New poll gives Canada's Conservatives strong lead (Reuters)

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada's ruling Conservatives took a strong lead in an opinion poll released on Monday, ahead of a March budget that will be the government's next big test.

The Ipsos Reid survey, summarized on the website of Canada's National Post newspaper, said 39 percent of voters supported the Conservatives, who have only a minority of seats in Parliament and need support of at least one opposition party to stay in power.

The Liberals, the second largest party, had the support of 25 percent of voters.

The previous Ipsos Reid poll last month put support at 34 percent for the Conservatives and 29 percent for the Liberals.

The government's next major test will come after it produces its next budget, probably in late March. If opposition parties combine to vote that down, the government falls and there is a new election.

"We've seen this before," pollster Darrell Bricker told the newspaper. "The more people talk about elections, the more it seems to move in favor of the government."

Ipsos Reid polled 1,001 Canadian voters between February 8 and Feb 10. It considers its results accurate to within 3.1 percentage points 95 percent of the time.

(Reporting by Janet Guttsman)

View the original article here

Judge gives Abramoff lobbyist 20 months in jail (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A former lobbyist, the first person to plead guilty in the Jack Abramoff corruption scandal that rocked the U.S. capital, was sentenced Friday to 20 months in prison, the Justice Department said.

A judge sentenced Michael Scanlon, a lobbying partner with Abramoff and a one-time aide to then-House of Representatives Majority Leader Tom DeLay, for his role in the scandal that contributed to Republicans losing control of Congress in 2006.

U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle also ordered Scanlon, 40, to pay $20 million in restitution to his victims, serve three years of probation after his prison term and put in 300 hours of community service, the department said.

Scanlon, the first target of the criminal investigation to cooperate with prosecutors, pleaded guilty in 2005 to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and to defraud Native-American tribes of millions of dollars.

Scanlon admitted he and Abramoff conspired to defraud four Native American Indian tribes that operated or wanted to operate casinos. They agreed to charge fees that incorporated huge profit margins and then split the profits in a secret kick-back arrangement.

Scanlon could have faced up to four years in prison but prosecutors recommended two years because of his cooperation. Scanlon's attorneys said he should be spared from prison and get home confinement or time at a half-way house instead.

Scanlon was one of 20 people, including former Republican Representative Bob Ney of Ohio, lobbyists, federal government officials and congressional aides convicted in the scandal.

In the last remaining trial tied to the Abramoff scandal, Fraser Verrusio, a former House staff member, was convicted Thursday on corruption charges for accepting an all-expenses paid trip to New York City for the first game of the 2003 World Series.

One of the lobbyists who helped arrange the baseball game trip worked with Abramoff.

Soon after Scanlon's plea deal, Abramoff also decided to cooperate with investigators. He pleaded guilty in 2006 and was released from prison last year.

(Reporting by James Vicini; Editing by Bill Trott)

View the original article here