Environmental Defence basks in successful PR campaign
Rick Smith, director of Environmental Defence, an environmental advocacy group in Toronto, said he “likes to think” that the organization’s campaign against harmful toxic agents had an impact on the government’s recent decision to ban two of them. Environment Minister Rona Ambrose and Health Minister Tony Clement published a notice in the Canada Gazette on […]
‘This is very much a wide open race’: Bevilacqua
Liberal leadership candidate and seven-term Grit MP Maurizio Bevilacqua, 46, says the leadership race is still “wide open” with four months to go and that it’s a mistake to assume the winner will be one of the current perceived media front-runners. “What I’m finding is that the grassroots support for me is quite strong across […]
Korksi’s candidates for ‘Worst Column To Appear in Print’ awards
Journalists like to receive awards but don’t often give them out. That seems ungenerous. So, in the spirit of public service I’m naming my candidates for the Worst Column To Appear In Print. Ho-hum media are a dime a dozen, but awful journalism is a national treasure. I used to collect bad headlines, a lively […]
Stormy weather doesn’t dampen southern spirit at U.S. Ambassador’s party
Despite a stormy afternoon of weather as volatile as recent Canada-U.S. relations, U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins put on a heck of a good Independence Day party last Tuesday in Ottawa. The legendary South Carolina hospitality was also on display throughout the afternoon. When the Ambassador’s opening remarks were cut short by a sudden downpour that […]
Flirting with the left could spell disaster for Liberals
Asked once what he liked most about his job, former prime minister Jean Chrétien replied that “the most enjoyable thing is to win an election.” And win he did; 12 elections as a member of Parliament and three as prime minister before retiring undefeated after 40 years in the business of elected politics. The success […]
Harper made it crystal clear the federal government’s first priority is an open America
WASHINGTON, D.C.-What’s on Stephen Harper’s mind is now on his lips. Anyone who bothers to listen will learn what’s worrying the Prime Minister and where his government will lead Canada this fall. In conversation here with George W. Bush and later with the press, Harper made it crystal clear the federal government’s first priority is […]
A Michael Ignatieff could not happen in the United States
WASHINGTON-Michael Ignatieff could not happen in the United States. Or, to be more precise, the Ignatieff political phenomenon could not occur. As an intellectual, commentator, writer, financier/entrepreneur, scientist, athlete or virtually any member of society, an “Ignatieff” by whatever name would be easily welcome and highly successful in the United States. But not as an […]
Some memorable legal disputes and threats in the last two years
June 2006 After NDP MP Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre, Man.) verbally attacked Liberal MP Joe Volpe over donations he received from 11-year-olds, Mr. Volpe threatened to sue him unless an apology was made. Mr. Martin apologized. June 2006 Conservative MP Rob Anders is facing a lawsuit against him for a wrongful dismissal launched by a […]
The Spin Doctors
by The Hill Times “Do you agree that MPs should be allowed to use their per diem to pay for mortgages on homes they may own in Ottawa? Mike Storeshaw Conservative strategist “Before we start hollering about pigs at the trough, we should acknowledge that being an MP is one of very few jobs in […]
‘I have more control now’ over media, says Prime Minister
Maclean’s magazine is “proud” to sign up for the Prime Minister’s media list and, while other news organizations adopt policies of staying off the list, its policy is “abject surrender,” Maclean’s columnist Paul Wells said in an interview. The Prime Minister’s media list has been a source of dispute between the Parliamentary Press Gallery and […]
