Secretive House board poised to go public, remains to be seen how open it will be
The House Board of Internal Economy’s next meeting, set for this fall, is expected to be its first ever open to the public, with legislation requiring this now passed. But it remains unclear just how open the board will be going forward and how the new setup will shake out. While there are provisions for […]
Ridings won by five per cent or less to be ‘battleground’ in next election, includes five cabinet ministers
The 70 federal ridings across the country won in 2015 by a margin of five per cent or less of the votes will be the “battleground ridings” in the 2019 election and all parties will target them in the lead-up to the next federal run, say MPs and a leading pollster. “I do expect that […]
Khadr deal recognizes Ottawa went too far in war on terror
The Omar Khadr settlement is a sign of the times. It marks a belated recognition that Canada went overboard in the war against terror. The deal reached between Khadr’s lawyers and the federal government, whereby Ottawa will pay the 30-year-old Muslim-Canadian roughly $10-million in compensation, is not the first of its kind. It won’t be […]
And then there were four: Julian quits NDP leadership race, as others look to grab his supporters
British Columbia MP Peter Julian announced Thursday he was dropping his bid to become the next NDP leader, saying the personal financial risk was “too great” and the lack of fundraising support meant the party membership had given its “verdict.” “I’ve seen the graveyard of politicians who have invested a lot of their personal money […]
Compare Canada 150 to Expo 67 to see how far we’ve come
MONTREAL—In the city that I’ve called home for the past 20 years, one would have been hard-pressed to find signs last week that Saturday was a special Canada Day. A bicycle ride across town on the eve of the country’s 150th anniversary elicited no Maple Leaf flag, except at various hotels and official venues. Quebec […]
A few more staff depart Conservative leader’s office, including chief Keller
A few more Conservative staffers bade farewell to new leader Andrew Scheer’s office at the start of the summer break, bringing the total of departed—or departing—staff up to 16 in all to date since Mr. Scheer’s transition began. More than 40 staffers remain listed in the Conservative leader’s office, and intertwined research bureau, on the […]
So what do Senators really do in the summer?
With a hectic spring session behind them, a few Senators have more plans to dig into what they see as pressing political issues in their home provinces over the summer, and, as one put it, “hold the prime minister’s feet to the fire” when Parliament returns in the fall. The summer break has dispersed Parliamentarians […]
Liberals expect to make department spending reviews permanent
The Trudeau government is planning to repeat a round of audits of federal departments and agencies promised in this year’s budget in future years as well, putting multiple government institutions in the crosshairs annually. Jean-Luc Ferland, press secretary to Treasury Board President Scott Brison (Kings-Hants, N.S.), said the three departments selected for review this year […]
Trudeau two-faced on electoral reform
Whatever your view is on electoral reform in Canada, the bigger issue is that a silver-tongued Justin Trudeau who asked for our trust, who promised us a government that would listen to Canadians, and who promised an end to draconian, austere governance, has just twisted the knife. That he betrayed us on Feb. 1 by […]
Meanwhile, in a parallel reality where the world’s not getting Punk’d by a president…
For all the clichés about the World Economic Forum annual meeting at Davos being a Gulfstream G550 traffic jam, important news can get made in the Swiss Alps in January. There was the moment, in 2009, when then-Turkish prime minister-now-President-for-Life Recep Tayyip Erdogan stormed off the stage in a brouhaha with then-Israeli president Shimon Peres […]
