Ex-DM ‘deeply disturbed’ by PCO clerk Wernick’s committee testimony, but others say it didn’t cross partisan line
Privy Council clerk Michael Wernick’s testimony last week to the House Justice Committee on the SNC-Lavalin scandal was “way over the line,” according to one former deputy minister, who added he was “deeply disturbed” by the “profoundly political” performance. However, another former bureaucrat, Kevin Page, the first parliamentary budget officer, said he didn’t see anything […]
Halifax MP Andy Fillmore, Immigration Minister Hussen bringing Barho relatives to Canada after fire
Liberal MP Andy Fillmore told reporters on Feb. 25 that visitor visas were arranged for relatives of the Barho family to come to Canada in the aftermath of a horrific Halifax house fire that killed seven. “When I visited Kawthar Barho in the hospital last week, she expressed gratitude to the way the community has […]
Justice officials told Senators SNC didn’t lobby them to get remediation agreements in law
Despite heavily lobbying ministers and political staff as well as some bureaucrats in other departments, SNC-Lavalin didn’t meet with Justice Department officials in the two years leading up to when the deferred prosecution agreements it wanted were ready to be used, departmental officials told Senators who studied the agreements last year. The Senate Legal and […]
Black public servants looking for political champions to fight battle in House, Senate
A new group advocating for the rights of Black public servants says that to combat the systemic racism employees face, specific data on Black Canadians is required to get a better picture of the issues it says need to be addressed. And with less than six years left in a UN decade for people of […]
Byelection results offer glimpse into October storylines, but no clear crystal-ball gaze
OTTAWA—Canada has three new Members of Parliament. What lessons can we learn from the federal byelections that ushered them into power in Burnaby South, B.C., York–Simcoe, Ont., and Outremont, Que.? First, the NDP has a pulse—albeit a weak one. The closest race of the three fought on Monday night was in British Columbia, where Jagmeet […]
Thanks to the internet, immunization is now controversial
OTTAWA—One of the benefits of social media is being able to maintain contact with old friends from around the world. As graduates of a high school in Montreal half a century ago, many of my former classmates followed the exodus out of Quebec in the 1970s and 1980s and now live in Toronto, Vancouver, and […]
Gould says she doesn’t have ‘full confidence’ Facebook will meet Ottawa’s expectations to implement electoral safeguards
Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould signalled the government is warming up to the idea of requiring social media giants to remove inflammatory content that threatens violence, but says her current mandate limits her from tackling that issue. Speaking at the House Ethics Committee, Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith raised concerns around Facebook’s inaction in taking down […]
PMO staffers involved in the SNC-Lavalin case
Conservatives have been pushing for a list of nine individuals to be called to appear before the House Justice Committee, including Liberal MP Jody Wilson-Raybould, Justice Minister David Lametti, Privy Council Clerk Michael Wernick, director of public prosecutions Kathleen Roussel, and five political staffers. Mr. Wernick testified last Thursday. Gerald Butts, now-former principal secretary to […]
Canada’s becoming more divided than ever; time to stop and think about that
OTTAWA—Canada is becoming more divided than ever. Time to stop and think. So this burley white guy in a yellow vest is yelling at this Indigenous woman, “Have you got a job? Have you got a job?” at the United We Roll rally on Parliament Hill—she was opposing the pipelines. Was it racist? Was he […]
Here’s what should be in Morneau’s next federal budget
TORONTO—Finance Minister Bill Morneau will present his fourth—and perhaps last—budget on Tuesday, March 19. It will be a pre-election budget, so will include a long and boastful list of accomplishments and, in the words of Finance Canada, “build on the success of the government’s plan, with continued investments in the things that matter most to […]
