Election without C-19 measures may be safe, but less accessible, says NDP MP Blaikie
Parliament has recessed for the summer and despite widespread expectation of an impending election call, Bill C-19, which contains pandemic election measures, has been left on the floor of the House. While the head of Elections Canada says voting can happen safely without the bill’s changes, NDP MP Daniel Blaikie says he’s not reassured, as […]
McKenna to fight climate change ‘outside’ of federal politics, says she’s done what she ‘came to do’ after two terms heading environment, infrastructure
Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna says she’s ready to work for change outside of federal politics and after six years in office she’s done what she “came to do.” In a surprise June 28 announcement, the two-term Liberal MP said she would not be running in the next election to represent Ottawa Centre, Ont., telling a […]
Liberals challenge ‘their own Speaker’ in Federal Court over information on fired scientists, ‘trying to cover up something bad,’ say Chong, Davies
By filing an application in the Federal Court to prevent the disclosure of Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) documents as ordered by the House of Commons, the federal government is “trying to cover up something bad that happened” regarding the transfer of viruses to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China and the firing […]
Hill media want better access to PM, government officials amid continued public health restrictions
Members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery say they want better access to the prime minister and cabinet ministers, once everyone has had their second vaccinations and even as COVID-19 health measures are likely to remain in place for some time to come. But the Prime Minister’s Office says the press gallery has had direct access […]
How the 43rd Parliament has changed Canada’s legal landscape
A new holiday, fewer barriers to assisted dying, relaxed gambling laws, and easier organ donations were part of the legal legacy left behind by MPs of the 43rd Parliament when they adjourned for the summer last week, possibly for the last time. Thirty-eight bills had passed through both the House and Senate as of the […]
New Senators defend partisan histories, as Senate groups court them
Two newly-appointed Senators say they are confident that they can serve as independent, non-partisan lawmakers despite their forays into federal politics. The leaders of at least two independent Senate groups are eager to discuss signing them up as members. The government announced the appointment of three new Senators on June 22. There are still a […]
No friction with May, but Paul needs distance from former adviser, says former federal Green interim leader
There is no power struggle between Green Party of Canada Leader Annamie Paul and her predecessor, Elizabeth May, but the leader could have better handled internal party discord following inflammatory comments posted on social media about last month’s Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to the former national Greens’ interim leader. Jo-Ann Roberts, a former CBC Radio broadcaster […]
Senate leaders doubtful conversion therapy, Broadcasting Act bills will pass before summer break
Two of the Senate’s leaders say they doubt that government bills to ban conversion therapy for youth and regulate entertainment streaming services will be passed before the Red Chamber adjourns for the summer. The House of Commons sent both of those bills to the Senate just a few days before MPs—and Senators—were scheduled to break […]
‘An atrocity’: MPs, Senators, diplomats decry discovery of 751 unmarked graves near Sask. residential school
The “horrific” discovery in Saskatchewan of a second residential school gravesite, with an estimated 751 bodies, prompted a quick outpouring of grief and anger among Canada’s political class, some of whom decried the sites as crime scenes and said it’s now time to right historic wrongs through reparations rather than reconciliation. The revelation of the […]
‘This time may be different’: pollsters track ‘record’ shift in core public attitudes and find a moral imperative to do something, after Indigenous children’s remains found
Pollsters say the discovery of the remains of 215 Indigenous children found in May at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia has significantly shifted core public attitudes and Canadians are engaged, angry, and want governments to act. And on June 24, the Cowesses First Nation said it found another […]
