Centre Block will be transformed into a modern, functional space to serve Canadians for generations to come
PARLIAMENT HILL—When I was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Halifax West in 1993, and I still recall the awe that I felt as I walked up the steps to the Parliament Building and looked up at the soaring Peace Tower, topped with the fluttering Maple Leaf Flag, gargoyles seeming to leap from […]
‘Failure is not an option’: NDPers say they’re optimistic heading into 2019, despite falling political fortunes, but much rides on Singh’s byelection win
Despite trailing in fundraising and opinion polls, and a steady loss in vote-share in federal byelections since 2015, NDPers say they’re optimistic the party can turn things around and be competitive in 2019, but much hangs on new leader Jagmeet Singh’s upcoming byelection campaign. “There’s a corridor available for the NDP to do the critique […]
Ministers Bennett, Joly make director-level staff changes
Tourism, Official Languages, and La Francophonie Minister Mélanie Joly recently bade farewell to her director of operations, Maximilien Roy, who left the Hill around mid-November. Mr. Roy had joined Ms. Joly’s new ministerial office at the end of the summer, at the time moving over from Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s office, where he’d been since […]
End of an era: reporters say goodbye to the Hot Room as Centre Block closes for the next decade
Before the two broke the explosive story of the robocalls scandal in February 2012, then Postmedia reporter Stephen Maher and Ottawa Citizen reporter Glen McGregor would work in 350-N of Centre Block, also known as the Hot Room, chipping away at a story that would eventually win them a prestigious Michener Award. While the Hot […]
Pipeline politics will keep Ottawa, Alberta divided
All is far from well between Rachel Notley’s Alberta government and Justin Trudeau’s Liberals. With the prime minister in the eye of the storm over the failure to get more oil to tidewater, no federal gesture between now and next fall’s election is likely to really lower the temperature between the two capitals. The combination—within […]
NDP MP Cullen wants Canada Elections commissioner to investigate Grewal’s April $600,000 fundraiser, Grewal’s lawyer says he did nothing wrong
NDP MP Nathan Cullen has asked Commissioner of Canada Elections Yves Coté to investigate an April fundraiser organized by rookie MP Raj Grewal who is said to have raised $600,000 in one night. Mr. Cullen (Skeena-Bulkley Valley, B.C.) said he sent a letter to Mr. Coté on Thursday morning, citing unanswered questions to the Liberal-turned-Independent […]
George H.W. Bush and the value of good intentions
Whatever you believe or don’t about an afterlife, when George H.W. Bush woke up last Friday and asked James Baker where they were going, Baker’s response of “heaven” likely seems more accurate than the alternative, the old maxim about good intentions notwithstanding. And Bush did seem the embodiment of good intentions, a quality that sometimes, […]
Ukraine-Russia sea spat no place for NATO intervention
Last Thursday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called upon NATO to dispatch warships to the Sea of Azov in order to “provide security” in the wake of an incident involving Russian security forces. On Sunday, Nov. 24, three Ukrainian naval vessels—two small patrol craft and a tugboat—transited the Kerch Strait enroute to the Ukrainian port city […]
Appealing to ‘the base’ may be a recipe for electoral failure
“It’s all about the base.” That was the refrain of the Conservatives under Prime Minister Stephen Harper from 2006 to 2015, when policies were examined through the perspective of right-of-centre Conservative partisans. Whether suppressing scientists from speaking publicly, changing the rules for the long-form census, supporting the Likud government in Israel, or cutting development funds […]
‘Ambitious’ feminist aid targets potential victim of Liberal ‘gender washing,’ says report
A new report says Canadians should be skeptical if the Liberals meet their “highly ambitious” targets on increasing gender-focused international aid. It’s a concern echoed by opposition critics, who warn of the potential for the “feminist washing” of the country’s aid program. Canadian aid is “quite unfocused,” “spread too thin,” and vulnerable to the “danger […]
