Prof. Kay’s House of Commons seat projections Liberal win
If an election were held days after Justice John Gomery released his first report on the sponsorship scandal, the Liberals would have won another small minority government, said Barry Kay, a political science professor at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont. “The Liberals lost a bit of ground, most of it in Quebec, but gained […]
The Secret Mulroney Tapes doc an oral history ‘of some of the most controversial, dramatic years in Canadian political history’
The Secret Mulroney Tapes: Unguarded Confessions of a Prime Minister has been on best-seller lists since its release in September. On Nov. 21, Canadians will get a chance to hear the unmistakable deep, coffee and ex-cigarette smoker voice of Brian Mulroney, Canada’s 18th Prime Minister, talking candidly about politics while he was in office with […]
HOUSE VOX POPULI
“A woman cannot be half pregnant.The government either has the confidence of the House or it does not.” – Liberal MP Roy Cullen “This ridiculous statement that somehow the Liberal government has fixed an election date, the Liberals do not even believe in fixed election dates.The Liberals have never supported fixed election dates, but somehow […]
The week ahead in Parliament: Will the government be defeated this week?
The government will be busy trying to stave off defeat this week, as a number of confidence tests are expected to come up. Finance Minister Ralph Goodale gave notice of a ‘ways and means’ motion to implement the tax measures he released last week in his economic statement. This, by convention, is a confidence vote […]
Coderre says he’s not ‘the kind of general’ who stays in the tent
While his political enemies wouldn’t describe him like this, Liberal MP Denis Coderre, a veteran political scrapper, who was born under the sun sign of Leo, describes himself as someone who gets an inordinate pleasure from helping others, is ambitious, enthusiastic, determined, and, right, stubborn. “I always think of the saying, ‘Politics is local,’” Mr. […]
Lobby firms set up war rooms as 39th general election looms
Lobbyists’ clients are asking: Why is this happening, and what does it mean to me? So lobby firms set up war rooms to keep them in the loop on next election campaign. With the date of the next election call all but certain, political Ottawa is agog with a mix of anticipation and dread as […]
PARLIAMENTARY CALENDAR: GRIC’s Duguay to speak at the National Press Club: ‘Who you know or what you know? What lobbyists really do for a living, not the myths’
MONDAY, NOV. 21 Western ADM Seminar-In collaboration with the governments of British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, the Public Policy Forum is organizing a three-day seminar for newly-appointed Assistant Deputy Ministers from the three western provinces. For more information, please contact Julia Oliveira at julia.oliveira@ppforum.ca. Canadian Club of Ottawa Lunch-Alberta Premier Ralph Klein will speak at […]
Liberals sell their policies to web surfers on the Net: Finance Minister taking money with one hand and returning taxes with the other
TORONTO – The Liberal secret weapon for the fight against patronage and corruption is the internet. Whenever you ask them about a controversial contract or a wild expense, the template for the answer, lately, is all the same: Everything is above board. There is no secret about it. We follow the rules and – here […]
Grits to target nationalists with revamped Quebec campaign
Liberal Party officials in Quebec acknowledge 2004 campaign was lacking the right communications strategy and slogans. After being steam-rolled by the Bloc Quebecois in the 2004 election, the federal Liberals are hoping to correct their mistakes with a revamped campaign strategy that targets Quebec nationalists, senior federal party officials revealed last week. “We’ll ensure that […]
Last week’s media reaction to Finance Minister Goodale’s tax cuts reminds me of the story of the tavern peanuts
Media reaction to Ralph Goodale’s tax cuts reminds me of the story of the tavern peanuts. There was a barroom in Toronto that used to give patrons free peanuts by the sack. Newsroom staff attended weekly. You could eat all you liked and toss the shells on the floor. Journalists are no fools; we knew […]
