Svend’s way
NDP MP Svend Robinson’s private members’ bill, C-250, which would amend the Criminal Code to include “sexual orientation” in the hate propaganda sections, has moved one step closer to receiving Royal Assent. It hasn’t been easy for the openly gay MP from Vancouver, first elected to the Commons in 1979. Mr. Robinson said his bill, […]
Martin’s endorsement of national missile defence was a major victory for Canada’s corporate lobbyists
Last week, the Chretien government decided to take Canada one step closer to joining the Bush administration’s national missile defence system. But strangely, no one has explained what missile threat Canada faces leaving Canadians to wonder if national missile defence is more about defending the country from rogue U.S. trade policies than from rogue nations. […]
Wonder if they’ll be serving beans?
One of the hottest parties on the Hill is coming up this week — the Liberal Quebec assistants’ summer bash — and this year it is going to be environmentally friendly. Oh, there will still be beer and wine and dancing and whatnot, but the twist is the party organizers are going to calculate how […]
Transport Committee digs in its heels
Government House Leader Don Boudria’s attempt to kill a recommendation made by the Commons Transport Committee to chop $9-million from VIA Rail’s annual budget was dismissed as “pathetic” and disappointing by backbench Liberals last week. The dispute is just the latest sign of how bad relations between the federal Cabinet and Liberal caucus have become […]
June 20 looms large for Boudria
The most unenviable MP on the Hill these days, as Prime Minister Jean Chretien pushes his legacy agenda through Parliament before the summer recess, is Government House Leader Don Boudria. Here’s his challenge. Within the three weeks remaining before the House of Commons must adjourn on June 20, as per the Standing Orders, or the […]
Harper to talk cities this week
PCO Clerk Himelfarb to talk to APEX on Tuesday MONDAY, June 2 House Sitting–The House is sitting this week and is scheduled to remain in session until Friday, June 20. For more information on the House calendar, please call the Government House Leader’s Office at (613) 952-4930. Alliance Leader’s Speech–Canadian Alliance leader Stephen Harper will […]
The Middle East roadmap: No shortage of hard-liners on both sides, only the brave and committed will deliver peace
There is cautious but also growing optimism in the Middle East this week. The credit for it goes to United States President George Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. There is obviously a supporting cast of world leaders who have contributed to this week’s unfolding of historic events. […]
C-24’s subsidy scheme violates Charter: ‘This one issue alone should be enough to hold the bill over until the fall sitting’
With Liberal MPs clamouring for more time to get a better picture of the full consequences of Prime Minister Jean Chretien’s Political Finance Bill, a leading constitutional lawyer has come forward to denounce the legislation for discriminating against minority groups. Errol Mendes, a law professor at the University of Ottawa and an expert in ethics […]
PM’s pretty well perfect, eh?
TORONTO–So Jean Chretien wants to be a newspaper columnist. To begin with, assuming that his writing style is equal to his convoluted verbal style, he’d certainly need a good editor. Chretien, as you likely know, was spouting off recently on this and other issues aboard the prime ministerial Airbus enroute to a Canada-E.U. summit in […]
No museum in Canada puts spotlight on political history
Governing Grits say the recently-announced Canadian politics and history museum won’t unduly highlight the milestones of the Liberal Party and its prime ministers in political history, despite concerns from one of the country’s leading museum presidents. Liberal MP Carole-Marie Allard (Laval East, Que.), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage and a member of […]
