Chan's Personal Blog

The whiff of scandal was pumped into the federal election campaign Wednesday with confirmation that the RCMP has begun a criminal investigation into the possibility of a leak from the Liberal government prior to an announcement on taxation of income trusts.

Opposition parties are calling for Finance Minister Ralph Goodale to resign amidst allegations that one Conservative MP says "smells from top to bottom."

RCMP Sgt. Nathalie Deschenes confirmed Wednesday that the Mounties had launched a criminal probe into the matter, saying they had "sufficient information" for an investigation.

While the investigation will determine whether there's enough evidence to warrant criminal charges, Deschenes said they aren't sure how long their probe will take.

The probe stems from opposition complaints following a surge in trading of income trusts units on the Toronto Stock Exchange in the hours immediately before a major government announcement on the popular investment vehicles.

Opposition parties pointed to the dramatic increase in late-day trades on Nov. 23 - before Goodale announced there would be no taxation of the popular investment vehicles - as evidence of insider trading.

A senior Liberal organizer has quit the party executive after comparing an Asian-Canadian election candidate to a Chinese chow chow dog.

Mike Klander, executive vice president of the Liberal Party of Canada in Ontario, resigned suddenly Monday for posting photos of Toronto contender Olivia Chow and a chow chow on his weblog, under the caption "Separated at Birth."

The NDP described the blog as "bordering on racist" and the Liberals, moving quickly into damage control on the Boxing Day holiday, asserted that the posting was "tasteless" and did not reflect party values. [...]

A chow chow is a mid-size dog of Chinese origin that resembles the Pekingese breed [...]

"It was a play on words and I didn't intend it to be anything other than that," Klander said in a telephone interview. "It was intended for a small group of friends, naively on my part."

Klander took down his blog three days ago after getting wind of complaints.

Klander also asserted on his webpage that Jack Layton is an "A-hole," that Conservative Leader Stephen Harper "creeps people out," and that cowboy hats make politicians "look gay."

The Toronto consultant has been has been active in the Liberal party since the late 1980s. He was a key organizer for Prime Minister Paul Martin's leadership in Ontario and he also managed the 2000 election campaign in the province.

[C]anadians have come to rely on a more generous social safety net, and as a result also pay higher taxes, may explain in part why they give less to charity than Americans, said one of the authors of the annual report by the Fraser Institute.

That may also explain why Quebecers give so much less than the rest of Canadians, said Sylvia LeRoy, a policy analyst at the conservative institute.

"The state there as well has played a very strong role in providing a lot of social goals, and then before that the church," she said in an interview from Calgary. "It has higher rates of taxation as well."

"If people have more after-tax money in their pockets to give, they're likely to give more," she said.

Within Canada, Manitobans are the most generous, with more of them giving, and giving more of what they have, than Canadians in other provinces, the report said. In contrast, Quebecers, are the least likely to give and also, by far, give the least.

The most striking finding, however, is the dramatic difference in charitable giving between Canada and the United States, it said, noting in terms of the depth, Americans donate 1.57% of their aggregate income, more than double the 0.7% Canadians donate.

The extent of giving is also lower in Canada, where 24.9% of all tax-filers made donations, compared with 29.4% of Americans.

In the United States, the average donation was US$3,731, which even before taking into account the differences in the values of the currencies, was over three times more than the average $1,165 donation in Canada.

[W]ith the start of the election campaign only days away, Vancouver Island Liberals and Greens are each sitting with just three candidates for six ridings.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives and NDP are raring to go with a full slate of candidates nominated.

"We have signs ready this weekend, offices opening and campaign teams ready to go," said Bruce Hallsor, co-chairman of the Conservative's B.C. election team. And there's plenty of money in the bank, he said.