Tease the day: are we in for another midnight surprise?

Or maybe this will just be a quiet Friday, with absolutely no surprises.

<p>Visitors come and go as the Parliament Buildings are silhouetted at dusk while Members of Parilament prepare to vote on Bill C38, the federal budget bill in Ottawa, ON Wednesday June 13, 2012. Voting on the omnibus bill is expected to last through the night. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</p>

CP/Adrian Wyld

CP/Adrian Wyld

The auditor-general isn’t reporting anything today. Statistics Canada won’t have any new census data to tell us about. The Supreme Court won’t rule on anything related to our country’s democratic principles. And, since it’s Friday, a slew of MPs has already left town for their constituencies. It should be a quiet day in Ottawa, right? Right? Just in case, keep an eye on the clock and, when midnight rolls around, check the news wires. After all, you never know what federal ministers are doing in the dead of night.


What’s above the fold this morning?

The Globe and Mail leads with pressure on Elections Canada to clean up its act in the wake of yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling that upheld the election of MP Ted Opitz in May 2011. The National Post fronts an alleged human smuggling ring through Mexico to Toronto. The Toronto Star‘s top story looks at new measures to discipline police to who lie under oath. The Ottawa Citizen leads with expensive French training for a public servant with a spelling disability. iPolitics fronts the reality that federal navigable waters law was changed four months ago. National Newswatch showcases Postmedia‘s John Ivison, who writes the NDP is forcing the government to make legislation unsupportable.


Stories that will dominate Question PeriodStories that will be (mostly) missed
1. Foreign investment. There’s no reason to believe the opposition, even if many of its top critics have flown out of Ottawa for the weekend, will let up on criticism of the government’s handling of the foreign investment file.1. Prostitution. The Supreme Court announced it will hear an appeal of an Ontario court ruling that struck down a ban on women working in brothels for the purposes of prostitution. The lower ruling is stayed until the top court rules.
2. Clarity act. The Bloc Québécois will table a bill that calls on the federal government to get rid of the Clarity Act, a law that allows the feds to determine whether or not a successful secession vote obtained a clear majority.2. French training. A public servant in Ottawa will receive French training at a cost of thousands of dollars. That’s because the employee has a spelling disability and will require more intensive training than usual.

Where I’ll be today…

I’m following up on yesterday’s meeting of the heritage committee. MPs heard from several Montreal-based executives in the video game industry. I’m curious about who’s coming to committee next, and am curious if parliamentarians want to hear from smaller, independent video game developers whose perspective might be markedly different from the biggest studios.

Think there’s a developer who’s worth calling? Let me know, as usual, in the comments below.


Scorecard for yesterday’s Tease: Not too shabby. OAS cuts led off Question Period, followed by a slew of questions from the opposition about foreign investment. One story that was (mostly) missed did merit a question: NDP MP Peter Stoffer asked about Veterans Affairs funding for burials of former soldiers.