Public Services to pitch next step for Phoenix pay fix in September
The office responsible for fixing the troubled Phoenix pay system is taking another step forward, hoping to cut the time it will take to get thousands of public servants paid properly. Problems with Phoenix have left public servants with too little or too much pay for almost two and a half years. Les Linklater, the associate […]
400 per day? Advocate questions reliability of summer border-crossing predictions after figures fall short
Recent figures on monthly border crossings show that a prediction made by the Quebec government on flows of people coming into Canada this summer—and one frequently cited by the media and federal Conservatives—has so far fallen flat, raising questions about how border-crossing predictions are handled, says one advocate. In April, the Quebec government told the […]
‘Just as they’re struggling to rebuild, they’re hit again,’ MP says, as constituents brace for devastating wildfire season
British Columbia is in a state of emergency for the second straight year as it grapples with controlling the wildfires that have blanketed vast pockets of the province, and one MP in the area says that while the fires aren’t as huge as last year’s, this season is breaking new records. “The smoke is literally […]
Poverty, homelessness, inequality: a few causes that might outweigh cheaper beer
OTTAWA—Populism scrambles a lot of markers, so maybe nobody cares that Ontario Premier Doug Ford is making a big deal, using government promotional incentives no less, to prioritize in the early days of his administration a possible slight decrease in what Ontarians pay for beer. It’s an amateur move, to be sure, and would seem […]
Quebec-related cabinet changes ‘clear signal’ Trudeau’s Liberals want to make gains in province in 2019: strategists
Recent cabinet changes impacting ministers from Quebec indicate how crucial the province and its 78 seats will be in the 2019 federal election, say strategists, with Quebec set to be a top target for all of the major parties. The July 18 cabinet shuffle saw the number of federal ministers from Quebec jump by one, […]
Natural Resources minister affirms commitment to nuclear energy, say feds are examining path forward with small reactors
A new minister is at the helm and Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi, who took over from Jim Carr on July 18, is highlighting commitments to nuclear power, renewables, increased trade in the world and between provinces, and natural gas. In an email interview with The Hill Times, Mr. Sohi (Edmonton Mill Woods, Alta.) said Ottawa is […]
Toronto mayor should leap at chance to set city to rights with smaller council
Re: “Ford’s Toronto city council shakeup is a vote-winner, at least for now” (The Hill Times, Aug. 1, p. 10). This shakeup is long overdue and should have been part and parcel of amalgamation in 1998, but, as Tim Powers puts it, referring to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s democratic reform initiative, “it was chucked in the […]
Ottawa advocate carrying NDP banner in ‘crucial’ Outremont byelection, hopes to wield local progressive winds to pull off upset
A familiar Ottawa face is running as the NDP candidate in an upcoming byelection in the Montreal-area riding of Outremont, where one pollster said “the Liberals have all the winning conditions and the NDP have all the losing conditions.” But Julia Sanchez, who was president and CEO of the Ottawa-based Canadian Council for International Co-operation […]
PC propaganda Ontario News Now is news no one can use
From a purely theoretical standpoint, there’s nothing wrong with Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative messaging machine. It’s rare to find any political operative, at any level, who doesn’t use all the digital means at their disposal to communicate with their base. This includes in-house produced videos, social media posts, podcasts—you name it, someone is doing it. […]
The more the merrier, says Equal Voice head, as party-specific programs sprout to boost women in politics
Party-specific initiatives to draw women into politics are necessary and welcome, especially by members of the Conservative Party, which has fallen behind other major parties when it comes to putting women on the ballot, says the head of a national organization aimed at promoting women’s involvement in politics. In the 2015 federal election, the Conservatives […]
