Politik Dunia

Take The House's 2012 political quiz

Written By Unknown on Senin, 31 Desember 2012 | 21.16

It's that time of year again! Time to test how much you remember about what happened this year in political news.

Grab a pen and paper and take the quiz at home while the CBC's National Affairs Editor Chris Hall, the CBC's political blogger and House contributor Kady O'Malley, and PostMedia columnist and long-time member of the CBC's popular At Issue panel on The National Andrew Coyne face off for the first time against one another! Who will ring in 2013 with bragging rights to boot?

You can follow along with our three contestants by taking the quiz below but no cheating or web searches allowed!

Good luck!

Question 1: The year began with Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointing, on January 6th, seven new senators to the upper chamber. Name three of the seven.

Bonus Question (1) : Of the seven new senators, which one was actually elected in a provincial Senate nominee election?

Question 2: Liberals gathered in Ottawa for their national annual biennial convention. What MP crossed the floor days before the Liberal convention, and what riding does he/she represent?

Question 3: We've seen it recently, there's growing frustration among First Nations leaders. Remember back in January, the highly anticipated Crown-First Nations gathering took place in Ottawa following the housing crisis in Attawapiskat. Name one of the five steps the federal government and First Nations agreed to take:

Question 4: Name at least two policy changes Prime Minister Stephen Harper floated, to the surprise of many, during a major speech on January 26th, and where was he when he did that?

Question 5: In early February, Prime Minister Stephen Harper made his second official trip to China. In a symbolic gesture, Beijing entrusted Canada with a pair of pandas. Name one of the two pandas.

Bonus Question (2): What's the name of the monkey that escaped at a north Toronto Ikea?

Question 6: What did Public Safety Minister Vic Toews say in response to Liberal public safety critic Francis Scarpaleggia during question period on February 13th, after Scarpaleggia asked about a Bill C-30, a controversial internet surveillance bill?

Bonus question: Where is the bill at right now?

Question 7: In March, Elections Canada confirmed for the first time it was investigating complaints received about robocalls placed in the last federal election beyond the riding of Guelph. We now know that an investigation is underway in 56 of the 308 federal ridings. Voters from how many ridings have taken this to court?

Question 8: Labour Minister Lisa Raitt intervened in what labour dispute this past March?

        A. VIA Rail
        B. Air Canada
        C. Canada Post

Question 9: Still in March, federal New Democrats gathered in Toronto to elect a successor to Jack Layton. Who did Tom Mulcair beat, and in what round?

Question 10: When Nathan Cullen finished last in the third round of voting, he released his supporters but did not tell them who to vote for. What controversial proposal did Cullen make during the leadership race?

Bonus Question (3): Which federal Liberal leadership contender is proposing the same thing?

Question 11: The Conservatives tabled a budget in March that promised to cut $5.2 billion in spending over the next three years. Who will be paying more taxes in 2013 than they were paying before, as a result of Budget 2012?

Question 12: Alison Redford was elected Premier of Alberta in April. How many women currently serve as Premiers and Territorial Leaders?

Bonus Question (4): Who was the first woman to ever serve as Premier in Canada?

Question 13 : Do you recognize this voice?

Question 14: May 4th marked the end of an era in Canada. A measure that had been announced in the budget -- and is expected to save taxpayers 11 million dollars a year -- took place. What am I talking about?


Question 15: On May 18th, a controversial bill -- C-78 -- passed Quebec's National Assembly. Among many things, it would force organizers of this summer's student protests to submit their public venue and route for approval to police. How many people could be present without police approval?


Question 16: New cross-border shopping rules came into affect on June 1st. The new limit for Canadians who go to the U.S. for 24 hours jumps from 50 dollars worth of goods to 200. What is the new limit for Canadians who go south of the border for 48 hours?


Question 17: On June 15th, after more than 22 hours of voting, the 425-page omnibus budget implementation bill -- C-38 -- passed the House of Commons. How many votes -- forced by a number of opposition amendments -- did MPs have to go through?

        A. 142
        B. 151
        C. 157

Question 18: On July 3rd, a controversial member of the Conservative cabinet announced plans to step down following a string of controversies. Name that now former cabinet minister.


Question 19: In late July, premiers gathered in Halifax for their annual summer meeting. What issue overshadowed the rest of the council of the federation's agenda?


Question 20: Early August, Jean Charest called a provincial election for September 4th. The Parti Quebecois ended up defeating Charest's Liberals, but only won a minority. How many more seats than the Liberals did the PQ get?


Question 21: On August 24th, the Liberal riding association in Guelph was found guilty and fined for its use of an automated robocall in the last federal election. Which Act did the association violate?

Bonus Question (5): What's the name of the Conservative campaign staffer in Guelph who broke his silence about what he says happened during the last election?

Question 22: In early September, while at the APEC Summit in Vladivostok, Russia, Canada Prime Minister Stephen Harper signed an investment treaty with China, formally known as a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement. When did the two countries start negotiating that agreement, known as a FIPA?

Question 23: What former Premier released his memoirs on September 12th, and in doing so, called into question the details surrounding the "Kitchen Accord", the 1982 patriation of the Constitution.

Question 24: In late September, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird announced a deal with the U.K. to share space in embassies. Where will the two countries first be "roommates"?

Question 25: October 2nd, Justin Trudeau confirms he will run for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada. How old was his father Pierre Elliott Trudeau when he became the leader of that party?

Question 26: On October 15th, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announces he will step down and that he's decided to prorogue the legislature. Once his replacement is chosen, who will be the current premier who's been in office the longest?


Question 27: On October 16th, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, James Moore made an announcement at the Museum of Civilization in Gatineau Quebec.     The government announced that the Museum would be renamed. What is the new name, and what rationale did the Minister give for renaming it?


Question 28: On October 18th, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty tabled the omnibus budget implementation bill. In it were a number of controversial measures, but one that got the biggest immediate reaction were the changes to the Navigable Waters Protection Act. According to Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, Canada has "tens of thousands of rivers and millions of lakes". How many of these rivers and lakes were protected in the new Budget?


