Divisive riding-refund clawback pulled from agenda, as Tories set to talk policy in Halifax
A proposed change to the federal Conservative Party’s constitution aimed at stopping the national body from clawing back money from its riding associations has been pulled from consideration at this week’s convention. The proposal, sponsored by the electoral district association for Carleton, Ont., was part of the association’s campaign to stop the implementation of a 2017 decision […]
Saudi spat may boost Liberals, but likely not for long: pollsters, strategists
Canada’s conflict with Saudi Arabia represents a “minor tremor” domestically, with the Liberals seeing positive feedback from voters, but that’s unlikely to have any long-term effect for the party at the polls, pollsters and politicos say. If anything, it underscores that appearing strong in international disputes wins support, but Canadians won’t remember or care about […]
Action plan laid out in new PCO anti-harassment report encouraging, say union heads
Top-level managers are indicating they’re ready to get serious about rooting out harassment in the public service, suggesting in a new report actions with concrete timelines to better support victims and educate employees and managers on the long-standing issue. Safe Workspaces: Starting a Dialogue and Taking Action on Harassment in the Public Service, which was […]
PIPSC members demand answers after VP suddenly resigns, drops harassment claim against union leaders
Members of the second-largest federal public service union are demanding transparency and accountability after they allege two top officials secretly settled a harassment lawsuit against them filed by another executive, leading her to resign and drop her re-election bid. While Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada president Debi Daviau and vice-president Steve Hindle […]
2018 Conservative policy convention schedule
Thursday, Aug. 23 12:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Registration Open 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. MP Info Sessions Making Life Affordable Immigration and Foreign Affairs Science, Innovation, and the Environment Justice, Health, and Public Safety 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Building a Campaign Team & Managing Your Human Resources 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. C2W, […]
Halifax huddle a chance for Scheer to step from Harper’s shadow and shine
OTTAWA—Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer heads into this week’s party convention in reasonable shape despite the best efforts of Maxime Bernier to do whatever it was he was trying to do. As Scheer travels to Halifax, his party’s fundraising numbers remain impressive, the party’s polling numbers are good, and generally his caucus is unified. Any other […]
Tories must ‘find a way to manage Max,’ but Bernier’s ‘selfish gesture’ won’t cast too dark a shadow over convention: strategists, MPs
As Conservatives huddle in Halifax this week to hash out their plan to topple the Liberal government next year, Tory MPs and politicos say they expect the convention’s focus to firmly remain on 2019 strategy, despite the recent distraction caused by MP Maxime Bernier. The three-day Conservative National Convention kicks off on Aug. 23 at […]
Kofi Annan had his flaws, but he inspired a generation
KAMOURASKA, QUE.—I met Kofi Annan only once, but I remember the encounter as if it were yesterday. The former United Nations secretary general’s calm demeanour, genuine interest in people, and undeniable charisma were all evident in the few minutes I had to speak with him at a UN meeting in Geneva. Despite that short meeting, […]
How Canada landed at the top of Trump’s trade-enemies list
OTTAWA—The uproar over milk pricing that morphed into the growing United States-Canada trade war began 18 months ago with a series of letters that appeared to put the livelihoods of some American dairy farmers at risk. About 75 Wisconsin and Minnesota dairy farms (out of the 40,219 in the U.S.) received a letter from milk […]
Drunk with power and high on kayfabe
In the colourful subculture of professional wrestling that, along with the colourful subculture of reality television, proved the Stanislavski system for United States President Donald Trump’s career as a political actor, there is a concept called “kayfabe” (KEI-feib). Kayfabe is the portrayal of staged events, contrived performances, fake rivalries, and manufactured melodrama as authentic or spontaneous. […]
