A new year and a new leader
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Liberal Party President reveals ontario’s new premier will be chosen in january
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Monday, October 22, 2012 News worth sharing.
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PBO will take feds to court Finances. Environment Canada, Foreign Affairs and Justice among departments that have refused to divulge the details of their cuts
Going for a spin Matt Hare, left, of Kingston’s Zap Records helps out a customer at the Ottawa Record Fair. Hundreds turned out at St. Anthony’s Hall on Sunday for the 1 10/11/12 4:40 PM twice-annualLMD-OTT-Metro-000-2014-10x164-CLR.pdf event. ALEX BOUTILIER/METRO
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Canada’s parliamentary budget officer says he’ll file court action this week over the refusal of some federal departments to hand over details on billions of dollars in planned cuts by the Harper government. In a statement issued Sunday, Kevin Page says his office “will be filing and serving legal notice on all non-compliant” deputy ministers. He wouldn’t provide any further details, saying “this matter will constitute the subject of a legal action” and it would be inappropriate for him to comment further. Page has said the government has not been open and clear enough about what it intends to cut, and has threat-
ened court action for weeks. As of the middle of last week, only 23 per cent of federal departments and agencies had handed over the requested financial information, and another 52 per cent had said they were going to comply by last Friday. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, appearing on CTV’s Question Period Sunday, said Page was overstepping his authority and should be looking at money the government has already spent, rather than future plans. “Quite frankly, it’s outside of Mr. Page’s mandate,” Flaherty told the interview program. “He’s looking at money that’s not been spent. That’s what we do when we do deficit reduction.” NDP finance critic Peggy Nash described the pending court action as a sad day for democracy. “This is about transparency and providing independent analysis. That’s what the Parliamentary Budget Officer does,” she said. The Canadian Press