As LBJ once said ‘it’s better having them inside the tent pissing out than outside the tent pissing in’
KINGSTON–While I was driving back to Kingston from last weekend’s Tory leadership convention in Toronto, I could only think of one thing — the words of a more experienced Ottawa hand and journalist I spoke with soon after I arrived in the Parliamentary Press Gallery. It was 1994 and the Chretien Liberals had been in […]
Tell us the ideological biases
TORONTO–One of the time-honoured ways that advocacy groups use to inflict their viewpoints on an unsuspecting public is to create a “non-partisan” group and proceed to do a study on a “problem” of their choosing. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, of course. The problem comes in the reportage. When advocacy groups are right-of-centre, […]
Senators feuding over committee budgets
Changes made to the way travel funds are handed out to Senate committees have several Senators feeling short-changed, particularly high-profile Ottawa Liberal Senator Colin Kenny, chair of the National Security and Defence Committee, who says the changes will make it almost impossible for committees like his to plan for the long-term. Under the new rules, […]
CanWest decimates bureau
A hell of a mistake… Even in these days of regular layoffs of reporters, the Bloody Wednesday axing of six veteran reporters from the CanWest (formerly know as Southam) News Service Hill bureau shocked the Parliamentary Press Gallery and the body politic alike. The condemned were called up to what is fast becoming known as […]
PM to attend his last Gallery Dinner
On Saturday afternoon, Jean Chretien will likely put on his shirt, bow-tie and tuxedo, shine his shoes and tuck one of the year’s most highly-anticipated speeches into his inside breast pocket before setting off to the National Arts Centre for his final Parliamentary Press Gallery Dinner as Prime Minister of Canada. Don Martin, a columnist […]
Bravo to U.S. President Bush: Bush also tackles issue in first term as opposed to waiting until safety of his second term
Bravo to President Bush! Because of his efforts, there is new hope and momentum in the Middle East to resolve the lingering Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has claimed thousands of innocent lives on both sides. The United States President whom some least expected to tackle international issues is doing just that. However, Mr. Bush is familiar […]
“Will Peter MacKay’s deal with David Orchard help the Liberals in the next federal election?”
Warren Kinsella Liberal strategist “What follows is Warren engaged in a conversation with Warren (something that, sadly, happens too often): “That wily old Paco Francoli… this one is clearly a trick question. It has to be. “I mean, it is so patently obvious that the answer is yes — it is so clear, so self-evident, […]
Mideast about to face test
One of the most common ways so-called intractable international problems finally get resolved is by artful lying. The opposing sides agree to disagree, or pretend not to notice that the other’s interpretation of key parts of the proposed pact is entirely different from their own, and so allow a momentum to develop that bulldozes aside […]
Collenette: top priorities are airline industry, Bill C-26 and C-27: Federal Transport Minister David Collenette covers plenty of ground
Transport Minister David Collenette is defending his Straight Ahead document which is considered visionary and a first attempt to overhaul the federal government’s transportation policy, despite the fact that transport industry insiders say more money must flow into infrastructure and transit projects three months after the document was released. “That’s not really a criticism obviously. […]
Thumbs up to museum
Despite storm clouds gathering on the legislative and caucus fronts, Prime Minister Jean Chretien should be applauded for his announcement last week to turn the historic Government Conference Centre in Ottawa into a political history museum of Canada. He calls it the Canada History Centre. The new history and politics museum will most certainly fill […]
