U.S. Democrats have raised concerns over labour and environmental standards in the NAFTA-replacement deal. MPs say Canada should hold off on ratifying the agreement before the U.S. does. The Hill Times file photograph
House may need to sit in summer to pass new NAFTA deal, says Trade Committee chair
‘I've never seen that before, but it's doable,’ says Liberal MP Mark Eyking. But MPs still say the Americans should make the first move toward ratification.
All eyes on Red Chamber, as Senators push back on key government bills
Senators have proposed dozens of changes to the Liberals' impact assessment and gun bills, have concerns about its solitary confinement legislation, and recommended its tanker-ban bill not proceed. Lobbyists seek clarity after watchdog warns political statements risk contravening code
‘This may keep individuals from participating in the political process,' says Ottawa lobbyist Scott Thurlow.Politics This Morning
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Senate on a spending ‘slippery slope,’ says Sen. Marshall, as Senators review office-expense rules
Senators rejected staff-suggested changes to the rules governing how they spend money from their office budgets, in favour of examining the rules and coming up with their own changes.Lobbying czar has ‘concerns’ for her office’s budget, warns court decision could widen workload
The office’s work has ‘evolved in complexity, litigiousness, and level of scrutiny,’ says Nancy Bélanger.Conservatives say they’re ‘confident’ Mark Norman will expose more Liberal wrongdoing
Peter MacKay says if Vice-Admiral Mark Norman speaks out about his ordeal, 'I don’t think it will mean good things for the Liberal government.'Senate compromise on government’s signature impact assessment bill would put maligned regulators back in charge on environmental review panels
Plus, a ban on importing shark fins is now steps away from law.‘They should be nervous’: Liberals now focusing ‘completely’ on election readiness in regional, national caucus meetings
The Liberals will be under attack from all sides in the next election campaign, but Liberals say they have a good story to tell and some say they need to sharpen up their communications strategy before it's too late. Ford’s cuts in social programs could be opening for federal Liberals to campaign against federal Conservatives in October, say Liberal MPs
Conservative MP David Tilson says it’s too early to jump to any conclusion about the impact of the Ford government’s policies on the next federal election outcome.Remains of old barracks, guardhouse focus of ‘significant’ archaeological dig on Parliament Hill
MPs learned about the archaeological finds through a briefing from officials at the House Affairs Committee last week, during which new details about proposed work plans for Centre Block were shared.U.S. Democrats have raised concerns over labour and environmental standards in the NAFTA-replacement deal. MPs say Canada should hold off on ratifying the agreement before the U.S. does. The Hill Times file photograph
House may need to sit in summer to pass new NAFTA deal, says Trade Committee chair
‘I've never seen that before, but it's doable,’ says Liberal MP Mark Eyking. But MPs still say the Americans should make the first move toward ratification.
Bernier’s ‘virtue-signalling’ attack on Rempel is disturbing
Maxime Bernier is deploying the tactics of toxic masculinity to publicly harass his former female caucus-mate.Brexit, the EU election, and nostalgia for Obama’s don’t-do-stupid-stuff motto
Sure, people laughed when Barack Obama’s White House operating principle was revealed. Apparently, it needs to be revived and repeated. Over and over again.Party leaders take on climate ’emergency,’ but climate loses
The main parties are on the same page on ending subsidies; they're just having trouble reconciling their schedules. Complete phaseout starting in 2019? No. How about 2050? How about never? Does never work for everyone? 
No funding makes Indigenous child welfare bill ‘weak, deficient, and broken,’ witness says, but others urge MPs to ‘get it passed’
AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde pitched four changes to Bill C-92, but called it a clear ‘step forward.’Goodale: Answering the tough questions on Bill C-83 and reforming our approach to corrections
A Senate committee has raised number of questions about the bill, and they merit serious responses.Privacy watchdog proposing rule change that could see firms revise data-use policies
The privacy commissioner's office is considering changes that could mean getting a person's explicit okay in all cases when their data is to be transferred across the border.
Nuclear disarmament talks like Groundhog Day, but more tragedy than comedy
The U.S. has plans to spend $100,000 per minute on the maintenance and expansion of nuclear weapons. Last chance for the war lover? U.S.’s Bolton sets stage for Iran conflict
John Bolton's extreme anti-globalist American-supremacy rhetoric might even be funny if he were just your ordinary crackpot and not the president’s national security adviser.Untying food aid in Canada: policy matters
It's now been more than 10 years since Canada fully untied its food aid to developing countries.
‘Worrying’ transparency gap in sponsored travel, say critics after lobbying czar report
‘Of course sponsored travel is about lobbying, it’s about gaining influence,’ says NDP MP Charlie Angus, and needs more oversight.Federal laws on toxic chemicals not serving consumers
Our ask of lawmakers mirrors the key areas addressed by the committee, including strengthening the labelling regime for cosmetics, writes Gregg Renfrew, founder and CEO of Beautycounter.If businesses want to stop being seen as the enemy, they need to up their advocacy game
Corporate leaders need to play a consistent, open role in daily political discourse, like smart unions and environmental bodies do. And that’s not as simple as aligning with one party.
New regional advisers for ministers Sajjan, Duncan
Plus, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is set to get two new staffers straight out of Doug Ford's office, and a new caucus liaison and regional adviser for the Prairies.
Booted NDP MP Erin Weir not seeking re-election
Plus, Celina Caesar-Chavannes named Viola Desmond Award winner, and Jagmeet Singh takes seat on Iron Throne.
Changes in PMO, including a promotion and Ben Chin joins the team
The Prime Minister’s Office also has a new correspondence writer on board, among other recent political staffing moves.
