Fisheries Minister Gail Shea and a number of MPs and Senators plan to attend Grit Sen. Céline Hervieux-Payette's seal feast on the Hill.

Libs need a 'political smash and grab' to boost numbers and pull election trigger, says pollster Nik Nanos.

Conservatives now have a majority on all 17 Senate committees, although they still can't win votes on their own.

MPs' salary freeze a symbolic move, but real pain likely in store for bureaucrats.

PM Harper's, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney's and Tory MP Rob Anders' ridings also set up massive phone banks to sway voters in swing ridings in central Canada.

Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page will get $2.8-million budget after high-profile national fight.

CCC's Perrin Beatty, a former Tory Cabinet minister, says experience in how government works is much more important.