December

	CTV broadcaster Mike Duffy was one of 18 appointees to the Senate, announced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in late December. Duffy will sit in the Senate as a Conservative representing Prince Edward Island.
	Federal Labour Minister Rona Ambrose Dec. 31 ordered the City of Ottawa's striking transit union to hold a membership vote on the city’s last offer before Jan. 9. The three-week-old strike of bus drivers, mechanics and dispatchers has caused long traffic tie-ups and resulted in angry calls for its resolution from residents without means of transportation. The city had asked the minister to order the vote after union leaders refused to take two contract offers to their members.
	Iona Campagnolo, former lieutenant governor of British Columbia, member of Parliament and cabinet minister was among 60 new appointments to the Order of Canada, announced Dec. 20 by Governor General Michaëlle Jean. Campagnolo was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, a promotion within the Order, for her "continued work and dedication as a volunteer, notable in the areas of human rights and the environment," stated the citation from the Governor General.
	Elder William Commanda of Maniwaki, Quebec, was among 60 new appointments to the Order of Canada announced Dec. 20 by Governor General Michaëlle Jean. He was cited for his leadership as an elder who has promoted intercultural understanding and has raised awareness of the traditions and legacies of Canada’s Aboriginal people.
	Winnipeg Lawyer David Matas was among the 60 new appointments to the Order of Canada announced Dec. 20 by Governor General Michaëlle Jean.The new appointees include 4 Companions, 14 Officers and 42 Members. Recipients will be invited to accept their insignia at a ceremony to be held at a later date.

	Veteran New Democrat Bill Blaikie, a United Church minister, will run for a seat in the Manitoba legislature in a byelection expected to be called in the spring. Blaikie won the NDP nomination Dec. 14 for the provincial riding of Winnipeg Elmwood. Blaikie, who served for almost three decades as a Winnipeg member of Parliament, did not seek re-election in the Oct. 15 federal election.
	Ageless Service Juanita Snelgrove, 92, smiles while serving turkey dinners Dec. 12 at the annual Christmas dinner for Centre 454, a volunteer-assisted day program for street people and a community ministry of the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa.
	Canadian-born singer Paul Anka recently suffered a head wound as the result of a domestic scuffle, the celebrity Web site TMZ.com reported Dec. 12. Anka, 67, is seen here moments before receiving an Order of Canada from Governor General Michaëlle Jean in Ottawa in 2005. Anka's wife, Anna, 37, was arrested and booked for felony domestic battery but Ventura County district attorney's office declined to prosecute, said the web site. Anka didn't press charges, calling it "a stupid little event." Police arrested his wife after seeing that he was injured. Two staples were needed to close the head wound, caused by a piece of ice thrown by Anna.

	Demonstrators denounced the proposed Liberal-NDP coalition at a boisterous rally on Parliament Hill Dec. 6 -- one of several held across the country. Police estimated the crowd on the Hill at 3,000, the Canadian Press reported.
	About 3,000 people were at the rally on Parliament Hill Dec. 6 to show their support for the Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and their opposition to the proposed Liberal-NDP coalition. Many carried Canadian flags and waved placards denouncing the coalition.
	Canadian flags on Parliament Hill fly at half-staff following the deaths of three members of the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan Dec. 5. The three, Cpl. Mark McLaren, Pte. Demetrios Diplaros and Warrant Officer Robert Wilson, were killed near Kandahar when their armoured vehicle struck a roadside bomb. Their deaths pushed the number of Canadian troops killed in Afghanistan to 100 since 2002.
	"Whatsoever ... ", a sculpture by Canadian artist Timothy P. Schmalz, is coated with snow as it sits beside the sidewalk in front of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church near Parliament Hill, a graphic reminder of the needs of poor and the hungry, especially at this time of the year.
	Former Canadian member of Parliament, Belinda Stronach, and Former British prime minister Tony Blair have joined forces on a proposed new interfaith initiative to advance the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). They met in Toronto Dec. 5 with 40 representatives of "faith and belief communities" to form a steering committee. "I believe that people of different religious faiths and spiritual beliefs care about the issues of development and human justice captured in the MDGs, and have a remarkable ability to collaborate and mobilize resources at the community level," Blair said in a news release. "We are proposing here to try to tap into the energy and capacity of the faith and belief communities and encourage them to achieve even more together than apart." Stronach added, "We are looking to work with Canadians of faith and belief to build a secure and neutral public space in which to encourage and facilitate inter-faith cooperation on practical humanitarian matters where there is a large degree of consensus, starting with the MDGs."
	Former federal Liberal Cabinet Minister Herb Gray is the new Chancellor of Carleton University in Ottawa. He takes over from former Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau, who stepped down as the university's Chancellor last year to go into politics. Garneau was elected to the House of Commons as a Liberal in the October 14 federal election.
	About 2,000 demonstrators held a rally on Parliament Hill Dec.4 in support of the proposed Liberal-NDP coalition's attempt to unseat the Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The House of Commons is now prorogued until late January but the coalition says it only buys the government a few more weeks in power.
	Liberal leader Stephane Dion speaks at the pro-coalition rally on Parliament Hill Dec. 4. "For the first time in Canadian History," he says, "the Prime Minister of Canada is running away from the Parliament of Canada." Dion also told the crowd of about 2,000 people, many of them union members, that without the coalition the prime minister would have tried to "impose an attack against bargaining rights in Canada."
	Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe said at the pro-coalition rally on Parliament Hill Dec. 4 that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is practising the politics of "fear, division and lies." Harper is "trying to fool the people," he added. "But as Abraham Lincoln said, sometimes you can fool all the people. Some people, you can fool all the time. But you can't fool all the people all the time."
	NDP leader Jack Layton points to the House of Commons entrance in his speech to the pro-coalition rally on Parliament Hill Dec. 4. "Stephen Harper just put the locks on the House of Commons so that we can't vote him out of office," he said. "I call on all of you not to give up for one second."
	Members of the NDP caucus including party leader Jack Layton (centre), join in the singing of O Canada at the end of the pro-coalition rally on Parliament Hill Dec. 4.
	Canadian journalist and political activist Judy Rebick hosted the pro-coalition rally on Parliament Hill Dec. 4. "What we've seen in the last few days is the return of the reform party, their anti-feminist policies, the anti-worker policies, the vicious anti-Quebec policies," she told the crowd.