Ex-Bloc MPs name spokesperson, no leader
The breakaway group of seven Bloc Québécois MPs says it has a spokesperson, but no formal leader, and isn’t ready to start talking about forming a new party—for now it plans to continue working from the Bloc platform on which its members were elected. The collective, now known as the Groupe parliamentaire québécois, is working […]
Let’s reject the privatization of our democracy
Andy Fillmore, parliamentary secretary to the minister of democratic institutions, rose in the House of Commons earlier this month to announce that the Trudeau government will not support proposed legislation that would strictly limit donations to political parties. The objective of the bill, sponsored by Quebec MP Michel Boudrias, is to reduce the political influence […]
U.K. careens into economic, political unknown as time runs short on Brexit
OTTAWA—Euroskeptics are worried that British Prime Minister Theresa May will allow her country’s historic Brexit endeavour to degrade into nothing more than Brino. An acronym for “Brexit in name only,” Brino is a term used by British MP Jacob Rees-Mogg that encapsulates the angry concerns of anti-European Union stalwarts who are pushing for a clean […]
Feds shell out $250K to bureaucrats for Phoenix-related financial losses
The government has doled out nearly $250,000 since September 2016 to cover financial losses public servants have incurred because of the Phoenix pay system, according to the Treasury Board, which unions say indicates the program is working well despite seemingly low engagement. From September 2016 to January 31, 2018, 1,452 claims have been processed government-wide, […]
Conservative leader Scheer hires new stakeholder relations aide
Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer recently bolstered his official opposition staff by one, having hired Stephanie Keron as a special assistant and stakeholder relations adviser. Ms. Keron was previously working as executive assistant to Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs on the Hill since the 2015 federal election, before which she’d been executive assistant to then-Conservative MP Chris […]
NDP too slow on Singh Sikh controversy, say strategists, but it’s not likely to hurt him in 2019
The NDP should have expected questions on leader Jagmeet Singh’s associations with Sikh nationalist or extremist groups, so it’s surprising his team took so long to mount a defence when the issue blew up in the past week, say political strategists. But, they say, given that the Liberals and Conservatives have both also taken heat […]
Scheer is picking up points by keeping his head down
OTTAWA—Maybe being bland isn’t such a bad thing in politics after all. Who needs flashy socks anyway? Apparently not Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, who seems to be having an easier time of it these days than Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh. While Trudeau tries to continue to live down the […]
NDP MP Romeo Saganash says speaking Indigenous languages in Parliament is a ‘right’
NDP MP Romeo Saganash addressed the House Procedure and Affairs Committee in his native Cree language on Tuesday to call for the right to speak Indigenous languages in Parliament and have the words properly translated in French and English, calling it a “constitutional and human right.” Opening in Cree and then answering questions in English, Mr. Saganash (Abitibi-Baie-James-Nunavik-Eeyou, […]
AFN chief says Sen. Beyak’s letters ‘discredit’ the Senate, calls for sanctions
The national chief of the Assembly of First Nations is calling on Senators to consider sanctioning unaffiliated Senator Lynn Beyak over racist letters posted on her website. Perry Bellegarde made the request in a March 16 letter addressed to Senate Speaker George Furey (Newfoundland and Labrador), Conservative Senator Raynell Andreychuk (Saskatchewan), who chairs the Senate […]
Opposition should hold the simplistic scare-mongering on debt and doomsday scenarios
TORONTO—The 2015 federal election campaign was, in fiscal terms, about hope versus austerity—what was more important, to spend more to foster growth and jobs, even if it meant running deficits, or balancing the budget as fast as possible, even if it meant slower growth and higher unemployment? The spenders won in 2015. But next year’s […]
