Legislative primer: here’s what you need to know
PARLIAMENT HILL—MPs return to Ottawa after a six-week break since they met briefly in December and they finally get down to work, three months after last fall’s surprising majority election win for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals. Here’s The Hill Times’ primer on what to expect on some of the major policy files in this session. Legislative […]
Politics This Morning: MPs return to House, debate throne speech
Good Monday morning! After a six-week break over the holidays, MPs return to the House today to start the 42nd Parliament in earnest. MPs will continue debating the throne speech today, which outlines the government’s priorities for this first session of Parliament. With low oil prices and a weak dollar, the economy will be a […]
Key promises enacted, in motion in a strong Parliament, get ready for a wild ride
OTTAWA—As the House returns and the Trudeau Liberals have been in office for less than three months, the pressure is getting more intense to deliver on their promises: whether it’s to fund infrastructure projects, bring in refugees, change anti-terror laws, end all unemployment, boost the dollar, raise oil prices, build instant pipelines, and wipe out […]
Politics of cooperation: redeeming private members’ bills
OTTAWA—In his mandate letters to Cabinet, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau writes that his “will be a government that governs for all Canadians.” This altruistic notion is rightly included and any government, regardless of political stripe, will always need to navigate the tension between satisfying their electoral base and the rest of the electorate. But when […]
Canadian Mint to celebrate 100th anniversary of women’s right to vote with $1 coin
A Royal Canadian Mint proposal for a historic commemorative dollar coin to celebrate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in Canada appears to have been on the drawing boards for at least nine months before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Cabinet authorized its production soon after taking office last November. Up until that time—until […]
New year, new way to petition Parliament
In December House of Commons officials debuted a new website and a new way to petition Parliamentarians, thanks to the NDP MP Kennedy Stewart private member’s motion to have the House adopt a system allowing Canadians to electronically submit petitions that have at least 500 signatures. The e-petition system compliments the existing paper-based system, but […]
