Senator LeBreton hires five new senior exempt political staffers
Marjory LeBreton, the leader of the government in the Senate, has hired five new exempt staffers for her ministerial political office. Sen. LeBreton’s office is headed by chief of staff Sandy Melo who was appointed to the job in February, after Sen. LeBreton was sworn into Cabinet on Feb. 6. The other new senior ministerial […]
Not welcome on the voyage
It wasn’t just reporters who had to face down the Prime Minister’s Office during last week’s accountability press conference. Liberal MP Stephen Owen, who serves as his party’s Treasury Board critic, was initially barred from entry as well. “I walked in and was asked to leave by some officious looking person,” Mr. Owen told The […]
Former Parliament Hill staffers organize key policy conference in Mont Tremblant, Que.
Four former Liberal Hill staffers who earlier this year launched a think-tank called “Canada 2020” are organizing a policy conference “Progressive Policies, Practical Solutions” in Mont Tremblant, Que. in June to come up with solutions for Canada to meet with the social and economic challenges of the 21st century. Tim Barber, executive director and co-founder […]
RCMP swept Speaker’s Office for bugs, listening devices before secret ballots counted last Monday
The RCMP swept for electronic bugs and recording devices in the Speaker’s Office in Centre Block before the secret ballots were counted there and after MPs elected for the House Speaker last week, says the House. On Friday, March 31, the RCMP looked for anything that could be used to record the tally of votes, […]
Today, Berger finds that barely seven years after the new territory was established, Nunavut is headed for social catastrophe
Seven years ago, the map of Canada changed for the first time since Newfoundland joined in 1949. A new territory of Nunavut was created and it is unlike any other part of Canada. Inuit form 85 per cent of the population and the first language of the territory is Inuktitut. Nunavut was formed as part […]
More accountability needed PM
Prime Minister Stephen Harper got elected on a campaign of bringing more accountability into government and to the people. To date, he hasn’t delivered too much. Broadening the Access to Information Act is a question mark. National caucus meetings are in lock-down mode. Although all political parties’ caucus meetings are private and closed-door affairs, but […]
Conservatives ban cellphones, BlackBerries in weekly caucus meetings
The Conservatives have banned MPs, Cabinet ministers, and Senators from carrying cellphones and BlackBerries into the new government’s weekly caucus meetings on Parliament Hill for “security and confidentiality reasons” and they’ve barred political staffers from attending the meetings as well. Some say the move indicates a lack of confidence of the loyalty of the national […]
New Prime Minister Harper inclined to use government less as a punching bag and more as a vector…
Kurt Vonnegut, novelist and Armageddon predictor, has a name for political leaders. He calls them “guessers.” Groucho Marx funny and yet so gloomy that he is only reluctantly still alive at 83, Vonnegut is also dead on target. Since time began, those at the front of the human pack have been guessing about the future, […]
This just in… federal Liberals advised to use internet to engage supporters and to raise money
Under the new, tighter spending limit of $3.4-million, some federal Liberal leadership candidates face an uphill battle to raise the money, but some Liberals say candidates should make heavy use of the internet to engage potential supporters and to run a more cost effective campaign. In this post Bill C-24 federal political world, Toronto Liberal […]
Derek Burney, Senator Hugh Segal to speak this week
MONDAY, APRIL 10 IHCMD lecture-The ninth lecture of a public lecture series from the Institute for Human Conceptual and Mental Development will discuss “Managing, Planning, Organizing and Directing: From the Inside Out and From the Bottom Up.” 7 p.m. in the Glebe Community Centre in Ottawa. For more information, please call (613) 233-8354. IRPP Luncheon-Stephan […]