Question 29: On October 19th, in a surprise move, the Government agreed to hive off the MP Pension portion of the Budget. Who announced the decision in the House of Commons that day?


Question 30: On October 25th, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on the Etobicoke Centre case. This is a two-part question. Who launched the case, and what was being disputed ?

Question 31: On November 6th, the United States re-elected Barack Obama as President. That evening, Michigan voters also defeated Proposal 6. What was Proposal 6, and why was that significant to Canada?


Question 32: On November 13th, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty made a surprise announcement that would affect certain Conservative campaign promises. What did he announce?

Question 33: The Governor of the Bank of Canada, Mark Carney, will become the next governor of the Bank of England. Who is the current governor of the Bank of England?

Bonus Question (6): Mark Carney will become the first foreigner in how many years to lead the Bank of England?

Question 34: On November 29th, Canada voted to oppose upgrading the UN observer status of the Palestinian Authority from "entity" to "non-member state." 8 other countries did the same. Name 3 of those countries.

Question 35: On December 7th, Prime Minister Harper announced the government was approving the two separate takeovers of Canadian companies by foreign state-owned companies. One was the CNOOC takeover of Nexen. Name the other one.

Answers:

Answer 1:    -JoAnne Buth of Manitoba served as president of the Canola Council of Canada
                   -Jean-Guy Dagenais, was a failed candidate in the Quebec riding of Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot
                   -Norman Doyle served as a Conservative MP in Newfoundland and Labrador
                   -Ghislain Maltais, a former member of Quebec's provincial legislature, and a key party organizer for the Tories in Quebec
                   -Dr. Asha Seth, a Toronto-based physician with more than 30 years of medical experience
                   -Betty Unger, worked as a registered nurse before founding a nursing services company with offices across Alberta.
                   -Vernon White, former Ottawa Police Chief, former RCMP

Answer Bonus Question (1): Betty Unger. She was one of four candidates elected in Alberta in 2004. Her appointment to the upper chamber makes her the first elected woman Senator, and the third elected Senator. (Bert Brown and the late Stanley Waters are the second and first, respectively.)

Answer 2: Quebec MP Lise St-Denis decided to leave the NDP for the Liberals on the Tuesday before the convention. The backbencher represents the riding of Saint-Maurice-Champlain.

Answer 3:     -Reviewing the structure of financial arrangements between the federal government and First Nations
                   -Removing barriers to First Nations governance
                   -Advancing claims resolution and treaty implementation
                   -Education reform
                   -Launching an economic task force within three months of the meeting

The two sides committed to a progress report no later than Jan. 24, 2013.

Answer 4: Harper said the "major transformations" were coming in areas such as the retirement pension system i.e. raising the age of eligibility for OAS from 65 to 67. Harper said changes would also be coming immigration, science and technology investment and the energy sector. The Prime Minister was addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Answer 5: Er Shun and Ji Li. The pair is expected to arrive in 2013.

Answer Bonus Question (2): Darwin

Answer 6: Toews said "He can either stand with us or with the child pornographers."

Answer Bonus Question (3): The bill has been stuck at the first reading stage.

Answer 7: Six ridings. (Nipissing-Timiskaming in ntario, Elmwood-Transcona,Winnipeg South Centre, Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar, Vancouver Island North, and Yukon)

Answer 8: Air Canada

Answer 9: Mulcair beat out New Democrat Brian Topp in the fourth ballot with 57.2 per cent of the vote or 33, 881 votes.

Answer 10: Cullen ran for the leadership bid on the proposal of joint nominations with the Liberals and Greens to run only one candidate in Conservative-held ridings.
Answer Bonus 10: Joyce Murray

Answer 11: Governor General David Johnston will be paying taxes beginning 2013. He will be the first Governor General in Canadian history to pay income tax BUT he will also be getting a pay increase so his $134,970 take-home income likely won't take much of a hit.

Answer 12:    Five women
                    -BC's Christy Clark
                    -Alberta's Alison Redford
                    -Quebec's Pauline Marois
                    -Newfoundland & Labrador's Kathy Dunderdale
          -Nunavut's Eva Ariaak

Answer Bonus Question (4): Rita Johnson from the BC Social Credit Party. Bill Vander Zalm had appointed her Deputy Premier and when he resigned, she was named interim leader of the party and appointed Premier in 1991. She served as Premier for 217 days until Mike Harcourt defeated her in the next general election. A total of 10 women have served or are serving as Premiers.

Answer 13: On April 3rd, Auditor General Michael Ferguson released a report that included a chapter entitled "Replacing Canada's Fighter Jets".

Answer 14: The last penny rolled off the production line in Winnipeg.

Answer 15: More than 50 requires police permission.

Answer 16: 800 dollars (up from 400)

Answer 17: 157 votes were recorded.

Answer 18: Former CIDA Minister Bev Oda.

Answer 19: The dispute between B.C. and Alberta of the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline project, and discussions about a National Energy Strategy.

Answer 20: 4 (54 to 50 -- 19 for CAQ, 2 for Quebec Solidaire)

Answer 21: The Telecommunications Act (the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission found the association guilty)

Answer Bonus Question (5): Michael Sona

Answer 22: Canada and China began negotiation of a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement in 1994

Answer 23: Former Newfoundland premier Brian Peckford has literally rewritten history, prompting the Canadian Encyclopedia to substantially revise the story of the 1982 patriation of the Constitution. The then-premier of Canada's newest province now gets central credit in shaping the historic deal, with the encyclopedia playing down somewhat the significance of the famous "Kitchen Accord" led by future prime minister Jean Chrétien that up until now was largely thought to be the constitutional saga's breakthrough moment.

Answer 24: Haiti and Burma

Answer 25: 48 years old

Answer 26: PEI's Robert Ghiz, followed by Saskatchewan's Brad Wall.