Book on toxic masculinity takes top prize at 2019 Politics and the Pen
Rachel Giese's book, Boys: What it Means to Become a Man, won the $25,000 Shaughnessy Cohen prize at the 2019 Politics and the Pen event in Ottawa. ‘There is no greater guy in this place’: MPs celebrate outgoing Liberal MP Eyking
Plus, ITK's Taste of the Arctic takes to the NAC, and the Grits are fundraising after 12 Tory MPs attended an anti-abortion rally. New Quebec desk in the PMO, as more join Liberal Party headquarters ahead of election
Former PMO Quebec regional affairs adviser Marie-Laurence Lapointe has joined Liberal Party headquarters as chief Quebec organizer. 
Social media companies that violate new political ad rules, even inadvertently, will be fined, minister suggests
Firms are taking different approaches to a new political ad registry regime meant to protect against interference in the next election.
DND data shows thousands given antimalarial drug that veterans are suing the feds over
The government should reach out to veterans about the military’s policy change and Health Canada warning for mefloquine, which deserves more study, says Tory MP Cathay Wagantall.
Canada should weigh in on the crisis in Central America
While the U.S. debates aid cuts, Canada should talk about the need to do more—not less—to improve the conditions that are forcing Central Americans to flee north.
‘Inappropriate’ or not, disregard for the rules shouldn’t be put on parade
The Armed Forces has clearly defined guidelines on how weapons should be carried on parade—and they need to followed.Government ‘closely monitoring’ tenfold spike in Mexican asylum claims
Mexico’s new ambassador says he’s been speaking to Canadian officials and his government is launching education campaigns to deal with what he says is a ‘shared challenge.’Annual Features
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Politics This Morning: Trudeau to exonerate Chief Poundmaker; Carr in Paris for OECD conference
The openness of the retiring Supreme Court of Canada justice also affords the court an extra degree of credibility in showing how key societal institutions are connected to the rest of us.
Iran’s army is about the same size as that of the United States, but it could quickly expand to 10 times that size with volunteers, as it did during the U.S.-backed Iraqi invasion of Iran in 1980-88.
The B.C. coast is a single system where the land and ocean blend. What befalls the ocean, befalls the species of the land. It is no place for oil tankers.
Back in 1965, Progressive Conservative MP Alf Hales complained that he felt buried by the burden of legislative and constituency work as a backbench MP. So he helped start the Parliamentary Internship Program.
Let's hope that the upcoming October 2019 election may help shape a better and less deceptive deal for consumers in terms of the public's right to really know what's going on and who's feeding who the outcomes.
ISED publicly stated its intention to lower wireless prices and broaden choice for consumers by offering subsidized spectrum, but the process it laid out led to a pricing contention for the remaining spectrum.‘We need to understand how the rules and norms of masculinity affect how boys and young men feel and behave’
The following is an excerpt from Boys: What It Means to Become a Man, by Rachel Giese, which has been shortlisted along with four other books for this year's Writers' Trust of Canada's Shaughnessy Cohen Prize, the best political book of the year. The winner will be announced in Ottawa on May 15. Wait, wait, little one: learning to connect through a story of survival
Homes: A Refugee Story, by Abu Bakr al Rabeeah and Winnie Yeung, has been shortlisted along with four other books for the Writers' Trust of Canada's 2018 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing. The winner will be announced in Ottawa on May 15 at the Politics and the Pen gala.The Hill Times in print
Politics This Morning
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Foreign Affairs Minister Freeland promotes Vincent Garneau as her new chief of staff, Broadhurst exits for top job at Liberal HQ
Plus, National Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan is in need of a new director of policy, and former PMO principal secretary Gerald Butts has a new gig. Ministers Joly, MacAulay, Bains hire aides
Official Languages Minister Mélanie Joly has hired a new special assistant for operations, while Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay and Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains both have new communications aides.
Scribes, politicos to rub elbows at Politics and the Pen
Plus, newsroom cuts expected at CTV, and the Globe and Mail, and Mulroney whip and Harper mentor Jim Hawkes dies at 84.CBC’s de Paul retires after 35 years on the Hill
Plus, Bloomberg's Josh Wingrove feted at Brixton's, and Pamela Goldsmith-Jones will not seek re-election.Teresa Wright’s vocals steal the show, while Pablo Rodriguez is a dancing king at gallery dinner
One of the more sentimental moments of the night was Toronto Star columnist Chantal Hébert's acceptance of the Charles Lynch award, saying couldn’t have done it without help from other gallery members.‘We miss you so much’: celebration of life for Gord Brown brings together politicos from all sides
Conservative MP Gord Brown had a heart attack in his office on May 2, 2018, dying shortly thereafter. He was 57.Former Swedish Speaker switches gears to become ambassador
Canada and Sweden can ‘push the agenda’ on the world stage in the fight to protect democracy, Sweden's new envoy says.Canada’s corporate ethics watchdog a ‘positive tool,’ says incoming Mexican ambassador
Mexico is ‘on the same page,’ says Juan José Gómez Camacho, with Canadian mining companies, which make up 70 per cent of foreign investment in the sector.
International parliamentary committee on disinformation, fake news to meet in Ottawa May 27 to 29
Bob Zimmer, chair of the House Committee on Access to Information, Privacy, and Ethics, is set to host the second meeting of the International Grand Committee on Big Data, Privacy, and Democracy in Ottawa from May 27 to 29. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
Plus, Beverley McLachlin is this year’s honorary Riverkeeper. She'll be at the Ottawa Riverkeeper Gala on May 29.
A couple enjoys lunch on the west lawn of Parliament Hill. 
Comedian Rick Mercer and then-Reform Party MP Deb Grey, pictured in the late 1990s on Parliament Hill doing a shoot for CBC's This Hour Has 22 Minutes, which Mr. Mercer hosted at the time. The Hill Times photograph by Terry McDonald 
