House standing committees run out of money, again: ‘House leaders and whips play games,’ says Grit MP Walt Lastewka
OTTAWA–The ongoing dispute among House leaders over private member’s business – which has resulted in a freeze on most committee travel – has made managing the House’s multi-million dollar budget for standing committees a major pain, says the chair of the Liaison Committee. “The system is really awkward because the House leaders and whips play […]
Devolution will lead to positive changes for Yukon: Fentie
WHITEHORSE, Y.T.–Only three months into our mandate as the newly-elected Government of the Yukon, this administration is already working with the governments of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut to forge a pan-Northern approach to dealing with economic development and social issues North of Sixty. The Yukon and the two other northern territories earlier came out […]
Pacifists are actually helping Bush
TORONTO–The so-called self-described “pacifists” are the most important source of support for U.S. President George Bush. This may strike you as absurd, but it is not. I urge all the “pacifists” to take a hard second look at the idea. With their radical anti-American slogans, left-over from the Cold War years, the pacifists are forcing […]
Media study in limbo
The Senate’s latest attempt to launch a wide-ranging study into the country’s increasingly concentrated media industry has hit another snag. Members of the Transport and Communications Committee, who have been pushing for the move for the past year, have been asked to take their idea back to the drawing table. Last November, Liberal Senator Joseph […]
The Canadian Way…: Since 1945, Canadians have elected to reduce forces and capabilities
WASHINGTON, D.C.–An old axiom describes military procedures: “There is a right way, a wrong way, and an Army way.” That is, from outside the system, the logic appears inexplicable, but from inside the system, it makes sense. Some rail against the system as did Joseph Heller in Catch 22 ; others swear by it (especially […]
Can we be Frank?
Can we be Frank? Apparently we are already. The Hill Times was compared to Frank magazine by Liberal hecklers a couple of Fridays ago after Alliance MPs Philip Mayfield and Gerry Ritz made a fuss about a phone number that appeared in HT’s well-regarded “Parliamentary Calendar” about a $1,500-a-plate fundraising dinner for Finance Minister and […]
Public outcry forces StatsCan to release 1906 census: Agency stymied genealogists, historians, politicians for four years
OTTAWA–Last week, the Liberal government introduced a small bill in the Senate allowing the release of census records for historical research. No more than 800 words in all – or three pages long – Bill S-13 brings to a close a strange saga that started five years ago when Statistics Canada caused a major public […]
Robert Nault ‘disappointed’ with Assembly of First Nations
OTTAWA–Northern Development Minister Robert Nault is currently stick-handling a very heavy legislative agenda through Parliament, with no less than four government bills on the go designed to overhaul the complicated century-old statutory relationship between Ottawa and First Nations. But the quiet politician – often described as one of Cabinet’s “unsung heroes” – has also experienced […]
U.S. needs UN to ensure safe, secure world
OTTAWA–The United States of America needs the United Nations as much as the world body needs the most powerful nation. This mutual reliance can ensure a safe and secure world. For this reason, one credits top U.S. diplomat, Secretary of State Colin Powell, for engaging the UN by making a case before the world body […]
Pilots honoured
Several members of 8 Wing/CFB Trenton and 17 Wing Winnipeg were honoured last month in Ottawa for their contribution to the war against terrorism. All have served in the Arabian gulf as the logistical spine that flies troops into “theatre,” keeps them fed, clothed and armed and also gets them out in a hurry. The […]
