The Hill Times’ hottest races to watch across the country
Is Joe Clark toast in Alberta? Will Jim Jones beat out the Liberals’ star candidate in Markham? Is Bernie Boudreau electable? As the five parties rush to file their nomination papers, The Hill Times serves up a list of the hottest races in the country so far, and we’ve even ranked them too! More will […]
It’s time for leaders to practice soft and horizontal accountability: the notion of burden of office has become quite fuzzy, and so has the concept of accountability
Accountability refers to the requirement to answer for the discharge of a duty or for conduct. This presupposes an agreement on what constitutes an acceptable performance, and what constitutes an acceptable language of justification. In our complex world where officials are confronted with a variety of stakeholders armed with different claims to authority, with many […]
Retiring MPs say they will miss their elected colleagues most
While most MPs have spent the last few weeks in a furor of pre-election fever, for some, last week was their final week in federal politics. Nobody is guaranteed a return trip to Ottawa after an election is called, but some MPs have already made the decision not to stand for re-election, including such House […]
Dodge likely next central bank governor, Paul Martin wants him
Malcolm Knight, senior deputy governor of the Bank of Canada, must be a man wondering how things got off course. The 56-year-old veteran of the International Monetary Fund should have been a shoo-in for two reasons to replace Gordon Thiessen as governor when he retires in January at the end of a seven-year term. Not […]
[Trade secrets: a memoir]
Say you quit your job and decide to go into the glamorous and ever-challenging world of Canadian book publishing. You pull up stakes in Ottawa and hoof it down the 401 to Toronto (not the ‘burbs, either, but downtown-where-they-all dress-in-black Toronto) because that’s where “national” publishing lives. Stay with me. You start your job, walking […]
It is “political suicide” to choose Cormorant: major’s memo indicates government felt manipulated, court documents show
The head of the Air Force told a staff officer it would be unacceptable and “political suicide” for the Cormorant helicopter by EH Industries Ltd. to win a controversial competition to replace the aging Sea King, court documents show. Major General L.C. Campbell is quoted in a memo dated December, 1998, by Major Richard Bouchard, […]
Marleau won’t be around in new House anymore [House of Commons clerk]
So long…Commons Clerk Bob Marleau, who started on the Hill 30 years ago, announced he too will be leaving Parliament Hill soon, ending an era on the Hill. Mr. Marleau, the Ontario-francophone from Cornwall, Ont., who got his foot in the door on the Hill in the administration side of things and rose to become […]
Parties rush to nominate candidates, play catch-up everywhere
For candidates challenging incumbents in close ridings, there are few things more useful than an early start. For that reason, it is normal for parties to do their best to get nomination meetings in key ridings out of the way as quickly as possible. That way, challengers have the opportunity to set up a proper […]
Only God can make a political party, newspaper barons can’t
If we can imagine an election campaign as a hot-air balloon, we would have to admire the liftoff for this one. Just before the writ was dropped, the usually reliable Reid poll (now Ipsos-Reid) found the Liberals had increased their lead to more than 50 per cent, leading every-where except in Alberta and Saskatchewan, while […]
Election-dot-com hits the hustings as Internet plays role
It may be safe to say that the Internet will play a part in determining the outcome of the next federal election, though to be fair, as the definitive election tool, the Internet is not quite ready for prime time. That time will come, according to Elections Canada kingpin Jean Pierre Kingsley, in a future […]
