Bloc leader wants long-term commitment
Sleeping with the enemy… Gilles Duceppe has come a long way since that cheese bonnet incident. The Bloc Quebecois leader continued to refine his standup comedy routine, with a campaign stop last week on the popular Radio Canada talk show, Tout le monde en parle. Responding to questions from host Guy A. Lepage, Mr. Duceppe […]
Incumbents and candidates encourage supporters to vote soon
Even before the advance polls scheduled to take place on Jan. 13, 14 and Jan. 16, voters across the country can cast their votes by going to the riding’s returning officer’s office. Incumbent MPs and candidates from all parties across the country running in the Jan. 23 federal election are encouraging their political supporters to […]
Issue-driven campaign so far
The early predictions were this election campaign would be negative, nasty, and downright dirty. Instead, it’s been heavy on policies and issue-driven.Thankfully. Some say this election campaign has been as substantive in the first two weeks than the entire five-week campaign in 2004. Conservative Leader Stephen Harper should be given a lot of the credit […]
NDP mount election campaign for holiday truce
New Democratic Party national campaign officials are conducting negotiations behind the scenes with the Conservatives, the Liberals and the Bloc to come up with a holiday season truce. NDP director of communications Brad Lavigne confirmed last week that his party wants to suspend all national campaigns during the holiday season, but he refused to give […]
Privy Council Office putting campaign platforms under the microscope
PCO planning for a transition in government is a lot more complex today, since there are many different scenarios to consider under the current context with four political parties, say experts. Every single campaign promise is now going under a microscope in the Privy Council Office as it applies its made-in- Canada remedy for political […]
The Spin Doctors: “Who won the campaign last week and what’s your party’s message for week No. 3 in this eight-week election campaign?”
Leslie Swartman Liberal Strategist “It’s a mug’s game to say who won and who lost. I’m sure all of us will say our own party leader prevailed. But these are very early days in a long election campaign. “What is really important is that each of the parties lay out its platform and that Canadians […]
Political leaders to go negative after Christmas, expect carpet bombing in second leg of campaign
The more the federal Conservatives talk about policy issues instead of the sponsorship scandal, the better it is for the federal Liberals, a top pollster said last week. “The Conservatives changed the channel on what people are focusing on,” said Nik Nanos, president and CEO of the polling firm SES Research. “Anytime Gomery is on […]
Hill staffers working out in the field on campaign 2006: ‘If you’re a political junkie then it’s sort of like Christmas time’ working on election campaign: staffer
Meanwhile, James Dykstra takes over the position of director of policy in CIDA Minister Aileen Carroll’s office from Desiree McGraw who started her maternity leave last week. Political Hill staffers working for free on the 56-day election campaign and outside of regular work hours do so because it’s good for their parties and it’s good […]
Corrections and clarifications
In last week’s photograph on page 6, The Hill Times (Dec. 5) incorrectly identified Jim Judd as the former DM of Public Works in 2003. Mr. Judd, who is currently the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, was the secretary of the Treasury Board in 2003. ******* In NDP incumbent Peter Julian’s column in […]
Fisher says Paul Martin at ‘the bottom of the heap’ of Prime Ministers
The House is dwindling in its importance and Cabinet ministers are no longer as important as they used to be because federal politics is dominated by top strategists of the Prime Minister, says Doug Fisher, the dean of the Parliamentary Press Gallery. “Everything builds around the Prime Minister and, of course, the Prime Minister has […]
