Prime Minister Stephen Harper has landed in Bogota, Colombia, to open trade talks with some of the country’s prominent business leaders.

Canada and Colombia ratified a new free-trade agreement in November of 2008, and it becomes active next week. The agreement is expected to improve trade between the two countries from the $1.4 billion in 2010. Canada’s exports to Colombia were valued at roughly $644 million in 2010, and Canada imported about $717 million in goods during the same time period.

However, New Democrats were strongly opposed to the new free-trade agreement. The criticism was based upon Colombia’s poor record on human rights. The government has alleged links to paramilitary violence, political kidnappings, and public murders of journalists and union officials.

Harper’s schedule includes roundtable discussions with members of the business community, and he will visit a community center. The prime minister will also meet with Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos.

The trip is part of Harper’s tour of Latin America with Brazil, Costa Rica, and Honduras included on the itinerary. Because the United States is suffering from an extended downtown, the Conservatives are looking for more countries to sign bilateral free-trade agreements to diversify the available export markets.

Prime Minister Harper Visits Colombia to Chat About Trade

In an election that brought dramatic changes to the country’s political landscape, New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton will also now replace the defeated Liberal party leader Michael Ignatieff as Official Opposition leader. The NDP nearly tripled its number of seats with a gain of 67 in total.

With 99% of precincts reporting, the Conservatives won 167 seats in the House of Commons with the NDP following at 102 seats, Liberals with 34 seats, Bloc Québécois with four and the Green Party with one seat.

Most of the 23 seats gained by the Conservatives were in Ontario while many of the NDP gains came in Quebec. The Bloc Québécois lost 45 seats in the province causing party leader Gilles Duceppe to announce that he would be resigning.

Harper pledged to work with other parties stating, “We are intensely aware that we are and we must be the government of all Canadians, including those who did not vote for us.”

Federal Election Results: Stephen Harper Wins Majority, NDP Makes Gains

According to data released by Bloomberg, out of the last 10 elections held in Canada, when the Conservative Party emerged victorious there were gains in the equity index over the three month period following the election. After Liberal Party victories, the same period returned losses. The year following Harper’s election, Canadian stocks showed over a fourfold increase.

According to Karl Berger of Toron Investment Management of Toronto, public perception of The Conservative Party is overall better for business, offering lower corporate taxes coupled with less government spending.

If reelected, Harper promises to keep current tax cuts in place for corporations and a balanced budget by 2015. The New Democratic Party and the Liberals have stated they will back more spending for environmental legislation and want to end the current corporate tax cuts.

Current opinion polls are showing a probability of 147 seats being won in the House of Commons by The Conservative Party with the NDP, the Liberals and Bloc Quebecois trailing by a wide gap. For any party to form a majority they are required to hold a minimum of 155 seats.

The naturally occurring fiber has been linked to certain forms of cancer, including mesothelioma.

Despite push from activists to ban the use of the product world-wide, the fire-proof material is still used in certain areas.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters he had no plans to curb the export of the material to other countries.

High-ranking member of the Canadian government, Transportation Minister Chuck Strahl, suffers from an asbestos-related cancer.

Many of Canada’s asbestos exports countries go to developing countries that do not have the proper protection protocols in place, according to Reuters.

Harper Ok With Asbestos Exports

Conservative Harper is going up against Liberal Michael Ignatieff, who continues his campaign efforts today in the greater Toronto area. The Toronto area holds much of the voting power, making campaigning in the area a crucial step in the battle to win the election.

After his two week marathon of campaigning, Prime Minister Harper will be spending the day with his family in Kitchener, Ontario.

Ignatieff continues to highlight the need to maintain the current six percent per year increase in health care funding, while Harper’s platform is focused on cutting federal spending in an attempt to get the federal deficit under control.

Harper’s platform includes a plan to eliminate the federal deficit by the year 2014.

The New Democrat Leader Jack Layton and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May also continue their campaign efforts Saturday.

Layton will spend the day in Saskatchewan to unveil the NDP platform before heading back to campaign in Toronto, while May will be in Halifax holding a rally to protest her exclusion from debates.

