Trudeau shuffles cabinet committee members
The prime minister quietly shuffled his cabinet committee membership last month in the wake of August’s cabinet shuffle, adding in new ministers and moving up Labour Minister Patty Hajdu, Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr, and Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos into chair positions. A Sept. 19 update of the cabinet committee list on the prime […]
Can O’Regan avoid putting his foot in veterans’ mouths?
OTTAWA—If the first public comments of newly appointed Veterans Affairs Minister Seamus O’Regan are anything to go by, veterans and the governing Liberals should be worried. The Trudeau government will have to understand veterans far better. They also should be eager to do more than they promised if they wish to reverse seven decades of […]
Ex-NDP MP Peter Stoffer diagnosed with prostate cancer, says he ‘has 99 per cent chance of full recovery’
A popular former Nova Scotia NDP MP, who worked tirelessly during his 18-year parliamentary career to promote the causes of Canadian veterans, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Peter Stoffer, who represented Sackville-Preston-Chezzetcook, N.S., (a riding that has held various names), between 1997 and 2015, told The Hill Times on Sept. 15 that he was diagnosed “a […]
Veterans advocates hope for change from O’Regan at Veterans Affairs
Veterans-rights advocates hope the appointment last week of Liberal MP Seamus O’Regan (St. John’s South-Mount Pearl, N.L.) as Veterans Affairs minister will breathe new life into a department accused of insensitivity toward its clients, and fulfill a Liberal campaign promise of bringing back lifelong disability pensions for veterans hurt in action. “The senior staff at […]
Atlantic boost on front bench noteworthy in shuffle aimed at getting action, say strategists
The creation of a new portfolio and the splitting of Indigenous and Northern Affairs were the big surprises out of the recent Liberal cabinet shuffle, but also of note was Atlantic Canada’s increased representation on the front bench, says Greg MacEachern, a senior vice-president at Environics Communications. “The Liberal Party in the last election, in […]
How Seamus O’Regan can do the right thing
OTTAWA—Removing Minister Kent Hehr from Veterans Affairs Canada was the right thing to do. The new minister, Seamus O’Regan, must do better. Just six days prior, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau commemorated the calamitous losses Canadians suffered on the beaches of Dieppe 75 years ago. In the midst of a downpour, the prime minister folded his […]
Politics This Morning: NAFTA renegotiations launch in Washington
Good Wednesday morning, After months of tough talk, aggressive posturing, and nervous murmurs, renegotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement begin today in Washington, D.C., with representatives from Canada, the U.S., and Mexico all set to participate. This first round of negotiations, spurred by aggressive criticisms of the existing pact by the Trump administration, […]
Less pretty words, more substantial action needed for military families
OTTAWA—They have been called our “best kept secret.” Will the current government’s defence policy review and decades of tight-fisted budgets continue to relegate the centres that serve our nation’s military and veteran families to social and fiscal obscurity? It has been more than 30 years since the current 32 Military Family Resource Centres (MFRCs) began […]
Peer support for veterans does work, says Alberta letter writer
Re: “Cycle of veteran crisis: allowing patients to manage system, what could go wrong,” (The Hill Times, March 13). First, I realize that I’m responding to an opinion piece and the author of the article is certainly entitled to his point of view. But I’m one of the veterans who relies on the OSIS groups which he maligns, […]
Liberals say right things about helping veterans, but devils are in the details
OTTAWA—With widespread tensions simmering just beneath a deceptively calm public profile, injured veterans and their families are running out of patience. The 2017 Liberal budget was no doubt intended to turn down the heat, but emerging details of the programs will likely chafe the veteran community, leaving them, at best, curious, cautious, and, intently concerned. […]
