‘He has a lot of work to do’: elusive collective agreement, Phoenix damages loom large for new Treasury Board president
As Canada’s largest federal public sector union remains without a new collective agreement, PSAC national president Chris Aylward says newly appointed Treasury Board President Jean-Yves Duclos “has a lot of work to do” with 140,000 public sector workers still without a contract. But Canada’s former top bureaucrat suggests Mr. Duclos may be a “bit of […]
Scheer’s exit important and predictable
HALIFAX—Andrew Scheer’s departure is as important as it was predictable: for the second time since Stephen Harper stepped down as leader, the CPC will get a chance to remake itself. In 2017, it flubbed the opportunity. That year’s convention was messy and dishonest. Nearly 1,400 dubious memberships had to be revoked by the party. Several […]
‘It is just too important’: Conservatives will vote for new NAFTA implementation despite vocal criticism of Liberals’ renegotiations, say trade analysts
Despite their bemoaning of the new North American trade pact, in the end Conservatives will support the deal because it’s too important, say international trade analysts. Before the renegotiated trade pact was amended, the Conservatives stated that they could have negotiated a better deal, but they would support it. But since the amended United States-Mexico-Canada […]
Frontier Mine emerges as the latest test of Trudeau’s climate credibility
CHELSEA, QUE.—Apparently under the erroneous impression that he won the recent federal election, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney marched through the salons and wood-panelled political offices of Ottawa last week brandishing his usual “demands” (sometimes framed as “proposals,” depending on his audience)—including a brand new one. This time—besides emergency federal funding to counteract sagging employment in […]
2019: the year of the unexpected
OAKVILLE, ONT.—One of the fun aspects about politics is its unpredictably. You just never know what’s going to happen next. And nowadays it seems, for whatever reason, politics is more unpredictable than ever. This is why I’ve decided not to write a “Here’s My Predictions For Next Year” column, since I’m sure 2020 will be […]
Imagine a different future for Indigenous Canada
OTTAWA—I was going to write about the new federal cabinet. Then I heard Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller spout the same doublespeak as his predecessor on why the federal government believes it knows better on how to treat Indigenous kids than the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. Then I heard about NDP MP Charlie Angus’ motion […]
From representing a town of 5,000 to a riding the size of Poland: NDP MP Bachrach settles into job
NDP MP Taylor Bachrach, who represents a riding roughly the size of Poland, expects to rack up a lot of mileage. The job of representing Skeena-Bulkley Valley, a far-flung northern B.C. riding, involves hitting the road regularly to connect with as many of its more than 89,000 residents, including the Haida First Nation. It’s one […]
After relentless pressure, Scheer says he’ll resign as Conservative party leader amid private school controversy, caucus supports him as interim leader
After facing relentless calls to step down since the party failed to win the election, Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer on Thursday announced he is resigning. Mr. Scheer (Regina-Qu’Appelle, Sask.) delivered a statement about his resignation on the House floor, surrounded by his caucus members. He intends to stay on as leader until the party […]
Parties agree to NDP’s push for representation on steering committees
The Liberals and opposition parties have agreed to give the NDP representation on all steering committees, an ask that the Conservatives’ whip says had delayed the process of setting up committees. The House on Wednesday voted by “unanimous consent” to strike the Procedure and House Affairs Committee, also known as PROC, the body responsible for […]
Veterans’ benefits lead in supplementary spending ask of nearly $5-billion
The federal government’s budgetary spending is up 7.3 per cent so far this fiscal year over last, as laid out in the recently released first supplementary estimates of 2019-20. The supplementary estimates (A) for this fiscal year were tabled by new Treasury Board President Jean-Yves Duclos (Quebec, Que.) on Dec. 5. These estimates, the first […]
