Some 49 RCMP officers sent to Ottawa, Manning ‘Fort Bank’
SOME 49 RCMP OFFICERS SENT TO OTTAWA, MANNING’FORT BANK’ Four month stints… As part of the ongoing state of heightened security on Parliament Hill, 49 RCMP officers from across the country have been plucked from their current assignments to protect the nation’s capital. Ottawa’s new officers are from right across the country and have been […]
Bureaucrats look out! MPs want action [More emphasis on issue-based subcommittees, not regular Commons committees]
A leading House reform advocate and government backbencher says if MPs want greater legislative muscle then it’s time they realign themselves and put more emphasis on issue- based subcommittees, not regular Commons committees. Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett, a respected medical doctor in Toronto who has been trying to fight for more MP relevance, says she […]
Why Hill hacks pass on half of Parliament’s legislation
The Canadian public could be forgiven for thinking there weren’t many bills being debated in Ottawa this year. While the national media were rightly focused this past fall on Bill C-36, the Anti- terrorism Bill, the government was still plowing through its legislative menu. As a columnist tasked with keeping an eye on the steady […]
SGRO not far from cellphone but far from Ottawa
Shuffle devil… Prime Minister Jean Chretien is supposed to shuffle his cabinet this week, Tuesday, to be specific, and it’s supposed to be much smaller than previously thought. Meanwhile, most MPs aspire to be in cabinet and during heavy cabinet shuffle rumour times MPs’ whose names are being bandied about usually stick around Ottawa and […]
Chretien is a heavy-duty travelling Prime Minister
Maybe he should use that Ricky Nelson song as his theme… Canada’s Travellin’ Man is back on track. It didn’t take long for Jean Chretien to become Canada’s most widely- travelled Prime Minister after taking office in 1993 — for the first few years he was abroad on business anywhere from one and a half […]
Gagliano questions Globe and Mail’s agenda, timing
Public Works Minister Alfonso Gagliano, who’s in hot water over his influence on the Canada Lands Corporation, is questioning the timing and agenda behind The Globe and Mail’s investigative probe into his political career. But Mr. Gagliano (Saint-Leonard-Saint-Michel, Que.) also defended himself last week in an interview with The Hill Times, saying he never tried […]
Federal Trial Court bars Siemens bid
A controversial court ruling to seal records on Siemens Canada Limited’s successful $21- million government contract could mean future multi-billion dollar federal contracts will be excluded from the Access to Information Act. The move could wreak havoc on finding out what Ottawa does in major defence contracts. The federal government, however, is unhappy with the […]
Scandal is the key to Cabinet tenure, PM Chretien trots out short-leashed ethics counsellor to clear ministers of wrongdoing
As the threat of a cabinet shuffle looms, weaker ministers can look to Public Works Minister Alfonso Gagliano for wisdom on how to prevent being moved out of their portfolios. While this may seem perverse to ordinary thinking people, Gagliano knows that the best way to safeguard one’s status in the Chretien government is to […]
‘Mazel!’ says outgoing Quebec Liberal Senator Sheila Finestone [Retires Jan 28, reflects on her life in politics]
Sheila Finestone retires Jan. 28, reflects on her life in politics but can’t seem to get it out of her system Liberal Sen. Sheila Finestone Special To The Hill Times Honourable Senators, several days ago I delivered here in the Senate personal remarks about my experiences, perspectives and the various dimensions of my life. I […]
From the Flip Wilson school of communications theory: ‘Never let your mouth make promises your body can’t keep’
Say what you want about the effectiveness of the Chretien Government’s public communications — and, of course, I’ve been mouthing off critically about it for some timebut there is one vital feature of this black art in which it excels. That would be “expectations management.” When it comes to this, Canada has perhaps never had […]
