Three Harper Conservative MPs could run provincially in Alberta if Manning wins leadership
Tories Bob Mills, James Rajotte and Rob Merrifield aren’t ruling out running provincially if Preston Manning is the next Conservative leader in Alberta. At least three Alberta Conservative MPs are not ruling out running provincially if Preston Manning wins the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party in Alberta. Conservative MPs Bob Mills (Red Deer, Alta.), […]
Media too hard on Jim Loney: Ontario NDP MP Charlie Angus
NDP MP Charlie Angus said that just before his friend, and now freed Canadian hostage, Jim Loney, was kidnapped in Iraq, he sent Mr. Angus a letter telling him that he was coming home. “He had mailed me a letter just prior to him being kidnapped in Iraq, discussing that he was not planning on […]
Three Grit leadership candidates expected to officially launch their campaign this week
Three high-profile potential Liberal leadership candidates are expected to make their candidacies official this week. Liberal MPs Carolyn Bennett (St. Paul’s, Ont.), Maurizio Bevilacqua (Vaughan, Ont.) and Joe Volpe (Eglinton-Lawrence, Ont.) could officially launch their leadership campaigns this week. So far, three other candidates Martha Hall Findlay, Liberal MP Stéphane Dion (Saint-Laurent-Cartierville, Que.) and Liberal […]
Burney says public service needs ‘more creative individuals, policy entrepreneurs, with a zest for results’
Changes in ethics, accountability and morale in the public service need to come from the top down, says Derek Burney, a former Canadian ambassador to the U.S. and the man who led Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s transition to government. “Real change in ethics and integrity depends heavily on the standards and examples set by […]
Senator LeBreton hires five new senior exempt political staffers
Marjory LeBreton, the leader of the government in the Senate, has hired five new exempt staffers for her ministerial political office. Sen. LeBreton’s office is headed by chief of staff Sandy Melo who was appointed to the job in February, after Sen. LeBreton was sworn into Cabinet on Feb. 6. The other new senior ministerial […]
Question Period loses Bill Blaikie
Members of the NDP caucus acknowledge they lost one of their stars of Question Period when seasoned NDP MP Bill Blaikie was elected as Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons on April 3. As Deputy Speaker, Mr. Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona, Man.) will adopt a less partisan role in the Commons and can no longer put […]
Former Parliament Hill staffers organize key policy conference in Mont Tremblant, Que.
Four former Liberal Hill staffers who earlier this year launched a think-tank called “Canada 2020” are organizing a policy conference “Progressive Policies, Practical Solutions” in Mont Tremblant, Que. in June to come up with solutions for Canada to meet with the social and economic challenges of the 21st century. Tim Barber, executive director and co-founder […]
Not welcome on the voyage
It wasn’t just reporters who had to face down the Prime Minister’s Office during last week’s accountability press conference. Liberal MP Stephen Owen, who serves as his party’s Treasury Board critic, was initially barred from entry as well. “I walked in and was asked to leave by some officious looking person,” Mr. Owen told The […]
What’s your take on the Conservatives’ decision to ban BlackBerries and cellphones from their national caucus meetings for security and caucus confidentiality reasons, but still allow them at Cabinet meetings?”
Mike Storeshaw Conservative strategist “It’s pretty simple, really. Apart from the obvious desire not to see a play-by-play of caucus meetings on the cover of The Globe and Mail-a regular occurrence with Liberal meetings-cellphones and BlackBerries can be a distraction. There’s a reason why you turn them off in movie theatres too, or at least […]
Grit Sen. Campbell saves a dog near Chateau Laurier hotel in Ottawa on his way home from Hill
Who says the Senate never does anything worthwhile? Earlier this month while walking back to his quarters at the historic Chateau Laurier hotel in Ottawa located high up on the banks of the mighty Ottawa River, Vancouver Liberal Senator Larry Campbell, the real-life model for CBC TV’s (now cancelled) crusading coroner in Da Vinci’s Inquest, […]
