Conservative MP Vellacott digs up old Pierre Trudeau quote to oppose Justin Trudeau’s political stance on abortion today
PARLIAMENT HILL—Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott has distributed a 1972 statement on abortion by Pierre Trudeau in an attempt to argue the late former prime minister would oppose the political position of his son, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau who is requiring all Liberal election candidates and re-elected MPs to support a woman’s right to choose […]
NDP accuses government of ‘ugly, secretive, partisan’ in-camera trial ordering party to pay back $1.17-million
PARLIAMENT HILL—The final days of Commons sittings before the House adjourns for the summer erupted Tuesday into heated exchanges between NDP and Conservative MPs, as the New Democrats accused the government of using an “ugly, secretive, partisan” trial behind closed doors to taint the NDP with a ruling that it violated House bylaws with […]
NDP MP says Tories, Libs going after NDP mailings to influence Ontario election, Grit calls claim ‘absolute paranoid fantasy’
PARLIAMENT HILL—An escalating Conservative and Liberal attack against the NDP—over allegations the NDP broke Commons rules with politically-charged mailings to voters and the establishment of an NDP office in Montreal staffed by aides on the Commons payroll in Ottawa—is an attempt to tarnish the party’s wider image as the Ontario provincial election looms, NDP MP […]
Elections overhaul bill includes loophole that could hinder investigations into fraud between election cycles
PARLIAMENT HILL—Opposition MPs mounting a last stand Tuesday in the face of government closure of debate on controversial election bill discovered yet more “bread crumbs for a starving man” as they realized last-minute Conservative amendments include a loophole that could hinder completion of investigations into fraud on voters between elections. The provision, an amendment to […]
Feds ‘making haste’ with massive elections overhaul bill ‘dangerous,’ says expert
PARLIAMENT HILL—A government deadline that drew an abrupt end Thursday to detailed committee examination of its controversial election legislation is a “dangerous” tactic for a new law that is at the core of Canada’s democratic system, one of the country’s leading parliamentary experts says. “This government has been known to try and slip things […]
Elections commissioner ends robocalls investigation, but opposition MPs say report shows Bill C-23 needs to be beefed up
PARLIAMENT HILL—A report from a three-year Elections Canada investigation that found insufficient evidence of widespread attempts to mislead voters with fraudulent telephone calls in the 2011 federal election nonetheless supports calls to beef up the federal election commissioner’s investigative powers, opposition MPs say. The report from Elections Commissioner Yves Coté Thursday highlighted the fact […]
‘Most of major attacks on democracy in C-23 left untouched by Senators’ in committee report, say NDP, Libs
PARLIAMENT HILL—A puzzling aspect has emerged over nine amendments Senate Conservatives recommended to the controversial government bill that would radically alter federal election law: why would the Senators ignore a widely-denounced clause that could prevent tens of thousands of electors from casting ballots in the next election, while urging the government to remove a party […]
Neufeld says more than 100,000 to be disenfranchised under feds’ election bill, will testify at House Affairs Committee next week
PARLIAMENT HILL—The opposition parties have former B.C. elections chief Harry Neufeld at the top of their witness lists for testimony on proposed Conservative election law after he warned that “well over 100,000” electors will be denied their right to vote if the government goes ahead with plans to prohibit voter vouching for electors with no […]
Filibuster champion, Christopherson says it’s akin to playing ‘high-risk poker’
NDP MP David Christopherson says his recent nine-hour filibustering experience at the Procedure and House Affairs Committee which delayed study of the Fair Elections Act for three meetings, was like playing “high-risk poker,” and he’s satisfied with what his efforts achieved. “Our tools are limited as an opposition, but we do have some means, and […]
NDP won’t back down on denying committee travel
The NDP isn’t backing down after denying funding for House committees to travel in protest of the Conservatives’ election law, a move that’s frustrating Commons committee chairs. A House subcommittee approved almost $500,000 for proposed committee travel that’s now in jeopardy after the NDP recently blocked Government Whip John Duncan’s (Vancouver Island North, B.C.) Feb. […]
