Why are journalists so fascinated by Cuba? Korski wants to know
I’ve never been to Cuba, but journalists who have seem awed by the place. Halifax Daily News writer Arnie Patterson marveled, “No one goes to bed hungry in Cuba.” Fidel Castro is “remarkable” and “heroic,” he wrote. Castro is “amazing,” agreed the Sault Star. The Jewish Tribune reported, “There’s no anti-Semitism there.” Cuba jailed 32 […]
The Spin Doctors
Mike Storeshaw Conservative Strategist “Mr. Martin has apparently made this suggestion as a way to re-open the debate over whether the Canadian flag on the Peace Tower should be flown at half-staff whenever a Canadian soldier is killed in the line of duty. I don’t suspect that he really wants MPs to be in charge […]
Prime Minister Harper sets up Lebanon Relief Fund
Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) announced last week that the government is setting up a $25-million Lebanon Relief Fund for the recovery and stabilization needed in Lebanon. In an announcement posted on the Conservative Party website, Prime Minister Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) said that the Lebanon Relief Fund is a two year fund […]
Poll wars
Last week, Conrad Winn, a pollster at Compas polling, distributed a news release to journalists, along with new poll on the Middle East. The release took issue with a Strategic Counsel poll for The Globe and Mail on Aug. 1, saying the Globe’s poll had limitations and that the resulting news story, which showed declining […]
‘My number one challenge is to ensure that Canada’s aerospace industry is positioned to be a world leader’: Bernier
Industry Minister Maxime Bernier says that on defence procurement- which contributes about $4.5-billion per year to Canada’s aerospace and defence industries-“every dollar we spend on defence procurement is matched by a dollar of economic activity in this country.” In an e-mail interview with The Hill Times for a policy briefing on Canada’s aerospace industry, Mr. […]
Dion a larger challenge to Rae than Ignatieff in leadership race
Bob Rae is enjoying a better political season than Michael Ignatieff. But is it good enough to keep the former Ontario NDP premier ahead of Stéphane Dion in the Liberal leadership race? That’s not an abstract question. The answer is pivotal to an amorphous contest that won’t really take shape until late September when delegates […]
Private investment is unlikely unless the government agrees to share the risk: Bloc Industry Critic Paul Crête
The aeronautics industry is absolutely crucial to the Canadian economy. It invests $1 billion every year in research and development, has sales of over $20 billion and accounts for almost half of all high-tech jobs in Canada. Fifty-five per cent of production is concentrated in Quebec. The Quebec aeronautics industry employs 40,000 people and has […]
The government can’t and won’t regulate lobbying out of existence
One of the greatest misconceptions about lobbying in this town is that piles of lobbyists have large amounts of influence with government decision makers through their connections, campaign donations, or partisan political affiliations. Lobbyists who meet directly with government officials are likely to influence decision-makers’ thinking in some way, but much of the value that […]
Climate change will be a true test for the Tories: NDP’s Cullen
In his end-of-session round of media interviews, Prime Minister Stephen Harper spent a lot of time trying to convince Canadians that he and his Cabinet had achieved a great deal in the first few months of their new mandate. Clearly, the lay of the land on Parliament Hill has changed significantly since the change in […]
The Spin Doctors
Mike Storeshaw Conservative Strategist “The government’s legislative priorities have been made abundantly clear since even before we took office, and we’ve made significant progress. Canadians are finally seeing a government that does what it said it would do, and are responding positively. “So, for the fall session of Parliament, that’s where the focus will continue […]
