And on the third day of question period, the NDP discovered how to build a narrative, and the Liberals demonstrated how to use it. So say we all.
Jack Layton kicked off question period by asking about corporate tax cuts and subsidies to oil companie…
Continue readingYesterday morning, the big drama was the revelation that the Conservative Party website had been hacked. Hackers posted a story saying that the prime minister was in the hospital after choking on a hash brown at breakfast. No, seriously…
Continue readingAnd on the second day of question period, the new Speaker flexed his muscles and enforced decorum. So say we all.
Today was the first Layton-Harper showdown of the new Parliament. Layton asked about job creation in the budget, and Harper replied tha…
Continue readingThe second time is hardly twice as nice as we found with a barely warmed-over rehash of the previous budget, which was released some 76 days ago. There were only three minor variations: booking the $2.2 billion in Quebec's tax harmoniza…
Continue readingDear MPs:
If you’re going to institute a ban on heckling during question period, could you at least engage in some witty repartee to replace it?
Thanks!
Me.
And that really sums up the first question period of the new Parliament. Th…
Continue readingIt’s the first real day for this Parliament, with question period and everything. Well, except that Harper won’t be there. It seems that he’s off touring the flood damage in Quebec, so Jack Layton won’t get the showdown that h…
Continue readingIn all, the speech from the throne was a bit of a bust. Little more than a warmed-over rehash of election talking points, the only things missing were the constant plea to “friends” in the audience and the false anecdote about h…
Continue readingParliament has spoken and, after six ballots, has elected Andrew Scheer, a 32-year-old Conservative MP, as the new Speaker. He is the youngest Speaker in Canadian history. Scheer was deputy speaker in the last Parliament, assistant deputy s…
Continue readingThey’re back. Yes, the House of Commons comes back today, and the first order of business is, of course, the election of a new Speaker. It’s a crowded field, so we’ll see how many rounds of voting it’ll take. It could be …
Continue readingWe’re just one day away from the House coming back for a short, budget-focused sitting. This is just as well as it will give MPs the summer to get accustomed to their new offices and staff and, in some cases, actually visit their ridi…
Continue readingSince the Conservatives have a majority government, they’ve been talking about Senate reform again. Mind you, it's being done in their usual clumsy, uneducated way, which seems to assume three things: their reforms actually have a vision, t…
Continue readingSo, one of the items coming out of the G8 meeting last week was that Harper is going to “encourage” Parliament to vote to extend the Libya mission. It's a bit of a wink and nod to his majority; it’s not like he’s going to …
Continue readingThe CBC has posted an exit interview with Glen Pearson, one of the most underrated MPs of the previous two Parliaments and possibly the most decent person you’ll ever meet. Anyone who has even a passing interest in Canadian politics r…
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