According to CBC News, the Telegraph-Journal has made some major changes in wake of “Wafergate”.

You may recall the front page headline in the Telegraph-Journal on July 8th, 2009 – ‘It’s a scandal’ – Catholics demand explanation for PM pocketing communion wafer at LeBlanc funeral.

The article included a ridiculous story about the Prime Minister and whether he took communion at the state funeral of former governor general Roméo LeBlanc.  The article seemed to imply that he took the wafer and kept it.  Either way, it was not news, and there was no actual proof that anything actually happened.  This is supposed to be why there are editors.

Today, the fallout could be seen on the front page of the newspaper – Telegraph-Journal apologizes to Prime Minister:

On Wednesday, July 8, 2009, the Telegraph-Journal published a story about the funeral mass celebrating the life of former Governor-General Romeo LeBlanc that was inaccurate and should not have been published. We pride ourselves in maintaining high standards of journalism and ethical reporting, and regret this was not followed in this case.

The story stated that a senior Roman Catholic priest in New Brunswick had demanded that the Prime Minister’s Office explain what happened to the communion wafer which was handed to Prime Minister Harper during the celebration of communion at the funeral mass. The story also said that during the communion celebration, the Prime Minister “slipped the thin wafer that Catholics call ‘the host’ into his jacket pocket”.

There was no credible support for these statements of fact at the time this article was published, nor is the Telegraph-Journal aware of any credible support for these statements now. Our reporters Rob Linke and Adam Huras, who wrote the story reporting on the funeral, did not include these statements in the version of the story that they wrote. In the editing process, these statements were added without the knowledge of the reporters and without any credible support for them.

The Telegraph-Journal sincerely apologizes to the Prime Minister for the harm that this inaccurate story has caused. We also apologize to reporters Rob Linke and Adam Huras and to our readers for our failure to meet our own standards of responsible journalism and accuracy in reporting.

Now tonight, as confirmed by CBC News, we find out that Jamie Irving is no longer the publisher and Shawna Richer is no longer the editor of the Telegraph-Journal.

Finally, some news worth reporting!

Today, it was announced that the re-enactment of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham would be cancelled.

The mock battle was supposed to be the highlight of a series of commemorative activities this summer in Quebec City to mark the 250th anniversary of the battle in which the British beat the French for control of what was then called New France.

Why was it cancelled you might ask?  Money issues, lack of interest?

No, it was due to the separatists.

The Parti Québécois and Bloc Québécois began criticizing the event as a slap in the face for Quebecers of French ancestry.  They launched petitions and internet campaigns.

Some of the participants even received threatening letters.  This threat of violence appears to have lead to the cancellation.

“The Quebec Historical Corps cannot in good conscience allow thousands of dedicated volunteers not to mention spectators and staff to potentially put themselves in harm’s way by participating in an event which has been a subject of threats of disruption and even violence.”

Sadly, we all lose in this situation. The mock battle would have been a great way of gaining peoples interest in an important part of our nations history.

Now, because some people don’t agree with history – we sweep it under the table and ignore that it happened.  It’s a slap in the face of every Canadian – regardless of their ancestry.

“Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

Today, the Prime Minister has named 18 people to the senate.

According to the Conservative press release: “The incoming Senators have all pledged to support eight-year term limits and other Senate reform legislation.  Each incoming Senator has also declared his or her unwavering commitment to support Canadian unity and oppose the coalition.”

Below are bios for the new senators from New Brunswick:

John D. Wallace was born in Rothesay, NB and had a distinguished law career in Saint John. Most recently, he served for 7 years as Partner/Counsel at the law firm of Stewart McKelvey. Previously he had been Corporate Counsel for Irving Oil Limited and a Partner at Palmer, O’Connell, Leger, Turnbull and Turnbull. Mr. Wallace continued his community service after retiring from law. He is a Member of the University of New Brunswick Board of Governors, the St. John Imperial Theatre Capital Campaign Cabinet and the New Brunswick Symphony Steering Committee. Mr. Wallace was the Telegraph-Journal Male Newsmaker of the Year in 2002 and became a recipient of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal in 2003.

