Rejection of electoral reform may prove catastrophic for Trudeau and Liberals, says Ottawa reader
Re: “Disappointed by Trudeau’s broken promise on electoral reform,” (The Hill Times, letter to the editor) and “Liberals concerned about PMO’s handling of electoral reform and cash for access issues,” (The Hill Times, Feb. 13, by Derek Abma and Abbas Rana.) Of Canada’s three major political parties—Liberal, Conservative, the NDP—and two minor parties—the Bloc, the […]
Liberal MP Easter says Grits should switch approach on House rule changes to get legislative agenda moving
PARLIAMENT HILL—Frustration is mounting among government backbenchers over the stalemate over potential House rule changes, and the resulting inability of the government to advance its legislative agenda, says one longtime Liberal MP, who adds that it might be time for the government to rethink its approach. “A fairly good number of Liberals that are frustrated—[I’m] frustrated myself—with […]
This just in: Liberals hiring political staffers for ministers’ regional offices
The Liberal government has hired a number of political staffers to work in regional ministers’ offices across the country in recent months, including five new regional managers, and there are plans to hire more. Previously, under the Harper Conservative government various cabinet ministers were appointed to also serve as regional ministers, with 14 in all. Correspondingly, ministers’ […]
New heads of Liberals’ rural caucus vow to force ‘rural lens’ upon ‘all policies’
With the national electoral landscape dominated by urban ridings, the new executives of the 54-member Liberal rural caucus are vowing to use “all the tools at our disposal” to make sure rural issues are on the national agenda and considered in all decisions. “We’ll use all the tools at our disposal to champion the issues […]
PMO shakeup sees Catenaro promoted to press secretary
There have been some tweaks to the staffing roster in the Prime Minister’s Office, including two new advance staff to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, one of whom has been promoted from within. Daniel Langer recently joined the PMO as an advance staffer, helping to scope out and plan events for the PM. Previously, he was working […]
PMO hires new writer, amid other ministerial staff changes
The Prime Minister’s Office recently hired another writer, Clare Donohue-Meyer, who joined the PMO three weeks ago. James McMillan is another writer in the PMO’s communications unit, while Gabrielle Cesvet, Jeni Armstrong, and Brittany Perreault are all specifically speechwriters. Kate Purchase is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s communications director and Olivier Duchesneau is deputy director of communications. Also working in […]
Liberals’ sweeping reform ideas seen as not all bad, but many say they swing power to PMO
Opposition MPs say a few of the ideas put forward in the Liberal government’s discussion paper on reforming the House’s Standing Orders are good, but many would weaken the opposition and strengthen “centralized” government control. “There’s some interesting ideas in here, but the balance would swing the pendulum of power in Parliament even further towards […]
Rural Liberal MPs ‘awfully nervous’ about upcoming gun legislation, any tinkering could be trouble
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale is expected to table legislation this spring to get handguns and assault weapons off the streets and promises not to create a new national long-gun registry, but some rural Liberal MPs say they are anxious about any tinkering of the gun laws. “They’re awfully nervous about what the legislation could […]
Innovation Minister Bains hires new press secretary
Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains has a new press secretary on his ministerial staff team, after his old one, Philip Proulx, was scooped up to work as a special assistant in the PMO’s senior adviser unit. Karl W. Sasseville officially started on the job as press secretary to Mr. Bains on March […]
Cudmore takes on policy director role in Defence Minister’s Sajjan’s office
National Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan recently promoted a number of staff in his ministerial office, including bumping senior policy adviser James Cudmore up to the role of director of policy in his office. Mr. Cudmore, a former CBC senior parliamentary reporter who covered defence policy and foreign affairs for the broadcaster, was first hired to […]