Answer 27: The Canadian Museum of Civilization, was rebranded as the Canadian Museum of History to reflect a focus on Canadian social and political history. Heritage Minister James Moore said the rebranding of the museum comes in anticipation of plans to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Confederation in 2017.

Answer 28: The Act protects three oceans, 97 lakes and 62 rivers

Answer 29: The Honourable Lynne Yelich, Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification and Member of Parliament for Blackstrap, introduced a motion that passed unanimously in the House of Commons that will speed up pension reform for Members of Parliament.

Answer 30: Defeated Liberal incumbent Borys Wrzesnewskyj mounted a legal challenge to the election. In May, 2012, an Ontario court tossed out the result after concluding that 79 voters cast ballots without sufficient documented evidence that they were properly cleared to do so. In a 4-3 split decision, Canada's highest court upheld the 2011 federal election victory of Conservative MP Ted Opitz, who won the Etobicoke Centre riding by a mere 26 votes.

Answer 31: During U.S. elections Tuesday, Michigan voters defeated Proposal 6, which would have called for a statewide vote on plans for any new international crossing, including the proposed new bridge over the Detroit River. Slightly more than 60 per cent of voters turned down the proposal, which would have been entrenched in the state's constitution. Proposal 6 was one of the final hurdles that needed to be cleared for the building of a new bridge to proceed, and provide competition for the 83-year-old Ambassador Bridge, Canada's busiest border crossing, owned by billionaire Matty Moroun.

Answer 32: Budget will be balanced a year later than expected, in 2016-2017. Shortfall for the 2012-13 fiscal year of $25-billion, up from the March budget estimate of $21.1-billion. We should point out that after he said that, Prime Minister Harper said: "It remains the government's plan, intention, to balance the budget prior to the next federal election" (which is set for 2015).

Answer 33: Sir Mervyn King

Answer Bonus Question (6): 318 years

Answer 34: U.S., Israel, Czech Republic, Micronesia, Palau, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Panama

Answer 35: Malaysian national energy company Petronas takeover of Calgary-based natural gas producer Progress Energy Resources.

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Hunger-striking chief calls for action amidst health concerns

On First Nations Chief Theresa Spence's 20th day of her politically motivated hunger strike, Canadians and politicians answered her plea for solidarity for her cause to secure a meeting between First Nations leaders, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and the Governor General.

The Attawapiskat chief sent Friday a public plea to make Sunday a day of solidarity, asking Canadians to stage protests across the country and petitioning politicians to meet with her in Ottawa, both at 2 p.m.

A number of politicians are starting to make the trek to Victoria Island, Ottawa, where the chief is residing in a teepee, including a 15-member NDP delegation, spokeswoman Valérie Dufour told CBC News.

Originally, 17 NDP MPs were expected, Cheryl Maloney, who self-identified as a Spence supporter and is the president of the Nova Scotia Native Women's Association, told CBC News. However, two expected MPs experienced weather-related delays.

NDP sends MPs to meet with chief

The group, which will visit the chief at 2 p.m. Sunday, will be led by deputy leader Megan Leslie and Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus.

The NDP has been following Spence's hunger strike very closely, Dufour said. Since the chief started her hunger strike on Dec. 11, she has subsisted on fish broth and tea. Her condition has been worsening, according to a statement released Friday.

"Her condition continues to weaken every hour," read the statement.

On Dec. 18, party leader Thomas Mulcair wrote a letter to Harper asking him to meet with Spence."Please act swiftly to avoid a personal tragedy for Chief Spence," he wrote.

Now, 20 days into Spence's hunger strike, the NDP is "beginning to be very worried," said Dufour. "It's dangerous for her…We're all a bit afraid because she said she's even willing to die for it."

Dufour said Harper should meet with First Nations leaders as soon as possible because it is the only way to settle the matter, adding that Spence isn't asking for much by requesting a meeting with the prime minister.

"Now it's time for Stephen Harper to show some leadership and to extend a hand and to meet with the leader," she said.

Spence supporter Maloney, who forwarded the chief's latest statement, said she was not authorized to speak about Spence's condition. She said it is getting harder for the chief to host visitors and conduct interviews. The chief has been resting to prepare for Sunday's guests, which includes 15 NDP MPs, two Liberal MPs and three Liberal senators.

"[We] haven't heard anything from any Conservatives at all," she said.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan has offered several times to speak with Spence and form a working group, but she rejected his proposals because she believes he is not the one who should be speaking on a nation-to-nation basis.

Federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, an Inuk who is one of two aboriginal MPs in the Conservative cabinet, urged Spence to stop fasting and accept a meeting with Duncan. "That's the best way to address her issues," Aglukkaq said.

Spence chose to continue her fast, hoping to secure a meeting with Harper and the Governor General instead.

Former PM visits Spence

On Saturday afternoon, former prime minister Joe Clark visited Spence, following her open invitation.

In a statement after his meeting, Clark said that "there is a general concern that First Nations–Canada relations are headed in a dangerous direction."

'First Nations - Canada relations are headed in a dangerous direction'—Joe Clark, former prime minister

People no longer active in political life may have to help support "the resumption of productive discussions," he said.

"Chief Spence expressed a humble and achievable vision — one which I believe all Canadians can embrace," he said, adding honest dialogue and mutual commitment can carry-out her vision.

Idle No More rallies staged across Canada

Meanwhile, Canadians are holding rallies in a show of support for the chief.

An Idle No More protest at Toronto's Eaton Centre was organized in response to a call for action from hunger-striking First Nations Chief Theresa Spence. (John Bowman/CBC News)

At least half a dozen events are planned for Sunday across Canada, said CBC's Shannon Martin.

The Idle No More movement — which has hosted several demonstrations in past weeks and is loosely tied to Spence's protest — staged a rally in Toronto, Ont., in response to the chief's call for action. Participants gathered near the Eaton Centre for a "round dance flash mob," according to the Toronto chapter's Twitter account.