Percy Mockler has been a long-time MLA in the New Brunswick legislature since he was first elected in 1982. During his time in the provincial legislature, Mr. Mockler served in a number of portfolio’s including Minister of Wellness, Culture and Sport, Solicitor General and Minister of Human Resources Development and Housing. Mr. Mockler is a former advisory member for trade opportunities strategy with the federal Department of External Affairs. He has also been active in community affairs as treasurer of local fish and wildlife associations, a director of the caisse populaire, and as a member and chair of his local school board.

Full bios of the new senators can be found here.

It was an exciting election that went down to the wire.

At the end of the day, another Conservative minority government was elected.

Several of their big wins took place right here in New Brunswick.

Saint John – Conservative Rodney Weston upsets the incumbent Liberal Paul Zed in a close race.  Only 495 votes separated the two.  Weston was Progressive Conservative MLA in Lord’s first term and then his chief of staff.

Fredericton – Conservative Keith Ashfield took the riding for the Torys.  There was no incumbent in this riding, it had been left open by Liberal Andy Scot.  Ashfield is a three time Progressive Conservative MLA who also served in cabinet as the Minister of Natural Resources.

Miramichi – Conservative Tilly O’Neill-Gordon pulled off an upset against Liberal Charles Hubbard. Hubbard had been the MLA since 1993.  O’Neill-Gordon is a retired school teacher.

Fundy Royal – Not surprisingly, this riding stayed Conservative, easily re-electing Rob Moore.  Moore has been the MLA for the riding since 2004.

New Brunswick Southwest – Another Conservative riding that easily re-elected the candidate – Greg Thompson.  Thompson has been the MLA since 1988 (with the exception of one loss in 1993).  He has also served in cabinet as the Minister of Veterans Affairs.

Tobique – Mactaquac – Conservative Mike Allen only won this riding in 2006 by 254 votes; however, he built on that success to deliver a solid win to the Conservatives this time.  He has been the MLA since 2006.

Everyone needs to watch this video before casting their vote on Tuesday.

The Liberal leader Stéphane Dion is asked a SIMPLE question around the economy, and he fails to understand it.

Too bad that 67% of our population only speaks English.

As I watched a CBC show around mandatory voting, I came to the conclusion that it’s not a matter of forcing people to vote; but, the ultimate issue is with our current electoral system.

While the country has changed a great deal since 1867, our electoral system has not.  Obviously, changes such as allowing women to vote have occurred; however, the fundamental system is still the same.

I’ve been thinking about this all week, and I would like to put out some ideas for people to think about themselves.  I think there are three ways we can increase voter turnout with resorting to mandatory voting:

1) Proportional Representation

Canada’s has a first past the post system, which means that the person with the most votes wins; however, this is also the root of the decline in voter participation.  Living in a riding that is almost guaranteed to go for a certain party’s candidate makes your vote pointless.  For example, someone voting for the Green party in an Alberta riding has very little change of electing a candidate, and in effect this makes it more likely for these people to not even show up to vote.

I believe that this problem can be addressed by implementing Proportional representation.

Proportional Representation is a system that tries to balance the results (seats won) based on percentages of votes received.  With this system, the Green party supporter in Alberta could vote for the Green party and know that their vote would matter, as it would be combined with all other Green party votes across the country.  Having 5% of the support across the country would roughly translate into 15 seats for the Greens.  On the flip side, the Bloc (with 10% support) would only receive 30 seats instead of the 75 that they currently have.

While there are disadvantages with this system (like all systems), I feel that it encourages people to get out and vote for the party that they support (without having to resort to vote swapping).  When people are voting for what they believe, and they know their vote counts, they will vote.

2) Lower the Voting Age

At the age of 16 you are able to do a lot of things (legally) such as getting a permit to drive a car.  I also believe that this is the age at which you should be allowed to start voting.

Currently the voting age is 18.  The problem is that by the time you are 18, you are likely finished high school, or are finishing it.  You may be in college or university dealing with tuition increases (or university closures) brought on by cuts made by the current government – one you were not allowed to vote for.  I just can’t understand how this is acceptable.

