Author: Dale Smith

Remember this government’s oh-so-inspired decision to scrap the mandatory long-form census in favour of a voluntary “national household survey”? Well, a lot of those surveys are coming back incomplete, which is making the data ev…

According to Statistics Canada, more than half of people who didn’t vote in the last election didn’t bother because they were either a) disinterested, or b) “too busy.” And it’s not just youth who are d…

Interim Liberal leader Bob Rae held a press conference this morning, ostensibly to announce his summer tour, but to remind the assembled press that the Liberal Party is not dead. In fact, when they put out a fundraising call for $100,000 to revamp thei…

The Hill Times digs through the entrails of the filibuster that was here. Andrew Coyne weighs in, considering it fighting yesterday’s fights while Parliament ignores the challenges of tomorrow (like our inability to capitalise on resear…

Good news, everyone! Will and Kate say they’re in love with Canada, even though there were protests in Quebec. Aww, now they’re going to make us blush…Here’s a look at the state of the relationship between Quebec and …

In case you missed them, here are Canada Day greetings from:The Governor General, David Johnston.Prime Minister Stephen Harper.NDP leader Jack Layton.Liberal leader Bob Rae. (Rae also posts a Pride Day greeting here).Green…

As we suffer through more breathless coverage of the royal visit (as an unrepentant monarchist, even I am done with the ridiculousness of the coverage), I felt that I should point out a bits of basic civic literacy surrounding the monarchy that seem to…

As previewed yesterday, the government has sold AECL’s Candu-reactor business to SNC-Lavalin for some $15 million and the promise of future royalties. But while there the pundit class bitches and moans about the giant money pi…

In case you were wondering, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers does plan to challenge the back-to-work legislation in the courts and the Human Rights Commission (for discrimination where newer employees are paid less with fewer benefits tha…

Now that Parliament has risen for the summer, we can expect things to totally die down now, right? And the government will drift into a gentle slumber and won’t do things like quietly gazette new regulations that could have a major effe…

In the wake of the filibuster in the Commons, the prospect of the Senate being recalled to sit on a Sunday seemed somewhat less surreal – despite the fact that the Upper Chamber rarely sits more than three days out of any given week. An…

Like its own particular kind of time-machine, the House of Commons managed to squeeze fifty-eight hours of debate into a single day. Or at least, a single sitting day, which meant that while time outside flowed, the calendar on the Clerk’s table …

My roundup of queer MPs at the end of the sitting continues. I spoke to NDP MP Randall Garrison yesterday after Question Period – before the filibuster began in earnest.Q: Tell me about your first three weeks.A: It’s been very exciting to t…

As of the time of writing this post, the filibuster in the House of Commons is well underway. We made it to Second Reading, but then Jack Layton, at the end of his fifty-minute speech, moved a hoist motion to delay Second Reading for six…

Carrying on with our roundup of queer MPs at the end of the sitting, I spoke to NDP MP Libby Davies after Question Period yesterday.Q: How were your three weeks back in the new Parliament?A: Wow, amazing. First of all, I’m still getting to know s…

In the statements leading up to the final Question Period of the sitting, NDP MPs from Quebec lamented that they wanted to be able to show up to St. Jean Baptiste ceremonies in their ridings, but those mean Conservatives were going to make them stay to…

Today could be it – the last day of the spring session of the House. Maybe. It all hinges on that back-to-work legislation, and how long the opposition is able to hold it up. The government intends to pass it before the end of the day, and are wi…

The Quebec nationalist rhetoric got cranked up by the NDP as Question Period kicked off, and Jack Layton began a round of “I love Quebec more than you do” with Harper, by demanding to know why the government wasn’t willing to suspend …

Continuing our round-up of queer MPs at the end of the sitting, I spoke to new NDP MP Philip Toone yesterday after Question Period.Q: How were your first three weeks as an MP?A: There’s an incredible amount of procedure. This place is steeped in …