Gonthier appointed as Commissioner of CSE
Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor appointed former Supreme Court Justice Charles Gonthier as the head of the Communications Security Establishment, replacing Antonio Lamer. “Mr. Gonthier is well-qualified to review CSE’s activities to ensure compliance with the law,” Mr. O’Connor said in a press release. As commissioner, Mr. Gonthier will be responsible for reviewing CSE activities and […]
MIDDLE EAST FALLOUT FOR HARPER
As the Canadian government, led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, began its evacuation in a war zone of thousands of Canadians from Lebanon last week, the largest ever evacuation from another country in Canadian history, some federal political players are saying the Prime Minister’s policy shift on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict could affect his party’s popularity […]
NPC to open up membership
The National Press Club is planning an overhaul of its constitution to deal with declining memberships, says a press club newsletter sent out to members this month. “Without a new constitution, the National Press Club of Canada remains anchored in the 1960s, and is dangerously close to rusting out and sinking,” Dave Brown, president of […]
HEARD ON THE HILL
An HOH tip for all those Parliamentary bookworms who are frantically counting down the minutes until the release of Paul Wells’ Right Side Up and Don Martin’s Belinda Stronach bio: why not pick up a virtual copy of Canada, the Novel? It’s a political thriller with a truly Canadian twist by Toronto-based writer Frank Dwyer, […]
“What do you think of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s political stand on the Middle East crisis?”
Bahman Nazem Country of origin: Iran Length of time in Canada: 20 years “Harper is biased. Maybe [Hezbollah] took two soldiers, or whatever, but that kind of bombing and killing and hitting water plants or generators or bridges, it’s not fair. There is no balance of power in that region. There are many in the […]
PMO didn’t issue official statement on Montreal deaths
The Prime Minister’s Office did not release a formal statement recognizing the deaths of seven Lebanese Canadians from Montreal killed in Lebanon by Israeli bombing on July 16 and it did not post any official statement on the Prime Minister’s website last week. One Liberal MP, when asked about it, said he found the lack […]
Accountability Act spin stretched TB’s communications
The Treasury Board Secretariat contracted out its communications work for the Federal Accountability Act because the small department, which has just one speechwriter, found itself without the necessary resources to sell its Federal Accountability Act, Mike Van Soelen, a spokesman for Treasury Board Minister John Baird (Ottawa-West Nepean, Ont.) told The Hill Times last week. […]
What the cabbies think: ‘I’d be a lot happier if the PM was a little bit more looking at both sides’
Everyone is buzzing over Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s stance on the crisis in the Middle East, including the dozens of cab drivers in the nation’s capital who regularly ferry hundreds of politicos around town and to and from the airport. The Hill Times caught up with some cab drivers parked on Metcalfe Street, just a […]
Canadian Arab Federation went over line: Liberal MP Alghabra
The Canadian Arab Federation went too far last week when it accused Prime Minister Stephen Harper of being responsible for the deaths of seven Lebanese Canadians from Montreal killed in Lebanon on July 16, says a Liberal MP who is a former president of the Canadian Arab Federation. “I don’t think it should take away […]
Correction from the July 17 issue of The Hill Times
On p. 4 in last week’s issue of The Hill Times, one photo caption incorrectly identified MP Lui Temelkovski (standing), pictured with Conservative MPs Jeff Watson, Rahim Jaffer and Helena Guergis, as a Conservative MP. Mr. Temelkovski is, of course, a Liberal MP. The Hill Times apologizes for this error. O