I strongly believe that these students are more then able to make a informed decision.  Also, the younger you start voting, the more likely you will keep voting throughout your live.

Check out Vote16.ca for more information!

3) Online Voting

There are a lot of amazing things happening online today.

People are shopping, banking, investing, and gambling.  All of these are secure activities that many of us do everyday.

I believe that voting is one more thing that will be commonly performed online.  Currently in Canada, it is the municipalities that are leading the way.  Markham, Ontario is a great example.  In 2006, they allowed people to vote online, check out that website for more information on how it worked.

With this option, you no longer have to worry about getting there before or after work, finding a place to park, or standing in long lines – simply log on and vote.  When it’s that simple, it’s much more likely even an apathetic person will take the time to vote.

One of the more interesting stories so far in this election campaign is the “Pooping Puffin”.  For anyone curious, it was a video shown on the Conservative party’s notaleader.ca website (until taken down earlier today).

It showed a puffin pooping on Stéphane Dion’s shoulder.

Not to defend the party; but, I really don’t see how this is all that offensive.  I thought it sounded funny when I heard it on the news.

The real question is – why a puffin?

Well the puffin was mentioned last year by deputy Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff as a potential mascot for the Liberal party.

“It’s a noble bird because it has good family values. They stay together for 30 years,” Ignatieff said.

“They lay one egg (each year). They put their excrement in one place. They hide their excrement.… They flap their wings very hard and they work like hell.

“This seems to me a symbol for what our party should be.”

Well, looks like enough people thought it was a big deal, and they put the Prime Minister in a position where he actually had to apologize today.

My comment is simply this – if this is concidered offensive, what do they call everything else being said by all parties during this campaign?

As you may remember, I launched a Facebook application earlier this year called Politics in Canada.

Since the launch, the number of people using it has grown to over five hundred!

With a new Federal Election on the way, I’ve decided to start making some updates to the application.

One of the changes includes new charts.  These new charts are much easier to read!

The interactive support maps are also filling up as more users specify their location.

Be sure to check out the Politics in Canada application.

Look forward to seeing new parties being added and new features as they are requested!

As this week comes to an end, I can only sit back and say that it’s been a good week for the Conservative Party of Canada.

Who could have expected so many confidence motions to pass without any fuss from the Liberals.

I had thought the 2008 budget would be the most likely cause of an election; however, it turned out to be a really solid budget that was small on spending. Basically, there wasn’t anything in the budget that the Liberals could force an election on; therefore, they will be abstaining from the vote. Now you can understand why it’s no wonder the budget’s tax-free savings account is getting better coverage!

The next big possibility was around the Afghanistan motion. This is where the Liberal party seemed very opposed to the notion of increasing the time lines and staying in a combat role. However, soon after the Liberal’s proposed some minor changes, a revised motion was created and is now expected to pass with the support of the Liberals.

The last news item was the Crime bill passing in the Senate. This decision occurred only days before the Prime Minister threatened to call an election if the bill was delayed.

The highlights of the bill are as follows:

• Tougher mandatory prison terms for serious gun crimes.
• Stiffer penalties for impaired driving.
• Tougher bail laws.
• Tougher rules for repeat offenders.
• Increasing the age of sexual consent to 16 from 14 in certain cases.

The Liberal’s had also abstained on the motion calling on the Senate to pass the bill.

Make you wonder what the Liberal’s actually do in Ottawa eh?

Keep that in mind the next time a federal election actually occurs – hopefully as planned in the fall of 2009.

Let me first say – I love the idea of having another holiday. Now let me explain why I think Jack Layton should not be suggesting that Family Day be a national holiday.

The NDP leader forgets that there is already a day that is not recognized as a holiday across the country. This is an important day that should be – it’s called Remembrance Day. It’s a the day remember the sacrifices made by those in the military who have fought in past and present conflicts.

I do understand what Family Day represents. It’s a great idea; but, it is the wrong one to fight for right now. Jack Layton should be fighting for Remembrance Day to be recognized across the country – both federally and provincially.

I was in Toronto for Remembrance Day in 2007 and it was sad to see how few people were in attendance. That is a national shame and it should be corrected before creating new holidays.