‘We’re in uncharted waters’: public personal attacks unprecedented in Canada-U.S. relationship, say ex-ambassadors to Washington, Ottawa
“Stunning,” “craziness,” “terribly insulting,” “disturbing,” “disappointing,” “inappropriate”: these are just some of the descriptions 10 former ambassadors to the United States and Canada are using to describe the events of the past few weeks in the Canada-U.S. relationship. The level of personal attacks U.S. President Donald Trump has hurled at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) […]
Transport minister names Marc Roy as chief of staff
Transport Minister Marc Garneau has tapped his director of communications by the same first name, Marc Roy, to take over as his new chief of staff as of June 22. Mr. Roy announced the decision in a Facebook post on June 13, calling it a “true honour and privilege to serve in this capacity.” Jean-Philippe […]
House officers spent $18-million last year, first spending tallies reveal
The offices of the top players in the House of Commons spent $18.3-million last year, according to the first public report on their expenses, with most coming in under budget, though some outliers spent much less than they were allowed to and the NDP House leader’s office spent more. A report released June 12, outlines the spending […]
Status of government bills
HOUSE OF COMMONS Second reading: 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 Act, 1985 C-28, An Act to amend […]
Ford’s right-wing populism: the gift that keeps on giving, for the rich
OTTAWA—Nothing says “for the people” like “buck-a-beer.” Ontarians put Doug Ford in office and slammed the Liberals in an election that confirmed the anti-progressive, me-first attitude that has become a prominent force in Western democracies as voters take out their unfocused anger over a changing world. Leaving aside immigration scare-mongering, Ford followed the Donald Trump […]
Luck is on the Hill as MPs celebrate Irish Day
Liberal MP James Maloney hosted the first Irish Day on the Hill on June 12 and it was a pretty huge hit. Mr. Maloney, who is the chair of the Canada-Ireland Friendship Group, said he came up with the idea of hosting an event on the Hill a couple of years ago, but time seemed […]
Conservative fortunes benefit from Scheer, Bernier on same team
OTTAWA—Last week, Andrew Scheer turfed Maxime Bernier from his shadow cabinet. Bernier, the former shadow minister for innovation, science, and economic development was apparently removed because he broke a promise to caucus concerning the promotion of his book, specifically a section dealing with the need to end supply management. Allegedly, he said he wouldn’t promote […]
Clerk’s comments ‘not providing leadership’ to change public service culture, say opposition MPs
Canada’s top bureaucrat should have accepted comments made by the auditor general in his scathing report on the Phoenix pay system, say opposition MPs, as his refusal undermines the credibility of the auditor general’s work and shows that the systemic cultural issues noted are alive and well in the bureaucracy’s upper ranks. Liberal MPs, meanwhile, […]
More than 95 per cent of MPs finish anti-harassment training, all Senators to start in fall
The Senate is set to follow in the House of Commons’ footsteps and make it mandatory for all Senators and staff to take in-person anti-harassment training. Beginning in the fall, the new practice comes on the recommendation of a Senate Internal Economy, Budgets, and Administration Committee subgroup tasked with reviewing the Upper Chamber’s harassment policy, […]
Ford Nation and the demise of the campaign playbook
OTTAWA—Last week, Scott Reid, formerly Paul Martin’s communications director and currently a political analyst and speechwriter who “was pitching in” for Kathleen Wynne’s team, wrote one of the more sobering post-mortems on the Ontario campaign. The piece, published in the Globe and Mail, posed the question as to whether campaigns even matter anymore: “In an […]
