LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Honour sale of generic drugs to fight AIDS I was surprised when Stephen Harper deferred an announcement on increased funding for AIDS, saying, “We are undertaking some evaluations, but this government’s concentration in the fight against drugs in the next few years will be on enforcement, prevention and treatment.” The Canadian government recently enacted legislation […]
Environmental groups briefed on Conservative green plan
The government provided briefings on its environmental plan to environmental groups last week, but they were said to be very general and did not contain enough details to draw any conclusions about the Conservatives’ upcoming environment policy. “It was a very general briefing, I think there were only eight slides that we were shown,” said […]
Harper has the right strategy on Senate reform: Senator Elect
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is serious about Senate reform and is taking a strategic approach by tackling the issue in incremental steps, says Link Byfield, an Alberta Senator elect. “Serious Senate reformers realized a long time ago-some time between the death of the Meech Lake Accord and the death of the Charlottetown Accord-that the total-package […]
PM touts northern tourism
Northern tourism will play a large role in the future of Canada’s territories, Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) said in a speech from Whitehorse, Yukon on Aug. 17. Mr. Harper also used the speech to announce an extra $9.5 million in funding for the 2007 Canada Winter Games to be hosted by Whitehorse. […]
Tories should take responsibility for toxic sites in the North: MP Angus
Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor (Carleton-Mississippi Mills, Ont.) needs to acknowledge the Defence Department’s responsibility for numerous toxic sites in Ontario’s North, NDP MP Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay, Ont.) said at a news conference last week. The Department of National Defence built and then abandoned 17 radar bases in the early 1960s in the James Bay-Hudson’s […]
103 people appointed to review Ontario’s electoral system
Ontarians could be voting to change its electoral system next year, based on recommendations to be made by an Ontario Citizens Assembly reviewing the province’s electoral system. One hundred and three randomly selected people representing each riding in Ontario will begin studying a variety of electoral systems around the world over the next eight months […]
Softwood lumber agreement a do-or-die deal this week
The Conservatives’ softwood lumber deal is “amateurish” and “irresponsible” and the industry will not likely support it by Monday’s deadline, says the NDP. “The industry is clearly not supportive and understandably so,” said NDP MP Peter Julian (Burnaby-New Westminister, B.C.), his party’s international trade critic. “It’s just not a commercially viable deal which is why […]
Top undecided Liberals to declare support for leadership candidates
Some of the 50-undecided Liberal caucus members will declare their support for various Liberal Party leadership candidates at this week’s national Liberal caucus retreat in Vancouver, say Liberal sources. “There will be some announcements at [or leading up to] the caucus meeting. It’s good for the momentum of the campaigns. Rae last week got a […]
Conservative Del Mastro ‘got the call from the PMO’ says Liberal
Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro (Peterborough, Ont.) got a call directly from the PMO to say that he would not be going on a Parliamentary fact-finding mission to the Middle East with two other MPs, Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj (Etobicoke Centre, Ont.) told The Hill Times. “The call came from the PMO,” Mr. Wrzesnewskyj said […]
Canadian government centralizes procurement as the trend is more decentralization, says procurement expert Hansen
The federal government’s procurement strategy, called The Way Forward, introduced in 2001, has gone from bad to worse, says an e-procurement expert who is working on a “blueprint” to find the best way to do business with the public service. “There’s a major shift in the market place, but there’s too much of an investment […]
