Election fairy hits Bouchard campaign with mini-scandal [Agreement with emergency-room doctors]
It sounded juicy, enough to send two television networks and most Liberal strategists into a frenzy. Perhaps, after two weeks of disappointments, poor timing, bad luck and mistakes, the Good Election Fairy had decided to come and help Jean Charest and his party. The hint of scandal was finally in the air. The Teflon PQ […]
War memories to bookmark
Remembrance Day came and went last week as it always does. It was a day off for government types and a reason to dust off the plastic poppy for a little pomp and circumstance around town. Hundred-year-old vets were wheeled out for mobs of media only too anxious to over-expose their heroism, if only for […]
Tory Senator Len Gustafson’s son runs for first-ever Canadian Wheat Board elections
His son may be running for a position on the first-ever elected Canadian Wheat Board, but Saskatchewan Tory Senator Len Gustafson said he hasn’t been lobbying on his eldest son Jerry’s behalf. “Really, how would I get involved?” asked the senator, noting his involvement with the bill that made the elections law as the Senate […]
Tory wants list of CPP board candidates, claims Grit connections: Scott Brison claims some connected Liberals made the cut, wants House-Senate committee to vet appointments
The Conservative Party’s finance critic says he will continue his own investigation into the finance minister’s recent appointments to the powerful Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, appointments he claims have Liberal “connections.” Conservative Party Finance Critic Scott Brison (Kings-Hants, N.S.) said he wants the list of the 20 candidates that Finance Minister Paul Martin (LaSalle- […]
Winning conditions mean wait for Canada to screw up
Let’s put aside the details of the election battle for now and concentrate on what will happen after it’s over, in just three weeks. If the PQ is re-elected, a very distinct possibility — most pollsters agree, it will mean four years of mostly fine tuning. The PQ has been busy in the last mandate […]
Question period: who do you think of on Remembrance Day?
I have an uncle, or had an uncle, who I never got to see, quite frankly. I was born after the war and my uncle died in an airplane crash in England and actually, I’ll be placing a wreath for him on Nov. 11 in a ceremony in Brandon. So yeah, my thoughts will be […]
Privy Council Office’s Leadership Network gets a $10m budget boost
The Privy Council Office’s Leadership Network just got a $10-million boost in its budget to study how to rebuild morale and stop the brain drain in the federal bureaucracy, which has been subject to the biggest downsizing in Canadian history. The supplementary estimates tabled by the government two weeks ago, indicate the Leadership Network, the […]
Finance minister defends House Finance Committee: Hargrove says Finance Committee a farcical exercise [Prebudget hearings]
Finance Minister Paul Martin is defending the work of the House Finance Committee as it works on its much-hyped cross-country prebudget consultation process. Mr. Martin (LaSalle- mard, Que.) told The Hill Times that the House Finance Committee, chaired by Liberal MP Maurizio Bevilacqua, is “extremely important” to the Parliamentary process and said it’s one of […]
Mini baby-boom hits the House of Commons: baby boomers and Gen Xers are increasing their numbers in the House as baby boomers represent 171 seats
Maybe it was the ice storm, or maybe it’s something in the water on Parliament Hill, but a mini-baby boom over the summer has brought some very new faces to House of Commons lobbies this winter. In September, NDP MP Michelle Dockrill (Bras d’Or, N.S.) became the second sitting MP in Canadian history to give […]
The Toronto Star and Sun and what it would mean for news
Some years ago I saw an intriguing Japanese movie which had as its premise the telling of one story by three people who had all witnessed it. The genius of the movie was that each of the three told the story honestly through their eyes as they had experienced it, but all three versions were […]
