Of Rock, ships, fish, and Irvings: conflict-of-interest
Industry Minister Allan Rock is under heavy fire for decisions affecting the Irving empire that he made as a minister after taking a fishing trip to the Irving’s private salmon fishing lodge on the Restigouche River in New Brunswick in the summer of 2001. Following the trip, during which Rock availed himself of the Irving’s […]
Maharaj expects lower turnout at Libs’ leadership convention: Stephen LeDrew expects 65 per cent of delegates in T.O.
The Liberal Party’s policy chair is predicting a high number of Grit delegates won’t come to next month’s leadership and biennial convention in Toronto because of costs and, more importantly, because Prime-Minister-in-Waiting Paul Martin has the leadership already in the bag. Akaash Maharaj, who is also running for the presidency of the party, says after […]
Political capital: earning, conserving and spending it are critical in governing and lobbying
In talking recently with a veteran, senior bureaucrat, discussion centred on how cleverly the in-coming Martin Administration is husbanding its “political capital.” [Graph Not Transcribed] “It’s a variation on Martin’s vaunted skill at expectations management,” she said. “They know they have to be very strategic in how they build and accumulate political capital, how they […]
Radwanski faces contempt of Parliament charges: MPs
The MPs on the Government Operations and Estimates Committee who brought down disgraced former privacy commissioner George Radwanski, now appear poised to recommend that the House of Commons find him in contempt of Parliament. The charge could result in Mr. Radwanski appearing before the Bar of the House of Commons to be denounced publicly for […]
Alliance moves to register fewer riding associations
Canadian Alliance officials are seriously considering a plan to register only a handful of their riding associations with Elections Canada in the general election expected next spring, in a move some say will affect the independence of certain local ridings to spend their own money. The proposal is also expected to give the party greater […]
Tories, Alliance busy fundraising before Finance Bill becomes law: ‘it’s wrong to say that this is forsaking the party of Sir John’: Quebec Sen. David Angus
Canadian Alliance and Tory MPs say the proposed merger of the two parties has already helped fundraising efforts and will help the Tory Party pay off its $4-million debt by the end of the year and before the Political Financing Bill becomes law. “We’ll pay that off, I assure you with individual and corporate donors, […]
Libya relations on right track
On Sept. 12, 2003, the United Nations lifted the sanctions it once imposed on Libya. The U.S., France, and other UN members have followed suit with Canada — once a significant trading partner of Libya — moving in the same direction. For many decades Libya’s relationship with the West was plagued by controversy and confrontation. […]
Creation of a new Conservative Party may be opportunity to recast the political debate
Almost from the moment of that fateful handshake between Peter MacKay and Stephen Harper some 10 days ago, strategists and pundits have been arguing over whether the new Conservative Party of Canada will be a tent big enough to hold both Red Tories and neo-conservatives. One view is that they are two solitudes–that their differences […]
New Brit High Commissioner Reddaway sets top priorities
Britain’s new High Commissioner to Canada David Reddaway, who speaks Farsi, is married to an Iranian woman, and was posted twice in Iran throughout the Islamic Revolution, was, in a sensational move, rejected in February 2002, as Britain’s Ambassador by Iran after an Iranian newspaper called him a “Jew who is an M16 agent.” [Graph […]
The plot thickens, and more strategy news behind Alliance-Progressive Conservative merger
According to Jim… Relatively sudden though the tentative merger deal between the Canadian Alliance and Tories might seem, the planning in certain circles of the Tory establishment goes back to the beginning of the year at least, and was a factor in the Tory leadership race. At first blush, this might sound odd. After all, […]
