PM’s summer home upgrades, security to cost $1M
The RCMP and National Capital Commission are requesting more than $1-million to renovate the prime minister’s country escape in the Gatineau Hills. The Harrington Lake home needs new windows and doors, heating, cooling, and security upgrades as well as masonry work, according to the supplementary budget estimates recently tabled in the House of Commons. The starting date for […]
NDP planning historic, secret vote in House to keep private member’s bill from sinking
NDP MP Sheila Malcolmson is looking to dust off a never-before-used parliamentary manoeuvre in an effort to keep her private member’s bill on abandoned vessels from fading into legislative oblivion. Ms. Malcolmson (Nanaimo-Ladysmith, B.C.) plans to become the first MP in Canadian history to trigger a vote by secret ballot in the House over an […]
National security oversight committee seeking $4.5M to get off the ground
The new government department-style entity being created to support a group of Parliamentarians charged with overseeing the country’s national security and intelligence operations is expected to cost about $4.5-million this fiscal year, with the Privy Council Office taking on half of the start-up costs. The Privy Council Office is requesting an additional $2.2-million in funding […]
Public service pay a ‘significant’ chunk of new spending ask: Brison
More than one-third of the $4.88-billion Parliament will need to approve in its updated budget is connected to public-service employee costs, including new hires and paying up under collective agreements. That amount is larger than normal, Treasury Board President Scott Brison told a House committee Nov. 9, because it accounts for the fact 90 per […]
‘Highly problematic’ court decision could affect union access to workplaces: PSAC
The Public Service Alliance of Canada is considering taking a case to the Supreme Court, after what it calls a “highly problematic” ruling by a lower court that will threaten union access to workplaces and have “far-reaching” consequences for unions across the country. In October, the Federal Court of Appeal quashed a 2016 decision by the […]
Access to information bill ‘beyond redemption,’ Tories say, as committee wraps C-58 study
Treasury Board President Scott Brison has said he’s open to a few amendments to his access to information reform bill, but opposition members from the committee studying the legislation said it would need a complete overhaul to gain their support. On Nov. 6, Conservative ethics critic Peter Kent (Thornhill, Ont.) said his party wasn’t proposing […]
Liberal political financing bill moves ahead, after opposition amendments voted down
The Liberal government’s political financing bill, C-50, is moving ahead, having passed the committee stage with only technical amendments made, but Conservatives remain steadfast in opposition, calling the proposed changes “window dressing.” “There was a practice which Canadians didn’t approve of, it didn’t pass the sniff test, and created a very significant public backlash, and […]
Board of Internal Economy opening a historic first step, but the test will be if transparency holds
This week, the House of Commons Board of Internal Economy will hold its first-ever public meeting. It comes after the Liberals promised in the last election to open up the board to the public. “Except in rare cases requiring confidentiality, meetings of this group will be open to the public,” said their platform. The board […]
This just in: feds want a more restrictive transparency regime
OTTAWA—Successive bureaucrats have wanted to put a damper on the public use of access-to-information legislation. Now they have found hope in Bill C-58 and a willing dupe in Treasury Board President Scott Brison. While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau can be counted on to have flights of open government flowery rhetoric, faceless bureaucrats have held to […]
Political financing bill a ‘Seinfeld episode,’ critics tell Minister Gould it’s ‘not very substantive’
Democratic Institutions Minister Karina Gould’s political financing bill doesn’t do any real harm, but doesn’t do any good either, opposition MPs suggested at the Procedure and House Affairs Committee as members began their study on Bill C-50 last week. The government could have gone further and taken a page from their Ontario Liberal cousins to […]
