HOUSE VOX POPULI
“A woman cannot be half pregnant.The government either has the confidence of the House or it does not.” – Liberal MP Roy Cullen “This ridiculous statement that somehow the Liberal government has fixed an election date, the Liberals do not even believe in fixed election dates.The Liberals have never supported fixed election dates, but somehow […]
The week ahead in Parliament: Will the government be defeated this week?
The government will be busy trying to stave off defeat this week, as a number of confidence tests are expected to come up. Finance Minister Ralph Goodale gave notice of a ‘ways and means’ motion to implement the tax measures he released last week in his economic statement. This, by convention, is a confidence vote […]
Coderre says he’s not ‘the kind of general’ who stays in the tent
While his political enemies wouldn’t describe him like this, Liberal MP Denis Coderre, a veteran political scrapper, who was born under the sun sign of Leo, describes himself as someone who gets an inordinate pleasure from helping others, is ambitious, enthusiastic, determined, and, right, stubborn. “I always think of the saying, ‘Politics is local,’” Mr. […]
Proroguing could spark crisis: NDP
The federal Liberals are on the verge of sparking a constitutional crisis that could blow up in their faces in the next election, a veteran NDP MP warned last week. If the governing party prorogues the House to avoid being defeated in a confidence motion, Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre, Man.) said Canadian voters would make […]
Lobby firms set up war rooms as 39th general election looms
Lobbyists’ clients are asking: Why is this happening, and what does it mean to me? So lobby firms set up war rooms to keep them in the loop on next election campaign. With the date of the next election call all but certain, political Ottawa is agog with a mix of anticipation and dread as […]
PARLIAMENTARY CALENDAR: GRIC’s Duguay to speak at the National Press Club: ‘Who you know or what you know? What lobbyists really do for a living, not the myths’
MONDAY, NOV. 21 Western ADM Seminar-In collaboration with the governments of British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, the Public Policy Forum is organizing a three-day seminar for newly-appointed Assistant Deputy Ministers from the three western provinces. For more information, please contact Julia Oliveira at julia.oliveira@ppforum.ca. Canadian Club of Ottawa Lunch-Alberta Premier Ralph Klein will speak at […]
Federal Court says Pelletier wrongfully dismissed at VIA
The federal government hasn’t ruled out any possibility regarding the future of former VIA Rail chairman Jean Pelletier. In a dramatic development on Friday, Justice Simon Noel, a Federal Court Judge concluded that Mr. Pelletier, who was also singled out in Justice John Gomery’s report on the sponsorship program, was wrongfully dismissed from the Crown […]
Grits to target nationalists with revamped Quebec campaign
Liberal Party officials in Quebec acknowledge 2004 campaign was lacking the right communications strategy and slogans. After being steam-rolled by the Bloc Quebecois in the 2004 election, the federal Liberals are hoping to correct their mistakes with a revamped campaign strategy that targets Quebec nationalists, senior federal party officials revealed last week. “We’ll ensure that […]
Christmas cards are federal election ads, says NDP MP
This holiday season, incumbent MPs should think twice before they make a list or check it twice, an NDP MP warns. Regardless of whether his constituents have been naughty or nice, Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre, Man.) said he won’t use the House of Commons printing service for greetings cards if the country is plunged into […]
The daily Commons show
Each party in the House, over the last few weeks, has been arguing forcefully and loudly that it’s their party, (their party!) fighting for what’s right for the good Canadian voters over the direly important question of the timing of the 39th general election.The corrupt, tired federal Liberals must be ejected from office, they argue.Yet […]
