QP: Narrative without follow-up
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…
Dale Smith
Hacker drama sans Angelina Jolie
Yesterday 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…
QP: First Speaker smackdown
And 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…
Rehash budget
The 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…
Question period: a scattershot first day
Dear 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…
Upcoming budget redux
It’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…
Speech and silent protest
In 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…
Speaker elected, on to the Throne Speech
Parliament 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’s election today
They’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…
Just one day away
We’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…
Reform without a vision
Since 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…
Shrugging off accountability
So, 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…
Lessons from the ground floor
The 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.…