In Alberta, about 400 protesters gathered outside Harper's Calgary office, reported CBC's Devin Heroux. People performed a round dance, carried signs and played drums as part of an Idle No More flash mob.

Various rallies and demonstrations supporting Spence also took place yesterday in Oklahoma, Washington, Cincinnati, and Regina — where a four-day hunger strike is underway, said Martin.

With files from the Canadian Press

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Canada mulls military training mission in West Africa

The Harper government is examining whether to dispatch Canadian troops to help train an African force whose purpose would be to take back a vast swath of Mali from an off-shoot of al-Qaeda.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay, speaking in Halifax Sunday, said what form of military assistance can be provided to a growing international swell is something that's under active discussion.

"What I can tell you is that we are contemplating what contribution Canada could make," MacKay said at an announcement related to rental housing rates on military bases.

The United Nations recently decided to back a proposal from Economic Community of West African States — ECOWAS — to send 3,300 troops to the region.

Canadian special forces troops were active in the west African country for several training missions prior to the coup last March that installed a shaky interim government. Those missions also took place before Islamic Maghreb — known as AQIM — overran much of the northern portion of the impoverished nation.

"We are not at a point where we would be making an announcement, but as you know, training is something that the Canadian Forces is particularly adept at doing," MacKay said. "We've demonstrated that repeated in the last, well, throughout our history, but certainly the training mission in Afghanistan is a testament to that commitment and that ability and something that has garnered the admiration of recipient nations but also other countries who emulate Canadian training techniques."

Mali, a landlocked country bordering on Algeria and Niger, has been one of the biggest recipients of Canada's foreign aid. Fighters from an Al Qaeda-linked Islamist group stand guard in northern Mali earlier this year. (Reuters)

France has been at the forefront of organizing an international response, including the African-led international force which could be trained by western troops.

Malian Prime Minister Diango Cissoko, last week, pleaded for military intervention "as soon as possible."

The African troops would need training in desert combat and counterinsurgency warfare.

Canada could also provide what the military call enablers: communications, intelligence, transport planes or helicopters for airlift.

But it is in the area of special forces, more specifically counter-terrorism training, that the Canadian military would likely make the most immediate contribution.

Briefing records for the commander of the country's special forces show members of a highly-trained, ultra-secret regiment have conducted at least three training mission in the country between 2010 and 2011.

"Each involved embedding training Canadian Special Operations Regiment (CSOR) trainers within" training units from other countries, said a Sept. 27, 2011 briefing to Brig.-Gen Denis Thompson.

'Training only'

But the memo took pains to emphasize there would be no combat, and much like Afghanistan, the troops would be restricted to inside the wire instruction.

"This task is limited in scope to training only. CANSOFCOM members will not engage in any form of operational mentoring of Malian forces," the note said.

It added that Canadians retained control of the training teams, but also the engagement in Mali was considered by former chief of defence staff retired general Walt Natynczyk to be a "recurring operation in the Trans-Sahel Region."

The fact special forces have experience working the country is a bonus, should the government commit to a training mission, said the general in charge of the regiment.

"Does it inform anything that may or may not happen in the future? I don't think it informs any policy decisions that have to be made, but it certainly reassures people that there's enough tactical acumen inside the CANSOFCOM — and quite frankly in my humble opinion inside the Canadian Army — to pick up and help out in any one of these countries if that was the decision that was made," said Thompson in a recent interview with The Canadian Press.

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Kyoto climate change treaty sputters to a sorry end

The controversial and ineffective Kyoto Protocol's first stage comes to an end today, leaving the world with 58 per cent more greenhouse gases than in 1990, as opposed to the five per cent reduction its signatories sought.

From the beginning, the treaty that was adopted in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, was problematic. Opponents denied the science of climate change and claimed the treaty was a socialist plot. Environmentalists decried the lack of ambition in Kyoto and warned of dire consequences for future generations.

But the goal of the treaty was simple.

"We hoped that we would be able to reduce greenhouse gases substantially, but that it was a first step," explained Christine Stewart, the Liberal environment minister who negotiated in Kyoto on Canada's behalf.

The Kyoto Protocol was an initiative that came out of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. It recognized that climate change was a result of greenhouse gases created by human industrial activity. The idea was that rich nations, which had already benefited from industrialization, would reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in the first part of the treaty and developing nations would join in later.

Although the protocol was adopted in 1997, it didn't to come into force until 2005. In the intervening eight years, countries set reduction targets for themselves and ratified the agreement.

"At the time we didn't realize how complicated it would be to get the Kyoto Protocol ratified and for it to enter into force internationally," said Steven Guilbeault, co-founder of Equiterre, a Montreal-based environmental charity.

Problems from the beginning

Right off the bat, there were problems. The U.S., the world's biggest emitter at the time, signed up but never ratified.

And Canada ratified the treaty but with targets that were unachievable in the opinion of many.

'If we ratify this thing, we'll never hit our targets.'—Bob Mills, former Reform and Conservative MP

Bob Mills was a Reform Party MP from Alberta who went to Kyoto with the government. He was in Johannesburg five years later when the country agreed to reduce emissions to six per cent below 1990 levels.

"If we ratify this thing we'll never hit our targets," Mills warned Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chrétien at the time, because he was worried Canada's international reputation would take a hit.

To his disappointment, Mills was right. As 2005 rolled around, Canada was nowhere near to having a plan and our emissions were rising. When he entered government a year later, the Conservatives started to lay the groundwork for much less ambitious greenhouse gas reductions.

"In 2006, it was a pretty tough situation because nothing really had been accomplished. We had these targets in front of us, they were impossible to hit," he said.

Taking a pass on Kyoto targets

And so, Canada's new government decided not to bother. They worried about the harm it would cause Canada's economy and the fact that only developed nations had to cut back while economic up-and-comers like China, India and Brazil could pollute as much as they wanted.

