House says it’s prepared for Year 2000
From preparing software upgrade packages to providing onsite notebook testing facilities, House of Commons information technology specialists are working overtime in a bid to ensure that the business of Parliament keeps on rolling when the clocks roll over at midnight on Jan. 1, 2000. As public and private sector organizations race to avoid the anticipated […]
What’s wrong with the PQ these days?
A lot of things are just not going right for the Parti Qu b cois these days. The Parliamentary session, which recessed just a few days before the national holiday of Quebec, showed there are many problems within the PQ ranks. The biggest headache remains health-care reform and its author, the minister of health, Jean […]
Tory leadership race needs some excitement
“It’s official: Joe Why becomes Joe Yes.” That cryptogram is from the front page of my morning paper, by way of signalling Joe Clark’s formal entry into the contest for the leadership of the federal Progressive Conservative party. The message confirms the puzzlement of journalists as to Clark’s motives. Why would a guy like Joe […]
[Liberal Caucus Research Bureau loses communications assistant to the international arena of youth politics]
The Liberal Caucus Research Bureau has lost a communications assistant to the international arena of liberal youth politics. Janice Nicholson left the bureau last week and will be heading to Brussels on July 17 to take on the position of executive director with the International Federation of Liberal and Radical Youth, an umbrella organization of […]
Senator wins some respect [in battle over bills between Commons & Senate]
The power of the legislator…The battle between the House and the Senate will likely heat up again this fall over how the elected MPs treat private members’ bill from the Upper Chamber. Senators are pushing for changes to how their bills are handled by the House of Commons. Manitoba Liberal Senator Sharon Carstairs has written […]
Question period: What do you think of the decision to increase the pay of heads of Crown corporations by 4%-19% while MPs got a 2% raise?
“It’s not just the heads of Crown corporations that are seeing these increases — it’s senior military people and senior bureaucrats. The government seems to have opened the floodgates and I wonder where it will stop? And will the people at the lower end see this? If not, why?” Reform MP Randy White Langley-Abbotsford, B.C. […]
Goldbloom extends term to September
Official Languages Commissioner Victor Goldbloom expects Canada will still need an official languages commissioner in the next century. Mr. Goldbloom’s seven-year term as official languages commissioner, which was supposed to end on June 23, has been extended by six months. But he expects the government will appoint a new commissioner soon after the House convenes […]
Atlantic politicians focus on jobs, jobs, jobs
Atlantic Canadian federal politicians are spending their time this summer addressing their traditional concerns: jobs, jobs, jobs. More than any other region, politicians from Atlantic Canada only lose focus on their main preoccupation at their own peril. In the last election, the Liberals were punished at the ballot box for their overwhelming preoccupation with the […]
Howard Hampton blows a gasket on media
One of the many things which has always amazed — and amused — me about politicians is just how many of them never learn to accept critical reviews. Sure, sometimes the media and others can be unfair, and when they are there’s nothing terribly wrong with pointing that out. But the angry politician should always […]
Tobin sets his sights on federal Liberal leadership
Political reporters in Newfoundland can quickly judge the importance of any event or announcement, just by looking to see if Newfoundland Premier Brian Tobin is involved. “Every announcement that has a national flavor to it, Tobin is there,” said Craig Jackson, who covers the legislature for The Evening Telegram. Even when the topic is not […]
