‘Canadians have grown impatient’: regulation of social media in the works, but Parliamentarians wary
As the federal government looks to set down rules around hate and harmful speech online, MPs and experts are still unclear as to what the legislation is going to look like, but all say there’s work to be done to tamper some of the unsavoury elements of social media in Canada’s political discourse. Liberal MP […]
Senators preparing ‘sunset clause’ amendment to scrap mental health exclusion from assisted dying law
Senators aren’t happy with the government’s assisted dying bill, C-7, and will likely present numerous amendments to the legislation, says Independent Senator Mobina Jaffer, who chairs the Senate’s Legal Affairs Committee studying the bill. Senators who object to the mental health exclusion in Canada’s current assisted dying law will likely get behind a “compromise” amendment […]
Hate and paranoia abound in political social media, as federal Liberals prepare to intervene
Expressions of hate and paranoia, and conspiracy theories with roots in the United States have become a staple of Canadian political Facebook pages, as the Liberal government prepares legislation to crack down on social media platforms that don’t remove hate speech quickly enough. The Liberal Party of Canada Facebook page is no exception. It doesn’t […]
Pandemic response slips from ‘slam dunk’ to ‘potential liability’ for Liberals, say some political insiders
The government’s handling of COVID-19 was until recently seen as a critical factor in drumming up voter support that could have put the Liberals into a position to convert their minority government into a majority in the next election, but it could now become a “liability” as Canadians are growing increasingly impatient about interruptions in […]
O’Toole’s pivot to centre, Sloan’s expulsion, and Kenney’s tanking popularity could help Maverick Party win out West, say Conservative political insiders
Erin O’Toole’s pivot to the political centre, Derek Sloan’s expulsion from the caucus, and Jason Kenney’s falling polling figures are all going to contribute to a significant bump up for Western Canada’s upstart Maverick Party, which could win a few seats in the Western provinces in the next election, say Conservative political insiders and the […]
Pleas to U.S. to share vaccine supplies with Canada unlikely to ‘resonate’ in short term, say lobby groups
Ottawa could have luck down the line appealing to the United States to share some coronavirus vaccine doses with Canada, but as a short-term fix, it’s unlikely with little evidence the U.S. has a “surplus” to go around, say some lobby groups and health experts. The reality is that production capacity “is tight everywhere and […]
As pandemic brings federal government’s role into focus, parties reel in donors
The pandemic appears to have created an unlikely opening for parties to reel in donors, with homebound Canadians of all political stripes more willing to hear from parties and to engage politically, say politicos. “There’s a general phenomenon that is lifting all boats, in a way. Voters are generally a more captive audience this year […]
Canada raised domestic manufacturing ‘at every turn’ with suppliers, told capacity ‘too limited’: Anand
Procurement Minister Anita Anand says Canada “proactively and repeatedly” approached manufacturers to push domestic vaccine production, but the country’s biomedical capacity was “too limited” to justify the investment of capital and expertise to start manufacturing. Her department, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), “frequently, forcefully, and aggressively” brought the issue to the table, raising it […]
Express entry economic immigration timelines a ‘joke,’ say lawyers as processing times increase
Canada’s “express entry” approach to key economic immigration programs isn’t working, immigration lawyers say, following a recent report showing that none of them are meeting the six-month service standard. That failed grade was among 17 missed performance targets the Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) reported for the 2019-20 fiscal year, or 31 per cent of […]
Question Period slots hot commodity in minority Parliament, say former MPs, as Greens allege ‘blocking’ of its caucus
With more recognized parties in the House since the 2019 election, there seems to be more competition among MPs to get a word in during Question Period, say former MPs, who suspect that change in dynamic may explain the Greens’ accusation that bigger parties are “blocking” them from asking questions. Green parliamentary leader Elizabeth May […]
