Politics This Morning: The House returns, with a soundtrack
Good Monday morning, The virtual hallways of Parliament Hill will be busy today as the House returns from the winter break in a hybrid format. MPs will sit every weekday from now until Friday, Feb. 18. The Hill Times calendar has the exact dates for all 26 weeks of scheduled sitting for 2022. Government House […]
Turning a blind eye to economic violence
OTTAWA—The Republicans of the North have never met a point they didn’t bludgeon, nor a fact they didn’t massage into terror. It’s understandable that the Conservatives want to jump on the inflation bandwagon, since people are feeling the pinch of rising grocery prices, reduced aggregate supply due to the pandemic, and many of them rushed […]
Back in business: House Committees primed to play catch up with busy agendas
From grilling the head of Air Canada to embarking on pre-budget consultations to exploring the ethics of facial recognition technology, many House Committees will hit the ground running when Parliament returns at the end of the month. Committee work was disrupted during the previous Parliament, with many sitting dormant for six months starting in mid-March […]
‘Against the flow’: critics question move by Canada’s Pension Plan Investment fund to keep supporting big polluters
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which manages an investment fund of approximately $541.5-billion for more than 20 million contributors and beneficiaries of the CPP, is making both an ethical and financial mistake, according to one Bloc MP, by continuing to invest in high-emitting businesses as long as those businesses commit to decarbonizing over the […]
Massive federal deficit shows signs of shrinking, but economists urge policy review to avoid austerity measures
Despite the federal government posting a “historic” deficit during the pandemic, economists and Canada’s first parliamentary budget officer forsee it rapidly shrinking in the coming years as the country exits the pandemic and pulls back on its broad-based supports for Canadians. “If you look at the medium-term plan, we’re getting deficits back down to less […]
Feds’ rosy economic update could do more harm than good
TORONTO—Perhaps the boldest promise made by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland in her 2021 fiscal outlook is that the Trudeau government “will ensure that there are good sustainable jobs for Canadians in every corner of the country, for decades to come.” That’s a great aspiration, and Canada has been trying to do this for more than […]
‘Do no harm’: A recipe for government to help industries out of COVID storm
“Do no harm,” a recognized universal principle in the field of medicine, means that it is better to avoid exposing people to additional risks through action. Viewed from the lens of public policy development, “do no harm” would mean taking a step back from any direct intervention and look to the broader context to mitigate […]
The many reflections of Pierre Poilievre
Described by political strategists both as “no bullshit” and as spouting bullshit, there’s no denying that Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre is a prominent and divisive figure as a finance critic, figurehead for criticism of the Liberals, and according to some, a person who would have a good shot at the party’s leadership. Poilievre was first […]
Time to take necessary steps for a more inclusive charitable sector
The pandemic has proven how essential the charitable sector is to the health and well-being of all Canadians. But it is sorely in need of new money—an argument that is gaining receptivity in cash-strapped Ottawa. The federal government launched consultations last year on whether it should raise the disbursement quota (DQ) for charities and foundations. […]
Red Chamber’s budget set to jump 5.4 per cent in 2022-23
Assuming a return to normal operations, the Senate of Canada’s budget will jump 5.4 per cent, or almost $6.3-million, to reach $121.8-million for 2022-23, but with Senators’ office budgets only set to increase by 1.9 per cent, a recently imposed Senate-wide retroactive staff salary increase is causing some “discombobulation.” The Red Chamber’s proposed main estimates […]
