Praising rapid Taiwanese response to COVID-19, MPs call for post-pandemic WHO inquiry
MPs on both sides of the aisle are calling for greater scrutiny of health information coming from Chinese authorities, with Liberal MP John McKay saying Taiwan recognized the true threat of the COVID-19 pandemic much earlier than other governments and “took appropriate measures,” while Conservative MP James Bezan says Canada should be working “hand in […]
Critics wary about feds’ COVID-inspired infrastructure push
Opposition critics are expressing skepticism over the government’s reported plan to push for smaller, “shovel-ready” projects as post-pandemic stimulus, saying the Liberals’ overall infrastructure vision and track record doesn’t instill much confidence. NDP MP Taylor Bachrach (Skeena–Bulkley Valley, B.C.) and Conservative MP Luc Berthold (Megantic–L’Erable, Que.), their respective parties’ infrastructure critics, said they were pleased […]
Prison farm program should be broadened to increase prisoner distancing amid COVID-19, advocate argues
Prison farm programs in two Ontario institutions could be broadened to help alleviate the impact of COVID-19, says an advocate whose call is bolstered by two Parliamentarians, who say the Correctional Service of Canada needs to do a better job protecting prisoners from the virus. Between the two southern Ontario prisons in question—Collins Bay Institution […]
Nunavut politicians say feds must ‘step up’ prevention measures, fearing COVID-19 could spread ‘like wildfire’
Nunavut politicians are calling on the federal government to put aside more funds to prepare the territory, saying the $30.8-million promised last week is “a drop in the bucket” and not near enough to prepare for COVID-19 cases, which they warn could spread like wildfire in small communities. As the lone MP representing the largest […]
Electronic voting still remote possibility in ‘near future,’ House Speaker Rota tells committee
With Parliamentarians encouraged to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a House committee tasked with studying how virtual sittings can be held in the interim, House Speaker Anthony Rota says there are still hurdles to overcome before the prospect of holding electronic and remote votes can even be considered. “Voting is something I […]
House votes to meet in person once a week, despite Conservatives’ push to expand sittings
The government won a vote in the House of Commons Monday that will cause MPs to meet in the Chamber on Parliament Hill once a week. The Liberals had the support of the Bloc Québécois and the NDP for their motion, and won the vote 22-15, with just a small number of MPs on the […]
‘Heartbreak on top of heartbreak’: Trudeau addresses the Nova Scotia shooting
A “senseless tragedy” that left 19 people dead, including an RCMP officer in Nova Scotia, unfolded during a time the federal government would have introduced legislation to ban assault weapons across the country, says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Mr. Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) offered his condolences to those who lost loved ones over the weekend to […]
Senate’s new COVID-19 oversight committees should leave rough stuff for the House, say Senators, ‘they’ll take a little bit more of a bloodless view’
Two Senate committees just assigned to monitor the government’s response to COVID-19 should leave partisanship at the door, and cut the government some slack as it stickhandles the country’s biggest crisis since World War II, say some of the Senators involved in shaping those committees. Two Senate leaders and another Senator tapped to serve on […]
Senators laud performance of public service amidst pandemic, and Harder calls for greater ‘risk taking and innovation’ by bureaucrats
As Canadians now enter the second month of self-isolation amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal public service is winning accolades for its efforts to help citizens while the fast-changing crisis has strained the civil service’s front-line capacity. Lori MacDonald, senior associate deputy minister of employment and social development and chief operating officer for Service Canada, […]
Next federal election a referendum on Trudeau’s management of COVID-19, say pollsters, ‘a crisis like no other’
With the country deep in the throes of a deadly global pandemic, veteran pollsters are predicting that the next federal election will be a referendum on how Justin Trudeau’s minority government managed COVID-19 and its impact on Canadians after this global crisis is over. “We won’t know until the very end how much damage this […]
