Most Cabinet ministers fail to file travel and hospitality expenses by March 31 deadline
Conservative Cabinet members may be discovering that when it comes to full transparency, the devil is in the details-and the deadlines. According to Treasury Board rules on proactive disclosure, all federal departments are required to post on their respective websites a quarterly report on all travel and hospitality expenses incurred by ministers, Parliamentary secretaries and […]
PM Harper talks hockey on TSN
Nothing is better than playing hockey, says Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.). “I love my job as Prime Minister, but if you could be a hockey player, I mean, what could be better than that?” Mr. Harper said in a television interview with TSN last Thursday, prior to the NHL’s hockey playoffs. Speaking […]
Harper government not proactive for the environment: Friends of the Earth poll
Eighty-two per cent of Canadians don’t think or are unsure that the new Conservative government will do better on tackling environmental issues, according to a poll by Global Market Insite for Friends of the Earth Canada. “It’s clear from these polling results that Canadians are among the most concerned citizens of the world when it […]
Democracy should be rule, not a late afterthought: Democracy Party’s Garry
The founder of the Democracy Party of Canada wants to bring direct democracy to Canadians because it is the “ultimate accountability.” “What I am looking to instill in Canadians is a willingness and thirst for participating in their democracy, to demand more,” said Steve Garry, who submitted a video presentation as a discussion point for […]
Pass three priorities, win a majority: Tories and Libs
Political foes say the five priorities are a packaging PR exercise, but Conservatives and even Liberals say if Prime Minister Stephen Harper gets three of his five top legislative priorities through Parliament before the next election, the Conservatives will likely win a majority. “Unless something extraordinary comes up that we don’t know about, I think […]
Politics and the Pen a hot ticket next month in Ottawa
Parliamentarians and pundits will down tools and glam up next month at the annual and sold-out Politics and the Pen dinner, which will be held at the Chateau Laurier Hotel in Ottawa on May 31. Hosted by The Writers Trust of Canada, it’s a perennial hot ticket for Ottawa’s politerati, and this year is no […]
Grit leadership picks successive balloting for convention
Get ready for a long bloody night. The next leader of the Liberal Party will be elected through successive balloting which means the convention will be long, brokered and could mean a dark horse candidate will emerge the winner next December in Montreal, say Liberals. Liberals say it also means the campaign could be more […]
Conservatives should halt procurement reform initiated by Liberals: lawyer
The federal Conservative government, in its recently-tabled omnibus Accountability Act, is proposing a series of new measures to ensure that the $16-billion to $18-billion it spends on government procurement annually is “fair, open and transparent.” But one critic has emerged to say that the Conservatives should put a halt another procurement policy reform under way […]
Libs, Conservative government clash over timing and enforcement of upcoming bans on political donations
There’s significant confusion over whether the upcoming bans on political donations will affect the Liberal leadership race, but the Liberal Party of Canada and the Conservative government are currently disagreeing over the issue and Elections Canada can’t answer the question. The Treasury Board told The Hill Times that if the proposed Federal Accountability Act is […]
‘It’s an exciting time’ to be a federal public servant: PCO Clerk Lynch
Privy Council Clerk Kevin Lynch says it’s an exciting time to be a federal public servant in the 21st Century, but as Canada renews its organization and recruits the next generation of public servants, it must “make excellence its quest”and it must do a better job of recruiting, retaining, planning and transferring knowledge. Moreover, Mr. […]
