What three words of encouragement would you give to boost Ottawa’s self-esteem?

People (typically those not from here) love to tease Ottawa, and sometimes, the city makes it very easy to be made fun of—to the point where it inspired a spin-off from the ‘Toronto VS. Everybody’ expression: ‘Ottawa VS. Itself,’ from local designer Dominic Coballe. Despite taking flak for being a boring, buttoned-up government town nestled between trendy TO and charming Montreal, Ottawa really is a happening place for those who take the time to explore beyond the parliamentary precinct. We asked some notable Ottawans—those who call it ‘home’ both full-time, part-time, present, and past—what kind of ‘letter-to- your-thirteen-year-old-self-style’ words of encouragement they would offer to help Canada’s Capital brush its shoulders off.

Canada needs to throw off the yoke of economic complacency to play in the big leagues

Economic indicators suggest that Canada's performance among G7 nations is middling, says columnist Evan Sotiropoulos.

‘Last thing we need is a straitjacket’: Sen. Harder calls for flexible rules in Senate reform, as government mulls new bill

The government representative in the Senate says he wants to see the Senate Modernization Committee 'achieve a consensus' this fall on reform recommendations, which would help inform the creation of a government bill.

Fix Indigenous issues, racial discrimination, countries tell Canada in UN human rights review

Many of the recommendations were repeated from the 2013 review, say civil society groups, who want Canada to change its human rights-management approach.

Opposition MPs demand minister testify to explain ‘odd’ chief electoral officer nomination switch-up

The Liberals' nominee, Stéphane Perrault, didn't have many answers Tuesday as to what happened to Saskatchewan electoral officer Michael Boda's nomination, so Conservative MP Blake Richards is asking for a minister to ex

PMO, PCO should stay out of appointing parliamentary watchdogs: think-tank report

The Liberal appointment process is ‘broken,’ according to a new Public Policy Forum report, but MPs and observers are split on the fix.

As bargaining restarts, largest federal union threatens to campaign against Liberals if talks go south

PSAC has set bargaining dates, which extend from late May to mid-July, for groups representing about 90,000 of its 140,000 federal public service members.

Liberals ‘doing themselves real damage’ out west by delaying CPTPP, says analyst

Farm groups are pushing the Liberals to ratify the 11-member deal, but automakers want to pump the brakes until NAFTA is a done deal.

Minister Carr tops lobbying list as groups ramp up on environmental assessment, fisheries bills

'I would be surprised if he wasn’t the No. 1 minister being lobbied,' says Navigator consultant Andrew Balfour as energy and environment bills work their way through the House.

Conservatives say if Harper’s public engagements start to damage the brand, he’ll ‘back off’

Stephen Harper, who said back in February that he could still "easily" be leader of the Conservative Party but decided not to in order to secure the party's future fortunes, has been generating a number…