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 […]
Layton hires two top political aides for the research bureau
NDP Leader Jack Layton has hired two senior political aides for NDP caucus services. Brad Lavigne, former director of communications to the NDP headquarters in Ottawa, becomes director of caucus research and communications, and Kathleen Monk, a former CTV producer, has been hired as deputy director of caucus research and communications. Mr. Lavigne succeeds Jamey […]
Open up riding nominations
This summer, the Conservative Party announced that in the interest of democracy, and unlike the Liberal Party, it would not protect sitting MPs from nomination challenges. But challengers are coming forward publicly to criticize their own party’s nomination process. Their papers are being rejected for what appear to be bureaucratic hang-ups, and challengers say they […]
It will be years before FAA is working effectively: Prof. Franks
The Federal Accountability Act is moving in the right direction in terms of responsibility and accountability in the public service, but it will take years to ensure that the system is working effectively, says public administration and Parliamentary expert Ned Franks. “The Accountability Act creates a framework for clarifying accountability and responsibility, but it’s just […]
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Provincial street names debate Re: “Bring the names of the provinces to the capital’s streets” (The Hill Times, Aug. 21). Interesting idea in the Aug. 21 Hill Times, but there’s a slight problem-you forgot the street between present-day Lyon and Bronson. It’s Bay Street-and unlike Bronson, it does go to Wellington Street. I should know: […]
‘He was the best boss around,’ says Benoit Sauvageau’s Parliamentary assistant Dacaire
Benoit Sauvageau’s six-year Parliamentary assistant says he was so shocked by his boss’s sudden death last week that he almost expected to see him come through the door and say hello. “He was so young. I don’t think I realize it to its full extent right now. I’m still wondering if he’s going to show […]
Benoit Sauvageau 1963-2006
Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe “My first thoughts go to his wife, Jacinthe, as well as her four charming daughters. I fully understand the pain that they must feel. Together, they built a marvelous family. For us Benoit was also a member of the family, a brother.” -statement released Aug. 28 Prime Minister Stephen Harper […]
Igantieff putting colleagues up for sale in online auction
People remember former prime minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau for many things-pirouettes behind the Queen’s back, driving a convertible Mercedes, single red roses. MPs who knew him in Question Period might remember one day in February, 1971 best, when he was accused of telling opposition Members to “fuck off.” Or, as transcribed in Hansard, the official […]
Gagliano to release telling autobiography this month
“The future of this country is more important than the future of the Liberal Party,” Jean Chrétien once said. That was when he was told that supporting Jean Charest, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, in his bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party in Québec, was bad for the Grits. This anecdote and […]
Better late than never
An end-of-summer barbeque for Tory staffers and directors of communications hosted by PMO communications supremo Sandra Buckler came perilously close to turning out the social non-event of the season. Many of the original evites, which were sent out several weeks prior to the event, fell afoul of the government-wide anti-spam filter, and consequently never made […]
