Former supporter challenges Benoit’s riding nomination
Five-term Conservative MP Leon Benoit is facing a serious nomination challenge from a former supporter, and Tory insiders are predicting this to be a nail biter with a “strong possibility” that the veteran incumbent MP could “very well lose the nomination battle.” Mr. Benoit (VegrevilleWainwright, Alta.), who is chair of the Commons Standing Committee on […]
An update on Liberal leadership candidates and some of their supporters
Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett: Ont. Attorney General Michael Bryant Ont. MPP Mary Anne Chambers Ian Delaney Judy Erola Sheila Fmestone Former Ont. Lib leader Lyn McLeod Ont. Lib MPP Richard Patten Former Lib Sen. Landon Pearson Beth Webster Liberal MP Scott Brison: Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett: Ont. Attorney General Michael Bryant Ont. MPP Mary Anne […]
HEARD ON THE HILL
Prime Ministerial access barricades: To storm together or not to storm? The Press gallery executive moved swiftly in reaction to last week’s revelation that CanWest had decided to break off from the media pack and go onto the Prime Minister’s list. By Wednesday morning, an announcement went out to the full gallery membership, inviting all […]
The American and Canadian ‘primaries’ in all their colours
Canada and the United States are in the midst of “primaries.” For Canada, these are the political efforts that will end with the selection of a Liberal Party leader in December. For the U.S., they are the state-by-state exercises to select candidates for November national elections (combined with the slow motion minuet/campaign for the 2008 […]
Corrections
The article “Canadian government centralizes procurement as the trend is more decentralization, says procurement expert Hansen” (The Hill Times, Aug. 21) incorrectly attributed to Jon Hansen the notion that technology should not be adapting to the procurement process. Mr. Hansen said the reverse, that technology should adapt to the process and not define it. Last […]
The Spin Doctors
Mike Storeshaw Conservative Strategist “Mr. Nanos is correct: getting people to consider voting for your party, and having the means to translate those good feelings into actual votes, are two very different things. The latter requires significant resources, party infrastructure, and membership and volunteer bases. These are the nuts and bolts of Canadian politics, and […]
Harper says the Internet will help get out his message. But without the press gallery, can he grow his tent?
Last week, national reporters received a little reminder about what to expect in their relations with the Prime Minister in the coming session of Parliament. After Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) announced on the Hill last week that the softwood lumber deal would go forward as a confidence matter this fall, a swarm […]
Liberals are in disarray, but they are also in transition
Last week, the Liberal Party’s deputy foreign affairs critic, Borys Wrzesnewskyj, resigned from his position as critic over yet another divisive issue for the party. On a trip with a fact-finding Parliamentary delegation to Lebanon, Mr. Wrzesnewskyj apparently made a slip by telling a reporter that Canada should negotiate with Hezbollah, adding that Canada should […]
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Honour sale of generic drugs to fight AIDS I was surprised when Stephen Harper deferred an announcement on increased funding for AIDS, saying, “We are undertaking some evaluations, but this government’s concentration in the fight against drugs in the next few years will be on enforcement, prevention and treatment.” The Canadian government recently enacted legislation […]
Environmental groups briefed on Conservative green plan
The government provided briefings on its environmental plan to environmental groups last week, but they were said to be very general and did not contain enough details to draw any conclusions about the Conservatives’ upcoming environment policy. “It was a very general briefing, I think there were only eight slides that we were shown,” said […]
