Jim Hart’s new year’s prediction
My political contacts tell me that discontent is growing among the Liberal backbenchers in the B.C. Legislature, and why wouldn’t they be unhappy, they have little or no say in the course of this government. In my view, their role as MLA should be to represent the people who elected them and oppose the government, […]
Give me a break media
I’ve been thinking, national reporters are very dangerous animals who need to be fed daily and if they don’t find food, they’ll eat you alive. The “food” is obviously news and if there’s no news, they’ll invent it. Did you ever see a newspaper with a blank front page with the headline, “THERE IS NO […]
Meet Mike Dagg: access to information defender: Fights for release of names of temporary federal employees
Few Canadians know how to use the Access to Information Act and even less know when they’ve been hood-winked by it. But Mike Dagg is one of those rare people, let alone in Ottawa but in the country, who knows the incredibly complicated act inside out, makes a living by plying the act and, as […]
OP-ED: Waiting for some Grit inspiration
Libs sit on top of their electoral throne, overlooking a vacuous and barren political wasteland of fractured opposition, and, accordingly, the possibility of losing control over governance within this country remains slim to none. Without putting much weight in the formalities of official declarations, the field for the top job in the land is cluttered, […]
Lord Guillon of the hot room gets a jubilee medal
Yes Sir, No Sir… Parliamentary Press Gallery Chief Terry Guillon has become something of a monarchy fan since travelling across Canada with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip last October. Their majesties gave our man an autographed framed portrait of themselves and a Golden Jubilee medal, which he is allowed to wear on his jacket at […]
Liberal insiders shocked by shooting death of Pakistani leader
Top federal Liberal Party insiders say they are still shocked by the shooting death of Riasat Ali Khan, a prominent Pakistani-Canadian who was active in Grit Party politics as well as in the Muslim community for decades, and who was gunned down in his driveway last week in his quiet Surrey, B.C., neighbourhood. “I was […]
Another hill scribe crosses over to the other side
Out with the Old (job), in with the New… Hill Times scribe and former CTV producer Mike Scandiffio gave himself a baptism of fire when he decided to kick off 2003 by changing careers. Mike just joined a growing list of Hill reporters who have been lured over to the government camp, starting work last […]
“If you were John Manley’s top spinmeister, how would you advise the Finance Minister out of the mess he’s in for calling the chief executive of the CIBC over the refinancing of the Ottawa Senators hockey team? And how did this story get out there anyway?”
Warren Kinsella Liberal strategist “None of us know, for sure, what is going to happen to the Senators. But the future does not look bright, to say the least. “The manufactured outrage over John Manley’s decision to do his job — to represent his constituents in a sensible wayis typical chickenshit Ottawa politics. John Manley […]
Gamble goes to Treasury Board
Treasury Board takes a Gamble… Another change rung in with the new year involved my old pal and former colleague, Sun Media deputy bureau chief David Gamble, who surprised many by suddenly showing up last Monday as the new director of communications strategy at the Treasury Board Secretariat. The TBS already has former veteran Toronto […]
Scandiffio joins Manley’s office as director of communications
Mike Scandiffio, a former news editor at The Hill Times, who left HT in September, 2000, after seven years on the job, to join CTV NewsNet’s Mike Duffy as his producer, last week joined the ranks of Hill staffers when he was hired by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister John Manley as his new […]
