MPs defend taking trips paid by lobbyists, foreign governments, but some say the practice needs review
Some Liberal and Conservative MPs say rules that permit lobby groups and foreign governments to pay for MPs’ trips abroad warrant review, including regarding limits on the value of free trips and where lobbyists fit in, though none say that the practice should be banned. In 2017, 72 MPs accepted more than $620,000 worth of […]
Senate urged to expand bill to clear more LGBTQ criminal convictions
After getting rushed through the House, advocates are calling for the Senate to pump the brakes on the government’s bill wiping out historical unjust convictions and to broaden the legislation’s scope to add more offences that targeted the LGBTQ community. They say the bill, as drafted now, doesn’t go far enough to right past wrongs. […]
Wynne’s Ford-as-Trump portrayal could backfire
OTTAWA—In politics, as in sport sometimes, a rally cry based around desperation can be a powerful motivational tool that changes a game or series. Many times we have heard an NHL hockey coach say of his players: “they have to play as if their backs are against the wall.” Then the team in question goes […]
After 36 years, it’s time Quebec sign the Constitution
The call from the Prime Minister’s Office in March 1982 came as things were not going well for the Liberal opposition in Newfoundland and Labrador. Premier Brian Peckford had called a snap “referendum” election for April 6, seeking to wrest management of offshore oil from Pierre Trudeau’s government in Ottawa. The caller enthusiastically told me […]
‘My first reaction was, ‘Oh my god, my mom’’: Toronto van attack hits home for local MPs
While the Peace Tower flag flies at half-mast in Ottawa, Liberal MP Ali Ehsassi is back in his north Toronto riding of Willowdale to be with his community. He said he never expected a mass casualty attack would happen in Toronto, let alone his unassuming, mostly suburban Toronto neighbourhood. “I would have never imagined this,” Mr. […]
The true grace of Barbara Bush
The word came up again and again last week as the political world marked the loss of former United States first lady Barbara Bush: grace. It wasn’t the surface grace of a sample-size silhouette or of purchased elegance. Barbara Bush, by all accounts, had the true grace of always being her entirely authentic self, and […]
Feds lowballing parliamentary budget officer’s salary, say ex-PBO officials
The government is looking to pay the next parliamentary budget officer way less than it should, which could lead to it picking the wrong person for the job, say a former PBO and his ex-deputy. As the government searches for a replacement to parliamentary budget officer Jean-Denis Fréchette, whose five-year term expires in September, his […]
Robbing Peter to pay Paul in national security
OTTAWA—Way back when I was an analyst at CSE, I recall a conversation with an workmate about who was more important to the organization (we were both young and full of piss and vinegar). He worked on the ‘Soviet problem’ and I was assigned along with a very small team to the “rest of the […]
Senate seeks intervener status to back House BOIE in ongoing court battle with NDP
The NDP’s court challenge of the House Board of Internal Economy’s 2014 order for NDP MPs to repay almost $4-million in expenses continues, with the Senate now seeking intervener status to support the BOIE’s appeal of a Federal Court decision to allow the case to be heard. “I suspect they’re [the Senate] doing it partly […]
Federal spending up two per cent, hits $276.6-billion in main estimates for 2018-19
Federal spending is up by roughly two per cent this fiscal year, reaching an estimated $276.6-billion for 2018-19, with funding for the House of Commons and the Senate up by 6.5 per cent and five per cent, respectively, as set out in this year’s main estimates. The 2018-19 main estimates were tabled on April 16 […]
