Onex Corp. managing director speaks to reporters in Wichita, Kansas, on June 17, 2005.Larry W. Smith
1. Making plans for Nigel. Finally, Canadians get a look at Stephen Harper's new chief of staff on Tuesday.
Nigel Wright, the Bay Street executive, is to appear before the Commons ethics committee this afternoon to talk about his potential conflicts of interest. And it won't be much fun for the businessman, who is taking temporary leave from Onex Corp. to join the Prime Minister's Office.
That arrangement has opposition MPs curious as to how he will conduct himself in his new position. So how will Mr. Wright conduct himself: defensive, helpful, shy, aggressive?
"Knowing him, he's going to go open kimono and will address issues absolutely head on," a close friend of Mr. Wright's told The Globe. "He's extremely articulate and given his moral grounding [he is a devout Anglican] will not have any qualms defending his record in business."
Mr. Wright has agreed to set up an " ethical wall" that will be policed by his immediate underling to ensure his Onex job does not create conflicts of interest when he begins work at Langevin. He has also provided the ethics committee with documents related to his plan for steering clear of government discussions related to the far-reaching interests of his firm.
The Globe will liveblog Mr. Wright's committee appearance beginning at 3 p.m. ET.
2. Cat got his tongue. Industry Minister Tony Clement had a rather circumspect scrum with reporters Monday about the takeover of Potash Corp.
"I really can't answer that," he said.
Then he said this: "I can't answer that either."
Enlighten us more, minister: "I really can't answer that."
There was this answer, too: "No, I can't."
And then, he said, "No, I didn't."
It's an example of the kind of discourse on Parliament Hill as the Harper government grapples with whether to alienate international investors or alienate voters in Saskatchewan, where they have 13 of 14 federal seats, over the potential takeover of Potash Corp. by Anglo-Australian mining firm BHP Billiton.
Mr. Clement is the man at the centre. The usually chatty politician was short and non-committal in his answers to reporters after Question Period. An avid Twitter user, he could have easily tweeted the scrum.
3. Where the chips fall. A look at how domestic political forces are lining up on the proposed Potash deal explain why the Industry Minister is being so cagey.
FOR: John Manley, president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives and a former Liberal Industry Minister and Finance Minister.
AGAINST: The government of Saskatchewan; the government of Alberta; the government of Quebec; the government of Manitoba; the Liberal Party of Canada; the New Democratic Party; former Saskatchewan premiers Lorne Calvert, Roy Romanow, Grant Devine and Allan Blakeney; and former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed.
UNSURE (and likely worried about their electoral prospets): The 13 Conservative MPs in Saskatchewan.
4. Shooting the messenger. Stephen Harper's office is very twitchy as it grapples with the Potash takeover.
That's most likely why PMO strategists came out so aggressively against National Post columnist Don Martin for his report Monday that Investment Canada had approved the takeover and the final decision was now with the Prime Minister.
Boy, did it ever rattle the PMO cage: "Another False Claim by Don Martin" was the headline of the PMO missive circulated to Tory MPs and other party insiders.
"The Minister of Industry is the lead on this file - please use the following lines when dealing with the media," according to the memo.
"Don Martin's story is wrong and factually incorrect; The final decision is not with the Prime Minister; As laid out in the Investment Canada Act, the ultimate authority for approving decisions under the Act lies with the Minister."
And it goes on from there, underscoring again and again how it's the Industry Minister's decision - which, of course, is difficult for many on Parliament Hill to believe, given the way in which the Prime Minister rules the roost.
"Well, they didn't deny the essence of the story and The Globe wrote the same thing so not sure what's got their knickers all knotted." Mr. Martin said Tuesday morning.