In historic first, MPs to use remote-voting app as pandemic continues to rage
MPs are poised to hold their first-ever vote using an app developed by the House administration on Monday, marking another milestone in Parliament’s efforts to adapt to the constraints of the pandemic. Whereas roll-call Zoom votes on a single issue during the pandemic can take up to an hour to complete, the adoption of the […]
In a COVID election, all bets are off now
Three elections and three majority governments sent the message that a government managing COVID-19 is rewarded by the voters. That was the general school of thought when Newfoundland and Labrador called its COVID election. But the arrival of the variant crisis has changed all that. The Newfoundland and Labrador government was forced to call an […]
NDP to press for restoring access to on-campus voting during pandemic
The NDP says it plans to press for restoring access to on-campus voting for students, after Elections Canada moved last year to scrap the program due to the pandemic. NDP MP Daniel Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona, Man.) said it’s still unclear whether his party will push to include an amendment to the feds’ elections bill that would […]
A year into pandemic, feds have improved messaging on its toll on mental well-being, say experts
The federal government has done a better job of acknowledging the various emotional states COVID-19 has plunged Canadians into, says one expert, while another notes that the level of empathy politicians display only goes so far without long-term financial support for mental health services. Independent Senator Stan Kutcher (Nova Scotia), a psychiatrist by training, said […]
An open letter to federal Black employees
Dear federal Black employees, Thank you for your words of encouragement and support and for trusting me with your own stories. Your humanity is not to be negotiated and your voices are never to be silenced. Unfortunately, to work in the public service means as Black employees your value will be disregarded, your talents diminished […]
House reports $344.2-million in spending so far in 2020-21, as BOIE extends COVID supports for MPs
Thanks to COVID-19, House of Commons spending continued its downward trend through the third quarter of 2020-21, with $344.2-million in net spending as of Dec. 31, 2020, or 63.9 per cent of the $539-million in approved funding. The recently published third-quarter financial report covers all House spending from the start of the 2020-21 fiscal year, […]
The long road back from COVID will challenge Canadians on every front
OTTAWA—The ever-receding light at the end of the tunnel is, if nothing else, getting a little brighter now that Canadians are finally being vaccinated. But the talk about how to manage the post-COVID-19 recovery, which we began to hear late last summer, still seems preliminary six months later, even as Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland prepares […]
Hill journalists still working out the kinks after nearly a year of COVID coverage
Creeson Agecoutay, a parliamentary correspondent at CTV News, began his job on the Hill in November 2020, during a time unlike any other. The pandemic has changed the very way that members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery do their work, and as a new reporter on the Hill, part of his job has been figuring […]
Former political staffer launches a program to support mental health in public workplaces
There’s a problem with mental health in the public service, says former executive director of the BC Liberal Party Emile Scheffel and current senior associate at lobbying firm Prospectus Associates That’s why he’s launching a program aimed at supporting those with mental health needs in political workplaces, such as federal Parliament and provincial legislatures. Launched […]
Ongoing fed support ‘essential’ as pandemic has laid bare cracks in ‘outdated’ municipal financing system, say experts
The COVID-19 pandemic that has wreaked havoc on government finances has exposed existing cracks in how cities across the country are financed, according to experts, with Federation of Canadian Municipalities president Garth Frizzell calling the system “outdated” as the federal government continues to come to the rescue of cash-strapped cities across the country. “If we […]