Stephen Harper Takes Campaign Break

The proposed policy does not necessarily limit the amount of credit that a family can obtain, but instead focuses on the amount of interest that can be charged on the debt they have. In a bold move, Layton is asking that interest rates be capped at no more than five percent higher than the current prime rate, saving consumers a hefty amount of interest over what many are now paying with the current average interest rate of 19 percent.

The proposal would also limit the size of credit lines offered to those with poor credit histories or low income that will in turn reduce the amount of defaulted debt in the future.

The hope is that with this type of system consumers will be encouraged to live within their means rather than buying on credit, using methods such as layaway or saving up to make purchases. In theory, the proposal would greatly reduce the personal debt levels of Canada’s working poor.

Finally, A Common Sense Approach To Consumer Debt

The plane in question is an A310 Airbus owned by the Canadian Air Force. It is configured inside to transport VIPs and is frequently used by the Prime Minister. The plane is currently painted military gray.

In 2009, Harper requested that the plane be painted red and white, the colors of the Canadian flag. MacKay objected, saying that a red-and-white paint job would make the plane too visible.

This was a concern, MacKay said, because when the plane is not in use by the Prime Minister, it is still used for military purposes, such as flying Canadian troops into combat areas.

MacKay continued to reject requests to repaint the plane until September 2010, when the Privy Council Office stepped in and ordered that the plane be repainted.

This is only the latest conflict between Harper and MacKay, who have butted heads before, and it has fueled rumors that MacKay is planning to resign.

Canadian government sources, including spokesman for the Privy Council Raymond Rivet, say no final decision has been reached on the status of the plane.

Stephen Harper And John MacKay Are At Odds Over Plane Paint Job Colour

Recently released documents show Harper and MacKay have locked horns over the Prime Minister’s decision to change the color of the Airbus from military gray to civilian white and red.

MacKay and some senior officers believe the white and red combination will be too visible when the jet is deployed to volatile regions.

There has not been a final decision made yet on the colours according to senior government officials.

Internal correspondence, however, suggests Harper’s Privay Council has ordered the military to prepare the new paint design upon the next scheduled maintenance.

The documents detailing the debate were obtained via the Access to Information Act. The documents show an ongoing argument for and against the change over the past two years.

Five Airbus 310 transports are owned and operated by the Air Force.

MacKay rejected the paint design change several times, according to the documents. Harper’s office persisted and submitted the request numerous times.

Finally a compromise was reached allowing the design change to take place during the next schedule maintenance in order to save money.

Stephen Harper And Defense Minister In Debate Over Plane Paint

Like a good sport, Obama made good on his end of the bet by sending the beer to Harper. Obama also sent Harper a case of Yuengling, which is the beer the President would have selected had he won the bet. When delivering the beer, David Johnson congratulated Harper on the victory and thanked him for hosting the Winter games.

While the Canadians ultimately won the gold medal in this year’s Olympics, the Americans proved that they could compete with anyone in the world. The Americans actually defeated the Canadians earlier in the Olympics and entered the medal round as the number one overall seed. Many of the Canadian and American hockey players play together on their respective NHL teams, which made the rivalry even more intense.

Obama Makes Good On Hockey Bet With Harper

Sidney Crosby ended up clenching the win (3-2) for Canada with an overtime goal in the exciting game. Harper can now expect a case of 24 Molson Canadian beer from Obama soon, however a time and date has not yet been set.

The beer, which will cost Obama between $40-45, is bottled by Canada’s oldest brewery, which actually happens to be part of Coors now. Had Obama won the bet, Harper would have had to buy Obama a case of Yuengling beer, which is considered the oldest beer maker in the United States, based in Pennsylvania.

This bet follows a different bet by White House spokesman Robert Gibbs and the Prime Minister’s spokesman, Dimitri Soudas. Apparently the two spokesmen had a wager based upon the winner of the women’s gold medal hockey game. With Canada also winning that game, Gibbs must wear a Team Canada jersey the next time he meets with the press.

Obama Loses Beer Bet With Harper