Status of government bills
House of Commons Second reading: S-6, Canada-Madagascar Tax Convention Implementation Act, 2018 C-5, An Act to Repeal Division 20 of Part 3 of the Economic Action Plan 2015 Act, No. 1 C-12, An Act to amend the Canadian Forces Members and Veterans Re-establishment and Compensation Act C-27, An Act to amend the Pension Benefits Standards […]
‘Underdog’ NDP in Outremont faces ‘hard battle’ to keep ex-leader’s seat: NDP analysts
The Quebec riding of Outremont is the Liberals’ to lose, with the NDP a “long shot” to keep former leader Tom Mulcair’s seat in the upcoming byelection, say NDP analysts, who call candidate Julia Sánchez a “star,” but still the clear underdog. From what he’s heard on the ground, former NDP national director Karl Bélanger […]
The Prime Minister’s Office better wake up and change the channel
OTTAWA—It is sad to watch the self-inflicted misery that the SNC-Lavalin affair is wreaking on the Liberals. It did not have to be this way. Someone in the Prime Minister’s Office has obviously decided the best way to fight is by personally targeting the former attorney general as someone who was remiss in her duties. […]
Justice minister hires experienced issues management director
Justice Minister David Lametti recently hired veteran Quebec Liberal staffer Nathalie Roberge to serve as director of issues management in his office—a hiring the office says was planned well before the recent controversy erupted over reports the Prime Minister’s Office pressured the former justice minister, Jody Wilson-Raybould, to intervene in the SNC-Lavalin court case. Ms. […]
Business Council of Canada to tell us how we can ‘significantly improve’ our ability to compete for jobs, investment
TORONTO—The Business Council of Canada, which speaks for Canada’s largest corporations, is planning to give us a report before we vote in this year’s federal election, on ways to “significantly improve” Canada’s ability to compete for jobs and investment. We need new ideas. So let’s hope the council comes up with something more than its […]
Big plastic companies are acting on plastics, but strong laws are needed to stop plastic pollution
They say change comes in waves. And lately we’ve seen the start of a tidal wave of businesses announcing how they will reduce their plastic footprint. Nestlé, the biggest food company in the world, recently announced a global phase-out of hard-to-recycle materials and committed to 50 per cent recycled content for its plastic water bottles […]
SNC-Lavalin lobbied Liberal-tied ambassador on corruption case, sought help from ex-aides to Chrétien, Mulroney
Liberal government officials are keeping tight-lipped about their meetings with SNC-Lavalin lobbyists over the past three years, but lobbying records show the company raised “justice”—and likely discussed deferred prosecution agreements—with government insiders regularly as the company sought to avoid prosecution on corruption charges, and brought on a pair of former top aides to Liberal and […]
‘I got a lot of very, very angry mail’: interest groups ramp up pressure on Senate, government over sweeping environmental assessment bill C-69
Powerful labour unions, oil and gas lobbyists, environmental groups, and even Alberta United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney are among the players in a growing public relations and lobbying battle to sway Senators studying the government’s controversial environmental assessment reform bill, C-69. The 14-member Senate Environment Committee began studying the bill earlier this month, in […]
Jodygate could sink Trudeau government
HALIFAX—Is the shiny, new pony headed for the political glue factory? If he isn’t, you’d never know it from the way Justin Trudeau and the treehouse gang in the PMO are handling Jodygate. The House Justice Committee proceedings designed to set up some kind of an “investigation” into this tawdry affair were botched from the […]
Mark Eyking becomes fourth Nova Scotia Liberal MP not to seek re-election
After 18 years in Ottawa, well-liked Liberal MP Mark Eyking says he won’t run again and will return home to the Bluenoser province. The six-term federal lawmaker announced on Feb. 14 in a Facebook post that he was leaving public life. “I’ve come to the stage in my life that’s telling me I have had a […]
