Senators honoured with stamps
Quebec Liberal Senator Jean Lapointe is looking for a few good Senators. Last week the relatively new Senator announced in the Upper Chamber that he’s managed to convince Canada Post to begin issuing the first-ever series of stamps commemorating the achievements of prominent Senators, and implored his colleagues to come up with suggestions of deserving […]
Of morons and bastards
Last week, The Los Angeles Times called up The Hill Times newsroom. Considered one of the best newspapers in the U.S., an LA Times reporter wanted to know more about the Canadian Parliamentarian who was calling Americans “bastards.” And by the way, the reporter wanted to know, what was a PM and did we have […]
It all about perspective
TORONTO–One of the unfortunate realities in the media over the years is that special interest groups have tended to enjoy a free ride. Unlike governments, for example, which have quite properly been subjected to continuing scrutiny, the claims made by many special interest groups have tended to be reported and accepted at face value. This […]
House looks into healthier living for MPs on the Hill
OTTAWA–Concerned about the unhealthy lifestyles of most federal MPs, the House’s influential Board of Internal Economy is looking at hiring a nutritionist and a gym trainer on the Hill to help hard-working and stressed out MPs maintain more wholesome living habits. The concern was sparked after three government backbenchers recently suffered heart attacks. All large […]
MPs’ and Senators’ Birthdays
*NDP MP Svend Robinson, 51, March 4, 1952 *Liberal MP Marcel Proulx, 57, March 6, 1946 *Alliance MP John Cummins, 61, March 12, 1942 *Liberal MP Paul DeVillers, 57, March 11, 1946 *Liberal MP Bob Wood, 63, March 11, 1940 *Tory Sen. Therese Lavoie-Roux, 75, March 12, 1928 *Liberal MP Maria Minna, 55, March 14, […]
Their ship has come in, finally…
For the past decade, the Canadian Alliance, formerly Reform, has hammered away at Paul Martin and his ownership of CSL, one of the world’s bigger shipping lines. The Honourable Member for Medicine Hat, Monte Solberg, has been particularly aggressive in this regard. For a decade the issue failed to catch on. Mr. Martin was up […]
“On the Iraq question, columnist Richard Gwyn recently wrote that ‘not in decades has Canada been so irrelevant to a major international issue.’ How do you respond?”
Warren Kinsella Liberal strategist “I admire Richard greatly, but — and you knew there would be a but, didn’t you? — he has succumbed to the culture of defeatism that has beset too many others these days. “It’s not enough to simply observe that the U.S. and Britain (on one side of the divide) and […]
The price of U.S. victory
UNITED NATIONS, N.Y.–Is it better for the United Nations to be disunited or to be united? In all international organizations, the operating mantra is unity. That’s why so many of the decisions and proclamations issued by these bodies are so vague and convoluted. All member states can thereby sign on to the document, even if, […]
Teaching world about Canada a never-ending job for DFAIT: ‘In Italy, we never think about Canada’
OTTAWA–Canada has long been seen by our neighbours down south and overseas as a country populated by hewers of wood and drawers of water. But Canada is actually a high-tech leader, or so the government has been determined to prove through various awarenessraising programs over the years. One of these rolled into town last week. […]
It’s Alice in Wonderland on the Hill: The beginning of the dying days of Chretien’s government
TORONTO–Last week an MP described Parliament Hill and its community as “the Price Club of the Gossips.” This was a bit harsh because the picture on the Hill these days is much more complicated. But lately, I have to admit watching the goings-on in Ottawa is a little like watching Alice in Wonderland. These days, […]
