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 […]
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 […]
Wiser Mylyk returns to new Defence Minister McCallum’s office: Parliament Hill staffer Chris Froggatt departs Canadian Alliance for Premier Ernie Eves’ Ontario Tories
Three weeks after their boss was booted from Cabinet, some of Art Eggleton’s former political aides have started landing on their feet, notably Randy Mylyk who got his old job back handling spin and communications for the Defence Minister. Mr. Mylyk was hired as new Defence Minister John McCallum’s director of communications two weeks ago. […]
Mills fired, sainted, roasted and all in one week
Think yourself lucky, Russ… The city’s power people gathered at the Museum of Civilization Thursday night to roast Citizen Canned, and the opening act was none other than Mr. Mills’ old rival, Ottawa Sun Publisher Judy Bullis, who appeared onstage sporting a bandaged eye. “And you think you had problems explaining editorial policy to the […]
Guit&ea;’s been through this before, Mulroney years too
Chuck Guite, one of two public servants fingered by the Auditor General as having “broken just about every rule in the book,” in awarding controversial government contracts and who is now refusing to testify before a Commons committee, was involved in similar controversies during former prime minister Brian Mulroney’s years in power too. Last week, […]
How Paul Martin spawned a ‘Martin Mania’ in Grit Party
Rarely in the history of Canadian politics has there been an individual who commands the loyalty of a devoted following in the same way as Paul Martin, Jr. It’s been a dozen years since Martin’s first and only leadership campaign, and yet the vast majority of Liberal Party members would identify themselves as his supporters. […]
Bunch of corporate whiners
A curious sound has been emerging from corporate boardrooms in the past few weeks. It’s the sound, loud, insistent and high-pitched, whining. “This cynicism about business has gone beyond reasonable questioning and threatens to be destructive,” Stanley O’Neil, co-head of the investment firm, Merrill Lynch, said the other day. “Never in my memory has business […]
PM Chr&ea;tien keeps eye on Grit enemies: ‘People underestimate the Prime Minister’
Prime Minister Jean Chretien has apparently been preparing to deal with former finance minister Paul Martin’s exit from Cabinet for months, say Liberal sources who also say the Prime Minister will wage a fierce public relations war against his former colleague-turned-foe over the next few months and is keeping his eye on MPs who support […]
PM’s a pretty successful cad
In a Saturday Globe and Mail story headlined “Analyse this: If Chretien were a CEO, he’d be fired,” writer Alanna Mitchell cites author/psychologist David Stein as saying that the Prime Minister has none of the qualities necessary for successful business leadership while Paul Martin appears to be “the quintessential modern leader.” Stein is described as […]
Cabinet ministerial staffers to pick up lobbying slack: ethics: ‘We just want to protect our bosses’: Minister’s EA
Prime Minister Jean Chretien’s new ethics package limiting the contact ministers have with the country’s many Crown corporations is bound to place ministerial staffers in ethically-compromising situations, opposition MPs argued last week. Under the new rules, ministers will no longer be able to contact heads of Crown corporations which don’t fall under their control on […]
