This week
Some of the bills on tap this week include Bill C-20, the child protection bill, Bill C-23, the sex offender bill, and Bill C- 13, the cloning bill, which is at third reading. Friday is a day off because the Bloc is holding its national congress. The House will stand adjourned until Monday, April 7. […]
Strongly rejects Jones’ column
Regarding “Don’t blame the French,” (View From Washington, D.C. column, The Hill Times, March 24). My eyes just could not believe what I read in the article by David Jones. After a long list of poor “arguments” (which are more feeble opinions than facts or rational), the author finishes his paper by a sentence that […]
International diplomacy is a two-edged sword: U.S. would not now want to push its two friendly neighbours too far
Following his speech to the Toronto Economic Club last week, U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci engaged in some unusual diplomatic activity. Usually, as guests in another countries, diplomats do not comment on the domestic affairs of the host country. Recently, when Lebanon’s Ambassador Raymond Baaklini made remarks about media ownership in this country, the same Canadian […]
MPs vent about broken-down estimates process: ‘We can ever forget the role of an MP is to keep government to account’: Valeri
The process for holding the government to account is “boring,” “frustrating” and generally ignored by most House committees, said several veteran Liberal MPs last week who also complained that Parliament has completely failed to prepare new MPs to stay on top of the billions of dollars spent yearly by the governing party in power. The […]
One more sacred cow
Regarding the column “Lack of leadership defines government’s online: strategy,” by Paco Francoli, (The Hill Times, March 17). As someone who is participating in the creation of the Canadian e-learning enterprise alliance, combined with the dealings I have had so far with those in the various government departments and agencies with regards to e-learning, I […]
Stairway to heaven…
Sometimes the more serious stories do earn responses. Last week’s item on John Manley being slow to pick up membership forms in Alberta and B.C. is one such case. Examples of the comments – which blame the problem on stalling and other sneaky tactics by Paul Martin supporters who control the provincial wings and the […]
Canuck budget process impresses Aussie official: Compared to other countries, Canada enjoys a conflict-free budget process
OTTAWA–What makes Canadians so easy-going and adverse to confrontations? It’s a question that has long preoccupied those with a keen interest on what happens within the large country. Although hard-and-fast answers have been hard to come by (with apologies to Seymour Martin Lipset), the perception has stuck and rarely stopped those who study Canada to […]
A marvelous treatise
Regarding the column “America is becoming unhinged,” (The Hill Times, March 17). I am a Canadian who is still in Scottsdale for the winter at this writing. Just read Jim Creskey’s latest item three times to get all the salient points and must say it is the finest that has hit me in the last […]
Eves blasted for lack of Parliamentary respect
KINGSTON, ONT.–Betty Boothroyd is not amused. Reached in London, the home of the Mother of All Parliaments at Westminster, Ms. Boothroyd, who is “the Baroness Boothroyd of Sandwell” now, and at the House of Lords to boot, says she knows full well what would happen if a British Chancellor of the Exchequer tried to pull […]
Goal: affordable and effective healthcare system: Roy Romanow outlines ‘highly-principled quest of bringing greater social justice’
ANTIGONISH, N.S.–As most of you are aware, last year I had the privilege of leading perhaps the most comprehensive, inclusive and exhaustive effort ever to engage Canadians in a national dialogue on the future of their healthcare system. Tens of thousands of Canadians participated, speaking passionately, eloquently and thoughtfully about how to preserve and enhance […]
