Reinvest in MPs: a reasonable response to ‘democratic deficit’: every MP should be provided with a senior policy researcher, help MPs to do a better job
One of the most anticipated initiatives of a future Paul Martin government, reported extensively in The Hill Times, is a serious effort to redress the “democratic deficit.” Martin announced a “six-point plan” for Parliamentary reform last year and recently created a caucus committee on the subject. It is a long-overdue initiative. Since the 1950s, politicians […]
CBC facing its worst funding crisis: Rabinovitch: ‘you are not going to find much fat in the organisation,’ says CBC president
Robert Rabinovitch is at a loss these days. Or more to the point, he is weighing how many more staff and services the CBC can lose before it becomes a sad reflection of its former self. Though he maintains that the situation at the country’s public broadcaster is “stable” for now, he believes that it […]
Outgoing PMO’s deputy director of communications advice: ‘always stay cool, keep your smile and don’t get upset’
What was it like to work for Prime Minister Jean Chretien, a three-term majority Liberal Prime Minister? What was it like dealing with the national media? And what’s it like toiling away in the Prime Minister’s Office in this final week in office as Paul Martin is poised to be sworn in as Canada’s 21[Symbol […]
Ottawa Centre riding Liberal membership highest in province: ‘I don’t expect to be in a Paul Martin Cabinet,’ says victorious Grit candidate Richard Mahoney
The Liberals’ Ottawa-Centre riding has the largest membership in the massive province of Ontario, after long-time Grit strategist and Ottawa lawyer Richard Mahoney won the nomination last week for the highly-coveted Liberal riding. The Liberal Party of Canada Ontario confirmed the riding has the highest number of Grit members, but declined to release the numbers. […]
Many questions swirl around nascent Conservative Party
When will Canada officially have a new party on the right? What will be the fate of the Tory and Alliance parties? Will Tory and Alliance MPs sit together in the Commons when Parliament resumes next year? And if they do, what happens to their coveted research budgets? These are just some of the many […]
Giant sucking sound from China
Within a decade, quite possibly in only a year or two, a book written in a tone of alarmist urgency and with an oddly familiar title, will be published and will go straight to the top of the best-seller lists. That book’s title will be, China As Number One. The earlier — mid-1980s — tome […]
Some of MP’s arguments valid
TORONTO–Everybody knows about Regina-Lumsden-Lake Centre Alliance MP Larry Spencer’s (in)famous interview with the Vancouver Sun and the predictable fall-out from it. Spencer — who quickly apologized — said it was a “mistake” to legalize homosexual acts and talked about a “conspiracy” of homosexual activists recruiting school children to push their agenda. As he must have […]
The bartender keeps his job, or else
Don’t shoot the barkeep… You can fire Cabinet ministers, reporters, even heads of corporations who happen to be British peers. But when it comes to veteran bar tenders, watch out. The National Press Club made the mistake of laying off Denny Tang late last month. The senior barkeep is the club’s longest serving employee with […]
‘New government’ must develop a well-defined policy on mergers and acquisitions in broadcasting, says Lincoln // Acquisition/Merger
LAC-SAINT-LOUIS, QUE.–The House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage embarked over two years ago on a comprehensive study of Canada’s broadcasting industry. The aim was to create a blue-print to strengthen the industry in the 21[Symbol Not Transcribed] century and permit it to meet the challenges of the new global communications revolution. It seemed […]
David McGuinty eyes Manley’s Ottawa South riding
In the wake of John Manley’s surprise and sensational announcement last Friday that he was leaving politics, word began circulating among senior Liberals that David McGuinty, an environmental law and policy specialist who is also brother of Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, intends to run as the Liberal candidate in Mr. Manley’s Ottawa South riding in […]
