House adjourns after Tories back NDP motion for independent scrutiny on MP expenses
Amid questions about the Prime Minister’s Office, Senate spending, Justin Trudeau’s work for charities and Thomas Mulcair’s run-in with Mounties on Parliament Hill, MPs have agreed to adjourn the House of Commons.
Tory Senators balk at union-disclosure bill
A Conservative bill that would force unions to open their books to the public is running into resistance from an unlikely source: Conservative senators.
NB Liberals demand Jody Carr fired over Trudeau email
The Opposition Liberals are demanding Premier David Alward fire Education Minister Jody Carr after an email showing showed he personally intervened in the cancellation of a high school class trip to a Justin Trudeau rally in February.
The Senate will no longer hear from two speakers Wednesday who were scheduled to help denizens of the maligned upper chamber “feel better about themselves.”
Read MoreBrad Wall defended his own party’s record on Tuesday as other provincial political parties entered the fray between the Saskatchewan premier and Justin Trudeau over speaking fees.
Read MoreThe European Union is accusing Canada of holding up a major trade deal in an undiplomatic bout of finger-pointing as each side blames the other for an apparent impasse in negotiations.
Read MoreHarper says, ‘I give money to charity, I don’t take money from charity.’ Most of the 17 charitable and other organizations that have paid speaking fees to Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau during his time as an MP say they aren’t interested in having their fees returned, despite Trudeau’s offer on the weekend to reimburse any organization [...]
Read MoreThe motion that sent the House into summer break late Tuesday also spelled the death knoll for the secretive board that handles all the financial and administrative matters for MPs.
Read MoreKeeping track of the names popping up in the ongoing Senate expenses controversy — from the investigators to the four senators themselves — could be a difficult task for even the most seasoned political observers.
Read MoreFeatured Ink
Trudeau is playing to the bleachers, beyond the Bubble — as Tories once did
Michael Den Tandt — Justin Trudeau has been overshadowed by Tom Mulcair in question period. He’s been out-muscled on Senate abolition. And now he’s been shamed into repaying, or offering to repay, $277,000 in speaking fees. Zounds!
Where Trudeau went wrong
L. Ian MacDonald — He’s all clear on the ethics front; the problem isn’t ethics, it’s judgment. Even though Justin Trudeau voluntarily disclosed his outside income from speaking fees four months ago, there was a sense then that the story would come back to bite him.
Speaking of public cynicism, what’s with Justin Trudeau?
Paul Schneidereit — To his credit, Justin Trudeau has made transparency a high-profile priority in the way he conducts politics. In that spirit, I wonder if the federal Liberal leader would tell us about the moment it finally hit him that stiffing a charity…
Trudeau’s money-back guarantee
George Jonas — No one can accuse me of being a partisan for Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, but I can’t fathom why anyone would attack him for taking a fee for a job. There’s nothing he ever did for which he deserves less censure, as far as I can see…
A Bad Sad Joke – And A Scare
Frances Russell — The office of Parliament’s “ethics” commissioner has become a bad, sad joke. But the “new” relationship between the RCMP and Public Safety Minister Vic Toews is alarming for a First-World democracy.
Parliament divided and angry as Harper returns without coveted EU trade deal
John Ivison — Maybe we all need a bit of County Fermanagh in our life. The verdant nature of the Lough Erne resort seems to have made everything possible. Stephen Harper rhapsodized about how the G8 meeting had turned out much better than…
Canada’s strict party discipline perverts democracy
Sean Holman — ‘Whipped’ shows that until more politicians across Canada buck the party line, the fantasy that we live in a democracy between elections will continue. In B.C. Premier Christy Clark’s fantasy world, her party’s members…
99 ways to shred your credibility
Christie Blatchford — There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, as per the singer/songwriter Paul Simon and his 1975 song of the same name, but there are apparently at least 99 ways to leave your government job — and all of them have you merrily deleting and shredding as you go.
Two Canadian cities in search of ‘good government’
Jeffrey Simpson — How many American movies and television programs have you seen about corrupt police, municipal civil servants on the take and mayors above the law? There’s usually some crusading district attorney or incorruptible police unit that…
Entertainment Plus
Mariah Carey shows off stunning figure in TWO different bikinis
She’s mother of two-year-old twins, but Mariah Carey has a body that any woman would be jealous of. The 43-year-old singer showed off her incredible body in two different bikinis, whilst filming her new video in Italy.
The Mix
