Washington election campaign tech conference shows political ad, outreach tactics that could come north of the border
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Imagine being followed all day by ads for your local MP, or one of their challengers in an election campaign, while you listen to music, watch your favourite TV show, check your texts, and browse social media. That may only be a few years away, and digital strategists in the United States are working […]
Comms aide Célia Canon exits Justice Minister Lametti’s office
Justice Minister David Lametti will soon have some new communications support in light of communications adviser Célia Canon’s recent exit from his office. Ms. Canon marked her last day working for Mr. Lametti on April 22. She’d been in place as a communications adviser—and de facto press secretary—in the minister’s office since August 2018, starting […]
Freedom of expression is under attack on campus
The commons that is the subject of this book is a platform or space for the debate, discussion, and collaboration that are both inherent in and essential to the idea of the university. This space is multidimensional and has varying degrees of formality. It is to be found in the governance framework and networks; in […]
Public service grew again in 2018, rebounding from Harper-era cuts
The size of the federal public service grew again in 2018, continuing a trend under Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government, and rebounding from cuts made under former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper. Since Mr. Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) became prime minister in 2015, the public service has grown from 257,034 to 273,571 in 2018, with the biggest […]
Mueller pulls his punches, handing Trump more power than ever
OTTAWA—Returning to North America after a bit of time abroad, it’s stunning to look at the state of government in the United States, where President Donald Trump is well on his way to the kind of one-man rule one more readily associates with banana republics and tin-pot dictatorships. The situation is depicted in all its […]
Feds shift to non-traditional workspaces, but not everyone’s happy about it
While the outgoing head of the public service positively portrayed the government’s shift to non-traditional office environments in his final annual report released earlier this month, some public service unions say the changes aren’t conducive to a good workspace, with some employees having no designated desks, leaving little space for personal belongings or accessibility accommodations. […]
Democrats should fight Trump in the trenches, not in Congress
Aside from all the other takeaways we all took away from last week’s publication of the redacted version of the report by special counsel Robert Mueller on Russian interference in the 2016 election, one major takeaway is that Washington has changed. It’s tempting to conclude that Washington has changed because Donald Trump has altered his […]
A nice day for a Green wedding: Elizabeth May ties the knot on Earth Day
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May wed John Kidder over the holiday weekend in Victoria, B.C. Ms. May, a first-time bride, met Mr. Kidder when he ran as a Green Party candidate in the 2013 B.C. provincial election and they soon became friends. Following the Green Party convention last September, the two became romantically involved. The […]
Name calling (on either side) isn’t going to help fix our immigration issues
OTTAWA—The 2019 federal election is one where the issue of immigration will feature prominently both with open debate and, unfortunately, a slew of coded language. Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in the Atlantic Immigration Summit in St. John’s, N.L., and I was struck by how far we still have to go to […]
Senators work to change Ambrose’s judicial training bill, get it passed before summer break
With a private member’s bill that would improve judicial training on sexual assault stalled in the Upper Chamber, some Senators say they’re willing to sit the few extra hours needed to get the “important” bill through before Parliament rises, but it’s not clear enough Senators agree. The committee tasked with studying the bill has two […]
