Forget crossing the floor legislation, maybe we should look at India’s formula for amending its Constitution
The recent raft of floor-crossings in our House of Commons has spurred some honourable members to propose legislation that would force MPs wishing to change parties in mid-Parliament (or, if you’re David Emerson, at the early onset of post-election blues) to first consult with the electorate by resigning and contesting a byelection. When compared to […]
Will the federal Liberals defeat themselves in the leadership campaign?
The individual succeeding Paul Martin as Liberal leader will face a major challenge overcoming the attacks levied against them during the upcoming leadership contest. Recent examples from the U.S. where a new party leader faced an incumbent president illustrates how counterproductive the process can be for the winner. In their quest to occupy the White […]
Canadian Screenwriting Awards this week, also Treasury Board President Baird and Liberal finance critic John McCallum to speak
Canadian Screenwriting Awards this week, also Treasury Board President Baird and Liberal finance critic John McCallum to speak MONDAY, APRIL 24 Canadian Screenwriting Awards-Host Scott Thompson, formerly of the Kids in the Hall, will announce winners at the 10th annual awards gala at the Brant House, 522 King St. West, Toronto. For more information, please […]
Canada languishes in innovation and investment in telecommunications industry, says Russell
Two years ago, the CRTC began lengthy consultations about Voice over Internet Protocol. VoIP is a technologically proven, commercially available and rapidly growing internet application. It enables online users to communicate by voice anywhere and anytime. In Canada, the barriers to entry are so low that literally scores of companies currently offer VoIP communications across […]
Tories send message to lobbyists with tough penalties, $50,000 fine for violating cooling-off period
Federal Cabinet ministers, senior government officials and lobbyists are looking at significant new fines for violating the government’s proposed Lobbying Act, including a $50,000 fine for violations of the government’s five-year ban on ministers and senior public servants who wish to work as lobbyists. Robert Makichuk, a spokesman for the Treasury Board, the department responsible […]
Donner Prize Finalists
Donner Prize Finalists Want to know the Donner Prize finalists for the best book on Canadian public policy? The winner, to be announced in Toronto on April 27, will also win $35,000 Rethinking the Welfare State: The Prospects for Government by Voucher, by Ronald J. Daniels & Michael J. Trebilcock, Routledge. Blurb: “Rethinking the Welfare […]
MPs expect budget? Early May
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is expected to table his government’s first federal budget on May 2, say opposition MPs. NDP MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis (Winnipeg North, Man.), who is also her party’s finance critic, said there is widespread speculation the budget will be tabled on May 2. “How much can you place in rumours? But that’s […]
Harper gets presented with two equally unpalatable notions
Of all the difficult jobs on Parliament Hill these days, few are about to become as demanding as that of Quebec adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. That is so because one of the hardest calls Harper will have to make soon is how much of his political future he can afford to stake on […]
National media played along with Stronach while it lasted
I’ve always felt badly for rich people. Naturally, my feelings for Belinda Stronach are close to pity. Not the same pity you might feel for orphans or baby seals, but close. Though not yet 40, Stronach is in the twilight of a brief, bizarre political career that reads like a Trivial Pursuit question: what tycoon’s […]
Three federal Conservative organizers hired for Quebec grassroots campaign
The Conservative Party has hired three election campaign staffers to help out with a sweeping grassroots campaign of signing up party members in Québec, Québec Tory Christian Paradis told The Hill Times. Mr. Paradis (Mégantic-L’Érable, Qué.) confirmed that Pierre Coulombe, the Conservative Party’s chief organizer of the Quebec membership campaign, has hired Nelson Bouffard, Robert […]
