’s hand may be forced by continuing revelations on the Senate scandal and/or in connection with electoral fraud being investigated by Elections Canada.

If he waits longer, he puts his successor up against the wall. A leadership convention next spring would leave the new leader with no time to get

On the Senate scandal, while there is reason to believe the prime minister didn’t know the details regarding a payment to Senator Mike Duffy to cover

his expenses, it is far more difficult to believe he didn’t know that his office was involved in what his director of communications calls a “cover-up”. If the opposition establishes he did know of it, he is a crippled leader.

An exceedingly tough decision awaits Harper. On balance it would appear that his best option would be to pass the torch.

He has advanced the Conservative cause in many policy areas.

The European free trade deal gives him a legacy piece.

On the political side, having led the movement to merge the party and having given the party three election victories, he has a record that will sit well in the history books.

By staying, he risks getting tarred more and more with the scandal brush — and he risks losing to a name, the Trudeau name, which he has always detested politically.

Rationally, the arguments stack high for Harper’s leaving.

But as history has often demonstrated, it is very difficult for those who wield great power to abandon it.

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The iPolitics holiday print edition

The Pope and Mr. Harper PAUL ADAMS The Christmas season seems like as good a journalistic hook as any to talk about Christianity, politics and the economy.

In Canada — unlike the United States, a more religiose society — our politicians don’t talk much about their faith.

JFK, Mario Cuomo, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney all felt called upon to explain their specific religious convictions, and of course no end of mainly Protestant politicians south of the border talk about their faith as effortlessly as they do football, the flag and apple pie.

In Canada in modern times, only Preston Manning has ever publicly explained in detail the relationship between his faith and his politics. Stockwell Day was challenged to but never could.

One of the unremarked virtues of Paul Wells’ excellent recent book on Stephen Harper is his dissection of the thenopposition leader’s 2003 speech behind closed doors to the shadowy conservative group Civitas.

Speaking of what he called the “Left” (which apparently included the Chrétien Liberals) he warned of moral “nihilism” and argued that there was more to conservatism than free-market economics.

“Serious conservative parties cannot shy away from values questions,” he said. “Social values are increasingly the really big issues.” This was the case, he said, from family life to foreign affairs.

Harper is, we know, an evangelical Protestant Christian, though he has never talked about his faith much in public.

Historically, Protestantism has been closely intertwined with capitalism, in part because they both emerged in their modern form in Europe in overlapping epochs. Max Weber famously argued in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism that with its emphasis on relentless hard work and abstemious living, Protestantism naturally produced pools of capital that created the conditions for the modern economy.

He attributed to Protestantism what he called the “peculiar idea” than men had a moral duty to increase their capital and possessions.

And yet great wealth inevitably leads, perhaps with a lag of a generation or two, to lavish consumption. And the “creative destruction” that capitalism celebrates also disrupts and sometimes destroys families and other social networks that most Christians believe are helpful if not essential to a well-governed moral and spiritual life. So there’s an inevitable tension.

Catholicism has a different history with capitalism. It was deeply embedded in two previous political and economic systems — Roman imperialism and medieval feudalism. For that reason alone, the Catholic church was suspicious of capitalism from the start. Capitalism threatened to undermine the material and cultural basis of the ancient church.

It wasn’t for nothing that

Protestants once portrayed the Pope as the “purple whore of Rome,” in the silky raiment of a decadent landed class.

of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience.”

It is no coincidence, as the Marxists like to say, that the current Pope is the first ever to name himself after Francis of Assisi, the 12th century mendicant friar. It isn’t easy dedicating yourself to poverty at the Vatican, one of the most sumptuous palaces on earth.

The Pope draws attention to the grisly fact that inequality and deprivation literally kill some people, besides bringing much suffering to others. But he also argues that the relentless quest to satiate consumer appetites dehumanizes those of us who are the supposed win-

“While the Pope has called us to reawaken our sense of a larger self, Harper has doubled down on a view of us as consumers.”

Over the centuries since capitalism took its grip, the Catholic church has in various places at various times allied itself with landowners, peasants, workers and yes, sometimes market millionaires. But at least in theory it has tended to cast a jaundiced eye on capitalism — in the last century or so sometimes lumping it together with Marxism as an example of the materialist philosophy the church rejected.

Pope Francis seems more serious than some of his predecessors about this mission and recently released his mildly titled but far-reaching economic tract ‘Joy of the Gospel’, which has been denounced by no less a thought-leader than Rush Limbaugh as communistic.

“The danger in today’s world,” Francis says at the start of the document, which runs to hundreds of pages, “pervaded as it is by consumerism, is the desolation and anguish born

ners in the modern economy.

Not surprisingly, this has provoked a furious reaction from market conservatives, many of whom argue that by creating such great wealth, capitalism lifts up the poor just as it does the rich.

More than a few conservatives have criticized the Pope for being economically naive.

Perhaps that’s a cue for us to ask some embarrassing questions about the moral and spiritual sophistication of the works of the Chicago School.

The problem with free market ideas has never been that they don’t describe the economy.

It is that they are like oregano in a garden — growing like topsy, crowding out other ideas and sometimes smothering them.

They invade our moral and political reasoning and replace it with the mechanical logic of homo economicus.

For Stephen Harper, it seems, this invasive force has been too much. Notwithstanding his Civitas speech, he has always been wary of the danger the outspoken views of his backbenchers on abortion and same-sex marriage might pose to his party. His values agenda has shrunk to not much more than a populist horror of crime.

The international trade minister, Ed Fast, recently announced anew approach to foreign policy under which “all” of Canada’s diplomatic assets will be “harnessed to support the pursuit of commercial success by Canadian companies”.

Though this is surely an overstatement, it does suggest a cast of mind that puts other values such as family, society, development, peace and human rights in their much-diminished place.

In the recent throne speech, the government’s chosen spin was an emphasis on those vital human issues of cell phone rates and cable unbundling.

Sigh.

So while the new Pope has called on us to reawaken our sense of a larger self, Harper has doubled down on a narrow view of us as consumers and producers, a view he himself once saw as inadequate.

I am not a Christian. Not even a theist.

But in the debate over whether the tonic for our modern ills lies with more or less emphasis on the narrowest economic facet of our being, I’m with the Pope.

iPolitics.ca

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Under the tree this year Paring down the best books for the Canadian politics lover on your list Need help completing your Christmas shopping list? We asked the authors of some of the year’s hottest political books to help us help you get the right book into the hands of your cherished family members. Here’s what they told us.

For the shopaholic or political junkie Susan Delacourt, Shopping for Votes

For the cat person – might keep them away from the cat GIFs

For the media junkie and insomniac – they’ll get what they crave

Paul Wells, The Longer I’m Prime Minister

Don Newman, Welcome To The Broadcast

For the optimist in every family Brad Lavigne, Building the Orange Wave

For every lover of Canada — who already has a canoe Bob Plamondon, The Truth About Trudeau

Dear Santa,

All I want for Christmas is retirement income and health care security for all Canadians.

FSNA wishes you a safe and happy holiday season.

HonourYourPromise.ca