Why Mobina Jaffer left the Senate Liberals to sit solo
The ever-shrinking collective of Liberal-branded Senators will be smaller when the Red Chamber sits next month, following the departure from caucus of now non-affiliated Senator Mobina Jaffer. “It was a very, very painful decision to make,” Sen. Jaffer (British Columbia) told The Hill Times last week of her Dec. 19 request to Senate Speaker George Furey […]
Some Liberals concerned party hasn’t yet named top campaign officers, compromising election readiness
With the 2019 election campaign already unofficially underway, some federal Liberals are concerned that the party has not yet appointed a national campaign director, or campaign co-chairs at the national or provincial levels, saying it is negatively affecting the election readiness of the Liberal Party. “There’s been a lot of complaints and concerns right across […]
Best way to address sexual harassment on the Hill is ‘to raise the bar’ of acceptable behaviour, says leading expert Lalonde
The best way to address the issue of sexual harassment on Parliament Hill or in any other workplace is for managers to raise the bar of acceptable behaviour to where everyone is treated as equals, and for bystanders to call out unacceptable behaviour whenever they see it, says Julie Lalonde, an Ottawa-based women’s rights advocate […]
Infrastructure Minister Champagne hires new communications director
Canada’s federal Infrastructure and Communities Minister François-Philippe Champagne is starting the new year with a new director of communications: Pierre-Yves Bourque. Mr. Bourque exited his previous post as a special assistant for parliamentary affairs to Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and officially started at work in Mr. Champagne’s office on Dec. 17. He replaces Kate […]
New ‘virtual’ Liberal Party may struggle to fund next campaign
OTTAWA—Happy 2019. As a perpetual optimist, I am loath to begin the new year with a complaint. But working at home means being bombarded by telemarketers, charitable organizations, and those wonderful people in the boiler rooms of Asia offering great rates on my credit card. To this motley crew I can now add the Laurier […]
Why I’m excited about the idea of Kevin Vickers leading the New Brunswick Liberals
OTTAWA—The New Brunswick Liberal Party is looking for a new leader following the resignation of former premier Brian Gallant. The name of a surprising and most certainly inspiring potential successor has emerged. Proud son of New Brunswick and Canada’s current ambassador to Ireland Kevin Vickers is reflecting on possibly entering the political arena to run […]
PMO to hold mandatory sexual-harassment training for staffers
The Prime Minister’s Office plans to hold a day of mandatory training sessions for all ministerial exempt staff and parliamentary staffers on the Hill while the House is in recess. The two sessions, one in each official language, will be held Wednesday, according to an email sent by the Liberal Research Bureau to all Liberal […]
Ministers Sohi, Rodriguez hire new political aides
Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez has a new senior adviser for Quebec-related files in his office: Audrey Cloutier. Previously a Quebec Liberal staffer, Ms. Cloutier officially started on the job in the minister’s office on Nov. 26. Mr. Rodriguez is the MP for Honoré-Mercier, Que., which is in Montreal. Until earlier this fall, Ms. Cloutier had […]
Politicians might not be keen for 2019
This year was a bad year for provincial incumbents in Canada. In Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick, voters fired their premiers after single terms in office. Year-end polls suggest the same fate could await the premiers of Alberta and P.E.I. in 2019. In just the past six years, Quebec has disposed of three premiers. None […]
Environment Minister McKenna hires a new press secretary
Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna will soon officially have a new press secretary in place in her office, with Sabrina Kim lined up to take over the post next month. Ms. Kim first joined Ms. McKenna’s ministerial office as a special assistant for issues management and Ontario regional affairs in May, and before […]
