Denis Coderre defines himself: New minister a fighter and a straight talker
New federal Citizenship and Immigration Minister Denis Coderre says the two major elements to characterize his leadership style will be open dialogue with MPs and a firm commitment to make decisions. Mr. Coderre (Bourassa, Que.), who describes himself as a “common sense person,” said he will be consulting a lot as federal minister, but pointed […]
Harb eyes Lib presidency run
Mac Harb, a four-term Liberal MP and a formidable Chretien organizer, is considering a run for the Liberal Party presidency. In what is quickly turning into a crowded race for the job, Mr. Harb (Ottawa-Centre, Ont.), who delivered significant support for Prime Minister Jean Chretien’s (Saint-Maurice, Que.) 1990 leadership win, has all but signalled his […]
Chretien wimps out on Mugabe
Remember South Africa’s apartheid system? Well, one of the people who made a significant contribution to the death of that racist regime was former prime minister Brian Mulroney. Despite serious opposition from other world leaders — notably Britain’s Margaret Thatcher — Mulroney pushed the Commonwealth into imposing serious sanctions against that country’s white supremacist regime. […]
Gray gets rare House honour: Herb Gray first in history to appear at Bar of House for a positive reason
Former deputy prime minister Herb Gray will be the first person in Canada’s history to appear at the Bar of the House Chamber for a positive reason this week. He will also be the first person allowed to stand inside the Bar when he’s honoured for his nearly 40 years in federal politics. The brass […]
Tory leader Clark needs an out of body experience and real bad
What does Joe Clark see when he’s watching himself on television? A political leader for a new millennium, a new age and a new generation? A statesmen of the highest order whose public judgment on matters of state can be viewed without partisan suspicion? An exquisite public communicator, eloquent, understated, a master of the spare […]
Philippe Gigantes’ last story [Power and Greed: a Short History of the World]
When then-foreign correspondent for the London Observer Philippe Gigantes was wounded, then captured for the 33 months and tortured in the Korean War, his captors would tie him naked to a chair for days and question him about being a spy. He was not a spy. He once sat in the chair for 17 days […]
Problem of political donations
On Feb. 27, London-based oil giant BP (formerly British Petroleum) announced it would no longer be making political donations “anywhere in the world.” BP chief executive officer Sir John Browne said, “We’ll engage in the policy debate, stating our views and encouraging the development of ideas, but we won’t fund any political activity or any […]
Regional development climbs by $300-million to $1.3-billion [This year’s biggest winners and losers, in terms of percentage]
The numbers are in for the government department sweepstakes – also known as the Main Estimatesand regional development handouts are one of this year’s biggest winners. Even though the programs are under constant criticism from the opposition as a prime source of government pork, government figures show big increases this year for the Economic Development […]
Hillites bid Angelakos a big farewell at Martini Ranch
Warren and Peace… Bloodshed was avoided and a good time had by all recently at Hy’s Martini Ranch when Liberals galore gathered to bid farewell to PMO Ontario desk guru Charlie Angelakos. And that was quite an achievement given that the gathering brought together Grit attack dog Warren Kinsella and one of the men he […]
New Grit caucus chair Stan Keyes gets himself a ‘small army’ [Grit needler wanted] [Whelan’s team complete] [New Grit EAs] [Staffer wins science award]
New national Liberal caucus chairman Stan Keyes has assembled a “small army” of dedicated staffers to assist him in his new duties as chair, joked new caucus liaison Gary Martin last week. Since the Ontario MP’s surprising elevation within the Liberal caucus — a promotion that came with a $75,850 budget bonus for staff — […]
