Cornwall ON – Was it worthwhile for Ignatieff to spend the summer riding a bus? I would say so for a few reasons. First he did get quite a bit of exposure and if not always from the national media, certainly with regional and local news outlets. These local reporters represent good connections for your [...]
Cornwall ON – Today we have news that the opposition parties are uniting to force a recall of the veterans affairs committee. It’s a shame that PMO didn’t seize the initiative on the Stogran issue and look at what is best for our veterans. Instead their talk point is that they are conducting an internal [...]
Cornwall ON – It’s fascinating to watch the Tamil issue unfold, yet sadly the situation is similar to the arrival of the first boatloads of Tamils (1986) and Sikhs (1987). I say this based on first hand experience as back then I was the Chief of Staff to Gerry Weiner, the Minister of Immigration. The [...]
Cornwall ON – That was a brutal press conference yesterday as out-going Veterans Ombudsman Pat Stogran spoke out to support the men and woman who have served in our armed forces and those police officers who have also served abroad. It makes you wonder just how bad the situation is, when a former senior military [...]
Cornwall ON – Two recent polls have showed the Liberals closing the gap between themselves and the Conservatives. Polls are always interesting of course but become more important if over time they show a distinct trend emerging. So far we haven’t seen that. Now if the polls in September are still showing the same numbers [...]
Cornwall ON – Tony Clement had an opportunity to perform today in front of the Industry Committee. One thing that can be said for Clement is that he is always well prepared, knows his files and it’s hard to trip him up. In addition, he always surrounds himself with highly competent staff, who keep him [...]
Cornwall ON – The latest round in the census story has seen the Chief Statistician resign. While not an earth shattering event for the general public, who probably didn’t even know the position existed until yesterday, it helps to feed the media line of a government in crisis. Certainly at the political level, many staff [...]
Cornwall ON – We have a double dose of Keith Beardsley’s View From the Hill for you today! Iggy Express dropping into communities all across Canada This summer will see the Iggy Express dropping into communities all across Canada. If we believe the Liberal spin this will be the most extensive and agenda packed summer [...]
Cornwall ON – Let me get this right. The National Congress of Chinese Canadians (NCCC) wants a meeting with CSIS head Richard Fadden to seek an apology for comments he didn’t make. They feel he cast a cloud over the Chinese Canadian community and they want to discuss possible “corrective action” again for comments he [...]
Cornwall ON – We’re happy to present a double shot of View From the Hill by our Political Maven, Keith Beardsley! And now the whining begins It’s always interesting to see how people view the world and their place in it. Good examples of this are the complaints of our recent G20 protesters who now complain [...]
Cornwall ON – As summer returns to Canada, Liberal MPs have scrambled for the exits and fled our capital city. No doubt they will be doing a lot of navel gazing this summer and probably a lot of plotting too. Liberals will have a chance to review their very dismal performance over the last session [...]
Cornwall ON – The last week has seen a few changes deep within the Prime Minister’s Office. I will begin by saying that staff changes at this time of the year are not unusual as the House has recessed for the summer. Nor is PMO immune from this happening as people are let go, others [...]
Cornwall ON – Yesterday, the Law Clerk and Legal Counsel for Parliament, Rob Walsh, came out with a decision that says political staffers must show up if requested to do so by a committee. Indeed, he advises that even the Prime Minister can be required to show up. This is the day that Dimitri Soudas [...]
Cornwall On – Michael Ignatieff is faced with some pretty tough choices over the next few weeks, but they can be summed up by fight or flight. Either way, in the short term it will significantly cripple the Liberal Party’s ability to take on the Conservative government. Yesterday’s affidavit by Warren Kinsella will bring some [...]
Cornwall ON – Keith Beardsley has been writing up a storm as things are hopping in Ottawa! Here’s a double dose of his View from the Hill! With all the clamour over the G8/G20 media centres lake, pond, pool or whatever you want to call it, one thing has been over looked, namely the sign [...]
Cornwall ON – It’s quite amusing to see the media response to a so called “gag order” issued by PMO. This email told MPs not to discuss home mortgages with two reporters working on a story. Why the media shock and outrage? It reminds me of the feigned indignation of MPs in Question Period. Since [...]
Cornwall ON – The chaos that erupted at the Government Operations committee yesterday reflects badly on all parliamentarians. Anyone who watches the whole video will be left wondering why we elected these MPs in the first place. John Baird can be a fine parliamentary performer and his award yesterday as Parliamentarian of the Year is [...]
Cornwall ON – Sun Media reports today that some $19.3 million were spent by bureaucrats on meetings leading up to the G8 and G20. Some of it will astound you. For instance, besides Ottawa, DFAIT had 156 contracts for prep meetings in Victoria, Calgary, Yellowknife and Quebec City. In Ottawa, they paid $22,000 for flowers [...]
