Second time prime minister has let Endangered Species bill die [Bills left over from before the election]
The Canadian Bar Association says Proposed Immigration and Refugee bill ‘disappointing and unacceptable’ Will it be a minority Parliament or a majority? Either way, federal candidates, who are now deep into the campaign, will be returning to their legislative work before they know it. Here’s an update of what’s in store for the House. The […]
Election campaign dandy opportunity to browbeat candidates [Tobacco Youth Protection Act]
Ontario Liberal Senator Kenny lobbies hard, tries to fire up electorate to support his youth non-smoking bill [Graph Not Transcribed] There are two ways of looking at the current federal election campaign. The grumpy way (fashionable among the cynical) is to moan and groan about how unnecessary it was to go to the polls before […]
We should be alarmed at rising tide of cynicism about politics [Debate]
Aftershock of TV debates reflected revulsion for noisy course of the debates, especially among younger viewers [Graph Not Transcribed] [Graph Not Transcribed] The wearying worrisome postlude to the American election continues to spread ever-widening waves of concern and uncertainty. Surely no other country has such a protracted exercise in choosing its leaders. This prolongation of […]
We “propellor-heads” in Ottawa are interested in process issues: candidates should be asked about how far they would go to make government open, and where they stand
[Graph Not Transcribed] [Graph Not Transcribed] Admittedly, it’s a tad late to start raising new issues for public discussion during this election — but what the hell. To date, in this campaign, the parties have chewed endiessly on health care, fiscal matters and who among them has secret agendas or skeletons in the closet. In […]
Alliance brass gives spin cycle a rinse, brings back Anderson
Top strategists Rod Love and Jason Kenney criticized for veering party badly ‘off-message’ with the media [Graph Not Transcribed] [Graph Not Transcribed] [Graph Not Transcribed] These are, it would seem, desperate times for the Canadian Alliance. Despite its status as the only viable alternative to the seemingly vulnerable governing Liberals, the Alliance has essentially been […]
In the political ring, there is nothing sleazier than the Nazi card
OPINION [Graph Not Transcribed] In the hierarchy of cheap shots nothing is sleazier than the Nazi card. There is such wide-spread revulsion at the very thought — and for good reason too — that even a hint that somebody is Nazi-friendly represents a pretty serious attack. Which is why, of course, that responsible people don’t […]
The night the network TV anchors had no clothes
CAMPAIGN 2000 [Graph Not Transcribed] Forty-four years ago, C. Wright Mills saw it all coming — the media fiasco of the Gore-Bush presidential election and its continental cousin, the “two-party” Parliamentary election in Canada. Mills, an American, wrote in The Power Elite how new technology and the ascendancy of the commercial media would play a […]
Hired guns on the hustings: high-powered lobbyists hit the campaign trail [Most lobbyists say working for federal parties at election time can give lobbyists an edge in their work]
For once, it’s actually hard to find a lobbyist in this town. Calls to Ottawa’s leading lobby firms reveal that just about all them have taken time off to get their favourite candidates or parties elected. Most are helping out the Liberals. Michael Robinson, at Earnscliffe Strategy Group, negotiated the rules for the leaders debates […]
Sitting here, watching debates on closed captioning
HEARD ON THE HILL O Caption, my caption… Thanks to the magic of closed captioning, Election 2000 voters were able to view the debates of the political leaders without being forced to listen to the shouting matches themselves. While media pundits fell over each other to explain who won the debates to voters who watched […]
PM in for rough ride, say angry Grits
NEWS ‘Unless he is going to have a majority of more than 180 MPs,’ says Lib Public opinion polls may indicate the Liberals will win a third majority, but all is definitely not well in the government caucus. Some angry government MPs are threatening a rough ride for Prime Minister Jean Chretien if he sticks […]
