Staffers win with $20,000 boost to office budgets: hot housing market prompts rise in MP’s expenses
To compensate for Ottawa’s sky-rocketing housing expenses, the Board of Internal Economy has topped off the budgets MPs use to pay their lodging costs while they’re in the capital city. The Travel Status Expenses budget, as it’s known, has been increased from $12,000 a year per MP, to $15,000. To put it simply, they use […]
Stop a “charging senator with a smile”: Manitoba francophone Liberal Gil Molgat fondly remembered on the Hill
After his death last week from a massive stroke, friends were fondly recalling former Senate Speaker Gildas Molgat as a statesman with a storied past. A native of Ste-Rose-du-Lac, Man., Liberal Sen. Molgat was a boy when he accompanied his family on a return voyage from Europe just as the Second World War was starting. […]
Kinsella reveals Liberals’ dirty tricks
The governing Grits’ national campaign was conceived in the “Ninth Circle of Hell,” says a Liberal strategist who played a top role in the Grits’ war room during the election. Warren Kinsella, a Toronto lawyer and one of the top engineers of the activities of the Liberal strategy headquarters in November’s federal election, made the […]
Why Liberal MP Parrish became a big-time critic of Martinites
Political observers might wonder how Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish, formerly an acknowledged supporter of Finance Minister Paul Martin’s leadership ambitions, suddenly became one of the most outspoken critics against his enthusiastic organization. According to Ms. Parrish (Mississauga Centre, Ont.), it was a brief stint on the House of Commons Transport Committee early last year that […]
Professional Institute of Public Servants wants parliamentary inquiry into troubled Health Canada [Tries to get MPs’ and senators’ attention on rights of public servants]
[Graph Not Transcribed] A large public service union is entering the political field by calling on Parliament to investigate the numerous employee complaints at Health Canada. Steve Hindle, president of the Professional Institute of Public Servants, said the union would like to see some kind of Parliamentary inquiry, suggesting either a special Senate committee or […]
Solberg says don’t label us racist just because of our viewpoint
There is a very old adage among conservatives that the definition of a racist happens to be anyone currently winning an argument against a Liberal. And while this tends to trivialize a very serious issue within our society, it does bring forth a legitimate question: Why is it that political parties in Canada cannot ask […]
Don’t call Landry a mere provincial premier of distinct society
It’s official now TDS — The Distinct Society — has a new head of government although he has not been sworn-in. Premier Lulu is now gone into the never-never land of big legal fees. Apparently, he has decided to do what other former heads of government do when they quit politics; devote more time to […]
Elliott freelancing name change
The management committee of the national Progressive Conservative party met in Vancouver a week ago to discuss prospects for union with the Reform Alliance party. Invited to consider the ways and means were the B.C. federal Tory constituency presidents, with the national association vice-president, Lois Johnson, in the chair; the party’s national director, Susan Elliott, […]
Cloning bill coming soon: no budget means pesticide bill won’t be tabled any time soon
Parliament’s backbenchers will soon have a large say in creating Canada’s rules for the controversial biotech industry, with a draft bill expected to appear in the Commons Health Committee by May. [Graph Not Transcribed] However, another Health Canada bill addressing the Environment Committee’s concerns over pesticide use will likely be pushed back until the fall […]
American human rights report thumbs up to Canada, however… [2000 Human Rights Report from the US Dept of State]
If you blinked, you missed it. On Feb. 26, the U.S. Department of State released its Human Rights Report for 2000. This year, the 25th anniversary edition of the report, it garnered a fourth lead on ABC’s evening news and third lead on CNN Headline News. On Feb. 27, The New York Times carried a […]
