Do you remember Anne McGrath?

The Cold War Communist who ran for Rachel Notley's NDP in Calgary? Well, after her spectacular defeat in the typically left-wing riding of Calgary-Varsity, she fled to greener pastures.

McGrath is now the political boss for the failing NDP, under leader Jagmeet Singh. As we reported earlier, McGrath was behind the push to take a bailout for her party, abusing the federal purse to pay off her staff during the pandemic.

But it is not just McGrath who is abusing the federal wage subsidy. The Liberals and the Conservatives are doing the same. Having taxpayers pay political staff isn’t something many people would expect to come out of Canada. It is more reminiscent of the USSR, or China – single party autocracies.

I would have loved to ask Andrew Scheer about his hypocrisy on this file, or even Justin Trudeau, but when Red Anne crossed my path in front of Parliament, just minutes before it was announced that her Party was helping to close down the House of Commons for the rest of the season, I decided to catch up with an old friend.