Liberal housing fixes fail to address broader affordability issues, say NDP
The Trudeau government is hoping recently introduced mortgage and tax reporting measures will help stave off a housing market collapse, though the NDP say more needs to be done immediately to help those struggling to keep pace with surging prices. Finance Minister Bill Morneau (Toronto Centre, Ont.) unveiled plans earlier this month to temper rising prices in red-hot markets, […]
A line in the budget comes to life in northern Quebec
Rewind the clock to the spring. The federal budget was tabled in the House of Commons on March 22. It was called “Growing the Middle Class.” It’s a title that clearly wasn’t directed to the Inuit who live in small coastal communities across the Arctic, where the gaps in living standards compared with the rest […]
Youth, First Nations need more from next budget
The House Finance Committee is once again in the middle of its pre-budget consultation process, marked, as in previous years, by crowded panels of diverse witnesses. With more than 120 witnesses and over 400 briefs received, it would be easy for an op-ed on the process to take the form of a laundry list. Instead, […]
Next budget to focus on existing promises before new ones: Morneau
Canada’s finance minister has a message for those looking for money in the next federal budget: the government is focused on delivering on its current priorities before it spends on new ones. Bill Morneau (Toronto Centre, Ont.) stressed Liberal promises about building infrastructure and helping the Canadian middle class during an interview with The Hill Times […]
Finance
Argentina’s VP lobbies for Canadian government’s trust
Bilateral visits are the first step to fostering trust, and deepening political and business relationships between Argentina and Canada, said Gabriela Michetti, Argentina’s vice president who was visiting Ottawa last week. After years of cool relations between the two countries, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) is expected to visit Buenos Aires this fall, with […]
The end of cheap food
OTTAWA—For decades, governments in developing countries sought to keep food prices low to depress wages and attract investment in manufacturing. Cheap food also kept a lid on urban discontent, while ensuring a steady supply of cut-rate labour fleeing rural penury. Canadian Foodgrains Bank, Oxfam, and others long argued against this logic. If most hungry people […]
Why sole-sourcing the F-35 is best
A well-worn chestnut of Canadian politics is that the country’s democracy is founded upon good governance. If there is one area where the principle encounters difficulty, it is with defence procurement. Canada’s history seems replete with examples: from the Avro Arrow to the Sea King replacement. The recent history with the CF-18 fighter-jet replacement program […]
No more House committee travel to be approved this year, $1.8-million allocated for 14 studies
A number of House committees are travelling across the country, but the House Liaison Committee—the committee in charge of approving House committee budgets—recently advised House committee chairs to cool their jets until the new year, after racking up $1.8-million in travel costs. On Sept. 21, the Subcommittee on Budgets of the House Liaison Committee ruled until the […]
On the Hill, lots of services for MPs to make public life a little easier
PARLIAMENT HILL—When the House is sitting, MPs work long hours away from their families, spend even longer hours travelling to and from their ridings, and most weekends doing constituency work. But they have lots of perks to make life easier. “Canadians love to get all prickly about privilege, but I think, on the whole, ours are […]
