BREAKING NEWS – The CRTC has just awarded the first in a series of medals to the winners of the Robocall scandal. There are three participants involved – the Right Wing (composed of the Conservative Party of Canada, the Wildrose Party of Alberta, the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, all associated MPs and MPPs, and RackNine Robocall Services), the Centre (composed of one MP from the federal Liberal Party of Canada), and the Left Wing (composed of the federal New Democratic Party). The current standings are as follows:

Gold: The Right Wing with a combined total of $327,000.00 in fines

Silver: The Left Wing with a paltry $40,000 in fines

Bronze: The Centre with a meagre $2,500 in fines

The fine totals are subject to change pending further investigations and charges by the CRTC. Medals will be awarded by Pierre Poutine in a quiet ceremony during the summer parliamentary recess; unfortunately, like the Senate audit process, the event will not be open to the public. 

Further medals will be awarded following the 2015 federal election, where a complete reversal of the standings is anticipated. However, all parties will have to be "call" tested prior to the awarding of the final medals. Experts have concluded that "using Robocalls during an election is like using performance enhancing drugs during the Olympics – if you are caught, you are stripped of your medals and banned until you prove you are really, really sorry."  Stay tuned.

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Skid Crease, Caledon

Last night I took my family to the Canadian Stage presentation of "Proud", Michael Healey's humourously dramatic look at the goings on in the PMO after the 2011 federal elections. In this "fictional" work, Harper has scored an overwhelming majority, sweeping all the Quebec seats that went to the NDP in the real election, and turning the House of Commons into the Blue Room. What intrigued me about the play initially, other than I hoped it would skewer Harper on a satiric sword, was the fact that the Tarragon Theatre had dropped the production in the spring under fear that the Conservative government would withdraw funding from any group that staged a play of which the government might disapprove.

Thanks to some summer protest readings of the original sceenplay by various artists, and the courage of the Canadian Stage company, the play is proudly running at the Berkely Street Theatre in Toronto until the end of this week, but hurry – our performance last night was a sold-out packed house. And I thoroughly enjoyed the play except for one detail noted by my teenage son. Continue reading →