After a dramatic week in Canadian politics that resulted in Prime Minister Stephan Harper losing two senators from his caucus and the resignation of his chief of staff, many wonder how the political shrapnel from this latest scandal will affect the Conservative government.
As he grapples with a growing scandal over Senate expenses, Prime Minister Stephen Harper faces another potential flashpoint as the House of Commons resumes sitting: The political debate over abortion is far from over.
After watching the Senate expense scandal deepen over the last week, Senator Vern White spoke out Sunday, saying his colleagues in the red chamber need to understand with greater clarity that, “Loyalty can’t be more important than integrity.”
A Liberal Senator from central Newfoundland wants all expense claims from all MPs and Senators to be open to public scrutiny, in light of the widening scandal about Mike Duffy’s expenses.
Stephen Harper’s Conservatives will reach the midway mark of their governing mandate later this summer. When Canadian politics crests that hill, it starts rolling quicker and quicker towards the next election.
An expert on parliamentary rules says the Senate has the power to turf a senator from the chamber, as long as a majority approves the expulsion.
Two of Defence Minister Peter MacKay’s political aides had their civil service appointments revoked last fall when the hiring process was found to be rigged.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper faces growing pressure to order an independent probe into the spending scandal that has cost him a high-profile senator and now his right-hand man.
Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau may be taking on Wilfrid Laurier’s “sunny ways” strategy to fight against the Conservatives by staying above the fray, but negative political ads are here to stay, say political pundits.
Read MoreA new commercial was posted online Monday in the latest effort to promote the virtues of the NDP under the leadership of Thomas “Tom” Mulcair.
Read MoreObservers say the Senate’s reputation has bottomed out with latest developments in expense claims scandal.
Read MoreCandidates vying to replace departing Liberal MP Denis Coderre have been jostling for position ever since it was only a rumour he was going to run for the Montreal mayor’s job.
Read MoreThe federal Liberal Party, which was nearly wiped off the political map in the last federal election when it was reduced from 77 to 34 seats in the Commons, has out-fundraised the NDP in the first quarter of 2013, but political pundits say it’s not a reflection of broad support for either party.
Read MoreA jobless Canadian IT professional who is collecting employment insurance is upset because he now suspects several recent jobs he applied for went to temporary foreign workers.
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Tim Harper — Mike Duffy is radioactive. The one-time Conservative cheerleader is now the poster boy for the filth which envelops the party brand. The man holed up on Friendly Lane in Cavendish, P.E.I., has brought down one of the most powerful men in Canada…
Dan Leger — I’m almost ashamed to admit this now, but I once considered Mike Duffy a friend. Not the kind of friend you’d share your innermost hopes and dreams with. But a work friend and fellow Maritimer, someone I saw almost every day when we were both reporters on Parliament Hill.
Michael Taube — It has been a tumultuous political week for Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Tories. Yet it’s fair to say the resignation of his chief of staff, Nigel Wright, is probably the biggest blow for the PM, his government — and the country.
Lawrence Martin — The correct decision has been made. Whether Stephen Harper demanded chief of staff Nigel Wright’s resignation, or whether Wright himself made the call, it had to happen. Wright was tainted goods. When you take the kind of credibility hit he did over…
John Ibbitson — At one of the most difficult moments since he became Prime Minister, Stephen Harper is alone. He must rejuvenate a listless governing agenda while dousing a major political fire. He must rebuild his cabinet and craft what may be the most…
Michael Den Tandt — Did Prime Minister Stephen Harper have foreknowledge of a backroom deal between his now former chief of staff, Nigel Wright, and Sen. Mike Duffy, in which the latter’s $90,172 tab for improper housing expenses would be made to go away?
David Climenhaga — Surely the wrong man has quit! Nigel Wright, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s chief of staff, resigned yesterday in the imbroglio that followed the revelation he gave disgraced Senator Mike Duffy $90,172 to pay back the Parliamentary…
Paul Wells — The doctoring of a Senate internal economy committee report to erase some references to Mike Duffy’s conduct was perfectly consistent with Stephen Harper’s long-standing preference for making questions go away rather than answering them.
Read MoreJan Wong — t was a dark and stormy night. I was in the VIP cloakroom of the Canadian Opera Company after a biblical and bloody performance of Salome, the Richard Strauss opera directed by Atom Egoyan. I’m no VIP, but my friend in Toronto is a longtime donor.
Read MoreAndrew Potter — Milton Friedman liked to say that the problem with socialism is socialism, while the problem with capitalism is capitalists. What he meant, more or less, was that while the free market was a fundamentally sound system that got a bad name from the crooked…
Read MoreLorne Gunter — What bothers me most about the Mike Duffy scandal is not the apparent payment of the embattled senator’s debts by the prime minister’s chief of staff, Nigel Wright. That’s dumb and smelly and may be in violation of the Senate’s ethics code…
Read MoreMonte Solberg — As B.C. NDP Leader Adrian Dix might have said last Tuesday night, “I want to thank Canada’s pollsters for the honour of naming me as British Columbia newest premier. Good night and may the gods of the lakes and trees, especially the Ogopogo, bless you.”
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He was fast asleep when the call came. The phone by Jon Bon Jovi’s bed ringing at 2am, bringing the kind of news every parent dreads.
