Sep 27 2023 — Kady O'Malley — iPolitics — Full disclosure: At more than one point over the last 48 hours or so, Process Nerd started mentally plotting out a follow-up to her previous instalment to explore what could happen if a House of Commons speaker refused to resign despite near-unanimous calls to do so. As it turns out, that question can remain purely […]
Sep 25 2023 — Kady O'Malley — iPolitics — Without commenting on whether or not the suddenly embattled House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota should step down over his ill-advised, albeit allegedly entirely inadvertent, decision to pay a very public tribute to a constituent who fought in a Ukrainian military unit under the command of the Nazis during World War II, Process Nerd can, […]
Aug 1 2023 — Kady O'Malley — iPolitics — Now that Official Ottawa has had a few days to mull over the reconfigured cabinet that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled during his much-anticipated mid-summer visit to Rideau Hall last week, it seems like as good a time as any to take a closer look at just how the new front bench lineup will influence […]
Jul 19 2023 — Kady O'Malley — iPolitics — During a whirlwind three-day trek through Alberta last April, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre delivered his now familiar call to “Bring It Home” to party supporters at back-to-back fundraisers at, respectively, a “private residence” somewhere in Banff (Apr. 11), the offices of a Red Deer-based fire and flood restoration service (Apr. 12) and the iconic Royal […]
Jul 11 2023 — Kady O'Malley — iPolitics — First, a quick — but necessary — disclaimer: As of right now, Process Nerd is not privy to any inside information or intel indicating that the government is seriously — or even idly — considering recalling the House of Commons to legislate an end to the ongoing strike by more than 7,000 B.C. port workers, […]
Jun 20 2023 — Kady O'Malley — iPolitics — Once more, with feeling? In the wake of last month’s ambitious, but ultimately doomed bid to use standard House protocols to protest the minority Liberal government’s stubborn refusal to cancel Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s plans for a multibillion-dollar spending spree, the Conservatives are laying the groundwork for one final classic cross-aisle showdown before the chamber […]
Jun 13 2023 — Kady O'Malley — iPolitics — What a difference a week — or, actually, in this case, exactly two weeks — makes. On May 30th, the New Democrats put forward a non-binding motion that, in addition to demanding that the prime minister’s handpicked independent special rapporteur David Johnston to “step aside from his role,” proposed that the all-party procedure and House […]
Jun 7 2023 — Kady O'Malley — iPolitics — For a few hours, it had all the makings of a classic mid-June cross-aisle cliffhanger — a high-stakes standoff over the legislative package containing many of the big-ticket measures laid out in the latest budget. Accompanied by a full contingent of his front bench critics, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre hit the House of Commons Foyer […]
May 30 2023 — Kady O'Malley — iPolitics — To start with, the now-standard programming note: This week’s edition was originally going to feature the traditional post-May 24th hiatus rundown of the bills the Liberal government absolutely, positively needs to get through the House — and, in some cases, the Senate — before the legislative circuit shuts d
May 24 2023 — Kady O'Malley — iPolitics — Those who, not unlike Process Nerd, tuned into yesterday’s press conference fully expecting to hear the prime minister’s handpicked “independent special rapporteur” David Johnston side with those calling for a full public inquiry into allegations of attempted political interference by China can take some comfort in knowing that, back when he first took up the […]
May 16 2023 — Kady O'Malley — iPolitics — Before diving in, a quick behind-the-scenes programming note: Initially, Process Nerd had planned to take a closer look at just how the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs could investigate the prima facie breach of privilege brought forward by Conservative MP Michael Chong last week. After just a few minutes of pre-writing brainstorming, however, […]
May 9 2023 — Kady O'Malley — iPolitics — Before we get rolling, let the record show that, if Process Nerd had a vote, she would exercise it — emphatically and enthusiastically — to support New Democrat MP Daniel Blaikie’s backbench pitch to formalize the “confidence convention.” She would not, however, expect it to be a one-click workaround to the inherent instability of a […]
Apr 25 2023 — Kady O'Malley — iPolitics — Barring a truly exceptional eleventh-hour delay — which, when it comes to parliamentary business, can never be entirely ruled out as a hypothetical possibility — the government’s years-long push to overhaul the broadcasting regime to cover online and streaming platforms is finally going to reach the legislative finish line this week. It will happen a […]
Mar 29 2023 — Kady O'Malley — iPolitics — For starters, let’s drop the suspense and fast-forward to the seemingly inevitable finale: Barring not just one, but an intricate, interlaced sequence of unexpected events, there’s virtually no chance that the upcoming back-and-forth over Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s latest budget will end on a cliffhanger: namely, the minority Liberal government losing a confidence vote Such […]
Mar 22 2023 — Kady O'Malley — iPolitics — Unless (or until) one of the key players spills the details in their eventual memoirs, we’ll probably never know just how close the Liberal-New Democrat supply-and-confidence pact came to collapsing on the floor of the House of Commons just one day shy of its first anniversary. We don’t even know for sure whether Prime Minister […]