statism watch

CBC News
December 18, 2008

A federal economic stimulus package will likely lead to a deficit in the $20-billion to $30-billion range for the 2009-10 fiscal year, a Prime Minister’s Office official told CBC News on Thursday.

Hours after the announcement, Harper confirmed in a television interview that the Conservative government was planning to take unprecedented action to stimulate the country’s economy.

“Some people are talking in the neighbourhood of a five to 10 billion dollar deficit. Our own assessment is frankly that will not be sufficient given the challenges we’re facing,” Harper told CTV News in a year-end interview.

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Michelle Shephard, Toronto Star
December 18, 2008

Canada’s spy service has been listening to telephone conversations between terrorism suspects and their lawyers for the past 18 months as part of a strict monitoring program developed by the government.

The revelation today enraged defense lawyers who argue that intercepting these calls breaches the fundamental right of solicitor-client privilege.

“I feel as though my house was broken into,” said Toronto lawyer Barb Jackman. “It’s incredibly invasive.”

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Aaahhh… an appointed council of economic mandarins. Willing to serve out of the goodness of their hearts, next to the seat of power. How many will be members of the CCCE; – purveyors of such fine legislative ideas as the SPP and North American integration. What’s wrong with just picking up the phone Flaherty? And that’s the real issue here – the incremental leaching of power out of the hands of elected officials.

CBC News
December 18, 2008

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Thursday he will meet with “eminent” Canadians – most of whom are prominent business leaders – to seek advice on the federal budget and the economy.

Speaking at a Saskatoon news conference, he said members of the 11-member advisory panel have agreed to provide their insight for a dollar a year.

“This is a council that I wanted to appoint as part of the pre-budget consultations and then on an ongoing basis because of the continuing deterioration in the world economy, the U.S. economy affecting our economy, and the deterioration in commodity prices as well,” Flaherty told reporters.

He will seek out their advice on taxation, credit availability and what sort of stimulus is needed for the economy, he said.

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Stuart Laidlaw, Toronto Star
December 18, 2008
Swedish anti-corruption agents are investigating allegations that pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca influenced the awarding of this year’s Nobel Prize in medicine.

“I have formally instigated, or started, a criminal investigation,” Swedish anti-corruption prosecutor Nils-Erik Schulz told the Star in a telephone interview from Stockholm yesterday.

Schulz’s investigation was sparked by claims in the European press that AstraZeneca’s sponsorship of two Nobel promotional companies — Nobel Media and Nobel Web — influenced the choice for this year’s prize in medicine. As well, two Swedish academics on the committee have close ties to AstraZeneca — one sits on the company’s board of directors, while the other was a former consultant to the pharmaceutical company.

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