‘B.C. is burning and we’re only right at the very beginning,’ says MP Doherty as British Columbia’s wildfires season officially starts
British Columbia is in a state of emergency as the forest fires continue to burn out of control in the province, and the MPs whose ridings have been impacted the most say that while the federal government’s response so far has been adequate, resources are tapped, emotions are running high, and much more assistance will […]
Feds should match wildfire donations
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited parts of British Columbia this week where wildfires have burned down homes and businesses and have displaced thousands of people. The federal government has done a lot of good things in responding to this crisis. It acted quickly to set up an ad-hoc cabinet committee chaired by Minister for Sports […]
Alberta Tory MPs lining up behind Kenney in provincial leadership race
Ex-federal minister Jason Kenney is expected to enter the leadership race for Alberta’s new United Conservative Party with support from numerous federal Conservative MPs from the province. Several federal Tories from Alberta told The Hill Times they supported Mr. Kenney’s expected candidacy to lead the new United Conservative Party, and believed the ex-Calgary Midnapore MP […]
Still on cabinet leave, Judy Foote resumes public appearances in home province
Public Services and Procurement Minister Judy Foote has started making public appearances again in her home province three months after taking a leave of absence for undisclosed personal reasons from her ministerial role, though her office says she remains on leave from cabinet. In recent weeks, Ms. Foote (Bonavista-Burin-Trinity, N.L.) has appeared at several ribbon-cutting ceremonies […]
Don’t ram pipelines through provinces that reject them
Re: “‘British Columbians do not want this,’ Trudeau faces tough task on $7.4-billion Kinder Morgan pipeline with incoming B.C. government” (The Hill Times, July 10, p. 1). A visionary federal government would support Alberta by making major investments in transit, building retrofits, renewable energies, clean technologies, and community employment programs. This plan would not only […]
‘From one minute to the next, you don’t know what you’re going to be faced with’: MPs lend a hand, sympathetic ear to B.C. wildfire victims
Conservative MP Todd Doherty is preparing to have family members including his in-laws, cousins, aunts and uncles, and possibly some friends camped out in his Prince George, B.C. living room and driveway by day’s end. The MP’s Cariboo-Prince George, B.C. riding is one of the hardest hit by the fires that have set parts of […]
Compare Canada 150 to Expo 67 to see how far we’ve come
MONTREAL—In the city that I’ve called home for the past 20 years, one would have been hard-pressed to find signs last week that Saturday was a special Canada Day. A bicycle ride across town on the eve of the country’s 150th anniversary elicited no Maple Leaf flag, except at various hotels and official venues. Quebec […]
Quebec’s sovereignty issue is in deep freeze
MONTREAL—There was a time not so long ago when the very notion of a federal government funding some June 24 festivities in Quebec would have raised eyebrows on both sides of the federalist-sovereigntist divide. Ottawa has long contributed to the financing of St-Jean-Baptiste celebrations in the rest of Canada, but it had abstained from associating […]
Hydro One court case another blow to Wynne’s trustworthiness
TORONTO—A lawsuit challenging the privatization of Hydro One is winding its way slowly through the courts. It may not succeed. Judges are hard to predict. But politically, it hits Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal government where it hurts—its trustworthiness. Filed last fall by the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the lawsuit alleges that the government […]
B.C. election: little immediate impact, but plenty of future political risk for federal Liberals, say pollsters
B.C. Liberal MPs are pushing back on claims that the province’s election is a blow to their local support, while pollsters suggest little immediate impact but plenty of future political risk for federal Liberals with a new provincial NDP-Green Party alliance. And while NDP MPs have pointed to the provincial election results as proof of […]