"We would have to pull every truck and car off the street, shut down every train and ground every plane to reach the Kyoto target the Liberals negotiated for Canada," argued Conservative Environment Minister Rona Ambrose in 2006.

Instead, the Conservative government opted to begin a long process of overhauling all of Canada's environmental legislation. That meant scaling back on Kyoto commitments that couldn't be met.

Canada announced to the world that we wouldn't be able to meet our Kyoto targets in 2007. Three years later we set new, easier-to-hit targets — 17 per cent below 2005 levels — that keep us in line with the Americans.

'Kyoto, for Canada, is in the past'

The final nail in the coffin for Canada's involvement in Kyoto went in on Dec. 13, 2011.

"Kyoto, for Canada, is in the past," announced Environment Minister Peter Kent at a news conference in Ottawa soon after he got off the plane from a climate change conference in Durban, South Africa. Kent gave one year's notice and, as of Dec. 15 this year, Canada was no longer a party to the Kyoto Protocol.

Environment Minister Peter Kent announces that Canada will withdraw from the Kyoto accord, outside the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Dec. 12, 2011. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)

While there is plenty of blame to be shared between the Liberals and Conservatives for Canada's failure to meet its targets and remain in Kyoto, the problem of climate change remains a growing threat.

"There is building evidence that, in fact, climate change is accelerating. It's closer than we had thought earlier … are running out of time," worries John Stone, a Canadian climate scientist and a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former U.S. vice-president Al Gore.

If there is anything good that came out of the Kyoto experience, it is that the issue it tried and failed to tackle is now top of mind, says Guilbeault.

"That's probably one of the biggest accomplishments of the Kyoto Protocol, is making climate change something that's part of our everyday life."

Some countries have signed on to a second round of Kyoto commitments beginning Jan. 1, 2013, and stretching through to 2020, but they only represent 15 per cent of current world emissions.

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'Fiscal cliff' talks go down to the wire

Markets appeared Monday to be taking in stride the prospect that U.S. politicians will fail to agree a budget deal in time to avoid automatic tax increases and spending cuts that many economists think could tilt the world's largest economy back into recession.

With just hours to go before the U.S. falls off the so-called "fiscal cliff," Republicans and Democrats remained divided over tax and spend, raising the prospect that markets will start 2013 without a clear idea of America's budget policy. The main sticking point appears to be what level of taxes are imposed on higher incomes.

Discussions in the Senate broke off Sunday night without an agreement. The Senators will return to their offices Monday to try and hammer out a deal before the deadline.

Gaps remain

"With the gulf between both parties still wide and the desire to protect their supporters' key interests so ingrained, it is difficult to see how both sides can compromise enough to agree a deal at this point," said Rebecca O'Keeffe, head of investment at Interactive Investor.

However, it's not the first time that budget discussions in the U.S. have gone down to the wire, and investors remain confident that some sort of deal will be reached, if not Monday then in the coming days or weeks. As a result, they think that the potential damage wrought by higher taxes and spending cuts will be limited.

In addition, a backup proposal that would address only a few issues is expected to be presented by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, if a bipartisan deal is not reached.

The prospect of counter-measures to offset the "fiscal cliff" impact helps explain why markets were fairly calm in Europe and Asia, and Wall Street was poised to open higher.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 0.4 per cent at 5,901 but the CAC-40 in France was 0.4 per cent higher at 3,633. Most European indexes are only trading for half of the day ahead of the New Year break, while others including Germany's DAX were closed.

U.S. stocks were poised for gains at the open, with Dow futures up 0.2 per cent and the broader S&P 500 futures 0.4 per cent higher, even though in theory, the U.S. faces around $671 billion of tax increases and spending cuts over the coming months, equivalent to the sort of fiscal tightening taking place in highly indebted Europe.

Recession possible

Clearly, their full imposition would hobble an economy that has shown some signs of late of a more sustainable economic recovery.

Some economists predict the tax-and-spending effects of the "fiscal cliff" could eventually throw the U.S. economy back into recession — although if the deadline passes, politicians still have a few weeks to keep the tax hikes and spending cuts at bay by repealing them retroactively once a deal is reached.

"It is likely that many of the fiscal cliff measures allow a certain amount of room within which the government can introduce measures to refrain from any tax increases," said Joshua Mahony, an analyst at Alpari.

Still, the failure to adhere to the deadline following weeks of squabbling and procrastination could be view negatively by the major credit rating agencies and weigh on investor confidence going into 2013.

"I think the market reaction to that will be very negative. This means the U.S. will never be able to bring its house in order. And the deficit will continue to accumulate," said Francis Lun, managing director of Lyncean Holdings in Hong Kong. "No meaningful reform and no solution in sight. You can throw confidence out of the window."

Earlier in Asia, the picture was fairly subdued in those markets that were open — among others, markets in Japan and South Korea were closed for the New Year's holidays.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng, trading for a half-day, closed marginally lower at 22,656.92, while mainland Chinese stocks rose after a private survey showed the country's manufacturing growth at its strongest level in 18 months in December. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.5 per cent to close at 4,648.90.

There was also a fairly calm atmosphere in other financial markets, with the euro down just 0.2 per cent at $1.3191 and the price of benchmark New York crude down 11 cents at $90.69 a barrel.

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Powering up the Speaker of the House

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 30 Desember 2012 | 21.16

Two former Liberal MPs and a former law clerk of the House of Commons, weary of what they see as a dysfunctional House of Commons, are working on a proposal to give more power to the Speaker.

Former MPs Paul Szabo and Derek Lee, along with Rob Walsh, the recently retired law clerk, have been brainstorming about how to fix Parliament, and are quietly lobbying for change.

For instance, they are aiming to curtail the heckling and noise, and want questions to be answered in question period rather than have "grenades" lobbed at a person posing a question.

The three all agree the Speaker should be more independent.

Szabo and Lee believe the Speaker should not have to campaign to be re-elected every new Parliament, currying favour with MPs for their votes.

