Senator wins some respect [in battle over bills between Commons & Senate]
The power of the legislator…The battle between the House and the Senate will likely heat up again this fall over how the elected MPs treat private members’ bill from the Upper Chamber. Senators are pushing for changes to how their bills are handled by the House of Commons. Manitoba Liberal Senator Sharon Carstairs has written […]
Question period: What do you think of the decision to increase the pay of heads of Crown corporations by 4%-19% while MPs got a 2% raise?
“It’s not just the heads of Crown corporations that are seeing these increases — it’s senior military people and senior bureaucrats. The government seems to have opened the floodgates and I wonder where it will stop? And will the people at the lower end see this? If not, why?” Reform MP Randy White Langley-Abbotsford, B.C. […]
Newly elected Liberal MP Sekora starts hiring staffers [Sophia Betegh hired as legislative assistant]
Brand, spanking new Liberal MP Lou Sekora is in the process of getting his office set up with the help of his legislative assistant, Sophia Betegh. Mr. Sekora swept up the vote in the federal byelection held in Port Moody-Coquitlam, B.C., on March 30, upsetting the Reformers and delightfully surprising the governing Liberals. Mr. Sekora, […]
So long Johnnie, access commish exits
Canada’s access guru steps down and privacy commissioner gets two-year extension last week Canada’s outgoing access to information commissioner of Canada, who will finally step down this week after more than seven years in the post, but his counterpart is staying behind. After two extensions, John Grace’s term as information commissioner of Canada expires on […]
Put more than your spin on the Web [Government on the Net conference]
At last week’s Government on the Net conference, I had the opportunity to address several hundred federal government IT experts in a session entitled, “Putting Your Spin on The Web.” If you consider that the Government of Canada has over 130 listings for federal organizations at its primary Web site (and several thousand sub-listings), you […]
Question period: if you were offered an appointment to the Senate, would you accept it?
“I guess if I thought I had something to offer, I probably would and I’d be totally dishonest if I didn’t say that because I think the Senate does play a useful role in the Parliamentary system and I know there’s others that think differently, but I think it’s an important role and a good […]
[At the cutting edge: the crisis in Canada’s forest]
Don’t expect an unbiased report from Elizabeth May. Ms. May, executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada, does with her book for the environmentalists what Maude Barlow does for Canada’s left-wing economists: she bolsters them with extensively researched facts and figures to argue against the powers that be. The powers in Ms. May’s case […]
Reform Party’s lawsuit strategy dubious, says a former Manning adviser [Tom Flanagan]
The Reform Party has threatened three lawsuits against those who label it as racist The Reform Party’s strategy to threaten a legal action against anyone who labels it as ‘racist,’ could be a troubling route to take, says a former senior party adviser. It is the third time in the last couple of years the […]
Bloc MP detained by US customs: Monique Guay wants to ensure that federal MPs can travel freely to US
A Bloc Quebecois MP, who says she was detained by U.S. customs officials while travelling with the minister for International Cooperation last month, wants the government to take steps to ensure that federal MPs carl travel freely to our country’s largest ally. Bloc Quebecois international development critic Monique Guay (Laurentides, Que.) was returning from a […]
Here comes judge George Rideout [and other appointments to New Brunswick bench]
Former New Brunswick Liberal MP George Rideout was made a justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench of New Brunswick, Family Division in Moncton and a judge “ex officio” of the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick by Justice Minister Anne McLellan recently. Mr. Rideout, who was first elected MP for Moncton, N.B. in 1988, […]
