Reform Party in turmoil: official opposition looks into the abyss as it faces credibility crisis [Caucus meeting in Banff]
It was supposed to be a fall session of highs for the Reform Party, the party that swept into Official Opposition in June 1997 and proved capable of tackling some controversial national issues. Instead, it was a summer of hell. The Reform Party’s former star justice critic is facing sexual assault charges, MPs are openly […]
Journalists make little effort in Hull story [Moscow Times allegations of racism]
Those of us of a certain age well remember Bobby Hull as the exciting Golden Jets flying down the ice and launching one of his patented slap shots into the top of the net. Or, a less happy memory, of the hockey star who got into legal problems for domestic abuse. But that was then, […]
[Taking stock: assessing public sector reforms]
Taking Stock: Assessing Public Sector Reforms is the second of three volumes on the subject of governance and public management produced by the Canadian Centre for Management Development. It contains the reflections of 13 academics, including five from the U.S., four from Canada, one from the U.K., one from France, one from Sweden and one […]
A just-the-facts-ma’am site
From time to time I come across a site that I can’t wait to tell others about. It reeks of tangible matters well-presented, well-linked, and free of graphic clutter, a Just-The-Facts-Ma’am kind of place that you know will excite others. Here is one, hosted by the Media Awareness Network. I was recently turned on to […]
Why Clark and Segal cancelled televised debates
CBC Newsworld offered the five candidates for the Tory party’s national leadership a half-hour of free time for a debate to be carried both by Newsworld and CBC National. The debate was to be held before a live audience in Toronto, with Nancy Wilson as moderator; the subject was to be economics. The date, Sept. […]
Rookie MP shakes up senate [Chairship of Greater Toronto Area caucus]
Senate block vote…Meanwhile, rookie Ontario Liberal MP Bryon Wilfert is vying for the chairship of the Greater Toronto Area caucus but he’s going to have to face off with Ontario Senator Lorne Milne before it’s over. Sen. Milne, who co-chaired the Liberals’ Ontario election campaign in the last federal election, said she’s not too pleased […]
Critics say appointment “Good” but still want political initiatives [Deputy minister appointed]
A blast from the past will be upon the beleaguered Environment Canada as Parliament resumes sitting on Sept. 21, when Leonard Good takes the reigns as deputy minister. While his appointment is seen as a positive one for the department, critics say he can only do so much without initiatives on the political side of […]
MPs challenge minister over costs [of Parliamentary renovations]
Opposition MPs , furious that the cost of renovating the Parliamentary precinct could shoot up to nearly one billion dollars, want Public Works minister Alfonso Gagliano and his officials to come before the Natural Resources and Government Operations Committee to explain why the estimate has so dramatically increased. Public Works officials have admitted the original […]
Manley focuses cabinet on information future
Hang on to your mouse pad, I am about to dish out some well deserved credit to a bespectacled, mild-mannered, MP from Ottawa-South. He doesn’t need it, but hey, which politician doesn’t like a positive headline now and then. Industry Minister John Manley, once recognized more for being the relative of an Olympic medalist than […]
Tory leadership candidates strut in Wayne’s World [Elsie Wayne in Saint John, NB]
The five candidates for the leadership of the federal Progressive Conservative party were summoned to Saint John, New Brunswick two weekends ago by the party’s interim leader, Elsie Wayne, who is a former mayor of the old Loyalist city and likely the least beatable member in the whole House of Commons. In this first-time joint […]
