Union was outmanoeuvered
Re: “House is back, but Newman and Lessard won’t be on the air,”(The Hill Times, Sept. 26).The union voted overwhelmingly, 87.3 per cent, in support of strike action on July 19. A work stoppage was clearly inevitable. Management simply outmanoeuvered the union on timing. This is our sacred collective bargaining system, working as designed! Pav […]
Progressive candidate’s pitch
Critics charge that Progressive Conservative MLA John Loewen is being opportunistic by jumping from the Conservatives to the Liberals. The truth is no one can say for certain whether his defection, which does entail considerable risk, is due to his conscience, opportunism, or a bit of both. What can be said for certain is that […]
Belanger hosts gathering for Liberal MPs, candidates in Eastern Ontario at his house
Deputy Government Leader Mauril Belanger (Ottawa-Vanier, Ont.) who also is the Minister Responsible for Eastern Ontario hosted an “informal wine and cheese reception”for Liberal incumbents MPs, candidates and organizers in Eastern Ontario at his house in Ottawa on Sept. 25. Besides the candidates, organizers and incumbent Liberal MPs, Prime Minister Paul Martin (LaSalle- Emard, Que.) […]
Politicians need to rise above the crowd, have some convictions
There has been a lot written recently about voter apathy and low voter turnout. The search is on to find ways to encourage people especially the youth, to vote. Politicians are people, and have all the faults that are associated with being less than perfect.Today’s politicians are more often portrayed as self-absorbed, singleissue vote-seeking, donor-appeasing […]
Michaelle Jean will turn out to be hard to dislike or to dismiss
Until the very last minute, Liberal strategists had feared that the installation of Michaelle Jean as governor general would add fuel to the recent fire over her political allegiances. They need not have worried. Until the very last minute, Liberal strategists had feared that the installation of Michaelle Jean as governor general would add fuel […]
Layton says while Conservatives talk election, the NDP is talking programs and McGuinty is talking about more money
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper says the next election will depend on the NDP but Jack Layton is still dismissing the challenge. NDP Leader Jack Layton says he’s disappointed with the Liberals’ legislative agenda this fall and wants the government to work on concrete, urgent issues. “It looks like they came back from the holiday with […]
Gazette’s Thompson inspired by intrepid reporter Nellie Bly
Montreal Gazette Parliament Hill reporter Elizabeth Thompson was struck by the bug to be a reporter when she was in Grade 5. She had just finished reading the biography of Elizabeth Jane Cochrane, better known by her pen name Nellie Bly, an intrepid U.S. investigative journalist at The New York World. Bly was best-known for […]
Service Canada: One-stop-shop?
Detractors and supporters are coming out of the woodwork in reaction to Service Canada, billed as “a new onestop federal agency aimed at improving services for Canadians while saving taxpayers $2.5 billion.” The agency is also described as “one of the biggest organizations in the federal government, employing about 22,000 who will eventually take over […]
Licensing will solve the schools’ copyright challenge
The educational bureaucracy wants an exemption from copyright and it wants it now but the educators are talking scary nonsense. That sleepy group, the Council of Ministers of Education of Canada, is about to take that perennial snoozer, copyright law, and try to drive it into the headlines. Parliament is about to take up Bill […]
Hamm’s departure no surprise
Hamm’s departure no surprise… Nova Scotia Premier John Hamm’s retirement announcement last week came as no surprise to Nova Scotians, the rest of Canada’s premiers and readers of this column. They’ve been hearing of Mr. Hamm’s intentions all summer. Talk of federal Deputy Conservative Leader Peter MacKay’s possible interest in the job was also not […]
