Tories receive $2.5-million from Elections Canada
Elections Canada released last Friday the amount of money each party received for the second quarter of this year. The Conservative party received the most money for receiving the most number of votes in the Jan. 23 election at $2,515,737. The Liberals received $2,096,926 for obtaining 30.2 per cent of vote while the NDP received […]
National media fight on-the-record with PMO press aide
On June 30 at a Giant Tiger outlet in Ottawa, Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) wanted to do a simple photo op for the coming into force of his one per cent GST cut, but reporters began questioning him about a release from the office of Chief Electoral Officer Jean-Pierre Kingsley, who on […]
CAJ wants ATI laws reformed
The Canadian Association of Journalists is calling on the government to strengthen the Access to Information Act by adding five amendments to the law. “The CAJ is calling upon all federal political parties to endorse five basic principles, and to ensure that these principles are enshrined in the Federal Access to Information Act,” said Rob […]
Put Parliament under Canada’s Access to Information Act
Back in 1997, Stephen Harper told The Hill Times that he thought the House of Commons should publicly reveal how much it spends on MPs’ legal fees every year. “I’ve always been a supporter of disclosure, in the due course of time. I don’t think they should have to disclose it instantly but public funds […]
SES Research polling firm moving to bigger office
With its success in the last two federal elections at measuring Canadians’ political views, SES Research will move to a bigger office in downtown Ottawa. “Since the election earlier this year we have been very busy and needed to add more consultants to our Ottawa office to accommodate our growth,” said lead pollster Nik Nanos. […]
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Tories keep kicking at Liberals while they’re down: letter-writer While answering questions about $1.7-million of undisclosed CPC convention fees Stephen Harper said: “All the laws have been obeyed and the Liberals will have to obey them as well-that’s the tough part.” Strange comment, since the Liberals aren’t involved in this. As for the laws being […]
Parliamentary Press Gallery Dinner postponed to next spring
The Parliamentary Press Gallery Dinner will be cancelled this year and moved to next spring instead. A memorandum was sent out to all full time gallery members with few details on why the increasingly splashy affair, originally scheduled for Nov. 4, then moved to Nov. 25 was cancelled last week, only stating that “as a […]
Liberals act upbeat, despite Conservatives outfundraising them by $9-million in 2005
Despite fundraising only half of what the Conservative Party did last year, the Liberal Party is doing well and is still financially healthy, claim Liberal MPs. “At the national level, our party is starting to build that grassroots base and over the coming year to, I’d say, three years I think we’re going to be […]
Need to know the finer details of the FAA? Call in high-ranking civil servants: Susan Cartwright and Joe Wild
Much has been written about the Prime Minister’s so-called No. 1 priority, the massive, 252-page, 317-clause, omnibus Federal Accountability Act. But what about the top bureaucrats who actually led the draft of the act? Meet Susan Cartwright, assistant secretary from the Accountability in Government section of the Treasury Board Secretariat, and Joe Wild, a government […]
Top five highlights and lowlights of the 39th Parliament
The highlights of the House Powers: Promise Made-Promise Kept. That goofy Martin line that he hoped to appropriate became a Harper reality. Love him or hate him the Prime Minister has been agenda-setting and doing so without creating a national stomach ache. Gravol is no longer a requirement for PM watchers. Strong Ministerial Performances. Of […]
