Tories big on Parliamentary reforms
No one should be suckered by Paul Martin’s attempt to make Canadians believe that he is genuinely interested in Parliamentary reform. What a miraculous conversion considering that Martin was part of the Liberal Cabinet and still is a member of a party that has only paid lip service to the idea of making Parliament more […]
ROBILLARD LIKELY TO GET $2-BILLION INFRASTRUCTURE
Super War Fund… It looks like the Prime Minister is lining up the as yet untapped $2-billion national super- infrastructure fund as heavy artillery for the fall. The first clue was when Minister of FLOSS (Finance and Lots of Other Serious Stuff) John Manley declined to be interviewed for The Hill Times policy briefing supplement […]
Camera-shy Grit staffer making a name for himself at Defence: Francesco Del Bianco has risen through the ranks to become Defence Minister McCallum’s senior policy adviser [Rock gets new advisor]
Francesco Del Bianco could easily be considered one of the rising stars within the Liberal Party, but you won’t get that from just talking to him. Softspoken and a little shy, he’s only too happy to play down the fact he’s become Defence Minister John McCallum top policy adviser, a position he graduated to after […]
CLARK TO LOSE PRESS SECRETARY TO PHARMA COMPANY
Another Joe blow… Those niggling hassles keep coming for Tory Leader Joe Clark as he prepares to defend his leadership at his party’s Edmonton convention next month. On Friday his media secretary Marie-Chantal Lepine bid farewell to head to Toronto and the big bucks as the latest government relations pro for pharma giant Astra Zeneca. […]
Federal Treasury Board floats plan to deal with poor performers: Auditors paid more in private sector, public relations directors better off in public sector: documents [Farewell]
Following sharp criticism from an outside advisory panel, Treasury Board has quickly developed a plan to deal with poor performers in the public service. In March of this year, the Advisory Committee on Senior Level Retention and Compensation – which is led by Lucent Technologies Canada President and CEO Carol Stephenson – found that “there […]
IF A TREE FALLS IN ALLIANCE CAUCUS, does anyone…
Summertime, and the living’s easy (at least in the OLO)… So Jim Armour is now happily ensconced back in his old job as director of communications at the Office of the Leader of the Opposition. It is almost like he never left. Same office, same desk and even the same phone number he had before […]
Federal government plans to keep more public records secret, including documents on advertising sponsorship
The Chretien Government has just received its internal Treasury Board’s Access Task Force Report and plans to use it as the basis for ramming through regressive amendments this fall to Canada’s 1982 Access to Information Act. This means more public records will be cut off, including ones exposing government waste in the sponsorship program. The […]
List in Hill Times creates buzz: I can’t believe the impact that your list has made’
Senior staffers in the Prime Minister’s Office pressured MPs and Cabinet ministers to contact The Hill Times in order to pledge their support to the Prime Minister after the weekly independent newspaper published a list of who supports who in the Jean Chretien-Paul Martin nasty political battle. A senior Liberal source told The Hill Times […]
PM popular at garden party as political Ottawa stirs
Let it rain, let it rain… Officially it was the pouring rain that kept the bar open until nearly 8 p.m. at Prime Minister Jean Chretien’s media garden party last week. Usually the marquee tent goes dry at 7 p.m. on the dot, all the sooner to rid the 24 Sussex grounds of the wretches […]
PMO vetted pro-Martin staffers: But Prime Minister’s Office denies playing heavy hand
Paul Martin’s dismissal from Cabinet proved to be a public relations nightmare for the Prime Minister’s Office, but the move has allowed the Liberal leader to regain complete control over the appointment of senior political aides to his Cabinet. Sources close to The Hill Times report that from the first day the Liberals won power […]
