The Undemocratic Election Act
“The things in it that are good could have been so much better, but the things that are bad are unforgivable in a democracy.” Recently Green Party Leader Elizabeth May…
House of Commons
2014 – The year we ‘loose’ our democracy?
Whilst some say that it is already gone and that we are being subject to an Oligarchy well on its way to a Dictatorship, a view that I find it…
Quantity not Quality
Quantity not Quality is apparently the Harper regimes measure of ‘success’ Mr. Van Loan recently extolled the virtues of the 34-day fall session, which started late because of prorogation and…
If you’re a democrat, instruct your MP to support Chong’s Bill
An opportunity to strike a blow for parliamentary democracy has suddenly arisen and all democrats should take advantage of it. On Thursday, Michael Chong, MP for Wellington-Halton Hills, will introduce…
Backbenchers Grow a Backbone?
Many of us have been sounding the alarm bell for some time about the amount of power and control the Prime Minister and the PMO have over both the daily…
Parliament needs a science watchdog
Science has never been more important to the human race than it is today. We are faced with the two greatest threats in our history: catastrophic climate change combined with…
Rules and Conventions, Lies and Punishment
I will not dwell in great length upon the ongoing soap opera that is the ‘Senate Scandal’, there is quite enough commentary out there without my adding to it. I…
TV or Democracy
With the next set of promises recently presented in the House after several days of targeted leaks of some of the content which highlighted ‘more choice of cable & satellite…
Tory MPs defy government
No, the above headline most certainly does not refer to Canadian Tory MPs. In the recent vote in the British House of Commons on Prime Minister David Cameron’s motion to…
Stephen Harper Proroguing Parliament “To Avoid Accountability”
The opposition says PM Stephen Harper is proroguing Parliament to kill a tumultuous session that saw his Conservative government rocked by the Senate expense scandal. The post Stephen Harper Proroguing…
Prorogued Again……..
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he intends to prorogue Parliament, which means the House of Commons will not resume in September as planned. Harper, who is currently on a week-long…
Context, Tory MP Russ Hiebert’s shifty campaign for Bill C-377, and me
The Parliamentary trolley, on its way back from the Senate, stops in front of the Prime Minister’s Office in the Langevin Block. The dog at left was never owned by…
Environment Minister Peter Kent embraces his imminent demotion from Conservative cabinet
by: Obert Madondo | Twitter: @Obiemad: Environment Minister Peter Kent. (Photo: Environment Canada) It’s a preemptive strike of sorts. Environment Minister Peter Kent knows he’ll be a backbencher after PM…
Conservative attack on workers continues with “Private Members’ Bill”: PSAC
By: Public Service Alliance of Canada | Press Release On June 5th, Conservative MP Blaine Calkins for Wetaskiwin (Alberta) introduced Bill C-525, an Act to change the certification and revocation…
Another blow for Harper as Conservative MP quits caucus
Conservative MP Brent Rathgeber (Photo: Alberta Diary) Conservative MPs on the House of Commons’s ethics committee amended Brent Rathgeber’s private member’s bill seeking salary disclosures. He’d proposed forcing disclosures for…
NDP Leader Tom Mulcair Grills PM Harper On Senate Expenses Scandal (VIDEO)
Last week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper fled to South America to avoid the unraveling Senate expenses scandal. On Monday, he skipped Question Period in the House of Commons. He did…
(Prime) ministerial responsibility and all that … surely the wrong man has quit!
The home of Canada’s Parliament, held in contempt by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Reform Party, doing business under the name of the Conservative Party of Canada. Below: former…
Peter Penashue: Harper’s “strong voice” rarely heard in the House
By: Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive: A new analysis by democracy advocacy group, Samara, suggests that the Conservatives’ characterization of Peter Penashue as a “strong voice” for Labrador in…
NDP demands action on missing $3.1 billion in anti-terrorism funding
By: Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive: Last week, the Auditor General reported that the Harper Conservatives can’t account for $3.1 billion of the $12.9 billion allocated to the Public…
Labrador Byelection: May says Harper violated Conflict Of Interest Act
By: Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive: Green Party Leader Elizabeth May suggests that PM Stephen Harper’s handling of the Panashue affair violated the Conflict of Interest Act. The Saanich-Gulf…