Walsh doesn't believe Speakers should be elected at all. He would rather see them chosen by consensus and then reconfirmed after every election.

"That would give longevity of tenure, and allow the Speaker to not be so beholden to the membership moods as they change from time to time," Walsh said.

The British House of Commons

Canadians who despair of the cacophony in question period might be heartened by what goes on in the British House of Commons, where the Speaker has the power to evict members, cut off speeches and adjourn the legislature if things get too rowdy.

In a video on the website of the British newspaper the Telegraph, Speaker John Bercow is shown yelling full bore at MPs, ordering them to sit down and be quiet or risk being kicked out. He admonishes one MP for a "bogus point of order" and tells another "to act like an adult."

Bercow has even publicly blasted his own party leader, Prime Minister David Cameron, for refusing to answer questions about the phone-hacking scandal.

Exasperated question period junkies in Canada might look to the Australian House of Commons, where there is a penalty box, or "sin bin," that the Speaker can employ for an hour to hold errant MPs.

"I was in Australia with [former Speaker] Peter Milliken," said Szabo, "and we went to QP, and there were actually two or three people put in the penalty box while we were there, for good reason."

Canadians saw a near dust-up in early December when government House leader Peter Van Loan angrily crossed the floor to wag his finger at opposition House leader Nathan Cullen. Van Loan apologized later for swearing.

'They just don't trust each other at all'

Walsh thinks the near brawl was a manifestation of a larger problem.

"They just don't trust each other at all. Arguably they hate each other. It's very regrettable. And the institution suffers because of it."

The only way out, he believes, is to vest some powers in the Speaker so he or she is not just the referee, but also the conscience of Parliament, which would enable the MPs to be "better than they are inclined to be."

Walsh suggests changing the rules to give the Speaker more power.

"Put something in the Standing Orders (written rules of the House of Commons) that recognizes the well-established traditions of parliamentary practices and call upon the Speaker to see that those practices are respected and not in some manner abused."

As examples of abuse, Walsh cited omnibus bills that amend dozens of acts, or the constant moving of committee business behind closed doors.

"We're talking about obstruction by majorities, using the majority position to suppress the opposition."

But Peter Milliken, a retired Liberal MP who was Speaker for 10 years, never threw anyone out of the House of Commons.

"Big deal," Milliken said, "You can go out and have a press conference out front in the foyer, you can get on a flight to Vancouver at House expense one day, and come back the next day."

Peter Milliken, House of Commons Speaker for 10 years, never turfed an MP out of the chamber for bad behaviour, but had his own way of imposing discipline. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

Milliken has a much better idea.

"In my view, the guy should be kicked off the Hill for a day, docked a day's pay and all his privileges as a member suspended. No free travel anywhere and no expense paid by the House if he goes out to dinner.... If you ... say something you shouldn't, you're going to pay. It'll cost you something."

He said he raised the issue, but no one was keen to change the rules.

'He never spoke in the House again'

But Milliken had his own method of imposing order.

Bill Matthews, a Liberal MP, once called Prime Minister Stephen Harper a liar, and refused to withdraw the remark.

"The Conservatives were saying, 'Throw him out, throw him out,'" Milliken recalled, "I said, 'I'm not going to throw him out, but he'll have trouble speaking.' And he never spoke in the House again. He sat there for 14 months and never got to give a speech or ask a question."

Matthews decided not to run in the next election.

'It never was a tea party. It's been a tough, difficult place.'—John Fraser, former Speaker

Milliken said the Speaker can't intervene in committee business, and added there's no restriction about what "you can stick in a bill," meaning that omnibus bills can't be stopped.

But another former Speaker, retired MP John Fraser, who emphasizes he has been a Tory since he was 17, said he was outraged by omnibus bill Bill C-38 tabled last spring that among many other things amended the Fisheries Act so salmon habitat wasn't as fully protected as it had been.

"I would have split that bill," Fraser, a former fisheries minister, said, raising his voice over the phone from Vancouver. "The argument would have been put to me that the rules don't say that omnibus bills are forbidden. And I would have said, 'No, maybe they don't. But I'm the Speaker, and my responsibility is to the democratic process.'"

Fraser concluded, "The Speaker's first duty is to the people ... and among his absolute first duties is to the democratic process."

But even Derek Lee doesn't want the imposition of order to go too far.

"It's a house of debate," he said, "not a church."

Fraser, raising his voice again, stressed, "It never was a tea party. It's been a tough, difficult place."

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First Nations chief rejects minister's call to end hunger strike

One of the two aboriginal MPs in the Conservative cabinet has called on Chief Theresa Spence to abandon her fast aimed at securing a meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, who is Inuk, joined other federal officials in asking Spence to accept a meeting with Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan and end the campaign that has seen the chief go more than two weeks without solid food.

"I would encourage her to stop and meet with Minister Duncan and that's the best way to address her issues," Aglukkaq said Friday.

Duncan is the one responsible for the portfolio and that's why he's the right person to meet, Aglukkaq said

Spence rejected Aglukkaq's recommendation because she believes Duncan isn't the one who should be speaking on a nation-to-nation basis.

"When our ancestors made treaties with the British Crown to allow the Queen's subjects to live in our territories, it was for as long as the sun shines, the waters flow and the grass grows," Spence said in a statement.

"The Crown's only legal access to our lands is contingent upon the fulfilment of the promises made in the negotiations of treaty."

Spence, who is the chief of a remote reserve in Northern Ontario, stopped eating solid food on Dec. 11 in an effort to secure a meeting between First Nations leaders, the prime minister and Governor General over the treaty relationship.

Government serious about improvements

Duncan has offered several times to speak with her and to form a working group, but the minister has been rebuffed at every turn.

The government points to a meeting it held last January with First Nations leaders as proof it is serious about improving the relationship and notes it has spent millions on aboriginal health, housing and education.

