Worth Reading – September 25, 2014

The Fords, Trudeaus, Bushes, Kennedys are just some of the political dynasties most familiar to Canadians. Robert Fulford asks why we are drawn to dynasties. 

Justin Trudeau (LPC – Papineau, QC) has announced that he and the rest of the Liberal caucus will not be engaging with the Sun News organization until Ezra Levant or the Sun News executives address comments the commentator made regarding him. 

Brampton’s City Council did not debate the spending scandal engulfing Mayor Susan Fennell. Apparently, Mayor Fennell threatened Council with law suits were the debate to go ahead. 

John Ivison is suggesting that Prime Minister Harper may be calling an early election to avoid the Duffy trial from bringing down his government. 

Gary Bettman. The name inspires anger and frustration among hockey fans, in my experience. Mr. Bettman recently discussed the conditions for a second hockey team in Toronto. 

This is an incredible video. Thomas Mulcair (NDP – Outremont, QC) challenged the government to answer some basic questions about the Canadian mission in Iraq. The answers from the Prime Minister’s Parliamentary Secretary gave was a stunning insult to parliament. 

Related to the above, Maclean’s take on the incident in the House of Commons. 

New Brunswick had an election earlier this week and it was quite a mess. The Globe and Mail asks what we can learn from it.  

This is something I’ve written on before, despite the fact that crime is dropping the number of police continues to grow. The number of officers does not reduce crime, so why the increase? 

Another proud political story in Brampton, a brawl reportedly broke out in a parking lot during a Liberal Party nomination. 

Now that the Scottish referendum has ended there are big questions about how devolution will occur and the future constitutional structures of the United Kingdom. The Telegraph lay out the groundwork for the coming discussion. 

The Speaker oversees the proceedings of the House of Commons. The British Speaker is an entertaining and remarkable man. I share this speech he gave before his election as speaker. I share his idealism and think he presents a vision that would improve our own House of Commons.