Conservatives miss out on post-leadership bounce with Scheer: poll
The newness of Andrew Scheer’s leadership of the Conservative Party alone isn’t making him a favourite to win the next election just yet and he’s got work to do familiarizing himself with voters if he’s going to challenge Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2019, according to a new public opinion poll. The latest numbers from […]
Conservatives, NDP threaten government with more than 30 hours of votes if it pushes unilaterally on House rule changes
PARLIAMENT HILL—The Conservatives are threatening to force the House into more than 30 hours of votes tomorrow on the government’s main estimates if it doesn’t back down on using its majority in the Commons to unilaterally change some of the House rules. Conservative House Leader Candice Bergen (Portage-Lisgar, Man.) placed hundreds of votes on today’s […]
Politics This Morning: Marc Garneau to deliver remarks at events in Montreal; Qualtrough to speak at UN headquarters in New York City
In case you missed it: Yesterday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), Perry Bellegarde, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlining mutual priorities after the first AFN-Crown meeting, held under the new permanent bilateral mechanism process. Happening around the Hill: Mr. Trudeau will attend cabinet meeting […]
‘I ain’t quitting,’ Grit MP Chan battling cancer delivers powerful, emotional speech about Parliament
PARLIAMENT HILL—Liberal MP Arnold Chan, who was first diagnosed with cancer shortly after winning the 2014 byelection in Scarborough-Agincourt, Ont., delivered an emotional and powerful speech on Monday in the House, saying he’s not sure how many more 20-minute speeches he will be making in the Commons as he continues to battle his resurfaced cancer, […]
Status of Government Bills, June 19, 2017
House of Commons S-2, Strengthening Motor Vehicle Safety for Canadians Act (second reading) S-3, An Act to amend the Indian Act (elimination of sex-based inequities in registration) (committee) S-5, An Act to amend the Tobacco Act and the Non-smokers’ Health Act (second reading) C-5, An Act to Repeal Division 20 of Part 3 of the […]
House security labour protest continues, union head says officers united
The labour standoff between the unionized House of Commons security officers and their Parliamentary Protective Service employer continues, with guards now donning jeans and neon hats, along with matching stickers calling for “respect.” An executive meeting of the House officers’ union, the Security Services Employees Association (SSEA), is set for early this week to discuss […]
Top Conservatives brief caucus on Scheer’s leadership vote numbers, MPs say they’re now satisfied, Bernier didn’t ask any questions
Conservative MPs say last week’s potentially explosive controversy around newly elected leader Andrew Scheer’s leadership vote numbers is no longer a problem after two top Conservatives briefed the national Conservative caucus on June 7. Conservative MPs also say Dustin Van Vugt, executive director of the Conservative Party, and Derek Vanstone, deputy chief returning officer for […]
House committees expected to be tweaked; some say move routine, others say it’s part of reward-punishment system
PARLIAMENT HILL—Reaching the mid-point of its mandate, the Justin Trudeau government is asking MPs how they feel about their current committee assignments, with changes likely when MPs return for the fall sitting. Some MPs are concerned the rejig could be used by leadership to move less-favoured backbenchers to low profile committees or take away their […]
Caffeine and Cheezies, how MPs and staff are surviving midnight sittings
PARLIAMENT HILL—Inside the opposition lobby, it wouldn’t be uncommon to see a can of pop, a glass of water, iced coffee, and regular coffee lined up on NDP lobby officer Anthony Salloum’s table. Mr. Salloum and his lobby coordinator counterparts, Conservative staffer Sean Murphy, in the government lobby, and Liberal Patrick Durocher, haven’t been able […]
Booze industry looks to Senate to axe automatic tax hikes from budget bill
The Senate’s role as the Chamber of “sober second thought” is being counted on by the alcoholic beverages industry to save it from a provision in the budget that would see excise taxes on booze automatically increasing each year at the rate of inflation. It’s one of many aspects in Bill C-44, which implements aspects of the […]
