Unmasking our shaky health keeper’s image
OTTAWA–Canada has had its highest international profile as peace-keepers, not as health-keepers making the world a safer place. But now, Canada is also trying to market itself overseas as a country with super special health care, now that the World Health Organization has lifted its travel advisory telling the world to avoid non-essential travel to […]
Correlation doesn’t equal causation
Regarding the letter to the editor “Health pros support gun control,” (The Hill Times, April 14). After reading Dr. Robert Cushman’s reasons for defending the Firearms Act, it occurs to me that if the propaganda he and his kind spew were not so damaging to public safety, it would be amusing. I confess I studied […]
Top experts say ‘massive’ PS bill a ‘modest’ step forward: ‘There’s still a great deal of work to be done’: Donald Savoie
OTTAWA–Two of the country’s foremost experts on the machinery of government have dismissed the federal government’s attempt to overhaul the public service — what would amount to the first major reform in over 40 — as “modest” while admitting the legislation is on the right track. Donald Savoie, a public administration professor and author of […]
‘Canada and U.S. enjoy strong relationship on energy’: Dhaliwal prepares for June meeting with U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham
OTTAWA–All eyes will be on Energy Minister Herb Dhaliwal when he heads to Washington, D.C., in June to meet U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham to talk about the $57-billion energy relationship between Canada and the U.S. Recently painted as the “Liberals’ poster boy for anti-Americanism,” Mr. Dhaliwal (Vancouver South-Burnaby, B.C.) was considered political pariah by […]
Time for nuclear debate: Calling nuclear power ‘safe’ is a distortion
PARIAMENT HILL–In light of the ratification of Kyoto a national debate and public consultation on government subsidization of nuclear power is long overdue. It is no longer acceptable for the Cabinet to make billion-dollar-decisions on this controversial non-renewable and unsustainable technology behind closed doors. The Canadian Nuclear Association (the nuclear industry lobby group) has carried […]
Ottawa boasts over 453,000 people on payroll: Jim Judd, secretary of Treasury Board, answers long-awaited question
OTTAWA–The federal government can count 453,568 people on its payroll working in jobs located across Canada and all over the world, the Treasury Board confirmed last week. Jim Judd, secretary of the Treasury Board and comptroller general of Canada, provided the information in a short, twopage report to the Commons Government Operations Committee on April […]
Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources: Part 3
Senator Milne: Are you relying on the provinces to do this? Mr. Dhaliwal: No, we are taking the lead role. Senator Milne: I was hoping that some of the federal money would be for this and also for R&D on biodiesel. Mr. Dhaliwal: Yes, part of the debate that will happen in the ad hoc […]
SARS is not a minor threat: We treat threats at our own peril
The spread of SARS in Toronto could have been brought to a quick stop in the first hospital that it appeared in. The health professionals didn’t know exactly what it was at first, but they did think that the case was one of a few well-known, highlycontagious epidemic threats. That type of threat requires immediate […]
“Was Sheila Copps just playing leadership politics when she publicly criticized Anne McLellan’s lack of leadership on SARS, or is there something deeper going on here we should all know about?”
Warren Kinsella Liberal strategist “Look, during leadership races — as with the Alliance’s race last year, the NDP’s a few months back, and the Tories’ ongoing one — candidates disagree with each other. They criticize each other, as well as the policies of the party they seek to lead. That’s normal. “Sheila Copps had no […]
Proud of Prime Minister Chretien’s stand
I find it interesting that the politicians who feel that Canada should be involved in the Iraq conflict are people who have never served in the military. It is easy to tell someone to do a job that you are not familiar with or willing to do yourself. Instead, of complaining about our government, as […]