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 […]
JoJo says Chretien victory in the stars for November 27
[Graph Not Transcribed] Only Jojo knows…Reading the celestial portents, Montreal psychic Jojo Savard, who once advised Aline Chretien, believes Nov. 27 will be an auspicious day for Prime Minister Jean Chretien. The planets, it would appear, are aligned in favour of Mr. Chretien winning a third majority on that date. “It’s guaranteed,” she commented, noting […]
Federal whistleblowers to make some noise on Parliament Hill: Tory senator Noel Kinsella to speak out on his Whistleblower Bill, along with Canadians, Americans and Brits
CIVIL CIRCLES [Graph Not Transcribed] Encouraged by what they see as an historic, victorious Federal Court ruling, a small group of renegade current and former federal public servants is bringing whistleblowers from around the world to Parliament Hill. The whistleblowers are hoping the four-hour forum will encourage the government to support a Senate bill designed […]
Caccia says PM’s strategy is risky
MP Caccia says Chretien image is pragmatic, not a Trudeauesque one [Graph Not Transcribed] Prime Minister Jean Chretien may have confirmed last week he will seek a third mandate by evoking the values and the legacy of Pierre Trudeau, but his caucus is debating the strategy. Prime Minister Chretien (Saint-Maurice, Que.) told Liberals it is […]
House wants new $50m Commons committee building [as part of parliamentary precinct renovations]
Top Parliament Hill officials are talking about putting up a new $50-million, fourstorey building near the Confederation or Justice buildings on Wellington Street as part of the multi-billion dollar renovations to the Parliamentary Precinct. The building would be home to 12 Parliamentary committee rooms and it would be the priority item in a possible short-term […]
Internet Ivan is a Canadian patriot after Elections Canada raid [Kings-Hants results on the Web]
GOVERNET [Graph Not Transcribed] Two Elections Canada officials armed with a warrant, raided Ivan Smith’s house, searched his home office Ivan Smith is rightly unrepentant. It’s a matter of free speech in a free, and just society. Mr. Smith is the Nova Scotia senior citizen who dared to post byelection results from Kings-Hants on the […]
Chretien has management crisis in caucus: Liberal strategist says tension running high in government caucus
Prime Minister Jean Chretien, who will likely dissolve Parliament on Oct. 22 to lead his Grits into a third national election, wants to call a fall election partly to manage his increasingly anxious government caucus, says a Liberal strategist. The strategist, who did not want to be identified, said there are many reasons why Prime […]
Youth justice bill could be used to launch an election, says Strahl [Last sitting before election]
In The House [Graph Not Transcribed] ‘They’ll just say, ‘I can’t get these changes through. The dirty old Bloc is to blame,’ says CA House Leader When the House comes back next week it will likely be the last chance for the government to pass its priority bills before an election call, expected Nov. 27. […]
Pierre Trudeau was the sort of man most of us would want to be: Privacy Commissioner George Radwanski reflects upon the side of Pierre Trudeau that few Canadians knew
[Graph Not Transcribed] There will be time, in the years and months ahead, to reflect on what Pierre Elliott Trudeau has meant to this country. His legacy, I suspect, will turn out to be far greater than most of us realize even now. But my thoughts this week, and the tears that I have shed […]
