TV attack ads are toxic, indispensable: really?
PARLIAMENT HILL—TV attack ads are toxic but indispensable in party politics, they say. Canadians are assured electronic punches “work” and are therefore justifiable. The greatest promoters of this claim are salespeople who manufacture ads and party organizers. What if the claim was false? What if the Mother Of All Attack Ads that inspired […]
Parliamentary press gallery should expel Chinese news agency Xinhua
A Chinese government agency is using Parliamentary Press Gallery privileges for intelligence gathering and monitoring of political dissidents in Ottawa, says a veteran journalist. The Xinhua News Agency retains a press pass—a privilege denied any Canadian government employee—that permits restricted access to Parliament Hill and legislators’ offices, confidential government briefings and embargoed financial data. The […]
Do Tories still ‘stand up for ordinary Canadians who work hard, pay their taxes and play by the rules’?
Play by the rules, the man said. It was the most passionate speech Stephen Harper ever made, touching a chord of public disgust and cynicism with Ottawa. “We are standing up for ordinary Canadians who work hard, pay their taxes and play by the rules,” Harper told the country in 2006. It was no […]
Four years later, media realize Obama’s just human
An old friend and I were talking politics in 2008 when he grew serious, as if preparing an important announcement: “I read Obama’s book,” he said. “He has the answers.” I replied, “You sound like you’re talking about Jesus.” He glared. For the sake of friendship we never spoke of politics again. The spell […]
Obama casts a spell over many opinionated Canadians, remains a strange phenomenon: Korski
PARLIAMENT HILL—An old friend and I were talking politics in 2008 when he grew serious, as if preparing an important announcement: “I read Obama’s book,” he said. “He has the answers.” I replied, “You sound like you’re talking about Jesus.” He glared. For the sake of friendship we never spoke of politics again. The […]
Senate reform just around corner, Tories say, but Brown’s been at this for 30 years or so
PARLIAMENT HILL—It was 33 degrees with 88 per cent humidity, and Alberta Conservative Senator Bert Brown was talking to The Hill Times about reform. The thought struck: what if this is Hell? It’s just the way British writer Hector Munro imagined it; he wrote a 1911 short story The Infernal Parliament where the damned […]
Liddell, Olympian, is dead but not forgotten
PARLIAMENT HILL—Eric Liddell, Olympian, is dead but not forgotten. Born In China, raised in Scotland, he is immortalized by media as the most intriguing track and fielder of all time with a little-known Canadian connection. Liddell personified “the age of amateurism,” as The Times of London put it—the triumph of discipline and sportsmanship stripped […]
In this summer of observances, is there no acclaim for Canada’s worst poet?
PARLIAMENT HILL—In this summer of observances, is there no acclaim for Canada’s worst poet? James Gay, a tavern-keeper and incompetent writer, is renowned in literary circles and beloved by historians in his hometown of Guelph, Ont. He called himself our first poet laureate. His poems are universally dreadful—a string of words tumbling like hay […]
Anything can happen any time with this government
OTTAWA—We opened a time capsule the other day. It revealed a fascinating glimpse into a dusty and forgotten past. We buried it six months ago. This is what happened: one quiet, snowy morning last December, with the House out of session and reporters playing pinochle, 10 friends and I opted to pass the time […]
Senate security guards have a run-in with a Hill visitor
PARLIAMENT HILL—What do you get when you take a “police force” and (a) hire staff with no police experience; and (b) subject them to less public oversight than floorwalkers at Wal-Mart? The result is the Senate Protective Service, a little-known agency recently called out in court for conduct that would outrage any Canadian. The […]
