Senate offers rendition of Christmas poem as Upper Chamber closes for the season
The House isn’t the only Chamber that closed its doors for the holidays with a little Christmas cheer. Before Independent Senator Yuen Pau Woo launched into verse, he offered apologies to the famous poem’s author, Clement Clarke Moore, for taking liberties with both the timeline and the language. “’Twas the week before Christmas,” Sen. Woo […]
The Hill Times’ List of 100 Best Books in 2020
Acadian Driftwood: One Family and the Great Expulsion, by Tyler LeBlanc, Goose Lane Editions, 184pp., $19.95 A History of My Brief Body, by Billy-Ray Belcourt, Penguin Random House Canada, 192pp., $25 An Alphabet for Joanna: A Portrait of My Mother in 26 Fragments, by Damian Rogers, Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 344pp., $32.95 An Autobiography of […]
A look at the team behind Bloc Québécois Leader Blanchet
The Bloc Québécois regained recognized party status in the House of Commons with the 2019 election, in turn giving the caucus access to central funds to run a leader’s office and research bureau, among other things, and it’s high time Hill Climbers dives into the team behind Bloc Leader Yves-François Blanchet and his caucus. Between […]
Vox populi: authors on their books
Desmond Cole The Skin We’re In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power “This book is very much an effort to try and refocus us, to say, ‘If we weren’t talking about the U.S., if we just talked about Black life in Canada on its own merits, what do we see?’ ” Mr. Cole […]
House of Commons adjourned until Jan. 25, but political Ottawa is still busy
MONDAY, DEC. 21 Moyra Davey: The Faithful—National Gallery of Canada hosts this new exhibition, Moyra Davey: The Faithful, featuring the work of one of Canada’s most innovative conceptual artists, on now until Jan. 3, 2021. National Gallery of Canada, 380 Sussex Dr., Ottawa. This new exhibition features 54 photographs and six films by Davey, along […]
‘By far the most powerful hidden element of party discipline is the social pressure on MPs to toe the party line’: Alex Marland on his book Whipped
Alex Marland has delivered another banger of a book. The award-winning author and Memorial University political science professor, who has carved out a niche as an expert in political communications, political marketing, election campaigning, and Canadian political parties, dishes up another delightful read in Whipped: Party Discipline in Canada, published by UBC Press. In it, he delves into […]
De Adder’s Take: 12-16-2020
MP holiday poems mark end of 2020 House sitting
’Twas the week before the Christmas break, and all through the House, MPs were stirring to stand and pronounce their final, year-end message, which they set in rhyme, some partisan, some less-so, greetings for the holiday time. “’Twas just weeks before Christmas and in this very room, Members are speaking, debating by Zoom. The […]
Press Gallery drafts ‘generally accepted journalistic principles and practices’ white paper, as it rejects Rebel Media for membership
The Parliamentary Press Gallery is seeking to highlight “generally accepted journalistic principles and practices” to provide transparency in the decision-making process for accrediting journalists. The release of the draft of the white paper came on the same day that the Press Gallery revealed two individuals from Rebel Media—Keean Bexte and David Menzies—were denied membership. To […]
Andrée-Lyne Hallé returns to Prime Minister Trudeau’s office
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently welcomed Andrée-Lyne Hallé back to his team, this time as director of parliamentary affairs and issues management. Ms. Hallé marked her first day back in the PMO on Dec. 7, and before then, since January, had been busy as director of operations and deputy chief of staff to Deputy Prime […]