But aboriginal leaders say they are being left out of the discussion the Harper government is having about how best to develop Canada's lucrative natural resources.

A series of protests over the last two weeks under the banner of Idle No More were in part spurred by the recent budget bill which removed federal oversight over waterways without consulting aboriginal groups who depend on them for water and food.

'Canada is considered a First World country and our peoples are living in extreme poverty and substandard living conditions'—Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence

Meanwhile, bands are concerned that a lack of training and education will see them shut out of resource development projects that could provide economic stimulus to many struggling communities.

In the statement released Friday, Spence said she remains hopeful that Harper or Gov. Gen. David Johnston will accept her request.

"Canada is considered a First World country and our peoples are living in extreme poverty and substandard living conditions," she said.

"As nations, we held up our end of the treaty, yet Canada continues to only pay lip service to our relationship."

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Haiti travel warning issued by U.S., Canadians cautioned

The U.S. State Department is warning against travel to Haiti because of recent reports of killings, robbery and infectious disease, and Ottawa is also urging Canadians to "exercise a high degree of caution" because of high crime rates in various parts of Haiti.

The U.S. travel advisory issued Friday says any visitors to Haiti could be at risk of being kidnapped.

The department says people arriving in Port-au-Prince from the U.S. have been attacked and robbed after leaving the airport, with at least two Americans shot and killed in 2012.

"Thousands of U.S. citizens safely visit Haiti each year, but the poor state of Haiti's emergency response network should be carefully considered when planning travel," the advisory says. "Travellers to Haiti are encouraged to use organizations that have solid infrastructure, evacuation and medical support options in place."

The department says Haitian authorities have limited capacity to deter or investigate violent acts or prosecute criminals.

"The ability of local authorities to respond to emergencies is limited and in some areas non-existent," it says.

The State Department also notes that cholera persists in many areas of Haiti and medical facilities are particularly weak.

Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada said in an advisory updated Dec. 21 and validated Saturday that Canadians "should exercise a high degree of caution due to high crime rates in various parts of the country and ongoing political tensions."

The department is advising against non-essential travel to the neighbourhoods of Martissant, Carrefour, Bel Air and Cité Soleil in the Port-au-Prince area "as the security situation is particularly unstable and dangerous."

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Obama warns of 'self-inflicted wound' to U.S. economy

U.S. Senate leaders groped for a last-minute compromise Saturday to avoid middle-class tax increases and possibly prevent deep spending cuts at the dawn of the new year as President Barack Obama warned that failure could mean a "self-inflicted wound to the economy."

Obama chastised lawmakers in his weekly radio and internet address for waiting until the last minute to try and avoid a "fiscal cliff," yet said there was still time for an agreement.

"We cannot let Washington politics get in the way of America's progress," he said as the hurry-up negotiations unfolded.

Don Drummond, chief economist of TD Bank, told CBC News on Saturday, "it's not surprising" that negotiations are going to deadline, forcing the Democrats into a corner.

"A bunch of [Republicans] signed memorandums to not agree to tax increases," he noted. "One of the reasons they are not coming to the agreement is that some of them like the aesthetic appeal of this being done to them as opposed to them doing something to the American people."

Drummond addressed fears the U.S. would fall into a recession if a deal isn't inked — thereby affecting Canada's economy as well.

"We have latched our wagon on to the U.S. locomotive," he said. "Canada has had a recession every time the U.S. had a recession. The one recession we missed, 2001, was an exception — that was in their high-tech sector."

Drummond predicts the most the Canadian government would do is have the Bank of Canada cut the interest rate by half a percentage point.

Capitol nearly empty

For all the recent expressions of urgency, bargaining took place by phone, email and paper in a Capitol nearly empty except for tourists. Alone among top lawmakers, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell spent the day in his office.

In the Republicans' weekly address, Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri cited a readiness to compromise. "Divided government is a good time to solve hard problems — and in the next few days, leaders in Washington have an important responsibility to work together and do just that," he said.

Even so, there was no guarantee of success, and a dispute over the federal tax on large estates emerged as yet another key sticking point alongside personal income tax rates.

In a blunt challenge to Republicans, Obama said that barring a bipartisan agreement, he expected both houses to vote on his own proposal to block tax increases on all but the wealthy and simultaneously preserve expiring unemployment benefits.

Political calculations mattered as much as deep-seated differences over the issues, as divided government struggled with its first big challenge since the November elections.

Republican Speaker Boehner stays at arm's-length

Speaker John Boehner remained at arm's-length, juggling a desire to avoid the fiscal cliff with his goal of winning another term as speaker when a new Congress convenes next Thursday. Any compromise legislation is certain to include higher tax rates on the wealthy, and the House Republican rank and file rejected the idea when he presented it to them as part of a final attempt to strike a more sweeping agreement with Obama.

Speaker of the House John Boehner was among congressional leaders involved in talks at the White House on Friday in the latest meeting to see where things stand in the attempt to avoid the U.S. from going over the fiscal cliff. (J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press)

Lawmakers have until the new Congress convenes to pass any compromise, and even the calendar mattered. Democrats said they had been told House Republicans might reject a deal until after Jan. 1, to avoid a vote to raise taxes before they had technically gone up and then vote to cut taxes after they had risen.

Nor was any taxpayer likely to feel any adverse impact if legislation is signed and passed into law in the first two or three days of 2013 instead of the final hours of 2012.

Gone was the talk of a grand bargain of spending cuts and additional tax revenue in which the two parties would agree to slash deficits by trillions of dollars over a decade.

Now negotiators had a more cramped goal of preventing additional damage to the economy in the form of higher taxes across the board — with some families facing increases measured in the thousands of dollars — as well as cuts aimed at the Pentagon and hundreds of domestic programs.

Republicans said they were willing to bow to Obama's call for higher taxes on the wealthy as part of a deal to prevent them from rising on those less well-off.

Obama wants tax increases on those with $250K income

Democrats said Obama was sticking to his campaign call for tax increases above $250,000 in annual income, even though he said in recent negotiations he said he could accept $400,000. There was no evidence of agreement even at the higher level.

