Liberals under pressure from all sides to give Davie shipyard work, keep Quebec City seats in 2019
Quebec Parliamentarians of all stripes are pressuring the Liberal government to stem job losses by giving more work to the Davie shipyard near Quebec City, a potential battleground in the 2019 election. Opposition MPs say the Liberals should give more contracts to Chantier Davie Canada because it has a proven track record and the ships […]
Unions cautiously optimistic about Treasury Board leading post-Phoenix fix, but worry about more delays
The two largest public service unions are applauding the decision in the 2018 federal budget to have the Treasury Board lead the search for a Phoenix pay system alternative, but caution the government can’t cut corners this time. Both the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the Professional Institute of the Public Service (PIPSC) […]
Two more promoted in PMO after operations team split
Two more staffers in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office have been promoted as a result of a January decision to split up the office’s operations unit ahead of former operations director John Zerucelli’s impending departure. Geoff Hall, who until recently had been working in the Prime Minister’s Office as Mr. Trudeau’s scheduler since January 2016, […]
Ageism on the Hill means experience doesn’t count for much
OTTAWA—Many years ago, the late Liberal Senator Keith Davey, known as “the rainmaker” for his success in getting his party elected, penned the “Ten Commandments of Canadian Liberalism.” Among them was Commandment Nine: “Recruit new, bright young people.” In an attempt to renew the Liberal brand, the new government embraced this commandment in 2015, hiring […]
Condemning China’s cheap steel Canada’s best defence against U.S. tariffs, say steel caucus MPs
The Liberals will have to address American fears that Canada is being used as an entry point for cheap Chinese steel flooding the United States market if the government wants the threat of tariffs gone and a permanent exemption in its place, caution MPs from steel towns. But as the NAFTA renegotiations continue and U.S. […]
Poor issues management plaguing Trudeau’s team, say strategists
The public relations problems that plagued Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s recent India trip are part of a pattern of poor issues management that politicos say will dog this government if it doesn’t change course quickly. Mr. Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) and his team are prone to self-inflicted wounds and not responding fast enough to nip an […]
Feds move to do full PS staff survey yearly, not every three years
A comprehensive examination of how public servants feel about their workplaces will now be done yearly, instead of every three years, a move welcomed by union representatives, who say there needs to be meaningful action with the yearly results. According to a November memo prepared for Treasury Board secretary Yaprak Baltacioglu and obtained under the […]
Time for Trudeau to grow up
OAKVILLE, ONT.—Famed physicist Isaac Newton once declared, “What goes up must come down.” And while Newton was referring to the natural laws of the universe, his maxim also applies to the natural laws of politics. Just ask Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who not too long ago was riding high up on a wave of unbridled […]
Upcoming gun bill ‘scaring the hell out of the Liberal caucus,’ and Trudeau’s response to Harvey’s concerns puts a chill on backbenchers, say Liberals
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s angry response to a rural MP’s concerns raised at a recent national caucus meeting on the Hill over the government’s upcoming gun legislation did not go over well with some Liberal MPs who say it will have a “chilling” effect on their ability to speak candidly at the closed-door meetings. According to […]
“The 2018 federal budget is out. What are your top three takeaways?”
Cory Hann Conservative strategist “Justin Trudeau is failing middle-class Canadians, women, and business operators—the very people the prime minister claims to help. His economic policies are failing to make a difference in the lives of Canadians. His budget completely failed to address the real possibility that we could see our most important free trade agreement […]
