Feds balanced their books on backs of civil servants: unions: Litigation trial begins on $30-billion lawsuit over pension surpluses in Ontario court
It’s a case that touches the lives of 1.2 million Canadians. Some 670,000 employees of the federal government and their families. What’s at stake is a $30-billion surplus in their pension fund that could take more than 20 years to resolve. “It’s a question of justice,”said Nycole Turmel, president of the Public Service Alliance of […]
Liberals sell their policies to web surfers on the Net: Finance Minister taking money with one hand and returning taxes with the other
TORONTO – The Liberal secret weapon for the fight against patronage and corruption is the internet. Whenever you ask them about a controversial contract or a wild expense, the template for the answer, lately, is all the same: Everything is above board. There is no secret about it. We follow the rules and – here […]
House Affairs blasts Federal Ethics Commissioner Office
The House Affairs Committee blasted the Office of the Federal Ethics Commissioner last week for lax handling of Conservative MP Deepak Obhrai’s case in which he was accused of allegedly accepting $40,000 to fast-track immigration paperwork for a relative. The House Affairs Committee, headed by government backbencher Don Boudria , found that it is essential […]
House drama heats up as Liberals push for recorded roll call votes
The federal Liberals will undermine their own legislation if they force opposition parties to accept a recorded vote on four priority bills, says FCM. The federal Liberals will undermine their own legislation if they force opposition parties to accept a recorded vote on four pieces of priority legislation that all parties agreed to fast-track through […]
Last week’s media reaction to Finance Minister Goodale’s tax cuts reminds me of the story of the tavern peanuts
Media reaction to Ralph Goodale’s tax cuts reminds me of the story of the tavern peanuts. There was a barroom in Toronto that used to give patrons free peanuts by the sack. Newsroom staff attended weekly. You could eat all you liked and toss the shells on the floor. Journalists are no fools; we knew […]
The Spin Doctors: “What’s your party’s campaign slogan for the next election?”
Leslie Swartman Liberal Strategist “Here are my picks. Given the season we are in, I’ve decided to base them on traditional Christmas carols: “Stack the halls with fawning voters, fa la la la la, la la la la.” “O come all ye faithful, vote early and often, o come ye, o come ye to mark […]
Retired deputy minister urges civil service to resist reforms
Former deputy minister Harry Swain is urging senior bureaucrats to fight back against reforms, says 238 new rules, plus legions of comptrollers and auditors won’t prevent malfeasance. Amidst the dire warnings about Canada’s future and a stinging criticism of the Martin government, a former deputy minister is urging senior bureaucrats to fight back against reforms […]
Political parties crank up war room preparations
With the threat of an upcoming election around the corner, all parties are working to finalize the list of people who will work in their respective campaign ‘nerve centres’ also known as war rooms. With the threat of an upcoming election around the corner, the strategists of the four political parties were working quietly last […]
N.B. byelection kills rumours about Tories
Lord works in mysterious ways… If Bernard Lord was hoping to make the jump from provincial to federal politics, he’ll have to get his train back on the track. But after a crucial byelection loss last week in New Brunswick that train seems to have derailed on a bridge and is sinking deep into the […]
The Secret Mulroney Tapes doc an oral history ‘of some of the most controversial, dramatic years in Canadian political history’
The Secret Mulroney Tapes: Unguarded Confessions of a Prime Minister has been on best-seller lists since its release in September. On Nov. 21, Canadians will get a chance to hear the unmistakable deep, coffee and ex-cigarette smoker voice of Brian Mulroney, Canada’s 18th Prime Minister, talking candidly about politics while he was in office with […]