There were indications from Republicans that estate taxes might hold more significance for them than the possibility of higher rates on income.

One senior Republican, Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, said late Friday he was "totally dead set" against Obama's estate tax proposal, and as if to reinforce the point, Blunt mentioned the issue before any other in his broadcast remarks. "Small businesses and farm families don't know how to deal with the unfair death tax — a tax that the president and congressional leaders have threatened to expand to include even more family farms and even more small businesses," he said.

Several officials said Republicans want to leave the tax at 35 per cent after exempting the first $5 million US in estate value. Officials said the White House wants a 45 per cent tax after a $3.5 million exemption. Without any action by Congress, it would climb to a 55 per cent tax after a $1 million exemption on Jan. 1.

Income taxes or estate tax

Democrats stressed their unwillingness to make concessions on both income taxes and the estate tax, and said they hoped Republicans would choose which mattered more to them.

Officials said any compromise was likely to ease the impact of the alternative minimum tax, originally designed to make sure that millionaires did not escape taxation. If left unchanged, it could hit an estimated 28 million households for the first time in 2013, with an average increase of more than $3,000.

Taxes on dividends and capital gains are also involved in the talks, as well as a series of breaks for businesses and others due to expire at the first of the year.

Obama and congressional Democrats are insisting on an extension of long-term unemployment benefits that are expiring for about 2 million jobless individuals.

Leaders in both parties also hope to prevent a 27 per cent fee cut from taking effect on Jan. 1 for doctors who treat Medicare patients.

There was also discussion of a short-term extension of expiring farm programs, in part to prevent a spike in milk prices at the first of the year. It wasn't clear if that was a parallel effort to the cliff talks or had become wrapped into them.

Next round of brinkmanship likely soon

Across-the-board spending cuts that comprise part of the cliff were a different matter.

Republicans say Boehner will insist that they will begin to take effect unless negotiators agreed to offset them with specified savings elsewhere.

That would set the stage for the next round of brinkmanship — a struggle over Republican calls for savings from Medicare, Medicaid and other federal benefit programs.

The Treasury's ability to borrow is expected to expire in late winter or early spring, and without an increase in the $16.4 trillion limit, the government would face its first-ever default. Republicans have said they will use administration requests for an extension as leverage to win cuts in spending.

Ironically, it was just such a manoeuvre more than a year ago that set the stage for the current crisis talks over the fiscal cliff.

With files from CBC News

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Take The House's 2012 political quiz

It's that time of year again! Time to test how much you remember about what happened this year in political news.

You can follow along with our three contestants by taking the quiz below but no cheating or web searches allowed!

Good luck!

Question 1: The year began with Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointing, on January 6th, seven new senators to the upper chamber. Name three of the seven.

Bonus Question (1) : Of the seven new senators, which one was actually elected in a provincial Senate nominee election?

Question 2: Liberals gathered in Ottawa for their national annual biennial convention. What MP crossed the floor days before the Liberal convention, and what riding does he/she represent?

Bonus Question (2): What's the name of the monkey that escaped at a north Toronto Ikea?

        A. VIA Rail
        B. Air Canada
        C. Canada Post

Question 9: Still in March, federal New Democrats gathered in Toronto to elect a successor to Jack Layton. Who did Tom Mulcair beat, and in what round?

Question 13 : Do you recognize this voice?

        A. 142
        B. 151
        C. 157

Answers:

Answer 2: Quebec MP Lise St-Denis decided to leave the NDP for the Liberals on the Tuesday before the convention. The backbencher represents the riding of Saint-Maurice-Champlain.

The two sides committed to a progress report no later than Jan. 24, 2013.

Answer 5: Er Shun and Ji Li. The pair is expected to arrive in 2013.

Answer Bonus Question (2): Darwin

Answer 6: Toews said "He can either stand with us or with the child pornographers."

Answer Bonus Question (3): The bill has been stuck at the first reading stage.

Answer 7: Six ridings. (Nipissing-Timiskaming in ntario, Elmwood-Transcona,Winnipeg South Centre, Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar, Vancouver Island North, and Yukon)

Answer 8: Air Canada

Answer 9: Mulcair beat out New Democrat Brian Topp in the fourth ballot with 57.2 per cent of the vote or 33, 881 votes.

Answer 10: Cullen ran for the leadership bid on the proposal of joint nominations with the Liberals and Greens to run only one candidate in Conservative-held ridings.
Answer Bonus 10: Joyce Murray

Answer 13: On April 3rd, Auditor General Michael Ferguson released a report that included a chapter entitled "Replacing Canada's Fighter Jets".

Answer 14: The last penny rolled off the production line in Winnipeg.

Answer 15: More than 50 requires police permission.

Answer 16: 800 dollars (up from 400)

Answer 17: 157 votes were recorded.

Answer 18: Former CIDA Minister Bev Oda.

Answer 19: The dispute between B.C. and Alberta of the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline project, and discussions about a National Energy Strategy.

Answer 20: 4 (54 to 50 -- 19 for CAQ, 2 for Quebec Solidaire)

Answer 21: The Telecommunications Act (the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission found the association guilty)

Answer Bonus Question (5): Michael Sona

Answer 22: Canada and China began negotiation of a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement in 1994

Answer 24: Haiti and Burma

Answer 25: 48 years old

Answer 26: PEI's Robert Ghiz, followed by Saskatchewan's Brad Wall.

Answer 28: The Act protects three oceans, 97 lakes and 62 rivers

Answer 33: Sir Mervyn King

Answer Bonus Question (6): 318 years

Answer 34: U.S., Israel, Czech Republic, Micronesia, Palau, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Panama

Answer 35: Malaysian national energy company Petronas takeover of Calgary-based natural gas producer Progress Energy Resources.

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Powering up the Speaker of the House

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 29 Desember 2012 | 21.16