How a farm boy from Logan Township became one of the biggest procedural nerds in the House
For rookie Conservative MP John Nater, it all started at an auction sale in his hometown of Mitchell, Ont. He was in his early teens and his MPP Hugh Edighoffer, a former speaker in the Ontario legislature, was selling some of his collection of books, including 30 years worth of Hansard from Queen’s Park. “I […]
Secretive House board poised to go public, remains to be seen how open it will be
The House Board of Internal Economy’s next meeting, set for this fall, is expected to be its first ever open to the public, with legislation requiring this now passed. But it remains unclear just how open the board will be going forward and how the new setup will shake out. While there are provisions for […]
Liberals expect to make department spending reviews permanent
The Trudeau government is planning to repeat a round of audits of federal departments and agencies promised in this year’s budget in future years as well, putting multiple government institutions in the crosshairs annually. Jean-Luc Ferland, press secretary to Treasury Board President Scott Brison (Kings-Hants, N.S.), said the three departments selected for review this year […]
Government ad spending estimated to have dropped by half, as Liberals test new system to screen out partisanship
Spending on government advertising has dropped by about half since the Conservatives’ time in power, according to preliminary estimates, as the Liberals rolled out new advertising rules meant to stamp out any apparent partisanship. Christiane Fox, the former assistant secretary to cabinet for communications and consultations with the Privy Council Office, told the House Government […]
Trudeau’s second year: the cake is half-baked, but the icing is good
GATINEAU, QUE.—Amid a cascade of half-measures, the Trudeau government wrapped up its second session last week with a decidedly mixed record. If you were weighing Liberal accomplishments, one side of the scale would be piled high with sponge cake, the other with a few lengths of pipeline. The government certainly excelled at symbolic gestures: most […]
Nearly half of Canadians who know about Phoenix snafu say it’s hurt their image of Liberals: poll
A new Forum Research poll suggests Canadians are familiar with the problems plaguing the Phoenix pay system and, among the informed, 44 per cent say it has shifted their opinion of the Liberal government for the worse—a level of response critics and pollsters say is surprising, given the number of Canadians directly affected by the […]
More broken promises on transparency
CBC’s Power and Politics host Rosemary Barton put it best Monday night as she sparred with Treasury Board President Scott Brison over the government’s newly released reforms to the federal access to information system: “It may be significant, but it is not what you promised.” The Liberal pre-election platform promised that a Liberal government would […]
Liberals’ House rule changes pass, will be in place for fall sitting
The Liberal majority in the House passed the government’s Standing Order changes on Tuesday afternoon, though opposition Members are patting themselves on the back for fighting the government’s unilateral moves by forcing them to water down the proposals. After two days of debate, the motion to reform the Standing Orders of the House of Commons—the […]
House could adjourn early, despite lengthy legislative agenda
The House is scheduled to rise on June 23, but it could adjourn earlier, despite the fact there’s “still a lot of work to do.” Government House Leader Bardish Chagger (Waterloo, Ont.) told The Hill Times in an interview last week that she’s been impressed by what the government’s been able to advance over the […]
Government compromises on Standing Orders changes, takes PM’s Question Period off the table
PARLIAMENT HILL—Government House Leader Bardish Chagger is putting her motion proposing changes to the Standing Orders of the House of Commons on the notice paper tonight, and it includes walking back the government’s plan to add a weekly Prime Minister’s Question Period to the rules. The final text of the motion is the result of […]
