Lobbyist handlers extraordinaire
On a sunny Wednesday in March, at Toronto’s Rosewater Supper Club, a richly-furnished three-tiered restaurant which advertises itself as “pleasure palace,” about 100 select guests paid $1,000 each to munch on mini lamb chops, sip good wine and get the ear of Prime-Minister-in-waiting, Paul Martin. According to lobbyist Paul Pellegrini, who organized the event, it […]
Nuclear subsidies should end now
I’d like to commend NDP MP Joe Comartin’s column for calling a debate on Canada’s nuclear energy policy, “Time for nuclear debate,” (The Hill Times, May 5). It’s amazing that after 50 years and $17.5-billion in subsidies to AECL (Atomic Energy of Canada Limited), we have never had a national democratic debate about continuing to […]
Can’t wait for Martin to be leader
Regarding “You call this a leadership race?” by Richard Gwyn (The Hill Times, May 12). The fact that the “leadership race” has become a foregone conclusion doesn’t make it boring — however, tedious the process may be, especially for those of us who can’t wait for Paul Martin to become the official Prime Minister as […]
Trade liberalization can be good: But it can also stifle development
Regarding the agriculture policy briefing in the April 28th edition of The Hill Times. It contained several articles on the subject of international trade. I commend The Times for this. Even though trade gets a lot of press, it does not get enough. I am impressed by the hard work and political drive demonstrated by […]
Good for Comartin
Regarding NDP MP Joe Comartin’s column, “Time for nuclear debate,” (The Hill Times, May 5). I would like to support your efforts to have some open dialogue on nuclear energy and its side effects. Jean Leahy Toronto, Ont. Regarding NDP MP Joe Comartin’s column, “Time for nuclear debate,” (The Hill Times, May 5). I would […]
Morphing Ottawa from a political mud-wrestling pit into a national shrine
Last week an 82-year old Albertan arrived in Ottawa only to encounter what is a rare thing in these parts this year — a beautiful spring day. Blue sky, brilliant sunshine, new green emerging everywhere with splashes of red, yellow and purple in the flower beds, the air scented with freshly-mown grass and warming wet […]
Chief Dorey doesn’t speak for First Nations
So-called Chief Dwight Dorey of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP), most definitely does not speak for me as a First Nations person living in an urban setting. CAP is seen by most Western Aboriginal people as a divide-and-conquer tool by which Indian and Northern Affairs may ensure that there is no unity or solidarity […]
New York Times folly
TORONTO–Jayson Blair is not the first journalist to be exposed as a fake. But the former New York Times reporter could be the first to keep his scam going for so long and for such a prominentsome argue the most prominent — newspaper. Blair, of course, is the 27-year-old reporter who resigned last week in […]
Only Coon speaks for chiefs
Regarding the article, “Showdown on Governance Act expected,” (The Hill Times, May 5), by F. Abbas Rana and Paco Francoli. I find your reporting of the FNGA to be flawed. You do not seem to grasp that the First Nations Governance Act (FNGA) is an attack on our relationship with the Crown. Have you ever […]
Europe is so passe
It’s not etiquette, normally, to return the favour of an agreeable dinner by being disagreeable to your host. Yes, it’s a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it. Along with three other pundit-type journalists, I dined this week in Ottawa with a crowd of Canadian ambassadors back from their posts in Europe and then […]
